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.Continued...
“I was talking live and in person and not on the phone Xander. You know that I do have more than you guys for friends, don’t you?” Cordelia said quickly, she needed to get off this subject quick. She hated lying about anything, but it she was a little leery about how Xander would react to Angel being not dead, well not gone. Cordy thought it might be best to play this close to the vest; at least until she was sure Angel had a full grip on reality.
“Ohh, okay so you ready for the SAT’s next weekend?” Xander decided to change the topic. He could tell when Cordelia was not going to talk, and this is one of those times.
“Yeah, I have decided not to wig out about it, I do well on standardized testing.” Cordelia said confidently. She also planned on doing some practice tests during the week. She was a smart girl, and wanted to go away for college.
Xander and Cordelia continued with their small talk for through dinner. It felt like a different talk than the one she had had with Angel the night before. She really didn’t get the same level of joy out of talking with Xander as she had talking with Angel last night. Maybe it was that Xander’s eyes kept wandering down to her chest, rather than focusing on her face. It bothered her a little, but she had gotten use to how he appreciated her assets.
The waitress dropped the check on the table and Xander took out his wallet and put a twenty down to pay for the meal. Cordelia decided that tonight would not be dutch, he owed her an apology, and a turkey burger and chocolate shake was a cheap way out for him.
“So you want a ride home Xander?” Cordelia asked. It had stopped raining, and Xander’s house was only a few blocks from the diner, so it would only be a bit out of her way.
“Sure, wanna take a drive up to the Point and you know…make out” Xander asked, hoping he was now completely out of the dog house. Not realizing that his words were potentially going to put him back in.
“Xander, it is a school night, and plus you are not completely out of the dog house. I expect a few more days of groveling before we go back to gropfest.” Cordy told him point blank, annoyed that he was well that forward.
“Sure, no I know…hey I will take that ride home if I haven’t messed everything up.” Xander said sheepishly.
“Come on…it is getting late” Cordelia said. Plus she had to stop at the blood bank and pick up Angel some dinner.
Cordy pulled in front of Xander’s parent’s house. A simple house that had a neat front yard and a boring façade. She put her car in park but didn’t shut off the engine. She turned to Xander, “Well good night, I am glad we had dinner, and glad you stayed for the whole game Xander.”
“Me too Cordy, me too.” Xander said. He saw a small smile come to her face and took the opportunity and leaned over and kissed her gently on the lips. It was an innocent kiss, a kiss of a young inexperienced man.
Cordelia didn’t pull away, it was nice, but no stars or fireworks. She thought absently how much longer she was going to continue to date Xander if fireworks when they kissed were missing.
Xander leaned away from her and smiled. “Night Ms Chase.” He opened his car door an got out. Happy with himself for getting out of the dog house with Cordy.
Cordy watched him walk to the front door and then put the car in gear and pulled back onto the road. The rain had started up again and she sneezed herself. The last thing she wanted to do was catch a cold. She needed a hot shower and a warm bed. First stop though the blood bank.
Pulling into the lot of the Sunnydale Red Cross/Blood Bank, Cordelia was hoping it was Harold’s night off and she could use the same routine on whoever was watching the counter. She grabbed her purse and looked in her wallet. Not enough cash to bribe anyone. She would have to be charming.
Cordy got out of the car and pulled her raincoat tighter around her, realizing that looking like a cheerleader would not help her convince anyone she worked at the hospital. She pushed open the door and walked to the counter. Harold from Friday night was there. He smiled when he saw Cordelia walk in.
“Hey Harold how are you?” Darn it …why did he have to work tonight too. Cordelia put on her best smile.
“Good, hey I didn’t catch your name last time.” Harold said. He adjusted his glasses on his face and moved a lock of slightly greasy hair from his forehead. He was the stereotypical geeky kid, at least in Cordelia’s opinion.
“It is Cordelia, I volunteer over at the hospital.” Yah right, liar liar pants on fire. Cordelia really hated lying.
“Wow that is good; I volunteer my time here too.” He smiled, a goofy, smile, amazed this really pretty girl was talking to him. Girls like her normally ignored guys like him.
“Yah, well it is the least I can do. Hey, I got sent on an errand by the lab, they need me to pick up some blood for them that didn’t get called in.” Cordelia said, hoping he would fall for it.
“Sure, what do you need?” Harold asked, the lab guys were always taking advantage of the volunteers.
“Oh what did they say this time?” Cordelia was trying to remember what type seemed to be Angel’s favorite…”That is right, silly me, 6 pints of O positive and 6 pints of B negative.” That should cover Angel through till Wednesday, then she really need to figure out how to get it just delivered to the Mansion.
“No problem Cordelia, let me just go fill the cooler, be right back” Harold disappeared into the back room.
Cordelia looked around the blood bank. There were the random Public Service Announcement advertisements up, “Donate a pint…save a life” with a picture a healthy young man and girl smiling in the park. What that had to do with blood was beyond her. The place smelled very sterile, kinda like that hospital smell. She really needed to figure out how to get delivery to the mansion.
Harold returned from the back with a cooler, again full of blood. He put it up on the counter and then pulled out a form to fill out. Cordelia looked at the cooler and opened it up, a little curious now that she wasn’t in such a rush to feed a crazed and starved vampire. She looked in and saw the bags of blood neatly stacked one in front of the other. Upon closer inspection she saw that the top bag had an expiration date of tomorrow. Then she pushed one bag to the side and saw that the next bag had a similar expiration date.
“Hey Harold, all this blood is about to expire.” Cordelia was not happy, he was trying to pass bad blood onto her, and if she was nothing else, she was not about to bring back stale or worse rotten blood.
“Well yah Cordelia, the lab for testing always uses blood that is just about expired.” Harold said continuing to fill out the forms.
At that moment Cordelia reached out her hand and put it on top of his to stop his writing. “Harold wait.” Think Cordy, think…..
“What, I just need to know which department number to fill in and then I will carry this out to your car.” The pretty girl was touching him, Harold thought and smiled.
“ah…but…oh…Harold, the lab technician was really specific, he said it had to be fresh blood, like from today.” Cordy said quickly. Pleaseworkpleaseworkpleasework
“Oh, it must be for specific research, the lab knows that there is an extra charge for new blood?” Harold asked looking at Cordelia, sure that he was just about to get up the nerve to ask her for coffee.
“Oh yah, definitely, big research grant, money no object, and could be spent on whatever was necessary. At least that is what the lab tech told me along with his order.” Gosh I could be an actress, yes I am acting and not lying.
“Well they really should fill out a requisition so we have the right stuff on hand, or can have it ready for pick-up / delivery.” Harold was annoyed at the hospital; they never got their paperwork straight. “Yah know a guy volunteers his time and then the blood bank administrator gets all mad if there are goofs in stupid paperwork. Heck I bet they don’t get straightened out for months.” He vented, and was happy that the girl was listening to him…no one ever listened.
“They are that way at the Hospital too.” Cordy sympathized with him, even if it was a make-believe volunteer position. Heck her helping the Scooby gang should qualify as volunteer work; at least they tried to keep people from going to the hospitals and needing blood.
“Nobody really appreciates volunteer work do they Harold. So do you think I could put in a standing order, so that I don’t get in trouble for messing up like I did the other night. Boy did I get yelled at.” Cordelia smiled a huge smile, the deal was almost cinched.
“Sure, now if your lab needs fresh blood, you will need to stop by twice a week to do a pick up.” Harold reached under the counter and pulled out the necessary form. He would schedule her pick-ups for the evenings that he worked at the blood bank. Harold was not ready to ask her for coffee yet, but maybe would get his nerves up and ask later in the week.
“Oh that would be great, Harold, I sooo appreciate it.” Big Smile – maybe worthy of a daytime Emmy award
“Sure, how much do you want and what types?” Harold asked, taking in her smile at him. Definitely will be have the balls by Thursday to ask her to coffee. Maybe he could meet her at the hospital cafeteria.
“Lets see, well it varies you know, depends on what they are working on. How about 10 pints of whatever is the freshest on the given day. And why don’t we schedule Sundays and Thursdays around now, or maybe just after school, I mean before my volunteer schedule starts.”
“Great not a problem. All set, I will just finish the paperwork and then plan on seeing you on Thursday.” Yes, by Thursday he would definitely be able to ask for coffee with her.
“Great, and Harold can you freshen up this order please?” Cordelia asked sweetly, happy that the ordering of Angel’s liquid diet was taken care of and on a more of a regular basis. She was going to have to remember to tell Daddy’s accountant to write a big donation check to the blood bank. It was the least the Chase family could do considering Angel had saved her life on more than on occasion.
“Oh of course…be right back” Harold took away the offending, almost spoiled blood, and practically ran into the back.
Cordelia looked down at her watch; it was almost 9 pm, where had the day gone. Well, she bet that Angel was probably a hungry puppy by now, and if his eating patterns today were like the past 2 days, he would be out of blood and pacing.
Harold walked out of the backroom carrying her cooler. “Let me take this out to your car, it is heavy Cordelia” He said, wanting to show he was a gentleman.
“Of course, thank you so much Harold.” Cordelia smiled at Harold, he was a cute dork and he helped her so she liked him.
And the night-time Emmy goes to….Cordelia Chase!
Part 9: Pacing a path into the carpet
Angel had watched Cordelia drive away that afternoon. A little sad that he couldn’t go to the football game with her but the whole chance of sunshine thing, even with the rain could result in instant combustion. Why didn’t Ice Hockey have cheerleaders. Now there was a sport he enjoyed. Even though he had a soul, he still liked a spot of violence. Plus the games were played at night – indoors.
Angel closed the door and walked through the living room of the mansion. The place was a disaster area. The being abandoned for more that four months did it. He hated dust and grime. He didn’t mind dark broody places, but dirt was more evil than even he was in his Angelus days.
The mansion was cold. That was his first thought, not that the temperature meant much to him, hell he had no body temperature. But he didn’t want it to be cold when Cordelia got back from the high school event. Lightening crashed, and then the sounds of rain started to hit the roof and windows harder. Gloom, it was a gloomy dark Sunday. Angel’s favorite type of day.
He looked around and saw that there was plenty of broken wooden furniture around that could be used to start a fire in the fire place. He wanted to make sure it was comfortable for Cordelia. She had really cared about him and he wanted to show her how much it meant to him. Funny…caring about someone other than Buffy was a new feeling for Angel.
He moved around the mansion, picking up broken pieces of wood and stacking them by the fire place. He was glad that there was already a pile of logs, thinking back and remembering how much Drusilla had always liked a roaring fire.
Dru said things like ‘she could see things clearer in the dancing flames’, and then would spin in front of the fire until she was dizzy. Angel knew Dru would never have lasted long as a vampire had he and Spike not taken care of her. He was pretty sure she would have wandered out into the sun light to better hear the birds, if they weren’t there to watch her.
Wait…he didn’t take care of Dru anymore…he was not responsible for his childe now that he had his soul. Angel rationalized. Time seemed to blur for him the past couple of days. It was confusing sorting out thoughts he had as Angelus from thoughts when he had his soul. The time in Hell was just a blur of pain, and he tried not to think about that. He dropped the load of kindling onto the ledge next to the fire place.
The clock in the foyer struck 5 bells.
Strange he didn’t think he had set the clock, much less wound it. Angel thought, then smiled, Cordelia taking care of him again. Hopefully she would be home soon. He wanted to hear her voice talking to him. Plus he was a little hungry and liked how she made him warm blood. He wanted her to take care of him. Plus with the rain she won’t stay out very long.
The clock in the foyer struck 6 bells.
Angel got up from the couch and put down the book he was thumbing through. He wasn’t really reading, just trying to pass the time faster. He looked around the room. Maybe the game went into overtime. Did cheerleaders have to stay for the whole game if it was raining so hard? He wished he could hear her heartbeat or smell her coming closer. Angel went over to the front windows of the living room and pulled the dark curtains open to watch the rain fall and watch for Cordelia. The living room had an eerie cast with just the natural light of early twilight pouring into the room and no electric lights on. Angel didn’t mind the gloom, he could see just fine. Angel absentmindedly rubbed his stomach...hungry.
The clock in the foyer struck 7 bells.
Angel looked up from the window and around at the darkened room. It had gotten a lot colder in there. What time did she say the game was supposed to start. Maybe they had a rain delay. Angel paced in front of the window. No, football they play no matter what the weather is doing. Rain makes the game more interesting. Maybe it started late for another reason.
Better get the fire started, Cordelia is going to be cold when she gets back. Angel moved to the fire place and started building up the kindling into a small pile and crumpled an old newspaper underneath and lit the fire, careful not to get his hands too close to the flames. He watched the fire start to light and staring into it he saw a vision of the hell dimension. Yes his hell had included fire, don’t they all he wondered. He pushed that dark time to the back of his mind and focused on building the fire. He wanted to have Cordelia feel welcome in his home, even if it was a dilapidated mansion. Angel stood and watched the fire start to come to life. He paced in front of the fire place and hoped Cordelia would be home soon…HUNgry.
The clock in the foyer struck 8 bells.
The fire was raging in the fireplace as Angel chucked another log onto the fireplace and he watched the flames build. The living room was very warm, and brightly light by the fireplace.
She has left me.
Pacing in front of the fire place. Hands in his pockets head down, looking at the window every few moments.
HUNGRY.
Back and forth, the sound of the clock in the foyer was ticking so loudly.
Cordelia is not coming back.
Sound of a car driving past…not hers…
Where is she?
Pacing.
HUNGRY.
She is gone, I scared her, I must have grossed her out by feeding in front of her.
Angel picked up another log and tossed it into the fire place. The fire roaring higher.
Has to be warm in here, that way she will come back to me and stay.
Pacing, feeling the carpet under his feet, memorizing the path he was taking.
HUNGRY.
She is mine, why did I let her go, what if she left me?
HUNGRY.
The clock in the foyer struck 9 bells.
Hate that clock.
Hungry.
Angel moved over to the window and stared out into the rain.
Maybe she met up with friends…friends who breathed and have a body temperature.
Angel folded his arms over his chest and looked harder out the window.
Tick tock tick tock
Shut up.
Tick tock tick tock
HUNGRY.
Then a pair of car lights turned up into the driveway. Angel recognized the sound of the little sports car as it quickly drove up the long drive.
CordeliaCordeliaCordelia
Angel thought he could hear her heartbeat when the car’s engine stopped and she got out of the car. He saw her run around to the trunk and pull out a box and then make a run for the front door.
MineMineMineMine
Angel went to the door, and pulled it wide open.
HungryHungryHungry
Cordelia smiled at him and quickly moved into mansion foyer. She glanced up at the clock, glad she had wound it, it was now 9:30 pm. She set the cooler down on the table by the door and turned around.
“Hello Ange..” was all she got out as she saw him coming at her in full vamp face, he pulled her into a fierce hug. She was freaked…what was going on with him.
As suddenly as he moved to take her in his arms, once he had her there he took one smell of her and pushed her away.
Cordelia stumbled back, in shock over what was going on. “Angel snap out of it, it is me Cordelia” She reached into her raincoat pocket, hoping that she had a stake in there, Angel looked a lot crazed.
Angel let out a growl. Scarred…her heart was racing and he could hear it. She smelled like another boy, a familiar boy. Harris, the boy had his hands all over her. Mine.
Cordelia decided that she need to shake him out of it, whatever madness was gripping him now. She walked back over to him and wrapped her arms around his chest.
“Angel, you are safe, it is okay, it is me, it is Cordy” She said, squeezing him harder, wanting him snap out of it, and quickly. Cordelia moved her hands up and down his back rubbing her.
Angel leaned in and took a deep smell of her, getting past the smell of the boy, and nuzzled his head into her hair and neck. He was calmed by her heartbeat and her holding him. She was cold and wet. He felt her small hands on his back, stroking, comforting….all the things to make him feel safe again. He wrapped his hands tightly around her.
“It’s okay Big Guy, I am back, a little late, but back.” Cordelia said in a quiet tone. Probably not a good idea to say anything to loud to a crazed vampire who had you in his grasp. Not a bad place to be.
Angel dropped his head to her shoulder and let out a sigh as he breathed her in. His demon face subsided and he spoke…”I am so sorry…” was all he could say.
Cordelia moved her hand up and stroked his head. She should have skipped the football game, he had only been back a few days, and no where near normal. She wondered if he would ever be normal from his stay in hell.
“No Angel I am sorry, I was late, I lost track of time.” She felt him start to relax a bit, and was happy she was able to get through to him. She needed to get him back to normal soon or else she was going to have to get use to having the begeesus scared out of her.
“…you left me” Angel said, his words stilted.
“Yes, but I told you dorkus, that I would be back after the game.” Cordelia told him, trying to humor him back to sanity. She was worried when he only spoke in limited words, worried he was reverting back to the mess he was the first night she found him.
“scared…hungry” Angel said. He loosened his grip on Cordelia so he could look at her. She was soaking wet, and he could tell she was still a little scared. At least her heart rate had almost returned to normal so she wouldn’t smell so, well, tasty.
“Angel…have you eaten since I left?” She looked up at him; it was so hard to tell anything with his pale complexion.
“No”
“Angel, you do know how to use the microwave?” Cordelia said in a voice that dripped of chastising him.
“You make my blood right.” Angel said, sounding like a 7 year old boy.
Cordelia sighed. At least it was a complete sentence. “Okay, I am going to go heat some up for you, come with me” She grabbed his hand and dragged him to the kitchen. She ignored the roaring fire in the fire place, as she had one destination…feeding him before he feed on her.
“Okay, I will always make sure there is blood in your fridge Angel.” She pulled him to the counter top and had him sit on the stool. The bright florescent lights of the kitchen made Angel look even paler and did nothing for the drowned rat look she was now sporting.
Cordelia reached into the cupboard and took out two mugs. She quickly went to the fridge and pulled out 3 bags of blood and sliced them one of them open and poured it into the smaller of the two mugs and quickly put it in the microwave and set the time to 54 seconds and started the machine. She then poured the other two bags into the larger mug and set it on top of the microwave. If he hadn’t eaten since she left, then he was in starvation mode again.
Angel stared at her and just watched her move quickly through his kitchen. The motions were familiar, he had done them himself, but it felt like it was something he had done a hundred years ago.
Ding.
Cordy opened the microwave and pulled out the mug and reached over and handed it to Angel.
“Drink” She said. Stupid vampire. Why did he have to scare her to death like that. She turned around and put the larger mug in the microwave and set the timer for a minute-thirty. Her guess is that he would be done with the first pint before the timer dinged again.
Angel’s senses went alive at the smell of warm blood. He drank down the yummy human blood quickly. So hungry, so good. He thought. Angel finished the pint quickly and looked at Cordelia.
She takes care of me, she didn’t leave. Mine.
He set the mug down on the counter. Cordelia quickly took it away and put it into the sink. The microwave dinged again and in a quick motion she pulled it out and quickly handed over to him. Careful not to spill any on her.
“Drink. I need to get the blood that I got tonight. You stay there and drink a little slower.” She ordered him in her in-charge voice. She walked out of the kitchen through the living room. She noticed that the fire was roaring nicely and the room was warm and comfortable. She moved into the foyer and closed the wide open door against the rain and cold.
She took off her wet raincoat and hung it on the coat rack. She was chilled to the bone. She should have come right home and not goofed off in the rain all night. She would be luck she didn’t get a cold from this latest adventure. She picked up the cooler of blood and quickly moved back to the kitchen.
Angel was sitting in the same spot. Slowly drinking the second mug of blood. Now that his initial hunger had been sated he was starting to think again. Not feeling so crazy. Why hadn’t he done this himself? He knew how to use the microwave.
Cordelia opened the refrigerator and stacked the new blood bags behind the 2 that were left from her first blood run on Friday night. She pulled out the carton of orange juice and then poured herself a glass. She turned and looked at Angel.
“Cordy…I am….” Angel started
“Don’t you dare say you are sorry, I don’t want to hear apologies from you. Angel you have been back from a horrible experience for what 3 days and I took off and left you. So no apologies.” Cordy hated that he had gone through something so horrible.
“Okay, thank you for feeding me.” Angel said shyly. He put his hand on hers that rested on the countertop close.
Cordy took another sip of her orange juice. His hands weren’t cold, must be because of the fire in the other room, warming his body. Or maybe it was the warm blood…oh gross.
“That is fine Big Guy. But from now on if you feel hungry I need you to come in here and warm up a packet of blood. I don’t want a crazed starving vampire showing up when I come through the front door okay?” She gave him a warm easy smile and squeezed his hand.
“No more crazyAngel, I promise Cordelia.” Angel said, her smile melting him.
“Good. Now finish your dinner.” She smiled, she liked being in charge.
He moved the mug to his lips and drank down more of the blood. Human blood felt so good flowing through his dead veins. With each sip he felt like reality was closer to him.
Cordelia shivered, finally the adrenalin in her system settling down as the vampire relaxed and she realized how chilled to the bone she was from the day spent in the rain.
“Cordy, you are soaked through. Why didn’t you come home when it started raining so hard?” Angel asked, wanting to know more details about why she smelled like the Harris boy when she first walked into his arms.
“As Head Cheerleader it is my responsibility to stay to the end of the game, regardless of the weather. The fate of the sport. Then Xander and I grabbed dinner, I went to the blood bank and got your dinner, and then I came home to you.” Cordelia absent mindedly realized that she had referred to the mansion as home more than once in the past few minutes.
Angel didn’t say anything as he took the last sip of his blood and got up and put the mug in the sink, rinsing out the blood so Cordelia wouldn’t have too.
“Angel, I need to go get warm. I am going to go upstairs and take a bath, I need to warm up. Will you be okay for a while by yourself?” Cordelia asked.
“Sure, I will just read down hear for a little while.” Angel felt good she was going to stay again tonight.
“Good, then I am going to get cleaned up, I am sure I smell bad” Cordelia smiled and moved away from the counter toward the living room.
You won’t once you get that Harris boy smell off your body.
“Enjoy your bath Cordy.” Angel said and smiled slightly.
Part 10 – Bathtime
Cordy started the water in the bathroom into the large old fashion tub. She loved the fact that it had those dragon claw feet and that it was deep. She adjusted the water to the right temperature and then poured in the bubble bath. Yawning a bit she was tired from the day. Not wanting at all to go to school tomorrow. She couldn’t wait until she was done with High School and start her real life. One far away from Sunnyhell, maybe she would go back east to school. Boston was nice and she was sure she could get into Harvard or Boston University. She would need to do well on the SAT’s this coming weekend. Have to put up some quality study time, and avoid any bait duties for Miss Likes to Fight.
Cordelia stripped out of the cheerleading uniform and stepped into the warm water. Slipping in her body immediately relaxed. The gentle smell of citrus of her bubble bath. It was pretty mild as she really didn’t like to smell like fake flowers and preferred the fruity smells. She sponged her body and cleaned away the stress of the day and really stress of the past hour. She need Angel to start getting back to normal. But what was normal for a vampire. Well biting and drinking and killing. Maybe she would settle for just less crazy and not normal. Heck who wants to be normal anyway. She rested her head against the back of the tub and closed her eyes.
Angel took the stairs two at a time. He had forgotten that the bedroom was probably as cold as the rest of the mansion. He had an arm load of fire wood and figured he should warm up the bedroom for her when she got out of the tub. He wanted to make up for being a lunatic earlier. He set the wood down at the fire place and started making another fire.
Cordy, got up out of the tub. She wrapped a towel around her body and pulled the plug to empty the tub. She moved to the mirror and wiped the steam away. She felt warm and clean, her two favorite things. She plugged in the blow dryer and started drying her hair, not a good thing to sleep in wet hair after being out in the cold for so long. She worked the brush through her long hair and felt the warmth of the air drying her hair. She liked the mansion, it was not as modern as her house, but it was nice in its own way. She finished brushing out her hair and then took her red toothbrush and started brushing her teeth. She was glad that Angel’s was a different color. The last thing she wanted was vampire cooties.
She turned around and realized that her robe was not hanging on the back of the door, shoot…where had she left it. Cordy unplugged the hairdryer an and set it on the shelf. She was thinking…where had she left her robe, or better yet her pj’s. Must be on Angel’s chair on the other side of the bedroom.
Cordelia opened the bathroom door and saw that the room was filled with the glow of fire light. It was warm and toasty in the bedroom. She smiled, her vampire had done this for her. Her vampire.
She walked over to the chair, spying her pj’s but no robe and picked them up and turned around to go change in the bathroom.
Upon turning around she ran right into Angel’s chest.
“Eek!!!!” Cordy let out as she bumped into the vampire. She self consciously moved one hand over the top of her towel, to make sure it had stayed covering her up, at the same time dropping her pj’s.
Angel quickly bend down to pick them up at the same time Cordy started to do the same. This gave him a great view of the top of her chest. Mmmmm
“Here let me” He said, quickly picking up the soft clothes from the floor where she dropped them.
“ummm thanks, you startled me” Cordelia said as he stood back up and handed her her night clothes. He was so close to her, she felt surrounded by him.
“I wanted to make sure the bedroom was warm enough for you, after being in the rain for so long.” Angel said, moving a lock of hair behind her ear, gently grazing the top of her earlobe with the move.
Things seem to stand still forever. His hand resting on the back of her head.
If the bedroom got any warmer, she was gonna melt, Cordelia thought.
“Excuse me, I am just going to go..well get…well less naked.” Cordelia stepped around him and nearly ran to the bathroom and closed the door.
She rested her back against the door. Her heart was racing a little at Angel’s innocent touch. Her body never reacted that way when Xander touched her casually. Wonder what would happen if he kissed me?
She quickly changed into her pajamas and dropped her wet towel on the bathroom floor. Cordelia took a deep breath, and opened the bathroom door, to face the vampire on the other side.
“Well, I am gonna get into bed, I have school tomorrow and it is really late.” Cordelia said. First walking over to the windows and pulling the heavy curtains across the glass. Waking up next to a pile of dust would be bad. Then she moved over to Angel who had taken the chair next to the fireplace.
He looked relaxed as he watched her move through his bedroom. He was a thousand times calmer with her in his bedroom.
“Do you have to go tomorrow?” Angel asked, he knew the answer, but wanted to try anyway.
“Well after being out in the rain, I might come down with a cold and have to stay home.” Cordelia thought that it might not be such a good idea leaving him alone all day. Plus, after being out it the rain it was plausible she could have a cold, and nothing was due on Monday.
“Cordy are you sick?” Angel asked full of concern. Humans were fragile things, and he didn’t want anything to happen to his Cordelia.
“No I am fine, I just think I can safely miss school tomorrow to hang with you.” She bent down and kissed him on the forehead. Feeling his cool skin against her lips. “But I am still gonna go to bed now, I am so tired I am going to collapse if I don’t.”
Angel looked up at her, he wanted to pull her down into his lap and feel his lips touch her warm lips, feel her warm tongue in his mouth. “I am going to sit and read for a while, then I’ll come to bed.” Angel said, willing his body to calm down. Seeing Cordelia in a towel had stirred his blood.
“Why don’t you get changed for bed and read there, I will sleep better knowing you aren’t wandering around this big place by yourself all night.” Cordelia wanted to make sure he had really calmed down, and sulking downstairs meant that she couldn’t make sure he was calm.
Angel bit back a smile, a smile of joy that his girl wanted him in bed.
It was good to be back from Hell.
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