Central Perk

Description: AU fiction. Buffy moves to NYC to escape life in Sunnydale Ca. There she meets up with an old highschool buddy, Willow Rosenberg and is introduced to Willow's way of life and the crazy antics of her new group of friends. This story is loosely based on a combination of BTVS and FRIENDS.

Disclaimer: All characters and dialoge relating to Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel the Series are property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and Fox This story is written for entertainment purposes only and not for profit. I am in no way affiliated with the shows Buffy the Vampire Slayer or FRIENDS in anyway. In other words I am nothing, I own nothing, I have nothing...Please don't sue me :-)

A/N - This story will be largely un-betaed...I write kind of sporadically so I don't really want to burden someone with the task of being my beta. I am proof reading the chapters before I post them so hopefully they won't be too bad. However, if you find major error/problems, please let me know and I'll fix it.


Chapter 1

“It’s not a date!” Willow Rosenberg exclaimed taking a sip of her chocolate mocha. “It’s just two friends getting together, having dinner, possibly coffee, and not having sex.”

Xander Harris pondered her answer with a serious expression on his face for a moment before looking at his friend and saying, “It sounds like a date to me.”

In response, Willow threw her muffin at him, and Xander promptly caught it and took a large bite out of it, grinning widely. They were sitting in their usual spot in their usual hangout. Willow had stumbled across Central Perk, a small coffee shop right around the corner from her apartment, during her last semester at NYU. She and her former roommate Anya Jenkins, and their neighbors Xander Harris and William Giles would spend hours here hanging out, and helping each other cram for finals. After graduation it just seemed natural that they continue to frequent the small coffee shop. They claimed the far corner of the shop for themselves, preferring the two large, comfy chairs, overly soft from years of wear and tear, and the large velvet lined sofa to the regulation chairs and tables. They were there so often that regular patrons recognized this area as the group’s spot and very rarely would occupy it. On occasion Xander and William had to resort to scaring college students who came in and didn’t know any better, but for the most part it was reserved for the Scooby Gang, which they had affectionately named themselves.

“Ooh, who has a date?” Anya asked as she took a seat on the sofa next to Willow.

“It’ not a date!” Willow exclaimed, throwing her hands up in exasperation. “Like I was just telling Xander, it’s just two friends getting together and not having sex.”

Anya nodded, “You’re right, that’s not a date.” She grinned mischievously and patted Xander on the knee, “Well unless, of course you’re Xander.”

“Hey!” Xander exclaimed pushing her hand away.

“Anyway, so what’s the point?” Anya asked, turning to face Willow again.

“The point?”

“Yes,” Anya nodded. “What’s the point of going out on a date if there’s not going to be any sex? I mean that’s what a date is, it’s getting pretty, free food-” Anya paused and then shook her head. “Let me rephrase: free expensive food,” she said, looking pointedly to Xander; she loved to tease him about his love life. “Possibly a movie, and then lots and lots of orgasms.”

“Again proving my point that this is not a date.” Willow said emphatically, and took another sip of her mocha. Willow had met Anya when she moved to the city for her freshman year of college. Anya’s carefree and very blunt personality never ceased to amaze her. They were roommates in the dorms during their first semester at NYU and later moved into an apartment in the Village that was owned by Willow’s father. They met Xander and William shortly after moving into the apartment.

“So, where’s William?” Willow asked quickly changing the subject.

Xander took a deep breath before he answered, “He’s at the apartment. Drusilla is picking up her stuff today.”

Willow grimaced, “Ouch.” Xander nodded in response.

“Did you hurt yourself Red?”

Willow turned around quickly at the sound of the voice behind her. William was standing there, dressed in all black. He looks like he’s in mourning. Willow thought to herself. “No, no, hurting, just took a sip of my mocha and it’s still a little too hot.” she covered, not wanting William to know what they were talking about.

However, Anya, who could always be counted on to say the wrong thing spoke up, “That’s not true. Willow was commenting on the fact that today is the day the Drudzilla moved her shi-”

“Thank you Anya!” Willow interrupted. She then motioned over to William to come sit down next to her. He walked over to the other side of the plush red sofa and shed his black leather duster before taking his seat next to the redhead. Willow put a comforting arm around William and pulled him to her so that his head was resting on her shoulder. She soothingly patted the side of his head as she whispered, “You know that it’s for the best right?”

William sighed, “I know,” He sat up straight on the couch before continuing. “What if what’s best isn’t necessarily what I want?” he asked, his voice thickened by sadness.

“Want to get sugared up on mochas?” Willow asked, bouncing slightly trying to make William smile. William shrugged his shoulders in reply. Willow took this as the closest thing she was going to get to a yes from him today and stood up to order his coffee.

“You know what you really need,” Anya said sliding over to take Willow’s spot next to William. “You need to jump back on the horse again. Start dating right away,” she suggested, allowing her voice to grow increasingly louder. “Lots and lots of orgasms. I mean you and Dru were together for like what, forever? There are plenty of women who would willingly have you upside down and halfway to happy land with just a look. My advice to you William Giletarttart looking.”

“Anya,” William grumbled. “I beg you not to help me.”

“Here you go,” Willow smiled as she handed William his coffee. “Chocolate mocha sugary goodness.” William smiled weakly as he accepted the drink and sat back on the sofa. Willow took the other side of the couch next William, and tucked her feet under her body. “So Xander, you were going to tell us about this crazy dream that you had last night,” she prodded, wanting to change the subject to something less maudlin, for William’s sake.

“Oh right!” Xander exclaimed as he set his half eaten muffin on the coffee table in front of them. He sat up straight in his chair to allow his hands free range of motion. Xander liked to talk with his hands. “So I’m back in high school and I’m standing in line in the cafeteria when I notice that I’m totally naked.”

“Oh I love that dream,” Anya said wistfully.

“Only you would love that dream Ahn,” Xander replied giving her a frightened look before continuing. “Anyway, I’m totally naked. I look down and there’s a phone...there,” he said motioning to his nether regions.

Willow gulped and gave Xander a look of confusion. “You mean instead of-”

“That’s right!” he interrupted, flailing his arms about to emphasize his point.

“Oh my God,” Willow replied giggling loudly.

“Suddenly,” Xander continued. “The phone starts to ring. I have no idea what to do, and people are starting to look at me...”

“They weren’t looking at you before?” Anya interrupted.

Xander ignored her comment and continued his story, “So I think to myself, ‘I better answer that’, and when I do, it’s my mother, which is very, very weird because she never calls me.”

“Only in your world mate, would you put a friggin’ telephone in place of your...” William trailed off as he noticed the woman who had just walked into the coffee shop. She was beautiful. She couldn’t have been more than about five foot two, with long, golden hair that hung loosely at her shoulders. She had on light blue jeans and a pink baby doll t-shirt that showed off the slightest bit of stomach.

“Is it just me or is Will drooling?” Willow asked smiling. She turned slightly toward the door so she could see whom William was staring at. “Who in the world are you-” Willow trailed off when she got a look at the young blonde. “Oh my God.” Willow stood and walked over to where the girl was standing now at the coffee bar talkio ono one of the waitresses. “Buffy?”

The blonde girl turned when she heard Willow’s voice and a smile of relief crept over her face. “Oh Willow, thank God! I was so scared I wouldn’t find you. I went to your apartment and your neighbor said that you were probably here.” The blonde girl hugged Willow fiercely.

“What are you doing here?” Willow asked as she pulled away from her embrace.

“I left,” Buffy told her, still clasping one of the redhead’s hands in her own. “Sunnydale was just getting to be way too much, and there’s this whole big huge story that I would love to fill you in on. I know that this is a surprise Will, I know that we’ve kind of drifted apart, but I didn’t know where else to go.”

Willow could feel Buffy’s hand tremble slightly as she spoke. “It’s cool,” Willow smiled, placing a comforting hand on Buffy’s shoulder. “Come on, I want you to meet my friends.” Willow led Buffy over to the corner where her three friends were watching the scene intently.

“Who in the hell is that?” William asked as they watched the two girls walking back over to them.

“Don’t know,” Xander replied shrugging. “Never seen her before.”

“Hey guys,” Willow smiled and patted Buffy on the shoulder. “This is Elizabeth Summers, we went to high school together back in Sunnydale. Buffy this is Xander, Anya and William.”

“Hello,” Buffy kind of sheepishly waved at the group.

William stood up quickly and stuck his hand out “Nice to meet you ‘Lizbeth.”

Buffy took William’s hand and shook it tentatively, “You can call me Buffy.” William then offered her his place on the couch beside Anya, taking the comfy chair on the other side of the couch.

“Buffy?” Anya asked. “Did your parents dislike you terribly?”

Buffy laughed as she and Willow sat down. “Sometimes it feels that way. My mom started calling me that when I was about three and I guess it just stuck.”

“Parents should just not name their children,” Anya remarked shaking her head.

“Tell me about it,” Buffy nodded as she agreed. “I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed going through middle school with a name that sounded like the headliner of a 1-900 sex line.”

“So what brings you to New York?” Xander asked

Buffy looked at the three friends who were all staring at her curiously, “Wow,” she said, grinning nervously. “Everybody wants to know about me, how keen.”

“Well you know we don’t meet a lot of new people, what with this being the heart of New York City and all,” Xander motioned around the crowded room as he spoke, the sarcasm dripping from his tone.

Buffy laughed, “Well, the truth is things were getting pretty hairy back home.” She looked at Willow and gave her a weak smile. “Mom and Dad are getting a divorce.”

“Oh Buffy, I’m so sorry.” Willow took her hand as she sympathized with her friend.

“It’s okay, I’ve known it was coming for a while now.” Buffy took a deep breath before she continued. “I feel like they’ve been fighting non-stop since we gradd hid high school. I moved out of the house about a year ago. Daddy bought me a loft on Main Street and things seemed better for a little while, but I think they just seemed that way because I wasn’t there to hear them argue.” Buffy squeezed Willow’s hand and smiled wanly. “Well, they decided to officially separate about two months ago and things have just gone to hell since then. Last weekend I finally decided that I’d had enough. I cashed out my savings account and bought a plane ticket and came here. I know I should have tried to call but I was afraid that you would tell me not to come and I had to get away.”

Willow smiled reassuringly at her friend. “I told you, it’s cool. I have an extra bedroom if you needlacelace to stay.”

“That would be great,” Buffy smiled as she felt a wave of relief wash over her.

***

“Well, here we are,” Willow said as she unlocked the door to her apartment and stood aside to let Buffy go in. Buffy stepped into the spacious two bedroom and gasped. The walls were a sage green color, trimmed in a light cream. There was a large sofa in the center of the room that matched the green on the walls, and a cream overstuffed chair that sat directly opposite it. On the far side of the room was a huge window that led out to a balcony. Buffy stepped over to the window and stared in awe as she looked at the New York skyline.

“Will, this apartment is amazing.” Buffy sighed as she stood in front of the large window.

“Thanks,” Willow said as she dropped her purse onto her chair along with her keys.

"You live here all by yourself?"

"Now I do" Willow answered, "Anya used to live here, but she moved out about 6 months ago. I miss her sometimes but it was for the best."

"Did you guys fight?" Buffy asked her eyes never leaving the amazing view.

"No nothing like that." Willow answered as she came to stand beside Buffy. "She has very frequent, very loud orgasms." Willow couldn't help but notice the awed expression on Buffy's face as she continued to stare. "This used to be a wall," she said as she pointed to the window, "but after I graduated college and got my job I decided that it would be neat to have a floor-to-ceiling skylight instead. So, this,” she said, giving her best Vannah White impression as she gestured towards the window, “is the first thing I bought myself when I got my real job.” Willow glanced at Buffy, and saw the sadness etched on her friend’s face. “Come on,” Willow said, grabbing Buffy’s hand to lead her over to the couch and sit down. “I’m going to fix us a glass of wine and you and I are going to catch up.”

“That sounds good,” Buffy smiled weakly as she sat down on the sofa and kicked off her shoes.

Willow poured the wine and returned quickly with the glasses in her hand. She gave one to Buffy, saying “All I have is red, is that okay?”

“Perfect,” Buffy took the glass and took an appreciative sip.

“So, what did you do after high school?” Willow asked taking her seat beside Buffy.

“Not much of anything,” Buffy replied, placing her wine glass on a coaster that was set on an end table next to her. “I traveled a littRighRight after graduation Mom and I went to Europe for about a month. Then I came home, worked at Mom’s gallery part-time. Daddy owned the apartment that I moved into so I didn’t really have a lot of bills to pay.” Buffy sighed and looked over at Willow and smiled, “I guess that’s about it.”

“Are you and Angel still together?” Willow asked, taking another sip of her wine.

“No,” Buffy shook her head as she pulled her feet under her. “Angel went to Ithaca. We tried to keep the relationship going but the long distance thing just got to be too hard. We’re still friends though. The last time I talked to him he was engaged to a girl named Darla. They’re supposed to get married sometime this spring.”

“So,” Willow prodded, “what about your guy situation? Any new hotties oe hoe horizon?”

“Well there was one guy,” Buffy took a long sip of her wine after she answered the question. “Riley.”

“Well what was he like?” Willow asked her curiosity was peaked.

“He was…different?” Buffy answered hesitantly, searching for the right word.

“Different?”

“Yeah, we dated for about a year. He was the son of one of my dad’s friends.” Buffy took the last swig of her wine and set the empty glass back on its coaster.

“Sounds-” Willow was cut off by the sound of her door opening and Xander’s voice.

“Knock, knock,” Xander stuck his head into the apartment as he sang, “anybody home?”

“Hey Xand, come on in. Buffy and I were just getting caught up.” Willow stood to greet her friend as he stepped all the way into the apartment, followed closely by William.

“We’re on our way to buy Will here some new bedroom furniture.” Xander nodded towards William as they stepped into the living room.

“What happened to your bedroom furniture?” Willow asked as she re-claimed her seat next to Buffy on the couch.

“Apparently, Willie boy here” Xander patted William’s shoulder as he continued, “decided it would be a good idea to let that Queen of the Damned, crazy ass ex girlfriend of his take all of his stuff.”

“All of your stuff?” Willow asked incredulously.

William shrugged Xander’s hand off of his shoulder before he answered, “She didn’t have anything to put in her new apartment, and I felt bad for her.”

“What did she take?”

William ticked off on his fingers as he answered, “The bed, the dresser, the night tables, the stereo, the TV…”

Willow shook her head as she interrupted him, “Well what did you get?”

William sighed, his only reply was to pat Xander roughly on the shoulder.“Oh “Oh God,” Willow exclaimed as she turned her head to look at Buffy who was watching the scene with subtle amusement. She turned back around to face the guys, she again exclaimed, “Oh my God!”

“What,” William asked shrugging his shoulders.

“You got screwed,” Xander told him brushing hisd ofd off of his shoulder and walking into the kitchen to find something to drink. William walked over to the overstuffed chair and sat down in a huff.

“I’m sorry Will,” Willow tried to sympathize with him. “You do know that you’re better off-” Willow was cut off by the loud sound of the door buzzer going off. “Oh my God!!” she covered her mouth with her hands as she cried out, “What time is it?”

Xander looked at his watch and grinned “Five-thirty on the dot, want me to buzz him in?”

Willow shook her head emphatically, “Um no, it’s okay. I just need…” Willow was walking around frantically searching for her purse and her keys, “to find my purse.”

William shifted in his chair and realized that there was something poking him in the back. He reached behind himself, smirking at the frantic redhead as he pulled her purse out from under him. “This what you’re looking for?”

She ran over to him and snatched the bag from his hands. “Jerk!” Willow threw the purse over her arm and began to head for the front door. She stopped suddenly and turned to face Buffy. “Buffy, I’m sorry I’m being so rude. Do you want me to stay? I mean I can.”

“Absolutely not!,” Buffy shook her head as she pointed to the door. “I’ll be fine, now go.”

“Thanks Buff, We’ll talk when I get back.” With that, the redhead waved to her friends and ran out the door.

Buffy turned to face William and smiled, “What was that all about?”

William shrugged, and Xander spoke up from his place near the door, “She has a ‘not-a-date’.”

“Ahh,” Buffy replied, nodding in understanding. The three sat there in silencr a r a couple of minutes before William finally spoke.

“Well, Xander and I are going to put together my new furniture tonight. My new book case, and my end tables and such. You’re welcome to come over and hang out with us. You know, so you don’t have to be by yourself.” He smiled at her sincerely and couldn’t help but notice her eyes. He was certain there wasn’t a name that could describe the lovely shade of green that he found in them.

“Yeah,” Xander nodded in agreement. “We promise we won’t work you too hard.”

Buffy looked from Xander to William and then smiled, “You know, I think it sounds like fun. I’m in.” With that she stood and grabbed her shoes and jacket, and headed out the door to follow the guys across the hall to their apartment.