Title: Car Trouble
Author: LisaMarie514
Posted: 05-09-2004
Email: lisamarie514@msn.com
Rating: PG-13
Category: Angst, BtVS 3
Content: C/A
Summary:
Spoilers: BtVS Season 3
Disclaimer: The characters in the Angelverse were created by Joss Whedon & David Greenwalt. No infringement is intended, no profit is made.
Distribution:
Notes: angelncordyluv4ever challenge - I thought it would be interesting to read a fic written in early BtVS S3 about Cordy finding Angel right after he came back from hell. Maybe Cordy's car breaks down and she's looking for help with her car or whatever you come up with. Angel runs to her and finds her instead of Buffy. How Cordy gets Angel back to the mansion or even her house is for you to decide. Cordy tries to keep it secret and take care of Angel for a few weeks and she's acting all weird attending more of the Scooby meetings and getting into it a bit more. Anyway, as for the Angel/Cordy, Angel becomes dependant on Cordy and she's trying to wean him off her. He's always touching her or something to this extent. They become friends, Angel gets better with Cordy's help, the Scoobies find out eventually and of course lots of C/A interaction. I wanted to leave this one open ended to see what all you great writers can come up with. Any other storylines including Xander/Cordy, Buffy/Angel, Faith, the Mayor are all open for you to either toss out the window, keep the same, or manipulate. Please take it.
Feedback: This is my first attempt at fan fic. Please be kind.
Thanks/Dedication: Yes please.Part 1: Thud
Cordelia stormed out of the library…she was tired of the Scoobies, tired of not being taken seriously…heck tired of always being bait. She was popular and well liked…well maybe not liked but definitely respected. Why did Xander always defer to whatever Buffy said. I mean really…Miss Blonde-from-a-box was just pure muscle and probably never had an intelligent thought in her life.
Cordelia walked through the main doors to Sunnydale High School with speed and confidence. She was through being bait. She reached into her purse and pulled out the keys to her car, and looked around…it was not quiet dark yet, but the sun was definitely down…needed to make sure she paid attention to her environment, even though she hated being bait she knew that any girl wandering alone in Sunnydale after dark was a target for being vamp/demon dinner. She went to her little red convertible, a 17th birthday present from her father who was making up for not being in the country for her birthday and opened the door. Things…that is all she had from her parents were things, nothing that really meant that they loved her, heck they had been out of the country for over 3 months now…traveling Europe on business. She opened the door, and tossed her bag in onto the passenger seat and put the key in the ignition at the same time she hit the button for the top to go down. It was a nice warm evening and she liked the feeling of a breeze when she drove.
The car’s engine roared to life, a speedy little car, and Cordelia adjusted the stereo, finding a radio station she liked. Turning around she put on her seatbelt and then backed out of the lot heading into the night.
She drove past the center of town and let the stress of the afternoon pass through her like the breeze flowing through her hair. The moon starting to rise on the horizon, it was one of those big blood red moons’ that happens when the air is just right. The night was turning out to be pretty. She was happy she was not with the Scoobies getting ready to go fight something or get dirty. She was happy to be INDEPENDENT. When she thought of that word it was always in all capital letters, she didn’t need anyone, not her parents, not Xander, no one. She was and INDEPENDENT woman.
‘I wonder what Harmony and the girls are doing tonight…maybe I should swing by the Bronze’ Cordelia thought to herself as she listened to the radio and then looked down and cringed…she was in boring jeans and a boring pink t-shirt…not exactly Bronze wear. Well I will just head home and get all dolled up to go dancing all night, she thought determined to have a good, non-Vampire/Demon/Scoobies/Buffy evening. She turned off the main road and decided to take the back roads to her family’s large house. It meant going past the old deserted section of town, which favored less than favorable types, but she wasn’t worried…her car was fast and she drove quickly.
Thud
Cordelia slammed on the breaks…hearing the squeal of rubber against pavement. She had hit something…something big…shit what kind of damage had she done to her car. The car came to a stop and she pulled the parking break and turned off the engine. She looked out about 10 feet in front of her car. A man laid there.
Oh shit. Was all she could think of, never having been in an accident, much less hitting someone. She slammed open the door and rushed out of the car when she saw him start to slowly move. At least he is alive.
Cordelia moved quickly, the lights of her car flashing on the man, showing he had on only pants, no shirt, no shoes, his back to the car’s lights. He tried to get up, but then signed and let his body drop back to the ground.
Cordelia rushed over and bent down beside him, resting a hand on his shoulder. “Hey Mister, are you okay?” pleasebeokaypleasebeokaypleasebeokay. Her mind said over and over.
Then it registered well two things registered, first that the body under her hand was cool to the touch, and the tattoo of a griffin with an A clasped in its claws on the man’s back.
“Angel?” Cordelia whispered, then fear sinking in …what if it was Angelus?
He turned his head at the sound of his name, so long since he heard it and smelled the warm female next to his body…he hurt all over. Cinnamon and vanilla filled his senses, and warmth. He lifted his head and tried to focus…things were not as harsh in this place as they were a few short days ago in Hell. His body hurt though, a bruise forming from where his torso hit the speeding car…well it really just clipped him.
He looked again at the girl, she was familiar, smelled familiar, safe. His mind was having a hard time focusing or thinking other than in single words.
Cordelia looked down at Angel’s eyes, not believing he was alive, hadn’t Buffy run him through with a sword and sent him to Hell?
“ANGEL IT IS CORDELIA” she shouted, hoping he understood her, and probably said a bit too loudly.
Angel moved his hands to his ears…blocking the loud sound of the girls voice…it was so painful. Everything hurt since leaving this world. He rolled back onto his back onto the pavement. Holding his head, eyes closed, clearly in pain.
“ANGEL” Cordelia shouted again, afraid that it was Angelus, or that he didn’t understand her.
“Yes” he whispered hoarsely his first words other than snarls in this dimension. He had to get her to stop yelling.
Cordelia breathed a sigh of relief. Not that she trusted any vampire any further than she could throw a stake, but Angel was always nice to her, and never mean. Except for when he was Angelus. Then well, lets just say, if it was Angelus, she would be back in her car and on her way to find Miss-Fights-A-Lot. She looked down at the half naked vampire, and looked in his eyes. There was a soul there. It was in pain, and had a hard time focusing, but Cordy knew that it was the safe Angel lying on the ground in front of her car.
Angel sat up and groaned in pain…where was he? He looked around and saw the lights of the car shining on him and the brunette with her hand still resting on his shoulder. “Who?” he asked wanting to focus on something other than the pain in his body.
“Angel it is Cor-del-ia” she said, a little quieter this time, enunciating each syllable of her name. Wanting to make sure he knew it was someone who should not be on the menu. “I am sorry, you jumped out in front of my car, I hit you.”
“Hungry” was all he could utter, he needed to figure out how to say more and not frighten her and more importantly try not to eat her. The smell of her blood pumping faster at that word was making his head spin harder.
Cordelia looked down at Angel. His body was bruised and dirty, and she didn’t think it was all due to the car accident. He was also a lot thinner and paler than usual. Where had he been, when had he gotten back? Questions raced through her head. She sniffed a little, he needed a shower. He definitely needed some blood. She looked around and realized she was about three miles from the mansion he had occupied while he was Angelus with Spike and Drusilla.
“Well, Big Guy, I am not on the menu,” She said quietly, not wanting to make him clutch his head again. “Here lets stand you up and I will take care of you, how does that sound?” she couldn’t believe she was offering to care for this vampire, but something in her told her it was the right thing to do.
Angel slowly pushed himself off the ground, rising as the girl pulled him to his feet. So familiar, smelled so good, so hungry…he would follow her. His head still hurting, he stumbled a little upon standing. Cordelia righted his body, wrapping an arm around his bare waist and leading him to her car. He moved slowly, obviously in pain, and leaned on the girl. She opened the passenger door and pushed him to sit in the seat. When he didn’t pick up his legs and move them into the car, she lifted first one than the other and sat them in. She noticed how cut his feet were, and felt sorry for him. Her hand rested momentarily on his thigh…feeling the solid muscle there. She shook her head.
“Angel, I am gonna put a seatbelt on you, okay?” She asked, she was a little leery about making an sudden movements with him, as he had yet to say more than two words, one of which was HUNGRY, which Cordy thought would be in capital letters in his head. He didn’t respond, and wasn’t breathing so she couldn’t tell if he minded.
Warm, soft, vanilla, cinnamon, girl, hungry (lower case), safe. Angel felt her buckle him into the car seat. He wanted his head to function again, to be able to thank this girl for caring for him.
Once he was buckled in, Cordy pulled a blanket out from the floor of the back seat, one of those fleecy ones that everyone has for going to football games or the beach. She shook out the sand and then wrapped it around Angel’s bare chest. Running her hand over his cheek, in a soothing manner. “Okay Big Guy, lets go down to the blood bank and get you something other than me to eat, and then I am taking you home and cleaning you up”
Cordelia came around and got into the driver seat. She started the engine and the radio started blasting.
“ARRRRGGGGGHHHHH” Angel howled…moving his hands to his ears in pain.
Quickly, Cordelia turned off the radio and turned to the vampire and rubbed his temples gently, wanting to calm him. She gently pushed his head back so it rested against the back of the seat and stroked his temples. “Sorry” she whispered.
His eyes closed and she could have sworn that he let out a purr sound.
Sitting back in her seat she pulled her seatbelt on and then put the car in gear, heading toward the local blood bank.
Part 2: A trip to the blood bank
“Okay Miss, so that was 3 pints of O-positive, 2 pints of AB positive and 3 pints of B negative” The geekly blood bank clerk said, enjoying the flirting brunette who was picking up an order for her hospital.
“Thank you so much,” Cordelia said and then looked at the man’s name tag, “Harold, I just can’t believe I messed up the original order so badly and didn’t get these types today and only A negative. I feel so stupid” Batting her eye lashes and giving off a warm 100 watt Cordelia smile
“Aw it is okay Miss, happens all the time, usually it is our side that messes up and not the hospital” he smiled at her smile, maybe he should ask her for coffee. He lifted up the cooler of blood onto the counter. “Shall I carry it out to the ambulance for you?” he asked, not wanting the pretty girl to leave so quickly.
“No that is okay, I am strong” Cordelia said, quickly taking the cooler off the counter…it was heavy
“I added a few extra bags of AB positive for you Miss, usually the hospital likes to keep a lot of that on hand and I don’t want you to get fired” He was so close to asking her out
“Great…thanks Harold” Cordelia said and flashed him another smile and then quickly made her way out of the building.
She quickly walked around to the back and put the cooler into the trunk of the car. Angel’s head was back and his eyes were closed, she could swear he was sleeping, except for the fact that he wasn’t breathing or moving. Maybe he was dead. No wait he is dead. UGGGH Cordelia thought. Well she would feed him once she got him home. She looked at the cooler full of blood. Cold blood has got to be gross. She wondered if he had a microwave. Warm blood is what he would need, at least initially. She took a packet of AB positive out of the cooler and slipped it down her shirt so it rested against her belly. She felt the cold packet and hopped that it didn’t burst open. She also hoped her body heat would warm it to a point where it would work for Angel. She finally hoped he had a microwave, cause this was gross.
She closed the lid to the cooler than the lid to the trunk and got back into the car. Putting on her seatbelt she was extra careful to make sure the blood bag was not pressed by the belt, but was firmly against her body. Gross…hopeful there would be no leakage.
“Okay Big Guy, lets get you back home and cleaned up” Cordelia looked over at Angel, sleeping, definitely sleeping.
Part 3: The Mansion
Cordelia quickly drove back across town to the old part of town where the Mansion was located. She looked down at the clock on the dash board – 7pm. The night was young, but she had feeling she would be spending it all with a comatose vampire. She pulled up in front of the main door to the Mansion, and was impressed by its size, but saddened by it’s abandoned look. She unbuckled her seatbelt and took her keys out of the ignition getting out of the car, she felt the blood bag, warm against her body, she needed to get it into him soon was her one thought. She shoved her keys into her jeans pocket and then went around to the passenger door and opened in and leaned over the vampire and unbuckled his belt.
He took a deep intake of breath and smelled the girl, warm, cinnamon, vanilla, good. A whole stream of primal thoughts. He opened his eyes and looked at the girl.
“Cor-del-ia” he whispered hoarsely…his third word of the evening.
“Angel!” Cordelia said, excited he recognized her, “can you stand, I need to get you inside” god she hoped he could stand, he was way to big for her to man handle.
He nodded, his body hurt, and the hunger was so strong, but he could tell he was home, and safe. Very safe with Cordelia.
She took his hand and guided him out of the car. Moving her arm around his waist and moving him toward the door. When they got there she saw that it was slightly ajar and was grateful as she did not have a key, and doubted he had one in his current state.
Walking into the dark mansion, Cordelia’s eyes tried to adjust, she reached her hand over to the wall and was happy to find a switch. Then even more happy when the overhead light went on when she flicked it. She maneuvered Angel over to the couch. He made it there and then just sat. Happy to not be moving, not so happy about the bright light, but the girl was still there so that was good.
“Angel, we are going to do a couple of things okay…first I am going to feed you, then you are showering and then I will bandage your wounds.” Cordy said nervously…why was she nervous.
She lifted up her t-shirt and revealed the blood packet; she rubbed it between her hands and made sure it was warm. Well hopefully warm enough. She saw the knife on side table and walked over and poked a whole in it.
Angel’s head perked up at the sent of warm blood hungry.
Cordy moved over to his side and held the bag to his lips, the small opening near his mouth. “Drink…you are weak” As she squeezed some of the blood onto his lips. He opened his mouth and started to suck on the bag…moving his hands so they were on top of hers holding the bag and quickly sucked down the contents. He felt the warmth of her body and the sweet blood filling his hungry body. He never thought the hunger would go away, but this was helping.
He leaned back and closed his eyes…letting go of the bag and her hands. She was amazed at how quickly he drank down that bag. Then she thought about it and realized he was probably starving. Which meant that she probably still looked like a t-bone steak. Time to go heat up some more blood for him. Then the shower then the bandaging…in that order.
“Angel, I am going to be right back and get you some more to eat, stay where you are” Cordelia using her I’m in charge voice told him. He simply nodded. His head spinning from the taste of human blood, feeling his body start to heal.
Cordelia ran out to the car and pulled out the cooler, carrying it back to the house, making her way toward what she thought would be a kitchen. She was happy to find a relatively modern kitchen in the rundown mansion. She opened the fridge, noticed it was empty and unloaded the blood onto the top shelf She pulled out two packages then turned around and looked. Seeing a microwave she sighed. She opened a cupboard and pulled out a large mug, and then sliced open one bag of blood and pored it into the mug. She should be grossed out, but for some reason the only thought in her head was that this would heal the vampire, and keep her off the menu. She opened the other bag and poured it as well into the mug. She put it in the microwave and set the timer. Lets try 40 seconds. Ding
She pulled out the mug…it was warm, but not too bad. Good enough she thought…walking back to the vampire on the couch. She sat down next to him and then holding the mug to his lips waited for him to start drinking again. He cupped the mug and drank deeply. Feeling warmed by the blood….human blood was so good. He drained the cup and then licked his lips. A small smile crossed his face, he felt like now that the hunger had died down again he could think,
“Thank you,” he said to the girl sitting next to him. He moved his hand so it rested against hers and squeezed gently.
It was an honest thank you, one that kind of made Cordy feel warm inside. Not many people said thank you to her and really meant it.
“Now Mister, you smell bad, time for a shower” Cordelia used her in-charge voice again and knew that he needed sleep, but he was ripe, even for a dead guy. She stood and pulled him up and moved toward the stairs. Unsure of where his bedroom and bathrooms were but figured she would find it.
He followed her like a dumb puppy. More coherent thoughts were starting to work in his head, now that he had fed. Yes he did stink, and his body was sore, had she said something about bandaging his body for him. Taken care of, he was being taken care of. The vampire liked it, it was rare to feel cared for by a human.
She found her way to his room and the bath. She walked into the shower and started the water running, hot but not too hot. She checked to make sure there was soap and towels and then turned around and looked at the vampire. “Can you manage?” she asked, part of her really wanted him to say no so she could see him naked. Huh…where that did thought come from…naked Angel…ew…that was a single w ew…oh no.
He simply nodded and began to unbutton his trousers. She quickly moved out of the bathroom past him, not sure that she could handle being that close to him without clothes. She moved into the bedroom and looked around. The bed was a mess, the sheets all rumpled and not made for probably months. She went to the dresser and began looking for sheets to change the bed. She felt like a maid, then shook her head…oh well.
She found a set of dark blue silky sheets and pulled them out of the dresser. Quickly stripping the bed she re-made it with the soft sheets and was fluffing the pillow when she heard the water shut off. She looked to the night side table and made sure her first aid kit was there. He was covered with nasty scratches. Not to mention the bruise he was sporting from hitting her car. She was extremely grateful that there was no damage to her little sports car, she must have just clipped him.
He walked out of the bath with a dark green towel slung low on his hips, his hair and body wet and clean. Cordy looked up from the pillow she was holding and gulped. Loudly.
He walked slowly and stiffly over to the bed by her and sat down. He was too tired to do much else. He let out a sigh.
Cordelia reacted to that sound and snapped out of her mode of ogling his body, his hot hard wet fine body and looked at the gash on his forehead.
“Lets clean some of these up so they can heal” Cordy said and began acting as a nurse cleaning the wounds, putting on triple antibiotic and then a bandage. He didn’t have the heart to tell her that by morning they would be healed with our without the lotion or the bandages. But his brain was so tired the words wouldn’t come out. As she finished he let out a yawn....
“Thank you” He said he placed his hand on her cheek. She still smelled good to him, but less like food and more like a friend. “Cordelia”
“You remember who I am?” She asked, happy to have him start to seem a little more coherent.
“a blur…body hurts” He said, his hand moving to play with a lock of her hair. He took a deep breath so he could gather her scent.
Cordelia pulled back the bedding, “ get in, you have been through a lot” He move under the blanket and felt the soft silk sheets. They felt good and smelled like the girl.
She stood next to the bed and started to move away. Angel grabbed her hand.
“Stay” he looked at her with puppy dog eyes, “Afraid” he said, really meaning it, sure that he was going to wake up and be in hell, that this was just a dream.
“Okay Big Guy,” She looked down at him, he looked so lost, like a little boy in a strong man’s body. She moved to the other side of the bed and lifted the covers sliding in next to him. She wasn’t touching his body, but move her hand to stroke his head and damp hair.
He moved quickly, quicker than she expected and rested his head on her chest and then moved almost into a fetal position curled into her body. He was drawn by her warmth, softness and scent.
She shuttered slightly, at the large strong, nearly naked man clinging to her, but then relaxed when she thought she heard him purr again. She stroked his head and tried to comfort him. Knowing he had suffered she relaxed and let the vampire stay close to her. She yawned…not being able to help herself, it had been a long day.
Not being able to keep her eyes open, she closed them and continued to rhythmically stroke the vampire’s head…soothing his brain. And then her breathing slowed and she herself fell into much needed sleep.
Part 4: Half past the witching hour
First the intense heat and branding irons they would push against his flesh, watching it sizzle. He would growl, then scream and then finally sob in pain. They enjoyed it all, the agony, the smell of burning dead flesh, and the sounds of the vampire in pain.
Then they would leave Angel alone long enough for the burns to heal, let him think he had finally gotten a reprieve. Then the fun would start all over again. The pattern went on and on, never changing, well the only change being the demon holding the branding iron, and where it was placed on Angel’s tortured body.
Then the noise, the constant high pitch wailing that made his head spin. That never stopped. So loud, so harsh, he wished for deafness rather than the super vamp hearing he possessed.
The place smelled like death, but without the hope of an end to suffering.
He was thrashing around in the bed, images of the Hell dimension he was trapped in for what felt like centuries kept clawing at his brain. He heard the sound of his name being called, and didn’t really believe that it was a human-like voice…demanding him to wake up. But there was no waking up from the nightmare of his existence.
Cordelia was shaking his shoulders, trying to get the vampire to wake up from whatever nightmare held him so tightly. It was shortly after midnight and they had fallen asleep maybe 2 hours earlier. She had woken up when he had backhanded her shoulder when the thrashing had started. His body was covered in a fine sheen of sweat and there was a pained expression on his face. Angel’s eyes remained shut tightly.
“ANGEL wake up!” She shouted, even though she knew how much it hurt his head, she had to get him to wake up, he was scaring her. She had to get him to stop moving to relax. She straddled his waist, needing all her body weight to keep him from moving, to keep his arms from punching her again. Cordelia pushed down on his shoulders with her hands and leaned into his face, which had now in his throws of the nightmare had vamped out.
For some reason she was not frightened of the demon face, it was a scared Angel, and she wanted to trust him not to hurt her. Cordelia moved her head down next to his ears and decided maybe soothing words would get him to snap out of it and wake from the nightmare.
“Angel, wake up, you are home, and you are safe. Please wake up, please for Cor-del-ia” enunciating her name so he would have some grasp of reality. She moved a hand up from his shoulder to his ridged brow and stroked it, trying to calm him. The weight of her body kept him immobile and he had stopped throwing his body. “Yes that is it, just relax, you are safe,” She kept muttering words of safety and warmth into his ear. Stroking his vampire features, feeling the softness of his skin over the hard bones in his forehead. Trying to hug him with her entire body, to give him security and safety he was missing in his dream world. Knowing all too well herself what it was like to be alone.
“Cordy” Angel whispered, not believing what he was seeing, the brunette wrapped around his body, her hands touching his demon face. He moved his arms to hug her close to his body. To feel her heartbeat against his chest. Smell her, warm and safe, that is what he thought of now whenever he smelled the girl.
“Is this real?” Angel asked to the air, not knowing what to believe anymore.
Gently whispering in his ear, “Your home and safe, Angel, no one is going to hurt you now” Cordy said, feeling his arms tighten around her, moving her hands into his hair to rub his head gently.
Angel sighed. “When…what time is it?” he asked the girl, not moving his grasp of her body.
“ Friday, Angel, it is a little after midnight” She said, feeling him start to relax, the demon face fading away his features returning back to normal.
“How long have I been gone?” He loosened his hold of the girl a little and was moving his hands to stroke her back…to verify that she was really there. It felt good to have the warm body next to his, which was forever cold.
Cordelia sighed a little, what was she getting herself into. It felt really good to be held by a naked Angel, which was wrong, wrong, wrong, this was Buffy’s boyfriend. But if you send a guy to hell does that automatically mean you are broken up? She wondered, and was glad that it was not said out loud.
“You have been gone about 4 months, it is almost the end of September Angel.” She stretched out her legs and relaxed her hold on this torso, as he was not going anywhere. She was really glad she had on jeans and was fully clothed, well maybe she was not glad, but relieved. “Do you have any idea where you were?”
“Hell, it felt like Hell or something like it. Loud, painful, smelled bad” He whispered back to her, continuing to relax, so comforted by her presence and soft voice near his ears.
Cordelia didn’t know how to respond or what to do next. He hadn’t moved his arms from around her and it felt a little awkward trying to figure out how to move away from him without upsetting him. God she was tired, it had been a long day between fighting with the Scoobies and then taking care of Angel. She stretched a little trying to get comfortable, and felt Angel’s arms tighten around her body.
“Don’t leave me” Angel said, is voice full of need and fear of being alone.
“No, just trying to get comfortable, you scared me when you started thrashing in your sleep. I had to keep you from punching me” She said, regretting the last sentence at the look of horror on his face.
“Oh god, I am so sorry, did I hurt you, wouldn’t want to hurt you” Angel said, moving a hand to stroke her cheek. Checking for bruises and going into full brood mode.
“No you didn’t hit my face, just pushed me enough to wake me up. I am fine Angel” Cordelia re assured him.
“I’m just tired and probably smell bad too, I need a shower” Cordelia said, sitting up, still straddling Angel’s chest, looking down at him, seeing the worried look on his face. “I will stay here tonight. I am not leaving you in the condition you are in Big Guy. Now close your eyes and get some sleep, I will be back in a little bit” Cordy quickly got up off the vampire, deciding that being that close to him was sending her senses for a loop. She also used her take charge voice, because he seemed to respond best to that tone right about now. She figured she would not have that power for very long, so took advantage of having it now.
She tucked the blanket up to his shoulders and bent down and kissed him on the forehead, like she would a little boy. “Just going to shower, close your eyes and sleep Angel” She ordered him.
He closed his eyes and relaxed, counting her heart beats as she moved away from his bed. The thud-thump of her heart lulled him back to much needed sleep.
Cordelia looked down at herself and realized what a mess she was. Her jeans were dirty and her shirt had drops of blood on it from trying to feed Angel. She hated not being clean. She walked away from the bed, assured the vampire was resting and went to his closet, to steal some clothes for her to change into after her shower. She was not surprised to find it so neat and tidy when she turned on the light. Hanging were shirts and trousers, well organized. Angel was certainly particular about his clothes even if they were all black or dark colours.
She looked to the shelves on the right and found sweatpants and workout clothes, or what she guessed was his workout clothes. Did vampires need to work out? She wondered to herself. She pulled out a dark pair of sweats and then one of his white t-shirts. That would work for now; no way could she sleep in her clothes. Cordelia held the clothes close to her body and could smell Angel on them. He didn’t wear cologne but he definitely had a scent that was all man, and power. She turned off the light to the closet and walked back into the bedroom.
She noticed on the floor by the bed a dark green towel, and picked it up, Angel liked his house neat, so she would make sure he woke up to not having a mess around. What didn’t hit her was the fact that if the towel was on the floor, it meant that Angel was fully naked under those sheets. Had that thought passed through Cordelia’s head, she might not have hummed lightly as she made her way to the bathroom to get a much needed shower.
Walking out of the bathroom Cordelia finished toweling off her hair and wished for her blow dryer, but figured it wouldn’t get too tangled if she didn’t completely dry it. She glanced over to the bed and saw that Angel was still sleeping. He had pushed the blankets down so that his chest was bare, but he didn’t look like he was having another nightmare. Cordelia yawned again and walked over to the other side of the bed and looked at her watch sitting on the nightstand. It was almost 1:30 in the morning, no wonder she was exhausted. She looked around the room, where to sleep? The chair did not look at all comfortable, and she didn’t want to be outside the room should Angel have another nightmare.
She looked at the big bed. Ah hell, it wasn’t like anything was going to happen between the two of them and she had to be practical. She was not a creature of the night, and if she did not get her beauty sleep she was really going to earn her title of Bitch tomorrow.
Cordelia turned off the light on the nightstand and waited a moment for her eyes to adjust to the room. She pulled back the covers and got into bed. The blue silk sheets felt cool against her body. She laid back and closed her eyes, letting the day slip away into much needed sleep.
The vampire heard the heartbeat move closer to his, and inside he smiled. She was back, she had not left him, she would keep him safe and warm. He took in a deep breath and began to reassess her scent. He recognized his soap, but underneath was still the cinnamon scent, her scent. He was so tired, even though now was normally the middle of the day for a vampire, he just wanted to stay in bed and sleep away the pain. He heard the sound of Cordelia’s breathing even out and knew she was finally sleeping.
He rolled over onto his stomach and moved his head to rest against her chest, like earlier. His arm heavy over her waist, a possessive hold on the girl. The sound of her heart beat lulling him to sleep, as well as her hand stroking his head. He was so glad not to be in Hell.
Part 5: Top of the Morn…well Afternoon actually…
Cordelia stretched away the sleepiness in her body. She had slept really well, she focused that she was not in her bedroom and recounted the events of yesterday in her head. She looked down to see Angel’s head still on one side of her chest, really nestled in the crook of her shoulder and arm, and his hand cupping softly her left breast.
WHOA, his hand was what!
Cordelia looked down at the sleeping vampire, his hair tussled and eyes closed. He was copping a feel. She had to figure out how to get out of bed without waking him, heck now she didn’t care if he woke up, she could not stay that way with his hand on her. Not with him all naked, no way, especially if being thrust into hell by your girlfriend was not an automatic break-up sign, Buffy would stake her even though she was human.
Cordelia lifted his hand to move out from under the vampire’s hold. He let out a slight growl and shifted his hand down to hold her stomach in place. His body was still cool, but he had absorbed a lot of her body heat during the night and was much warmer than when she first got into the bed with him.
Angel kept his eyes closed. He did not want this dream to end, and held onto the warm body, like a kid holds onto a teddy bear. Mine. It was the single thought in his head.
Cordelia looked down, yep Angel was still sleeping, yep his hand still was possessively holding her, at least he had let go of her breast. She really needed to get up and pee. Plus it had to be at least 10 in the morning. And she didn’t want to miss practice this afternoon, because well she was the head cheerleader, and she was not one to shirk her responsibilities. Okay how does one move a sleeping vampire? She thought, and then it came to her.
She licked her finger and then rubbed his ear…yes a wet willy…it was childish, but hopefully enough to get him to use his arm to move the irritating finger. It worked. She was amazed…his arm moved to push the irritant away from his head. Cordelia didn’t need to be asked twice and she slipped out of the bed and ran for the bathroom.
Cordelia picked up her sneakers and clothes from yesterday. No way was she putting the dirty clothes back on. She took one last look at the sleeping vampire and decided it was probably safe to go out for a short time. She attached her watch back to her wrist and saw that it was closer to one pm. She had to hightail it over to practice. Maybe Angel’s sweats and a t-shirt were a perfect outfit.
She looked to the windows and made sure the drapes were tightly closed and left the bedroom, quietly closing the door. She made her way down the stairs and went to the kitchen. Dying for a glass of OJ. Opening the fridge there were just packets of blood. Yuck, no way no how. She opened the cupboard and pulled down a glass and filled it with tap water. She took a drink and looked around the kitchen. Wonder if there were any snacks at all here. She started opening cupboards, not finding much other than some random dishes and occasional spices and other non-quickly edible things.
She looked around and then put her glass down on the counter. She would need to get some groceries after practice. Angel was in no shape to be left alone for very long, and plus there wasn’t anyone at her house, especially since her housekeeper, Rosario, had taken her 2 week vacation while her parents were in Europe. She scanned the kitchen and found a note pad and pulled a pen from the jar on the back of the counter. She thought for a second that it seemed funny that a vampire would have something as regular a jar of pens on the counter in his kitchen, like a normal person would, and she shrugged, maybe he was more normal than he let on.
Angel –
Went to cheerleading practice and to get some food. I’ll be back before nightfall.
Cor
She put the note on the fridge, as if he woke up he would probably be hungry, and would head to the kitchen. At least that is what she would have done, had she been in hell for 4 months. She was pretty sure she would be hungry. Now she was off to practice and then her house for some clothes and then the market. She had a full afternoon.
“So Cordy, looks like you have on a guys sweat pants…not your usual outfit, and why weren’t you at the Bronze last night. Everyone was there” Harmony said as she and Cordelia took a lap around the track.
Cordelia would have blushed, but instead said confidently, “No Harmony, there is no new man currently, several at my beck and call, but no favorites yet. I was just desperate for workout clothes, Rosario left for vacation without finishing all the laundry so I stole a pair of sweats from my dad’s closet.” Cordelia would never confess to Harmony that she was more than capable of doing her own laundry, and never in a million years reveal that she spent the night in bed with man, much less Angel.
“Bummer, so are we Bronzing it tonight, that is if you have a clean outfit to wear?” Harmony asked, she tried to have the bite that Cordelia had, but didn’t pull it off well.
Cordelia knew the only place she was going to be tonight was at a certain vampire’s mansion. She doubted he was up for a night at the Bronze having well, just gotten back from hell. Why did she feel tied to have to be at Angel’s side during this time.
“So Cordy, the Bronze, tonight?” Harmony asked again, as they stopped at the end of the track, having finished their laps.
“Yah probably, I will meet you there, but I have a few things to take care of first” Cordelia said, not really having any intention of going to the Bronze tonight.
Cordelia grabbed her bag off the bottom rung of the bleachers, and slung it over her shoulder. Pulling out her sunglasses from her bag and taking out her keys. Feeling refreshed from having a good practice and a good workout. She loved running hard and making sure all the girls knew the routines inside and out. “Well Harm, I am off, I need to get cleaned up and then pick up some groceries. Rosario is in so much hot water when she gets back from vacation.”
“Cordy, Mom said you could stay with us while your parents are out of town.” Harmony offered, knowing that it would be great to have one of her best friends over, plus it would be a popularity bonus to add to her scorecard.
“Aw thanks Harm, but I am use to being by myself.” Cordelia was very use to being alone. “If I don’t see you tonight, I will see you tomorrow afternoon at the game.”
“Alright Cordy, see you later.” Harmony said turning toward the locker rooms as Cordelia turned toward the parking lot and her car. She absent mindedly twirled her keys in her hand, she was happy that practice was over, cause that meant she could head home, scratch that the mansion and check on Angel.
Cordelia got to her car and was about to get in when she saw Willow walking toward her from the direction of the library. Must have been a Scooby meeting that she missed. Darn.
“Cordelia, wait, Cordelia please wait” Willow shouted as she saw Cordelia start to get into her car. Cordelia tossed her bag in and waited for the girl as she raced over to her car.
“Cordelia, about last night, we, I ummm” Willow was definitely trying to apologize, yes she was a founding member of the We Hate Cordelia Club, and Xander was the treasurer, but she hated the fact that the group was mean to her last night.
“Yes Willow” Queen C was in full force, and one could tell by that tone of her voice, full of confidence and arrogance.
“Well it is just that, look we don’t think you are a tramp, it just came out of Buffy wrong when she said that you were good vamp bait because of your outfits.” Willow knew she was digging her hole deeper and had no idea how to yet out.
“Yeah, right” Cordelia responded happy that she had sunglasses on to hide the pain in her eyes that their words had hurt last night.
“It is just that since she kill...I mean, since Angel disappeared Buffy hasn’t been herself. It is killing her to know that he had his soul back for good when she had to kill...send him away” Willow said making excuses for her best friend, trying to get Cordelia to collectively forgive them.
Cordelia thought for a moment, she was glad to have confirmation that Angel’s soul was back, but deep down already knew that he had his soul. The vampire she shared a bed with last night was not Angelus. Weird way of thinking…that she had shared a bed with him. She missed Willow’s word that his soul was back for good.
“Sure Willow, but I am a human being with feelings, being called a tramp by both Buffy and Xander was just mean. I am not stupid you know, and I know I am just bait because I am expendable in Buffy’s eyes.” Cordelia finished saying that and realized that she was really hurt by the words the Slayer had about her last night.
“Cordy, you are not expendable, you are an important…part of the team, yah team. Now with Angel gone we need all of the brain power we can get to keep the Hellmouth from taking over Sunnydale.” Willow said with confidence, she could sense that her words were making the cheerleader feel a little better, at least she hoped so.
“Thanks Willow. I appreciate that you don’t think that I am stupid.” Cordelia said honestly. “I will see you in school on Monday, alright.” She opened her car door, she wanted this discussion to be over.
“No, we will see you at the game tomorrow afternoon, heck it is the playoffs and even the demons of the Hellmouth take a break for football season” Willow said beaming, wondering how she was going to get all the Scoobies to go to a football game to support Cordelia.
“Good to hear, hey Wil, I need to go, see you tomorrow.”
Willow stepped away from the car, hoping that she had made amends with the cheerleader. Mean people sucked, and she did not want to be mean. She watched Cordelia start the car and pull away from curb. Cordelia was an important part of the Scoobies, and she was going to get her to be back part of the fold.
Cordelia watched Willow wave happily in her rear-view mirror. Well, at least it was a Scooby who made the first move to apologize. She knew a lot of heated words were pasted back between herself, Buffy and Xander. Plus at some point she would need to tell them that Angel was back from Hell. But not yet, he wasn’t strong enough to face that gang of pain. Especially Buffy, she was sure she would laden him with so much guilt that he would want to go back to hell for the comparable peace.
Now to finish her errands and get back to the vampire in question.
Continue on...