Life in the Fast Lane [Angel]

Being a vampire meant that Angel was sure to see a lot of changes to the world over the course of his life but the truth was that he had never expected such a major change to happen this soon. Magic had been revealed to the world and there was no coming back from that, while in a way it was good to know that the truth was finally out there at the same time it had been revealed in the worst way possible. Innocent people had lost their lives just to further the cause the Enlightened were following and Angel knew that he was never going to understand how anyone could ever want to do that. He would be the first to admit that there had been times over the years where his control had slipped but he never wanted to hurt anyone and he didn’t know anyone who would. His father was the exception to that, the guy enjoyed killing from what he had learned about the man so Angel knew that there was a chance that he might be involved in the attacks but he had no memories of the guy since he’d left when Angel was just a baby and he had brushed off any attempts the man had made to contact him since then. Angel had no interest in associating with someone who could cheat on his mum before and while she was pregnant, then leave and have nothing to do with any of them. Angel knew that he’d had to grow up quickly but he didn’t regret it, he wanted to look out for his twin and his mum and he was doing his best to do just that. He knew that Summer had other people looking out for her as well, she had Chantal and Ana that she could talk to whenever she needed to and she had Micheal to lean on as well but at the end of the day the two of them were twins and they had always been there for each other so Angel knew that that wasn’t going to change. For such a long time it had been the two of them against the world but he didn’t regret the friends that they had made during their time at Hogwarts and afterwards one bit. They were lucky to have the people in their lives that they did and Angel knew better than to take that for granted.

One of those people was Cora. They had literally ended up running into each other one day and they could have just gone their separate ways after that but they hadn’t done. Instead they had started spending more time together and Angel found that he liked being around another vampire who wasn’t a member of his family. Most of his friends were human which meant that he was going to have to say goodbye to them one day and while it was true that there weren’t any guarantees when it came to a vampire’s lifespan either, they at least had the capability of living for longer than humans did and Angel hoped that Cora was someone who would end up being in his life for a long time to come. There was still a lot about Cora that he didn’t know, opening up about her past wasn’t something that seemed to come easily to her, but he really wasn’t going anywhere so he hoped that in time she would trust him with it. Angel had been a vampire his whole life but at the end of the day he was only twenty four so he knew that he still had a lot to learn. That was something that they could help each other with, at least. Cora could help him with that with any luck and in exchange Angel always helped her when she struggled with technology. It had been strange when it was all first brought in but now it seemed completely normal for Angel. He knew that it wasn’t that way for Cora, though, so he often ended up helping her when she needed it. That day she had asked him over for dinner and he had stopped off to grab something for them for dessert before heading in the direction of her place. He had been there before a few times and the place really did suit Cora perfectly as far as he was concerned. Right now there was a part of him that felt like he could find his way to Cora’s place blindfolded but he knew that he didn’t want to test that theory just yet. Instead his gaze swept around him as he headed in the direction of her place, making sure that there weren’t any threats along the way. Ringing the doorbell once he’d arrived and made sure that the coast was clear, Angel felt a smile touch his lips as Cora opened the door. “Hey,” he said, letting one hand rest against her arm as he leaned forward and kissed her cheek gently. “Sure it did, what did you do to it this time?” he asked, an amused smile forming on his face as he made his way into the house. “Of course I can take a look. I brought us dessert as well,” he said, holding it out to her as he slipped his jacket off and hung it up automatically. “How has everything been otherwise? You’re not still working, are you?” he asked as he caught sight of the laptop open on a patient screen on the table, hoping that Cora would be able to take some time off so they could catch up properly.

CORA ABIGAIL BREWSTER

Angel loved his friends and his extended family but the truth was that other than his immediate family, most of the people in his life were human. It wasn’t lost on Angel that one day they would all be gone while he remained the same as he was now and in a way that was why he had found himself so eager to get to know Cora when the chance had presented itself. She was a vampire like he was and the truth was that even though he didn’t know much about her past other than the few stories she had shared with him so far, Angel still liked being around her more than he had perhaps even admitted to himself. What had started out as a simple friendship had slowly started shifting into something more for Angel although if he was honest there had been sparks right from the start, he just hadn’t felt ready to accept that at first. He hadn’t said anything to Cora because the truth was he really didn’t have a good track record with relationships but he cared about her and after the way he had been deceived by his ex, that was something he hadn’t thought would happen again any time soon. Angel had only ever dated humans before, it had never been intentional but the women he had found himself attracted to in the past had always been human and that had then left him with the dilemma of whether he stayed with them while they lived out their human lives or whether he turned them. A couple of his exes had asked him to turn them but the truth was that it had never felt right. He had never felt that level of love that Summer had had for Finn before he died and he had started to wonder if something was wrong with him. He knew that he didn’t want to end up alone but at the same time he didn’t want to end up making the wrong choice and ruining someone’s life. He had seen the way his mum had been devastated when his dad had walked out and ended their marriage, she had become a vampire so that they could be together and she had ended up getting her heart broken anyway. Angel knew that not all relationships lasted forever but he was so worried about turning someone only to have the relationship come to an end that he hadn’t really let himself get too attached recently. He knew that he was sabotaging his own happiness but he just couldn’t help it. It was easier to focus on the people he did have in his life – his family and his friends. Even though they weren’t kids any longer he and Summer were just as close as ever and he tried to help out with her two girls as much as he could.

These days he seemed to be spending a lot of time with Cora as well but as far as Angel was concerned that definitely wasn’t a bad thing. The feelings he had for her seemed to be growing stronger all the time and he wanted to tell her but he would be lying if he said he wasn’t worried about what would happen if she didn’t feel the same. She meant a lot to him and he knew he would hate it if she suddenly cut off all contact with him. Angel had a few people in his life outside of his family that he cared about, he had a best friend in Seth and he had some others that he spent time with when he could as well, but Cora meant a lot to him and he knew that he didn’t want to lose that. Instead he had kept it to himself so far and he knew that he would continue to do so for at least a little while longer. He wanted to try and suss out whether or not she felt the same but the truth was that was proving to be much easier said than done. As Cora told him what had happened to her phone, Angel felt a smile touch his lips. “I’d be very surprised if any phone survived that, to be honest,” he admitted. “I might be able to dry out the old one and get it working again but to be honest since you’ve got a new one it would be easier to just transfer everything over.” He knew that Cora had everything backed up because he’d sorted that out for her before so she wouldn’t have to worry if anything like this did ever happen. “Don’t worry, I’ll sort it,” he assured her. Cora was a vampire and he knew that she could take care of herself but if he was honest he still didn’t like the idea of her not having a phone so he knew that he would get the new one up and running for her in case she needed it. Her next words were enough to surprise him but Angel recovered quickly. “It is, the other was just to be polite,” he said, studying her face carefully to try and gauge her reaction. He hadn’t expected Cora to flirt with him like that but now she had he was curious as to whether she was just messing around or whether she actually meant it. Angel had wanted to try and figure out whether she liked him in the same way he liked her and it seemed that he might just be getting his answer if she had meant what she’d said. “Good answer,” Angel said, a smile forming on his face as Cora said that now he was there her attention was on him. He knew how hard she worked and he liked to try and make sure that she got to have at least a little downtime when he was around. Taking a seat, he watched as Cora checked on the food before thanking her for the glass she set down in front of him and taking a sip. “I’ve been good, work has been busy for me too and they’re tightening security at the moment,” he admitted. He knew that it was to be expected with everything that was going on right now and it was probably a good thing. “Other than that I’ve just been spending time with Summer and the girls,” he shrugged, knowing that that was pretty normal for him even before the Enlightened turned the whole world upside down. “I’m glad it’s almost the weekend though. Have you got anything planned?” he asked, knowing that if she didn’t then he would try and whisk Cora away for a bit even if it was just as friends.

CORA ABIGAIL BREWSTER

Angel had always found it so easy to be around Cora, he had plenty of friends who were human but she got the vampire side of things in a way that they never would. Summer had that in Micheal and Angel had that in Cora. He knew that he didn’t have to keep anything from her and if he was honest he had come to love spending time with her. There was so much about Cora’s past that he still didn’t know and there were things about his own that he hadn’t told her yet either but it never seemed to make things weird between them and he really was glad about that. She knew that he was born a vampire and didn’t seem to care and that was one of the things that had always been most difficult for Angel. There were a lot of people out there who were able to accept that vampires were real but struggled to accept that he had been born a vampire and had no experience of a human life. It wasn’t his choice but this was all he had ever known. Both he and Summer had come across people who had judged them for that during their days at Hogwarts and for Angel it had made it more difficult when it came to relationships. These days anyone who was different was coming under even more scrutiny thanks to the Enlightened and Angel knew that he didn’t want to stand out any more than he already did. In a way that was one reason why it was easier to throw himself into work and spending time with his friends and family. It was much easier to focus on the good things he had going in his life than it was to dwell on the fact that he was still on his own. His last girlfriend had used him to get information for a story she was writing about his father and Angel would be the first to admit that it had left him with trust issues, especially since that was just the latest in a long line of failed relationships. He knew that he was attracted to Cora, he would be crazy not to be, and he really did feel like he could be himself around her but there was also a part of him that was concerned that might fall apart if she liked him too and it didn’t work out. Staying friends was easier, or at least that was what he kept telling himself anyway, but it was better than not having her in his life at all.

“It will need to be a lot more durable with you,” Angel teased as he nudged Cora’s arm playfully with his own, no malice to his words whatsoever. If anything he found it amusing that she seemed so bad with technology given the time they lived in and between that and some of the things she said he sometimes found himself wondering if perhaps she was from a different time like Micheal was. Angel had met other vampires who were around his age but he hadn’t come across any that were older. There had been an age gap between his mum and dad and that hadn’t worked out but he knew that was because his dad was an awful person, not because they were born into different times. Truth be told Angel had never really worried about age differences too much, he was a vampire which meant that unless he was incredibly lucky and found someone he could spend the rest of his life with while he was still young then he would always be older than anyone he ended up with. It came with the territory of being a vampire and he had made his peace with that a long time ago. Opening the box, Angel took the new phone out and plugged it in so it could charge fully before turning it on. Once it was on he navigated through the screens setting everything up and left it doing that before turning to look back at Cora as she said that two desserts worked for her. “I’m having a really hard time telling whether you’re serious right now or whether you’re just joking,” Angel admitted. He had hoped that his comment would have given him an insight as to whether Cora had feelings for him like he had feelings for her but he really wasn’t sure. He knew he didn’t want to lose her but if he was honest the more time he spent with her the more difficult he was finding it to keep it to himself and the way Cora had started flirting with him really wasn’t helping matters.

“Exactly. I can look after myself but it’s comforting having the extra security there for the students and when my mum and Summer are working. Security at the nursery has been beefed up too,” Angel admitted. He knew that he was never going to stop worrying about the safety of the people who mattered to him, when it came to his human friends he was only going to have so much time with them and he knew that he would hate for that to be cut short. When it came to his family they were vampires so if things worked out then he would have much more time with them but Finn dying was proof that they weren’t invincible. They could die too and they could also get hurt and Angel knew that that was the last thing he wanted to have happen. As Cora spoke again, Angel felt a smile touch his lips. “I think so, I’ll never get tired of seeing their faces light up when they see me,” Angel admitted. “I’d love to have a family of my own one day but that’s probably a long way off given my track record so spending time with the girls is the next best thing.” He always spoiled them when they were with him, he just couldn’t seem to help it. He often ended up spending time with them when Summer needed a babysitter and they stayed over at his house sometimes as well so they definitely kept him on his toes but as far as he was concerned that was a good thing. The girls had lost their dad so he was doing his best to step up and be there for them since Finn couldn’t. “If you’d like to meet them at some point, that can be arranged,” he added, a smile forming on his face as he looked over at Cora. “I know they’d love you.” There wasn’t a doubt in his mind about that and Summer knew that Cora was important to him so he knew that his sister wouldn’t mind at all, she had even mentioned it a couple of times. Angel knew that Summer had feelings for Micheal and even though he hadn’t said it out loud, he wouldn’t be surprised if she had realised that he had feelings for Cora. They had always been close and they had the whole twin intuition thing going for them so he wouldn’t put it past her. As Cora said that she would probably pick up a shift that weekend, Angel shook his head. “You work too much as it is, you shouldn’t be picking up shifts when you have the weekend off,” he said gently. “How would you feel about spending the weekend with me? We could get away for a bit if you wanted to, or just hang out around here.”

CORA ABIGAIL BREWSTER

Angel had lost touch with some of the friends he’d made at Hogwarts after graduation but there were others who had remained in his life and he was grateful to them for that. Seth had been his best friend ever since the start of their first year and he sometimes ended up spending time with some of his sister’s friends as well but otherwise Angel mainly tended to spend time with his family, Seth and Cora these days. He had never had a hard time making friends and he knew that he should probably reach out to some of the people that he had lost touch with but right now with everything that was going on with the Enlightened, Angel couldn’t help but feel like the people who were closest to him right now were his main priority. He knew that he would do anything to keep all of them safe, especially his twin and nieces, and between being there for them, work and spending time with the other people he had in his life there didn’t seem to be much time for anything else right now anyway. He knew that it would probably get easier as the twins got older and became a little more independent but right now they were still so young and Angel definitely had his hands full whenever they spent time with him. He knew that things were changing, Summer had feelings for Micheal and Angel had feelings for Cora but the truth was that he wasn’t sure how to put those into words just yet. His previous relationships hadn’t ended well and Cora meant far too much to him to ever want to lose her but he was starting to think that he was going to have to say something sooner rather than later just to see where he stood. “Hey, I never said that,” Angel chuckled as Cora said she was sure he was broken up over the idea of having something else to tease her about. “I would say I’m only ever a call away when you need tech support but you don’t given what you’re like with phones, it’s never that easy,” he teased, unable to stop himself. Cora always seemed to end up breaking whatever phone she picked out so Angel had grown used to helping her out like this but it always amused him to no end. It was just another of those things that gave him the impression that perhaps Cora was born into a different time but it didn’t feel right to ask that question so he kept it to himself. He knew that she would open up to him when she was ready, he just needed to be patient.

“You’re definitely good at that,” Angel agreed as Cora said she was keeping him on his toes. He honestly didn’t know why she was being so vague about whether or not she had meant what she’d said but it was incredibly frustrating not knowing. Despite the occasional flirting from Cora, he hadn’t thought that there was a chance she was interested in him as well until she made that joke but now he was left wondering whether she had meant it or not and it wasn’t helping him figure out whether he should say something to her. Losing a friend wasn’t something that Angel wanted to do but then again he knew that he would regret it if he didn’t take a chance and Cora ended up getting together with someone else. If things worked out then Angel should have a long life ahead of him given that he was a vampire and he knew that he didn’t want to look back on this time with any regrets. His past relationships hadn’t worked out but he knew that didn’t mean that a new one couldn’t and he honestly hoped that this time things might be different. If Cora didn’t feel the same then Angel knew that he would understand and it wouldn’t stop him from being there for her as a friend but he hoped that she felt the same.

As Cora said it was peace of mind for the people who cared about him and his safety as well, Angel’s expression turned thoughtful for a moment. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. I’m so used to being the one to worry about other people that I forget they might worry about me too,” he admitted. He was always so focused on making sure that the people he cared about were alright and he knew that he had people around him who cared about him but it never really occurred to him that they might worry about him too. “Yeah, that’s right. There are always people guarding the gates and the grounds but extra security has been assigned to the nursery as well,” he confirmed. As Cora told him that he had time and that he shouldn’t rush and feel like he was settling, Angel’s expression softened. “I think I’ve already found that person,” he said gently, looking down at the hand she had placed on his arm as she spoke before letting his hand rest lightly against her cheek. Cora was always on his mind far much more than she should be and it was always her face he pictured whenever he thought about his future these days. Angel wasn’t sure whether she felt the same but he knew that it was now or never so he knew that he just needed to come out and say it. “Listen, I should have said something a while ago but you’re one of the people who matters most to me in the world and I let my fear of losing what we have get in the way,” Angel said as his gaze met hers. “I like you, Cora. I know it started out as just friendship but somewhere along the line it turned into something so much more for me,” he said, his eyes fixed on hers as he spoke. “You’re the first person I think about when I wake up in the morning and the last person I think about before I go to sleep at night. I want to be with you. I’ll understand if you don’t feel the same but I just needed to put it out there.” Honestly it was scary putting himself out there like that again after getting his heart broken so many times in the past but Angel knew he had to take a chance, otherwise he would only end up regretting it.

Cora meant so much to him and the truth was that Angel wasn’t particularly good at showing that, he’d had his heart broken in the past and after his last girlfriend used him he had started to question his judgement. He knew that he didn’t want to end up getting his heart broken again but he also knew that he wasn’t going to get anywhere if he didn’t take a chance. Cora wasn’t like anyone that he had ever met before and he knew that he would regret it if he didn’t at least try. Either way he knew that he wanted to integrate Cora into his life more and getting her to meet some of the people who mattered most to him was a pretty good way of doing that. “I’m sure she’ll be fine with it, I’ll ask the next time I see her,” he nodded, glad to hear that Cora sounded excited about the idea. He knew the girls would love her and Summer had heard him talk about Cora so many times that he didn’t think it would be a problem at all. As she asked whether he liked the idea of going away or sticking around there, Angel didn’t hesitate before answering. “Let’s get away for a bit. We can get a hotel somewhere and forget about everything for a while,” he suggested, hoping she would be up for that. “If you would prefer separate rooms I’ll understand, there’s no pressure,” he added quickly, not wanting Cora to feel like she had to share a room with him based on his confession or anything like that. He was still trying to figure out whether she was really interested in him at the moment and the last thing he wanted to do was to scare her off. As she offered him wine, Angel nodded. “That would be great, thanks.”

CORA ABIGAIL BREWSTER

Angel didn’t mind being the person that Cora called on when the needed help with technology, in fact he quite liked it since it gave him an excuse to spend time with her. She had somehow managed to make it through a few new phones already but the fact that she was so unfamiliar with them together with the way Cora talked sometimes was enough to give Angel the impression that she was a lot older than she looked. He had no idea how old exactly but he was certain that she was older than he was. It didn’t stop him from wanting to spend time with her, though, and it hadn’t stopped him from developing feelings for her either. He hadn’t planned on that happening, he’d had his heart broken in the past and his last girlfriend had betrayed him in a way that had put him off letting anyone get close to him like that again for a long time, but with Cora he just couldn’t help it. There was something about her that was so different to every other woman he’d ever met and being around her made him happy so he knew that he wanted that to continue for as long as possible. Angel never turned down an invitation when Cora asked him over, he had been to her house a few times since they’d started spending time together and she had been to his place as well. He had his family and friends around him but Cora was special to him and he had been thinking about her lately a lot more than he knew he should. As Cora said that knowing he was safe was just as important to the people who cared about him as knowing that Summer and the girls were safe was to him, Angel studied her carefully for a moment. “Does that include you?” he asked, unable to deny that he was curious. He knew that he liked Cora and there were times when she flirted with him but he honestly didn’t know whether she was interested in him or not. She could be pretty evasive when she wanted to be and it was exasperating to say the least.

Confessing to Cora that he had already found that special person again wasn’t something that Angel had planned on doing but he knew that if he didn’t say something to her now then he might never do it. He had been on his own for a long time since his last relationship ended and even though he had seen his sister lose the man she’d wanted to spend the rest of her life with even after becoming a vampire, it still didn’t stop Angel from wanting to find someone like that for himself. He had never had good luck with relationships, there was a time when he thought that he was a pretty good judge of character but one girlfriend had become clingy and possessive while another had only ended up getting close to him so she could write a story about the father that had abandoned him when he was a baby. Angel had no trouble making friends but when it came to letting someone into his heart, the truth was that he was much more wary. He knew he had his whole life ahead of him and since he was a vampire that could end up being a very long life indeed but he also knew that nothing in life was guaranteed. His brother-in-law had become a vampire and he had died while he was in his early twenties leaving Summer a widow and the two girls without their dad. Angel knew that he wanted to have a family of his own one day and he wanted that to be with someone special but there was a part of him that had been starting to wonder whether he would ever get lucky enough to find the kind of genuine love that his sister had found. She had loved and lost but she had at least been open to it when it came around and Angel had known that he had wanted to be as well. Angel’s heart leapt as Cora said that she felt something for him too and even before she continued, he knew that there was a “but” coming. It wasn’t news to him that Cora was older than he was but to hear her say that she was turned in the 1600s was a lot and Angel made himself take a seat, needing a moment to process what she had just told him. “I knew you were a lot older than me but you’re really over four hundred years old?” Angel asked as he looked over at her, his mind reeling from that revelation. His dad was over two hundred years old and he’d thought he’d wanted marriage and kids but it turned out that wasn’t what he’d wanted at all and Angel’s mum had been left to raise the two of them alone. Angel had been wary of big age gaps ever since then but he knew deep down that it wasn’t fair to lump Cora in with his dad. She had been nothing but nice and even though it was a lot to take in, it still didn’t change the way he felt about her. “I won’t lie, I had no idea you were that much older than me. My dad was a lot older than my mum and he thought he wanted to be with her and have a family but he changed his mind when Summer and I were babies. We haven’t seen him since. He tried getting in touch with us once when we were older but that was after we found the letter he’d left our mum saying such awful things about her and about us as well,” he explained, needing her to know why it was such a surprise to him. “I still want to be with you, Cora, but if we do this then I need to know that you’re sure it’s what you really want too,” Angel continued, his eyes locked on hers as he spoke. “I’m not interested in just having fun, I want to be with someone I can build a life with one day and at some point I want to start a family.” He wasn’t sure whether she was interested in either of those things and if she wasn’t then Angel knew that he would understand but given what she had just told him, he felt like he needed to put all his cards on the table in return.

Even thinking about introducing anyone to Summer and the girls was a big deal as far as Angel was concerned, he knew that his mum and his other siblings would want to meet Cora too but Summer was his twin and the girls meant the world to him so he knew that they were the first people he wanted her to meet. The age gap was going to take some getting used to but the age difference hadn’t stopped Summer from developing feelings for Micheal and it hadn’t changed Angel’s feelings towards Cora. He was perhaps a little more wary than he was before but he knew that he wanted to give what was going on between them a real shot if that was what she wanted too. He had suspected from the very beginning that Cora was from a different time but he had never known just how right he was. There was so much about her that he still didn’t know but he wanted to find out as much as possible. “In that case we’ll make it happen. You mean a lot to me so I’m sure Summer will be on board.” She might want to meet Cora first once Angel admitted that he had feelings for her since Summer always did her best to look out for him but he didn’t think that Cora meeting the girls would be a problem. “You think so?” Angel asked, a smile forming on his face as Cora said that getting away sounded nice but sharing a room was better. He wouldn’t have blamed Cora if she thought that it was too soon considering he’d only just told her that he had feelings for her or if she thought it was a little too presumptuous that it might lead to something more but she seemed to like the idea and Angel really was glad about that. Even if nothing else happened and they just shared the same room then Angel knew that it would be a start. “Thanks,” he said, lifting his glass to his lips and taking a sip. “I’m sure it will be great, I’ve loved everything you’ve made so far so I doubt this will be any different,” he assured her gently.

CORA ABIGAIL BREWSTER