Imperfect World

Chapter Three

Buffy sat on the couch in her living room scowling at nothing in particular. She hadn’t meant to go off on Angel like that, but seeing Parker had surprised her. She didn’t really understand why she reacted so violently to Parker. They really hadn’t dated that long, but as soon as she’d woken up the next morning, he was gone. Here Angel was being nice to her, trying to get her attention, and she freaks on him. He’d called her immature, and he’d been completely right about it. She was going to be kicking herself forever, unless she could get a hold of him to apologize. Hopefully, he’d come back into the restaurant just for that fact. Being so lost in her thoughts, she didn’t hear when Willow tried to get her attention. Willow actually had to touch her shoulder to get her attention.

“ Wow, you’re really upset, aren’t you? I don’t blame you for freaking like you did, Buffy, I would have done the exact same thing. It’s perfectly understandable, and maybe he’ll understand if you just tell him.” Buffy smiled weakly at her friend. Willow had always been there for her, even in the most stupid of situations.

“ Thanks, Wils. So, what do you want to do? The Dingo’s are playing over at Archie’s and we’ve got those passes, if you wanna go.” Willow thought about it for a few minutes. It would really distract Buffy from her current troubles. Also, the Dingo’s were a pretty good band.

“ Sure, that sounds like fun, let me just go and get changed.” Buffy nodded, and got up to do the same. She was hoping that the concert would make her not think about Angel for a few hours, but she doubted that was possible.
Angel was not in a good mood, and everyone who knew him, was quite aware of the fact. He’d been so surprised at how Buffy had reacted to Parker’s presence. He’d lost his cool at her comment, and had called her immature. From what he’s seen, he couldn’t be more off. She might be a little silly, but she didn’t seem immature. Once he got back to the volleyball game, he’d kept his silence. He didn’t want to advertise his business to everyone. He was gathering his things together after the game, when Parker walked up to him.

“ So, are you gonna hook up with Buffy?” Angel glanced at him briefly, but went back to what he was doing. He’d never gotten along with Parker, because he was a pompous asshole.

“ Not that it’s any of your business, but she said no.” Parker was unable to hide his amusement, for he snickered.

“ Ah that’s too bad. Maybe I soured her on men. That’s kind of sad too, because that girl is hot. It’s pretty funny that you got turned down though.” Angel stopped again, suddenly interested in what Parker was saying, and wanted to know what he’d done.

“ What the hell are you talking about, Abrams? What did you do to her?” Parker turned away briefly, and shrugged his shoulders.

“ You know me bro. I court, I do, and I leave. Apparently she wasn’t happy with that, because she’s pretty much become a nun. Like I said, man, she’s hot.” Before Angel could stop himself, Angel reared back with his fist. The blow connected with Parker’s jaw, sending him tumbling backwards onto the ground. Angel picked his things up and headed for his car. He had to get to Buffy and apologize to her. He’d been such an idiot! He knew what kind of guy Parker was, and he should have seen it when she reacted the way she had. He had to make her see that he wasn’t like that ass. He hopped into his car, leaving a fuming Cordelia behind.

*(*(*(*(* 0oo0o00oo0o00 *(*(*(*


Buffy and Willow entered the restaurant, looking for Tara and Andrew. They were seeing if they wanted to go to the concert with them. They probably couldn’t, but they wanted to ask anyway. Andrew was a bus boy that had started the same time the girls had. Tara was a waitress, who had started then too. They found Andrew first, talking to Fred, the hostess. They were about to interrupt when the front door opened. Buffy glanced over to the front, and saw Angel standing there, scanning the room for someone. Willow must have seen him too, because she nudged her with her elbow.

“ Go and talk to him, Buffy, I’ll ask Andrew and Tara if they can go.” Buffy had been about to protest, when she locked eyes across the room with Angel.

Buffy sighed, and quietly moved over to him. She knew t hat this was her chance to apologize to him, but she had butterflies in her stomach as she crossed the room. She was still pretty wary of him, but that wasn’t his fault. When she reached him, he motioned for her to come outside with him, which she did. Once they were outside, standing next to his car, he began to talk.

“ Okay first off, I’ll understand if you want nothing to do with me, but I’d like to explain. I’m sorry about earlier today. Parker is an ass, and he was bragging about what he’d done to you after you left. I’ll have you know I punched him in the mouth over it. Parker is not my friend, has never been my friend, nor will he ever be my friend. I’ve liked you since the first time I laid eyes on you, and I still wanna take you out.”
Buffy grinned at him. She goes off on him, and he was apologizing to her? This guy had to have some kind of fault or something, because he was too perfect.

“ Angel, I’m the one who should be apologizing to you. You’ve been nothing but nice to me, and I said something stupid to you today.” He smiled at her, relieved she wasn’t angry anymore. Before he could say anything, she was talking again.

“ So listen, Willow and I are going to Archie’s to hear the Dingo’s play. Do you wanna come with?” Angel smiled at her once again.

“ Well, I’d love to go. I can actually even get you in free if you want.” Buffy looked at him with a funny expression.

“ Just how are you going to do that?” Buffy was being playful, and Angel was loving it.

“ My friend, Oz, plays rhythm guitar in the band. I can basically get as many people in as I want. Plus, there VIP seating.” Buffy smiled extremely wide at him.

“ So, you know Devon, do you? That’s great, he’s a funny guy. Actually, he’s in my sociology class, and he gave me four passes. We were here to see if Andrew and Tara wanted to go. So, that’s great that you can get in free, too. I will, however, use you for your VIP seating.” The whole time she was saying this, she was trying not to laugh. Angel looked at her with a confused expression.

“ Devon is in College with the other guys? Okay, not really the question I want to ask. Devon is taking a sociology class? Wow, I had no idea he was even smart enough to graduate highschool..that’s funny. Buffy smiled again at him, and turned on her heel to enter the restaurant. Angel grinned silently to himself, and followed her there.

Buffy was giddy! She was going to a concert with Angel! She’d been really surprised when Devon had given Buffy the tickets, but she understood why. Devon was a womanizer, and he was determined to get Buffy’s attention. Buffy had warned Willow about him, just in case he hit on her when they got there. She walked up to Willow, who was talking to Tara. She smiled when she saw Buffy.

“ They can both go, so yay! We’ll leave in about fifteen minutes, they’re going to run home. Is everything okay with you?” Buffy grinned widely at her.

“ All is well. Angel’s gonna come with us, is that okay? He has a free ticket too, because he’s friends with Oz...whoever that is.” Willow’s eyes grew big at her words.

“ He’s friends with Daniel Osbourne? He’s in my English Lit class, I didn’t know he was in th band! He’s very...cute.” She’d said the last word in a whisper, because Angel was walking towards them. Buffy was in such a good mood! She turned around to face him.

“ Hey, do you think you could introduce us to the rest of the band? I’ve only met Devon, and Willow’s only met Oz...and heard of Devon.” Angel chuckled at her. She knew exactly what she meant about Devon. Buffy knew who he was, and he could only imagine what kind of impression he’d made.

“Sure, that shouldn’t be a problem. You’re not going to ditch me for a musician, are you?” Buffy laughed out loud at him.

“ Oh, I don’t know. The day is still young, so you never know.” Angel chuckled, enjoying himself. They waited on Tara and Andrew to get back from their house. They both lived in the same apartment building, so they usually rode in together.

When they were finally underway, Buffy rode with Angel. Tara and Andrew rode with Willow. Buffy was nervous and excited at the same time. To her, Angel looked like he’d walked out of a fashion magazine. She just hoped she made it through this evening without scaring him away.
Angel was in good spirits, and wasn’t nervous in the least about this date. He could tell that Buffy was nervous a bit, and he found that he liked that a lot. That usually meant that she liked him, and unless she told him otherwise, he was sticking to that.
When they pulled into the parking lot, Angel insisted on opening her door. Buffy walked over to Willow and the others, while Angel went to talk to the door man. He needed to make sure that his name was on the list.

“ Hey guys, how’s it going?” Willow laughed at Buffy.

“ Buff, you’re so freaking cute! So, is he being a perfect gentleman? We saw him open the door for you, that’s sweet.” Buffy nodded and couldn’t stop grinning. After Angel joined them, they went inside of Archie’s. Buff was actually looking forward to this, she’d been wanting to hear Devon sing. He kept bragging about it, so she just hoped he could actually sing. They got to their seats that Angel had secured, and had only been sitting there for about ten minutes when a shrill voice started screaming.

“ Angel, why the hell didn’t you pick me up?!” Angel rolled his eyes and turned to face her. This girl was so damn annoying sometimes. They had causally dated while in highschool, and she liked to tell everyone she was his girlfriend. Buffy glanced back to look at her, and saw the girl, Cordelia, from the restaurant. Cordelia saw her looking, and her beautiful face contorted in anger.

“ Angelus, why the hell is a group of waitress sitting in our seats?!” Buffy groaned inwardly, but before she could turn around, a question was directed at her.

“ Hi, I’m Cordelia, Angel’s girlfriend, who the hell are you?”