Title: A Vampire in Tahoe

Summary: Angel gives into a bit of nostalgia and invites an old friend to a special occasion. Future fic

A/N This was written for Dana. It was supposed to be a drabble. Six chapters later...

Rated: PG

Two    Three     Four     Five     Six

Chapter One

 

 

 

            He stared at the invitation. He’d already written her name and address on the envelope in the flowing, old fashioned script his son liked to tease him about. He slipped it into the creamy envelope and sealed it. He placed a stamp on it and then stared at her name some more. He hadn’t heard from her in five years. He wasn’t sure she wanted to hear from him and now he was about to send her an invitation that would require her to see him, should she accept.

 

            “Oh for God’s sake, are you still staring at that thing? Send it already,” Connor grumbled as he walked through the kitchen. He got a carton of milk out, took a swig and put it back in the fridge.

 

            “I don’t know if I should send it.”

 

            “You want her to come. You wouldn’t have wasted two weeks trying to make the decision to send the invitation if you didn’t want her to come,” Connor reasoned.

 

            Angel shook his head. “You don’t understand-”

 

            Connor cut him off. “I know, I know. It’s Buffy. She’s just a girl, Dad. Grow a pair and mail it to her. The worst that can happen is she says no.”

 

            Angel shook his head and started to protest. Connor didn’t know, he couldn’t know that it could get much worse then that.

 

*

 

            She stared at the invitation. She’d recognized his handwriting immediately. She used to have a few scraps of treasured paper with that handwriting on it. Of course those were all gone now. 

           

            “Have you made a decision yet?” Dawn asked as she breezed into the kitchen.

 

            Buffy shook her head.

 

            “Oh come on, you’re gonna miss the rsvp date if you don’t make up your mind.”

 

            “Dawn, it’s complicated…”

 

            “Yeah, I know. It’s Angel. It’s always complicated when it’s Angel, but you guys are grown ups now. I mean he’s got a son that’s getting married! Besides…I really, really want to go to that resort. I’ve never been to Lake Tahoe and especially not a resort that nice.” Dawn had resorted to whining and begging.

 

            Buffy sighed. “We’ll see. I’ll talk to Giles and see if I can get the time off.” She put the invitation up in the mail caddy. “I’m going to patrol a little bit. Are you staying in tonight?”

 

            Dawn wrinkled her nose. “Yeah, I think so. Be careful. I’ll leave some lights on for you.”

 

            “Thanks.” Buffy gathered up a couple of stakes and tied her hair in a sleek tail. “Be home later.”

 

            Dawn waited a full ten minutes after Buffy left before snagging the invitation out of the mail caddy. She filled out the RSVP and called Giles.

 

            “Hey, Giles, it’s Dawn. I’m trying to plan a surprise for Buffy. We’re going to a ski resort in Tahoe next month. No demons, no slaying and no newbie slayers, just fun.  She needs about a week and a half off.”

 

            Giles quickly agreed. Buffy could use a vacation. He also agreed not to tell Buffy about it.

 

            That accomplished, Dawn set about making plane reservations on-line. She also ordered some sweaters and ski things. They had a few winter clothes because of the time they spent in England with Giles, but for the most part both she and Buffy preferred to stick with warm climates, true California girls at heart. If she was careful and nabbed the Mastercard bill before Buffy saw it, she could pay it and her sister would never know until she had to.

 

*

 

            Connor tossed the RSVP card on the table in front of his father. He leaned up against the counter and smirked.

 

            “Told you she’d come.”

 

            Angel stared at the card. He shook his head. “This isn’t her handwriting.”

 

            Connor glanced over his shoulder. “Looks like a girl to me.”

 

            “Buffy puts hearts over her i’s.”

 

            Connor quirked an eyebrow at his father. “Dad, she’s got to be what, twenty five now. I doubt she puts hearts over her i’s anymore.”

 

            “You don’t know Buffy. This isn’t her handwriting,” Angel insisted.

 

            “Alright, I’ll take your word for it. It says she’s bringing her sister. Maybe she filled it out,” Connor pointed out.

 

            Angel nodded. He remembered Dawn, but he couldn’t remember what her handwriting looked like. “Make sure they have one of the nice cabins at the resort. Buffy doesn’t take a vacation very often. I want her to have a good one.”

 

            Connor grinned. “I’ve got all sorts of things planned for both the normal and the daylight challenged people.”

 

            “Now see, you’re just trying to scare me.”

 

            Connor grinned. “That’s the kind of thing I live for.”

 

*

 

 

            Dawn put her suitcase on the floor against the bed. She slid it underneath the bed so that if Buffy popped in she wouldn’t see it. They were leaving tomorrow morning and she had yet to tell Buffy. She glanced at the clock. Dawn had an hour or so to pack Buffy’s suitcase before she returned from patrol.

 

            “At which point I will tell her we’re leaving…’cause I kind of have to.”

 

            She pulled Buffy’s large suitcase out of the closet, packed it with the new sweaters she’d gotten for her sister, the black ski pants, extra warm socks, ear wrap, gloves and assorted other things. She made sure to add nice dresses, knowing Buffy was going to be nervous about seeing Angel as it was.  She turned on the radio and listened to Italian music. They’d been here long enough she understood most of it and could even sing along.

 

            The sound of someone clearing their throat in the doorway put an end to Dawn’s singing and dancing. She winced and looked up.

 

            “Uhm, Buffy…I-you’re home early.”

 

            Buffy glanced around the room, looking pointedly at the suitcase on the bed. “Yeah and you’re packing my clothes why?”

 

            “Well…I decided that we needed a vacation. Giles agreed with me and so we decided to surprise you,” Dawn begin to chatter.

 

            Buffy nodded, indicating to her to continue.

 

            “So…uhm…we’re going to Lake Tahoe.”

 

            “Where Angel’s son is having his wedding.”

 

            “Exactly! I mean if we vacation there, Angel’s paying for the lodging so it’s really cost efficient if you think about it,” Dawn reasoned.

           

            Buffy smirked. “And that was your entire reason for deciding we should go.”

 

            Dawn sighed. “That and you still say his name in your sleep. Ninety percent of the time, if you’re crying he’s the reason.”

 

            Buffy looked down at her feet. “That’s none of your business, Dawn.”

 

            “But you don’t deny it. You need to settle things with Angel, once and for all. I don’t care what the end result is as long as it involves a happier Buffy.”

 

            “Dawn, no. We’re not going,” Buffy insisted.

 

            “We already paid for the plane tickets and I bought us both ski clothes. Everything is non-refundable.”

 

            Buffy’s jaw dropped. “You sneaky little…sister.”

 

            Dawn grinned. “How else was I going to get you out there?”

 

           

Chapter Two

 

 

 

            “If you wear a track in the floor the hotel is not going to be happy,” Connor said without looking up from his magazine.

 

            Angel snarled and checked his watch again. “Her plane should be landing right about now.”

 

            “So you said that five minutes ago.”

 

            “I haven’t seen her in five years. I’m a little nervous,” Angel confessed.

 

            Connor looked over the edge of his magazine at Angel. “Couldn’t tell.”

 

            “You just don’t understand, Connor. When you mailed that invitation…”

 

            “I know, I put into motion the next apocalypse. Relax, Dad.”

 

            Angel grumbled. “Easy for you to say. I’m going to check her cabin again and make sure everything is ready.”

 

            Connor smirked. “You do that. I’m quite sure something has changed since you checked it half an hour ago.”

 

*

 

            They followed the valet to a beautiful cabin set back in the words. He set their bags in the living room area.

 

            “Would you care for anything else?”

 

            Buffy looked around the room, a bit surprised. “No, this is beautiful. Thank you.” She dug some money out of her pocket and tipped him, then went back to poking around the room.

 

            The floors were a warm amber wood with bright rugs scattered all over them. There was a small kitchen, dining and living area. Two closed doors indicated two separate bedrooms. Dawn immediately threw them open to check out the sleeping quarters. Buffy picked up a card that had been propped against a vase of Vanilla Orchids. She smiled at the sight of the old fashioned handwriting. She once had a book of sonnets with that handwriting in it.

 

Glad you decided to come

 

            It wasn’t signed, but it didn’t need to be.  There was small leather binder with gift certificates for the day spa affliated with the resort. There was also a phone number scrawled across the top of a resort brochure in the same old fashioned handwriting as the card.

 

            “You gonna call him and let him know we got here?”

 

            Buffy looked up at her sister and shook her head. “Nah, we’ll see him soon enough. I mean we’re bound to run into each other and even if we don’t the wedding is in a few days.”

 

            “Chicken shit,” Dawn said and snatched the number from Buffy’s hand.

 

            “Dawn! No!” Buffy squealed.

 

            Dawn just smirked and locked herself in her room. “Remember any damages go on Angel’s bill,” she yelled from inside the room, knowing that if Buffy wanted to she could break the lock. She emerged a few minutes later with a grin on her face.

 

            “What?” Buffy demanded.

 

            “There’s a dinner planned in two hours. The other wedding guests will be there,” Dawn smiled sweetly.

 

            Buffy groaned. She smacked her hand to her forehead. “Did I even bring clothes for a dinner?”

 

            “Yup. I packed you lots of dresses and skirts.”

 

            Buffy took a deep breath. “Who are the other wedding guests? Or did you not find that out?” If there were enough people there she could avoid Angel for now.

 

            Dawn bit her bottom lip and Buffy knew she was in trouble. “Well…uhm…Angel, Spike, and Connor.”

 

            “This is fantastic, really. I get to have dinner with two of my ex boyfriends and one ex boyfriend’s son whom I’ve never met. Dawn…” Buffy sighed and buried her face in her hands.

 

            “Buffy, you’ve talked to Spike since the whole flame-y ash episode. He’s not carrying a torch for you anymore. You guys got that settled, so really it’s like Spike is an old friend instead of an ex boyfriend.”

 

            Buffy shot her a glare. “Come help me decide what to wear to this hell that will be called dinner.”

 

*

 

            Angel fiddled with his tie and his silverware, his glass, even the candles on the table.

 

            “Would you stop it!” Connor hissed.

 

            “I’m with the kid. You’re about to drive me bloody insane. Wonder if they have those bloomin onion things here?” Spike glanced at the menu.

 

            “Why do you eat?” Angel asked more to get his mind off the fact that Buffy would be there in a few moments then out of actual interest.

 

            Spike shrugged. “Social thing to do. Can’t very well go to a restaurant and order a pint of O pos now can I? The onion thing tastes pretty good dipped in the O pos though.”

 

            “Like you’d know. You’ve been on pig’s blood since the chip,” Angel smirked.

 

            “Not true, I have otter, seal and cow on occasion,” Spike defended.

 

            “Would you two stop talking about blood? I’m pretty sure the couple next to us heard you because they just requested that the maitre de move them,” Connor said.

 

            Angel grumbled and went back to fiddling with his tie. “Are you sure it’s straight?” He asked Connor.

 

            “Yes, it’s straight. I didn’t do anything to it. You look great, Dad.” For once, Connor was being honest. Angel was far too nervous to consider messing with.

 

            “You look like a patsy in the suit and tie if you ask me,” Spike commented.

 

            Angel smirked at him. “No one did.”

 

            “Oh come on, you know she’s going to fall all over herself, Mate. What’s the big deal?”

 

            Angel sighed. “It’s Buffy.”

 

            “Really? I thought the bleedin Queen was coming to have dinner,” Spike rolled his eyes. “Exactly, it’s Buffy. Slayer never has been able to get you out of her heart and that’s my point. No reason to get worked up about something that’s inevitable.”

 

            Angel didn’t have a chance to respond because she’d just walked in the room.  The pressure had risen by a thousandfold and Angel was pretty sure his chest was going to collapse.  He struggled and found he couldn’t take the deep breath he so desperately needed.

 

            Her hair was shorter than it had been the last time he’d seen her. It just brushed her shoulders now. It was lighter, streaked platinum from being in the sun. She had a tan and she’d gained some weight. She’d been far too pale and thin five years ago. He barely even noticed the young woman beside her that was entirely too grown up to be the Dawn he remembered.

 

            “Hi,” Buffy squeaked.

 

            Angel stammered and finally gave up actually saying anything.

 

            Spike stood up. “Since Peaches seems too incapacitated to do the honors, Connor this is Buffy and Dawn. That’s Connor. Have a seat.”

 

            Angel jumped up to pull chairs out for both the women. Connor smirked and muffled a chuckle.

 

            “Nice to meet both of you,” Connor said.

 

            Buffy nodded. “The pleasure is mine. Good to see you again, Spike. You too, Angel.”

 

            “You’re looking good, Slayer,” Spike said, wishing desperately for a cigarette.

 

            “Thanks, you too for a dead guy…more dead guy,” Buffy smiled.

 

            “And look at you, Niblet, all kinds of grown up. You’re beautiful.” Spike smiled at her. He’d known she was going to grow up beautiful. He’d had no idea how beautiful.

 

            Dawn blushed a little. At one time she’d had a huge crush on Spike. “Thanks.”

 

            “H-how was your flight?” Angel finally asked.

 

            Spike gasped, feigning shock. “Bloody hell, he speaks.”

 

            “Spike, shut up,” Angel snapped.

 

            “Good to know he has no problem snapping at you. I might be bored then,” Connor said sarcastically.

           

            “The flight was good. Buffy snored most of the way,” Dawn announced gleefully.

 

            Buffy smacked her in the arm. “I do not snore!”

 

            “Hate to tell this, Luv, but you do. S’real softly though, sorta sweet,” Spike said.

 

            Dawn grinned at her victoriously.

 

            “Thanks, Dawn. Really. I wanted Angel and Connor to know I snore,” Buffy grumped.

 

            Angel chuckled. “Buffy, I’ve watched you sleep. I know you snore.”

 

            “Geez, Dad, you watched her sleep? That’s like true blue stalker stuff.”

 

            “Oh you have no idea, kid. Even when he was evil he stalked the girl. Didn’t get much evil done, ‘specially considering he was supposed to be the Scourge of Europe,” Spike smirked.

 

            “Okay, can we not discuss Angelus and the stalking of me,” Buffy said. “It’d be good if we kept my sleeping habits off limits too.”

 

            “Well that leaves Peaches completely out of the conversation,” Spike said.

 

            “Are they always like this?” Buffy asked Connor.

 

            Connor sighed. “Yeah, pretty much. I keep waiting for one of them to kill the other, but since it didn’t happen when they were evil, I’m not holding my breath for it to happen now.”

 

            Angel looked over at Connor. “Why was he invited to your wedding?” He jerked a thumb at Spike. “Remind me please.”

 

            Connor shrugged. “He would have showed up anyway and then spend the whole time bitching because he wasn’t invited.”

 

            “Point made,” Angel sighed. He looked back at Buffy, forcing the nerves currently plaguing his stomach to quiet down. “How’s Rome?”

 

            “Still beautiful. I’m getting a little restless, thinking about requesting a transfer to somewhere else,” Buffy admitted.

 

            “Are there vampires in the French Riveria? Because I think I could like living there,” Dawn said.

 

            “There are, but French vamps are stuck up, won’t even take the time to trade witty comments with you,” Spike said.

 

            Angel shrugged. “He’s right.”

 

            “I was kinda thinking somewhere more local. I’ve been dying for a hamburger and you just can’t get a decent one in Europe,” Buffy said, her eyes locking with Angel’s. She swallowed hard and looked away. It wasn’t fair that he never changed, that he got to stay that beautiful forever. It was odd seeing him in a suit, but it looked good on him, of course burlap looked good on the man.

 

            “I’m still in LA,” Angel said.

 

            Buffy nodded. “Yeah, I-Willow told me.”

 

            Angel nodded. Willow was the only one of the Sunnydale gang that he kept in touch with anymore. She helped him research things from time to time, things he refused to go to Giles about since the time he’d turned him away.

 

            “Dad would love it if you moved back to LA. There’s plenty of demons to justify having a slayer and him in the same city,” Connor said.

 

            Angel shot him a look and silently vowed to kill him after dinner.

 

            Buffy nodded. “We’ll see. They do have great shopping in LA.”

 

            “That’s what LA is missing, a slayer in the latest fashion dusting vamps,” Spike smirked.

 

            “I wouldn’t mind LA,” Dawn said. “I could go to UCLA and finish up my degree there.”

 

            “What are you studying?” Connor asked.

 

            “Forigen languages and history. I’m probably going to be a watcher. I can’t see completely getting out of this lifestyle. Once you know what goes bump in the night it’s hard to sleep if you’re not out there helping,” Dawn said.

 

            Connor nodded. He knew what she meant. After he’d gotten his memories back he’d tried to live a normal life with the Rielly’s. It’d been impossible. That’s when he’d hunted up Angel and convinced him that his life wouldn’t be normal as long as he closed his eyes and saw demons in his dreams.

 

            The remainder of the dinner went a lot less awkward then the first ten minutes had. Buffy decided listening to Angel and Spike was a little like being privy to some sort of dark comedy act. She was surprised that Angel and Spike actually ordered, but as they pointed out they couldn’t very well just sit there and stare at everyone else eating.

 

            “Buffy, do you ski?” Connor asked.

 

            “No. I never learned.”

 

            Connor grinned. “Neither did Dad or Spike. Tomorrow night I’m teaching them to snowboard. You and Dawn are both welcome to come join the fun. I’ll be happy to teach you.”

 

            Buffy laughed. “Snowboard? Really?”

 

            “We’ll be there,” Dawn accepted for the both of them. She couldn’t even begin to imagine Spike or Angel trying to snowboard. Vampires and snowboarding just didn’t go together.

 

           

 

           

Chapter Three

 

 

 

            “Okay, you’re all set. You remember how to stop. It’s the beginner hill; you can’t get into too much trouble.” Connor instructed.

 

            “Says you. You do realize how wrong this is, don’t you? Vampires snow boarding and I’m not sure I like a sport where you stop by falling down. Falling down is something I usually try not to do,” Buffy said.

 

            “You’ll be fine. Look at Dawn. She’s doing great,” Connor assured the slayer.

 

            Dawn had taken to snowboarding like a pro. She was currently batting her eyelashes and flirting with a ski instructor.

 

            Buffy smirked. “And look at Spike…”

 

            Connor laughed. “Spike! I don’t think you should be going down the mountain backwards!”

 

            Connor got on his snowboard to retrieve Spike who was now snowballing down the hill. “You two will be fine. Dad, don’t hit a tree.” He sprayed them with snow as he set off after Spike.

 

            “God, this is surreal…or something like that,” Buffy muttered.

 

            Angel grumbled. He wasn’t thrilled to be out here and wouldn’t be out here for very many people. His son was one of them; the woman standing next to him was the other. “We better get down there and take the lift so we can do this all over again. On the bright side, maybe Spike broke something and that’ll put an end to this torture.” He started off down the mountain more by accident then force of will.

 

            Buffy followed after him, falling and skidding across the snow three times before reaching the bottom of the hill where she promptly stopped by running into Connor and knocking him down.

           

            “Serves you right,” she grumbled under her breath.

 

            “Vampire hearing, I did hear you,” Connor said.

 

            Buffy glared up at him from where she was still sitting in the snow. “Just in case you didn’t, SERVES YOU RIGHT!” She yelled.

 

            Spike winced. “Bugger, you’ve still got some lungs on you, Slayer.”

 

            “Shut up, Spike. You realize you look perfect ridiculous snowboarding in your leather coat, jeans and tee shirt. At least Angel wore ski clothes,” Buffy snarked.

 

            “Why the hell do I wanna look like an idiot? It’s not like the temperature actually affects me.” Spike tapped a cigarette out of the pack in his pocket and lit it.

 

            “Spike, you can’t smoke that here,” Connor said.

 

            Spike quirked his scarred eyebrow at Connor. “Scuse me? Peaches paid eighty bucks for tickets to ride up this damn thing and I just snowballed down a hill. Think I deserve a fag if I want one.”

 

            Buffy rolled her eyes. “It’s pointless to argue with him.”

 

            By popular vote, Connor got to share a lift with Spike, which didn’t actually stop Spike and Angel from snipping at each other. They just yelled their insults back and forth so that everyone got to enjoy the joy that was Spike and Angel.

 

            “Are you having fun?” Angel asked Buffy as they rode up the lift.

 

            Buffy arched an eyebrow at him. “My ass hurts from falling on it and I can’t feel my toes I’m so cold. Why did I leave my cabin where there is a hot tub?”

 

            “You have a hot tub? We didn’t get a hot tub.” Angel sounded envious.

 

            “Maybe if you’re nice to me I’ll let you come over and sit in mine,” Buffy said.

 

            Angel grinned and shifted in his seat so that he could put his arm around Buffy’s shoulders. The lift seat just wasn’t made for anyone not the size of Connor. He had the snowboard strapped to one of his feet and somehow he got over balanced and started to fall. He scrambled for a hold and missed.

 

            Buffy screamed. “Oh God! Stop the lift! Angel!”

 

            “The pouf just fell.” Spike’s laughter could be heard echoing along the lift line. “Now that makes all this worthwhile.”

 

            Connor got off the lift at the first possible moment and snowboarded down the hill to where Angel was still lying on his back in the snow. Paramedics were swarming all over him and Angel was trying to wave them off. If they took any of his vital signs they’d be in trouble.

 

            “Hey Da-Angel, I told you to stop doing that. You panic everyone.” Connor said as he unclipped his snowboard from his feet and pushed his way past the paramedics.

 

            “He’s done this before?” One of them asked.

 

            “Oh yeah, it’s a big trick of his. He knows just how to fall so he doesn’t hurt himself, always does it on the bunny slope, not as far to fall,” Connor bluffed, hoping Angel would play along with him.

 

            “Yeah, I know. I said I wasn’t going to do it this time. I just couldn’t resist. I had to impress the pretty blonde coming down the hill right now,” Angel said as he sat up, catching sight of Buffy and Spike bumbling down the hill. Angel’s only consolation was that a little kid ran in front of Spike, making him fall over and tumble a couple of times before he got up cursing a blue streak and managed to get back on track.

 

            “Bloody brats running all over the damn mountain,” Spike yelled after the kid. “I used to eat kids like you!”

 

            Connor managed to convince the paramedics that Angel really was alright by the time Buffy finally reached him. She fell on her knees, hands roving over his shoulders, chest and head. “Oh God, Angel, are you okay?”

 

            Angel contemplated being the drama queen he knew Spike would have been if he’d fallen off the lift, but there was no way he could pull it off. He shook his head. “I’m fine, bruised every thing in my body and I’m sure I’ll be sore in a couple of hours, but basically I’m fine.”

 

            Buffy smacked him hard on the arm. “You scared the crap out of me and not to mention the cute boys operating the lift now know me as the lady sitting with the guy who fell off the lift. I was mortified!”

 

            “Ow,” Angel rubbed absently at his arm. “It’s not like I tried to fall. It did hurt, you know.”

 

            “That was priceless, Peaches. Wish I had a video camera, coulda relieved the moment over and over. My memory will have to do for now, ‘course when I get back to the cabin I’ll have to relay it to Andrew. Oh it will definitely be the headline of The Slayer Monthly Newsletter.”

 

            “You have a monthly newsletter?” Angel asked.

 

            Buffy shrugged. “Backlash from me not ever getting the handbook. I’m compensating.” She turned to Spike. “Just leave me out of it.”

                       

            “Oh hell no. Fact that he was putting his arm ‘round you when he fell’s the best part,” Spike said as he bummed another cigarette out of his half empty pack. “So much for fated lovers. Fate dumped one half right on his ass.”

 

            “Spike, shut up!” Buffy and Angel said in unison.

 

           

*

 

            “She’s never going to want to talk to me again, Connor. I embarrassed her.”

 

            Connor rolled his eyes. “She’s known you what twelve years? I’m sure you’ve embarrassed her before. I’ve known about you for half that time and I can’t count the number of times I’ve been mortally embarrassed of you.”

 

            “No, you don’t understand. I was careful around Buffy. I didn’t do things like fall off ski lifts…I didn’t do things like try to ski. I kept to the shadows, I brooded. Hard to embarrass anyone that way.”

 

            “Gee, and what did you two do for fun?” Connor asked.

 

            Angel shrugged. “She was the slayer, one and only at the time. We killed things. She’s not even going to want to do that with me now. By the time Spike’s finished blabbing the entire demon world will know what happened tonight. I’ll be a laughing stock and she won’t want to be seen with me.”

 

            Connor grumbled. He walked over, grabbed his father by the collar and shoved him outside the cabin onto the porch. “Go talk to her. Don’t come back until you have. If I hear the name Buffy one more time it better be because you got laid.” He slammed the door in Angel’s face.

 

            Angel stood and stared at the door for a few minutes. He turned away with a grumble. He knew Connor, he was far too stubborn to let him back in until after he had talked to Buffy. His options were fairly limited, either go share Spike’s cabin or talk to Buffy.  He was opting for the latter.

 

            He knocked on Buffy’s door, considered turning and running at one point, but Dawn got the door open too quickly. She snickered and smiled at him. “Hey, I was just going out. I’m meeting the cute ski instructor in the lounge. Night, Buffy! Don’t wait up!” She yelled as she breezed past Angel.

 

            Angel stepped inside sheepishly. Buffy was sitting on the couch, a navy blue resort bathrobe wrapped around her.

 

            “Hi,” she smiled at him. “How are you feeling?”

 

            “Every muscle in my body aches and Connor threw me out of the room.”

 

            She got up and walked toward him, her expression mildly concerned. “Why?”

 

            “He was tired of hearing me gripe,” Angel mumbled.

 

            Buffy laughed. “Dawn is off to flirt with the resort employees and I’m here by myself, so I don’t mind the company.”

 

            “You didn’t want to go flirt with the resort employees?” He prayed she said no.

 

            Buffy shrugged and smiled. “I’m a little old to flirt with college boys. Besides, I was about to get in the hot tub, I’m sore all over too.”

 

            “I’d get on my hands and knees and beg and plead with you if I could. Can I join you?”

 

            She grinned. “Did you bring swimming trunks?”

 

            “Connor threw me out before I could grab any, but I’ve got boxer shorts on.”

 

            Buffy considered it a moment. “I suppose that’ll do. Hot tub is right on the deck outside. Go ahead and get in. I’ll go put on my suit.”

 

            Angel would have bought Buffy’s calm, cool and collected act if it weren’t for the fact that he could hear her heart hammering in her chest at a third of its normal rate. He chuckled to himself, pleased he could still have that effect on her after all these years. Because she sure as hell still has that effect on me.  He stripped off, anxious to get into the hot tub before Buffy returned.

 

            Buffy closed her bedroom door behind her. She leaned against it, taking deep breaths. “Okay, Buffy, don’t be ridiculous. You’re twenty seven years old. You’re a grown up and you’re getting in a hot tub with Angel.” She sunk to the floor. “Oh God…no not oh god, you can do this. Don’t be ridiculous. It’s a hot tub. He fell off the ski lift. He’s sore. This isn’t a big deal. So get up, put your suit on and go out there and act like the grown up you are.”

 

            She got to her feet and groaned. “And he can probably hear you talking to yourself. Be right there!” She said the last a little louder and rummaged in her suit case for her swimming suit. It figured the only one Dawn had packed was the tiny, black, French-cut bikini she wore when they went to the French Rivera. Buffy desperately wanted the black one piece she called her fat suit. It was conservative. It didn’t show too much cleavage or too much leg, unlike the bikini which showed too much of everything.

 

            Buffy sighed and put on the bikini since her other option was naked, and that wasn’t happening. She wrapped the blue robe around her body, grabbed some towels and walked through the cabin out to the deck. She was grateful Angel was already in the hot tub. He smiled at her when she came into sight.

 

            “I…uhm…I brought some towels.” She held up the bundle of towels and laid them on the table near the hot tub. She stripped the robe off and climbed into the hot tub as fast as possible.

 

            Angel had plenty of time to see the bikini.

 

            “So, you’ve been helping Giles with the slayers?” Angel finally asked.

 

            “Yeah, Dawn and I have been all over the world looking for them. I’m thinking of retiring though. The whole living out of a suitcase thing gets old and Dawn would like to experience real college life instead of sporadic college life, hence the thinking of moving to the states thing.”

 

            He nodded. The awkward silence creeped in again. Buffy rushed to fill it.

 

            “It’s not like I’d be crowding your territory. I mean I’m sure you and Connor have things covered and not to mention Spike, so there’s really no need for me to be in Los Angeles,” Buffy rambled.

 

            “But Dawn wants to go to college at UCLA and you could always retire,” Angel jumped to say.

 

            “There is that,” Buffy said hesitantly.

 

            “Not that Connor, Spike and I wouldn’t like your help. You heard Connor, there’s always plenty of demons to go around. We could keep you busy…not that you’d be doing busy work. I could even give you a job at Angel Investigations if you wanted it. I can’t pay you much, but it’d be something.”

 

            “Right, but I wouldn’t want you to feel like you have to support me and Dawn-” she started.

 

            “No, I don’t it’s just an offer.”

 

            Buffy took a deep breath and nodded. “Thanks, I’ll think about it. I’ll have to talk to Dawn of course.”

 

            “Of course,” Angel agreed.

 

            There was a space of several minutes where nothing was said. At one time silence between them had been comfortable, now it was just awkward.

 

            “Sooo, Connor’s fiancée, what’s she like?”

 

            “Sara? She’s a sweet girl. She’s a lawyer for a firm in LA. They met in law school. She’s a few years older then him, which worried me, but they seem like a good match. She knows about his world and she accepts it, even embraces it. He’s teaching her a few things about fighting demons just in case.”

 

            Buffy smiled. Angel’s pride in his son was obvious every time he spoke about him. “So Connor is studying to be a lawyer? You must be proud.”

 

            Angel grinned. “Yeah, which is stupid. I didn’t raise him. I didn’t have anything to do with his decision to become a lawyer. It was much more likely due to his memories of his adoptive family, but I am proud.”

 

            “You should be. I mean a lawyer…that’s one of the things parents always dream their kids will grow up to be, or a doctor.”

 

            “There are worse things he could be and he’ll be a good one. Lord knows he’s stubborn and argumenative enough.  He wants to work for the DA, fighting on the good guy’s side, or what’s supposed to be the good guy’s side.”

 

            “I wonder where he gets that from,” Buffy teased.

 

            Angel chuckled. “I suppose he does come by it honestly.”

 

            Buffy yawned, a big jaw cracking affair she covered with her hand. “Sorry,” she said sheepishly.

 

            “You’re tired. I should go,” Angel offered.

 

            “I really am.” She just wasn’t up to the kind of marathon discussion she and Angel really needed to have in order to smooth things over.

 

            Angel nodded. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow then?”

 

            “Yeah, I’m going to spend the day in the spa trying to get some of these kinks worked out.”

 

            Angel cleared his throat. “Could you…my boxer shorts are pretty see through and I’d like to not get my pants wet when I put them on so could you…” If he could have blushed he would have.

 

            Buffy blushed enough for both of them and nodded. “Yeah, sorry.”  She got out of the hot tub and grabbed her robe. “I’ll just go put on dry clothes.”

 

            Angel waited until she had disappeared into the cabin, then got out of the hot tub, shucking his boxers as he did. He grabbed his pants and shirt and put them on, balling the wet boxers up in a towel.

 

            Buffy shut herself in her room to change into a pair of flannel pajamas with penguins all over them. She willed herself not to think about Angel being naked anywhere near her vicinity. It didn’t work very well. The flannel pajamas were buttoned all the way up to her neck before she opened the door and blushed a lovely shade of pink at the sight of him clothed.

 

            “Thanks for sharing the hot tub.” He gave her that lopsided grin that still managed to make her heart contract.

           

            She smiled back at him. “You’ve got a standing reservation.”

 

            “Careful, I’m sharing a cabin with my son. I may take you up on that offer.”

 

            “Kind of hoping you will.” Oh God, Buffy. Are you sure you want to do this again? Are you sure your heart can take this again?

 

            Angel swallowed past the lump in his throat and a full grin spread across his face. “Alright. Tomorrow night Connor’s fiancée should be here. They’re having a rehearsal dinner party at 7.”

 

            “Dawn and I will be there with bells on, only not literally because that’d be tacky,” Buffy grinned.

 

            “Sweet dreams then.”

 

            She closed her eyes a moment, nodded and then opened them. “You too.”

 

            Leaving her was as hard as it’d always been.

 

            Outside, Angel resisted the urge to jump around like a sixteen year old who’d just gotten a date with his dream girl and then it hit him that he couldn’t actually go back to the cabin. He doubted Connor would let him in at this hour, which left him with one option. Spike.

 

            The blond vampire answered the door with a scowl on his face. The scowl deepened when he saw Angel.

 

            “I need to stay the day,” Angel said.

 

            “Oh bollocks, no.”

 

            “Connor kicked me out,” Angel shifted on the porch.

 

            “That leaves one person who loves you more then I do.”

 

            “I’m not asking Buffy to stay the night at her place.”

 

            That lit up Spike’s face. “Won’t let you will she?”

 

            “I didn’t ask.”

 

            Spike cackled. “Oh this is great.” He stepped aside, letting Angel inside. He slapped him on the back. “Peaches, I do believe this is one of the best days of my life.”

 

            “Spike, shut up.”

 

            “And you’re not sleeping naked on my couch. I’d have nightmares about that for months.”

 

            “Spike, stuff it.”

 

                       

 Chapter Four

 

Angel woke up to the wet, not soft, plop of something hitting him in the forehead. He growled and opened one eye to find Spike sitting across from him, throwing grapes at him.

 

            “Bloody hell, you sleep like the dead. What happened to predatory instincts and what not?”

 

            Angel sat up with a growl, wiping the splattered grape pulp off his forehead with the blanket he’d had over him. “I’m in a cabin. I’m not being hunted. There’s no reason for me to have predatory instincts. And why are you throwing grapes at my forehead?”

 

            “Same reason people climb Mt. Everest. It’s there.”

 

            Angel smirked. “Could have just shone a light on your hair and the blinding, radioactive glow would have woken me up.”

 

            “Junior called. Said you could go back to the cabin. He’s going to pick up Mrs. Junior and ‘parently he’s afraid you and I will kill each other locked up here together. Honestly, I’m touched.”

 

            Angel smirked. “Might tie you up and stuff you in the closet.”

 

            “Now I’m hurt,” Spike said, putting his hand over his heart.

 

            “Can’t forget the gag,” Angel sniped.

 

            “Kid’s probably right. You’d want to watch a hockey game or PBS during Passions,” Spike snapped back. “Anyway, I figure you got ‘bout five minutes to get up, get dressed and make a mad dash for his cabin before you fry.”

 

            Angel growled. “Thanks Spike. Glad you gave me so much time.”

 

            “Not my fault you wouldn’t wake up. I was considering hurling the apples from the fruit basket at you next.”

 

            Angel dressed and made a run for Connor’s cabin just as the sun was licking the horizon. Another minute and he would have had a bad sunburn. He slammed the door shut behind him, still cursing Spike’s name.

 

            Connor poked his head out of his bedroom, grunted and slammed the door shut again.

 

            “Glad to be home, Son. Thanks so much for the hospitality,” Angel grumbled and walked to his room.

 

            “I can hear you!” Connor yelled through the wall.

 

            “Good!” Angel yelled back. He stripped off and climbed into bed. It didn’t take long for him to drift off back to sleep.

 

*

 

            She was in Heaven or somewhere reasonably close to it. Buffy lay on her stomach, a warm towel covering her butt and a woman plied and kneaded her muscles with strong fingers. She cracked open one eye to see that Dawn was in the same drooling, relaxed state she was. The masseuse’s hands made one final journey down her back.

 

            “Alright ladies, thank you so much. We’ll leave you alone to relax and get dressed. Take as much time as you like,” Dawn’s masseuse said. Ingrid, I think she said her name was Ingrid.

 

            “Thanks,” Dawn murmured and continued to lay catatonic on the table.

 

            The masseuse’s gathered their things and left the room, closing the door behind them.

 

            “Oh God, this was worth the trip,” Buffy groaned.

 

            “You’re telling me,” Dawn half moaned. “I’ll be happy if we can stay here the rest of the trip.”

 

            Buffy groaned. “Don’t remind me that we can’t. We’ve got to have dinner with the dynamic duo, his son and fiancée.”

 

            “How did things go with Angel last night?”

           

            Buffy made a face. “You have to go ruin a perfectly good massage by making me think.”

 

            “Why do you have to think about it? If it’s love aren’t you just supposed to know it in your heart? No brain required,” Dawn said.

           

            Buffy wrinkled her nose. “Yeah in all those girly movies. In real life, it’s a lot more complicated then just listening to your heart.”

 

            “So what’s your heart saying?”

 

            “It doesn’t matter what my heart is saying, Dawn. My heart is very, very stupid. It doesn’t care how many times Angel has shattered it before. It wants him anyway and it can’t have him because even if it doesn’t know it, I know that he will break it again and I know that I can’t take that. It looks easier every time Angel leaves, but that just means it cuts deeper.”

 

            “Have