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 6: Back at the Mansion
Angel woke up to an empty bed. He felt around and realized that Cordelia was gone. He listened quietly and realized that she was not in the bedroom, he couldn’t hear her heartbeat. He listened harder and realized she wasn’t on the floor. Why did she leave him? He shook his head a little and realized that the pain had subsided a bit, actually quite a bit and that he was capable of having thoughts.
He looked down at himself and saw that he had little bandages over his chest and taped to his forehead. He pulled them off and saw that his wounds had healed. He stretched the sleep away from his body and rose from the bed. His body was still stiff and slightly sore, but much better than yesterday. He looked around the room. There was no sign of Cordelia. Shower…he would shower then be able to think straight, he shook off the feeling of hunger.
After showering he walked into his closet and looked around. Things had not changed since he had been gone for all that time. Clothes still neatly hung, but something seemed different. He sniffed the air, and realized that Cordelia had been there. He chuckled a little, she was a snoop. It was a strange sound to hear him chuckle. He didn’t chuckle before he went to hell, why was he starting now. He reached over and pulled out a pair of black sweat pants, noticing only one on the pile, he thought he recalled having two pairs and a grey t-shirt. Color was not a big part of his wardrobe.
He wanted to see Cordelia, maybe she was downstairs. Hungry, he was hungry.
He pulled on the loose fitting clothes, not wanting anything restrictive on his body and then headed downstairs. He looked at the grandfather clock on the landing of the staircase and it said 4 o’clock. He wondered if it was right, with no one there to wind it, and realized the hands weren’t moving, so it was definitely not 4 o’clock.
He shouted from the stairs “Cordelia!”
No answer…he continued down the stairs into the living room. “CORDELIA!” He shouted again. He listened quietly and realized that he could not hear her heartbeat anywhere.
He started pacing in the living room. He needed to go find her, had to have her here. She kept him safe. His mind was racing, reverting back to animal instincts he had survived on for so long in Hell. It was a quick turn, back to a primitive, in pain, scared. One night’s sleep and a couple bags of blood would not be enough to bring Angel fully back to normal. He paced back and forth in the living room. His body had no idea what time it was and he moved toward the front door. He pulled open the heavy door and stepped slightly to the side, making sure to stay out of the sun light if there was any.
It was the end of the day and the afternoon rays poured into the room through the open door…to early to go out and search, but soon. His demon instincts thought.
“Oh thanks Angel, how did you know my hands were full?” Cordelia asked breezing into the mansion with her hands full of grocery bags and an overnight duffle.
Angel was in shock when the girl walked in. He had not heard her, had not smelled her. He slammed the door close, blocking out the deadly rays of sun, making Cordelia jump.
“Geez Angel…scared the life out of me.” She turned and looked at him. She was showered and clean and wearing a pair of black pants with a burgundy red sweater set. Her hair was slightly curly and she looked like a million dollars (and she knew it)
Angel moved quickly over to her and squeezed her into a hug tightly. Rubbing his hands up and down her back and breathing in her scent. “You leftme leftme” he mumbled over and over and then other words poured out, “cold.. alone.. leftme.. gone..” There was fear in his voice, something that Cordelia had never heard from the vampire, except for last night at least.
It made her heart swell that he really seemed to need her. But he was getting a bit clingy, and he sounded just this side of crazy, so she tried to bring him back to reality. “Hey Big Guy…need to breath here” She said and tried to pull a way a bit from his grasp. He only held her tighter. She dropped her bags and hugged him hard.
“Okay, Angel, it is okay, I am right here” She stroked the nape of his neck and tried to calm him down. She was so glad she had never had to face hell, and was amazed that he was in as good of shape as he was.
Angel shook his head, tried to get his thoughts back to sanity, it was such a thin line between sanity and lunacy. He released the girl and looked at her, glad his body was now covered in her scent. “Ahh…sorry, just got, well…”
“Crazed, Angel” Cordy said with a smile in her voice, “didn’t you see the note on the refrigerator in the kitchen?”
“No…just been pacing here waiting for you” he said with his head down.
“Angel, have you had anything to eat, I mean drink, I mean…oh Angel have you had any blood today?” Cordy asked, thinking that maybe his insanity had to do with hunger.
He blinked at her, Buffy had never asked him if he was hungry, had never cared if or when he needed food. He thought a moment and shook his head no.
“No wonder you are crazy, I bet you are just hungry. Here, come sit on the couch, I will put away my groceries and come back with food for both of us okay.” She pulled away and grasped his fore arm, pulling him toward the couch.
She pushed him to sit down and then went back to take the groceries into the kitchen.
She was back, Cordelia was back, He was safe. Warm, soft, safe – were the thoughts rolling through Angel’s head. He listened to the sound of her voice from the kitchen but did not hear the words. Cordelia came back, not alone. A few minutes passed and then she entered the living room carrying a tray with a mug on it and a bowl full of steaming liquid.
She sat the tray on the coffee table “So I told Willow that I was smart” Cordelia, continuing the story of her afternoon, of which Angel had heard nothing.
He looked at the tray she had brought in and could smell the warm human blood, he didn’t move, but his body growled slightly at the smell. He didn’t usually feed in front of humans.
Cordy picked up the bowl of wonton soup and started eating, starving from the day. She looked over at Angel in mid-spoon. “Hurry up Big Guy, it is going to coagulate if you don’t hurry. Plus I only think you can microwave blood once before it is not fit to drink” She joked, he needed to feed. He looked pale again, well paler than usual.
He nodded and then hesitantly took up the mug and greedily drank it down. It tasted so good, so alive. His thirst hadn’t subsided.
Cordy looked up from her bowl in time to see Angel chug the mug of blood. He was hungry, starved. Why hadn’t he eaten when he first got up she wondered. Does he even realize he is back was a bigger concern that she had.
“Oh gross Angel, blood mustache” yes it was gross, he licked his lips, and smiled a little
“Is there more?” He asked, his hunger was still there and he could smell her blood pumping so close to him.
“Yes, I will be right back.” Cordy got up from the couch and went back to the kitchen to heat up another bag of blood. He had almost gone through all of the blood she had gotten last night. Well, it had been a while since he had eaten. She started thinking of new stories to convince Harold at the blood bank to keep her fully stocked up for her hungry vampire.
Wait he wasn’t her vampire, he was just a friend. Yes that is right a friend, and we don’t have the hots for our friends. Cordelia kept thinking that over and over again.
She returned to the living room and handed Angel his mug, and this time he drank a little slower. Less like a starving man. She sat down on the couch next to him this time and took up her bowl of soup. They ate and drank in peaceful silence. It was nice not to have to eat alone Cordelia thought.
She sat the empty bowl down on the tray and took the empty mug out of Angel’s hands. He had a far away look on his face, deep in thought, or else maybe he needed to be burped.
“I’m just gonna take these into the kitchen, I will be right back Angel” Cordelia was careful to tell him where she was going, she didn’t want him to panic, or go off the deep end.
He nodded in response and watched her gracefully get up and take the tray and dishes into the other room. He liked having her presence near him. He felt like he could think again, the hunger was so much less than before. And the pain in his body was lessening slowly, as he felt the healing process speed along with the help of human blood, even if it wasn’t fresh blood. Cordelia was quiet in the kitchen but he could hear her movements. Hear the thudding of her heart. It was nice.
She came back out and sat down on the couch next to Angel and looked at him.
“So, how are you feeling now?” She asked. Now that they had eaten the silence was going to be too much for her.
“Better”
“Good, ‘cause I was worried that we would need to have you committed and who knows how we would find an asylum that took vampires, I mean the keeping you out of sunlight thing is key right” Cordelia babbled. His one word answers were going to make her crazy and she needed a little more to go on. If she counted correctly her guess was that he had said maybe 5 full sentences to her since last night.
“Cordelia…” Angel started; he took her small hand in his larger one. Her hand was so warm, it felt so good. “Thank you. I’d be lost without you right now.”
Cordelia smiled her 100 watt smile that warmed him to the core of his cold dead heart. She was so grateful that he had said a complete sentence and that he was glad she was there. “No problem Big Guy, hey you have saved my life on more than one occasion right?” She gave his hand a tight squeeze.
“Will you stay with me for a while longer, I have a feeling if you are not here, I will for get to eat and go crazy again.” Angel pleaded his case to her, she was his life line and he wanted to keep it close at hand. “Please Cordelia; I don’t want to be alone.”
“Well my parents are out of town for the next few, well for a while, and my housekeeper is on vacation. So I only have an empty house to go home to. And you are right; you won’t eat unless I am here, so you do need me. Yes you need me and I will not abandon you now. I brought a bag of clothes because it was my intention to stay until you got better Angel.” She said definitively, as if it was her idea in the first place.
“Good” was all he said and he held her hand tighter.
Part 7: Nightie Pillow Time
Cordelia for the next few hours brought Angel up to speed on what had happened while he was in Hell, Homecoming, and how she lost out on Homecoming Queen to two nobodies, and that there was a new slayer in town, a girl named Faith with dark kinda slutty looks. She almost punched him in the gut at his look of interest in the new slayer after the slutty comment.
“…well you certainly would not be interested in her Angel, she is not blonde.” Cordelia joked with him, part of her wondering if he was only interested in blondes, or maybe it was that a girl was a slayer…on it didn’t matter. Right – right she thought.
“And one more time, you and Harris are dating?” Angel asked, she had glossed over that part of her summer update pretty quickly. For some reason he didn’t like the thought of that boy anywhere near Cordelia. Especially given the way he had seen him pant around after Buffy.
“Well it is totally casual at this point, I mean there has been some broom closet groping sessions, and well we did drive down to Santa Monica in August and hang out at the pier in a totally boyfriend girlfriend way.” -was it casual with Xander, Cordelia thought, but it seemed really serious with him until about two days ago when she hit Angel with her car.
“Broom closet groping…well then it must be serious.” Angel said, hiding a small smile, it had been a long time since he was a teenager.
Cordelia looked up at him from her spot on the couch. She was sitting Indian style facing him and he was relaxed, legs spread wide apart, hands resting behind the back of his head. Did Angel just make a joke?
She couldn’t help herself, she burst out laughing, “If broom closet groping makes a relationship serious, I wonder what sex does?” She asked before engaging her brain. She could not believe that she brought up sex with a vampire who hello, last time he had sex got him sent to hell. (Followed before and after by a period of insanity)
“It makes it complicated” Angel said quietly. He didn’t want to talk about sex, and especially not any sex that she might or might not be having with Xander Harris.
“So…lets skip the awkward silence portion of our evening,” Cordelia said, never one to let things get too heavy, at least if she didn’t want them to go in that direction, “you will not believe what I did.”
Angel took the bait, he couldn’t help himself. “What?” Even though some of the things they had talked about this evening were completely foreign to him, and he had a hard time following some of the slang, he really enjoyed talking with Cordelia.
“Well, as I was telling you that on Homecoming night, I lost to Michelle Blake and Holly Charleston, whatever. The bigger news was that I convinced a redneck vamp that I was nobody to mess with cause myself and Buffy had just kicked some serious ass all over town including his trashy girlfriend. I told him that, and I quote ‘Buffy is just the runner up and I am the Queen, get me mad, what do you think I am gonna do to you.’” Cordelia told him with pride.
“And he just walked away with his tail between his legs?” Angel asked, he had a feeling that Cordelia was nobody to mess with.
“I think he thought I was a slayer. Pfft…just proves that I am not bait girl, that I can defend myself, even if the only thing I had was a spatula.” Cordy said, folding her arms over her chest.
“I don’t like the idea of you facing down vampires Cordelia. Where was Xander in all this, shouldn’t he have been there, protecting you?” Angel said, his protectiveness of the girl showing through.
“No I don’t like facing down vampires, well evil vampires either Big Guy. Xander well I found him and Willow and Oz together in the gym at the dance. They didn’t know anything was going on until it was all over. And my new green satin dress was ruined, with a rip across the thigh that is too high up to cut the dress to cocktail length.” Cordy said frowning at the loss of a beautiful dress that she would have never worn again anyway.
Cordelia stretched and yawned then pulled her arm down and looked at her watch.
“Oh my god it is almost 1 am, I can’t believe we have talked for this long” Cordelia said, smiling, having enjoyed her evening chatting with the vampire on his couch. She yawned again.
“Sorry, my body clock doesn’t mind that it is the middle of the night.” Angel apologized.
“Well hello – you’re a vampire Angel; this is like the middle of the day to you.” Cordy smiled at him again, she didn’t like the sound of him feeling guilty, and the last thing she wanted was for him to go in to brood mode. “Hey if it is your middle of the day, shouldn’t we get some more blood into you?” She asked, concerned about him getting back on a normal eating pattern. She didn’t want to see him fat, but wanted to make sure if he snapped she wouldn’t be on the menu.
Angel looked at her, a little shocked, how had she known that he was hungry again? Did he have the big bad wolf look in his eyes like he wanted to devour her. That thought sparked another though about wanting to devour her in other ways that didn’t involve feeding – he pushed that thought to the back of his mind.
“Actually Cordy, I am a little hungry.” Angel said, again embarrassed that he was talking about feeding in front of her. Buffy would have staked him right then and there, he thought.
“Okay, I am going to heat up a packet, how does B negative sound? And do you want marshmallows in it?” Cordelia asked, standing up from the couch.
Angel looked up at her with a strange look on his face, “Marshmallows?” was the only word he could get out of his shocked mind.
“Well I am going to make myself a mug of hot chocolate before bed, and I always put in marshmallows, I mean doesn’t everyone, and since your blood will be warm, well 98.6 degrees, I thought maybe you’d like to try it.”
“Uhm…thanks for the offer, but until I am back up to normal strength, I am just going to go regular, and not have any additives. Okay?” Who puts marshmallows in blood? He wondered, well it might be interesting…no no not gonna go there.
“Be right back…don’t move” Cordelia bounce out of the living room toward the kitchen. She was happy, really happy, and it seemed like it was a long time since she talked to anyone as a real friend. Harmony had no clue about demons and vampires. And well Willow was Buffy’s best friend, and sometimes her chatter was too much for Cordelia to take. All Xander wanted to do was grope in the broom closet. Giles, well Giles was a grown-up. And Buffy, well Buffy was the competition.
Moving into the kitchen Cordelia put a mug of water into the microwave to heat for her hot chocolate and then opened the fridge and took out a packet of blood. She took an inventory, enough to get through till Monday, but they way he was eating, she would definitely need to stock up on more. Hmmm how does one get a standing order for blood, she thought, well that shouldn’t be any harder than ordering anything else, and Cordy prided her self on being an excellent shopper.
She opened the blood bag and poured it into a mug, squeezing out the last drop. Cordy thought that three days ago she would have been totally grossed out by the whole thing and there would have been no way that she would have done something like that. She took her hot water out of the microwave and put the mug of blood in – 54 seconds on medium setting. Two bags would have been a minute and thirty seconds. Angel needed her and it was a nice feeling. Plus, she had a feeling, he could become her best friend.
She mixed her hot chocolate, added the marshmallows and took the blood out of the microwave. She dropped the instant thermometer into the blood and checked the temperature – 98.6 degrees, just right, after much experimentation on the formula for heating blood. She was so glad he had a microwave, she new she would never succeed in heating it up on a stove, and the whole blood pack against the belly thing well, she didn’t want to have to constantly have one hooked up to her to keep the Big Guy feed.
She walked back into the living room and handed Angel one of the mugs and then started to take a sip of her mug, but stopped short and looked at how quickly Angel had raised the mug to his lips.
He took a big gulp and then made a rather unusual face…and then the hot chocolate mustache appeared on his upper lip, and he gulped down the liquid.
“Ahh, Cordy…why did you put marshmallows in my blood…it taste funny, gross…”
“Oh Angel, don’t start pouting on me here,” trading mugs with him, “I was just joking, you just took a sip of my hot chocolate, your blood is in this mug, and sugar free.” She giggled and took her mug of chocolate and took a sip of the sweet goodness.
Angel took the other mug and then before taking a sip he looked down into the mug and took a deep smell. Blood, definitely blood, no obvious additives. He took a big taste, wanting to get rid of the artificial sugar flavor of her hot chocolate.
“Angel how can you not like chocolate, oh maybe because it is the low fat sugar-free version.” Cordy rationalized, not even considering that the vampire wouldn’t like chocolate.
“Guess your right. Thank you” She knew the exact right temperature to heat up his blood. He liked the human blood so much better than the pig’s blood. He knew it was a dangerous path, but right now he didn’t think he could stomach pig’s blood. He was glad Cordelia was taking care of him.
Cordelia yawned again and put down her mug on the coffee table. Angel cringed a little, because, well there was no coaster under her mug. He had to let it go and not be neurotic; she knew how to heat his blood just right. Heat his blood in more ways than one, the demon side of his brain thought.
“So I scouted around while you were sleeping Angel, and there is really no other place for me to sleep other than with you in your bedroom.” Cordelia said very matter of factly.
Of course there isn’t. Angel thought, he never thought she would consider anywhere else, or at least that is what the possessive vampire had worked out in his head.
“I saw that there was a bedroom on the third floor, but it was all dusty and full of creepy dolls – yuck, and there are no other beds in any of the rooms on the second floor where your suite is located. And I am not sleeping on the couch down here.” Cordelia said giving an inventory of her snooping journey.
“No the third floor is the room that Spike and Dru shared, you are not staying there.” Angel paused, and then the 18th century gentleman in him came out, “I’ll take the couch.” Looking at the couch realizing his legs would probably hang over the end of it, given his height. Wait a minute, in the 18th century he wasn’t a gentleman, hell he had never been a gentleman, even when he was human. He was a womanizing rogue and then the Scourge of Europe. Plus didn’t she say already that she was going to sleep with him. Angel argued in his head, almost missing Cordy’s Pfft.
“Pfft… Angel that is just silly, your bed is huge, and there is nothing going on between us. Plus, hello, you had nightmares last night. If I am upstairs and you are down here, how am I going to wake you up if they start? I need to be next to you.” Cordy didn’t want to be far from him. She was starting too really like the idea of being next to Angel.
Angel gave up a little smile, “Thank you,” he put his mug down on the coffee table, empty now, next to hers, and ignored the fact that there wasn’t a coaster under that mug either because he was happy. Well not blissfully happy, but just plain old glad that she was going to be near him. “Cordy, I am kinda tired, even though it is sort of the middle of the day, I wouldn’t mind going to bed.” Getting a chance to wrap my body around you, feel you, smell you, hear your heart beating against my chest because your are mine. Angel’s possessive demon side thought.
“Sounds like a plan Big Guy, but no sleeping naked tonight, okay?” Cordy standing up and taking his hand, pulling him up from the couch.
“Well I usually….” Angel started, he couldn’t be that lucky, to get to sleep naked with her, maybe she usually slept naked.
Cordelia gave him an evil look, one that only girls know how to give guys saying don’t even try it Mister.
“Right, boxers it is” Angel said, follow her up the stairs to his bedroom.
“Angel, you brush your teeth?” Cordelia asked from the bathroom as she was brushing her own sparkly whites, and noticing that he had a toothbrush and toothpaste in there. She had changed into soft pajama shorts and a Sunnydale High t-shirt. She had thought for a moment about leaving her bra on, but then decided that she would never get a good nights rest if she left it on, so off it came. She was glad that the Mansion wasn’t cold though.
“Sure, don’t want to loose any of them; it is not like they would grow back. Plus blood breath is gross.” He shouted back casually from the bedroom, having already changed out of his clothes and donning a pair of black silk boxer shorts. He was folding his clothes neatly and putting them in the hamper to be washed. Yes Angel is neurotic.
Cordy looked in the mirror at her clean, washed face and was happy with her reflection. Hmmm Angel has a sense of humor, who knew, she thought. She wondered how he shaved or got his hair styled without having a mirror. That would be on the list of just wondering questions she would hit Angel up for eventually. Tonight she was just too tired.
Cordelia walked out of the bathroom and saw that Angel had gotten into the big bed. The blankets rested loosely around his hips, revealing his naked chest. Oooo that was a nice sight of salty goodness just before bed…bad thoughts Cordy…Angel maybe a hottie but he is a no-bone hottie. She walked over to the bed and pulled the band out of her hair letting it loose, and action that made Angel gulp, and then she got into bed. She laid down on her side, and rested her head against the pillow.
“Well these eyes have gotta close,” Cordy said, yawning again, “nite Big Guy.”
Angel looked down at her. She was so beautiful, and she was his friend. He really treasured today as one of the better in his 240 some odd years of walking the planet. He reached over her body and turned off the bedside lamp light. Dropping the room into complete darkness, thanks to the killer sunlight blocking curtains. That is when he noticed a light blue glow coming from the bathroom.
“Ahh, Cordy, did you leave something plugged in the bathroom?” He asked, not sure if there was some modern appliance in there that was going to catch on fire and kill them in their sleep.
“Yes Angel, it is a night light. Human here, no super-vision, you don’t want me to kill myself in the middle of the night if I have to get up and go to the bathroom do you?” Cordy said in a tired voice, she had done a lot of explaining today to him about human things. He really was out of touch with humanity, even though he had had his soul for almost 100 years.
“Right…good night Cordelia” Angel said slipping down into the bed, a little happy for the small blue light, cause it was just enough for him to be able to watch her as she slept, with his super vampire night vision. He then closed his eyes, finding peace in being able to count her heartbeats as they slowed down and she went to sleep.
About an hour later, both Cordelia and Angel had moved toward the center of the bed in there sleep. Angel, subconsciously, wrapped his arms around her body and pulled her warmth closer to him, not waking but finding comfort in her touch and nearness. Cordelia relaxed even more in her sleep once Angel pulled her into his embrace. Both fell deeper into sleep, neither having felt so safe or secure in a very long time.
Part 8: Sunday afternoon
Cordelia had on her cheerleading outfit, and was ready to lead the cheerleaders to victory, even if the football team didn’t exactly have a chance. She clicked the button on her remote and unlocked her car with a little beep beep sound. She looked back at the dilapidated Crawford St mansion and smiled. It was an ugly place, amazing that it hasn’t been torn down. She opened the car door and sat down and put the key into the ignition, then looked back at the door to the Mansion. Angel was standing there, and he waved good bye.
Good thing the front door is an eastern exposure, and it was about 2pm in the afternoon, Cordelia thought. Cordy started the engine and the little convertible’s engine purred to life. She smiled at Angel, waved and then backed up and pulled away from the Mansion.
Cordelia thought back and smiled to herself. She had had fun last night, even if it wasn’t a night out at the Bronze. She also felt really rested, she was so happy that Angel had not had any nightmares like the first night. Granted it was a little disconcerting when she woke up around 9 in the morning to find that she was entangled in the vampire’s arms. Her head resting on one of his arms, while his other hand was placed on the flat of her belly, her back against his chest. Her leg bent with one of her feet flat against his leg.
When had they gotten all cuddly she wondered? She carefully had crawled out of the bed, not wanting to wake him. Almost as soon as she moved he had grabbed the pillow from her side of the bed and hugged it without waking up. She almost thought he had sniffed the pillow. But it was hard to tell in the darkened room, just the glow of a nightlight from the bathroom.
Driving down Crawford Street, Cordy turned down assorted side streets to get her to the high school. She looked at the clock on her dashboard and saw that it was almost 2:30 and the game started sharply at 3:15. She hated being early or late to anything. Well maybe a little late was okay, a girl had to know how to make an entrance.
It was a cloudy day, and looked as though rain threatened. Hopefully it would hold off until after the game was over. The last thing that Cordy wanted was to have to cheer and smile in a downpour. She pulled her car into the student lot of the school and shut off the engine. She took a look in the rear-view mirror at her appearance and was pleased. She turned on her head cheerleader smile and stepped out of her car. Almost at the same moment, Oz, Willow’s werewolf boyfriend pulled in next to her. Cordy quickly started walking toward the field, not wanting to have small talk with the Scooby gang after the Friday night argument.
“Cordy – hey Cor wait up” Shouted Xander Harris as he sprinted from Oz’s van to catch up with Cordelia. Behind him the rest of the gang – Willow, Oz and Buffy were following. Willow as chatting up a storm to the Oz and Buffy was following behind a bit, as if she had been coerced into coming to the game.
Cordelia kept walking, she was not going to be late for the game. Without turning around she said loud enough for everyone to hear, “I am not speaking to you Xander Harris.”
Xander’s quick sprint had gotten him so he was walking right next to Cordelia. He was keeping up with her and then started to talk very quickly, “Look Cordy, I am sorry, you shouldn’t have run out so mad, I would have made it up to you.” He was giving her a puppy dog look.
Cordy thought a moment, “What you would have apologized by groping me in the broom closet?” She asked sarcastically.
“Well, yes, I mean no, I mean well I would have apologized on Friday night. It was just that, well Buffy has had a lot to deal with for the past few months, and well you were a bit mean Cordy.” He started. He didn’t know it was a fatal error bringing up Buffy.
“Buffy has had a lot to deal with…Pfft we all have stuff to deal with Xander.” Cordelia said, she had stopped, about halfway to the field, she was going to have a proper argument with Xander, and then put on her best smile so the random students walking past wouldn't realize she was ready to start arguing.
“Look it is not like Friday night was the first time you too her side over mine. I don’t think a day has gone by with out you quoting Buffy or saying something to the effect of ‘we should wait for Buffy’ since she got back”
“Well Cordy, we aren’t really that good at the whole slaying thing and I don’t want you hurt, plus as bait you don’t get as dirty” Xander added that last part, even though he knew that was far from the truth.
“Pfft…then you have not seen my dry cleaning bill.” Cordy folded her arms over her chest. Xander was cute, even when she was mad at him, and she had to give him bonus points for not wanting to see her get hurt.
Xander dropped his head a little and put his hands on her on her shoulders, “I like you Queen C, and want to keep you in one piece.”
“Look can we stop fighting, I missed not seeing you last night at the Bronze.” Xander continued.
“I had other things to do, my whole life does not revolve around Scooby meetings.” Cordelia said. Cordelia thought his hands felt really warm on her shoulders, almost too warm.
“Look, how about a truce. After the football game we will head over to the dinner and I will buy you a turkey burger and fries.” Xander said, what he really wanted to do was give her a great big kiss on the mouth, but wasn’t sure he was that far out of the doghouse yet.
“And a chocolate milkshake?” Cordelia asked, she didn’t want to stay mad at Xander any longer. After having such a nice weekend she just wanted to stay happy.
“Sure, as far as my $8 and 34 cents can go Cordy, it is all yours!” Xander gave her a great big smile.
Cordelia leaned in and pecked him on the cheek, “Come on, lets see if Sunnydale can win this game against Bayside” She took his hand and started back on her path toward the football field.
Willow let out a great big smile and sigh of relief as she saw that it looked like Xander and Cordy had made up. Pretty soon they would be one big happy group of friends again. She liked it when things were not all out of wack. If only she could figure out a way to get Buffy out of her deep blue funk. Buffy put on the happy fake smile for everyone, but Willow knew that her heart was still broken over having to kill Angel. Willow thought for a second, and was really glad she never told Buffy that she had taken the happiness clause out of the soul curse for Angel.
It was the middle of the second quarter when the rain started to drizzle. Sunnydale was down by two touchdowns and Cordy and her cheerleading squad were shouting their hearts out. But as the game progressed the rain fell harder and the weather got colder. Lightening crashed and the rain fell in a steady downpour. By the fourth quarter, the stands were all but empty, as now Sunnydale was down three touchdowns and there was only the 4 minutes left in the game.
Cordy shivered in her cheerleading outfit. Even though they had donned rain gear her hair was wet, and the team was loosing. This was not turning out to be a very fun Sunday. Well it has started out good, at least waking up in Angel’s arms had been good, Cordelia thought to herself before she could stop the thought or the warm feeling it put in the pit of her stomach.
Looking up in the stands, she saw that Xander was the only Scooby left at the game. The other’s had bailed when the weather got really bad. She smiled, he was really trying to work on getting her forgiveness. Xander Harris had clearly earned a few brownie points today. At that thought the final horn sounded. Sunnydale 7, Bayside 28. Not the best of games for the razorbacks.
Xander bounded down the bleachers and stood in front of Cordelia. He was wet and looked cold.
“Xander, you braved it through till the end, you are the best!” Cordelia said and gave the wet boy a hug.
Ahh Chooo -- Xander sneezed over Cordelia’s shoulders. And then he sneezed again.
“Well, looks like the rain did not agree with me too much.” He said standing back a little and wiping his nose on his sleeve. The rain falling down harder now.
“Come on Xander, lets get out of this rain okay, I am hungry.” Cordy grabbed his hand and the two teenagers ran to the parking lot to her car and out of the rain.
“Xander you really are not going to eat all of that are you?” Cordy asked as she saw the waitress put down Xander’s order. A double bacon cheeseburger, double order of fries, with a side of chili and an extra large Coke. “I mean I know you’re a growing boy, but do you want your arteries to fully harden before you turn 18?”
“Well it is brussel sprout and liver night at the Harris household, so I gotta get some food in me before dinner.” Xander said dipping a french fry into his chili.
Cordelia picked up her turkey burger and took a bite. It had turned into almost a tradition of Sunday after football at the diner with Xander. They had done this late afternoon snack thing for every home game this season. She took a sip of her milkshake and wished that she had ordered hot chocolate instead. She was still cold from being out in the rain, later tonight she would have her hot chocolate with Angel.
“So tell me Cordy, what did you do last night?” Xander asked. He had tried calling her multiple times last night and had just gotten the machine at her house. Her cell phone wasn’t on either all night.
“I had a long talk with an old friend.” Cordy said, not divulging very much information.
“How come your phone wasn’t busy then? I tried to call you at least 12 times last night, even close to midnight.” Xander questioned. He had a sinking feeling in his stomach that she was holding something back from him.
Continue on...