This was supposed to be a special day for Cordelia Chase. She had started seeing a rich college guy, Richard Anderson. She'd always said college guys were the right ones cause High School guys were still babies.

In a million years she wouldn't have admitted that High School girls were actually way more interesting. No, it would be lying again. One girl, one very special girl was interesting.

And Cordy didn't know how to deal with her feelings, so she preferred being mean to her most of the time. But, that very special girl had a tendency to save her ass, which was why she'd started feeling stuff for her... So she couldn't be mean all the time. Sometimes she actually liked to just sit and talk, and every time Buffy would sit next to her in class, she wouldn't be able to remember one word of the lesson-not even the title.

Richard said he'd come see her on the lunch break so she fixed her make-up in the bathroom and headed out. As soon as she got out, she noticed two things: Richard's car was pulling over, and Buffy was sitting on the wall with Willow and Xander, laughing about something. Trying to act as cool as possible, she swayed her hips a bit more than usually and a huge smile appeared on her face.

She almost knocked Willow over, and didn't really apologize for it, but she knew that Buffy had definitely noticed her. Being noticed was good, in any case. And it was important to make people think they were incredibly interesting and funny even if they weren't. Richard was one of those people. He was interesting just cause he was filthy rich, but god, she had been bored to tears while listening to him rambling about his car.

He wasn't alone when he got out of the car, his best friend Tom was with him. Good. It meant that he hadn't planned a making out session. He hadn't been really good at that either.

"Cordelia, how good to see you! You remember Tom, right?"

"Hi, guys!"

The smile on Cordy's face was so huge, Buffy thought she started resembling The Joker.

"Listen, Cordy, we're having a party tomorrow night, I was wondering if you'd like to come."

A very fake laughter escaped her, and both guys stared at her, not understanding what was so funny.

"Oh, I'd love to go!", she said, feeling kinda lame when she realized that laughter was really over the top.

"What about your friend?", Richard pointed at Buffy, and Cordy couldn't believe it was happening. Going to the party with Buffy while she was supposed to be hitting on Richard… She didn't think it was a great idea… But she also couldn't pass up the opportunity to go to a party with Buffy without Xander and Willow tagging along.

"Oh, she's…"

"She's amazing!" Tom smiled and Cordy thought Don't look at her like that!

"… like a sister to me!" Cordy beamed and walked over to Buffy.

She caught her hand and continued smiling, even though her heart started going wild when she entwined her fingers with Buffy's. Tingles ran all over her body. That was new. No boy had ever made her feel tingly like that.

"Cordy, I don't wanna go to the party." Buffy whispered, and winced when Cordy's tightened the grip of her hand.

"Of course you do, we're best friends and I'll be driving you to school and back home for a month." Cordy whispered back, and Buffy waved her head, but agreed to go. She could do with one slaying free night. Plus, maybe some of the college kids would know who the missing girls were. It looked like they were college students and Sunnydale wasn't exactly big.

Tom's ratty eyes moved over Buffy's body, and Cordy wanted to punch him. Ok, his eyes weren't ratty at all, they were actually pretty nice, but Cordy didn't like them wandering over Buffy.

"I'm Tom. It would be really great if you could come to the party."

"I'm Buffy.", she said and shook his hand. He kept her hand in his for a moment too long, which didn't go unnoticed by Cordy.

"OK, well, we're coming to the party. Thanks for inviting us, Richard." Cordy said and kissed his cheek, and smiled when he kissed hers. The next second, she turned on her heel and pretty much dragged Buffy with her.

"Great! Ok, ladies, see you tomorrow at eight!" Richard said as he got into his car, waved and drove away.

Buffy looked at Willow and Xander apologetically and walked away with Cordy, who was still holding her hand tightly.

They entered an empty classroom and Cordy closed the door and let go of Buffy's hand, even though she didn't really want to.

"Thanks for agreeing to come with me." Cordy smiled, sat on top of a desk and started talking:

"I have a few tips for tonight regarding your appearance. Oh, don't take it the wrong way, your hair looks really cute this way, but you need a bit of make-up and a nice dress, and that's something I can help with. Your fashion sense isn't as bad as Willow and Xander's, but I think I have THE perfect dress for you. You should come to my place at about six so I can be your stylist."

"Oook.", Buffy said, suddenly feeling extra self-conscious. She used to be good at dressing sexy and applying make-up. Now she was good at slaying demons and removing their yucky blood out of her clothes. She started appreciating vampires, they at least had the decency to turn to dust… which was way easier to wash out of her hair.

"Ok, great! Oh, Buffy, it's gonna be so much fun!"

"Uh-huh."

Cordelia pulled a very surprised Buffy into a tight hug and ran out with a chirpy "See you lateeer!"

Buffy had to endure being teased by Xander because she was hanging out with the embodiment of evil… but then he concluded that Cordelia was much better for her than Angel.

While walking home that day, Xander's sentence kept replaying in Buffy's head. She really loved Angel, and his kisses awoke something inside her that she didn't know existed, but… How far would they be able to go with their relationship? He was old enough to be her great great great grandfather, and he would always look the same, while she'd age and die… Ok, well that part was under a question mark because Slayers weren't known for having long lives.

Cordelia, though… No, no, not going there. What on earth am I thinking? Cordelia is a girl and I'm not gay. And I don't even like her half of the time… She's obnoxious and spoiled… but also brave and thoughtful when she wants to be. Like, now, Buffy thought when Cordy's car pulled over.

"Hey, Buff. I almost forgot I'd promised to drive you home. Hop in."

"I'm a block away… There's no need. But, thanks."

"Come on, I'll use the opportunity to go through your closet and see if you have any hidden gems you could wear tonight. Otherwise, you're coming over to my place later."

"Ok, ok." Buffy agreed, thinking if she could avoid going to Cordy's LAIR, she would at least try to.

Within five minutes, they were at Buffy's house, and Joyce wasn't home, and Buffy thought that she could have used some distractions in the form of her mom bringing sandwiches. Her mom was really good at that.

She offered Cordy orange juice and then they headed to her bedroom.

"You have a cute bedroom. I kinda expected to see weapons and garlic all over the place.", Cordy couldn't help saying, she didn't wanna stop being her snarky self completely.

"Yeah, Cordy, my weapons and I are still in the closet about the Slayerness thing. I think my mom would be cooler with me coming out as gay, than coming out as the Slayer. She's gonna freak so bad if she ever finds out."

"Well, let's see if anything cool can come out of your closet." Cordy smiled and opened it.

"Oh god, Buffy. Please burn these." Cordy said as she took out a few dresses that looked like something her grandmother would have worn.

"Also, what were you thinking when you bought this skirt? I wanna cut it up AND then burn it."

Buffy sat on the bed and watched Cordy throw her clothes all over it. She actually agreed with a few of Cordy's comments, but she wouldn't have admitted.

"Oh, hey, color me surprised!" Cordy smiled and nodded approvingly when she pulled out a gorgeous little black dress… "Try it on, I gotta see what it looks like on you. Don't be a baby, I won't peek." She turned around when it looked like Buffy was gonna comment something. But, there was a small mirror on a shelf that Buffy had forgotten about. Cordy couldn't help herself, she checked Buffy out in the mirror and bit her lip slowly when she saw her cute lacey pink bra and panties.

"Ok, you can look now." Buffy said and she expected Cordy to say something kinda rude, but the look on Cordy's face surprised her. The cheerleader looked stumped, at a loss with words, which was pretty damn unbelievable.

"What? A cat got ya tongue?" Buffy asked to stop that very uncomfortable silence.

"Possibly. Yes. That's it. Perfect." Cordy said and absentmindedly fixed the dress' strap when it slid down Buffy's shoulder. They both felt like electricity passed through them and then quickly moved away, trying to ignore it ever happened.

"Your hair and make-up? I think you should try curling your hair a little… I have the curling iron at home… If your mom could drop you off at my house at about seven thirty tomorrow night, that would be great. I also have a huge palette of lipsticks and mascara; you could pick some. Oh, and shoes! Oh my god, show me your shoes!" Cordy's eyes sparkled with excitement. That's one thing they had in common: their love for shoes! Buffy was proud of her shoe collection, but she assumed that Cordy's was at least double.

"This is actually a pretty good collection!" Cordy nodded, "But, holy mother of god, what is this?" she asked when she pulled out a bright green pair of shoes.

"It was my post death crisis. My dad frowned a lot, but bought them anyway. Never wore them. They pretty much shine in the dark and I don't wanna attract vampires. It seemed like a good idea at the time, for some reason."

Post death crisis. Cordy realized she'd never thought about how exactly it might have affected Buffy, she just assumed that being bitchy helped her deal. Now she imagined she must have been pretty terrified and she wanted to hug her really bad. But, that would be too much, too soon.

Strangely quiet, Cordy put the green monstrosities back in the closet, and picked black ballerina shoes with a little black bow on them.

She cleared her throat a little and said "Ok, the biggest part of my job is done. Tomorrow I'll fix your make-up and hair and you'll look stunning! I gotta go now."

"Thanks, Cordy… For the ride and… everything." Buffy said, clumsily. She wasn't sure if hugging Cordy was appropriate. She usually loved to hug her friends, but Cordy wasn't exactly a friend and… even a tiny touch felt like it burnt… Angel's hands were so much colder, Cordy's were… warm and perfect.

Ok, why am I thinking about what Cordy's touch feels like?

Buffy blushed a little and lead Cordy downstairs. She walked her to the car and even opened the door for her, which surprised them both, and caused them to blush and wave to each other awkwardly.

After taking a few deep breaths, Buffy wished she could call Willow and tell her all about her extremely confusing feelings, but she didn't know how to even form the words. She decided against it. Maybe those feelings were just temporary madness and they'd go away.

I should go see Angel. I'm sure his kisses will knock some sense into my silly head.

Cordelia thought the same way, so she met up with Richard at the famous Sunnydale's Lovers Lane, as everyone called the popular make out place.

As soon as their lips connected, she knew she'd made a mistake… He was rich and gorgeous, but he wasn't a good kisser. There was too much tongue and a saliva trail and Cordy couldn't help imagining what kissing Buffy would be like. Soft, warm, slow, passionate… Nothing like this mess of a kiss. As soon as she could bail without being too rude or obvious, Cordy skedaddled. She thought a cappuccino and some dancing at the Bronze might save the evening from being a complete bust. Also, it was possible that Buffy was there.

Buffy headed to Angel's as soon as she was done with her homework. The sun was still up and she knew he wouldn't be able to get out, but kissing and cuddling at his apartment sounded pretty good, too. It was spacious and… cold. So cold. No paintings, no plants, just bare walls and floors, no sunlight or fire, so it was cold in both meanings of the word. Soulless. Angel was famous for having a soul, but his 'apartment' didn't share one with him. She hoped maybe he would let her decorate it a little, but he didn't seem interested in that.

"Buffy." Angel stated before she even managed to step a foot into his apartment. She thought it was cool that he could feel her, smell her, before he even saw her. On some level, she could feel him too. Sometimes, when she was out patrolling, she knew he was around even if he didn't make his presence known straight away.

"I was hoping you'd come. Missed you.", a little smile appeared on Angel's face and he leaned in to kiss her. She kissed him back, eagerly. He still made her feel butterflies, but now she seemed to be hyper aware of his cold lips, and her mind flew to Cordelia and what she imagined her lips would feel like: soft, warm, delicious… Feeling a bit guilty for even thinking such things while kissing him, she broke the kiss.

"Are you ok?" Angel asked and Buffy managed a little smile.

"Yeah, I'm ok, just… a bit worried about these missing girls. I've come here to hang a little and then take you patrolling with me. You can smell blood much sooner than I can."

"I can also smell your vanilla shampoo now, its scent is much nicer than blood…" he pretty much lied, it wasn't like he wanted to drink Buffy's vanilla shampoo, but he thought it sounded much better than 'yeah, I can smell blood, and every time I do it makes my mouth water…'

His voice and those dark, penetrating eyes really had an effect on Buffy… She kissed him again, as passionately as she could, but the kiss didn't make HIM any warmer. Goddammit, Cordy, get out of my head!

She wouldn't leave, though, and Buffy was grateful that vampires awaited at the graveyard as soon and she and Angel arrived to Restfield, holding hands. A stake appeared in her hand faster than the vampires could have reacted, and less than five minutes later, both of them were dead. Angel watched her slay them, she didn't even need his help, he thought she kept getting better at it. And she kept getting more beautiful…

"Wanna go to the Bronze?" Angel asked when Buffy dusted off her jacket and started walking again.

Cordy might be there. It's better that I go home.

"Nah, I'm going home. I'm a bit tired and it's gonna be a long day tomorrow."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, I'm going to this party with Cordy tomorrow night. Forgot to mention it… it's not a big deal, she's seeing a college guy and she asked me to tag along."

"How come she didn't ask one of her, uh, Cordettes?"

"I… I don't know. But, I thought I could maybe find out more about those missing college girls. This party could actually help me solve the case, so hanging out with Cordelia for one night might not suck that bad. If it turns out I need help, I'll beep Xander and Willow and they'll come look for you."

"All right. Let me walk you home."

They both knew that Buffy didn't need to be walked home, but they both liked that part. When they got to the porch, he kissed her slowly and watched her climb through her bedroom window. Buffy got ready for bed as quickly as she could because she really wanted to have more than four hours of sleep.

"Buffy, sweetheart, get up and I'll drive you to school. Your breakfast is ready!"

"Yeah, I'm awake!", Buffy yelled back and forced herself to open her eyes. She stumbled over to the bathroom to freshen up, and it helped her get back to the living. She hurried to the kitchen, where peanut butter and jelly sandwiches awaited.

"Hey, sleepy head.", Cordelia grinned at the very surprised Buffy, who just stood at the kitchen door, surprised off her head.

"Cordelia told me she'd promised you ride to school and back every day. That's so very sweet, and saves me a lot of time, the least I could do was to make you both breakfast.", Joyce pulled a surprised Cordy into an embrace, the Sunnydale High's Ice Queen wasn't used to hugs. Her mother was too busy trying on new dresses to give motherly hugs, or even notice her daughter. Cordy was surprised, but she returned the hug and realized that it felt really good.

"You shocked me enough and I didn't even manage to say good morning. And thank you. I forgot you'd pick me up."

"You didn't forget about tonight, though, right?"

"What's tonight?" Joyce asked and Buffy wished she could avoid all the college party questions, so she was very grateful when Cordy said "Oh, just a little shindig at my house. Don't worry, I'll drive her home."

"Very thoughtful of you." Joyce smiled and beamed at Cordy, who hadn't felt that appreciated in a long time.

"Thank you for sandwiches and hugs, but we should get going now… Buffy, you ready?"

"Yeah… ready. Bye, mom, see ya!", she kissed her mother and ran out of the house.

"Bye, Ms. Summers!", Cordy waved and both girls jumped in the car.

"I think I've just scored a few points with your mom.", Cordy grinned, and Buffy smiled back, teasingly.

"Didn't know you were collecting points. But, you know, if you are, you get a few points from me too. For picking me up and for saying that the shindig was in your house. Yeah, I'd say ten points to Gryffindor."

"I know that's the Harry Potter reference, you know."

"Ok, fifteen points."

They both had a good laugh and the ride to school passed fast in a very amiable atmosphere. Both girls felt comfortable and happy.

The comfy bubble burst as soon as they got out of the car and got 'welcomed' by Xander and his lame comments like "Why are you two hanging out? Is the world ending?" None of them thought it was funny, but Buffy decided to ignore his comments and she said hi to Willow, who also looked dubious and kinda disappointed. Sharing her best friend with Cordelia wasn't a very appealing idea.

Cordy, who was never good at keeping her thoughts just thoughts, glared at Xander and said "Me hanging with you would be a definite sign of Apocalypse, but I'm hanging with Buffy, so I think we're safe."

She nodded to Buffy, who grinned back, kinda amused.

"Hmm, actually, Cordelia is much better for you than Angel.", Xander commented out of the blue, just as they entered the classroom. Buffy caught Cordelia's gaze and blushed a little. The Slayer suddenly wished that reading minds was on the list of her superpowers, because she thought that there might actually be something going on between her and Cordy, but she wasn't sure and definitely didn't wanna make a total fool out of herself.

Xander started giving reasons why Cordy was better than Angel, and Willow observed her best friend and Cordelia, they really were acting strange. Willow wasn't a judgmental type, she wasn't hateful or homophobic, but she thought, if Buffy really was interested in women, couldn't she pick a less obnoxious specimen?

Someone like… Willow blushed a little and quickly opened her book, she didn't know where those crazy thoughts were coming from. There was nothing wrong with girls liking each other, but she would never… The only person she was ever interested in was Xander, who was very much not a girl…

For the first time in, like, ever, Buffy actually tried to pay attention in class, to stop overanalyzing her thoughts and feelings. It didn't work a hundred percent, but twenty minutes without thinking about it all was heaven.

As soon as the bell rang, Buffy was out of the classroom, and for the rest of the day she continued avoiding Cordelia as much as she could. But, at the end of the day, Cordy caught up with her.

"Come on, get in the car and tell me why you ran off to the opposite direction whenever we bumped into each other today."

Feeling like a doe in the headlights, Buffy followed Cordy to her car and took a deep breath as she sat down and fastened the seat belt.

"What's up with you today? You were ok this morning." Cordy asked, and drove away because she didn't wanna talk in the parking lot. She headed to Buffy's house cause she knew that Joyce wouldn't be home.

"Cordy… I don't even know. There was… you. And then Xander said… and you said… and I thought…"

"You know; it would be easier to understand you if you actually finished the sentence."

"My brain isn't really co-operating… I wanna ask you just one thing now, ok?"

"Sure, go ahead."

Cordy glanced at Buffy, who was nervously playing with her fingers and looking at her nails.

"Do you like Richard?"

"Uh, yeah, he's hot." Cordy said, but her heart beat a bit faster. She was curious about where Buffy was going with that question.

"Oh."

Cordy didn't know that a non-word like 'oh' could contain so much disappointment… Buffy looked through the window and after a moment she forced herself to ask: "Are you in love with him?"

After the longest deafening moment that ended with the loudest sigh, Cordy answered "No, I'm not." She glanced at Buffy again and she could almost hear a stone falling off of Buffy's heart, and she started wondering if maybe Buffy also had some confusing feelings she needed to deal with.

"Are you in love with Angel?" Cordy asked cause that guy sure was easy to fall for.

"I thought I was… But, I can never have a normal relationship with him."

"Cause he's older? He must be about Richard's age…"

"Cordy… Angel is a vampire."

Cordy stepped on the brakes so hard the tires screeched.

She stared at Buffy like she was a creature from outer space.

"You're not joking, are you? Cause that joke would suck. No pun intended."

"No, I'm not joking. He's got a soul, and he's so good and gorgeous and he loves me and makes me feel all tingly, but… He's also cold and we can't go out for a walk in the afternoon, or do anything normal couples do."

"Vampires can't… have sex?"

"Oh, I guess they can… but we've never… Have you ever…?"

"No, I haven't."

Buffy had to admit that she was surprised to hear Cordy's answer, she always dated someone and all the guys wanted her. She was kinda happy to hear that Cordy wasn't a sex goddess everyone considered her to be.

"So… I'll see you later. My house, half past seven?"

"Don't worry, I won't be late. Thanks, Cordy… See you tonight."

Luckily for Buffy, Joyce wasn't home and she used her alone time to pamper herself. That wasn't something she had time to do nowadays. First she had a long, bubbly bath, shaved, then she applied a facial mask and placed cucumber slices over her eyes, put on a fluffy bath robe and lay down on the couch after she'd put on black nail polish. That was a bit strange for her, but nothing about this party would be exactly normal.

When she actually put on clothes, she phoned Willow, she really needed to talk to her best friend about this huge change that she was going through. It was weighing down on her shoulders almost as hard as the burden of being the Slayer.

Willow, being her usual reliable self, showed up less than twenty minutes later, looking really cute, in red overalls and an orange shirt underneath.

"Oh, Willow, thanks for coming!"

"What's going on? You sounded pretty serious on the phone. Demon trouble?"

"Uh, no. Actually… Girl trouble."

"The girl being Cordelia?"

A little smile curled Willow's lips, while Buffy blushed like a tomato.

"You're not as stealthy as you thought, Buff."

"What am I gonna do? People already think I'm a freak… if I start going out with girls, going to school is gonna be a much more Hellmouthy experience."

"People think you're a freak, but you don't really care… And if you're a happy freak, you'll care about their opinions even less."

"Yeah, but even if I was ok with it, I don't think Cordy would be ok with losing her social status just like that. We could never really work out."

"At least she's not a vampire." Willow couldn't help smiling. Buffy couldn't express how relieved she was at that moment.

"So, you're ok with me liking girls? Uh, girl. One girl. I've never thought about other girls that way. Except maybe Shannen Doherty from 90210."

"I can't believe the girl in question is Cordelia, but better her than Harmony.", Willow had to tease a little, and she was very happy that Buffy decided to talk to her about something that huge.

Buffy was happy too, at least some of the burden got lifted off her shoulders and she just hoped the rest would be lifted too, without any extra weight added.

They spent the afternoon together, eating, gossiping, even doing homework. When Buffy put her black dress on and shoes that went with it perfectly, Willow thought that her best friend really was stunning.

Joyce dropped Willow home and then drove Buffy to Cordelia's house. The head cheerleader was already all dressed up, her make-up in place, and a huge smile lightened her face when she saw Buffy. Buffy's belly was once again being attacked by a horde of butterflies, but she somehow managed to say bye to her mom and walk toward Cordy without falling on her nose.

Slayer grace- you had to love it.

"Hey, Cordy. You look amazing."

"You look great too, and soon you'll look amazingly stunning when I'm done with you."

"I'm at your mercy, oh great Cordelia." Buffy teased and let Cordy lead her inside of the Chase mansion. Cause that was what Cordy's home was. A freaking mansion, and as Buffy walked through the halls and admired everything, she noticed there were at least 5 bedrooms and two toilets, and a huge living room and a kitchen that looked like it had never been cooked in… but nothing compared to Cordy's room. That was something out of a fairytale.

The closet was so huge it wouldn't have been able to fit into Buffy's bedroom even if it got cut in half.

There was a huge drawer full of make-up and accessories, and when Cordy commented that her shoe closet was in a different room, Buffy thought jealousy might kill her.

In the middle of the room was a King size bed with beautiful white sheets with red roses on them.

"Ok, sit down and let me work my magic.", Cordy said and Buffy sat in a chair in front of the big mirror. She felt tingles when Cordy ran her fingers through her hair. The curling iron was plugged in, and already warm enough, so Cordelia gently wrapped Buffy's hair around it. Curls surrounded Buffy's face, and she looked adorable.

Now that the curls were done, Cordy ran her fingers through them, and Buffy thought she was driving her crazy on purpose.

"I don't want a lot of make-up, though."

"You sure? Cause, that black nail polish tells me differently."

Cordy smirked and said "Just let me take care of you. You'll thank me later."

"Ok, ok, I'm yours."

That statement made her blush, and Cordy smiled, but shockingly, didn't comment anything.

"Close your eyes." Cordy said and applied some light gray eye shadow. Then she put on a bit of mascara and a tiny bit of eyeliner, just to make the green of Buffy's eyes stand out.

The hardest part were the lips because suddenly Cordy couldn't take her eyes off of them. They looked yummy enough even without lipstick… She traced her thumb over Buffy's bottom lip and Buffy thought her heart would explode.

They looked into each other's eyes, both wishing they could read minds, and Cordy started moving away, she thought maybe if she actually tried to put some lipstick on her lips, she'd stop staring at them like that… But, Buffy's hand wrapped around her wrist gently, and she pulled her back with her remarkable strength…

Before they knew what hit them, their lips connected in a kiss that made their worlds explode. None of them knew that kissing could feel that beautiful.

Soft lips, tender kisses, slow, but passionate… Their tongues touching, shyly at first, but soon they danced, twirled, rolled. Cordy realized that she had sat on Buffy's lap and let their hands wander around, and she didn't wanna break the kiss. She was comfortable, and happy, at peace and turned on at once, and it was absolutely perfect. No guy had ever kissed her like that, and she wondered if Buffy was thinking the same thing.

Yes, she was.

Buffy's heart was drumming loudly in her ears, and she felt like she was floating… Cordy's lips were warm, and softer than she'd imagined they'd be, and her kisses and touch were so slow and gentle, but passionate and lighting every nerve in Buffy's body on fire.

"I don't think you need lipstick. Maybe a bit of the strawberry lip gloss? But, I'd just end up removing it cause you'd be too yummy…" Cordelia said when she moved away, trying to catch a breath. Her heart was going wild. She knew her reputation would be ruined if people found out about this, but at that moment she just couldn't care less.

"What, I'm not yummy now?" Buffy smirked and giggled when Cordy pulled her into another kiss…

"You're delicious…"

Somehow they managed to stop kissing, Cordy put lip gloss on Buffy's lips, kissed her again, got it all off, and applied it once again. Then she needed to fix her own make up and they were ready to go.

As soon as they arrived to the party, Richard strolled in and pulled Cordy into a kiss, and Buffy didn't know how she refrained herself from flipping his sorry ass over her shoulder. She felt a bit better when Cordy broke the kiss and looked at her, apologetically. Tom arrived, holding two glasses of alcohol. Buffy wasn't an expert but she thought it was Martini.

"I'm driving, I can't drink. I'll just have juice." Cordelia said, while Buffy sipped her Martini. She thought, for once, and with a sober girlfriend, she could let her hair down just a little bit.

When Cordy accepted to dance with Richard, Buffy decided to dance with Tom… Eye for an eye… It was so annoying to be there with someone she actually wanted to dance with, and not being able to do it.

Cordy's eyes locked with Buffy's during the dance and they could both see desire and regret in the other's eyes, so as soon as the dance was done, they spiraled to each other, their drinks forgotten somewhere. Both guys looked a bit annoyed, but they couldn't just tell them to stop communicating and to drink more.

Trying their best to make their plans work, Tom and Richard brought new drinks. Cordy got a spiked orange juice, and Buffy got a punch that they promised hardly contained any alcohol.

Richard used his chance and followed Cordy when she excused herself to go to the bathroom, and Buffy started feeling a bit dizzy so she headed upstairs to find Cordelia, and wandered into one of the bedrooms to sit down for a moment. She was confused and a bit freaked cause she didn't think one punch would hit her that hard, but she was thankful there was a big, nice bed there just for her. The last coherent thought she had was Hope Cordy will be able to find me here.

Sadly, Cordy wasn't the one that found her. When Richard got to Buffy, Cordy had already been chained up in the basement. There was a demon that needed sacrifices, and Richard thought it was too bad he needed to share such beautiful girls with a disgusting reptile looking slime ball, but he was more interested in money and power. Tom, though… That innocent looking guy was the leader and he was totally messed up, felt no remorse. Those girls' deaths meant nothing to him, their bodies and lives were there just to sate the demon's hunger.

Now that he had Callie, Cordy and Buffy, Machida would reward him and his brothers infinitely.

Tom underestimated Cordy's ability to scream, and she started screaming in utter terror as soon as she saw Richard drag Buffy into the basement. That wasn't happening. Buffy was supposed to save them both! And, she was definitely not up for watching the only girl she ever kissed getting eaten by a demon!

"BUFFY, FOR GOD'S SAKE, WAKE UP! YOU GUYS HAVE NO IDEA WHO YOU'RE DEALING WITH HERE!", Cordy was yelling, there was no way they would die in this basement because she'd dragged them here. I should have just gone to the Bronze with Buffy… I should have known that these college guys were trouble!

"Shut up or I'll gag you, and throw you to the great Machida first!"

Luckily, at that moment, Buffy's eyes fluttered open… "Cordy?"

"Buffy!"

Cordy yelled when Richard punched Buffy, he'd only managed to chain one of her hands and he was getting ready to lock the heavy chain around her left wrist when she kicked him so hard he doubled over.

"Yes!", Cordy yelled "Show him who's the Slayer!"

"THE SLAYER?!" Tom yelled and glared at them in shock.

"That's karma, bitch!", Cordy couldn't help glowering a little, she was sure Buffy would win. She always won, and now she had a little smirk on her face.

"A pissed off Slayer cause you dared to chain up my girl. Only I get to do that.", Buffy winked and Cordy grinned cheekily, enjoying the really shocked faces of Tom and Richard.

Buffy wrapped her legs around Richard's neck and said "I will break his neck if you don't unchain me." She actually knew that she could break out of the chains with the help of her free hand, but she wanted to see just how far were those assholes ready to go- sacrifice even each other?

Tom didn't even flinch, and she yanked on the chain so hard it broke. She kicked Richard toward Tom, and they both ended on the floor. Machida wanted her dead so badly, and he attacked while the two guys were trying to get to their feet. Buffy threw the chain around the demon's neck and pulled hard until she heard it snap.

"NO! I WILL KILL YOU, YOU BITCH!", Tom yelled and Buffy glared at him. "Tom… you talk too much!", she said before she knocked him unconscious. Now that the demon was dead and his friend was unconscious, Richard wasn't as brave and he actually helped Buffy free the two girls.

As soon as Richard removed Cordy's chains, she ran to Buffy and kissed her with all she had.

Richard stared at them for a moment, but the he freed Callie and ran. He knew Tom would rat him out and that he didn't have much time. But he had at least a bit of a head start. Maybe his father's money would manage to keep him out of jail.

"How many times have you saved my life already?", Cordy asked as her fingers entwined with Buffy's and they walked out of the horror house.

"I'll always protect you, Miss Chase."

"The perks of dating the Slayer."

"Are we dating?"

"Ah, I don't know yet… It might suck for my social status…", Cordy said and grinned when she saw the look on Buffy's face. "Come on, I'm just kidding… If looks could slay… What's to be ashamed of? You're the most badass girlfriend anyone could ask for… But you have to dump Angel. I'm not gonna share you with a… a vampire. As hot as he is. Eww."

"I'm touched.", Buffy grinned, feeling so happy she couldn't even believe. She stopped in the middle of the road and kissed Cordelia, not caring about traffic… If demons couldn't kill them, cars wouldn't either. Her reflexes were awesome.

Her senses were too overwhelmed as she kissed Cordy, though, and she never noticed the shocked duo+ one that stared at them from across the road: Xander, Angel and Willow.

The vampire was as quiet as a shadow and no one even noticed when he turned and left on his heel. Xander's jaw hit the floor and Willow was smiling. It seemed that sometimes the Hellmouth allowed at least one of them to have a happy relationship…