Angie asked for a birthday fic involving a couple of the following:

A Disney movie (any one)
a song (again, anything you choose)
a birthday cake or birthday party
a tattoo or piercing (real or fake)
a flamingo
a Sterling rose (for those of you who don't know, it's like a lavender color)
a laptop computer
a videogame

And I'm trying to avoid other fic, sooooo...I kinda used them all.

TITLE: Lady And The Tramp, Take Two

AUTHOR: Lex

EMAIL: lex@bitchenvy.com

RATING: PG (No one drop dead of shock, okay?)

DISCLAIMER: Let's see. The characters belong to Joss Whedon and Crew. Lady And The Tramp belongs to Disney. The challenge is Angie's. Everything else, including the sap, is mine. All mine.

TIMELINE: Set late Season Four

SYNOPSIS: Buffy's 19th birthday, minus the gut-wrenching angst.

DEDICATED: To Angie. So, Happy 30th, babe!

WARNING: Danger Will Robinson! Immense Sap Ahead. This one rates very high on the Sap-O-Meter. Also, it has not been betaed, so any errors fall on my head, and not on the heads of my esteemed beta readers.

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January, 2000.

The turn of the century had come and gone, and now it was time for a far more important day in Sunnydale.

Buffy's birthday.

Knowing full well that her birthday usually meant a day filled with gut-wrenching angst and immense personal horror, Buffy had banned any and all celebration of the day. The gang was less than pleased, but she was determined. She kicked Willow out of the apartment they shared, sending her off for a night on the town with Oz. Xander wanted to come by, but Buffy had quickly refused, informing him that if he showed his face, she would take immense satisfaction in kicking his ass back to his own house. Spike had offered to 'allow her' to kick *his* ass as a present, but as great a gift as it was, she declined. Her mother had protested, but Buffy was firm. Even Cordelia had called, and had been told the same thing.

No celebration.

She had bought herself a present that morning, and she wanted nothing else.

Surprisingly, Giles had been the hardest to convince. He seemed personally affronted that she wished to spend her birthday alone. But she overruled him, telling him there must be some sort of demonic convergence for him to research. He had subsided with a glare and a stutter.

Only one person hadn't wished her a happy birthday. And perversely, he was the one that she wanted to hear from the most.

So, in defiance of past birthday anguish, she sat herself in front of the tv, remote in one hand, pint of Ben&Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie in the other. And since it was her birthday, she could watch her favorite movie ever.

Lady And The Tramp.

Looking back on the most important movie of her childhood, Buffy was amused at the parallels to her own life. Unashamedly, she popped the tape in the VCR and hit play.

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The movie unfolded, and she was instantly drawn in. Her mood considerably lightened, she sang along with the cats winding their way around the screen.

"We are Si-a-me-se if you pl-ea-se, we are Si-a-me-se if you don't please..."

Just as she was getting into it, a knock sounded at the door. Buffy paused the tape and glared at the door. If that was Xander, or god help him, Giles, she was going to kill him. And she was going to enjoy it.

Putting the ice cream down on the coffee table, she got up and padded to the door wearing her oldest, rattiest, flamingo-print pyjamas. Opening the door, she snarled, "I am going to KILL you..." She trailed off, staring dumbly at the vampire in front of her.

"Don't kill me just yet. I come bearing gifts." Angel smiled at her, his hands full.

She continued to stare slack-jawed at him, unable to believe he was there. "You came," she said lamely.

"It's your birthday. Of course I came. I figured...well, I figured you wouldn't be alone. But I had to come anyway."

She grinned at him finally. "Well, given my past history with birthday horror, I decided that a quiet night at home was just the thing for Slay Gal."

He looked rueful for a moment, remembering his own part in her birthday-phobia, then leaned forward to kiss her cheek. "Happy Birthday, baby." He stepped back and presented her with a beautiful lavender colored rose.

Her eyes lit up, and she cradled the soft bloom to her face. At that moment, he was glad that he hadn't gotten her the dozens of bloodred roses that he had seen in the store. She would have associated them with Angelus...and that was the last thing he ever wanted.

"It's beautiful, Angel, thank you." She beamed up at him, and then realized they were still in her hall. "Oh, come in!"

At the invitation, Angel followed her inside, noting the chaos that consumed the apartment. On a table in the corner was what he presumed was Willow's laptop, with a shirt draped over it. He noticed her favorite ice cream on the coffee table, and chuckled.

"Chocolate Fudge Brownie?" he asked, pointing to the ice cream.

"You know me so well." She noticed he held a box in his hand. "What's that?"

"Oh. Another favorite. Birthday cheesecake." He handed the box to her, and she nearly danced around the room with glee.

"Is it...?"

"Cherry cheesecake? Of course."

She shrieked then, dropping the cake on the table and flinging herself into his arms. "You want me to get fat, don't you."

"You'd look cute fat."

She mock-glared. "Riiiiight. And then all the demons would taunt me. No way, buster." She pushed away from him, and opened up the box. She walked into the kitchen, and he followed her.

Suddenly, he caught the scent of her blood on the air. "Buffy? Are you all right? I can...I can smell blood. Your blood."

She looked at him uncomprehendingly for a moment, then blushed deeply. "Oh. That. Well. It was, um, kind of my present to myself."

It was Angel's turn to be confused. "What?"

"I, uh, well, I got a tattoo." She quickly turned her attention back to the cake.

"Where?" Her face was beyond scarlet, and the curiosity got the better of Angel.

"On my back," she answered quickly.

"Like where I have mine?"

"Yes."

He pulled up the faded pyjama top she had on before she could stop him. What he saw inked on her back made his heart give a funny little lurch in his chest. It was a bloodred heart, with a stake through it. And in Celtic lettering, across the widest part of the heart, was the word ANGEL.

Buffy froze, afraid of what he would say. But he didn't say a word. All he did was press his lips lightly against the small wound, kissing it gently.

After a moment, he straightened and said, "I'm amazed you haven't inhaled that cheesecake yet."

She smiled again, grateful for the diversion. She cut herself a huge slice, knowing that he hated cheesecake and wouldn't want any himself, and motioned him over to the couch. "Let's sit."

He sat down on the couch, then jumped back up with something in hand. "Whatever this is, I sat on it."

Buffy glanced at it, then tossed it aside. "It's one of Xander's video games. He leaves them all over the place." She curled up next to him, cheesecake in hand, ice cream forgotten.

Angel looked at the television screen. "What is this?"

"A movie. My favorite. Lady And The Tramp."

"About dogs?"

"Not just *any* dogs, Angel. Two dogs that are from completely different worlds." She looked closely at him.

"Different worlds?"

"Yup. And everyone thinks that they can't be together."

"Can't be together?" His voice was lower.

"That's what people say. But they're wrong." Was he understanding what she was trying to tell him?

"Wrong?"

"Completely and totally wrong. What the people don't understand is that Lady and Tramp are made for each other. They just...fit. They're opposites, sure, but they're two halves of a whole. True love."

"True love?" His eyes gleamed.

Buffy nodded. "True love. No matter what people say."

Angel was silent for a moment, then removed the cheesecake and placed it next to the melting ice cream. He took her hand. "Would Lady forgive Tramp if he was really, really stupid and left her for a while?"

Her eyes brimmed with tears. "She'd be really, really mad at him for doing something that dumb."

"I imagine he'd be pretty mad at himself."

"But then he'd come back?"

Angel nodded. "He'd always come back to her in the end. Because he loves her more than anything else in the whole world."

"Then she'd forgive him. Because she loves him. Even though he went off and left her."

They stared at each other for a minute, then Buffy crawled into his lap, burying her face in the safety of his neck. As his arms wrapped around her, she hit play.

And as she sat there watching the best movie of all time, secure once more in Angel's love, she realized that this was by far the best birthday she had ever had.

THE END

This is my ne ner to Joss for the night. He only THINKS he can break them up. I won't let him. So there!