Chapter Fourteeen - Epilogue
Another Door Opens…
Three Months Later…
It was the opening night of The Graveyard and the place was
packed. Buffy was so happy that
everything went without a hitch.
The day after she got back her, Faith and Angel checked out the
building that was for sale and the girls loved it.
It was a beautiful gothic style four story building on
Sunset. Angel thought it needed some
work but Buffy and Faith were adamant that this was what they wanted. Both
girls had been saving for years and with the lump of money that Buffy made on
the swimsuit shoot they were able to buy it outright and restore it.
They decided that the first floor would be a dance club and the
second floor would be a hang out bar.
Buffy would get rid of her apartment and move into the top floor and
Faith would take the third floor.
When they told Angel that the name would be The Graveyard he had
thought it was a little morbid. But had
to agree that with the gothic style of the building and the underworld theme of
the club that the name fit.
They decided that for the opening night that they would open the
club to the public but kept the bar closed for their own private celebration.
They sent out invitations to their family and friends and they were all
gathered there together having a great time.
Angel, Spike, Giles and Doyle sat at the bar drinking whiskey,
talking about the old country. Buffy
hadn’t quite understood what that meant when she asked them what they were
talking about, but she was so happy she didn’t really care.
Since she had gotten home she and Angel had talked many times
about the past and the future. They had
both agreed that they would take things slow and wouldn’t see other people. He had told her of his childhood in
When she asked for his address so she could send him an
invitation, he got close-lipped and avoided her question. She didn’t think anything of it. She just
assumed that there was bad blood under the bridge and that in time he would
tell her.
Over the past three months they had spent every day together
talking, making love going out with Spike and Faith. Things were progressing quite nicely she thought. There was just
that one weekend when he seemed to disappear and didn’t tell her where he
went.
Her brow furrowed thinking about it now. That was strange and the only thing he said when got home was
that it was an overnight stunt somewhere in
She had ran a bath for him and proceeded to give him a little
TLC. He showed his appreciation by
pulling her into the bath with him then making love to her. It took her all of the next day to clean up
the water that had sloshed onto the floor.
She couldn’t wipe away the smile on her face at that memory while
she sat with her mom who couldn’t seem to say enough about how wonderful Angel
was.
She had to admit that she was a little nervous about her family
meeting him, but she was glad that they all seemed to like him.
Angel on the other hand was more than a little nervous, to say the
least, when he met Buffy’s family. He
didn’t know what to expect.
Joyce had walked right up to him, hugged him and whispered “Thank
you” in his ear. He wasn’t quite sure what to think of that until Giles stepped
up to him.
“Angel nice to meet you I’m Rupert Giles.” They shook hands.
“Mr. Giles, nice to meet you too.”
“Oh no please call me Rupert or you can call me Giles, that’s what
the kids do.”
“Ok Giles I’m glad you and Joyce could make it, I’ve been wanting
to meet you both.”
“Yes indeed, Joyce and I wouldn’t have missed it for the
world.” He stepped in closer and
lowered his voice “Joyce has been very happy since you showed up in the
picture. And you know what they say if
the wife is happy the husband is happy, and let me tell you I can vouch for
that.” He smirked at him and Angel
laughed, he liked Giles.
“She was very worried about Buffy, you know with the whole Parker
bit. She seemed different, I don’t know, shall we say cold.” He seemed far away
in thought for a moment.
“But since she’s been seeing you, she seems so happy, so
lighthearted, it’s remarkable really.”
Angel smiled it seemed he had a friend in Giles and Joyce.
Xander had been a different matter all together. When he arrived he walked up to Angel and
asked to speak with him privately. The
second they walked outside, Xander had grabbed him by the lapels of his jacket
and got right in his face “Listen I don’t know who you are and I don’t think I
even care. For some reason you have my
baby sister all tied up into knots and you guys barely even known each other.”
Angel was getting a little annoyed at being manhandled but tried
to pacify him “Listen Xander I know that things have moved quickly but it’s not
like we’re getting married or anything we’re still just dating.”
“I don’t give it shit how you slice it buddy I just want you to
know that if I ever find out that you hurt her I will kill you.”
Now Angel was pissed off.
He grabbed Xander’s wrist applied pressure and twisted it off of
his shirt. He stepped right back into his face and sneered at him “Just so were
clear I personally don’t give a shit about you either. Buffy is what I care about. And since she obviously cares about you I’m
going to forget your little threat and enlighten you on three things. One, you don’t ever have to worry about me
hurting Buffy because that will never happen, ever. Two, what happens between Buffy and myself is our business not
yours, so don’t ever try to interfere in our relationship. And three…” he leaned in closer till their
noses were practically touching “if you ever touch me again, I will definitely
kill you.”
He released him and stepped back.
Xander looked into the hard eyes of the man who had stolen his
little sister’s heart and believed every word he said. It was the deathly calm of his voice and the
waves of strength that radiated from his body that screamed power, and the
confidence to follow through with his threat.
He had felt it many times before from the guys in S.W.A.T. and it
made him a little uncomfortable, afraid almost. He wondered who this man really was. But the way he figured it
better him then that asshole Parker.
He walked up to Angel and slapped him on the back “Good glad to
know we’re coming from the same place and that the Bufster isn’t dating a
pussy. Nice move by the way where’d you learn that?”
Angel recognized a truce when he saw it he also could smell the
fear and he thrived on it. He smiled
back at Xander it was good to have the upper hand!
They walked back inside like the best of buds where the
festivities were in full force.
**
Kendra and Buffy sat at a table in the back talking quietly. They hadn’t spoken much lately and they had a
lot of catching up to do.
“So tell me how you met?”
Buffy glanced over at the bar where Angel was standing drinking
with Giles and Spike, a smile brightened her face and Kendra noticed that her
eyes seemed to glaze over with the memory.
“It was at the Whiskey, I was working and he came in to see
Spike.”
Kendra smiled “So it was a mutual attraction right away ah?”
Buffy thinking of that night blushed “Yeah I guess you could say
that.”
“Well he seems like a really decent guy not to mention the fact
that he’s gorgeous.”
“Yeah he is really special.
There’s something about him that just seems to sit so right with me. You
know, I know this is going to sound melodramatic, but it almost seems like it
was destiny or fate, whatever you want to call it.”
Kendra smiled back at Buffy she had never seen her sister look
this happy and contented. “Well I’m
glad you finally found someone that you can believe in Buffy, you deserve it.”
They both had tears in their eyes as they got up and hugged each
other. Joyce who had noticed her girls
talking quietly walked over to join them.
“Can I get in this family hug?”
They opened their arms and all three of them held onto each other.
”My beautiful girls together again, I honestly never thought I would see the
day that all of us would be together like this again, happy.”
“Whoa what’s this, tears?
This is a happy occasion ladies there will be no tears or I might have
to start issuing some summonses.”
Xander walked up to them.
They all laughed at him and grabbed him into their hug.
Angel looked over at them and smiled, it must be nice to have a
family that was close. He wished that
he could’ve invited his Uncle, but that was another story.
Just then Faith jumped up on to the stage and grabbed the mike.
“Ok ladies and gents, this is a special request for the Lady of
the Evening, my partner in this lovely new establishment and our very own
swimsuit seductress, Buffy Summers!” The applause vibrated off the walls as
Buffy stood on the dance floor and started to bow. “Thank you, thank you very
much.”
Faith continued with her speech “Ok, ok don’t be a cheese.” Every one laughed.
“This song is for all the ladies, so girls get your buts out on the
dance floor and shake your groove thing!”
She jumped off the stage and on to the floor where Buffy was. All the girls joined them and when the first
notes started to play, they all started to dance.
Buffy looked over to Angel who was smiling at her, she held his
gaze and sang the song making her way over to him.
Now that we
have come to be
A brand new
life I can't see
Never thought
you'd be a special part of me, no baby
The reasons are
because of you
I can go on and
make it through
I can't even
take my mind off loving you
and I wanna say
She pulled him up and onto the floor. It was a fast tempo beat but they held each other close,
foreheads touching, and slowly swayed to the music.
Buffy continued to sing to him, the songs lyrics spoke what her
heart felt and she wanted him to know.
I never knew
there was a love like this before
Never had
someone to show me a love
Love like this
before
I know you
can't see
all the things
you mean to me
I'm so amazed
that you are mine, yeah yeah yeah yah
if we can work
together
maybe this
could last forever
this is
something that I wanna hold on to
so baby try to
understand
baby try to
understand
I'll go crazy
if you leave
cause you
compliment my style
(ooh ooh ooh)
and I like the
way you walk
and the sexy
things you talk
you don't know
just what you do to me
you see I never
I never knew
there was a love like this before
Never had
someone to show me a love
Love like this
before
I never knew
there was a love like this before
Never had someone
to show me a love
Love like this
before
Everyone stood by and watched the couple dance. The love that radiated off of them was
almost blinding in its intensity. But
soon everyone join them.
Between the party upstairs and the club downstairs The Graveyard
was a hit and the music and the flow of booze continued throughout the early
morning hours.
**
It was
The house was dark and still.
Everything was peaceful and then he heard a sound he didn’t think he
would ever hear again.
He carefully rolled Buffy over and stepped quietly out of the
room. He went into his closet and hit
the concealed button on the wall, a door slid open and he stepped inside too a
darken room.
He hit the switch on the wall and the room lit up with red and
green lights. He walked over to the
machine and spoke into the mic.
“Relay 2-4-8-9-3”
A clipped British voice came over the other end “Ah, Angelus
you’re still alive I see.”
The End
AUTHOR’S NOTE: What’s this
a mysterious situation? Does Angel have
a black past? Will The Brotherhood come
back to haunt Buffy? Do I smell sequel?
Let me know what you think of this story. I have a couple of ideas for a sequel but it is probably a bit
down the road since I want to work on some other story ideas. But give me your feedback and let me know if
I should continue the Buffy and Angel saga.