Cordelia stared mindlessly at the monitor before her, trying valiantly to keep up the appearance that she was, in fact, researching. She felt restless, her body almost writhing with pent-up energy and frustration. She couldn't understand why she and Angel felt so nervous about telling Wesley, Gunn and Fred about their ... thing. It wasn't as if the world was coming to an end. And besides, these people had grown to be her friends, her family. They were the people who were supposed to accept her, warts and all, without question. Not that she could ever have warts, but still, they were supposed to accept them if she did. Which she didn't, and never would.
Which was so not the point.
Cordelia suppressed a sigh as she covertly glanced at Angel, who was sitting stiffly at his new desk seemingly engrossed in a novel. His almost expressionless face betrayed no hint of distress, and it was all Cordelia could do to stop herself from marching over there and demand an explanation. Why wasn't he bothered by all this? Sure, he had said he was anxious about the whole thing, but when it came right down to it, was he really as anxious as she was? She narrowed her eyes. He looked just like his usual broody self. Black shirt, black pants, perfectly styled hair. His eyes calmly reading the small book perched on his hand, his brow furrowed slightly in concentration.
She wanted to growl at his insensitivity. Hello, not worrying much?
Cordelia suddenly found herself staring furiously at the vampire. Mr. Insensitivity, that was Angel. He should be at least as uncomfortable as she was, dammit. If she was this wiggy about how the others were going to take the news, then he at least should ...
Her internal rant dissipated as he caught her furious gaze, his brow furrowing even more as he noted her unrepressed anger. Cordelia was momentarily satisfied with the expression of discomfort that crept over his features before feeling slightly guilty at herself. After all, this wasn't Angel's fault. He was probably just as uncomfortable as she was about the whole situation but unlike her, he had had centuries to perfect his facade of disinterest. There was no way Angel was feeling nothing over this; she had learnt that much over the past few days.
Angel felt the hostility drain from her face, replaced by an expression of utmost frustration. He knew exactly how she felt. If Wesley and Gunn weren't bantering around in front of them right now heatedly discussing the merits of American and English culture, he would waste no time running over and reassuring her that everything was going to be okay. It would just take some time.
Instead, all he could give his beautiful seer by way of comfort was a small, supportive smile.
He saw her visibly brighten up before being interrupted by Gunn.
"What do you guys think?"
Cordelia broke her gaze from Angel's before a puzzled expression diffused over her face. "Huh?"
Gunn exasperatingly said, "About movies, girl. Where've you been the whole day?"
Cordelia still felt loss. "Movies? They're ... good." She glanced once more at Angel. "What about them?"
Gunn gave up. "Aw, forget it girl. You're clearly in no mood to diss the English today. What's up? You seem a little lost."
Cordelia covered her confusion as she found herself again glancing at Angel. What could she say? That she was having a major blockage in conversational genius because she and Angel were having a thing and they couldn't find a way to tell them? "Nothing ... much. You know, just the usual headchey badness. Not ... anything else."
Gunn's eyes narrowed as he caught the glance Cordelia threw to Angel. He knew that there had been something going on with Cordy the whole day; she had been listless and unresponsive, and totally unlike her usual self. She hadn't even tried to argue with him when he had grabbed her share of the donuts this morning. It had been wacky, and a little scary.
And then there was Angel. The dead guy seemed way more deader than usual today, not participating in any conversations with them like he had tried to lately. He hadn't even batted an eyelid when Gunn had suggested that they use all the petty cash to throw themselves a huge 'nothing's going on in the neighbourhood' kinda party.
Gunn wasn't crazy, and he wasn't stupid. Something weird ass was going on with Cordy and Angel. Something big, and possibly weird.
Gunn shook his head with seeming disinterest before turning back to Wesley. "I'm making a run down to get some real coffee. Get you guys anything?"
Wesley nodded, "The usual please, if you don't mind that is." Gunn cracked a smile at his friend and turned to Angel and Cordelia. "Angel, Cordy?"
Both Angel and Cordelia shook their heads as Gunn shrugged. There was weirdness going on, that was definite. And Gunn was going to find out what it was ... after he had his caffeine.
* * *
Gunn swaggered back into the Hyperion lobby, startling Cordelia and Angel in the process. The seer and the vampire were huddled next to the ottoman having, to Gunn's observation, a slightly heated conversation. Their voices broke off as they saw Gunn sauntering by.
Giving them a tight smile, he passed them wordlessly and sauntered into Wesley's office, carefully closing the door behind him.
"Wes?" Wesley finally looked up from the case files strewn across his desk and looked up at Gunn expectantly.
"Thanks for getting the coffee Gunn." He continued to look up at Gunn, who had slid open the door slightly in order to ensure that Cordelia and Angel were nowhere near the office. Wesley came around from his desk to join his friend, casually observing through the crack in the office door that Angel and Cordelia were sitting on the ottoman on the other side of the lobby. He turned back to Gunn quizzically.
"Gunn, what are you doing?" He finally asked.
Gunn took one last look at Angel and Cordelia before sliding the door silently closed. "You been noticing some weirdness going on between those two today?"
Wesley's confusion cleared up instantly. "Oh that." He said deprecatingly. "Yes, as a matter of fact, I had noticed something decidedly unusual this morning." He guided Gunn to the far corner of his office, in case Angel and Cordelia was suddenly seized by the need to eavesdrop on their conversation. "When Fred and I got here this morning, Angel wasn't in his room."
Gunn frowned. "Yeah, but that don't mean anything. He's always out chasing some demon or other. Maybe he got wind of something going down and decided to take care of it himself."
"Yes but later on, after I had sent Fred off to the University library to research some books, I found both Angel and Cordelia outside his room."
"So ... he probably gave her a lift to work or something. You know Angel. He's so Cordy-whipped I'm surprised he doesn't have whiplash."
"Yes, but ..." Wesley leaned in conspiratorially. "He was dressed in exactly the same clothes as last night. And they told me the reason that Cordy was there so early was because there had been a sale supposedly somewhere in Santa Monica, but she had no bags to account for it."
Gunn nodded. "That girl never leaves a sale without buying anything. I think it's against her religion or something." He gulped as a new possibility began to dawn on him - Angel and Cordelia ... together. "Do you think ...?"
Wesley nodded. "I certainly do."
"Wow." He took a moment to absorb the news before shrugging his shoulders. "Is that what all the weirdness was about? I thought that at least we'd get some action before I head back to the neighbourhood today." He shrugged again as another thought occurred to him. "Do you think they're wigging out 'cause they don't know what to tell us?"
Wesley smiled devilishly at his younger comrade. "I certainly hope so."
"Damn you're evil." Gunn paused as a similar grin broke out on his face. "English, you're the man!" They did their secret handshake, both men's faces grinning delightfully. "How long do you think they'll hold out?"
"Oh I don't know." Wesley sat back down into his comfortable chair. "Another day at the most. They're going to crack soon, I'm sure of it."
"I don't know man ..." Gunn trailed off. "I mean, Angel's got them brooding skills honed right down to perfection." His eyes glinted in the dimly lit office. "I say about a week."
"Really?" Wesley's interest was peaked. "Care to make a little wager on that?"
"You're on English." Gunn grinned, his expression matching Wesley's smile of anticipation. "Loser sings the winner's song of choice at Caritas. In front of a packed house." He qualified.
Wesley paused before accepting Gunn's challenge. "You're on."
"You better be prepared for inevitable defeat, English." Gunn confidently said as he slid the office doors open. "Looking forward to you singing 'Like A Virgin' with the entire demon population of L.A looking on."
Wesley smirked at the retreating Gunn. "We'll see." He said quietly to himself. "We'll see."
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