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Disclaimer: I don't own ANY Buffy or Angel characters. I own the plot, and that's that.
Author's Note: I have a dislike for Kate and Riley. Forgive the vileness.
Buffy was dressed conservatively in a red floral dress as she followed Oz's directions to Angel Investigations. In her hands, she gripped several huge envelopes and two shopping bags hung from her wrist. Buffy didn't feel relaxed at that moment. Her dad had invited her to L.A, but she had found that he was again off on business, and he had left her a key to the house. Upon seeing that, she had stormed out of the house. Some Christmas she was going to have.
Cordy on the other hand, was slaving at her desk. She had to look up a whole top ten list of demons and things Wesley had given her. Angel was in the other room, pacing while he was reading a book. Wesley was recovering from a recent attack of the flu. She sat there, typing away like a good little secretary should. She sighed, typing in a daze, thinking about Angel's vast assortment of problems.
Cordy thought about Angel's Christmas tree, the really cute small one with a big Victorian angel on it and asked, "Angel, are you putting up that tree again?"
Angel walked in from the other room. "Don't know." Cordy snickered as she left her seat and peeked over his book.
"Did you get to the part when you kiss Buffy passionately on the lips?" Cordelia asked smugly when she saw his so-called bookmark.
Angel looked up, startled. "What?"
Cordy waved the remark away with a delicate sweep of her hand. "Never mind." Cordy shook her head as she returned to her seat and resumed typing. "Don't deny that you aren't over her."
"Cordelia, we've been over this…" Angel said, closing his book.
"Dream on, Boss. Dream on." Cordy said in a singsong voice. She smiled innocently when he turned his glare on her. Then, she shrugged. "I'll lay off now, geez, talk about broody."
"Cordy," she turned to face the direction Angel's voice was coming from. "Try it."
Buffy had most probably missed a turn. She'd been wandering around L.A, drawn by the feeling of home. Hemery. Pike. Merrick. Things she never though would come back to her. She also had spotted something she knew Cordy was eyeing. She obviously had bought it, looking at the bulk of her shopping bag. Buffy knew that seven-thirty in the night wasn't a nice time to barge in on Angel and Co., but neither was twelve noon. She decided that she'd barge in tonight.
Angel was now sitting in his office with all the blinds shut. Cordy was at the front desk, decorating for Christmas, which was the next day.
Hours later, Cordy was putting gifts around the Christmas tree Angel had put up. She read each of the labels. When she got to a present that she'd never seen, she thought that she'd gag. The tag read: To Angel, From Kate. "Eww," she muttered, picking the gift up by a corner with her thumb and index finger.
Buffy walked down the street and peeked into the window that matched the address scribbled on her piece of notebook paper. Then, she rang the bell. God, she was nervous.
Cordy had just finished with all the decorating, with the help of Wesley, when they both jumped to hear the bell ring. She scurried away from her desk and told Wesley to ask Angel if he'd scheduled any appointments.
Cordelia walked to the door. When she opened it, she gasped. "Oh my gosh!" Hurriedly, she hustled Buffy in. They hugged briefly.
"Cordy, you look great." Buffy said with a smile. Then, she handed her friend her bag of gifts. "Merry Christmas."
"Thank you." Cordelia said sweetly. She took the bag and set it beside the tree. "Angel'll be here in a sec."
"Uh, okay," Buffy said uncertainly as Cordy pulled her to the desk.
"Wesley, I…" Angel protested. He trailed as he saw his Slayer smiling radiantly at Cordelia, who was showing her the framed picture of the "Blob".
Just as Cordy turned to the desk, Buffy spun around with her eyebrows knitted. She stopped short. "Angel…"
"Buffy." Angel said expectantly.
"Oh," Buffy said suddenly. She took the envelope she'd been holding. She handed it to him. "I know that we agreed about the distance thing, about forgetting." She looked up at him. "Merry Christmas."
Cordy grabbed Wesley's sleeve. "Buffy, we need to check the, uh, plumbing." She whisked the Watcher away to give the two some quiet time.
"Why don't you come into my office?" Angel asked politely. "Can I get you anything?"
"No thank you," Buffy said, as he opened the door for her. She slipped between Angel and the doorway.
Angel closed the door. "So…" he prompted.
"I thought over what happened last November. I'm sorry," Buffy said sheepishly. Before she turned to the door, she got the most outrageous thought. "And I thought about it. Maybe, I can't have a future with anyone." She wrung her hands tightly. "I figured that the whole Thanksgiving thing was a bluff."
"A bluff?"
"A bluff." She confirmed. He stepped closer. "Okay, now that I've made a complete idiot of myself, I guess I should pick myself up and leave." But Buffy didn't. In a split second, they were in each other's arms, in a lip lock. Buffy pulled away gently and put her arms around Angel's neck, a familiar gesture.
"I'll never forget. I'll never ever forget." Buffy whispered into his ear.
Angel released his hold on her and looked at her strangely. In that brief moment, she flew out the door. He let her go, knowing facing the fact that they could never be. Angel listened as the sound of her feet on the floor faded away, along with the sound of her heartbeat.
As Buffy hurried down the hall, she fought the urge to breakdown and cry. It'll be better this way, she said silently to herself. She looked back one more time and saw the blurred image of Doyle. They'd get a chance, all right. Just not now.
The next morning, Cordelia and Wesley arrived at AI. They were surprised to find Angel sitting at his desk, snoozing innocently.
"He's got a case of Buffy on the brain," Cordy muttered as she took off her overcoat and set it on a seat. Then, she shook Angel awake. "Hey, Angel, stayed up too long making out with Buffy?"
Angel wrenched open his eyes, waking up from a nice dream. "What?" Then, he clammed up at her comment. "Whatever," he muttered shortly.
Cordy looked at him apologetically. "Look, Angel, it was a joke. Okay? No hard feelings? It's Christmas!"
"Fine," Angel grumbled as he got up and ran a hand through his hair.
They gathered around the tree and started ripping open presents. Wesley got several books and a silk tie. Cordy received a few things from both of her male counterparts, and a shimmery blue sheath from Sunnydale. She beamed the whole time.
The four remaining presents were Angel's. Cordy and Wes were able to cajole him into opening all of them, except for the huge silver wrapped envelope. He got a cheesy ornament from Kate.
Just as they were about to leave, Cordy asked, "Aren't you going to open that one?"
"Fine, you open it," Angel said. He watched as Cordy rolled her eyes and began to unwrap it.
Cordelia reached in and took out another envelope with a Post-it note stuck on it. She quickly unsealed the packet and smiled. "Wow." She showed them the contents, which was an authentic license with a certificate. "The other things are yours." Cordy announced. She handed him the bag.
The rest of the bag consisted of a videotape, a box, an envelope, and CD. Angel motioned for them to leave. Cordy asked no questions and left with Wesley.
That morning, Angel went through Buffy's videotape of what her life was like in the sun, he read her letter, and put the picture frame of her on his desk. He had yet to ask Wesley and Cordelia about the CD. Either way, Cordelia could tease him all she liked.