Clinks of forks scraping against china were all that could be heard as the guests ate in the still silence. It had been one thing for Angel and Cordelia to come to dinner at Buffy's house; it was an entirely different thing to actually attempt to socialise with the Scoobies themselves. The thought of trying to make 'small talk' with the Scoobies (something Cordy assured Angel was necessary to his survival in human company and hence to be tolerated at all costs) unsettled him. Angel didn't know why he felt so uncomfortable at the thought; maybe it was because it was such a significant change from before ... when things had been so different. That by behaving differently now, they were all somehow cementing the irrevocable changes that had occurred in all of their lives during the past years. Buffy and Spike ... Anya and Xander ... Willow and Tara ... Dawn ...

Change didn't have to be bad and in this case it really wasn't, but Angel realised with a start that it was frightening. Frightening because it meant that they, consciously or not, recognised the future for what it was - unknown and scary. Which was an extremely non-intellectual and non-philosophical way to put things, but really ... was even he supposed to be deep brooding philosophical guy all the time?

Angel caught Cordelia rubbing her temples wearily, capturing his attention. "Cordy, you okay?"

She gritted her teeth at the sight of the entire table staring in her direction. Knowing that concern was Angel's overriding motivation - and not a desire to embarrass her to death by throwing the spotlight on her at such an inopportune moment - she glanced hard at him for a long moment, before smiling briefly and saying in a low voice, "I'm okay." She turned to address the whole table. "Really guys, I'm fine. Just a post-visiony headache."

Angel made a move to stand up. "You want me to get you something? Pain killers ..."

Cordelia placed a slender hand on one of Angel's. "No, I've got some here." She gestured to her handbag lying at her side.

Angel's brow furrowed even more. "You sure? Do you need to lie down or anything?"

"Yeah, you could lie down upstairs ..."

Cordelia smiled tightly at Buffy. "No that's okay, thanks." She looked at Angel, warning eminent in her eyes. "Angel, I'm fine."

Angel became more insistent. "Are you sure?"

"Stop fussing." Cordelia hissed under her breath, as she tried to avoid Anya's curious gaze.

"I'm not - "

"Yes you are - "

"Oh hey, I don't think you guys have met Tara yet." Willow burst out, eager to break the tension.

Angel and Cordelia both leaned forward slightly, suddenly aware that their private bickering at in fact, been pretty public and was verging on the embarrassing. Realising this in tandem, they both sighed somewhat sheepishly and turned their attention to Willow, who quickly introduced the timid girl next to her.

Tara leaned into towards them slightly, her gaze fixed downward until the latest possible moment. Her pretty features were slightly obscured by the veil of ash blonde hair that swept across her face, but Cordelia noted her large and welcoming eyes and gave her a wide smile in return. "Hi. It's nice to meet you."

Angel grinned slightly boyishly, amusing Buffy who had been carefully surveying Angel and Cordelia's interactions. She just could not get over the changes that these few years had wrought in Angel, and maybe to an even larger degree, in Cordelia. These people who had hardly said more than a few words to each other in the space of three years were now so close, so comfortable with each other that it had wrought changes in both their characters. Angel actually smiled now which was a definite change for the good. And Cordelia showed a surprising ability to listen, really listen, to people and to give advice that actually didn't suck.

The group was chatting more freely now, the initial wave of discomfort over the strangeness of the night's dinner dissipating like morning mist with the sun. Tara had gotten Willow talking about the art of witchcraft, and the various magic and strange phenomena that they had encountered, and Angel reciprocated by describing some of the strange events that the Angel Investigations team had experienced in L.A., culminating in an exciting narration by Cordelia about their adventures in Pylea.

Dawn's eyes went wide with interest and she suddenly asked, "Wow, you guys went to another dimension that ... actually wasn't a hell dimension?"

"Yeah, well ... According to Lorne - he's a demon that reads auras - it kind of is a hell dimension."

"In the sense that they had no music, which meant no singing, no lullabies ..." Angel elaborated.

"And also the fact that they treated people like cows - slaves. But they made me Princess." Cordelia added, almost as an after note.

"But then we overthrew the governing Trombli -"

" - because they were evil and wanted to kill everyone ..."

" ... And then we found a portal ... "

" ... with Fred's help ... " Cordelia added with a significant look.

" ... And got back to L.A. With my car." Angel grandly finished, as if that had been the most important thing about the entire episode.

Xander was staring at them as if they had suddenly grown two heads. "Do you guys share a brain or something?"

Cordelia and Angel looked slightly embarrassed, and Cordelia quickly diverted his focus by changing the subject. "So, where is Mr. Tweed Librarian anyway?"

Willow and Buffy haltingly explained why Giles was no longer living in Sunnydale, or America for that matter, while Spike looked on.

"So he's in the mother country? Even when he knew about you ...? " Cordelia let herself trail off.

"Well I think he likes his tea, and apparently American teas aren't tea-ish enough for him." Buffy joked, her eyes downcast.

Achingly aware that Cordelia had hit a sensitive subject, Angel quickly changed the topic of conversation to a more cheerful one. Turning to Xander and Anya, he asked, "So ah ... you guys set a date for the wedding yet?"

The subject seemed to produce a two-fold effect. Anya's face immediately burst into radiance at the mention of the wedding plans and she started chatting animatedly about their preparations, while Xander's features took on a more studied expression, remaining a mask of contentment. To Cordelia it seemed as if he was determined to not betray his real emotion, whatever that may be.

"We're up to the guest list and I had no idea how much trouble it is. You know, some people actually said that they weren't going to come if we were inviting demons. They're afraid of getting eaten."

"Yeah ... who knew people could be so particular about that." Cordelia smiled half-sympathetically, her twinkling eyes catching Angel's. "Bummer."

"I mean, how could they? This is my wedding, and they're not going to come just because they're afraid of getting eaten? How rude is that?" Anya huffed, leaning back on the chair, a pout forming on her lips.

Spike piped up, smirking. "I'd imagine it wouldn't be a big turn on, getting all spruced up on your own dough just to be some vengeance demon's bloody main course."

"Well, they should know that vengeance demons don't eat people. We just curse them to death."

"Maybe you could, you know ..." Tara spoke up. " ... explain things a little on the invitations. Like ... 'No demon will eat any person bearing gifts' ... "

"Yeah, and that way, you'd be sure of getting really expensive presents." Cordelia jumped in.

"And ... you could put little smiley faces so people would know it's a happy thing." Willow chirped in helpfully.

"Well ..." Anya huffed. "I suppose that could work. It should work. We're spending a lot of Xander's hard earned money on it."

"I'm sure it'll be perfect." Cordelia said warmly. "Anyway I'm happy for you guys. It's weird how things work out, isn't it?" Her words made her pause as she glanced around the table, her gaze settling on Buffy. Far from being the Cordelia of old who in principle had not believed in the concept of tactfulness, she was now, through the experiences that her visions had given her, almost hypersensitive about the feelings of others. Especially after that talk she had shared with the petite Slayer in the kitchen just an hour or so ago.

Buffy sighed melodramatically and the tiniest hint of a smile graced her pretty features. "I don't know about things working out, but ..." Buffy sneaked a glance at Spike, " ... it's interesting how things change. And ... interesting's good."

"Yeah, it is." Xander added quietly, complete understanding emanating from his bright brown eyes. "Maybe we should propose a toast ..." He held up his glass. "To change." The rest of the table followed suit, even Spike, who despite a half-smirk on his face leaned in towards Buffy and lifted his glass along with the group.

Angel raised his glass and paused, before adding. "To friends."

"To life." Buffy added quietly, looking at Willow and Xander meaningfully, her round blue eyes glistening with emotion. Her eyes met Cordelia's in the ensuing silence, and they both knew that keeping to the spirit of the toast was going to be one of the hardest challenges in their short but eventful lives.

 

(c) March 2002