(Untitled)

[red_rosenberg]

Continued From HereMmm, ice cream. I was careful - I didn't want to get myself covered it in, that would just be uber embrassing. Unfortunately, ice cream has a habit of getting everywhere, especially when you're walking and eating it at the same time. I think I put up a valiant effort for this not to happen, however, and I looked at him, mystified

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[red_rosenberg]

Cordelia is a force of nature. She just happens to people. And when she happens, she really happens. "Cordy!" was all I could said in response as she more or less attacked me through huggage, which was nice, enthusiasm gets points. I grinned, and hugged her back. At least I was doing one thing good - saving Wesley from her. That's my good deed for the day. I glanced at him before focusing my attention on Cordelia - why does she always look, smell and feel expensive? Whether or not she's wearing anything expensive, she still just is.

She pulled me away from her, hands on my forearms, smiling brightly, more or less forgetting her motherhennishness over Wesley. "Jeeze, it's been a while. How's Sunnydale? How's everyone?"

"Sunnydale is still, ya know, riddled with evils and demons, and everyone's okay, ya know, the same," I said, nodding, deciding that glazing over most details was a good idea. Cordelia wouldn't like to know the details, unless she asked specifically.

Besides, she seemed happy with my answer. "Good, good. Hey, sorry I had to go out and stuff, I had this audition," she turned to Wesley, "which, I think, went flawlessly," and back to me, "so I hope books for brains over here didn't bore you to death."

I blinked, surprised. About a year and a half ago, sure, but Wesley was different now and stuff - maybe Cordelia still thought of him as the man we knew back in Sunnydale. "Um, actually, I kinda had a good time," I said, glancing at Wesley almost shyly, but my smile faded at the look Cordelia was giving me.

"Oh honey," she said, "you must be so starved of entertainment."

"Heh," was my lame response, glancing at Wesley again. Times like this I remembered what a geek I was. And I guess Wes is in the same boat. Which is cool, because, the boat can get real lonely sometimes.

[_wes_pryce_]

I had to smile at Willow when she told Cordelia she had a good time. Returning her shy smile with one of my own, I ducked my head. Only to have it shoot up again at Cordelia's remark.

"Excuse me? What are you implying?" I ask.

"Doh!" Whirling around, I winced as Cordelia pins me with a look. She glances back and forth between Willow and I, shaking her head. "On the other hand. You two probably yammered on about books and magic and tea and god only knows what other boring stuff."

I scowled at her, narrowing my eyes. Wrecking my brain to come up with some sort of retort, but she was right. That had been what we'd been talking about mostly. "Yes well." Oh good come back, Pryce. "There's nothing wrong with that." Defiantly I lift up my chin and glare at her.

"Yeah, whatever," she waves her hand dismissively. "And don't think you can get out of this just like that Mister! Why are you still on your feet. Sit down!"

Rolling my eyes, I sink down on the sofa behind me, doing my best to hide a wince.

"Aha!"

Rather unsuccessfully apparently. "I'm fine," I say, before she can fly off into another rant. "Oh! Uh...Gunn? This is Willow Rosenberg. A friend of ours from Sunnydale. Willow?" I smile over at her, looking around Cordelia who is glaring down at me. "This is Charles Gunn whom I've mentioned before."

Putting down his...whatever that is in his hand, Gunn smiles brightly at Willow and strides over. "Hey, nice to meet you. Wes has been nervous about you gettin here all morning." Sticking out his hand, he smirks over at me.

"Yes...well..." I say lamely again, sitting back against the sofa turning a nice shade of red. I hardly even notice Cordelia finally managing to peek under the bandage.

"Hmpf! At least you didn't pop your stitches again," she scolds. "You're not going out again until they come out!" Why do I get the feeling it's a question even then? Turning around, she smiles brightly over at Willow. "So! Willow, wanna come shopping with me? You look like you could use some descent clothing." Her eyes tick back to me and she lets out a snort.

I know that look. What the bloody hell is wrong with my clothes. Or Willow's for that matter. "That's rude, Cordelia," I mutter, noticing Angel nod his agreement as well.

"Men!" Cordy throws her hands in the air and looks about ready to grab poor Willow and make a run for it.

[red_rosenberg]

Hey, nice to meet you. Wes has been nervous about you gettin here all morning.

I smiled and took Gunn's hand, shaking it. "I was a bit nervous as well, stealing you people's books and all." And I wanted to meet Wesley again. They really didn't need to know that though.

So! Willow, wanna come shopping with me? You look like you could use some descent clothing.

Shopping? With Cordelia? Holy sheep-on-a-stick, no way could I survive that. I looked down at what I was wearing and patted my shirt down self-consciously. What was wrong with it? Maybe it was a bit colourful, and the shoes weren't very cool, and the jeans I guess didn't hug effectively and were too high and I guess they weren't long enough and-- oh, forget it. I was never clothes conscious, and Wesley didn't seem to mind, and I wasn't here to look like the next Top Model.

"I like my clothes," I said simply, a little bit frightened to try and stand up to Cordelia about it. "They-they don't rip when I go on patrol with Buffy, and they're warm and comfy, and I'm not, uh, shopping gal, I'm research gal. But, like, thanks! And I like shoes, so maybe we can get some another time-"

"Another time?"

Oh great, trust Cordelia to hone in on that one little bit. "Uh, yeah?"

"You're planning to come back?" she asked, surprised and almost daring me to say 'yes'.

Shifting my weight from foot to foot, I shrugged a bit. "Yeah, maybe?" Glancing at Wes, I shrugged again. "I-I'd like it. L.A.'s nice. I'd like to be here on a more, um, a pleasure trip than a-a business-y one."

[_wes_pryce_]

"Huh." Cordelia crossed her arms over her chest and glanced from Willow to myself.

She's actually capable to make people squirm with just one look. Amazing talent that, if not a little annoying. "If-if she likes it here...uh...she can come back. If-if she wants," I try.

"Uh huh."

Oh god, now she's doing the raised eyebrow thing, first at me, then at Willow. Is there something we should know? She had that look in her eyes at she gets when she thinks she's figured out a case. Usually that doesn't bode well.

"Hate to interrupt the staring contest, Barbie," Gunn gets in. "But," he glances at his watching, which cause me to do the same. "It's gettin late. Your friend aint never gonna make it back on time before dark."

Wincing, I look at my watch and see that he's right. "Balls," I mutter, looking up with wide eyes. Giving Willow an apologetic glance, I sigh. "I'm sorry. I had no idea it was that late already." How does that saying go again? Something with flies and fun?

"Nerds," Cordelia mutters under her breath, followed by something I'm not entirely sure of. But sounds like something to do with books and getting lost.

"That's okay," Angel starts, rolling back and forth on the balls of his feet. "She can--"

"Sleepover!" Cordelia''s eyes go wide and she's practically skipping. "That'll be fun, Willow! It's been ages! We can catch up with everything and stuff." Grabbing the poor girl by the arm, she starts to drag her off.

"Uh..." Angel obviously noticed the distressed look on Willow's face as well. "Uhm..." His eyes dart from Gunn, to mine, back to the girl. "Maybe we can all...uh...go and have....dinner? Or something"

[red_rosenberg]

Saved by the broody vampire. I pry Cordelia's hand off my arm as kindly as possible. And, apparently, my stomach had forgotten about the two hotdogs and icecream cone I had consumed not so long ago, and I was liking the idea of dinner. I knew I should get back to Sunnydale, but Giles wouldn't want me driving back at night anyway, which looked like what was gonna happen if I took off now. Besides, if there was a way I could just email him the passage from the book needed, then I wouldn't have to rush back so fast tomorrow. I resolved to call, or email, sometime night.

"Dinner would be great," I said. Better than girl talk. "Let's do that. Giles wouldn't like me driving back when dark anyway, I can email him the passage from the book I needed, maybe?"

"Great, then you'll have time tomorrow," Cordelia said. "We can talk about all kind's of things."

I managed a smile in her direction, though there sound like some sort of hidden plan in her voice.

"So where we eating?" Gunn interjected, rubbing his hands together a looking at Angel questioningly, who blinked.

"Don't look at me, last time I went out for a place to eat was the butchers," he said frankly. "Just, you know, if we're going to kidnap Willow, we should feed her."

"Oh, you don't have to be fancy about it, just fill a trough with somethin' edible," I said with a grin.

"Can we go somewhere nice?" asked Cordelia, before looking at Wes pointedly. "And not far from here. After today's little charade, buster, I'm keeping an eye on you."

[_wes_pryce_]

"Cordelia, I'm fine," I sigh, giving her a glare. Which of course bounces right of. Not that her glares get to me these day's. At least not much.

"Just...uh...take it easy, Wes. Kay?" Angel pipes up, patting me awkwardly on the shoulder. Even Gunn is giving me a scrutinizing look. This is getting ridiculous, I can't even sneeze without the lot of them asking me if I'm alright.

Now I know I almost died, and really, lets not go there. But this is getting a little to much. Rubbing my temples, I pull off my glasses and pinch the bridge of my nose. "For the last *bloody* time," I start through gritted teeth. "I am *fine*."

As I put my glasses back on, I blink at the stares I'm getting. "What? I am. Just a little tired. I'm not used to walking around that much anymore."

"See!" Cordelia prods me in the shoulder with one of her fine manicured nails. Which makes me wince. "And you winced again! You are so *not* fine buster."

Rolling my eyes toward the ceiling I count to hundred in Sumerian. "I'm tired because you lot barely even let me go to the sodding toilet. And I wince," I say, poking her back in her shoulder. "Because your lethal nail was digging in my shoulder."

"Grouch." Crossing her arms over her chest, Cordy huffs at me.

"Well anyway," Gunn cuts in. Thank god for Gunn, he'll save me. I hope. "We were going to have dinner. How about that...place...thing...over at 23nd street. We can take the car," he adds quickly at both Angel's and Cordelia's looks.

"Yeah, Wes. We can take the car," Angel nods. The sod doesn't even realize he doesn't need food. "So...uhm...you can take it...yeah. We'll take the car."

"And then we can have our sleepover!" Cordelia squeals again, throwing another hug at Willow. My god, the poor girl. Maybe driving back in the dark is a better option. Oh, who am I kidding, that's far to dangerous. Mister Giles would come over personally to kill me if I allowed Willow to do that.

"How about Willow call Sunnydale first so they won't have to worry?"

[red_rosenberg]

And wow, I was getting hugged by Cordelia again. I smiled awkwardly and patted her arm, glad she was affectionate at least rather than annoyed at me for walking Wesley around. Speaking of which, was it just be or was this band of comrades just a little overprotective? Or maybe I was just used to hanging around people that A) don't get hurt often, or B) get hurt but heal fast like woah. Either way, I was a little worried that maybe I hadn't thought about the damage done to Wesley properly. But, unlike the rest of this gang, I trusted him a little more when he said he was fine. I was willing to believe it.

"How about Willow call Sunnydale first so they won't have to worry?"

"Ah, yeah," I said, gesturing to Wesley with a smile as Cordelia let me go. "Ideas man, right there. I should call Giles."

"Well there's a phone back there you can use," Gunn said, gesturing to the desk. "Take ya time."

"Thanks," I said, glancing at Wesley with a small smile for him before passing Gunn and Angel to get to the desk, glancing at the group as I started to dial. Gunn and Angel started to talk and Cordelia sidled over to Wesley, probably to nag about his stitches. It was almost instantaneous when Giles picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Giles!" I said quietly so not to impose on the other guys.

"Willow, where have you been? I was hoping for a phone call from you at the very least, Buffy was worried, you were supposed to be come back today," he started, voice calm but with that paternal tone he had when he wasn't so happy with you.

I winced. "Sorry Giles, Wes and I got... um... caught up in looking for the book," I said, realising I was lying only after I had said it. What else was I supposed to do? Tell him I'd gone walking and eating hotdogs and icecreams with Wesley? Jeeze Louise.

I heard him sigh. He was probably cleaning his glasses. "That's fine, Willow. A phone call would have been nice. I trust you have the book?"

"Oh, sure, we got it alrighty."

"Good, bring it tomorrow, I don't want you driving from L.A. now, half the trip with be at night, demon or no demon."

"They offered for me to stay here, it's all good. We're going out to dinner."

"Have a good night then, good night Willow."

"See ya Giles!" And that was that. Hanging up the phone happily, I flounced back to the group. "And that's all done, ready to roll?"

[_wes_pryce_]

Cordelia Chase would've made an excellent inquisitor during the Spanish Inquisition. I swear, one more question about 'what did you and Willow really do' combined with that look in her eyes, and that damnable eyebrow raised and I was going to scream. Not that being lecture about 'not being ready to go out yet' was any better. Nor were Gunn and Angel snickering behind her any comfort. Gits.

I don't think I'd ever been so grateful toward Willow for showing up when Cordelia started round for of 'lets drill Wesley until he breaks.' Except when she went of a walk with me and took me out of this damn hotel. Come to think of it, I seem to develop a pattern when it comes to Willow Rosenberg. Intriguingly amusing, if it weren't such a serious matter.

"Yes, we're done...I mean...r-ready," I say, getting up quickly. I manage to bite down on a wince and make certain to grab my cane. Gunn and Angel look a mixture between worried and amused. Narrowing my eyes at them, I dare them to say anything.

"Wes?" Angel asks carefully, "Are you sure you're up to it?"

"Yeah man, he is," Gunn interrupts again. Thank you Charles Gunn, once again. I'm sure he must've notice how close I am getting to really exploding. Not that this isn't going to happen sooner or later. It's just building up, but I'd hate for it to happen infront of Willow.

"He is," I echo Gunn's words. Angel is already striding out the door, Cordelia right on his feet, blathering on about something. Probably the restaurant. I wouldn't be surprised if she manages to persuade him to go to one of those fancy places after all.

"Willow? care to join us for dinner?" Smiling shyly at her, I hold out my arm.

[red_rosenberg]

Ya know, we could have just been going for a pizza. I tried to remember the last time someone asked me out to dinner that way. Well, there was 'Willow, honey, table now!' from her mother, and 'how about we catch some grease?' from Xander and 'I have a hankering for a taco' from Buffy. So you can't blame me when I blushed at Wesley's words. Nice and gentlemanly and English. That made me go 'hee' internally.

"I think so," I said with a grin and took his arm. It would probably fuel Cordelia's interrogatery fire when we did the so-called 'sleepover' thing, but oh well.

Outside, I watched as Angel started towards the drivers seat door. Such an alpha male, it made me smile. Of course he'd be the one to drive - does he have a liscence? Can vampires even get liscences?

"But Angel, I know this really great place, it's super pricey but so worth it, and you can afford it, right?" I could hear Cordelia say as she climbed into the passenger seat.

"Cordy..." was Angel's defense, and even by my standards, it was pretty lame.

Gunn was shaking his head as he started into the car himself. "I said I know a place, does my vote not count?"

And on the banter went. I looked at Wesley. "Hey, wanna take Giles's car and follow behind them?" I suggested. "Like, so we don't cram up the-their car and, um... we might still be alive when we get to the restaurant," I added sheepishly.

[_wes_pryce_]

"Oh," I nodded at Willow. "That would be nice yes." Anything to keep away from Inquisition Cordelia for a little while longer. And her bickering's with Angel and Gunn about what bloody restaurant to pick. Who cared? It was food and Angel was paying, that was all that mattered to me.

"Gunn?" I waited until he turned around, raising a quizzical eyebrow at me. "Willow and I will be following in...err...Giles' car."

"Kay man, I'll tell Angel not to play speed demon." And why was he giving me that smirking look? Was something I said amusing?

"Thank you, that would be much appreciated." He nods at me and then slided in the car. "They what?" I hear Cordelia shriek. And I'm very glad Angel has the top of the car up, which is probably what is preventing her from jumping out of the car. Gunn smirks at me again and slams the door shut.

"Well, we'd better hurry up then, I suppose. Do you want me to drive?" Los Angeles is a dangerous place to drive, and Angel is hard to keep up with. But Cordelia nor Gunn wouldn't let me drive. With good reasons probably. Even Angel gave me a look if I suggested it. Pratt's, I'm perfectly capable of driving.