Part 9 – The Trouble With Exes
Blue eyes wide with shock, her cheeks lost all colour and her hands dropped limply to her sides. Buffy’s mouth formed a tight, thin line as she tried to get things straight in her head what this meant for both her and Angel. “Why” she swallowed and tried to keep her sanity from disappearing “Why are you breathing?”
Straightening his shoulders, Angel looked at Buffy for a small second before turning his brown eyes to Cordelia. “Remember how that demon’s blood made me feel funny?” his words were directed at the Slayer but he didn’t turn his warming gaze from the brunette for a single second fearing if he did then he would wake up and find out this was a dream.
“Yes” Buffy replied, her voice aloof and distant with the knowledge he was most likely not listening to her no matter what she said. Her hands flexed into small fists as she crossed them defensively over her chest and simply looked at him. On normal circumstances, she would be enjoying the night’s ocean breeze and watching the water turn black as the sky reflected off it. But not when she was faced with Angel and his new girlfriend.
“During the attack at my office, when I cut the demon with the letter opener I cut myself too” Angel explained, subconsciously scratching the same place on his hand. “The demon’s blood mixed with mine and it made me human” he watched as her face closed off to all emotions except for betrayal and accusations.
Nodding, the Slayer tried to let his words sink in somehow. “Human” Buffy stated quietly, “That’s why you felt funny. You were turning human” and he’d gone to Cordelia when they could have had something.
Angel nodded, “And you went to her”
“Her has a name” Cordelia spoke up, insulted by both the way Buffy was insisting on describing her and the not-so-nice looks she was being assaulted too.
“I’m sorry if I don’t you call you a name, there are too many for me to choose from” Buffy snapped at her, taking her frustration out on the girl who had stolen Angel from her.
“And I’m so glad blonde isn’t one of those names” Cordelia retorted caustically before Angel clamped his hand over her mouth before she could say what he knew was about to spill off her lips. He kept his hand firmly planted on her mouth, muffling the catty comments now directed towards him. Tugging his arm backwards, he brought the brunette closer to his before she could attempt an escape and start a catfight between her and Buffy.
“I’ve told you once Buffy” he looked down at the petite blonde girl with an unreadable expression in his brown eyes. “I won’t let you demean what Cor and I have so please just accept the fact I’ve moved on”
Doyle’s eyes floated back and forth between the Slayer and Angel, waiting to see who would be the first to break their staring competition. From the look on her face, Cordelia was waiting for them to finish it too. “You look cold Princess” the Irishman commented, bringing Angel’s attention away from the Slayer and directing it to the brunette in his arms. “I would off ya my jacket but I’m pretty cold myself and I doubt your Boss would like it very much”
A scowl from Angel to his seer told him his assumption was correct, he looked down and realised he never brought his leather duster to the beach with him and he couldn’t give it to her to keep her warm. “Thanks Doyle” Cordelia’s voice dripped with sarcasm when her mouth was finally free. “It’s nice to know you’re such a gentleman. But I’d much rather go home than be seen in your jacket. People might mistake me for one of your sports bar women”
“There’d be no mistake” Buffy spat out, insulting the brunette once again.
“I’d rather be mistaken for a sports bar woman than a jealous crazy ex-girlfriend” Cordelia shot back easily and once again found her mouth covered by Angel’s hand, only this time he really didn’t have any intentions to let go.
“Right” Angel barked out and stopped the slowly increasing catfight before it got any worse. “Doyle’s right…”
“Iffn’t fat a furfft?” came the muffled insult from behind his hand.
Ignoring his girlfriend for the time being, he got back to his suggestion “Cordelia stop biting” a smile flickered across Buffy’s lips. “Buffy, stop being childish and petty” her smile disappeared, “Its cold so I say we go back to the office where it’s warm”
***
The warm water cascaded down her back, rinsing the remaining sand off her body and leaving her feeling squeaky clean again. Cordelia squeezed the excess water out of her hair before turning the water off and stepping out of the shower with a contented sigh. “I hate exes” she growled lowly as she stared at her flushed reflection in the steamed up mirror, using her hand to rub away some of the condensation.
She was just about to spray some of her sunflower leave-in conditioner before combing it through when there was a knock on the bathroom door. “I’m not done yet, I still have to condition my hair. I’ll be out soon-ish” it could be the President and she still wouldn’t leave before her regime was finished properly.
“Cor, it’s me. Angel” Angel said through the wooden door, if Buffy and Doyle weren’t there then he’d just walk in but he didn’t want to cause anymore upset than necessary.
Rolling her eyes, she put the bottle of leave-in on the sink top and went to stand just behind the door. “I figured it’d be you but I’m not done in here” she replied impatiently, she wanted to treat her hair before it tangled.
“The sand is making me itch really badly now and I need a shower” he countered with equal impatience. “Can you at least let me in there so I can take off my clothes?” he asked, his voice sounding as though he were in dire straits. “There’s no door on the bedroom area”
“As tempting as it is to have you naked in here, I wanna sort my hair out before it tangles and the natural curls frizz. Besides, I don’t think little miss likes to fight would like it if I let you in here when I’m without clothes too” Cordelia replied, her sarcasm not lost on him.
Resisting the urge to just barge into his bathroom, Angel sighed then took a moment to enjoy that sigh before sighing again. “I don’t want to cause anymore trouble” he told her honestly, “I didn’t want to hurt anybody, can’t you understand that?”
“Of course I can understand that” she supplied and decided to resume rescuing her hair whiles conversing through the door. “But why are you worrying about upsetting her so much? If you’re still hung up on her then go be with her” she sprayed the deliciously scented conditioner all over the wet chestnut strands and lifted the back of her hair up to reach the underneath.
“I love you Cor, you know that. I thought I proved that to you tonight on the beach” he leaned his shoulder against the door, crossing his arms over his chest and watching how his chest rose and fell with inhaling and exhaling. It was strange to need oxygen, strange to feel his heart beating and it was strange to feel cold like this. “In addition to the itchy sand, I’m also cold”
Carefully combing her detangling comb through her hair, Cordelia let out a puff of air and went to open the door, suddenly not caring what either Buffy or Doyle were thinking when she let him into the bathroom. “Come in” she stated in slight annoyance at her girly routine being disrupted by a man. Men weren’t allowed to interrupt alone time like this, to her self-pampering time was a sacred and religious act that must be followed three times a week without fail!
“Sorry if my physical irritation means I have to interrupt you” Angel replied dryly, pushing the door shut behind him and immediately went to work in removing his sandy clothes. She would have marvelled at his physical attributes if he wasn’t squirming like a maniac. Cordelia watched as he began to scratch his chest, stomach and legs vigorously; Angel tried to scratch his back but he couldn’t reach the place where he was itchy the most. “Cor, can you?” he pleaded hopefully as he turned his back to her slightly, “Please scratch my back”
Blowing out another puff of air, Cordelia shook her head at him and leaned over to turn the water back on. “Get in Angel” she yanked on his arm and tugged him until he was fully immersed under the running water. “This is what’s called a loofah or a body brush if you’re prissy” she unhooked a piece of wood that had bristles attached to the end and looked like a dangerous brush from the shower rail, holding it up for his inspection. “It’s used for the removal of dead skin cells, otherwise known as exfoliation” she explained as though she were teaching a class. “Or in our case sand removal. Turn around”
Frowning at the dangerous looking brush, Angel slowly and cautiously turned his back to her, trusting she would scrape off his skin. The hot water was already soothing his irritated skin, washing away the horrible sand and leaving him feel all nice again. He vowed the next time he took Cordelia to the beach; he was taking an extra set of clothes and a few very large towels. He jumped a little when he felt something a little rough start moving in slow, ticklish circles on his back. “Cordy, that is you right?” without his extra senses, he couldn’t tell for sure and that scared him a little.
“Yes Angel, its Cordelia” she assured him as she continued to brush the sand off his back while trying not to get her hair wet again, the conditioner hadn’t had a chance to work yet. She increased the pressure of the naturally bristled brush when she reached his shoulders, curling the brush over a place she knew he would find ticklish. An impish smile appeared on Cordelia’s face when Angel scrunched his shoulder up into his neck. “Not too hard?” she asked innocently.
Turning round to face her, Angel grabbed the loofah out of her hands and threw it to one side. “My back’s done now” the grin he gave told her just how effective that little tickling manoeuvre had been, “But that doesn’t mean you’re finished with me”
“Did I miss a spot?” Cordelia pretended not to know what he was talking about and played hard to get. She ran her eyes sparingly over his naked form, making sure not to let her irises linger on any part of him for too long. “No, I don’t think I did” she told him. Keeping her hazel orbs from locking with his darkening ones, she concentrated on a tile on the fourth row down and second one along.
He’d purposely ignored her nakedness until all the sand had gone which had been harder than he thought without having his vampire side to numb his desire with sweet whispers of erotic horror. Angel felt a smirk cross his face as he looked down at Cordelia, her cheeks were dusted with a telling pink hue, her eyes glazed over as she looked him up and down constantly. This was the first time he could see her body perfectly, the light caused her to hide no secrets from him at all.
The rosy pink skin of her areolas tightened up, setting off her pert breasts with a tantalising show if feminine arousal. Her chest rose and fell with deep breathing that enhanced the shape of her breasts with every inhalation.
“Don’t make a noise” was all he said right before he pounced!
***
Doyle tilted his head in the direction of the bathroom after hearing what sounded like a muffled moan. With a hidden grimace, he turned his attention to the blonde sitting opposite him at the kitchen table. If looks could melt doors, the wooden bathroom one would be a pile of ash right now. Buffy had definitely reached the limit for how much she could take in one day.
Before she had a chance to speak, another and more male moan floated from the bathroom followed by a definitely female giggle. Doyle repressed the urge to grin knowingly, but didn’t think it’d be good for his health if he did. The Slayer’s hands gripped the table hard enough to create splinters in the surface as her eyes stared harshly in the direction the noises were coming from.
Being half demon, the Irishman knew exactly what was going on in the bathroom between the Princess and Angel. He didn’t doubt for a second that anything was hidden from Buffy’s extra abilities either. Her face told him she knew exactly what Angel was doing with Cordelia in the shower.
“Did you…” Doyle began but from her warning glare, he shut his mouth and simply shrugged, leaving her to wallow in her angered jealous rage. He inwardly grimaced again when a masculine and slightly too loud groan permeated the air and the table cracked in response.
“That’s it sweetheart” Doyle’s eyes showed the struggle he was in to maintain his composure while Buffy’s posture stiffened visibly.
“Angel!” the seer figured Cordelia was reprimanding Angel for being so loud and he risked another look at the blonde opposite him. Everything went quite again, except for the occasional muffled noises coming from the bathroom.
***
A short time later, Angel exited the bathroom with a self-satisfied smile on his face and wrapped in his robe. Whistling tunelessly, he sauntered past Doyle whacked him on the shoulder and carried on to the bedroom area. Buffy’s narrowed blue eyes followed his every move, annoyance at yet again being annoyed shone through the blue orbs.
A wicked grin crossed Doyle’s devilish face as he immediately got up to follow the other man, scooting fast to join Angel standing at his drawers. “Have a good shower I take it?” the Irishman asked casually.
“You’re not getting details Doyle” Angel replied abruptly as he pulled out clean boxer shorts, socks and a spare pair of shorts for Cordelia. Though she told him he could go into her stuff, he still felt like he’d be invading her privacy by doing that so he just got something of his. “What’s she been saying?”
Shrugging, the seer gave him the edited version of the pretty Slayer’s words. “Well she ain’t happy put it that way” he told his friend, “She thinks that you betrayed her, betrayed your cosmically imbalanced love affair. And she heard yours and Princess’s little passionate vows”
Angel gave him a grimace, “Ooops! Exes” he muttered on a deep sigh, “I’ll just go give these to Cor and put my clothes on then I’ll talk to her, get it out of the way” he said in a voice that spoke of the dread at the upcoming conversation. Doyle nodded in agreement, staying quiet for a few minutes before speaking again.
“Princess still in the shower?” he asked with another cheeky smile.
Leaning towards his seer, Angel bit back a smirk at the hopeful look on his face “Hellcat” was all he said before waltzing back off to the bathroom, whistling merrily and leaving Doyle to deal with his imagination.
Buffy watched as Angel sauntered back into the bathroom and once again closed the door behind him. The sounds from not so long ago rang through her head like loud bells, she knew what they’d been doing; it didn’t take a genius to figure that one out. It made her feel sick inside and all she wanted to do was get out of there and go home. But she came here to see Angel and that was exactly what she was going to do. Cordelia or no Cordelia, she was going to get her boyfriend back.
This time, both Angel and Cordelia came out of the bathroom, the first thing Buffy noticed was the fact he was holding her hand and his other arm was draped around her shoulders. That brought her attention to the love bite on the brunette’s neck and she instinctively stiffened.
“You’ve finally come up for air” she said sarcastically as she narrowed her eyes before looking away from them, not wanting to see the way Angel wasn’t looking at her.
“Yes actually, and the sand is all gone” Cordelia replied evenly, “That stuff can get into some weird places can’t it?” Angel squeezed her hand, silently telling her to behave.
Raising her eyebrow at her, Buffy looked at them as Angel pulled a chair out for Cordelia and pushed it back towards the table in a gentlemanly manner. He’d never done that for her and she felt another flare of jealousy well up inside her. “I wouldn’t know, I’ve never been one for flaunting my body in public for everyone to see”
“You’re missing out” the brunette replied, smiling at Angel as he sat next to her, clearing his throat as a subtle way for them to stop bitching at one another. “Where’d Doyle go?” she asked, looking around for the Irishman.
“Right here Princess” he spoke up from his comfortable position on the couch, “Just watching today’s race and having me a single malt. I haven’t left ya!”
“Excuse me, I came here to talk to Angel” Buffy finally got down to it, “I haven’t had a chance to do that and I want to do that now. So if you don’t mind can you give us a moment alone?”
“Actually Buffy” Angel replied, cutting off whatever was going to come out of his girlfriend’s mouth. “We did talk in my office this morning and I said all I needed to say” he told her, he’d come to the decision that a clean break would be best all round. It would allow him to fully explore his new relationship with Cordelia without having an ex shaped cloud hanging over him and it would give Buffy the incentive to move on.
Shaking her head rapidly, Buffy denied that they had talked at all. “No Angel” she said, “You couldn’t be serious about this, about her. You’re finally human, something I’ve wished forever and now you have that chance, we have a chance. Don’t you see?”
“Just cus he’s not a vampire anymore, doesn’t mean he’s a different person on the inside” Cordelia took offence to the Slayer’s words, seeing them in a different light to what she probably meant. But hearing her talk that way about a part of Angel didn’t seem right with her. Yeah, so being a vampire wasn’t every man’s dream but that was the Angel she’d come to know and love.
“Was I talking to you?” Buffy hissed out, angry at the interruption “Angel, can we talk?” she asked again. “Without interruptions” she sent an expectant glare at the brunette opposite her.
“Anything you have to say to me Buffy, can be said in front of Cordelia” he countered easily, “I won’t have any secrets from her”
“And he’ll just tell me later!” Cordelia muttered under her breath as she turned her eyes to the ceiling innocently.
Angel watched as an internal debate flashed across Buffy’s face, making her expressions alternate between disbelief, disgust, anger, resentment and jealousy. “Alright” she agreed with a simple nod, “What I think you’re doing with her is a big mistake” she began, “Cordelia can’t, and won’t, make you happy. Not like I can and somewhere inside you know that’s the truth. You lost your soul because of me, not her”
Nodding in agreement with her words, he couldn’t deny that he had experienced a moment of happiness with her. “That was in the past Buffy” Angel said softly, no shadow of deception reigned in his eyes, only the blunt and hurtful truth of what he was saying shone there. “I loved you with everything I was” he squeezed Cordelia’s hand tighter in reassurance and felt her squeeze him back. “But you were right or, and someone hit me, Spike was right. We were never friends and we never could be. I have both love, acceptance and friendship with Cordelia. I can’t and won’t give that up”
“You’re making a mistake Angel” Buffy repeated, trying to get him to see sense “You’ll see that soon and when you do, I hope you know I won’t be around waiting for you”
“I’m not making a mistake Buffy and I’d appreciate it if you would stop saying that I am” he told her, getting a little annoyed at her words. “I find its disrespectful of me and my girlfriend. I wouldn’t disrespect you like that, so why would you do that to me?” he asked softly, hurt by the way she was speaking like he didn’t know what was good for him.
“Whatever” Buffy replied, ignoring his question “I’m done trying to get you to see what we could have now that you’re human. I hope you’re both very happy together, you deserve her”
That last comment got on Cordelia’s last nerve. “How dare you?” she asked, raising her eyes to lock with blue raging ones, “Just cus I’m not an air quote Chosen One like you or Faith, are you saying I don’t what? Deserve someone good?” she ignored Angel’s attempt to shut her up. “I deserve the same as you do and so does Angel. I will not let you come into his home and put him down like that. And I thought you once loved him” sarcasm dripped off her tongue as she continued to ignore the man tugging on her arm, trying to get her to sit back down.
“Pfft!” Cordelia waved that last statement away with a wave of her hand, “From the sounds of things, you don’t love him”
“That’s where you’re wrong” Buffy stood up, her defensive posture matching the brunette’s. “I love him more than you ever could”
“Like hell you do, if you did then you would want him to be happy. Do you think putting him down, making him feel like he can’t make his own choices is making him happy? I think not” Cordelia snapped back. “Instead of arguing and bitching at me Buffy, why don’t you ask Angel how he feels? He’s in the room look! He’s sitting right there!”
Angel cringed when Buffy’s raging blue eyes shot straight down to him, though he was glad Cordelia had brought up his presence, a part of him wished he’d just let her carry on. “Go ahead Buffy” she invited, “Ask him if he’s happy here with me”
“Are you happy with her Angel?” Buffy asked, a feeling of dread circled in the pit of her stomach when she saw the way his eyes lit up, the dark brown irises slowly turning into whirlpools of melted hot chocolate at the mention of being happy with her. A smile flickered up at the corners of his mouth and his face tilted to one side as he stole a glance at Cordelia who was too busy trying not to look hopeful to notice the way he was looking at her.
Turning apologetic hot eyes to his ex-girlfriend, Angel went to apologise but she stopped him before he could start. “Don’t Angel” she told him softly, “Just don’t okay? I have my answer”
***
Silence fell upon the bedroom when Angel turned out the remaining light, he rolled over onto his side and had to fumble around in the near darkness to find Cordelia when he would normally be able to see her. “Hey” he whispered through a yawn, “You sleepy yet?” he snuggled into her body and grinned at being able to warm her for a change. He wrapped his arms around her waist and placed her head on his chest where his heart lay oddly beating.
Cordelia literally curled up into a ball, snuggling as close to him as possible, enjoying his warmth. It was strange but a good kind of strange, he was getting warm and slowly turning into a human hot water bottle. He smelled clean and fresh from their shower and he just felt like a big teddy bear to her right then. “Mmmm. I’m glad you’re happy with me” she murmured, “Sorry if I undermined you when she was talking but the way she said you deserved me really got to me”
Stroking her silky soft hair, Angel pressed a small kiss to her head before resting his cheek in that spot. He’d never had this kind of closeness with anyone before, not just sleeping with someone but having pillow talk. It felt kind of nice. “You don’t have to apologise sweetheart” he told her, “I felt honoured actually, even if I was saved by a girl half my age and size. Did you mean what you said about me still being the same person inside?”
“Of course I did, why wouldn’t you be?” she asked in confusion, “Okay so maybe you don’t have vampire genes anymore but you still have the same likes and dislikes right? You would still enjoy those musty, smelly old books of yours and you would still listen to that weird wiggy music right?” she pointed out. Well, that was the way she saw him anyway. “Besides, you were a good man when you were a vampire and you’re a good man now”
“I guess so. Thanks” he told her softly, “I love you sweetheart, it’s been a long day and you need your sleep. I need my sleep” he said more to the point. He felt rather than heard as Cordelia soon drifted off into a deep sleep, leaving him awake thinking about her words. There was something he wasn’t sure of and that was how he was going to carry on fighting the evil in Doyle’s visions without supernatural strength.
That was something he’d look into first thing in the morning.