It was the morning of Buffy’s birthday and she was extremely excited. She woke up earlier than she usually did, showered and got ready for school. She tried on five different outfits before she decided on a denim skirt and a green sweater that her mother had always said brought out her eyes.
Joyce was in the kitchen when she came downstairs, bounce in her step. She sat down at the island and her mother placed a plate of French toast in front of her. Joyce always made French toast on her birthday, as it was her favorite breakfast.
“Happy Birthday, sweetie,” Joyce said coming around to give her a hug.
“Thank you, Mom,” Buffy replied, returning the hug.
“How does it feel to be sixteen?” she asked.
“The same so far.” Buffy always hated this question, which adults always seemed to ask. She could almost guarantee her father would ask the same thing later. “I guess I’ll know after you let me go to the Bronze tonight.”
“Oh, I see,” Joyce said with a sigh.
“Please, Mom? You said I could when I turned sixteen and now I am.”
“I know, honey. But-“
“Will is coming with me,” she said, hoping this would convince her mother.
“Well, I guess if Will is going with you. But, I want you home before midnight,” Joyce warned.
“I feel just like Cinderella,” Buffy said with sarcasm.
“Remember we’re having dinner with your father tonight,” Joyce reminded her.
They had always gone out to dinner on Buffy and Xander’s birthdays. It was something they kept up with after the divorce in order to maintain a sense of normalcy, or so Joyce had said. Buffy thought it was just uncomfortable.
“I know,” she said. “I invited Will.”
“Oh,” Joyce said. “That’s fine I guess.”
“What?” Buffy asked, noting her mother’s tone of voice.
“Aren’t he and Xander still on the outs?”
“Well, yeah. But, I want him there. He’s my friend, too,” she said, taking a bite of her breakfast.
“Ok, but Xander wants to bring that Anya.”
“To my birthday dinner?” She was more than a little annoyed by this.
“I don’t see the problem with it, and I already told him he could.”
“Ugh, fine,” she said, not wanting to argue. Buffy was dreading this dinner enough as it was; one more person couldn’t possibly make it worse. She heard a honk from outside, signaling Will’s arrival.
“Gotta go,” she said, hopping off her stool and grabbing her backpack. She kissed Joyce goodbye and took off out the door.
“Happy birthday, Buffy,” Will said with a wide grin as she got into the car. He pulled a flower from behind his back and handed it to her. “For you, milady,” he said gallantly.
“Thank you, kind sir,” she replied with an equally wide smile. “But, please don’t ask me how it feels to be sixteen,” she warned him. “Cause I can tell you right now, it feels exactly the same as fifteen.”
“Wasn’t going to, luv,” he assured her, backing out of the driveway and starting off to school.
Buffy twirled the pink rose between her fingers, feeling color rise in her cheeks. She couldn’t help but wonder if this meant something more. ‘Unlikely,’ she thought.
“Xander is bringing Anya to dinner tonight,” she said with irritation in her voice.
“That’ll be a bloody hoot,” Will replied dryly.
***
At seven o’clock, Buffy peeked through the front curtains and saw Hank Summers pull up in front of the house. He was driving his red, midlife crisis sports car with the top rolled down, even though it was January. He was dressed in a suit, as he had made reservations for them at The Galleria, a fancy restaurant that had a dress code.
Buffy had decided on a short green cocktail dress that she had bought in Tahoe, with this specific event in mind. She spent an hour making herself look as perfect as possible. She had blow-dried her hair straight, done her makeup carefully, making sure to emphasize her eyes, and put on a dab of lavender perfume, which she had read was the best scent to wear in order to entice a man. She decided on a pair of black flats. Will wasn’t very tall, so she didn’t feel like she needed to wear heels with him.
Her father knocked the front door and she opened it, greeting him with a big smile.
“Here’s my little girl,” he said with an even bigger smile. He pulled her into a hug and kissed her on the cheek. “Happy Birthday, sweetie” he said, releasing her and handing her a small box wrapped in a recognizable light blue paper and tied with a white ribbon.
“Daddy, you really shouldn’t have,” she said, looking at the box in her hand.
“Nonsense,” he said with a wave of his hand. “So, how does it feel to be sixteen?” he asked.
‘Not again,’ she thought, but said, “Same as fifteen.”
Joyce came downstairs a moment later, dressed in a knee length black dress.
“Hello, Hank,” she greeted politely.
“Joyce,” he said with a nod of his head.
Buffy always wondered how her parents managed to be so cordial in the presence of one another. They had fought nonstop when they were married. She was grateful for it, though, as it made these dinners slightly less uncomfortable.
“Xander!” Joyce yelled up the stairs. “It’s time to go!”
Xander came bounding down the stairs a few moments later, with Anya following close behind at a more lady like pace. Xander was dressed as formally as he could manage, in black slacks, a wrinkled red button up shirt and a striped tie. Anya had apparently thought she was going to a prom, though her purple dress hit above the knee. Still, it was a shiny satin material, and she had paired it with silver rhinestone heels and a small matching clutch purse. She had styled her hair into some kind of twist thing that Buffy had never figured out how to do. Anya looked really good actually, not that Buffy would acknowledge that.
“Well, who’s this pretty thing?” Hank asked with a proud smile and a wink at Xander.
“Dad, this is my girlfriend, Anya,” Xander said, placing his arm around her.
“It’s about time,” Hank said, patting Xander on the back. He held his hand out to Anya and she took it, shaking firmly.
“It’s so nice to meet you,” she said with a big smile.
“What’s a girl like you doing with my son?” Hank joked. Anya just giggled; Xander was not amused.
‘God, Xander does exactly what he wants and he still says shit like that,’ Buffy thought. ‘Xander’s gonna be even more fucked up than he already is.’
“Is Will going to be here soon, Buffy?” Joyce asked.
“He’s meeting us there,” Buffy replied.
“Will’s coming?” Xander asked with distaste in his voice.
Buffy was about to say something when Joyce interrupted with a warning.
“Don’t start,” she said to Xander. “You will be polite and cordial to him on your sister’s birthday. Do you understand me?”
Xander didn’t answer and just opened the door to go to the car. Everyone followed suit, Anya and Xander getting into Joyce’s car. Buffy, to her displeasure, was stuck going with her father.
‘We’re off to a great start,’ she thought.
***
They arrived at the restaurant and Buffy saw Will’s car in the parking lot. As she got out of the car, she started to wonder if he had dressed up. She had never seen Will in formal wear of any kind before, as his entire wardrobe seemed to consist of jeans, t-shirts and leather jackets.
As it turned out, Will’s idea of formal was a pair of non-ripped black jeans, a blue t-shirt and a black blazer over it. ‘Not totally formal,’ Buffy thought. “But still gorgeous.’ He was leaning against a pillar outside of the restaurant, smoking a cigarette. ‘Dad will hate this,’ she thought with pleasure.
“Hello, William,” Joyce greeted him.
“Hello, Joyce, Mr. Summers,” he said, holding his hand out to shake Hank’s after he stomped out his cigarette. Hank took it a bit reluctantly.
“Nice to see you again, William,” Hank said with a strange formality that Buffy wasn’t used to seeing on him.
“Happy Birthday, luv,” he greeted her. She blushed a bit and smiled at him.
Will held the door open and gestured for them all to walk inside, which they did. Hank walked up to the hostess table to confirm the reservation and the rest of them waited.
“You must be Buffy’s boyfriend,” Anya said, stepping forward to shake Will’s hand. “I’m Anya, Xander’s girlfriend.”
“Yeah, I know who you are,” he said, taking her hand. “You didn’t tell her, mate?” he asked, looking at Xander with mirth.
“Tell me what, Xander?” Anya asked Xander, confusion on her face. Xander just looked at her nervously.
Buffy noticed that Will hadn’t corrected Anya about the boyfriend thing, which she wasn’t sure how she felt about. Before Xander could answer, the hostess came forward to lead them to their table. However, Buffy had a feeling that Anya wouldn’t let this go.
As they walked to the table, Buffy took in her surroundings. The Galleria dining room was spacious, with many tables covered in white cloths and way more silverware than she had ever seen. The waiters were all dressed in black and white uniforms and they carried trays of expensive food around to different tables. The entire place was filled, hence why they had needed the reservation. There was even a string quartet playing quiet, classical music in the background.
They were seated at a large round table with exactly six place settings. Buffy sat down first and Will took the seat next to her. Her father sat on her other side, with Xander next to him and Anya next. Joyce took the chair next to Will and Buffy breathed a sigh of relief. She was glad that Will hadn’t been stuck sitting next to anyone who could potentially make him uncomfortable. However, this left him and Xander sitting directly across from each other. Xander shot daggers at him and Will just looked back, amusement in his eyes.
They all looked over their menus quietly. The food was mostly classic American, with a few pretentious specials thrown in for good measure and everything was extremely overpriced.
“Everything’s so expensive,” Will whispered in her hear.
“Just order whatever you want,” she replied quietly. “Dad’s paying, so don’t worry about it.”
Before anyone could start a conversation, their waiter came and took their drink order. After they were done, Hank went off on one of his self-promoting diatribes, as he was wont to do. Anya was the only one who took interest in what he was saying. As it turned out, her parents were both stockbrokers and she had an avid interest in economics and finance. Amidst that conversation, Joyce turned to Will and began talking to him about an upcoming show at the gallery. Buffy found herself sitting there quietly, not involved in either conversation. It was her birthday. She zoned out, watching various people around the restaurant.
“So, Buffy,” she heard her father say, pulling her out of her trance. “Why didn’t you bring that boyfriend of yours?”
‘Of course he would bring this up now,” she thought, annoyed. ‘He couldn’t have asked me that when he was rambling on in the car.’
“Um, we’re kind of not seeing each other anymore,” she said, looking at her lap.
“Why not? Did he do something to you?” Hank asked.
“No, Dad!” she replied. “It just…didn’t work out.”
“Well, he seemed like a good one,” he said, giving Will a sideways glance. “Would have liked to have met him.”
Buffy was fuming on the inside. This was why she always hated these birthday dinners. Her parents were polite to one another, but didn’t make too much conversation, leaving her and Xander to get harassed by Hank all night. Now, with the addition of Will and Anya, it was even more awkward.
The waiter came back with their drinks and salads, then took their dinner orders. The awkward conversations continued as they waited for their food to arrive.
Twenty excruciating minutes later, the waiter arrived with their meals, placing each one in front of them. Buffy dug into her filet mignon, eager to finish this evening. She had to admit though, the food was delicious.
“So Buffy, how long have you and Will been dating?” Anya asked as they were part way through their meals.
“Um, he’s not my boyfriend,” Buffy replied, avoiding looking at Will.
“Oh,” Anya said. “What was it you didn’t tell me, Xander?” she asked, turning to Xander.
“Nothing, Ahn,” he replied. “It’s not a big deal.”
Hank chimed in. “Xander and Will used to be best buddies, isn’t that right boys?”
“Yes sir,” Will replied with a smug grin. Xander said nothing.
“I don’t know what happened,” Hank continued. “But, now they won’t talk anymore.” He turned to Xander. “If you ask me, son, it’s no big loss,” he tried to say quietly.
“Hank!” Joyce scolded.
“I was just joking, Joyce,” Hank replied.
“You’re right, Dad,” Xander spoke up. “It’s no big loss.” He looked right at Will with steely eyes. Will stared right back. Buffy was fed up.
“God Xander!” she exclaimed. “Is it too much to ask for you to be nice to Will on my birthday? I just wanted to have a nice dinner and I wanted my friend to come, but you can’t stop being a jerk for two seconds and let me have a good time!” She felt tears coming on, so she excused herself and got up to go to the bathroom.
The ladies room was a fancy as the rest of the place. It had floral wallpaper and a couch in the front, and what looked like several different options for hand soap and perfumes. She closed herself in a stall, in case anyone came in. Sitting down on the toilet, she let tears fall from her eyes.
‘Why, why, why? “ she thought. ‘I should have known that this would happen.’
After a few minutes of crying, she heard the door open. She quieted her sniffles so whoever it was wouldn’t hear her.
“Buffy?” a male voice called out.
“Will?” she sniffled, recognizing it as him.
“Luv, are you alright?” he asked. He was now standing outside the stall.
“Will, this is the ladies room,” she scolded halfheartedly.
“So, what? I needed to see if you were okay. Come out of there, pet,” he demanded gently.
She opened the door and stepped out. He was standing there with his hands in his pockets, crooked smile on his face. He reached up and wiped a lone tear from her cheek.
“Wanna get out of here?” he asked.
“Absolutely.”
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Here's the first part of Buffy's birthday. I decided to separate it into two chapters.
Thanks to everyone who's been reviewing!
Thanks to everyone who's been reviewing!
Chapter End Notes:
Part two of the birthday coming soon!
Thoughts??
Thoughts??