"You're going out, aren't you?" Buffy asked, leaning against her mother's bedroom doorframe.

"Yes, actually I am." Joyce said, turning away from her mirror and smiling at her daughter. "You don't really want me to watch that video with you and Angel, do you? Wouldn't you rather be alone?"

Buffy sighed, exasperated. "Why? So we can have sex? We don't always have sex Mom!"

Joyce closed her eyes, not appreciating her daughter's frankness. "I didn't say that sweetie. You wouldn't, by any chance, be getting your period, would you?"

Buffy sat down on the edge of the bed. "Yeah, I am. But that's not the only reason! Our relationship is not based solely on sex, you know!"

"I know."

Buffy looked, really looked at her mom. She was wearing a short-sleeved, scoop neck, black dress that actually stopped *above* her knees. Her hair was swept up into a French twist. Joyce had on her nice pearl necklace and matching earrings.

"Mom, you look really nice." Buffy said suspiciously.

"Thanks honey."

"Where are you going?"

"Oh, just dinner, with a friend."

"A friend?"

"Yup."

Buffy raised an eyebrow. Her mother wasn't giving her any details. This 'dinner' sounded an awful lot like a date. Dates and her mother were never a good thing. She remembered Ted and shuddered. Buffy realized she should have told her mom the truth about Ted now that she knew Buffy was the slayer. Then this whole 'date' thing never would have happened!

"Do I *know* this friend?"

"Uhhh.."

The doorbell rang and Joyce was relieved. "I wonder who that could be?"

Buffy shrugged. Joyce gave her a look and Buffy got off the bed and started trudging out the bedroom door and down the stairs. When she opened the door she found a way too cheery Xander.

"Hey Buff!" he greeted, brushing past Buffy, into the house.

"What are you doing here?" she asked in a not-so-friendly voice.

"Well Cordy is went to LA with her dad right after school today and she won't be back until Sunday, and Willow wants to have an alone date with Oz! Can you believe that! What about me?"

"You're such a jerk!" Buffy told him, then stomped into the living room and flopped down on the couch.

"Yeah, I love you too Buffy!" Xander said sarcastically.

He had never been *so* sure it was Buffy's time of the month as he had been these past few days. Wednesday morning he had made a cute little comment about her clothes, something she normally would have laughed about, yet she put him in a headlock.

"So," he said, sitting down next to her, "what are we doing tonight?"

"Angel is coming over to watch a video. My mom was going to watch it with us, but she has a date!"

Xander made a face. "Ooh, after Ted, is that such a good idea?"

"I know! Then I remembered, we never told her the truth about him!"

"Well, look on the bright side. What are the odds that this new guy is a robot?"

Buffy gave him a look. "On the Hellmouth?"

"Good point."

The doorbell rang again. Buffy sighed and got up from the couch.

"Hi honey." Angel said, cautiously as his grumpy girlfriend opened the door.

Buffy looked at him as if he said the worst thing in the world, then simply replied, "Hey."

"How's it going?" Angel asked, as soon as the words left his mouth, fear filled his heart.

"I am on my 4th day of my period Angel. When I woke up and found it Tuesday morning, I thought it was no biggie. But I haven't had sex since Monday night. I am horny, yet achy. I am bloated and cramping. I feel all around crappy. My mother has a date! Oh, and of course Xander is here to watch the movie with us!" She finished her rant, gesturing towards the living room.

Xander grinned at him from where he sat on the couch. "Hey Angel, how's it going?"

Angel sighed. It was going to be a long night. He had his needs to. He felt just as horny as Buffy. It was funny. He was celibate for 100 years, yet now he couldn't seem to go 4 days without sex. For the past few months he and Buffy went at it every chance they got. He rarely went 24 hours without sex. Yet, he tried to be the sensitive boyfriend. But couldn't he at least kill Xander?

Angel reluctantly followed Buffy into the living room, where she sat in the middle of the couch and he sat beside her, so that she was sandwiched between them.

"So what are we watching?" Xander asked.

"My mom had picked 'The Sound of Music'. Do you guys actually want to watch that though?"

Both Xander and Angel shook their heads no fervently, for once not out of fear of Buffy, but because they *really* didn't want to see it.

"Good." Buffy said. "What do we want to see?"

"Oh, you know me, I'm not really up to date on videos, I'll watch whatever you want honey." Angel told her, daring to wrap his arm around his girlfriend, pleased when she smiled and curled into him.

Xander rolled his eyes. Couldn't those two get a room? He got up and shuffled through Buffy's video collection. Right away, he saw one of his personal favorites and held it up for the other two to see.

"How about 'Clueless'?" he asked.

"Yeah!" Buffy agreed.

Xander had to give Angel points. Buffy's mood sure did seem to lighten.

Just then they heard a slight knock at the door and Buffy got up once more to get it. Xander placed the video on the coffee table and followed Buffy; Angel picked the video up. The cover had three teenage girls posed like supermodels all holding cell phones. He flipped it over and read the back. 'It's not easy being the most popular and glamorous girl at Beverly Hills High'. What the Hell were they going to make him watch?

"Giles? What's wrong?" He heard Buffy say when she opened the door.

Angel stood up and joined Buffy and Xander in the foyer with Giles.

"We-well actually nothing is wrong I was just g-g-going to take your um, your mum.."

"*You* are my mother's date?"

"Uh...yes."

Buffy thought about it for a few seconds, then smiled. She took a few steps to the foot of the stairs and shouted at the top of her lungs "MOM! YOUR DATE IS HERE!"

The three males winced. Buffy turned around and smiled sweetly.

"Giles would you like to come sit down while you wait for her?" She asked, gesturing to the living room.

Giles smiled cautiously then walked into the living room and gingerly sat down. Buffy moved to follow, but Angel grabbed her arm and whispered in her ear.

"You aren't going to do something mean to him are you?"

"No! Of course not!"

"Well, you are being awfully nice to him!"

"That's because I realized it's *Giles*! Remember how he was with Jenny? Caution Man won't lay a hand on my mom!"

"That's a good point Buff." Xander told her. He had stood behind them and heard every word.

Buffy smiled at him as he passed and went into the living room. She and Angel soon joined them.

"Do any of you guys want something to drink?" Buffy asked.

Giles and Angel shook their heads, while Xander nodded.

"What do you want? I have to go make our popcorn anyway."

"Ooh, I'll come with you!" Xander replied.

The two of them headed over to the kitchen.

Giles and Angel just sat there in silence, occasionally looking at each other and smiling politely. It occurred to Angel that this was the first time they had been alone since he had first come back from Hell when they had been in the library. It seemed like eons ago.

"So…" Angel started to say, desperately trying to think of something to say to the man. What had he always talked about before with Giles? Monsters, demons, prophesies, all that Hellmouth stuff. "Things are pretty quiet lately, huh?"

"Uhh, yes, I've been researching the whole...err.. Acathla thing, trying to see if maybe that vortex has altered the Hellmouth. I can account for the lack of vampires, since all the...uh…leaders are gone…but Buffy has yet to encounter one other supernatural creature since last Spring. It's really quite remarkable."

Angel smiled, he had picked the right topic. Paranormal knowledge was Giles' forte. However, his speech was over and they were having another uncomfortable silence.

Luckily Buffy and Xander broke this one as they bustled out of the kitchen with their hands full. Buffy had bowls and a bag of chips, and Xander had three glasses and a 2-liter of Dr. Pepper.

"Can you believe her?! And people say *I'm* slow!" Buffy exclaimed.

Angel bit his tongue, remembering those mornings in San Francisco when she spent an eternity getting ready.

Xander and Buffy set the stuff down on the table and Buffy began pouring chips in the bowls. Xander slunk behind the chair Giles was sitting in and pretended to study the handiwork of the wall, then pulled a magnet out of his pocket and oh-so-suavely ran it over Giles' head.

Angel looked at him like he was crazy, but neither Buffy nor Giles noticed. When Giles didn't short circuit Xander was satisfied and put the magnet back in his pocket.

"I'm going to go check on the popcorn." Buffy told them, heading back to the kitchen.

"Yeah! Make sure that if there is more than ten seconds between pops you turn it off! That means it's done!" Xander shouted after her.

Buffy stopped, turned around, and glared at Xander. "I'm not stupid! I *can* read, you know!"

Xander gave her a sheepish smile and finally kept his mouth shut. She turned around and marched into the kitchen.

"Buffy seems to be a little…cranky.. tonight." Xander said, as he sat down on the other side of the couch from Angel.

Angel and Giles both nodded quickly.

"You know what my Uncle Marty used to say? Don't trust anything that bleeds for five days and doesn't die." Xander smirked.

Angel gave Xander a really dirty look and Giles looked like he wanted the floor to suck him up right then and there.

"That is disgusting and I find it insulting to my girlfriend." Angel told Xander sharply.

Xander looked a little nervous. "Sorry! I didn't say *I* said it, Uncle Marty did!"

Buffy came back in with a huge bowl, which she was shaking, carefully not letting any popcorn spill.

She set it down on the table and sat down next to Angel. "I made popcorn surprise!"

Angel had no idea what popcorn surprise was, but he wasn't sure he should ask. "That's great Honey."

"Sorry to keep you waiting!" Joyce said as she walked into the living room.

Giles and Angel acted gentlemanly and stood up, while Xander remained seated. Buffy moaned, as though in pain, then leaned over onto Xander.

"You look very nice Joyce." Giles said politely.

"Oh, thank you." Joyce replied, smiling. "Are we ready to go?"

"Y-Yes of course." Giles agreed. He looked over at Buffy and Xander. "Good night children. Bye Angel."

"Bye." Angel softly told them, sitting back down on the other side of Buffy.

Joyce looked at her daughter and frowned. "Take some medicine Honey. Have fun you guys!"

And with that, Giles and Joyce left. Buffy whimpered, Angel sighed, and Xander grinned. It was going to be a very long night.

"Do you think Alicia Silverstone is pretty?" Buffy asked Angel casually. She had eventually moved her head off Xander's shoulder, and back to his. Angel had his arm around her and found their position very comfortable. Xander seemed to be doing just fine by himself, drooling over the girls in the movie.

Angel looked at the blonde girl on the screen. She was pretty cute. "Yeah, she is."

Buffy pulled her head off his shoulder and glared at him. "Well you better loosen up your wrist!"

Angel couldn't believe his sweet, innocent, little girlfriend had said that. "Baby, she doesn't compare to you!"

"Sure! *Now* you say it! After you piss me off!"

"Hey! You guys! I am trying to watch the movie!" Xander exclaimed, receiving icy glares from the couple.

Buffy pulled Angel into the kitchen. As soon as they were both in there, she pulled him into an embrace and kissed him furiously. Angel soon returned her passion with his own. They stood there, kissing wildly, for several moments.

Buffy broke off the kiss and panted, "God Angel, I want you so bad! I can't believe I had to get my period!"

"I know!" Angel replied, also panting. "When will it be over?"

"Buffy began to kiss his jaw. "Sunday at the earliest."

Angel groaned. "48 hours has never seemed like such a long time! Especially when you have lived for two and a half centuries!"

Buffy moaned. "I know… but actually it's 10 right now, so only 26 hours until Sunday."

"Oh.. that's….better." Angel murmured as he slowly kissed her neck.

"Yeah… and we could…. sleep a lot of the time away…" Buffy replied breathlessly.

Angel laughed. "When I sleep I dream about making love to you."

"Hmmm.. sounds like a good dream! I've had a few about you too!"

"Hey, what are you two doing?!" Xander shouted from the living room.

They both sighed. And pulled away reluctantly.

"Please Buffy, please," Angel begged, "let me kill him?"

Buffy raised an eyebrow. "Let me think about it.

"Well, kids, it's been real, it's been fun, but I can't say it's been real fun!" Xander quipped. "I think it was because of all those death threats you guys made against me. It tends to dampen the mood."

Buffy rolled her eyes and opened the front door for him. She was very surprised to see her mother and Giles in a very heated kiss. It was so heated that they didn't even notice the three people staring at them, open-mouthed.

After a few moments, Xander worked up the nerve to clear his throat, loudly.

Joyce and Giles looked shyly at their spectators, who all smiled at them.

"Hey Mom, Giles!"

Giles nodded politely, as he and Joyce quickly separated. "Buffy."

Joyce wiped her mouth. "Hi Honey. Did you all have fun tonight?"

"Oh yeah, it was…. wild." Xander joked, then yawned. "Well, I'm leaving, Buffy please don't grab my leg and cry this time!"

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Good night Xander."

"Night!" Xander said, then slipped out the door.

Joyce walked in, and looked at Giles. "Would you like a cup of coffee, or a night cap or something?"

Giles looked cautiously at Buffy. Buffy smiled and grabbed Angel's arm.

"Angel was leaving too. I was just going to tell him goodbye and head off to bed myself."

Giles walked in and Buffy pulled Angel out, pulling the door shut behind them.

Two seconds later, Buffy and Angel were back in each other's arms, kissing as if there were no tomorrow.

"How much longer?" Angel panted.

"25 hours." Buffy groaned. "Please remember, that is a best case scenario."

"Damn."

"I know."

They moved over to the bench and Angel sat don, pulling Buffy into his lap.

"So, you're okay with Giles dating your mom?"

Buffy entwined her fingers with his. "I'm not sure I am 'okay' yet, but I am getting there. I am trying to be mature and unselfish, so that I can say my mom deserves a decent love life and even though he isn't my dad, Giles is pretty good, but…"

"You still wish your dad and mom were still together?"

Buffy nodded. "Pretty dumb, huh?"

Angel kissed her on the cheek. "That's not dumb at all. It's completely normal for you to wish your parents were happily married."

"Well, they weren't ever happily married, at least not for a long time. But it's still hard to see my mom *kissing* a man that isn't Dad!" she sighed. "Well, I have to be positive, if I *had* to pick a guy for my mom, Giles would be him. Not just the fact that he won't go too far too fast, but I *know* he is a great guy and he'll treat my mom right, and if it ever mattered, he likes me too."

Angel nodded. "You two get along great, so as soon as you get over the fact that your mom is dating, I bet things will get a lot easier."

"They aren't exactly difficult now, just a little tense, and I blame him for that! He is always so *nervous*!"

Angel laughed. "I think that's part of his nature."

Buffy yawned. Angel stood back up and gently set her back to her feet. "I better go, I don't want you to lose your beauty sleep." He smiled as he bent down and kissed her once more.

"Good night Angel, I love you." Buffy waved as Angel walked to his car.

"I love you too Buff, talk to you tomorrow."

Buffy smiled as she walked back in the house, making sure to shut the door loudly, she wanted them to know she was back in the house. She then made she to stomp her feet as loud as possible as she made her way up the stairs and to her room.

Buffy changed into her pajamas and slipped back out of her room, she sat at the top of the stairs and used her slayer hearing to eavesdrop.

"Are you sure? I worry about her so much!" She heard her mother say worriedly. Leave it to Mom to still be too focused on her daughter, while on a date. Of course when Buffy heard Giles reassuring her, she knew he enjoyed talking about her welfare just as much. How sick was that? They go on a date to talk about her! Adults are just too funny!

Buffy shook her head and walked back to her room. She had a *long* 24 and ½ hour wait ahead of her.



The End