Angel's First Time

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Summary: In his 240+ years of existence, there's still one thing that Angel has never done...until now.

AUTHOR: Aurora
EMAIL: girl292@hotmail.com
PREQUEL: to Little Things
RATING: PG
PAIRINGS: Buffy/Angel
SPOILERS: none - it's all fluff all the time
CATEGORY: say it with me now: FLUFF
DISCLAIMER: Joss, Joss, he's our man...wait, he won't ever let them be this happy. Down with the
man!
DISTRIBUTION: If you want it, nice emails are the way to achieve your desires...
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Just a completely fun fluffy break from the angsty series fics I have been working on lately...
DEDICATION: To BehrBeMine for all the wonderful compliments that totally brighten my day!!
*bighugs*
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She watched his face out of the corner of her eye as she pulled into the parking space and smiled to herself when he cringed. Whether his discomfort was in response to her driving or their destination she wasn't sure, and she didn't get the chance to analyze it any further as he turned his body in the seat to face her.

"What are we doing here?"

He uttered the last word in a tone of voice that she could swear almost resembled a whine but she couldn't be certain since she'd never actually heard him engage in anything that even remotely resembled whining before, but then again there was a lot that she was discovering about him lately that she'd never known before. The thought brought a broad grin to her face, which he completely misinterpreted.

"Oh no you don't. Buffy, this is the last time I ever let you take me somewhere as a surprise. No more surprises."

She smiled innocently at him as her face took on that sultry pout that she knew he could not resist when she answered.

"Oh really. That's too bad, because I was planning on a little surprise for later, if you behaved yourself that is. Pity. It was such a good surprise too," she purred and watched as his eyes crinkled into an amused grin and he began ever so unsuccessfully to try and backpedal.

"Well...I didn't really mean all surprises, just this kind of surprise."

He looked at her hopefully as she shook her head and sighed before opening the door and exiting the car, leaving him still sitting there, staring in mild disbelief at the empty space she had just occupied. It took him a second to reconnect with the present and he grudgingly exited the vehicle as well, mumbling under his breath about women and their infuriating need to utterly confuse men.

"What was that?"

Her voice found him as he rounded the back of the car and he wisely stopped his complaining, not wanting to make things any worse.

She smiled when he stopped next to her to stare warily up at the building that hovered imposingly in front of them. She knew that this was the last place on the entire planet that he wanted to be right then, which is precisely why she brought him here. It was about time that he learned how to do this for himself.

"Buffy..."

"Zip it mister. It's not going to kill you to do this."

She turned to face him as he still refused to move from his spot beside the car.

"Angel, you've been human for over a month now and if you continue to let Cordy do this for you not only will you starve, but you'll also be bankrupt soon. I saw those shoes she was wearing today; you really shouldn't just give her your credit card it's like inviting an alcoholic to an open bar."

She placed her hand on his arm reassuringly while firmly tugging him in the direction of the gleaming sliding glass doors. It was like having to reason with a stubborn child.

"I will not starve. I actually buy food sometimes."

He began to try and argue his point but she cut him off with a wave of her hand as they moved through the first set of automatic doors and the sudden blast of refrigerated air caused goose bumps to rise on his arms. She pushed him toward the rows of shiny carts as she continued to lay out her case.

"You cannot survive on only one thing."

He stopped midstride at her comment and regarded her with a half smile on his face as he answered.

"Why not, I did it for two hundred years or so."

At the seductive turn of his mouth and the glance he gave her before returning his attention to the business of cart retrieval she almost forgot herself. Almost.

"Angel, it's not the same thing and you know it."

"Yeah, I know," he conceded, "Besides, I do actually eat more that just one thing you know."

She sighed exasperatedly before continuing, "Yes and chocolate and ice cream are not exactly the staples of a well-balanced diet."

She raised her eyebrow at him when he smirked at her and pointed back at the buggies, one hand on her hip in no nonsense mode, waiting impatiently for him to comply.

"Couple that nutritious eating plan with Cordelia's coffee and you are on the express train to Cholesterol City, next stop Strokeville. No if, ands, or buts this time. We are going to get you some real food even if it kills you."

He raised his eyebrow this time as her last comment registered but she ignored him and instead headed through the second set of doors and into the produce department while he followed with the cart.

"I thought you said this wasn't going to kill me," he teased as she stopped to examine the oranges.

"It won't but I will if you don't stop complaining and try and at least have some fun here. Please?"

She turned those big hazel eyes on him and he knew that he was a goner. He'd never been able to refuse her anything and an afternoon at the grocery store was certainly a small price to pay for the sake of her happiness, even if it was the dreaded 'Global Food Market' that he detested with every fiber of his being. Not that he'd ever been there before mind you, it was just the very 'L.A.-ness' of the layout, the huge scale, the pretentious eco-friendly décor, the...

His negative train of thought was immediately derailed when Buffy's hand landed on his arm and he turned to find her staring at him expectantly.

"Well?" She asked and he was still at a loss for exactly what it was that she was talking about. He shifted uncomfortably on his feet and unclenched and re-clenched his fingers around the cart's handle before admitting as much.

"I'm sorry. I didn't hear you."

"I asked if you wanted more than just oranges and bananas. They have some nice looking peaches and I think some strawberries over there."

He shook his head as he answered and her smile faded a little.

"No. This is fine." At the look on her face, which she quickly tried to cover, he amended his reply. "But I think I would like to get some things to make a salad."

She brightened a shade and he made a silent resolution to shake himself out of his current mood. He never dared to dream he would have the chance that was now within his reach: to live, actually live, his life with Buffy. He knew that he was blessed beyond measure and thanked God every day for this divine gift. It didn't matter that it had been a particularly rough week and that he'd missed her desperately. The weekend was here now. She was here now. And he fully intended to show her just how grateful he was that she chose to be with him. His mental chastising over with he smiled to find Buffy seriously examining a bunch of celery with a concentration that was once reserved for planning out battles. He increased his pace to join her and returned her bright grin when her eyes found him amongst the afternoon crowd.

Five aisles and thirty minutes later, he was really starting to get into the concept of grocery shopping. He still couldn't quite get over the sheer amount and variety of food that lined the shelves, marveling at the fact that it all wouldn't go bad and be wasted before it was purchased. He didn't voice his thoughts, as he knew that Buffy would laugh good-naturedly and tell him to get with the millennium, but some things were still a shock to his 18th century Irish farm boy sensibilities.

He was still lost in his contemplation of modern preservatives when they rounded the end of another aisle and he followed Buffy into the next department. She was occupied in her examination of something in the case in front of her so as he waited he let his eyes wander over their surroundings and that is when he noticed them.

Behind the glass case Buffy was so intently focused on hung the carcasses of animals. Big, bloodied ribcages marbled with fat. Angel instinctively recoiled at the sight and turned his eyes to whatever it was that Buffy was so interested in and paled to find that she too seemed to be studying various packages of meat. He felt his stomach knot and took a wobbly step back from the cart closing his eyes to try and expel the images of blood and muscle from his mind.

Buffy turned from the meat case holding two packages in her hand.

"Angel, how much do you think we should...Angel?"

The look on his face made her forget her question and she quickly dropped the meat back into the case, closing the distance between them in two strides. She reached out and grabbed Angel's left arm trying to steady his swaying form.

"Angel? Are you okay? What's happening? What's wrong?"

She instinctively searched their surroundings for the threat of danger as he sucked in a few deep breaths.

"Can't...blood...oh God...need to..." Angel paled even more, if that was possible, and backed up a few more steps.

They were quickly drawing a crowd but Buffy could care less as she again approached Angel.

"Angel?"

He opened his eyes and allowed himself to look at her; only at her and not at the bodies that hung just behind her, swaying tauntingly at him in the draft from the walk in cooler.

"I'm okay."

He managed to get out as she reached up and touched the side of his face to search for any sign of illness.

"Do you want to tell me what's wrong?"

He looked guiltily down at her as he hastily mumbled his reply.

"icantstandthesightandthesmellofthebodiesandtheblood."

It took her a few seconds to process what he said and when she did she smiled carefully up at him, trying to conceal her genuine amusement at his admission in consideration for his feelings and the fact that he honestly looked ill.

"I see. You do appreciate the irony of this situation don't you?"

At his annoyed look she quickly continued, "It's okay. I'll get the meat for the fajitas. There are a few other things that I need for tonight and it will be faster if you get them while I get the rest of the staples for your place. Okay?"

He nodded and gratefully retrieved the list from her hand before placing a brief kiss on her lips, still carefully avoiding eye contact with the barnyard's recently deceased. He turned and took two steps away from her before stopping abruptly.

"Wait a minute."

He turned back and made his way to face her once more.

"What fajitas?"

Buffy tried to hide her smirk at the look that accompanied his question as she knew she'd been caught, and she'd been so close to getting away with it.

"Didn't I mention it?"

She said innocently and tried that pouty look again but this time he wasn't so easily swayed.

"Mention what?"

"I thought for sure I told you about it on the phone..."

"Buffy!"

"Okay! Okay! My father is coming to dinner. Tonight. At your place."

She reluctantly admitted and waited for his reaction. He took a second to process the bombshell she just dropped at his feet and watched her shift her weight uneasily from one foot to the other anticipating his response.

"I see."

He watched her head snap up at the calmness of his reaction and he couldn't help but smile as she tilted her head in that familiar way she had whenever she was sizing him up.

"That's all you have to say?" She managed and continued to study his face for the truth.

"Yes. I don't know why you thought it was something to hide. It makes perfect sense when you think about it."

"I-it does?"

She stammered in that unbelievably adorable way that she did whenever he surprised her.

"Well," he took a step closer and wrapped his arms around her, still wary of the grisly sight hovering behind her just at the edge of his field of vision, "Wouldn't you want to meet the man that your daughter is planning on marrying in about ten months on the occasion of her twenty second birthday? And since you're here in L.A. every weekend it's only reasonable that eventually we would all get together."

At that her face broke into a bright grin and he kissed the tip of her nose before heading off in search of tortillas and the other items carefully written in her flowery script on the scrap of paper in his hand.

She watched him walk away wondering what she ever did to deserve such a man and couldn't help but let her eyes wander appreciatively over his backside as he headed down the bread aisle. Levis definitely agreed with him. Now if she could only get him to let go of his ridiculous objection to any shoe that wasn't built for combat. As much as she loved boots, there were only so many outfits that went with them and if she ever got him into a pair of shorts they would definitely have to go.

She sighed as she turned back to the other half of the list in her hand, smiling at the memory of the time she'd tried to get him to wear flip flops. Okay, so one battle at a time. She could handle that. After all she had a lifetime to get him out of the dark ages and into casual clothing. The blue jeans and gray shirt were a big enough victory for now. It had been hard to get him to wear something that wasn't all black, but the triumph had been a sweet one. As the image of the way the Levis hugged his body like a second skin returned to her mind she couldn't help but feel that she had won not only a victory for herself but for womankind as well. It should be a crime to hide that body of his under the leather duster and baggy black trousers. Not anymore, at least not if she had any say in the matter, and she could be very persuasive if need be. She shook herself from her thoughts and hurried to finish the rest of the list before they ran out of time.

Forty minutes and two trips down the canned goods aisle later, Buffy still had seen no sign of Angel. Not having anywhere else to look, she turned the buggy down the ethnic foods aisle only to spy him standing in the middle of the aisle literally surrounded by a group of women. She approached cautiously taking in the sight before her.

Four middle-aged, overly tanned, bleached blonde, L.A. divorcee types were literally drooling all over themselves to get next to Angel. She was seriously reconsidering her previous thought about the Levi victory being for the good of womankind as Buffy stopped the cart a few feet away from them and watched amusedly while they tried in vain to gain his undivided attention with bogus cooking questions and other vapid chatter. She wasn't there more than 45 seconds when his eyes found hers and the look that surfaced in those chocolate brown depths made her heart speed up a notch. She smiled and he winked at her before carefully removing himself from the flock of vultures.

"Making new friends?" She asked amusedly as he placed several items in the basket.

"Yes as a matter of fact, I invited them all over for dinner. That isn't going to be a problem is it?"

He grinned down at her as she punched him in the bicep and stuck out her bottom lip in a mock pout.

"Aww, and you didn't get me anyone to play with."

Angel couldn't resist that look on her face and leaned in to whisper in her ear.

"Oh but I think you'll find that I am much more fun to play with," he purred and swiftly sucked her still pouty lower lip between his own causing her to gasp and forget all about the other women who were now glaring in her direction with thinly veiled contempt. Buffy sighed when Angel's lips left her own and looked lovingly up at his smiling face before she remembered their surroundings.

"I'll take you up on that offer to find out but first we have to check out."

"As you wish mi'lady," Angel replied and winked at her again before taking the reigns of the basket and pointing them in the direction of the checkout lines.

They found a suitable line amongst the throngs and Buffy began to unload the cart onto the vacant space of the conveyor belt. She snuck at glance at Angel who was busy staring at some unseen thing behind him and to the left. She tried to see whatever it was that had him so enraptured but was at a loss so she merely shrugged when he turned to her and muttered something that sounded vaguely like: 'imgonnagogetsomethingberightback' and then headed off in the direction of the mysterious items.

A few minutes later, Angel returned and Buffy pried her attention away from the cash register display to see what it was that had him so excited. She found him standing there with a mischievous grin on his handsome face and his hands held secretively behind his back.

"Okay, so why do I get the feeling that there's something you're not telling me?" She asked and turned her attention back to the checker briefly to ensure that everything was ringing up correctly and when she turned back Angel had produced the mystery items for her inspection: a jar of chocolate sauce and a can of whipped cream.

"Um, sweetie? I hate to bust your bubble, even though I thought that it would actually take an act of God for this sentence to ever be true again, but we don't have any ice cream at your house."

She watched as his grin widened and he placed the items on the belt with the rest of the groceries.

"I know."

It was all he said and really all he needed to say as the look he was giving her at that moment spoke volumes and she wondered how she could have ever missed his intent from the beginning but brushed the thought aside as she smiled her answer back and hastily made a mental note to take Angel grocery shopping more often.

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Aurora - girl292@hotmail.com