Story: The Bracelet (chapter 5)

Authors: Jessica Knight

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Chapter 5

Title: Part 5: My Name Is Buffy And I Am A Vampire Slayer Who Dates

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part five:
MY NAME IS BUFFY AND I AM A VAMPIRE SLAYER WHO DATES

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6:31 PM the same day; Buffy and Amy were heading to
The Bronze. Amy leading the way as they walked and talked
about things as they went. Paying the cover charge, they
entered the club and Buffy looked around
to see what it was like inside...

"Well the band is kind of unfortunate." Buffy remarked, in her usual wry tones that she affected for situations such as this.

Amy winced a bit at the group of guys up on stage, shouting out lyrics for all their worth and not doing a very good job of it. "Well, I wasn't going to say anything in case you liked them." Amy confessed. "But, that is pretty bad isn't it?"

"Uh Huh."

"They usually have better bands than this I think." Amy assured. "A year or so ago, Jewel played here."

"Really?" Buffy said looking over at her in surprise.

"Yeah, I went to see her with a few others, but we were stuck in the back of the room." Amy told. "That was the biggest thing to happen here I think."

"Not much since?" Buffy asked curiously.

"Oh, well, there've been a few notables I think. I haven't really kept track very much though." Amy confirmed. "Ehm, hey Buffy?"

"Yeah?" She asked, looking over to Amy again.

"Looks like Cordelia's spotted you." Amy pointed out, just having noticed the other girl heading their way along with Harmony Kendal and, um, well, she honestly didn't know the names of the others.

"Oh, you're right. Guess we should go say hi?" Buffy asked with that same silly/cocky kind'a grin.

"Guess so." Amy said with a resigned sigh, not expecting great things out of their meeting at all.

"You sure you're up for this?" Buffy asked in concern.

"Yeah. I'm sure." Amy smiled softly, holding Buffy's arm a little closer to her.

"Buffy! Hi!" Cordelia greeted. "You made it!" She smiled.

"Hi, Cordelia. " Buffy returned the greeting, offering a friendly smile in return.

"Oh! This is Harmony." She introduced. "Kayla, Bethany, and Annabelle. Guys, this is Buffy."

"Hi." – "Nice to meet you." – "Hey." – "Hi." The four girls greeted almost at once, Buffy doing her best to answer in kind.

"So, what do think of the band?" Cordelia asked.

"Um..." Buffy started. "They're... they're... They seem like they're trying very hard." She said, not able to think of anything else that was close to a positive comment.

"They're awful, I know. I'm sorry." Cordelia apologized with her usually blunt exuberance.

"It's o.k.." Buffy dismissed it with a chuckle.

"So who's this?" Harmony asked, indicating Amy who had been watching with cautious regard, not having thought to try speaking before now.

"Oh, sorry. This is my girlfriend, Amy Madison." Buffy introduced easily, seemingly completely at ease and sure of herself. Amy swallowed some air the wrong way in surprise at Buffy just coming out and saying it that way.

"Your girlfriend?" Harmony repeated slowly.

"Yup." Amy said in confirmation, quickly regrouping and feeling more daring now, and also kind'a smiling a little at having caused that confused look on Harmony's face. "Girlfriend." It was nice to finally feel like she had a place somewhere again.

"Oh, well. That's nice." Cordelia smiled all too brightly, seemingly not just a little surprised, but trying to cover it unsuccessfully.

"I think so." Buffy said with a charming smile. "I met her at lunch today. She was helping me study, and we... just clicked together I guess..." She explained.

"Oh, well, um, congratulations then." Cordelia spoke.

"Um, thanks." Buffy said. But then there was an awkward pause. Buffy and Cordilia both seemingly trying to think of something good to say. Harmony was looking rather put out and annoyed though, and flustered too. Like she'd just ate some bad shrimp or something. Amy couldn't help but dissolve into a fit of giggles. The absurdity of the situation just somehow very funny to her at the moment.

"Oh, so you were joking." Harmony said in relief.

"Not really." Amy said between giggles. "It's just- Sorry." Amy said, trying to get her laughter under control. "It's just so awkward and you're just standing there like--" and she started to laugh again, causing Buffy to chuckle a little to.

"Hey!" Harmony said in outrage at what she saw as these two trying to make fun of her.

"Well." Buffy said helplessly. "She does have a point, we prob'ly did look pretty funny."

"Fine!" Harmony huffed. "Come on girls, let's just go and let the LESbo's have their little laugh." She sneered at them and turned to walk away.

Kayla, Bethany, and Annabelle went with her. Cordelia, for her part, at least had the grace to look embraced and shrugged apologetically. "I'm sorry about them." She said. "They're really not that bad once you get to know them." She told them.

"It's o.k." Buffy said. "It happens, don't worry about it." She smiled. "But I take it we're not hanging out together then?" She asked needlessly.

"Well, I would but... you know, my date's over there." She apologized. "I hope you two have an awesome time tonight though."

"Thanks!" Buffy said.

"You too." Amy added, really having been surprised at Cordelia's easy acceptance of them.

"Thanks. Gotta go. See you around, o.k.?" Cordelia waved as she turned to go off and rejoin her friends.

"Wow." Amy said simply as Cordelia left, amazement clear in her voice. "I guess you really never can judge a book by it's cover."

"Tell me about it." Buffy said with a wry smile. "I could write a book." She looked around the club. "Wan'a grab a table and get something to much on?"

"You're still hungry?" Amy asked, remembering how much food Buffy had eaten at dinner.

"Just for a snack." Buffy defended. "Those onion things look really good." She pointed to what another nearby couple was having.

"Oh no, I have to kiss you later. No onions." Amy figuratively put her foot down.

"You 'have' to kiss me?" Buffy questioned, a cute little Cheshire grin coming to her face.

"Yup, have to. It's required." She told her.

"Well then, who am I to argue?" Buffy asked, moving in to kiss Amy quickly on the cheek. "Wan'a go dance to some awful music with me then?" She asked.

"Sure!" Amy said happily, definitely riding an emotional high and enjoying it quite a lot. It was sort of unreal actually, she felt almost like she were a different person. She took Buffy's hand and dragged her out to the dance floor. Buffy laughing and following her along with excitement, immanently charmed by Amy's care-free mood.

Thankfully, after that song ended, the band took a break and they put on a Madonna song. 'Ray of Light', as it turned out.

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7:19 PM; still at The Bronze,
only it's a little later.

After having danced for a while, and getting quite a few more stares than anyone else there had, they'd found and clamed a table that was fairly out of the way so they could talk. They hadn't really been hassled by anyone, thankfully. Most people tended to ignore them once the shock value wore off. But they did have to fend off advances from a couple of over-eager and over-confident football players a few minutes ago.

"Can you believe those two?" Buffy asked. "I mean, what is it with guys sometimes?" She asked in annoyance.

"I thought it was kind of flattering." Amy admitted sheepishly.

"You did?" Buffy questioned, a little surprised.

"Well, yeah." Amy said lightly, taking it all as a joke mainly.

"I'm not having a three way." Buffy said quickly, her face setting in defiance. "No way in hell. You can just forget it!" Bad memories surfacing.

"Buffy-"

"And for sure not with a guy!" She continued, her mind going places she did not at all want it to go. Irritation and annoyance setting in.

"Buffy." Amy repeated, not having expected a reaction like that at all. "What's wrong?" She asked, now getting a little worried.

Buffy looked up at her, feeling a little embarrassed. "Sorry. I've got issues I guess."

"What happened?" Amy asked, eyes getting intense, wanting to know the answer.

"Oh, it's just stuff from my first girlfriend. You probably don't want to hear about it." Buffy equivocated.

"Sure I do." Amy disagreed. "You can tell me." She prompted.

"...Well, o.k.." Buffy reluctantly agreed. "Remember I told you about joining the cheerleading team with a friend before?" She asked.

"Yeah... oh, wait, so you and her were...?" Amy caught on.

"You guessed it." Buffy said, the memories that came up not really welcome. She sighed. "Her name was A.J., Ashley Jane actually. She was my best friend, since, like, forever. We grew up together."

"You fell in love with her." It wasn't a question.

"Oh I fell alright, hard." Buffy confirmed. "She... had a boyfriend. But, one day I was over at her house, and one thing led to another, and I told her I was in love with her. Really stupid of me, now that I look back on it." She said jadedly.

"How did she react?' Amy asked.

"She wanted to try making out with me." Buffy said. "I was like, 'No way!' I smiled like an idiot and went along, all too happy, thinking she felt the same way. Things got intense. She was intense... We ended up sleeping together, the naked way of sleeping together I mean. I was in heaven." Buffy shook her head. "In the morning, when I woke up with her next to me, I was busily planning our life together. You know, go to college, share a room. Build a life. All the stupid fairy tale fantasies teenage girls have about happily ever after. Except of course replacing the price with another princess."

"I take it she had other ideas?" Amy said, knowing that the story wouldn't have a happy ending... well, it would for her of course, but that wasn't the point right now.

"Oh yeah." Buffy confirmed. "I wouldn't have known it then though. She acted like everything was status quo. Said she had a great time with me, that she liked being with me, and wanted more. I, of course, was only too eager to assume the best, that she'd chosen me over her boyfriend. And she did, at first... Three months later, I find out she'd gotten back together with him at some point. I still don't know when, and I'm not sure I want to." She paused. "When I found out and confronted her about it, she said she liked us both. She said her boyfriend was cool with it and wanted to have a three way." Buffy said in disgust.

"...What did you do?" Amy asked, quietly. Sensing how much Buffy was struggling with the memory.

"What do you think I did?!" Buffy said. "I went somewhere alone, got sick, threw up, and cried my heart out. The next day I quit the cheerleading squad and told A.J. I didn't want to see her again. She asked if we could still be friends... I said I'd think about it. We talked sometimes after that, but we were never really friends again... So, yeah. Now that I've completely brought the evening down..." She said abashedly.

"No. It's o.k." Amy smiled. "I'm glad you told me about it." She said. "And I promise, no three ways, o.k.?" She said with a little of a grin. "I kind'a want you all to myself." Amy sat her chin on her interlaced hands, elbows on the table, and just enjoyed a longing stare at Buffy.

Buffy got a goofy smile on her face. "You really know how to make a girl feel wanted." Buffy said, getting up off her chair and going over to Amy, who followed her with her eyes, a questioning look on her face. Buffy stood in front of Amy and then leaned down, a knowing smile on her lips as she moved in to tilt Amy's chin up lightly with one hand and capture her date's waiting lips with her own.

Amy's eyes fluttered closed and she moaned a little into the kiss, bringing her hands up to touch her girlfriend. One hand lacing through her golden blonde hair, the other resting at the juncture of Buffy's shoulder and neck, gently urging her to deepen the kiss.

A few whistles and cat calls were heard from a couple tables over. The two football jocks from before, no doubt. Buffy ignored them and continued kissing Amy until it ended naturally. Buffy grinning impishly at Amy. "Are you sure you're not an angel?" Buffy asked reverently.

Amy's eyes widened and she had trouble finding words. She felt like she was dreaming, and she didn't want it to stop, not ever. "I love you, Buffy." She said, standing and moving in to capture Buffy's waiting lips in another kiss, her hands touching Buffy's face and hair. She felt Buffy's arms wrap around her, hands on her upper back, one moving down to the ach of her lower back.

More lewd noises from the jocks corner, a few embarrassed remarks from nearby club patrons. But Amy didn't hear any of it, she was in love. She'd found someone who loved her, and she would hold on to that as much as she could, because she knew how precious a treasure it was.

Buffy heard them though, and pretty much everything else in the club too, her senses suddenly on high alert at some sound that registered with her on some instinctual level.

She wanted to ignore it. Really wanted to ignore it. But she knew she couldn't. So she broke the kiss and held Amy at arms length by her shoulders, giving her a blissful grin. "I love you too, Amy." She said seriously. "We just met today, and I know it's crazy, but I swear it's true..." Buffy said.

"Buffy..." Amy breathed, a goofy grin on her face that hauntingly reminded Buffy of the way she herself felt that first time with A.J. all that time ago. [Except, I'm going to do a lot better by her than A.J. ever did by me.] Buffy swore to herself.

Her ears picked up the sound again, fainter this time. "Damn." Buffy cursed under her breath. "Look, Amy. I um, I can't explain, but I got'a go for a little while. I'll be back soon, I promise." She looked at Amy meaningfully. "Just wait here for me, alright?" She asked as she hurriedly turned and slipped through the crowd.

Caught flat-footed, Amy looked after her in disbelief. [What in the hell...?] She asked to herself, getting up and following after her girlfriend, paying no heed at all to Buffy's instruction to stay put.

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7:31 PM and the sun is no where to be seen...

Outside of the back entrance of the club, Amy caught sight of Buffy at the end of the ally. She was looking in both directions, and then she suddenly bolted right. Amy took off down the ally after her.

When she got to the end of the ally, she saw Buffy running after a guy who was carrying a girl over his shoulder. Eyes wide, Amy continued her pursuit until Buffy had caught up with the guy at the edge of a cemetery.

Amy stopped cold when she saw the guy, who was dressed like he came out of some 70s TV show, toss the girl onto the ground and turn to face her girlfriend. The guy lunged at her, but Buffy side stepped in a flash and caught the guy in his mid-section, flinging him to the ground. He was trying to get to his feet when Buffy kicked him hard in the face, but he rolled with it and got to his feet in a fluid motion. Then unexpectedly, he darted for the girl he had discarded before, who was still reeling from her impact on the ground. Buffy tackled him to the ground before he got there though, and... and stabbed him in the chest with something... and then he, like... disappeared and there was this weird faint sound in the air when he did.

Shaking her head out of the trance she seemed to be in, Amy rushed over to where Buffy was checking over the fallen girl's head and asking if she was all right.

"Buffy..." Amy said, all of the sudden halting in her tracks.

"Amy?" Buffy looked up in surprise at hearing her girlfriend's voice.

"Behind you!" Amy said with trepidation.

Looking over her shoulder, Buffy saw a group of eight vampires closing in on them. At seeing this, she got right to her feet and assumed a defensive position between them and the two she wanted to protect.

"Well, come on!" Buffy growled menacingly at them. "Who's in a hurry to die again?" She challenged.

Some of them held back a little at this, while three surged forward at the challenge. Buffy flipped one over her shoulder and around into another, then wheeled on her feet to face the other, getting a hard punch in the face for her trouble. The next second however, Buffy had landed a strong right cross with her full weight behind it right to the vampire's jaw, knocking him to the ground with a thud. Seeing this, one more of the vamps closed in on Buffy as well, while the remaining three bypassed the fight and headed for Amy and the other girl, Amy having been headed towards Buffy to try to help her.

One of the vamps that went after Amy knocked her down and pinned her to the ground. Amy heard a shout as she struggled to get free but couldn't and the man with fangs over her was closing on her neck. But before he could do anything more, he was yanked backwards like a rag doll and Buffy jammed her stake into his chest, turning without even looking at Amy in order to face the five vamps who were heading towards them.

Having to keep any of them from getting past her for more than a few seconds at a time, the fight was a lot harder for Buffy. But in protecting Amy, she had strong motivation to win, and the focus to be deadly and efficient in her fighting style. Within the first few seconds, one was dust, then a moment later, another followed. A third was coming at her from behind while her attention was on the other two, and seeing this, Amy made a mad grab and tackled the vampire woman around her legs, toppling her over. Looking up, Amy felt a rush of air to her left side that was one of the remaining vamps being thrown to the ground head first a few feet away from her. Looking back at Buffy, Amy didn't have time to register anything but a quick flash of intense light and heat before she was knocked on her back by a wall of air matched by the sound of rumbling thunder.

A moment later, she came to her senses and dizzily realized someone was pulling her up roughly by her arm, but opening her eyes, she only got a puff of dust in her face as Buffy staked the vamp lady who was in the process of trying to kidnap her.

The last remaining vamp was a memory as he made haste to get someplace else, only to be struck down by a bolt out of the blue.

"Amy, are you o.k.?" Buffy asked, checking her girlfriend over for any obvious wounds, a sense of almost panic driving her actions.

"Yeah I-" Amy tried to clear her head, which was still a bit groggy. "I'm alright, my arm hurts a little but... Buffy?"

"Yeah?" Buffy asked consolingly, realizing what this situation must've been like for Amy.

"What's going on?"

"Oh, um, well, I'm, um..." Buffy tried to think of something, her mind drawing a blank.

"You're like a super hero or something." Amy said, bewilderedly, rubbing her sore head.

"If I am, then so are you." Buffy said affectionately, thinking of how Amy had rushed in after her and tried to save her.

Amy looked up at Buffy in confusion, then looked over her shoulder. "Hey. Who's that?"

Buffy looked and didn't quite believe what she saw. "Huh? ...Gwen..." She said, just now registering the other girl who was looking at them with a curious expression on her face. "What are you dong here?" She asked, her voice now softer.

"Oh, uh, yeah." Gwen said, shaking herself from her thoughts. "I've got trouble Anne, big trouble. I... I really need your help." Gwen told her uneasily, looking down at Amy with an unreadable expression. "Who's she?" Gwen asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

"Oh, um, right. Gwen, this is Amy Madison... My girlfriend." Buffy introduced. "Amy, this is Gwen Raiden, my ex... sort-of..."

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to be continued in part six...
I WAS IN LOVE WITH HER ONCE, AND IT'S SHOCKING! SHOCKING I SAY!

see you next time!

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