The Proposal of Buffy Summers

A/N: Didn't I tell you I was almost finished with another update? Two in one day,yep I'm proud. So here's the deal: there are probably only going to be two maybe three more chapters that take place in Sunnydale, and then it's off to Illinois. And I'd like to go ahead and apologize for everyone who lives in Illinois because I've never been there and I'll probably get a lot of things wrong. Hope you can forgive me, and if you can't then that's too bad. Raise your hand if you know that Northern California is made up of almost nothing but hicks and cows. Yeah, that's what I thought. Anyway, I hope you enjoy your new chapter, and keep an eye out for the next one. I have no idea when it's going to be finished. Could be a couple hours, a couple days, a couple weeks, and so on and so forth. Anyway, on with the story!
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The leading lady of this story nervously bites at her nails. Everything so far has gone off without a hitch, but Murphy’s law dictates that whatever can go wrong will. She watches as her mother talks with Faith’s foster mom, and foster dad. Dawn is busy chatting with Natalia, and the younger kids are quietly watching a Disney movie (The Lion King). Noah still isn’t here, but dinner isn’t until seven, so he still has half an hour before he’s officially late.


The two returned from their camping trip a week ago, and as soon as they got back they decided to get the families together and make the announcement. Buffy knew the longer she put it off, the angrier her mother would probably be. Faith has the ring in her pocket, and whether or not the dinner goes well she’s going to put that gold ring on Buffy’s finger, and it’ll be official. The blonde of the two is about to have a heart attack she’s so nervous about tonight. She doesn’t want her mother to hate her, and that’s what she thinks is going to happen.


“They know Faith,” Buffy whispers in her ear. The two are standing a little away from the groups and just watching. It’s been this way for about fifteen minutes now. The blonde is on the verge of a heart attack, but the brunette is having a pretty good time. It’s nice to see her family, and Buffy’s family together like this. “We’ve been dating for two years and we’ve never gotten together like this. They know something is up.” The brunette sighs and gently rubs Buffy’s lower back.


“They don’t know, Buffy. Everyone is having a good time but you. Just relax, ok?” she says in her sweet voice. The blonde sighs, and nods her head a little. She wants tonight to go perfectly, but she isn’t sure how everyone is going to react. She gives Buffy a little kiss on the cheek and then walks over to the younger kids. She sits down on the floor next to them, and as soon as her butt hits the carpet Tanner is in her lap. ‘Seeing them together is so sweet. He loves her so much,’ Buffy thinks and smiles. Then the little redheaded boy looks over at the blonde and glares. ‘Good thing his name isn’t Chucky or I’d be worried.’


“Buffy come over here,” Joyce says and motions for her daughter to join her and Judy. The younger blonde holds back a sigh and stands next to the two women. “Judy and I were just talking about you getting into Northwestern, and we were wondering what your major is going to be.” ‘Crap, I still haven’t picked a major. Great, I knew this night would go bad somehow.’ Images of having a nervous breakdown in the middle of the living room flash through the blonde’s mind.


“Well, I still haven’t decided what I’m going to major in. I have my freshmen year to think about it before I have to pick one, and even then it might change.” The two women nod and sip at their drinks. ‘I really hope they don’t get drunk.’ The door bell rings and it startles the little blonde. She jumps a little and it makes everyone who saw laugh at her expense. “Are you ok dear? You seem a little tense.”


“I’m fine,” Buffy says quickly, and her voice slightly cracks. She glances over at Faith and she sees the brunette smiling very wide, and biting her bottom lip to keep herself from laughing. “I’ll, ah, just go get the door.” She walks away and sighs a little sigh. ‘Ok, this is probably going to be Faith’s brother, which makes everything even more complicated then before.’ She answers the door and sure enough it’s Noah on the other side, dressed in his usual jeans and t-shirt. ‘At least it looks like he washed them,’ she thinks and smiles a big fake smile and lets him in.


“How are you tonight?” she asks just to be polite. She’s been dating Faith for two years and they still don’t like each other. ‘You’d think he’d come around. Seriously, why doesn’t he like me?’ She decides to ignore it for right now because she has bigger issues on her mind. Like what exactly she’s going to say to the group of people when they make the announcement.


“I’m fine. You?” he asks but when they walk into the living room and he sees his little sister sitting on the floor all thoughts of talking to the blonde go right out the window. “Hey Faith.” His voice is a little louder then everyone would like. As soon as she hears him the brunette sets the little redhead on the ground and jumps up. She runs over to the large man, and gives him a great big bear hug. “Haven’t seen you in a while. I got an apartment. You’ll have to come over tomorrow and check it out.”


“Definitely,” she says as she releases him and takes a step back. She notices everyone watching her and blushes. It isn’t her fault that she turns to mush every time her big brother walks in the room. ‘I thought maybe she acted like that because she wasn’t used to seeing him outside of a visitor’s station, but nope. Faith thinks her brother is as good as God or something. It’s so irritating.’


“I better go check on the roast,” Joyce says when she notices her daughter giving the new arrival some serious death glares. She sets her drink down on an end table, and as she walks towards the doorway she puts her arms around Buffy’s shoulders. “Why don’t you help me with that, dear?” She doesn’t give the younger girl a chance to answer as she practically drags her out of the room. Joyce pushes open the kitchen door and the blonde walks ahead of her.


“Ow, Mom, you’re hurting, let go.” She doesn’t understand why she was dragged in here, but oh she is going to find out. “I really don’t think you need help checking on the roast, so what’s up?” She rubs her shoulder where her mother’s talon like finger nails had dug into to make sure there wouldn’t be a lot of resistance.


“Honey, if you keep shooting daggers with your eyes at Noah whenever he’s around Faith you two are never going to get along. And we never really got the chance to talk about the Faith situation.” ‘Oh God, please don’t start asking questions now. With all this pressure I might crack, like a little chicken egg, and spill my yoke all over the place. Ew, that was way more disgusting then I intended it to be.’


“Well, what do you want to know about the Faith situation?” she asks in a somewhat nervous voice, and leans against the breakfast bar. She watches as her mother puts on the oven mitts before opening it up, and looking inside. The smell that comes from the hot oven makes Buffy’s mouth water and stomach growl. She hears her mother chuckle a little, and she’s just glad no one else was around to hear that.


“Have the two of you worked everything out? I’m not trying to be nosy, but when you two were fighting it just seemed like there was a lot of…repressed emotions coming out to play. I’m not trying to tell you how to live your life, but honey if you want a relationship to work then you have to get out all of that negative energy. If you let it build you’ll be fighting all of the time.” ‘She’s right, but I’ll never admit that,’ she thinks and takes a seat on one of the stools.


“Yes, we’ve talked about a lot of things. We’re still trying to work through most of them.” ‘I can’t believe she wants a DJ at the wedding. Everyone knows a live band is more sophisticated. And yet she’s being totally stubborn about it.’ “But we love each other, and we’re going to try as hard as we can to make this work.” She watches as her mother puts the mitts back where they go, and sits down across from her at the island.


“I know you two love each other.” Buffy gives her a skeptical look. ‘Last year she was telling me that it isn’t going to last forever, and that I don’t really know what love is. Can’t she make up her frickin mind already?’ “Now don’t give me that look. I may have doubted it before because you two are so young, but I’ve paid closer attention to the way you act around each other, and it’s very clear to anyone who’s willing to take a deeper look that you love each other.” Buffy gets a little smile on her face, and hope starts to rise within her. ‘Maybe Mom won’t hate me after all.’


“But honey,” her mother says and pauses. Buffy can tell by the look on her face that she’s trying to find the right words. “Sometimes love just isn’t enough. I know I probably sound like a broken record, but Illinois is a long way from here, and long distance relationships are very hard to manage. And you’re going to be a freshman in college, and that’s going to take up a lot of your time.” Buffy opens her mouth to protest, but Joyce beats her to the punch. “I’m not telling you to break up with her. I’m just trying to warn you about what might happen. You leave for college in two months.”


“I know when I’m leaving,” she tries as hard as she can to keep the irritation out of her voice. “And I know it’s going to be really hard, but I think…I mean, I know Faith and I are strong enough to survive my freshman year.” ‘Oh shit, I didn’t mean to say just my freshman year. Fuck, now she’s going to know something is up. She does think something is up. I can tell by that look on her face.’ Buffy hears the timer on the oven go off, and she instantly jumps off the stool. “I’ll go tell everyone dinner is ready.” She rushes out of the room before her mother can say anything.


Once everyone is informed that dinner is ready everyone goes into the dinning room and sits down. That little bit of information was given a little too soon because Joyce doesn’t have the food on the table yet. Dawn helps her mother with the food and soon everyone has generous amounts of pot roast, caramel glazed carrots, buttermilk rolls, mashed potatoes and beef gravy on their plates. Joyce is at the head of the table with Dawn to her right. Buffy is sitting next to her, with Faith and Noah also on that side of the table. Bill is at the end of the table, with Judy to his right and Natalia sitting next to her. The younger kids have their very own table not far from the ‘grown up table’.


Not all is well for Faith at the moment. She has two people competing for her attention. Her fiancé, who is currently running her fingertips along her thigh. She chose to wear a nice dress since this is a special occasion, and Buffy is taking advantage of that. Her brother is trying to tell her about the motorcycle he’s thinking about buying, and she seems really interested in that but she’s having a hard time concentrating since Buffy’s hand is slipping higher and higher up her thigh.


Buffy watches as the two families, and Noah, talk happily amongst themselves. They all seem to be getting along, although that probably has something to do with the amount of wine the adults have consumed. Buffy takes her hand off Faith’s thigh, and brings it up to her hand. She gives it a gentle squeeze and the brunette looks over at her. In Buffy’s mind this is the perfect moment to tell everyone about their news. She gives Faith this little ‘it’s time’ type of look, and the brunette just nods her head.


They look out at the other people, and even though they’re sitting at the same table they all look so far away. At least they do to Buffy. She picks up her fork off of her empty plate, and taps the side of her glass with it. It takes her a few seconds to get everyone’s attention, especially that of Dawn and Natalia who are busy talking about the latest Brad Pitt movie. Once all eyes are on her she feels her stomach drop, and her throat dries out like the Sahara.


“I’m sure you’re all wondering why we asked for this little get-together.” She pauses and looks over at Faith with a big smile on her face. The brunette gives her a little wink, and gently squeezes her hand. “Faith and I have some news that we want to share with the rest of you.”


“Did Faith knock you up?” Dawn says, and she and Natalia share a laugh. “Are you two gonna have a little rugrat that acts all bratty and wears leather?” The two younger teens start laughing even harder, but Natalia stops as soon as she sees Judy’s warning glare. ‘Oh God, don’t tell me those two are going to become best friends and plot to ruin my life,’ she thinks and gives her sister a death glare. Before Joyce can reprimand her youngest daughter the oldest butts in.


“No Dawn, she didn’t knock me up,” she says and gives her another glare. Once Dawn sees the look her mother is giving her she stops laughing and decides if she wants to live then she needs to be quiet while Buffy is talking. “I don’t know exactly how I should prepare you guys for this, so I’m just going to go ahead and say it.” She looks into Faith’s eyes again, and bites her bottom lip for a few seconds. Then she turns back to the others with a nervous smile on her face.


“Last week before we went on our camping trip Faith proposed.” Everybody in the room goes completely silent. Except for little Tanner. He’s whining because he needs to go ‘potty’ but his mother is too stunned at the moment to even think about her little boy’s bodily functions. “And I said yes.” Faith reaches into her pocket and pulls out the ring. Buffy holds her left hand in front of Faith, and gets a big smile on her face when she slips the ring onto her finger. Buffy looks at the others, and feels like she’s being suffocated by the silence.


“Who needs more wine?” Joyce says and pours herself a glass. She passes it to Judy, when she’s done she passes it to Bill, and even Noah refills his glass. Buffy’s eyebrows furrow a little and she looks at her mother with some confusion. ‘I tell her that I’m engaged, and her reaction is to drink? This isn’t off to a great start.’


“Mom?” she asks. Her voice small and with a slight tremble. The older woman takes a very long drink from her glass, and avoids all eye contact. Even Dawn is extremely tense, and can’t wait to see what her mother’s reaction is going to be. Buffy watches as her mother sets her glass down, and then stares at the red liquid. If she were to look up she’d notice everyone at the table staring at her, waiting for an answer. ‘Why won’t she say anything?’ All of the hope that was created earlier is now gone.


“Mom, please say something.” She’s on the verge of a breakdown when her mother finally looks up. Teary hazel eyes meet teary hazel eyes. For a second, Buffy thinks her mother is going to start yelling at her. That she’ll tell her to get out and never come back, but that doesn’t happen. Instead Joyce blinks back the tears, and gets a little smile on her face. Buffy takes it as a good sign but she doesn’t allow her hopes to get too high in case they’re snuffed out again.


“Congratulations sweet,” she says and lifts her glass in the air. The others take their cues, and lift their glasses in the air. “To Buffy and Faith.” Everyone repeats it and takes a long sip of either wine, or water depending on the age of the person. With all of the food consumed everyone moves back out to the living room except for Joyce and Buffy. These two are clearing off the table, and Buffy is a little nervous. When they’re in the kitchen with all the dishes in the sink Buffy just stands there, staring at her mother.


‘Was she just putting on a happy face because we have company? Is she going to start yelling now? Oh God, she hates me. She hates me, and she’s going to tell me to either break up with Faith and get out of her house and never come back. I honestly don’t know what I would do. I love Faith more then anything, but I need my mom. I even need Dawn, but I’ll never tell her that.’ But her mother doesn’t start yelling. Instead she gets a big smile on her face and stands a little closer to Buffy.


“Let me see the ring,” she says and the younger of the two instantly holds up her hand. Her mother gently takes a hold of it, and pulls it a little closer to her face to get a better look. “It’s beautiful, sweetheart.” The older woman pulls her daughter into a warm hug that lasts a minute or two. “Really, Buffy, congratulations. I had a feeling something like this was going to happen.” Buffy gets a little frown on her face, and she pulls back from the hug.


“You’re not mad?” she asks and tries not to get frustrated when her mother lets out a little laugh. ‘Ok, I take it she isn’t mad. Then what the hell is going on?’ “Because you’re always telling me that first loves never last, and that I shouldn’t get too involved because I’m going to get my heartbroken.” Joyce gets an odd look on her face and Buffy can’t quite place it.


“Do I really sound that depressing?” she asks with a little laugh. ‘Jesus, how much wine did she have?’ the younger blonde thinks. “I’m sorry for saying all of those things Buffy. I saw you taking the same steps that I took when I was your age, and I wanted to spare you the heartache.” ‘Huh?’ The littler blonde gets a very confused look on her face, and she doesn’t even have to ask. “I was in a very serious relationship before I met your father.” Before she can continue they hear Dawn calling out for her mother.


“I’ll tell you about it another time, sweetheart. Let’s get back to our guests ok?” she asks and Buffy nods her head. ‘Ok, so Mom dated someone before she met Dad? Just the thought of that is a little weird. And I don’t even want to know what they did together.’ Really? ‘Cause I can go inside her head and find out. ‘Don’t you dare! That’s my mother you pervert. What are you some kind of peeping Tom or something?’ Hey, those charges were dropped, asshole. ‘Are you serious?’


“Hey B, what’s with the weird look?” Buffy is pulled out of her mental insanity by the sound of Faith’s voice. She shakes her head a little and smiles pretty at the brunette. She wraps her arms around her and rests her head on her shoulder. She wallows in the comforting feeling, and she doesn’t want to leave this spot, even though she knows she has to. “Is your mom really ok with it?” Her voice is barely above a whisper. Buffy nods her head yes and leans back enough to look into Faith’s eyes.


“You two aren’t gonna kiss are you?” they hear a little voice and look down at the intruder who just popped their personal bubble. They see Brian looking at them like they have a contagious disease or something. “‘Cause that’s gross. Do you have any idea how many germs are in the human mouth?” They look back into each other’s eyes and they both have very mischievous glints in them.


“So it would be totally disgusting if we did something like this?” Faith asks and then kisses Buffy square on the mouth. They instantly part their lips and let their tongues come out to play. They hear the little boy squeal, yes I said squeal, and run away. And even though they heard him leave, they don’t stop kissing. At first it was fun, and playful because they were just trying to gross out Brian. Now it’s growing in passion, and becoming extremely sexual.


“Jeez are you two always sucking face?” they hear a deep voice say right next to them. It pulls them out of their little world and back to reality. Buffy looks over Faith’s shoulder and sees her mother, and Faith’s foster mom watching them and giggling like a couple of school girls. ‘Ok, no more wine for them. They’re officially cut off,’ she thinks and looks over at Noah. He has a weird look in his eyes that Buffy’s never seen before. ‘He’s probably drunk too. He had four glasses of wine.’


“Can I talk to you outside?” he asks the blonde. He sees his sister tense up a little bit and he knows he’s going to try to follow. “Alone, please?” Buffy nods her head, and she stares into his eyes for another minute. She nods her head again, and gives him a little smile. Then she leans over and gives Faith a little kiss on the cheek.


“Ok,” she says, and lets go of Faith’s hand. She can feel Faith tense up a little and she gently rubs her arm. “Baby, we’re just gonna talk. Don’t worry, if I need someone to come and save me I’ll yell as loud as I can, ok?” The brunette smiles and nods her head a little bit. Then she leans down and places a little kiss on the blonde’s lips. Mostly for territorial purposes. “Now why don’t you go stop Judy from putting the lamp shade over her head?”


“What?” Faith asks and spins around. Sure enough the woman is laughing very loudly and placing a floral shade lamp over her head. Faith runs off and Buffy laughs a little. She looks over at Noah and he has a little smile on his face. She follows the large man out onto the front porch and closes the door behind her. She watches as he leans against the porch rail, and lights up a cigarette.


“So she proposed to you, huh?” he asks and she nods her head a little. He takes a drag, and slowly exhales the smoke. “She told me she had some big news, but I didn’t even think of this.” Buffy isn’t too sure how she should take that, but she’s keeping her mouth closed for now. He does notice her slightly confused expression, and explains. “The last time she said she had big news she told me she gotta tattoo. I figured it was something like that.” Buffy slowly nods her head in understanding.


“She’s gonna move with you, isn’t she?” he asks and Buffy tenses up. She looks away from him because she knows this is the part where he’s either going to get very mad, or very sad. And considering he’s had a couple drinks his emotions will be even more on display then usual. “She’s all I got, ya know?” Buffy looks up at him, and instantly feels guilty. ‘Sadness it is,’ she thinks, and sighs. “She’s the only person who doesn’t take one look at me, and instantly think I’m some fuckin loser.”


“You’re not a loser, Noah. Nobody here thinks you’re a loser.” He raises an eyebrow, and she furrows hers. “Well, Bill does, but he can be an ass. My sister has a huge crush on you, and my mom thinks you’re the greatest thing since sliced bread. Judy spoils you to death, and the kids are always trying to get you to play with them. I know Faith is the only one who really matters, and I’m sorry you feel like I’m taking her away from you. But we love each other. I want to spend the rest of my life with her.” She takes in a deep breath of the warm night air, and exhales very slowly.


“You’re an important part of her life,” she says slowly. ‘I can’t believe I’m about to say what I’m going to say,’ she thinks and holds her breath. “She thinks the world of you. You walk into the room and suddenly it’s like ‘Buffy who?’ When we move to Illinois it’s going to be really hard for her. She doesn’t know anybody there, and I have to live on campus my first year, and she’s a little reluctant to put an add out for a roommate. So if it’s not too much to ask do you think you can drop everything here and go with us to Evanston?”


They stare at each other for the longest time without saying a word. Noah has this intense look in his eyes and his entire body is stiff. Then without warning he tosses the cigarette to the ground, and scoops Buffy up in a big hug. She’s surprised at first. The only time they’ve ever touched was when they shook hands, and when Faith was in the hospital and they shared a tender moment. The blonde hugs him back and tries not to gag at the very strong cigarette smell. After a few minutes his grip doesn’t loosen, and the smell doesn’t get any less worst.


“Ok, I need to breathe,” she says and he lets her go. She looks up into his eyes and smiles a very gentle smile. “I’ll take that as a yes.” He nods his head and pulls out another cigarette. “Don’t tell Faith though. I want it to be a surprise.” He just nods his head as he takes the first drag. She goes back into the house and subconsciously tries to smell her shirt, but it isn’t working too well. She goes into the living room and stands in the doorway. She just watches the scene before her, and smiles a very happy smile.


She sees Faith on the floor wrestling around with Lauren. Brian and Tanner are on the sidelines cheering them on, and the adults are standing back just watching. Buffy doesn’t see her sister or Natalia, but she has a feeling that they’ve retreated to Dawn’s room to get away from the noise. ‘They’re probably up there talking about boys,’ she thinks, and sighs a deep sigh. She laughs a little too herself when Faith pins Lauren to the ground and does a three count. ‘She’s so goofy and immature sometimes,’ she thinks and rubs the golden band with her thumb. ‘I can’t wait to marry her.’