who. buffy and sam
what. buffy and sam go on their first date that doesn't involve a graveyard.
when. same day as the giles/willow thread
where. cleveland's national park
locked to. sam
status. complete



"How does this one look?" For the last hour, Buffy had been asking her sister the same thing, no matter if the answer was always the same. "Is this too, ya' know, girly?" The sundress that Buffy was currently asking about was a simple white, but was garnished with pink lace. Just to be sure Dawn saw it all, Buffy turned and spun so the material floated around her in a blur of white and pink. Rolling those blue eyes that had always managed to make Buffy jealous, Dawn fell back on Buffy's bed, throwing her arms to her sides in a theatrical show of frustration. "It looks good, Buffy. Just like the last twenty outfits you've tried on did. Go with that one. It's nice." Smoothing down the cotton material at her sides, the blonde turned back to the mirror, her head canting to one side. "We're having a picnic, Dawn. Do you know how long it's been since the guy I was seeing took me on a date? Much less one in broad daylight? When you tend to date the undead, picnics aren't all that popular on the date scale."

When Sam had called Buffy and asked if she wanted to go on another date, the first thing she'd asked was what kind of weapons she should bring. Shocked, Buffy had actually laughed when Sam had said that he was leaning more towards a picnic. Once she realized he wasn't joking, Buffy had jumped at the chance. How long had it been since she had just spent a day lounging in the sun? She couldn't even remember. Becoming a Slayer had taken her from her world of sunshine and thrust her into the shadows. Eventually, it was just something she had come to accept.

Maybe she didn't have to, anymore.

After asking Dawn to fix Buffy's hair ( that was another thing Dawn had that Buffy was jealous of: the skill to do a french braid ) and calling a taxi, the Slayer was standing at the entrance of the park holding a basket at her side. No one would have guessed that this flip-flop wearing, basket toting blonde turned into a stake-wielding, vampire slaying machine come nightfall. Today, she wasn't the Slayer. She was a woman who had a date with a studmuffin who just so happened to know how to wield a weapon just as well as she did.

It took only a moment or two for Buffy to spot Sam. Let's be honest - it wasn't exactly hard to spot Sam in a crowd, thanks to his height. When they locked eyes, Sam waved her over, and Buffy followed. Seconds later, she was staring down at a blanket, and various items of food that Sam had brought. "Looks like quite the spread you have here," Buffy spoke the words as she sat the basket down, before standing upright again. Usually, Buffy's heels she wore gave her at least some height. Now Buffy felt tiny standing next to Sam, who had a good foot more than her. When she went to kiss him, tiptoes flexed and hands went to his shoulders just so she could reach his lips. "Has anyone ever told you that you're freakishly tall," Buffy said as she broke the kiss, and situated herself down onto the blanket. "And don't say that it's just because I'm freakishly short, 'cause then I'd have to break out a can of whoop ass."

This side of Cleveland wasn't so bad, Buffy decided as she looked around at the park. The sun was high in the sky, and temperatures were settled in the mid-seventies. Kids played in the park, couples held hands, dogs barked - it was almost surreal how much Cleveland changed when the sun went down.

"Just a heads up," The words were spoken on a smile as Buffy started to open the basket she'd first set down. "You're going to be in awe of my awesome cooking skills." Digging into the wicker basket, Sam would probably realize fairly quickly that nothing Buffy brought required actual cooking. There were a couple things Buffy didn't ( couldn't ) do, and those were drive and cook. Once she'd set out the strawberries, the sandwiches, and bottles of water, both blonde brows quirked upwards. "What did I tell you? I've got mad skills in the kitchen. It's okay to be jealous."

Settling back on her elbows, the flip flops she wore were kicked aside. For the time being, Buffy could even forget all the tragedies that made up her life ever since she'd moved to Cleveland. Justice, Angel, the Voodoo Doll killer - none of them could touch her here.

For the first time in a long time, she was okay.