Nearly
Christmas
|
By Dark Star A simple rosebud sized
missing scene from Amends. Written for the Blood Roses
Advent Calendar 2006 * The Lord is my
shepherd. I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures... Angel woke with a start,
the taste of Daniel's blood strong in his mouth. He sat up, in an attempt to
drive the image out of his head. Another dream. Why was he having so many
dreams about the old days? Was it because he was missing Buffy so much, or
because it was nearly Christmas? He got out of bed and
went to the bathroom, where he ran the hot shower to wake himself up. The
shower didn't help to drive the dream away, and he rubbed himself vigorously
with the towel. He could still taste the blood, and his stomach growled with
hunger. Perhaps a walk would help? He could go to the butcher and treat
himself to some extra blood? That would help a bit. Truth be told, he wanted
to distance himself from the dream, wanted to have noise and bustle round
him, so he dressed quickly and made for town. The town was alive with people.
Busy people, with busy lives, and somehow that made him feel more alone.
Buffy was one of those busy people, and no doubt she was preparing things for
Christmas, and probably hadn't even thought about him. He sighed. Perhaps
this had been a bad idea. From ahead, he could
hear strains of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen", and he could also
hear the local weatherman saying what a lovely sunny day it would be, and
some comments about Yule logs and it being a nice Christmas. He crossed the road, and
the sound of singers grew louder.
He saw a cheery Santa ringing his bell and collecting for charity.
"Merry Christmas!" Santa said to a benevolent passer-by. Angel pressed his hands
deeper into his pocket. There would be no benevolence for him this Christmas.
His hopes of spending time with his woman had come crashing round his ears.
How could he have been so stupid? How could he have even thought that he
might be able to spend it with somebody that he loved? Even once? What was he
doing, staying on in Sunnydale, anyway? So deep in thought was
he, that he wasn't looking where he was going, and bumped into one of those
busy people. Surprised, he realised that it was Buffy, and the silence was
awkward. Finally, he managed to say, "Hi." "Angel…" she
began, and then changed her mind. She started again. "So, are you
shopping?" He saw the realisation cross her face about what a wrong thing
to say that was, and she said awkwardly, "You're probably not
shopping." He took pity on her
discomfort and said, "I couldn't sleep." And oh, he thought, if
only it was that easy… End.
Return to Fiction Index
|