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DISCLAIMER: Uh... no? But Mark and Tom are! And Nella too!
SUMMARY: Because sometimes we only have a summer and sometimes we only have a
dream.
WORDCOUNT: 2235
NOTES: Written for Dana at the Buffy-a-thon.
MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM
by Leni
Buffy looked between the cherry flavoured toothpaste and the mint one.
Funny how that was now one of her most important decisions of the week. No more
Apocalypses, no more sending her most dear friends into battle and, above all, no more
noble self-sacrifice.
After all, where had that led her? Just here, to this tiny store in the middle of L.A..
But she didn’t complain. It was her own choice to be here, hiding between the
anonymous buildings of the big city. Buffy needed to prove everybody – and herself
amongst them – that she could live on her own. Until she could do that, Buffy had
sworn to herself not to let her old life find her again. After the last months she’d
decided she had had enough. She had saved the world, yay for the Slayer! Now they could
search for her substitute, she was sure that sooner or later they’d find the right
one.
She finally shoved both toothpastes back into the shelves, sharply remembering that she
needed to save as much money as she could. Her resume was not as spectacular as most
potential bosses wanted it to be. Shame she couldn’t add ‘Saved the world once a
year’, maybe that would tip the scales to her favour.
As it was, though, to the real world she had practically no job experience and that
reduced her to the worst paid jobs.
But that wasn’t the worst part in her new life.
The worst was that, as much as she wanted to believe otherwise, her past kept following
her.
He’d found her, she knew it in her bones. He’d found her and was enjoying their
regressing to the old patterns.
He stalked.
She walked away.
He kept himself in the shadows.
She pretended she never saw him at all.
But today Buffy knew he was near and she almost jumped when a cold breeze in the middle of
the hot night touched her bare arm.
He was there.
“Angel?”
No response.
Buffy sighed, hugged herself tightly and walked back to her apartment.
One of these days she’d be the one to surprise him.
---
Buffy was waitressing, it had actually been one of the best job-offers she'd gotten.
She walked daily from her apartment to the diner through streets that had certainly
changed from what she remembered from her younger years.
Who’d have thought that those had been the infamous good ol’ days? Back then her
mother was always after her, caring in her own way. Buffy still hadn’t disappointed
her nor anybody else.
Sometimes she really missed those times. She’d do anything to bring them back. But
she couldn’t. She simply couldn’t.
Therefore she was condemned to treat annoying customers as princes, with her
landlord’s threat refraining her from telling a few of these men what she really
thought about their ‘compliments’.
Of course, Buffy Summers had never had any patience to speak of. Not even the fact that
she was a hundred dollars short to make the rent was enough to stop her when a random
customer put his greasy palm on her butt. She yelped and backhanded him on reflex, not
caring that her boss had a strict ‘The client is always right’ policy. Then she
run into the kitchen, knowing that she’d just gotten herself into trouble. So much
for being able to stand on her own.
“Are you crazy?” Tom hollered when he found her.
She stood proudly, glaring her boss in defiance. If her job was lost anyway, she may as
well go with a bang. “I was crazy when I accepted this job.”
Tom fumed. The other waitresses fled and even the two cooks suddenly found that they had
business outside. “WHAT?”
Buffy didn’t deign that with an answer. Taking off the yellow & red apron and
throwing it to the floor, she walked straight past the older man. But Tom Jacobs
didn’t believe in strong characters, especially when they belonged to tiny girls who
worked for him. He grabbed the blonde’s elbow forecully, and that’s when he
discovered that not only Buffy’s character was strong.
“Get off!” she scowled when she felt his dirty fingers on her skin. Elbowing him
was easy, but the man hadn’t understood how serious she was and he pushed her further
into the kitchen. Buffy didn’t even think twice before punching him straight in the
face and couldn’t stop a smirk from grazing her lips when Tom fell onto the floor.
Dusting her hands, she smiled at the gaping group spying from behind the door and walked
out.
Once outside Buffy breathed deeply, grinning under the summer sun.
She could protect herself.
That was good, because there were no protectors left for her. She’d taken care to
drive them all away over the last years.
Except maybe one of them. Too stubborn for his own good. Why didn’t he understand
that she burned to ashes everything she touched?
Where could he be now, Buffy wondered. Once she’d believe to know him inside and out
but after... what had happened... she simply didn’t know anymore. They’d all
changed, but Angel was definitely the one who’d strayed the further beyond her
comprehension.
And still she felt him guarding her back.
She found that she didn’t dislike the thought so much now. Now that she’d proved
to be her own guardian, the thought of Angel watching her brought back the dizzy feelings
from when she’d been sixteen and stupid.
Right now Buffy wanted to think that he was there.
That a petty thing such as sunlight didn’t really matter.
---
Buffy walked towards the new cosy restaurant where she’d luckily found a job on the
third day after leaving the old one. Today was her first day and she was already running
on the hour. She couldn’t believe she had missed the bus, but her watch had broken
and she had no reserves to buy a new one.
This job wasn’t really better than the last one. In the past months Buffy had quickly
learned that waitressing was always the same, wherever you worked patrons would likely eat
you alive if you weren’t careful.
At least now she could keep her apartment for another month. She had been worried
she’d have to hunt for a place to live again. Buffy shuddered at the idea,
considering the places she’d gone to the first time she certainly didn’t want to
repeat the experience.
Of course, if things really went wrong, she could always call Giles. Buffy was sure that
her Watcher would always help her, but ever since she left them asking anyone –
especially Giles! – for help was her very last resort.
Buffy was walking past an alley when she heard the typical sounds of a battle taking
place. She stood there for a moment, her new boss was a kind woman, but Buffy didn’t
feel like taking her chances and arriving too late on her first day. She just didn’t
have time for alley fights!
But a girl’s scream made its way to her and Buffy, still swearing under her breath,
didn’t have any other option but to go investigate. As much as she’d tried to
deny it, the instinct was there and she could only go with it.
What she found was a redhead lying on the ground. Buffy closed slowly in on her, many
times she’d been ambushed by a clever vampire playing dead. But, as the girl coughed
and them moaned in pain, Buffy understood that she’d found the victim and rushed to
help her.
“Are you alright?” Buffy asked as she helped the other girl to her feet. Still
unstable, the redhead supported herself with an arm around Buffy’s shoulders.
“Yeah, yeah...” She shook her head as if dispelling a bad memory. “Weird
people in L.A. Now I’m definitely heading off to New York. I mean, I expected
a mugger, but one with a mask?” Her red locks moved in disarray as she shuddered.
“Weird...” Then she seemed to notice the petite girl guiding her back to safety.
“Thankyou, by the way. Not many stop to help complete strangers.”
Buffy shrugged as well as she could while supporting the taller girl’s weight.
“You got yourself out, would have been okay anyway.”
The other girl laughed. “I got myself out? Good Lord, no!” They finally left the
alley and leaned against the wall for a respite. “I was sure he’d kill me.”
She shuddered again. “The man kept saying how much he’d enjoy killing me and I
could only think ‘Nella, this is it’ when he arrived.”
Buffy, who had heard to many victims’ rambles over the years only perked up with the
last bit. “He?”
Nella nodded. “Yes, straight from the shadows. He pushed the masked mugger off me and
when I tried to get up again both were gone already.”
“What did he look like?”
Nella’s head shook. “No idea, I wasn’t really paying attention. Tall. Dark
hair. Black clothes... no wonder I didn’t see him until he was saving me.”
Buffy rolled her eyes. Of course he had to play the dark hero routine too. She laughed,
causing Nella to stare at her. But Buffy didn’t care. She just wondered how long he
planned to keep playing this game.
“Come on,” she told the girl. “You are bruised and need something hot.
Besides, you’ll be my alibi today...”
---
His name was Mark Donovan. Was the closest thing to a real cook at the establishment she
was working at now.
Mark was also older, already coursing his last year at college. When her fellow waitresses
had warned her against older men, Buffy had just laughed. They didn’t know the half
of it.
He made her laugh and didn’t mind when she ruffled his blonde hair when he was taking
too much time with an order. Sometimes he complimented her, quick witty words appraising
her figure, her clothes and even the tight know she now wore at work. The surprising part
was that she really enjoyed his company, except for Xander she really hadn’t trusted
herself near another male lately.
It was... nice. Real nice.
That was why, after weeks of flirting, she didn’t say no when he finally asked her to
go out.
Here she was, five minutes late and still applying the last touches of make-up and
worrying whether the green shirt with the deep neckline was appropriate for a first date.
She grinned foolishly at the mirror. It’d been too long since she’d felt so...
normal. After her last attempts at a relationship – and its respective failures
– Buffy didn’t really believe this one would work. But, damn, as that old adage
about falling down from the horse went, she did need to try again.
Even if Angel was still playing hide-and-seek.
Especially if Angel was still playing hide-and-seek.
Buffy heard a knock at the door and gave herself a last examining glance before
determining that she was ready to go. She actually giggled when Mark praised her looks.
Smiling when Mark offered his arm, she took it and let him lead her to his car. After her
years as the Slayer, taking the hard decisions and assuming command it was pleasant to be
just another girl normal on a normal date.
Of course, ‘normal’ was never in Buffy’s destiny.
Mark hadn’t even started the car when she believed to hear his voice calling her
name.
When she turned around, the door to her apartment building was swinging closed.
She glanced at the blue sky. It was only mid-afternoon... Could it be?
Mark had never seen this girl as beautiful as when she smiled right before asking him to
forgive her, that she couldn’t do this today. He would forever be sure that she never
heard his worried questions as she launched the door open and run back to her house.
---
The beach was always beautiful under the sunlight.
She had taken out her shoes hours ago, content with feeling the warm sand between her
toes. It was something like freedom. The sea, the sun and the calm breeze going through
her hair.
Freedom, that was a nice thought.
As a true Californian child, Buffy had grown up under the belief that nothing could be
better than walking down the white sand right before sundown.
Of course, nothing was better than doing it with her love at her side.
She smiled when Angel’s arms went around her, holding her tightly as if she’d
ever escape him. She wanted to turn in his arms and reach out for a kiss, but she wanted
to enjoy this first sundown together even more.
It was beautiful.
He was beautiful.
Her hands posed lightly over his and for a moment she heard the soft cling of their rings
grazing together. She wasn’t able to resist the temptation of turning around a bit,
just enough to look into his eyes, and caress his face.
Sometimes Buffy couldn’t believe how much she loved him.
“How did you find me here?” she finally asked softly, as to not spoil the
moment.
Angel smiled down at her with that special smile he reserved only for her. “If I was
blind, I would see you.”
She smiled back, stopping the caress and instead taking his hand again.
And, for a single moment, Buffy Summers forgot the nightmarish ending to this dream.
Because, indeed, sometimes seventeen-years-old Slayers only had dreams.
The End
01/04/04
Feedback
is always welcome.
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