Just outside the library doors, both Angelus and Angel decided it was time to make their presence known. They had arrived not long after Cordelia entered the library and started to defend Angelus from the accusations of her friends. At first, Angelus wanted to storm into the room and demand to know why the hell it was anyone’s business if Cordelia was his, but Angel stopped him.
Suggesting that they listen in, Angel wanted to hear more and felt it important that Angelus know where— to his mind— the legitimate concerns of the Scooby Gang were settled.
Angelus was actually feeling proud of the fact that Cordelia would declare her feelings to her friends and defend him so vehemently. He didn’t care what the others thought about him as long as Cordelia wasn’t going to remain upset by their lack of understanding. He silently cheered on his girlfriend as she responded to their every dig.
Reacting quite differently, Angel felt his fury well from deep within. Things were fine when Cordy was just answering her friends’ concerns about her affair with Angelus, but the cheerleader had gone too damn far when she brought up his relationship to Buffy. First she’d nosed her way into his bedroom and was now negatively comparing him to Angelus.
Both vampires reached for the doors at the same time and pushed them open, startling the group gathered within the library. Buffy’s head turned sensing waves of dark vampiric energy flowing from one of the vamps. Angelus, obviously. With a smirk, Buffy decided that she would show Cordelia that the passion she shared with Angel did not only come after a demon brawl.
She stalked up to the vampire who wasn’t causing her Slayer senses to tingle and thrust herself into his arms. His hands automatically came around her waist and Buffy wrapped her arms around his shoulders pulling his head down into an energetic and enthusiastic kiss. It lasted only seconds as Buffy felt herself hurled to the floor.
“What the hell was that?” Angelus demanded as he towered over her with a look of pure disgust on his face. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, the vampire queried with a harsh tone, “Can’t you tell us apart, Slayer?”
“Omigod!” Buffy’s voice was barely a whisper as she turned her gaze from the angry vampire she had kissed over to the other one. “Angel?”
This was Cordelia’s fault, Angel decided. Her words had forced Buffy into acting out some silly show of proof. He glanced down at the pink cheeks of his lover and felt her embarrassment. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Angel was asking himself why it was Buffy couldn’t tell them apart when Cordelia found it so easy.
Before he could offer Buffy his hand to help her to her feet, the blonde scrambled to a standing position. There were tears glistening in her eyes as she met Angel’s gaze. “I-I need to be alone.”
When Buffy darted out the door, Angel stalked over to Cordelia, who stood shocked at the Slayer’s major faux pax. They were inches apart as Angel seared her with a look that left her trembling in its wake. Cordy realized he was more furious now than about his bed. Realizing that the vampire must have overheard what she said to Buffy, she felt trapped by his captivating stare.
Feeling the sudden need to apologize, Cordelia opened her mouth to speak. Only Angelus came up and twirled her into his arms, giving her a smile that made her heart leap by looking at it. “You are amazing, Cordelia Chase. There is something too damn sexy about a lady defending her dark knight.”
Forgetting all about the gasping audience, Cordelia met his mouth with her own in a kiss that left no doubt in anyone’s mind that they had passion. Angelus’ lips captured hers in a soft, but urgent caress. Moaning against his mouth, Cordelia opened up to the cool dart of his tongue against her warmth. A countering heat flamed up inside her as Cordelia wound her fingers into his hair and gave back to the kiss just as much energy and need, their mouths meshing together and growing urgent.
“Oh dear.” Giles almost felt dizzy.
“I may have to call out the fire department,” muttered Xander unable to tear his eyes away from the scene.
“Wow!” Willow glanced over at Oz with a tiny smile lifting the corners of her mouth.
Clearing his throat, Giles finally caught Angelus’ attention. “We came here for a meeting, not to argue with each other and dilly-dally around.”
Sighing as their lips parted, Cordelia murmured to her vampire, “You can dilly with my dally anytime for a kiss like that.”
Angelus let out a laugh as he released her only to react with an instinctive growl as he saw Angel’s hand curl around Cordelia’s wrist with inhuman speed. Not caring that he had just crossed the no-touching line, Angel pulled Cordelia toward him so that she had to grab his other arm just to keep her balance. “Ouch! Watch the vamp-strength.”
Glaring angrily at his double, Angelus issued a warning, “You’d better be damned careful about what you’re doing.”
Giving the soulless vamp a look that would rival his inner darkness, Angel wasn’t going to respond to threats just now. Already angry, the sight of Angelus and Cordy kissing caused a swift flare of jealousy. The fact that he recognized it as such was enough to floor him. He would have to get used to the sight of those two kissing. If that was all he was going to be subjected to at the mansion, Angel figured he’d be lucky.
“You’re coming with me,” Angel informed Cordelia determinedly, glaring down at her with dark pools that held her rapt attention and caused her to quake in sudden fear. This was not a request, she realized breathlessly. Then he lifted that gaze back to Angelus and told him simply, “You too.”
“Try and stop me!” Angelus was about two seconds away from forcing his twin to release Cordelia when Angel started moving to the door taking her with him.
Xander started to follow along, but stopped abruptly at the sound of the growl emanating from Angel’s throat. Without turning around, Angel ordered, “The rest of you stay here.”
“Good idea. It’s comfy here in the library,” Xander rubbed a hand along the surface of one chair. “And look— research! Just what I wanted to do tonight.”
“I don’t suppose anyone brought jelly donuts,” Giles muttered as he took a seat at the table. He had no choice but to resign himself to this situation.
Oz opened the box and offered him the donuts.
**
Following Buffy’s scent, Angel tracked her to the school lounge. They found the Slayer with her knees curled up to her chest and streaks of drying tears on her cheeks. Seeing her that way made Angel react more forcefully than intended. Swinging Cordelia into a wide arc, Angel flung her onto the couch next to Buffy so that she literally bounced against the cushions. Her yelp of surprise elicited another sound of discontent from Angelus.
Angel glared down at the two young women. “What the hell just happened back there?”
Rubbing her sore wrist, Cordelia fired back, “You went psycho and grabbed me.”
“Before that,” Angel gritted his teeth exasperatedly, “with you and Buffy.”
Cordelia glanced toward Buffy who had her head turned in the other direction refusing to look at her. The action sparked irritation causing Cordelia to forget about the fact that she shouldn’t have to explain herself. “Buffy told everyone about Angelus and me.”
“That’s a bad thing?” Angelus frowned a bit wondering if she had planned to keep their relationship a secret.
“No! I wanted to do it when you were with me. The right way,” Cordelia clarified. “Not blurt it out like she did.”
Angelus nodded. His grin returned as he told her, “I heard what you told them.”
The intimate look they shared made Angel’s stomach clench into knots. Ticked off at himself and Cordy, he declared, “So did I.”
Cordelia decided that she wasn’t going to feel guilty. She’d attempted to apologize, but why should she feel sorry because she told Buffy the truth? “I meant what I said, Angel.”
Piping up, the Slayer turned her steely gaze upon the brunette. “Angel and I are none of your business, Cor. What you said was harsh. You don’t know what goes on between us.”
“I’ve seen it with my own eyes,” Cordelia tried to get off the couch only to sink back into the cushions as Angel stepped up to block her move.
Their knees brushed together as the vampire demanded information. “Meaning what?”
Cordy smirked defiantly as she held up her hand like a stop sign. “Sorry, but I don’t do details.”
Growling low, Angel spoke her name as a warning, “Cordy.”
“Just following orders.” Completely unintimidated by his vampiric growl, Cordelia told him, “No details of anyone’s sex life. Not my business, remember?”
Buffy snapped, “You should have thought of that before.”
“So should you.” Cordelia returned just as quickly.
Angelus had to agree. “Slayer, you should keep your nose out of my affairs.”
“Don’t threaten Buffy,” Angel gave his double a dark stare.
“You’re one to talk,” Angelus countered furiously. “Keep your hands off Cordelia. I’ll be seriously pissed if you’ve marked her flesh with a bruise.”
Agreeing, Cordelia rubbed her wrist again, “So will I.”
“Did I hurt you?” Angel’s angry mask instantly fell away leaving only a concerned look.
“Yes, dumbass! That is what ‘ouch’ normally implies.”
Reaching out for her hand, Angel circled his thumb over the soft skin on her inner wrist. “I’m sorry, sweetheart.”
Buffy, who had been watching the apologetic move, suddenly reeled at the way Angel spoke to Cordelia. Sweetheart! What the heck was that? Angel never even called her sweetheart and she was his girlfriend. Here she was embarrassed, tear-stained and Cordelia-battered and it seemed all Angel could do was fondle the cheerleader’s bruised wrist.
The Slayer suddenly wondered if Cordelia wasn’t right. Maybe she didn’t know Angel as well as she thought she did.
“S’okay,” Cordelia shrugged as she felt the shiver run from her wrist all the way down her spine.
Angel released her wrist telling himself that he needed to fight these impulses that compelled him to touch her. Especially now that he had no right to do so. Seeing Buffy’s confused and hurt expression, he moved over to tuck a finger under her chin. “You okay? I know you wanted to be alone, but the four of us have a few things to hash out.”
“M’okay,” she gave him a convincing look despite the drying tears.
“Good,” Angel stepped away in order to bring all three of them into his view. “The fact is that we’re going to be existing together in a close sphere. The insults and injuries need to stop here. What happened tonight needs to be put behind us.”
Angelus wanted to protest that he wasn’t done with what happened tonight, not after the other vamp had his hands on Cordelia. Seeing reason behind Angel’s words, he chose to keep silent. Facing Buffy, he told her, “I know you’re worried about my past. That I’ll do something to hurt Cordelia.”
“You won’t!” Cordy interjected.
The vampire flashed a grin before turning back to the Slayer who regarded him with the intense eyes of a hunter. “The Moirae fixed it so I can’t kill humans. Even if I wanted to turn Cordelia, I couldn’t do it.”
Buffy suggested he’d try underhanded tactics, “You could get someone else to do it.”
“Never!” Angelus denied with a roar causing both Buffy and Cordelia to jerk in surprise.
Angel calmly explained, “That would place Cordy under the power of the one who made her. Buffy, I can guarantee that Angelus would never do that.”
“Damn straight!”
“Well that’s a relief,” Cordelia joked with mock concern. “I would hate to have to answer to Spike.”
Even Buffy found herself giggling at the idea. “Maybe he would have asked Drusilla.”
“Leave them out of this,” Angelus narrowed his gaze at the Slayer. “Suffice it to say that I have no intentions of hurting Cordelia in any way.”
“Doesn’t mean I won’t be watching,” Buffy warned the vampire.
Glowering, Angelus laughed darkly, “Watch all you like, Slayer. You might learn a thing or two.”
“No watching! Eew!” Cordy rolled her eyes. “I hope we won’t be seeing that much of each other.”
Buffy grumbled, “You already know what Angel looks like, so what does it matter?”
“Buffy!” Cordelia flushed a bright shade of red, not daring to look in the direction of the souled vampire. “Remember that thing I told you about keeping quiet?”
Clamping her mouth shut, Buffy realized that Cordelia was probably right about that one. Then she locked gazes with the brunette and once again they were giggling together over the idea of their vampire twins.
“What’s so funny?” Angel asked them.
Angelus frowned at the sound of their laughter. It sounded almost conspiratorial.
“Nothing!” Buffy and Cordelia chimed simultaneously.
“Highly doubtful,” Angel shared a knowing look with his double, “but I’m not going to question it further. I’m glad you two are in agreement over something— whatever it is.”
As Cordelia’s laughter finally faded, she asked Angel, “Can I get up now?”
The vampire realized he was still blocking her in. Holding out a hand, he helped Cordelia to her feet and then released her in the direction of Angelus who quickly moved to put an arm around her shoulder. Taking a look at her wrist, Angelus kissed her pulse point and held her wrist against his cheek for an instant.
Buffy uncurled herself from the couch and rose to her feet to stand next to Angel. She had to admit to herself that the way Angelus held Cordelia was certainly tender. Almost loving in his own possessive vampire way. The idea of those two simply gave her the wiggins and her entire body seemed to stir in unrest, protesting the fact that Angelus had Cordelia in his arms.
Then Angel’s voice yanked her out of her private musings. “Between the four of us, we need to come to an understanding. All of the suspicion and griping needs to stop here. I have to trust that Angelus will keep Cordy safe as he’s promised.”
“I will,” vowed Angelus with firm resolve. How many times did he have to say it before they believed him?
Angel continued on despite the interruption, “And that Cordy will come to me should he ever break that promise.”
“Won’t,” the vamp stressed.
Cordelia rolled her eyes. “Angel, I already told you not to worry about that.”
“Will you?”
“Pfft! Okay, I will.” The souled vampire who regarded her with a serious gleam in those dark eyes. His gaze didn’t stray until she repeated her promise with a more serious tone. “I’ll come to you.”
Buffy turned to Angel, “So they promise to behave. Can we go back to the library now?”
“Not yet.”
“Why not?” Buffy heard the tone in his voice that suggested he was going to extract some kind of pledge from her as well.
Angel lifted a hand to her face and his voice gentled as he said, “I know that you were concerned for Cordy when you told your friends about Angelus. You cared enough to share your fears with them.”
Shifting in Angelus’ arms, Cordelia felt a little guilty for her harsh response earlier. Angel’s words made her realize that Buffy wasn’t just being a tattletale busybody. She had actually been trying to be her friend and letting the others know she had reason to be worried. Still, that didn’t give her the right to let everyone cut down Angelus after he’d been laying it on the line for them.
Somehow, Buffy sensed that Angel wasn’t finished. She darted a glance toward Cordelia, but quickly turned her gaze back to Angel who proceeded to tell her, “From this moment, Buffy, no more sharing family secrets until the rest of us give the go ahead. That goes for all of us. This is going to be difficult enough without having to deal with the fallout of causing each other pain and anguish.”
Family secrets? Surely that was a strange way to put it. Buffy glanced over at Cordelia and Angelus to gauge their reactions. Neither one seemed overly surprised by the phrase.
Buffy couldn’t ignore the strange twinge that had her balking at the idea. “Sorry I jumped the gun, Cor. Next time you start an affair with a potentially deadly vampire, I’ll talk it over with him before I tell my Watcher.”
“You’d stake Angelus if you could,” Cordelia’s eyes flared hotly.
“You bet I would!” The Slayer snapped back instantly without even thinking about it.
Angelus tucked Cordelia behind him and stood before the Slayer. “You wanna have a go at me, Buffy? Anytime, anywhere.”
“No!” Cordelia tugged at his shirtsleeve.
“There’ll be no fighting,” Angel stepped up to them. “You both know why. Maybe you two don’t like each other, but dammit, you’ll learn a little toleration.”
“Toleration?” Buffy would rather tolerate a slime demon living in her bathroom than put up with Angelus. “I have no choice, do I? He’s part of the soul binding deal with the Fates, which I remind you was not my choice either.”
“Buffy…,” Angel thought they had dropped that argument weeks ago.
“Angelus not only has your support about Cordelia, but you’re setting all this up to include me in your version of some happy little vampire family!“
Cordy muttered, “Family Feud is more like it.”
Continuing her rant, Buffy commented, “The next thing I know you’ll be calling Angelus your brother and we’ll be double dating.”
A burst of laughter erupted from Cordelia’s throat. Buffy ranting was just too funny to ignore. “Hey! I like that idea. We should talk.”
“No way!” Buffy returned with a look of horror.
“What do you think, Bro?” Angelus asked his double, amusement etching his features.
Drolly, Angel answered, “I think I have a burning desire to do demon research.”
Without another word, Buffy zipped out of the school lounge and headed in the direction of the library leaving the others to follow.
**
“Angelus!” A throaty cry sounded from Cordelia as the vampire nibbled at a sensitive spot along her neck.
Alone downstairs, Angelus had pulled her across his lap on one of the kitchen chairs so that she straddled him. Her long sun-kissed legs were bare and exposed as her silk robe flowed behind her. “Mmm. Move your hips a little, baby. You feel so good on me.”
Cordelia moaned at the sensation of his body beneath her. All she could do was comply with his request, her body moving rhythmically against him despite the barrier between them. She held onto his shoulders as Angelus kissed his way down to the hollow of her throat.
“Oh, yessss,” she hissed in delight as Angelus’ large hands curved around from her back to cup her silk-covered breasts.
“Ahem!” The sound of a clearing throat from the doorway caused Cordelia to leap off of Angelus’ lap. With her loose hair flying in all directions, she frantically straightened her robe. Turning her attention to Angel, she noted he looked like he was trying not to laugh at her efforts.
“Good morning,” she plastered an overly bright smile on her face. “Or is it already afternoon? Hello, whatever time it is.”
“Early afternoon,” Angel clarified as he strolled into the kitchen. He was wearing sweats and a white tank that showed off his strong arms.
Conversationally, she asked, “You’ve been working out?”
The vampire nodded. “Down in the basement training room.”
“You have a training room?” Cordy was surprised. “It wasn’t on the tour.”
Angelus grabbed for the front page of the Sunday paper and opened it up. From behind it, he explained, “Basement was in the wrong direction.”
“I guess it was,” Cordelia’s mouth curled into a smile as she thought of the details of their house tour. Then she remembered what she was planning to do before Angelus distracted her with kisses and caresses. “Sit down, Angel. I hope you’re hungry.”
Pausing as he pulled out the kitchen chair directly across from Angelus, he asked warily, “Why do you ask?”
“Cordelia is experimenting today,” warned Angelus.
“With her own food?”
“No,” Cordelia clarified cheerfully. “With yours.”
Angel looked scared. “It’s pig’s blood, Cordy, not a base for soup. You shouldn’t mess with it.”
“I want to. It’s gross. I mean— eew!— how can you drink this stuff?” Cordelia made a face that left Angel laughing. “Angelus was saying how it didn’t taste like the real thing, so I thought I’d try to spice it up a bit.”
Cordelia pulled down two mugs, grabbed a bag of blood from the fridge and proceeded to spin the spice rack around until her eye caught on something that looked good. “Yum!”
Angelus dropped the newspaper on the table and leaned forward conspiratorially. “If we both run at the same time maybe there’s a chance one of us will escape.”
“The sun’s still shining.” Angel gestured toward the light peeking through the kitchen windows. “Cordy would track us down, trust me.”
“I can hear you!” Cordelia pressed the buttons on the microwave and then turned around to face the vampires.
Crossing her arms on the kitchen island, she leaned toward them as they gazed back at her with their identical faces.
It brought a wide smile to her face as she thought, I could get used to seeing double everyday.