𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐹𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑘𝑠 𝐺𝑜 𝑂𝑢𝑡 𝐴𝑡 𝑁𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 || 𝑩𝑻𝑽𝑺 𝑭𝒂𝒏𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏

Time

Quickly Xander lets go of Laney and starts to awkwardly scratch the back of his neck, "Uh Hey.. Laney hows it going?"

"It's going good Xander... Gotta go. Nice seeing you."

She pulls a confused Cordelia away leaving Xander alone on the dance floor. Laney hadn't talked to him in two weeks... not even just him; she hasn't talked to the others either.

Shaking his head, Xander moves up to where Buffy and Willow are seated.

"Boy that Cordelia's a regular breath of vile air-- what are you vixens up to?"

Willow sighs, "Just sitting here watching our barren lives pass us by. Oh look, a cockroach."

She stomps on something. Xander looks from Willow to Buffy who's lost in thought.

"Whoah, stop this crazy whirlygig of fun. I'm dizzy."

Buffy groans, "All right, now I'm infecting those near and dear to me. I'll see you guys tomorrow."

Buffy gets up.

"Don't go..." Willow whines.

"Yeah, it's early! We could, um, dance."

Buffy frowns looking at Xander with an apologetic emotion, "Raincheck. Night."

She goes. Willow holds her shoe sole down to show Xander the cockroach.

"Want a free drink?"

"Angel's a vampire?" Willow stands with shock written all over her face.

"I can't believe this is happening... one minute we're
kissing, the next minute... can a vampire ever be a good person? Couldn't it happen?"

Giles frowns, "A vampire isn't a person at all. It may have the movements, the memories, even the personality of the person it takes over, but it is a demon at the core. There's no halfway."

Willow looks over at Buffy sadly, "So that's a no, huh?"

"Well then what was he doing? Why was he... good to me? Was it all some part of the Master's plan? It
doesn't make sense."

She sits on one of the benches in front of school. Xander sits next to her.

"All right, you have a problem and it's not a small one. Let's just take a breath and look at this calmly and objectively."

Buffy looks at him-- he's making sense.

"Angel's a vampire, you're a Slayer-- it's obvious what you have to do."

Buffy looks to Giles.

Giles slowly nods, "It is the Slayer's duty."

None of them notice Cordelia and Laney approaching.

"I know you have feelings but it's not like you're in love with him or anything, right?"

Buffy's expression tells us she just might be. Xander loses his cool.

"You're in love with a vampire?! Are you out of your mind?"

Cordelia is standing right next to him. Her eyes go wide and she gasps. They look up, realize she's staring right at him.

"Not vampire, I mean... How can you love an umpire? Everybody hates them!"

"Where did you get that dress?!"

They follow her gaze past Xander to another girl in the exact same outfit as Cordelia. Cordelia fingers her own dress.

"This is a one of a kind Todd Oldham. Do you have any idea how much it cost?"

Cordelia marches to the girl, grabs at the back of her dress, trying to read the label.

"It's a knock-off, isn't it?"

The girl backs away from Cordelia and they disappear into the morning throng of students.

"It's a cheesy knock-off. This is what happens when you sign these Free Trade Agreements..."

Buffy raises an eyebrow, "And we think we have problems."

They all look over to Laney who is still looking in confusion.

"What Vampire is Buffy in love with?"

"Angel." Willow whispers.

"I'm not in love with him... I mean- I don't know I- just-"

"Just be careful." Laney says as she starts to walk away.

"Are you ever going to talk to us? To me?..." Xander asks with a frown.

Laney shrugs, "I need time..."

The gang watches as she disappears. It had going on week three of Laney not talking to anyone but Cordelia. Even at home Willow says she stays in her room and rarely comes out even for dinner.

She was changing whether she liked it or not.

JUST FOR FUN

Laney's Outfit