Angel groaned as someone called him again, picking up the phone with a terse, “What?”
“Woah, man, no need to raise your voice,” Gunn’s voice said from the other side, sounding tinny.
“Sorry, sorry. It’s just… Everyone has called or texted me about it. Even Spike, and you know Spike is only nice to me if Buffy’s in the room.”
“So, I’m the last one to get to this?”
“Well, first it was Fred. Then Xander and Harmony called me together. Kathy called after that, and while I appreciate her giving me space, she’s the only person I actually wanted to talk to. Then Wesley called. Buffy did a facetime and Dawn was there so she made fun of me. So, you’re towards the end of the list, only beat out by Faith, who I’m not excited to talk to.”
“Yeah, I can see why,” Gunn conceded. “Although I also get to say I told you so.”
“I know.”
“I mean, come on, did you really think Lilah Morgan, of all people, would be your forever girl?”
The law student was a senior while Angel was a junior. He had heard she had a reputation as a player, but Angel had been one, too, in his first two years. It was after he fell in love with his sister’s roommate Buffy Summers that he had changed his tune. Unfortunately, he only realized he loved her after he broke her heart, and when he begged for a second chance, she slapped him. He was lucky she was willing to still be friends.
After Buffy inspired him to change his ways, he had been on a few dates, although no long term relationships. Cordelia Chase was just going a different direction than he was. Nina Ash was sweet and funny but they had nothing to talk about. And Lindsey McDonald was good at music but ultimately Angel just wasn’t into him.
So when he met Lilah, he thought that this might be a new beginning for him. She might be the woman for him. He had hoped so, anyway. She was charming, confident, and knew exactly what she wanted. The dates were fun, the sex was mind blowing, but as they came closer and closer to their first Valentine’s Day, eight months into the relationship, Lilah broke it off.
Angel didn’t know what he had done. At first he thought she was in trouble, but when he showed up at her apartment, she laughed.
“The player becomes the played, Liam,” she had told him, crossing her arms. “It was fun, but I care more about my law school prospects than I do about you.”
So, he was getting sick and tired of any mention of Lilah.
“Look, I’m trying to get an essay done, could you please leave me alone?”
“Yeah. Look man, I’m always here if you need me.”
“Thanks, Gunn.”
The call disconnected and Angel went back to concentrating at his desk, typing away on the keyboard. Suddenly, he heard something loud next door, followed by moaning. He stood up and stormed out into the hallway, knocking on the door and exclaiming, “Quiet down!”
“f*ck you, Angel!” Sheila shouted back.
Angel scowled, but there wasn’t much he could do. He would just have to rely on his heavy duty headphones to get through this.
He turned around when suddenly he noticed a lithe body sitting on the ground, her knees up to her chest. She had dark hair and big blue eyes. She looked back at him, before shyly directing her attention to the ground and blushing.
“Sorry she’s so loud,” she said.
“Thanks. It is what it is.” He paused, suddenly feeling kinda shy himself. “Do you want to come inside?”
Her eyes widened. “Really?”
“Yeah. At least you’ll have a little space from the ruckus.” He held out his hand. She grasped it. She had a french manicure. He helped her up. She had a binder in her other hand. “I’m Angel.”
She smiled a little, looking bemused. “I know.”
He felt bashful. “Yeah. I guess you do.”
“I’m Drusilla.”
“A unique name for a unique woman.”
“Says the man named Angel.”
“It’s actually a nickname.” He walked with her inside his dorm room as he began to tell the story of how he broke his mother’s ceramic angel heirloom.
Wesley looked appalled. “You’re kidding.”
Angel shook his head. “I am not.”
“You didn’t finish the essay?”
“You don’t understand–”
“Don’t understand what?” Kathy asked as she and Buffy approached their corner cafeteria table.
“Angel didn’t finish his essay, and he’s very close to being kicked off of the football team.”
“Soccer, Wes. This is America.” Buffy sat down next to Angel. “I heard somebody got up close and personal with a new transfer.”
“Really?” Kathy’s eyes were as big as saucers.
“It wasn’t like that–”
Wesley looked even more upset. “You’re going to get kicked off the team because you had a one night stand?”
“We didn’t have sex!” Everyone around their table started staring, so Angel cleared his throat and lowered his voice. “She’s rooming with Sheila. Sheila kicked her out so she could have sex. Drusilla is going to try and see if she can get a new roommate.”
“Drusilla? As in Drusilla Keeble?” Kathy asked, recognition on her face.
“Yeah, how’d you know?”
“There’s only one girl named Drusilla coming here, and she just joined the book club.”
The infamous book club. Kathy and Buffy had started it as a way to share their love of provocative novels with other people. Angel wasn’t really comfortable with being in a sex book club with his sister so he opted out of joining, although he did enjoy reading.
“I didn’t think Drusilla was the type to be into saucy novels,” Angel replied.
“You just met her,” Buffy reminded him. “Look, if you wanna know more, talk to Spike and Darla about her. They’re old childhood friends.”
Spike didn’t like Angel, so he was off the table. To be honest, Angel was worried about Spike ever finding out that his childhood friend was talking to the guy who had broken Buffy’s heart a year ago. Spike wouldn’t let Drusilla go through what his girlfriend had gone through. And Darla… Angel had only spoken to her a few times. She was honestly bewitching, but she wouldn’t help him. She’d probably rather let him stumble his way through the new friendship with Drusilla. It was no surprise she was Spike’s older sister, but it did make him wonder how on Earth she was dating Tara Maclay, the nicest person in existence.
“No thanks. They probably won’t help.”
“I’m sorry, there are more pressing matters to attend to!” Wesley exclaimed. “We need you on the team, Angel.”
“I’m sorry that economics are boring.” Angel huffed. “God, I wish Professor Jenkins would give me a break.”
“Look, just rush through it right before class like you always do,” Buffy told him. “It’ll probably work out fine.”
“I wish Dad would just let you pursue a career in art,” Kathy lamented. “It worked out for Mom and Winston.”
Angel felt his mood darken. “Winston hasn’t talked to us in five years.”
Angel’s dad had wanted him to get a bachelor’s in business, but he didn’t want that. He wanted to be an artist. Unfortunately, though, when someone else was paying your college tuition, they sorta had control over you. His mom had tried to change his dad’s mind, but unfortunately, she avoided conflict and usually bent to her husband’s wills.
And Winston. Angel and Kathy’s older brother Winston. He got kicked out of the house when he was eighteen for not wanting to do anything “practical” as their father put it. And now, Winston was a famous artist, a famous artist who wanted nothing to do with his family. Apparently being a Sullivan was that much of an insult to his great name.
“Well, I think you should hurry up, if you’re going to rush through the essay,” Wesley urged. “I’ll assist you, come on!”
Angel shook himself out of it. He had a team to stay on after all. He could think about complicated family relationships and very cute new neighbors later.
“Hey, Dru.”
Drusilla sighed, shutting her laptop and turning around in her chair. “Sheila.”
The girl had a tall guy behind her. “Get out. We need some alone time.”
“This is my room, too.”
“Do you think I care, you stuck-up little bitch? Leave.”
Drusilla, wanting to avoid conflict, took her laptop and binder with her out of the room. She didn’t need Sheila finding out about her creative writing. Then she’d never hear the end of it. She stood outside in the hallway, watching the door shut and lock and trying not to cry.
She missed her family. Her dad and Colin would make this easier to deal with.
“Hey, did Sheila kick you out again?”
Drusilla turned to look at him. Angel. She felt like she could practically see a halo around his head. She smiled. “Unfortunately.”
“Well, my roommate’s out. Come on in.”
Don’t mind if I do. Drusilla had a crush on the upperclassmen. He was just so goofy and silly, yet resolved and determined, and she just wanted to get closer to him. Spike had told her Angel was a player in the past, but Drusilla could look past that. After all, her mother thought she was cursed, she couldn’t judge anybody else.
She sat down at the foot of Angel’s bed. There were sketchbooks under his desk Drusilla was dying to look through, but she wasn’t sure if it was a private hobby or not. He had photographs of his friends on the desk. She recognized some of them from the book club Darla and Spike had encouraged her to join. In one of them, there were football players standing together. It looked like Angel was a part of the team like Spike was! Drusilla wanted to laugh at how annoyed Spike looked at being included with the three other guys and one girl.
Drusilla didn’t have many friends back home. Nobody wanted to be friends with the cursed girl. She’d predict bad things would happen to try and help her classmates, but then they accused her of causing them. Drusilla learned to just keep her mouth shut. Spike and Darla were her only friends. And since her mum was becoming more and more paranoid about Drusilla’s talents, it felt only right to travel to where her real family was.
Angel was smiling at her softly, and Drusilla cleared her throat, her face flushing. “I was just looking at your friends.”
“And how do they look?” he asked, sitting down next to her.
She singled out a photo of a dark haired man standing next to Angel, while a blonde woman stood on Angel’s other side. Drusilla smiled. “That dashing man next to you and your girlfriend is quite a catch.”
Angel looked and chuckled. “She’s not my girlfriend. Those are my friends, Xander and Harmony. They’re dating. Xander runs his own construction company and Harmony is the receptionist.”
Drusilla felt a lot of relief. She didn’t know what she was going to do if Angel was in a relationship. Well, she did know. It’d be a lot of trying to get over her crush and just be his friend. “They seem lovely.”
“They are. They’re my only friends from high school. Everyone else I met in college.”
Last night, Drusilla and Angel had talked for as long as it took to get Sheila’s boyfriend out of the room. She felt terribly sorry for distracting him from his essay, but she also valued the time she spent with him. They talked about classes and what each other liked to do for fun, but nothing much beyond that.
Well, that changes today.
“How much family do you have?”
Angel’s eyes darkened a bit, sending shivers down her spine (both because of the raw resentment and because it was kind of hot). “I’ve got my mom and dad, an older brother, and Kathy, my younger sister. My dad doesn’t talk about his family. My mom’s got family back in Ireland, and I like my cousin, Allen.”
“Ireland?”
“I was born there. I was pretty young when we moved. My parents and brother have the accent, but I don’t.” He cleared his throat, smiling. “So, how much family do you have?”
“I have my papa and my baby brother, Colin. And then my mum… She’s practically disowned me now. She calls me and Colin demons.”
Angel was frowning now. “What kind of monster calls their child a demon?”
Drusilla sighed. “My mum. She… I love her, even though I shouldn’t. She…” She felt tears pricking her eyes, threatening to mess with her eyeliner. “I don’t think I should get into what she did. Maybe why she did it, though.”
“I know why she did it, and that’s because she’s a terrible person.”
“No, I mean… it runs deeper than that.” Drusilla picked up her binder and opened it. “These are all the notes I’ve taken on my… abilities. My mum thinks I’m cursed, and my papa thinks I’m blessed.”
Angel looked over her shoulder at her words as she flipped the pages. Some of them must’ve looked horrendous, the inane ramblings of a teenage girl after she had a truly awful dream about something she knew would come true. And she didn’t have the neatest handwriting in the world, after all.
But he didn’t pass any judgments. “So you’re a superhero?”
Drusilla laughed. “That sounds too glamorous to describe me. I just… I see things sometimes. When I touch people, I get flashes behind my eyes. I’ve had horrific visions in my dreams. But, I’ve gotten so good at all this that I got a part time job working for the local newspaper.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. People mail things to me and I do a read on them. Luckily my section isn’t popular enough for me to receive strange things.”
Angel took it in, and then grinned conspiratorially. “So, what do you get to reveal?”
Drusilla grinned back. “Well… the whole truth, of course. I don’t leave anything out. They asked for a full public reading and I’m giving it to them.”
“I’ll have to think about sending you something one day.”
Her heart leapt. “Yeah. You will.”
Drusilla tossed and turned, trying to get to sleep but nothing was working. She got out of bed and walked into the hallway. The only thing that helped her on nights like these was a warm bubble bath. She turned on the water and shucked her robe, taking off her panties and bra and tossing them in the laundry. Drusilla lowered herself into the now filled bathtub and moaned, feeling the heat sink into her muscles.
She felt big strong hands parting her thighs, bubbles going every which way. A tongue breached her entrance, a pair of lips sucked on her cl*t. She reached out, digging her fingers into a dark set of hair. She didn’t know how he was there doing these things to her, bringing her closer to the edge while the rest of his body was nowhere in sight.
Angel looked up at her, sucking on her juices, and she realized she could care less.
Wait… Angel? Angel didn’t live at her house. Drusilla didn’t live at her house. She blinked the scene away, disappointed when all she saw was her dark dorm room and all she heard were the loud snores of her roommate. Her thighs were slippery and her cheeks were flushed.
Well, college is a place to try things out. Tonight? First wet dream. Yay…
Drusilla tried to ignore the wetness and sexual frustration as she tried to get back to bed.
Angel sipped on his beer by the kitchen, not really joining in any conversation. It was Xander and Harmony’s housewarming party for their new place. Normally, Angel would be talking up a storm, but sometimes he liked to take a step back and observe.
Faith walked up to him, lightly punching him in the arm and nearly making him spill his drink. “Faith!”
“Why aren’t you having a good time?”
“I–”
“Because his new bird hasn’t shown up,” Spike answered. Angel was surprised Spike was over here.
“Are you going to threaten me to stay away from your friend?”
Spike smiled. He never smiled around Angel. “No. You had your heart broken. I figure that taught you a lesson in how to treat women. But if you do break her heart–”
“You’ll kill me?”
“No. Darla will.”
Faith snorted, looking between Spike and Angel. “So… What I’d miss?”
“Childhood friend from across the pond came here for school recently.” Spike took a sip of his drink. “Name’s Drusilla. She’s like a sister to me and Darla. And Angel here likes her.”
Angel huffed. “I do not like–”
“Hello.”
He had been so busy with his friend and frenemy that he hadn’t noticed Drusilla come in, smiling at him as she walked up to him. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Thanks for inviting me.”
Angel tried to think of something to say, but all he got out was, “Uh…”
Faith stuck out her hand. “Hi, I’m Faith, this dork’s friend.”
Drusilla shook it. “I’m Drusilla.”
She turned to Spike and gave him a hug. He hugged her back. It shouldn’t have made Angel jealous, but it did. Faith pinched him. “Ow!”
Spike looked up at him and shook his head, looking more amused than anything. He pulled away from the hug. “I better go find Buffy. Darla is here if you wanna spend time with her.”
Drusilla nodded. “Alright. It’s good to see you!”
“You too.” Spike walked away, rolling his eyes at Angel while he did so.
“You know what? I hear Charlie calling me.” Faith clapped him on the shoulder. “Why don’t you talk to your friend? Okay? Okay. It’s great to meet you, Dru!”
Faith walked away. Angel glared after her, but one look at Drusilla’s face as she waved evaporated his agitation immediately. “That’s the girl on the football team, right?”
He nodded. “Yep. She’s a powerful woman.”
“Are you two close?”
Angel snorted. “Faith had a crush on me some time ago, but she’s mostly interested in the ladies.”
“I can’t blame her. Ladies are quite appealing in their own way.”
He felt his heart jump into his throat. “So, are you gay or…?”
Drusilla giggled. “Why, you wanna go out with me?”
He felt his face get red. Luckily, she didn’t say anything about it.
“I’m bi. Darla was my first crush.” She smiled. “Don’t worry. I’m still available.”
Angel laughed nervously. “That’s good to know. If I was interested. Which I’m not, because that’d make this really awkward.”
There was a flash of disappointment in her eyes, but she was still smiling. “Wanna introduce me to everyone I haven’t met?”
“Yeah, yeah. That’d be great.”
Feeling properly buzzed, Drusilla was engaging with Kathy and Fred in a debate about the best type of pizza when Angel walked over.
“Alright, I’m going to head out. Just wanted to say goodnight before I did.”
He gave both the other girls a hug. When he got to Drusilla, though, as soon as she touched him things flashed through her mind.
Blood. A backseat destroyed, the tree stump going right through it. Sirens. A body bag. A shadow with wings and a halo.
Drusilla gasped, taking a step back. Angel smiled at her. “Are you okay?”
“You can’t go!”
He chuckled. “Well, I’m flattered you want me here so bad, but–”
“No, if you go you’ll die! I saw it! Please don’t leave, please…”
She didn’t know if he’d listen to her when his friend, Xander, came up to him. “Come on, Ang, we gotta go before Wesley ends up caving and drinking.”
Angel turned and shook his head. “No thanks. I’ll stay a little longer.”
Xander shrugged. “Alright, suit yourself.”
Angel turned back to Drusilla. “If you say it’s not safe, I trust you.”
She smiled. “Thank you.”
“So, what’s the whole deal with seeing if people can die?” Fred asked. “Is this like the Sixth Sense?”
“No, I’ve never seen ghosts,” Drusilla clarified. “I get visions sometimes. A–And if I focus hard enough, I can detect things from a person’s life. Do a reading.”
Fred immediately took off the crystal pendant she was wearing and handed it to her. “I wanna see!”
Drusilla felt anxious, but took a deep breath. Just because she didn’t really do this in front of other people didn’t mean she would be bad at it, right? That’s what she told herself as she closed her eyes and focused on the object.
A farm in Texas. Two loving parents. First eye exam. Graduating high school. Moving to California. Two men standing on either side of her as they took a photo. A medical degree. Saving lives, wanting to help the world. So much compassion and a desire to do what’s right.
Drusilla opened her eyes. “Did you grow up on a farm?”
“Yeah.” But Fred still looked skeptical. “What was the name of my pet pig?”
Frankenstein, the pendant whispered. “Frankenstein.”
Now Fred looked impressed. “Okay, now that’s cool. Sorry for the not believing you at first. I am a woman of science.”
Drusilla shrugged. “No hard feelings. It’s a hard thing to believe.”
“It’s not that hard to believe,” Angel protested.
Kathy got a mischievous grin on her face. “Well, you are gullible.”
“Hey!” Angel crossed his arms. “I’m not gullible.”
“Well…” Drusilla started.
“No, you can’t be on her side!”
She smiled. “Kathy has a point. You believed me without me showing you any evidence.”
“You showed me your notes on the stuff, that’s different!”
“Notes?” Fred asked.
“Yeah, Drusilla has this binder full of–”
Drusilla cleared her throat, panic igniting within her. She didn’t want anyone else to know about that. Angel immediately shut up.
“Sorry, I can’t talk about it.”
“Nice save,” Kathy commented.
There was a sudden shriek from across the room. Everyone turned to look at Harmony, falling to her knees and sobbing.
“X–Xander! Xander!”
Buffy immediately helped Harmony to her feet. “What’s going on?”
“Xander just called! He was in a car accident!”
“Is everyone okay?” Angel asked.
Harmony nodded, sniffling. “They’re all injured, but nothing they can’t recover from. You know, it’s crazy. If you had gone with them, Angel… The back seat was completely destroyed. A tree went right through it.”
Drusilla felt her cheeks heat up when Angel looked at her. As everyone else scrambled to comfort Harmony, Angel went, “You saved my life.”
“W–Well, anyone could’ve been in that back seat–”
Angel put his hand on her shoulder. Drusilla looked up at him, stunned into silence at how grateful he looked. “You saved one of my friends’ lives then. Either way… thank you. I’m so happy I met you.”
Before Drusilla could reply, Angel was walking over to Harmony. Drusilla watched him go, feeling a storm of emotions rage inside her, but unable to process any of them as her brain struggled to catch up with her heart.
Angel sighed, finally home from class. He opened the door to his room and immediately shielded his eyes.
“I’m so sorry,” his roommate, Oz, quickly said, although he didn’t sound any less chill than usual. “I’ll put on some pants–”
“No, no, it’s fine. I’ll go do something, I'm sure.” Angel shut the door again and took a deep breath. Oz wasn’t usually in the room for any reason outside of sleep. He had band practice, or girlfriend time, or late night studying. Angel didn’t really talk to Oz a lot, but the shorter guy had been polite and relaxed the entire time he knew him.
He was thinking of what his next move might be when he noticed that there was no sound coming from the room next door. That’s strange. Usually, Sheila would be bringing a new guy into the space. So, Angel knocked and waited.
“Just a second!” Drusilla’s lilting voice called from inside. Angel smiled to himself. He loved her voice. The door opened and she was there, looking surprised. “Oh, hi Angel! Is everything alright?”
“Yeah, just that I’m the one who got kicked out tonight. Well, okay, Oz didn’t kick me out, I offered to leave, but–”
Drusilla smiled, looking like it took everything in her not to laugh at his word vomit. “They were loud enough that I could hear a little bit of what was going on. And also I share class with his girlfriend. She was dropping off notes to me before going over to see him. Come in.”
“Thanks.” As Angel walked into the room, he noticed half of it was empty. “Where’d Sheila go?”
Drusilla shut the door. “I don’t know. I just came in one day and she was gone. They’re going to assign me a new roommate soon.”
“Must be nice having your own space again.”
“It’s great. Especially since I don’t have to sleep in a place that smells like sex and sweat anymore.”
At the mention of sex and sweat, he felt himself get flustered. “Do those smells bother you?”
She looked at him with wide eyes, her voice small. “What?”
Angel cleared his throat. “Nevermind. Do you want me to leave? I can leave–”
“No! No, it’s fine. I was just finishing up on my reading for this week’s newspaper.” Drusilla walked over to her desk, sat down in her chair, and tapped the touchpad of her laptop, making the screen bright again. Angel awkwardly sat on her bed.
This is where she sleeps. f*ck, she could touch herself on here and I’d never know. No, boner, go away! You’re just going to freak her out!
“This week, his name is Eddie. He’s a freshman and–” Drusilla turned to look at him and her eyes widened as they landed on his crotch. “Um… do you want some help with that?”
God yes. “Do you have water?”
She reached under her desk and pulled out an unopened bottle of water. Angel took it gratefully, opening it and bringing it up to his mouth.
“You know, it’s okay if seeing your roommate getting it on turned you on–”
Angel spit the water out, nearly hitting Drusilla’s laptop. Most of it landed on his shirt though. He quickly took off the now wet shirt on instinct, and immediately regretted it. Drusilla’s face was so red he was surprised her heart didn’t give out from blood loss, her mouth open in shock. He quickly dug into his backpack and brought out the flannel he kept in there. It smelled like dusty books but it was his only way out of this situation. He put it on and buttoned it up as fast as possible, wiping his mouth with the sleeve and trying to smile.
Drusilla’s mouth was still open.
Angel frowned. “Yeah, I’ll just go.”
“No, you can stay! I shouldn’t have said that while you were drinking.” Drusilla cleared her throat. “I’m going to work on this article again. But I want you to stay.”
She wants me to? Even after I made a total fool of myself? “Oh. Oh, okay, cool.”
On the inside, he was panicking a little. Just a little. Okay, a whole lot.
Barring the awkward incident a few nights ago, Drusilla had been feeling pretty good. Her new roommate, Anya, was a much different person from Sheila. Like Sheila, she had sex a lot, but she also was polite enough to give Drusilla a heads up. She was also really smart, money savvy, and charming. Right away, Drusilla fell in love with how organized and smart she was.
The one thing she disliked about Anya? Her observations on Angel.
“He’s hot. Too bad he’s already taken.”
Drusilla felt her heart stop. “What?”
Anya looked at her incredulously. “Well it’s obvious from the way he looks at you.”
A wave of relief crashed over her. “No, we’re not dating, we’re just friends.”
Anya sighed. “Drusilla, I’m going to say this one time only, you are not just friends. You look at him like you want to have sex with him!”
“Shh! He might hear you!” Drusilla paused. “If he hadn’t gone to the library a few minutes ago.”
“Why do you think he sent you that item?”
Drusilla looked at the broken off ceramic angel wing in a ziplock bag on the table. “To get a reading done. Other people do that, too.”
“That man offered a piece of his life to you so you could see everything in it.”
Anya had been so calm when Drusilla told her she was psychic. “Good on you for monetizing that. Although you do want to be careful, the last thing you need are freaks locking you up because they think you’re the freak.”
“I mean, it’s a cool thing, to get a reading and stuff. Maybe that’s all he wants. Just to do a cool thing.”
“I have to get to class, and you have to get your head on straight.” Anya stood up. “I’m going to the library to study.”
Anya then left. Drusilla flinched as the door slammed shut. She then turned her head back to the piece of ceramic. She slowly took it out of the bag, being very gentle with it and setting it down in front of her. She saw a small memory. It was young Angel in his father’s garage, piecing the shards back together in the shape of a wing.
You can’t go back. You’re about to see the future of the guy you’re into. Are you sure you want to do this? Drusilla asked herself. She thought back to that stiffy he had and rubbed her thighs together. Absolutely.
She placed her hand on it and closed her eyes.
A father, beating on his kids when they didn’t listen. A mother who never stood up for her babies. An older brother, turning his back on his siblings to pursue a career. A younger sister who needs protection. Resentment, anger at the world.
A playboy, trying to fill the void with sex. A flash of golden blonde hair, the sting of a slap and heartbreak. Thought he found the one, but he f*cked it up. Turning things around. Becoming better. Earning trust.
He meets a woman. Dark hair, curvy body. Heart made of stone. He valued their relationship more than she did. She put her career first, and everything about him second.
Valentine’s Day. A wrapped box. Confessing feelings to someone. A kiss.
She has dark hair.
Drusilla gasped, opening her eyes and staring at the unmoving piece of ceramic. The overwhelming torrent of emotions swept her up. She stood, walked the short distance to the bed, laid down, and began to sob. Angel was going to get back with his ex for Valentine’s Day. She didn’t have a chance.
Part of her didn’t want to write down the reading. Keep it to herself, hope he chose her. But… Drusilla wasn’t going to do that. He wanted a reading, he’d know about it.
Even if it broke Drusilla’s heart.
Angel felt ecstatic when he finally made it to Xander’s house and opened the door. “Scoobies meeting time!”
Their college soccer/football team were called the Scoobies, and right now? Angel needed some Scoobies advice. They were hosting this at Xander’s because he was the only one with a house. The team members–Wesley, Gunn, Spike, and Faith–sat around the room. Xander and Harmony were out getting groceries.
“Why are we here exactly?” Wesley asked.
“Because somebody got a psychic reading done,” Gunn answered. “And I read it this morning. Drusilla said some pretty sweet things about you.”
Angel was flustered. “Well, yeah, but that's not the point. The point is that in her reading, she saw me kissing a woman with dark hair on Valentine’s Day. She said I was carrying a box too. So I need to discern what was in that box so I can start a relationship with Drusilla!”
“Having your anniversary land on Valentine’s Day is convenient,” Faith commented.
“Brainstorming, Faith, we need to brainstorm!”
“Angel, you’re an idiot,” Spike spoke up.
Angel crossed his arms. “Gee, thanks, that’s so helpful.”
“Let me finish. You remember what I showed Buffy?”
“Yeah, it was one of your poems. What about it?”
“Angel, what he’s getting at is you should make something for Drusilla,” Gunn clarified.
Spike nodded. “Get those art supplies out and paint a portrait. Darla and I have plenty of photos you could reference.”
Angel thought about it. Already, he could imagine something great. Something colorful. Something whimsical. “That’s a pretty good idea. She comes over to my dorm room all the time, though. How am I going to hide it then?”
“Our flat, obviously,” Wesley answered. “I’m sure Fred will be on board with the idea as well. Are you, Charles?”
“If it means Angel will finally ask his crush out on a date.” Gunn paused. “Although, you could also throw in a box of chocolates. That’d probably help.”
Drusilla just wanted a pint of ice cream in her lonely dorm room after class. She hadn’t seen much of Angel these past few days, probably because he was trying to get back with Lilah. The halls were quiet, as people left to go on dates and celebrate. Drusilla thought about celebrating, but a pity party for one sounded better.
As she reached her dorm room, empty since Anya also had a date, she sensed someone come up behind her.
“Hey.”
Drusilla braced herself as she turned around and faced Angel, forcing a big smile onto her face. He looked nervous, and was holding something behind his back. “Hi. Sh–Shouldn’t you be out having fun?”
Angel chuckled. “I wouldn’t be having fun without you.”
Her cheeks felt hot. “Really?”
“Yeah.” He cleared his throat and brought his hands out from behind his back. In one hand, there was a box of chocolates, and in the other was a much larger and thinner rectangular box. He held the chocolates up to her. It took Drusilla a minute to realize she should take them from him, mumbling a thanks when she did so. Her palms were so sweaty she wouldn’t be surprised if she dropped the sweet treat. “Can we go inside for the next box?”
“Oh, um, sure. Anya shouldn’t be back until tomorrow.” Why did you have to mention that? He’s not going to have sex with you! Or is he? What is happening?!
Angel nodded. “Okay.”
Drusilla scrambled to open her door, walking inside first. No, you should’ve let him inside first! You’re mucking this all up!
He didn’t seem bothered by it, just walking inside and shutting the door behind him. He laughed. “I, um… I thought I’d be a lot more smooth when I walked in here to be honest.”
She laughed. “Really?”
“Had a speech prepared and everything. But, uh… sounds cheesy now that I think about it. I think I’d rather you open the present.” He set the box down on her bed and started playing with his hands. Drusilla went to her drawer first and pulled out a fidget cube, handing it to him. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.” She took a deep breath, facing down the box on the bed. Drusilla lifted up the top and gasped.
Inside, there was a painting. Rich colors, pastel and bright, capturing her. She looked like an ethereal goddess, her smile downright radiant. It looked just like her. No, it looked like how Angel saw her.
“I, uh… I thought you might like something from the heart.” Angel fiddled with the cube. “After your reading, I knew I had to get a good present for you.”
“Why?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
He looked her right in the eyes and smiled. “Because I wanted that kiss.”
All the pieces clicked together in her mind. All this time, Drusilla couldn’t believe that Angel would ever want her. She just assumed the woman he was with was his ex. But Drusilla has dark hair too. She has feelings to confess. She started laughing, and Angel’s face fell.
“No, no, I’m not laughing at it, o–or at you! It’s beautiful.” Her eyes stung. “I’m laughing at myself.”
Realization dawned on Angel’s face. “Drusilla…”
“I thought, well, I assumed that you’d be going back to your ex today.”
He stepped forward, brushing her hair over her shoulder. “And you thought me not being around was a sign of that?”
Tears rolled down her cheeks. “Mhm. I couldn’t see that you wanted me.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m me. I’m a freak.”
Her mum and dad had yelled at each other about her powers, unsure on what to do with her, as she stayed in Colin’s nursery trying to calm him down.
Angel smiled, cupping her cheeks and wiping the tears off them. “I feel like everyone’s a freak at the end of the day.”
“Do you really see me that way? Br–Bright and beautiful?”
He leaned in. “I do.”
The first touch of his lips against hers made her gasp. They were softer than she thought they’d be. She hesitated at first. It had been a few months since her last kiss. But Drusilla decided to go with the flow.
She moved, one arm wrapping around his middle, the other grasping the back of his neck, pulling him closer to her. She groaned, opening her mouth and pressing her tongue against the seam of his lips. He opened up to her, too. Angel ran his hands through her hair, before securing one hand against her scalp. He lifted her up a bit and laid her down on the bed, right next to the painting.
She rolled her hips, trying to get friction, and was rewarded by his knee between her thighs. Drusilla broke the kiss to catch her breath, and Angel responded by kissing her neck. She closed her eyes, panting, feeling a strong warmth in her belly.
“Oh, finally!”
They both looked in the direction of the voice. Anya was crossing her arms with a smirk on her face. “I was just coming back for my purse, carry on.”
She shut the door and was gone.
Drusilla laughed at the disgruntled look on Angel’s face. He growled. “Oh, you think that’s funny.”
“No. I think it’s hilarious.”
“Oh, you’re goin’ to get it!”
She squealed as he started kissing down her body, before he pulled down her skirt and knickers.
Yes, yes, yes! she thought. And then she wasn’t thinking at all.
Five Years Later
Angel shook the thousandth hand that night, a smile plastered on his face.
“Magnus Bryce.”
“Liam Sullivan. Most call me Angel, though.”
Magnus gestured to a younger woman next to him. “This is my daughter, Virginia.”
Angel shook her hand too. “Nice to meet you, Virginia.”
“Nice to meet you too,” she replied with a blank stare and deadpan voice. Angel liked her.
“I was wondering if you would like to come over to my house for dinner–” Magnus started.
“Hi honey, how’re you doing?” Drusilla asked, sidling up to Angel, wrapping a possessive arm around his middle. He had to stop himself from kissing her. She was hot when she showed the world who he belonged to. She then turned her attention to Magnus and held out her hand. “Drusilla Keeble. Angel’s wife.”
Magnus forced a smile and shook it. “Magnus Bryce. I just spotted another friend and I should go say hi to them.”
He walked away, dragging his daughter along with him.
Angel looked Drusilla in the eye. “Sent them running for the hills, didn’t you?”
“I have no respect for a man trying to marry his daughter off.”
In the past few years, Angel had found himself officially disowned by his father after Drusilla convinced him to stand up for himself and what he wanted to pursue. His mother, however, didn’t put up with it. She gave his father an earful, and after all that he finally relented and let Angel pursue art.
This was his first charity ball. They were going to be auctioning off some of his work. Angel was even more excited for his first show, though. It was going to be spectacular! And after all, he had the best muse in the world.
Drusilla had become a force for change. She pursued neuroscience, trying to discover what gave her her abilities, and studying the signs of them so she could help others like her. She was practically the Professor X of real life, except not bald or an X-Man. Seeing her confidence grow was like watching a flower bloom, and both were a beautiful sight to say the least.
Their other job was as an asset of Hyperion Security. A lot of their friends had gotten together and formed the company, run primarily by Buffy. With Drusilla’s psychic prowess and Angel’s sketching abilities, they were able to catch criminals a lot faster than they would’ve otherwise. The company’s Saint Patrick Day’s party was in a few weeks, and Angel couldn’t wait.
“Angel!”
Angel smiled as Allen came up to him, clearly tipsy with Cordelia Chase on his arm. “Allen, glad you could come.”
“I’d never miss it! Cordelia got us in.”
Allen had moved to the United States about a year ago when he started experiencing visions himself. He had lived in Angel and Drusilla’s apartment for a few months before he found his own place, and was happily dating Cordelia, who was Buffy’s business partner and allegedly lived with a ghost.
Their lives were weird. Angel loved it.
“Yes, and Cordelia is going to be the designated driver tonight,” Cordelia told him.
“That’s right! You’re a better driver than me anyways.”
“Have you seen Buffy tonight?” Cordelia asked.
Drusilla shook her head, smirking. “She’s probably making out with Spike in a closet somewhere.”
“They do that a lot,” Angel agreed.
“God, it’s like they never stopped being horny teenagers,” Cordelia grumbled.
“I think we should follow their lead–” Allen started, before Cordelia pinched him and he went, “Ow!”
“We’re going to go socialize. Somebody’s gotta be out here making connections.” Cordelia then pulled Allen away as she spotted someone she wanted to talk to.
“Well, don’t you look put together?”
Angel froze at the sound of that voice, only turning when Drusilla squeezed his arm. He forced a smile on his face. “Winston.”
His older brother chuckled. “No need to play nice, Angel. I know you’re still mad at me.”
Winston’s accent was a lot thicker, like their father’s, although had still been softened by living in America. It sounded a little rougher, but still just like Angel could remember.
“Of course I am! You left me and Kathy all alone.”
Winston looked down guiltily. “My biggest regret is not comin’ back for you. I love Mom, you know I do, but… I never expected her to grow a backbone. And I threw you to the wolves.”
Angel blinked, his anger just… evaporating. Just like that. “Well, I don’t forgive you, but it’s a start.”
Winston smiled. “I’ll take it. You’ve become a fine artist, Angel. Saw some of your pieces on the way in. Good work.”
It annoyed Angel how much his famous brother’s approval meant to him. “Thank you.”
“I’ve also heard of your philanthropy, Ms. Keeble.”
“Me?” Drusilla asked, surprised. “Forgive me for not speaking sooner, I just thought this was a family matter.”
“It is, but you’re family now.” Winston paused. “Why’d you choose to be Ms. Keeble, instead of Mrs. Sullivan?”
“Because I refuse to be defined by my husband’s name, and instead make one of my own,” Drusilla proudly answered. Angel looked at her with that same awe he always did. He loved this woman so, so much. She was just so strong and determined and it made his heart soar.
Winston wasn’t put off with that. Instead, he looked impressed. “Quite a catch you got there, Angel.”
“Nobody can really catch Drusilla. Although I can keep her hooked.”
Drusilla rolled her eyes and playfully smacked his chest, although the hints of a smile were still on her face. “Very funny, you.”
Winston and Angel both laughed.
“Well, I spotted Kathy a minute ago. Better say hello to her,” Winston said. “I’m impressed with her nightly therapy business model. Just, um… Angel?”
“Yeah?”
“Can we not lose touch? I love you, and I want to be close to you again.”
Angel nodded. “Yeah. I’d… I’d like that.”
Winston clapped him on the shoulder and walked away, calling Kathy’s name. Drusilla leaned against Angel. “I’m proud of you. I would’ve slapped him in the face if he was my older brother and did that to me.”
“I probably will slap him after the party,” Angel confessed.
Drusilla laughed. “That’s my Angel. Sweet as can be but always a little rough at the best times.”
He cupped her jaw and leaned in, pressing his lips against hers.
“I have my muse to keep me in check.”
