Silver Bells and Tree Shopping Hells

SPOILER WARNING: 'Innocence' be damned--it never happened. This is a happy story!
RATING: PG-14
CONTENT WARNING: A little sexual innuendo, nothing too bad though.
SUMMARY: Since Joss isn't going to give us a happy Christmas story involving Angel and Buffy, I am. It became a Fluff Story because it has a few references to other Fluff Series stories.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Buffy and Angel. Joss and the WB do.
NOTES: The title only describes part of the story, but since it was the only clever one I could think of, it'll have to do. Just a bit of warning, it gets REALLY mushy near the end.

Archivist's note: Jenni wrote this before Amends amazingly enough...

"Did I mention that I hate Christmas?" Angel asked for about the third time in a matter of twenty minutes. Buffy just chose to ignore him as he went on his tangent once more, "It's so damned commercialized nowadays. Crowded stores, rude people...." he stated as she pulled him away from the car and toward the sign that read "Christmas Trees This Way" in big green letters. "Plus, these damn lights are so gaudy!"

"Will you just indulge me? I love Christmas and I want to spend mine with you, okay?" she asked as she saw the Christmas tree lot in the parking lot of the Sunnydale Shop and Save. "It'll be fun...a tree, presents, decorating." she urged as they walked into the stacked up forest of pre-cut trees in the lot.

It had all started innocently enough, last night, some four nights before Christmas. Buffy and Angel had been sitting together on the couch while the Slayer kept telling him how glad she was that school was out for the holidays. She had asked the vampire what his Christmas plans were and when he informed her that they included sitting in front of the TV and watching "A Christmas Carol" she became determined to change them. Her plan was for the couple to spend Christmas Eve together and so it was that they ended up at a Christmas tree lot three nights before Christmas Eve.

A moronic looking employee in a Santa hat smiled at the couple and in his best expression of St. Nick, gave them a deep, "Merry Christmas!" Angel grumbled something, probably in another language that Buffy also chose to ignore.

"Grab a tree and let's go. I have things to do."

"Would those things include reading and brooding?" Buffy giggled, Angel lowered his eyes but didn't deny the charges. "I thought as much. Come on." she took his hand into hers and began pulling him down the lot. They came across what Angel thought was a perfectly acceptable tree. It was green, well shaped, and pretty for a California Christmas tree. "It's a little too big." With that, Angel's hopes of getting out of the lot before the beginning of another showing of "A Christmas Story" were shattered when he realized that Buffy would be treating this as she did every other shopping excursion; with meticulous demanding standards.

"Well, we can trim it or something, or move furniture to make room. It's a perfectly good tree." Angel argued, but Buffy scoffed quickly.

"It's just a little too big for your living room." she reasoned.

"My living room?!" Suddenly, instead of visions of sugar plums, Angel began seeing a huge tree covered in obnoxious numbers of lights and ornaments sitting in his living room dripping sap on all of his possessions. "When did I agree to this?"

"Where else do you suggest we put it?" Angel was dumbfounded there, but was about ready to reply "not in my living room!" but the cute pouty look on Buffy's face kept him from speaking on the matter. "Come on." she led him down the row until they came to another smaller tree. "It's too small." Angel sighed in annoyance, realizing that at this rate, he'd miss all of whatever the WB was showing on Tuesday night.

After Buffy went through a barrage of adjectives describing trees that didn't fit her standards, "It's too crooked." "It's too green." they finally came to a tree that caused her eyes to light up. "Isn't this the tree we started with?" Angel asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"Yeah, but we can trim it, or move stuff. It could probably fit. I'm sure it'll fit." she shrugged. When Angel merely stared at her in disbelief, she replied, "Well, I just wanted to see everything on the lot." Angel shot her a glare which looked just a little too homicidal for her liking, so she decided to reply to it with a kiss that managed to soothe the savage beast.

"Can we buy it and get out of here?" he quietly pleaded while separating his lips from hers. She nodded and Angel grabbed the tree by the trunk and carried it over to the employee with the hat. The vampire set it down in front of him and handed it over to Santa's Little Helper while trying to wipe sap off of his hand.

"And a tree stand and two Santa hats, please." Buffy included with their purchase. Angel shot her a glance, conveying the "that hat had better be for someone else besides me" message. After putting the tree in net so it would be easier to take home, the elf rang up their purchase which came to about $45 bucks. Angel grumbled something about how he could have cut down his own tree for less but paid the price anyway.

Then came the task of putting the tree in the car and getting it home. Fortunately, the Caddie had a lot of trunk space so with a little ingenuity and a few bungee cords, the vampire was able to get it in the car and safely back to the apartment without incident. Had there been an incident, well, his mood was such that he would have canceled Christmas and probably stolen toys from the Whos in Whoville as well.

In the apartment, Buffy stated, "Tell you what...we need ornaments and lights, right? But I know since you *hate* the mall, I will go by myself to get them." Angel's eyes lit at the idea of not having to go to shopping hell once more. "So, hand over your Visa card."

"Why?"

"Because they don't take American Express." Angel mumbled something, probably in Gaelic, and fished out the plastic from his wallet along with the car keys. He gave her a look, conveying the "be careful with my car or lose blood" message that he didn't ever intend on acting on, but wasn't about to let her know that. She gave him a quick kiss and called, "Set up the tree while I'm gone!" as she skipped out the door.

Once the Slayer had gone, skipping happily out the door with the vampire's Visa card in hand, Angel looked to the tree stand they had purchased along with the tree that necessitated such a stand and those damn Santa hats that were going in the trash compactor the first chance Angel got. Deciding that it couldn't be too hard, (and probably a lot easier without the distracting Slayer) Angel resolved to put the tree in the stand and set it up by himself as per her orders.

It was, as most things that evening, easier said than done, for every time he got the tree in it's stand, he would then move back to admire his handiwork, only to discover the tree was crooked. After many attempts and failures, he finally got it perfectly vertical, but the price of his tree perfection came in the sap that was covering his hands and had somehow gotten into his hair. Knowing that Buffy wouldn't be back from the mall anytime soon, and knowing that keeping his hair that perfect was no easy task, Angel decided on a shower to rid himself of the sap.

Fifteen minutes, half a bottle of shampoo and almost an entire bar of soap later, Angel was sap-free and follically gifted once more. Dressed in a comfortable pair of running pants and a sweat shirt, he lounged on the couch, remote in hand and waited for the shopping Slayer to return.

Two hours, or one "It's A Wonderful Life" later, Angel heard the door open. "Hi." he absently waved, his eyes not leaving the television as that famous phrase about teachers, bells and angels getting their wings was uttered.

"A little help?" Angel turned quickly to see the small girl balancing and carrying all sizes of boxes and bags. He jumped to his feet and took most of the bags, as many as he could carry comfortably, from her. "Well, that was hell! There were way too many people! No, make that rude people! Did you know I saw I fist fight over a Furby?"

"It's almost Christmas, what did you expect?" Angel casually asked as he set the boxes and bags down on the floor in front of the couch. "So, what did you buy?" he wasn't exactly sure he wanted to know, but decided it was best to be aware of what she had charged to his card or if she had gone over the limit.

"Some lights, ornaments, garland, that sort of thing."

"And my car?" Angel internally cringed, wondering if the beautiful paint job on the car was ruined by Buffy's, well, not so great driving. She grinned, tossing the keys back to him with a casual flick of her wrist.

"In mint condition. There are a few more bags in the car, by the way." Angel walked out of the apartment to retrieve those few more bags, only to find that those 'few' bags were almost more than he could carry. < Oh, this is going to put a dent in my bank accounts. I might need to get a night job just to afford her! > he thought while bringing the bags inside. Once in the doorway he saw Buffy had emptied the bags and now there were all manner of decorations laying strewn about, waiting to be put up.

There were five boxes of those twinkling lights, more ornaments to count without a calculator or at least an abacus, along with other festive decorations. Angel set the rest of the bags down as he got a mental image of what the Slayer wanted to do with his apartment. "When I sent you out with my credit card, did I forget to mention that didn't want anything too flashy or too gaudy?"

"Don't be silly! It's festive." Buffy argued as she emptied the bags. "Help me string the lights." Angel quietly groaned but did as asked.

It took a bit of effort, and some space management, but the Slayer and her vamp were able to put all of the lights she had purchased onto the tree. In doing so, Angel once again found sap covering his hands, which he was none too thrilled about. "It's part of Christmas." Buffy argued as she opened a bag of garland. Internally cringing at the ugly mess it would be, he sat in silence as she decorated the apartment with it, even draping some of the silver strands over the case containing the Buddha statue.

Buffy, apparently in a holiday decorating frenzy, was beginning to frighten the vampire just a little, especially after she decided it would be 'festive' to cover his hair in silver garland. So, while her back was turned as she put ornaments on the tree, Angel slipped out of the room. Deciding that his apartment was just a little low on decent hiding places he could stay in until the holiday cheer passed, he settled upon a closet.

While sitting on the floor, apparently making nice with some leather jackets and velvet shirts, the slightly cramped Angel realized that this would have been a far better hiding place had he actually thought to bring a book and maybe some blood to drink. Maybe for Easter....

As he relaxed and relished in the fact that nothing in the closet was cheery, he heard footsteps coming closer and closer to the closet. Had he breathed, he would have held his breath as the door opened. Buffy looked down to the floor to see Angel sitting there looking up at her, trying not to look too guilty. "What are you doing?" she accused, her hands on her hips in full aggressive posture.

"Ummm...looking for my coat?" he questioned, looking up at her with innocent puppy eyes. She groaned and took him by the arm, leading him back to the living room. No longer was the room gloomy and dark, now it was festive and downright cheery. Needless to say, Angel hated it. "Well, you've officially made the place Christmas-y."

"We have to put the angel on top of the tree."

"I thought you put a star on the top of the tree." Angel argued. Buffy gave him a "don't question me, Buster" look that ended any further arguing. With a sigh, Angel picked up the porcelain angel that she had bought and along with Buffy, placed it on top of the tree.

When that was done, Angel once more surveyed the apartment. Garland, ornaments and all manner of decorations covered the apartment, leaving no room for doom and gloom. Buffy, noting the vampire's dislike, pointed to the ceiling, "But there's mistletoe!" she pointed out. Angel lifted his eyes to it, seeing that it was a good ten feet from the pair.

With a wicked grin, the vampire lifted her into his arms and carried her that ten feet and placed her feet firm under the plant. "That's more like it." he whispered before placing a kiss to her waiting lips. "December 26, this crap is out of here. But this...this stays." he laughed before kissing her once more.

"Sounds like a good plan to me." she replied as Angel wrapped his arms around her while placing yet another welcome kiss on her.

Christmas Eve---

Buffy was set to arrive at Angel's apartment any minute, so the vampire was making last minute preparations. The lights of the tree were lit, as per her request, the lights were out and the only light was that from the candles he'd lit and the fireplace that Angel had moved furniture around to get at. (After all, what does a vampire normally need with a fireplace?) On every other night of the year there was a desk and all kinds of books stacked in front of it, but for Christmas, he decided to move the desk and light the fire for a little romantic holiday atmosphere.

He made sure the presents were under the tree, for unbeknownst to the Slayer, he had ventured to the mall on his own one evening to buy gifts for her and had fought the lines, rude people and the stress in order to pick out some decent gifts and then spent another hour in line waiting to have them wrapped. < Love really does make us do the wacky. > he thought as he surveyed the gifts under the tree.

When the knock on the door came, he walked to it and opened it to let the Slayer, who's arms contained presents, inside. She greeted him with a warm kiss and walked inside, noting the lit tree, the candles and the fireplace. "Where did that come from?" she asked, pointing to the fireplace after she had set her two boxes down under the tree.

"I never use it so I put a desk in front of it. I figured we could make use of it tonight so I moved a few things." he took her by the hand and led her to the couch he had pushed in front of the fireplace. The couple sat down together and Angel draped a warm down quilt he had standing by around them for extra comfort and warmth.

"Do you want to open presents?" Buffy asked as Angel nuzzled her neck, proving to be quite a distraction.

"It's not Christmas yet. Are you staying the night?" he quietly asked in between small butterfly kisses on her jaw. Buffy silently wondered how she was supposed to answer coherently while he was doing *that.*

"Mom's in LA visiting my relatives, and since they all think I'm a criminal who is going to rip off their stuff, she let me stay in town. She's there till tomorrow, then she's going to try and drive back in Christmas traffic. I figure I can stay till around nine in the morning." she managed to reply while running her fingers over Angel's hair.

"Then we'll open gifts on Christmas." Angel softly answered.

"And what do you plan on doing until it's actually Christmas?" the Slayer asked, a suggestive arch in her eyebrow. When his lips came down on hers with a gentle touch, she figured she had the answer to her question. But, she couldn't think of a better way to spend a Christmas Eve.

Hours later, Angel woke slowly, adjusting to his surroundings and the light being thrown by the remaining embers and flames in the fireplace. Buffy was still nestled in his arms, fast asleep, and the couple was still wrapped comfortably in the blanket on the couch. Angel smiled at the sleeping Slayer, noting the sweet expression currently on her face. "Angel?" she whispered as her eyes opened slightly, taking on the soft glow of the candles and fireplace.

"Yeah?"

"What time is it?" she asked. Angel lifted his eyes to a clock on the wall and smiled.

"12:14. Christmas Day." he clarified as her eyes opened wider and lit with a glow not unlike that which children get right before opening presents, so Angel could accurately guess what she wanted to do now. Without being told, Angel slipped on his sweat pants and walked to the tree to gather up the gifts.

Retrieving them, he set the boxes on the floor in front of the couple. "Go first." Buffy urged with a smile. Angel picked up the largest of the boxes with his name on it and shook it to try and figure out what was inside. This, of course, got a giggle from the Slayer. "Just open it!"

Angel pulled the paper from the box and opened it to find a new black leather jacket. "It's great, Buffy. Thank you."

"I thought that since you gave me one, I should give you one. I figure that in a couple of years we're going to have provided each other's wardrobe." Angel's expression became drawn for a moment, she brushed her fingers against his cheek and questioned, "What's wrong?"

"I'm just surprised you want to spend years with *me.*"

"Okay--new rule. No brooding on Christmas Day. I really don't want to have to stake you on Christmas." she joked, getting a quiet laugh from the vamp, "And while we're on the subject, I want to spend forever with you, not just a few years." he smiled before she kissed him, solidifying her answer. "Now, I get to open one." the Slayer picked up a box and in similar fashion, shook hers as Angel had, before ripping off the paper. "A book of fairy tales." she smiled as she looked at the large hardbound book in her hand.

"That way I don't have to come up with them on my own when you can't sleep."

"I liked Prince Angel and Princess Buffy though." she smiled, "although, it does offer some interesting variations. It's great, thank you." she opened the cover to find an inscription written in Angel's neat, old fashioned handwriting, "'I hope that I can make all of your fairy tale dreams come true. Forever, Angel.'" a smile spread across her face as she once more wrapped her arms around him for a tight hug. "Thank you." she breathed into his ear as they embraced.

When the embrace ended, Buffy reached over to pick up the last gift for Angel, which was held in a small flat box, and handed it to the vampire. He carefully pulled the paper off, quite unlike the Slayer who ripped it away, to find a box. Upon opening it, he found a silver pocket watch. "Buffy--I can't take this. It had to have cost a fortune."

"Well, I wanted to get you something cool, and symbolic and everything, and I figure that a watch was the best. This way we can count the minutes we're together." she smiled. "And you had better take it, because I saved since October to buy it." she urged as she put her hand over his, closing his fingers over the watch.

"I'll always wear it." he surveyed his current state of dress, "When I have clothes on anyway." he amended before placing the watch on the coffee table beside the couch for safekeeping.

"You don't have to...just when you want to...." Buffy blushed. His fingers brushed against her cheek, feeling it's heat.

"I always want to. It's beautiful, and it's probably the best gift I have ever received. Well, second to you that is." Angel brought his lips to hers for a slow kiss, her fingers found their way into his hair as they held each other tightly in the kiss. "You know," he paused to kiss her once more, "by the time...you...get to...open your gift...it'll be New Years." every time there was a pause, he would give her another kiss.

Buffy straightened her posture and reached for her last gift. It too, was a small box apparently containing jewelry. She ripped the paper off and opened the lid to find a gold locket in the shape of heart, "Oh my god...." she whispered softly. She opened it, her fingers almost trembling, to find a photograph of the couple that Willow had taken weeks before at the Bronze inside the locket.

"That way, I'm always in your heart--literally." Angel bowed his head, as though he were trying to hide a blush that his nature forbid from showing in his cheeks. They colored, looked less pale, but never became pink or red like a human. That was just one of the million things about the vampire Buffy had noticed during their time together.

Gently, he lifted the tresses of her blonde hair and fastened the necklace to her neck. He dropped her hair and examined her wearing the necklace. "Perfect." he breathed, causing her smile that had been on her lips since she opened the box to grow slightly.

"No one's ever given me something so beautiful, Angel. I don't deserve you, you know." she snuggled closer to him, working her way in so that she was as close to the vampire as comfortably possible. He wrapped his arms around her and reclined slightly, so they were more or less laying on the couch, facing the fire.

"I don't deserve you, Beloved." he whispered into her hair.

"Let's not fight about who deserves what, okay?" They both were content with this answer as they laid together in front of the fire, watching the dancing flames and the shadows they draped over the couple. Buffy would every once and a while look up at Angel's face, seeing his features bathed in warm light from the fire and a peaceful expression in his eyes that was all too rare.

"Are you tired?" he quietly questioned in a soft whisper. She shook her head against his chest, her eyes not leaving the flames. "Maybe 'It's A Wonderful Life' is on." he joked, causing her body to tremor with giggles that he could feel in her pressed flesh.

"It's Christmas, it's probably on all the channels, that and that damn movie about the kid wanting the Red Rider gun or whatever." Buffy smiled while entwining her hands with his and then tracing lazy circles over his knuckles with her fingertips.

"I like that one." Angel quipped.

"You want to watch it?" she asked, arching her eyebrow slightly. The vampire shook his head and nestled in closer to her body.

"No. It'll be on again later. Right now I just want to lay like this. This is all the entertainment I need; a romantic evening, a fire, and my beautiful, amazing girlfriend." Buffy wasn't about to argue with that logic so she settled back in perfect contentment once more.

"'Amazing', huh?" Buffy asked, turning her head to look at Angel. As she twisted her body, her eyes caught sight of something in the window. "Angel...." he shifted and turned around to look outside as well. He followed her gaze to the thousands of tiny white snowflakes that were currently falling from the heavens.

"I didn't think that ever happened in this part of the state." Angel commented.

"Well, we are on a Hell Mouth, crazy stuff happens all the time. I'm personally surprised it's snow and not rain of toads." Angel quietly chuckled at that comment. "Hey--do you want to go outside and play in the snow?" Buffy suggested.

"It's 1:00 in the morning. And besides, I'm perfectly content to sit here with you, like this, and just watch it." Angel replied dreamily as he pressed his fingertips to her cheek with a soft ginger touch. That was enough to convince Buffy that inside, warm, content with the vampire was far better than outside in the cold, wet snow.

They watched the snow fall for a few minutes before Buffy asked, "Did it snow where you were born?" Angel nodded his head once before settling back onto the couch. The Slayer followed his lead and they took the same position in front of the fire they had been in a few minutes before. They both found looking into each other's eyes a better experience than staring at the falling snow. "So, this is making you homesick?"

"No...in fact, I hate the snow. One reason why I live in California."

"Why?" Buffy asked softly.

"I don't know. I guess after living as long as I have, mostly in climates which had snow for at least three months a year, I just didn't see the wonder in it anymore. If you live for a long time, a lot of things lose their wonder. The stars, the moon, snow, rain, the way a candle burns...it becomes so...so typical you don't see beauty there any longer, just monotony and inconvenience." Buffy sat in silence as she listened to the words of the vampire in her arms, "Most things are like that. Only two things never lose their magic. Friendship and love. And when you can find those two things in the same person, it's the most amazing thing in the world, even to someone centuries old. You are my lover, but you're also my best friend, Buffy."

Buffy choked back tears at those words, which meant just as much, maybe more, than "I love you." She kissed him slowly, as she did the cool gold locket touched his skin, causing a shiver to go up his spine. "Thank you." she whispered between kisses, he stopped and looked at her questioningly. "Thank you for saying that, and for meaning it. And thank you for...for just loving me."

"You're very welcome, Buffy Summers. And thank *you.* Thank you for loving me more and better than anyone else ever has. And maybe more importantly, thank you for believing in me." their lips met for one more slow passionate kiss.

After the kiss ended, they sat in silence for a few minutes before Buffy asked, "So, do you still hate Christmas?" she asked with a smile.

"When I'm like this, with you, I can't hate it. In fact, it's probably my best Christmas ever. But those lights and decorations are still gaudy as hell." he replied before placing a soft kiss on her neck. When it ended, Buffy grinned, "What?" he softly asked, noting the expression on her face with a questioning look.

"I just realized, I didn't tell you 'Merry Christmas' yet." she smiled.

"You had better tell me then." Angel replied as he wrapped the down blanket a little tighter around them.

Buffy nestled her head into the curve of Angel's shoulder, her head resting between his neck and shoulder, while she placed her hand lightly on top of his stomach. Once her position was comfortable, she whispered, "Merry Christmas, Angel." as she spoke, she closed her eyes, letting her body relax completely against the vampire's touch.

"Merry Christmas, Buffy." he replied softly before pressing a kiss to her temple. He laid in silence, watching her doze off once again in his arms. As she slept, he started thinking that tonight had been the best Christmas of his life. Sure, it might be considered blasphemous for a vampire to celebrate this holiday, but he didn't care. It wasn't the holiday they had been celebrating that night, though it had certainly played a part. It was their love, and their friendship, that had been the real cause for celebration that evening. As he fell asleep, Angel couldn't help but wonder how they would celebrate it and somehow top it next year.

The End