{"id":3969,"date":"2015-07-05T22:01:01","date_gmt":"2015-07-05T21:01:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/goteamfiction.com\/?p=3969"},"modified":"2015-07-06T01:07:43","modified_gmt":"2015-07-06T00:07:43","slug":"bad-timing-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/goteamfiction.com\/index.php\/2015\/07\/05\/bad-timing-5\/","title":{"rendered":"Bad Timing. 5"},"content":{"rendered":"

Part 5<\/b>: Wait for the Midnight Hour<\/em><\/p>\n

It was a little after midnight Angel noted. It was a very sad day when a vampire was exhausted before the night had really started. But most vampires don\u2019t have to deal with teething babies and houseguests. <\/i><\/p>\n

Connor wouldn\u2019t go down, which was understandable cause hey, teething, that had to hurt. Angel had tried all the suggestions in the baby book and so far had only seemed to make Connor crankier. Angel was actually feeling a little cranky himself.<\/p>\n

Dinner hadn\u2019t exactly been fun. It was exactly like one of those scenes from a movie, where everyone is uncomfortable and everyone knows that everyone else is uncomfortable and there is nothing they can do about it. Buffy had been quiet and Angel didn\u2019t know if that was shock or what.<\/p>\n

Wes harassed poor Dawn with questions about her origin until he finally realized he was pissing her off\u2014he spent the rest of the meal quietly whispering to Fred and making notes on a paper napkin. Angel thought Gunn might have been a little upset at the sudden Wes and Fred chumminess but Gunn apparently didn\u2019t notice. Probably since he had been too busy hating Xander.<\/p>\n

Xander and Cordy had bickered for most of the meal, and it was hard to tell if they were kidding or not. Twice Angel had to kick Gunn under the table to keep him from lunging at Xander (once because he asked Cordy if her breasts were real cause he \u201cwasn\u2019t sure they had felt real that time in the closet\u201d, and again when Gunn caught Xander looking at the aforementioned breasts). In between bouts with Xander, Cordelia and Willow made awkward small talk.<\/p>\n

Angel didn\u2019t really know what to think. He knew that Cordy was always a little outside of the group, but he hadn\u2019t been aware of the whole weird dynamic. When he was in Sunnydale he was too focused on Buffy to pay much attention to Scooby interaction and in LA there was pretty much a silent agreement to forgo discussions of time spent on the Hellmouth.<\/p>\n

It was just a little sad, that these were her closest friends from high school. These were the people she kept pictures of on her refrigerator. She had to know that there were no pictures of her stuck to Buffy\u2019s fridge with a magnet shaped like a giant pair of lips. Angel frowned at that. Cordy deserved better.<\/p>\n

\u201cSpecial delivery for Mister Fussy Vampire Spawn,\u201d Cordelia said as she opened the door and walked in. She didn\u2019t bother to knock and once again, Angel was more pleased by that than annoyed. \u201cLet\u2019s see I\u2019ve got some yummy pacifiers, straight out of the freezer and\u2026oh some ice chips and if that doesn\u2019t work\u2026um\u2026I\u2019ll sing \u201cSomewhere out there\u201d until he realizes that sleep is the only escape.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cordelia shrugged and hopped on the bed next to Angel. She was silent for a moment, but both parties knew that couldn\u2019t last long. \u201cSo why were you frowning when I came in?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCould it have anything to do with the fact that my child is in pain and I can\u2019t help and all I want to do is lie down and sleep for the next\u2026ever?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst of all, you are talking more and more like me everyday and I have to tell you, I am very flattered. Second, you could have been frowning about all that stuff but you weren\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t look so perky yourself right now,\u201d Angel commented.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey don\u2019t like me,\u201d Cordelia responded with a shrug of her shoulders. \u201cAnd I would have once said it didn\u2019t bother me even though it did bother me, even then. And it doesn\u2019t bother me A LOT now, but it does bother me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCordy, of course they like you.\u201d Cordy gave him that look; the \u201care you crazy\u201d look and Angel realized this was the wrong tactic to take. He knew, after the incident with Angelus, that Cordelia preferred honesty to politeness. \u201cOkay, so they aren\u2019t your biggest fans. But who cares?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI just told you. I care.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy? I mean, you have friends, friends who adore you and would do anything for you. How Buffy and her friends feel about you shouldn\u2019t be so important.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cordelia sighed. He doesn\u2019t understand. <\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cAngel, I totally agree with you, IN THEORY. But the Scoobies, they are important. I mean, hello, we wouldn\u2019t be together today if it weren\u2019t for them.\u201d Oh shit, please don\u2019t let that sound like I meant we were together together. <\/i>\u201cBesides that, their opinions do matter. You know that. Unless you\u2019re trying to tell me you don\u2019t care what Buffy thinks.\u201d Angel didn\u2019t disagree right away and Cordy was about to continue when he finally spoke.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t need to try and impress them. If they can\u2019t see all the wonderful things I see when I look at you, then\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThen\u2026 what?\u201d Cordy said. Did he really just say that? What wonderful things does he see? How come he never tells me the nice stuff?<\/i> \u201cThen\u2026you\u2019ll beat them all up?\u201d she asked with a smirk.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I won\u2019t beat all of them up. How about we just let Gunn have a go at Xander?\u201d The baby was quieter now and Angel didn\u2019t think it was wrong to attribute a little of that to Cordelia\u2019s presence.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what she did, to both men\u2014she swept in and started making them feel better without them even noticing. \u201cConnor\u2019s settling down now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNot for long. I give it two or three hours before he\u2019s up howling again. You\u2019d think his father was a werewolf.\u201d Cordelia caught Angel\u2019s eye and made a face. \u201cOkay, I just got the grossest mental picture of Darla with Oz.\u201d She shook off the icky-ness while Angel put Connor down in his crib.<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t matter what he was doing, anytime that man moved he was sexy. How someone so big and strong could move so quietly was beyond her. Ooops, Danger Will Robinson! Shake off those kinds of thoughts.<\/i> Angel sat down again on the bed and the two found themselves lying on their sides facing each other.<\/p>\n

It was odd the difference one tiny baby could make. Without Connor\u2019s presence in the bed everything seemed different, scarier. Cordy bit her lip to hold herself back from doing what she really wanted to do cause what she really wanted to do involved lunging at Angel and no good could come of that.<\/p>\n

She had learned to take rejection from directors, she had learned to take rejection from the stupid Scoobies, but she\u2019d be damned if she got rejected by her best friend. And the only way to avoid that was to avoid offering him certain things to reject.<\/p>\n

You so need to get out of here Cordy.<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cI should be getting home.\u201d She looked at Angel, who only gave a slight nod. \u201cIt\u2019s getting late and knowing Buffy there will be some sort of apocalypse tomorrow and if the world\u2019s going to end, I definitely want my beauty sleep.\u201d Angel still didn\u2019t talk. He gave a half-smile and just kept staring at her with those eyes of his. She wondered what he saw.<\/p>\n

Cordy looked down and then back at Angel. \u201cYeah,\u201d she said softly, \u201cso I should\u2026go.\u201d Angel didn\u2019t speak or move.<\/p>\n

Say something damn it! Say \u201cokay see you later\u201d or \u201cdon\u2019t let the door hit you on the ass on your way out\u201d or grab me and say \u201cI\u2019m not letting you leave this bedroom until I\u2019ve found erogenous zones you didn\u2019t even know you had.\u201d <\/i><\/p>\n

Angel didn\u2019t of course say any of those things and Cordelia realized she would have to get up. She let out a soft sigh that she didn\u2019t realize he heard and had moved maybe half an inch when a hand on her thigh stilled her.<\/p>\n

\u201cStay.\u201d He didn\u2019t growl it or beg it\u2014he wasn\u2019t even really asking it, he just said it, like it was a fact. Cordy\u2019s eyes widened involuntarily and that must have scared him a little because he removed the hand from her thigh (No, you can keep that there <\/i>she thought) and he said, \u201cI, I mean you should stay. For Connor.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cConnor\u2019s asleep,\u201d Cordelia said, but she had a tiny smile on her face that made Angel confident. The hand that had been on her thigh moved to her shoulders. He began rubbing and kneading the tension out.<\/p>\n

\u201cSure he\u2019s asleep now. But you yourself said that wouldn\u2019t last long. How can you abandon us now?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2026,\u201d Cordy trailed off. She couldn\u2019t talk, she could barely breath. Angel knew just where to touch. Oh Jesus! <\/i>\u201cFine, I\u2019m staying. You don\u2019t have to bribe me with backrubs,\u201d she said, more harshly than intended. Well, one of us has to be sensible. <\/i><\/p>\n

Cordelia turned over onto her other side, so that Angel now faced her back. He didn\u2019t move, but all of the sudden Cordelia swore that she heard another soft disappointed little sigh, and this time it hadn\u2019t come from her. In that moment Cordelia didn\u2019t know what to do. She didn\u2019t have a clue what was going on here.<\/p>\n

It almost seems like\u2026he likes me. No, that can\u2019t be. Besides, even if he does sorta like me, it\u2019s not like love, it\u2019s not like how he feels about Buffy. Which so makes anything between us just so completely doomed. Cause ultimately, it would be just like Xander, where I am constantly reminded that I run a far second to the Slayer.<\/i><\/p>\n

She didn\u2019t want to hurt his feelings but she didn\u2019t know what he was wanting to happen and she was worried they were playing with fire and she really didn\u2019t want to be the one that got burned. She shut her eyes tightly and heard another little sigh. With that sound, Cordelia decided that she was sick of being the smart one.<\/p>\n

If Angel didn\u2019t have to be sensible, than why should she? She didn\u2019t do anything crazy like rip off her clothes and jump his creature of the night ass.<\/p>\n

Nope, she wasn\u2019t going to be the smart one but that didn\u2019t mean she was the crazy one either. Instead, she just reached behind her, grabbed Angel\u2019s hand, pulled his arm down over her, and yanked his body closer. Ha! I\u2019m being spooned by Angel and it\u2019s probably a horrible idea but I\u2019m not going to think about the stupid consequences, cause I\u2019ve had a really hard day and dammit, I deserve this. <\/i><\/p>\n

Angel gave her a little squeeze and let out another sigh, but it was different than the other two\u2014it sounded content.<\/p>\n

And Cordelia, glad to know that she was neither smart nor crazy but rather a combination of them both, fell asleep.<\/p>\n

Part 6<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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