As Giles had anticipated, Buffy balked at staying with Cordelia.  Not about to let her "take care of herself" as the Slayer put it, Giles insisted she move into the former cheerleader’s townhouse.  Buffy was used to taking orders, and used to being miserable, she relented.

Cordelia had outdone herself.  Buffy was amazed but equally uncomfortable when she was led to the spacious room, complete with beautiful hardwood floors and a high vaulted ceiling.  The centerpiece of the room was a huge bed with a breathtakingly beautiful carved, wooden headboard.  The room, itself, was spartan, the only furniture other than the bed was a large dresser, small desk, bookcase and a chair.  It was decorated in muted tones with nothing adorning the walls.

"Sorry," Cordelia said, "I didn’t really know what kind of furniture to get.  This stuff is pretty plain.  If you don’t like it, we can get something else."

Buffy didn’t know what to say.  Cordelia had gone and picked all of this stuff out specifically for her.  Why?  No one had ever gone out of their way for her before.  Buffy had expected to be shown the couch, maybe if she was lucky a small bed in a never used guest room.  This was completely unanticipated.

"It’s fine," Buffy finally said quietly.

"Well, whatever," Cordelia said lightly, "like I said, if you don’t like it we can always get something different."

Buffy stared at her blankly.

"Why did you go to all this trouble?" the Slayer finally asked.

"Because," Cordelia explained, "if you’re going to be staying here I want you to feel at home."

"Home never felt like this," Buffy said laughing sardonically.  "I had a cot on a closed in sun porch."

"I’m sorry," Cordelia said sadly.

Buffy stiffened, she hadn’t meant to elicit pity from her new roommate.

"Why are you sorry?" she asked caustically.  "You had nothing to do with my life.  I’m fine.  This will do."

The Slayer stepped farther into the room, trying to end the uncomfortable conversation.  Realizing her mistake, Cordelia decided it would be best to let Buffy rest.  She’d work on her plan to pry her out of her shell later.

"Goodnight," Cordelia said sincerely, laying the house keys on the desk and shutting the door.

Buffy spent a good hour going over every inch of her room.  Despite all of the warning bells in her head that told her she didn’t deserve such plush surroundings, the Slayer loved it.  It was the nicest place she’d ever been in and it was her new home.

Toeing off her unlaced combat boots, Buffy sat down on the plush comforter that covered her bed.  It was so wonderful to be anywhere but on Council grounds.  She’d felt like a bug under a microscope with all the Watchers hemming and hawing about her future.  They had no qualms in talking about her life as if she deserved no say in it.  Not that she wasn’t used to being treated like that, but still, it was annoying.

She’d managed to avoid seeing Crossgate, a fact for which she was deeply grateful.  Buffy was as attached to her former Watcher as any Slayer, but she didn’t miss the constant criticism that Crossgate had doled out.  Buffy didn’t know Giles well, but she suspected that his personality was quite a bit different from that of her former Watcher.

Sighing, Buffy laid back on the bed.  She was going to live in Sunnydale now.  It would be tough, they had their very own Hell Mouth.  She sighed heavily.  This was going to be very different from her last assignment.  In Sunnydale, she was going to have backup squad.  She smiled wryly.  Two of her backups were a pampered princess and an ensouled vampire.  She knew that the world worked in strange ways, but this was pushing it.  Not that she particularly minded Cordelia or Angel ...

While she’d been in England, she’d done a lot of thinking about both of them.  Cordelia meant well, but she could be prickly at times.  Angel ... Buffy didn’t know what to think about him.  He had clearly been on the outs with the bad guys, but did that necessarily make him a good guy?  And what did she have to do with his destiny?

Yawning, she decided that it was time for bed.  Quickly changing into a simple cotton pajama set, she crawled beneath the covers and fell asleep in *her* bed, at home for the first time in years.

Due to lingering jet lag and her usual nocturnal lifestyle, Buffy didn’t wake until well after sunset.  She had neglected to shower the night before and woke feeling decidedly gross.  Scooping up a few toiletries, she headed down the hall to the bathroom for a quick shower.  Still half asleep, she was startled wide awake when she walked directly into a hard expanse of bare male chest that was exiting the bathroom.

He was definitely male, though the towel on his head completely obscured his features.  With an "ooff" and then a quick "excuse me" and "sorry" Buffy stumbled backwards.

Angel quickly pulled the towel off his head and instinctively grabbed Buffy’s forearm to keep her from falling on her butt.  As she regained her balance, Angel released her arm and nervously played with the towel he’d been using to dry his hair.

"I’m sorry, Buffy," he said quickly.  "I didn’t see you there.  I should have been looking where I was going."

"It’s okay," Buffy assured him.  "I just didn’t realize anyone else was here."

Buffy was extremely nervous.  Crossgate had always forbidden her to have contact with anyone of the opposite sex and now she was standing half dressed in the hallway having a conversation with Cordelia’s half naked boyfriend.

"Oh, yeah," Angel babbled nervously.  "I’m just ... uh ... my plumbing is being fixed so Cordelia said I could shower over here.  I didn’t mean to disturb you."

"No," Buffy said quickly, feeling a blush rising on her cheeks, "you aren’t disturbing me."

"Oh, okay ... Did you sleep well?" he asked.  "I mean ... you must be tired from your trip."

Buffy was confused, obviously this guy knew quite a bit about her.  And he was staring at her a lot.  She felt the blush spreading to her entire face.  He had a body like a god.

"I slept just fine.  Are you done in there?" she asked, pointing nervously to the bathroom.

"Yes, sorry again.  I don’t want to be in your way," he replied, stepping out of the doorway to let her pass.

"No problem," she said with a small smile, walking into the bathroom and shutting the door.

Buffy’s heart was pounding loudly.  Feeling like a complete idiot, she looked into the mirror.  And almost died on the spot.  She’d had a conversation with Cordelia’s totally gorgeous boyfriend looking like a toad.  Her long hair was matted to her head, the bags under her eyes were big enough to store the Library of Congress in, and the scar on her lips that she usually tried to hide was more pronounced than ever due to her blushing.

Buffy wanted to sink into the floor.  Why couldn’t he have just ignored her like every other guy she’d ever come across.  No, instead he’d stood there and talked to her like she was a real live person and even taken an interest in her welfare.  Cordelia had probably told him all about her and he felt sorry for her.  What a wonderful beginning to her new life.

Buffy stripped and jumped into the shower.  Burying her head under the warm spray she tried to pretend she didn’t exist.

Downstairs in the kitchen, Angel wasn’t feeling much better about the encounter.  He had to admit it had gone better than their last meeting but he’d managed to run over her and if her blushing was any indication he’d embarrassed her as well.

Great.  Maiming and embarrassment, sure way to get on a girl’s good side.  But damn she’d looked hot, all rumpled from bed and half dressed.  He’d wanted to scoop her up in his arms and carry her right back to bed.  Of course, she probably would have staked him if he tried.

He knocked the poor girl over and did something to make her uncomfortable.  He felt tempted to stake himself.  He should have been making her feel welcome, not self conscious.  He sighed and poured himself a cup of coffee.  He was a goon.  There was no way around it.  He should have been feeling appropriately chastised, but instead, he couldn’t stop thinking about Buffy in the shower.

To Buffy’s immense relief, Angel was gone when she finally meandered downstairs.  Cordelia, however, had returned, apparently from grocery shopping.

"Wow, you’re finally up," the cheerleader noted.

"Yeah," Buffy replied, "I haven’t slept that well in a long time."

Taking in Buffy’s wet hair, Cordelia said, "I guess you found the towels and things no problem."

"No problem," Buffy confirmed.  "But I think I scared your boyfriend off."

"Boyfriend?" Cordelia asked.

"Well, I don’t mean to pry," Buffy said flustered.

"I don’t have a boyfriend," Cordelia clarified.

"No boyfriend?  There was a guy in your shower earlier, rather on the tall, dark and hot side," Buffy said, confused.

"Oh," Cordelia said laughing, "that was just Angel."

"Angel?" Buffy asked, staring at her incredulously.

"Yes, Angel. You know, vamp with a soul.  You two have already met."

"I ... uh," Buffy stumbled, "I didn’t recognize him."

"I told you he doesn’t normally look heroin chic.  Nobody ever believes me," Cordelia bemoaned.

Buffy was shocked.  The gorgeous creature she’d just seen in the hall didn’t match up at all with her memories of the wounded, ensouled vampire.  Hell, he didn’t seem like a vamp at all.  Being the Slayer, Buffy had never taken the time to see a vamp as anything more than a demon, but Angel was so handsome that it took her breath away.  An unpleasant thought crossed Buffy’s mind.

"I didn’t know you two were so close," Buffy said to Cordelia.

"Close? Yeah, we’re friends but he wasn’t over here because of me," she said.

"He told me his plumbing was being fixed," Buffy said, her brow furrowing.

"It is, but I don’t have a monopoly on showers.  He lives halfway across town.  If he’d just wanted to shower he could have gone over to Giles’ or Oz’s place.  He was checking up on you," Cordelia confided.

"Me?" Buffy asked.

"Uh, huh," Cordelia replied.

"Why would he be checking up on me?  I thought he was a good guy," Buffy said, slightly angered.

"Don’t worry, he isn’t waging a war or anything," Cordelia said, laughing again.

"Then what does he want?" Buffy asked.

Cordelia quirked an eyebrow and said simply, "You."

"What are you talking about?" Buffy asked, totally confused.

"You," Cordelia explained.  "Angel wants you.  He didn’t tell me or anything, but he’s always asking about you.  He’s been going nuts waiting for you to get back.  That boy is totally hot after you."

Buffy just looked at Cordelia.  She had to be out of her mind.  There was no way that a man that attractive could be interested in plain ol’ Buffy Summers.

"Whatever," Buffy said defiantly.

"You don’t believe me?" Cordelia asked.

"No."

"Just watch.  I guarantee that he’ll find every lame ass reason he can to be around you," Cordelia said confidently.

As much as Buffy couldn’t believe it, Cordelia’s predictions seemed to be true.  Everywhere the Slayer went, Angel seemed to find and excuse to be as well.  It took a lot of getting used to, but she was finally at ease in his presence.

Well, maybe not at ease, but she could have a reasonable conversation with him.  Out of sheer lack of options, he became her constant companion.  He was the only other being she knew that kept the same hours she did.

Buffy would wake in the afternoon and turn in around dawn.  The routine worked out well with the Slayer sleeping while her roommate went to school.  It seemed all the White Hats were determined to have someone keeping Buffy company constantly.  Her Watcher, especially, stressed the importance of having friends.

For such a solitary figure, it took a lot of adjustment, but she was nothing if not adaptable.  If Giles thought Oz and Larry needed to try and keep up with her while she ran laps or Angel needed to back her up during patrol she’d go along with it, for now.

Giles had taken the need for human contact angle so far as to suggest that Buffy attend classes at UC Sunnydale in the spring semester as Cordelia had opted.  The Watcher was stunned to learn that Buffy didn’t have a high school diploma.  She’d never had time.  The last four years of her life had been spent fighting demons, she hadn’t gone to school after moving in with Crossgate.

Disgusted even further with Buffy’s former Watcher, Giles quickly got her started on a GED.  He assured her that she would attend college in the fall semester.  That eventuality didn’t exactly fill the less than stellar student with glee.  Lucky for Buffy, both Oz and Angel were serious book worms.

"Why do you do this?" Buffy asked the vampire one night after patrol as they studied in the library.

"What?  Help you cram?" Angel asked.

"Yeah, I mean this has to be boring."

Angel smiled, "Spending time with you could never be boring, Buffy."

"Oh yeah," Buffy laughed sardonically.  "That must be a big whoop.  Let’s find out what a moron the Slayer is.  The fun never stops."

Angel’s expression hardened.  "You’re not a moron, Buffy, you’re just uneducated.  I’m completely appalled that Crossgate didn’t let you attend school.  That woman shouldn’t have been trusted to watch a house plant, much less a human."

Buffy eyed the vampire warily.  He’d obviously given this particular issue a lot of thought.  All of the White Hat’s concern for her well being still made her uncomfortable.  Pushing her nose back in her book, Buffy resumed studying.  Angel looked at her for several of her heartbeats and then returned his attention back to the translations he was working on for Giles.

When she was fairly certain he wasn’t looking, Buffy chanced a glance at him over the top of her book.  It should be illegal to be that good looking for eternity, she thought to herself.  She still couldn’t believe that the wretch she’d stumbled upon in the mansion’s garden was the striking male seated in front of her.  She dropped her gaze back to the book.

Cordy’s predictions about Angel’s attention to her had been true enough, but as far as interest, Buffy wasn’t buying it.  Angel was always attentive and helpful, but his manners were impeccable.  He never did anything that could possibly be construed as forward.  He was always around, but he never said anything to her that could count as flirting.  Not that Buffy knew a lot about flirting ...  Still, he didn’t act the way she supposed that guys acted when they liked a girl.

Cordy was so far off base ...

Cordelia wasn’t impressed.  Despite the fact that she’d wished them all into Bizarro land, the Slayer and vampire were obviously destined to be together.  Especially now that there was no loophole in Angel’s curse.  She, however, seemed to be the only one who realized it.

She smiled wryly as she appreciated the irony.  She was the one who wanted Buffy and Angel together.  Who would have figured?

But Buffy and Angel weren’t together, at least not in *that* sense.  They were friends, pals, chums.  Were they blind?  They were destined to be together and here they were being study partners.  Great.  They spent a good ten hours a day in each other’s company and nothing was happening.  Leave it to Angel to play the gentleman.

She’d fix that.

Angel could be noble and self sacrificing.  Hell, several times Cordelia had offered to help him nail himself to that cross he was so attached to.  But underneath it all, the cheerleader knew he was still a big, dumb guy.  He may be pretending not to be after the Slayer, but let’s see how he handled someone else being interested in his love.  Smiling broadly, Cordelia picked up the phone.

Across town, the female winced as the bandages were pulled away from the new skin.  It had taken a long time, too long for one so strong as she to heal.  She wanted to lash out at the careless minion whose clumsy hands were causing her even more pain.

She curled her hand into a fist and whimpered in pain.

Too soon.  She was still too damaged, too weakened from the fight with the Slayer and those damn White Hats.  She’d barely managed to escape the factory when they burned it to the ground.

"Mistress ... " Jonathan queried softly, "is there anything I can get you?"

"Blood," she hissed, her vocal cords still healing.  "Fresh, living blood."

The minion nodded, backing out of the room.  With the Slayer around, almost no one dared to hunt anymore, but he could not deny his Mistress.

"Like this?" Buffy asked, holding the sword.

"Almost," Angel replied, moving to stand behind the Slayer.

Slowly, he wrapped his body around hers, showing her the proper stance.  One hand came out, easily circling her tiny wrist and the other wrapped around her waist, holding her to him as he walked her through the series of moves.  They were both fighting for concentration as they maneuvered through the complex motions, hyper aware of each other’s bodies.

The contact was a heady rush, not only because of the mutual attraction they were both denying, but because of what they were.  Despite being mortal enemies, vampires and Slayers rarely had the opportunity to spend much time in close quarters with one another.  Pressing your body against a being whole sole purpose in life was to annihilate you tended to do strange things to one’s body.  The adrenalin high was amazing.

As the series came to an end, they stopped moving, but neither of them moved away.  Buffy was well aware that she was panting harshly, the sound echoed in the deserted library.  She was, however, mollified by the realization that Angel was breathing hard as well.  And he didn’t even need the air.

Slowly, Buffy turned her head, looking up at Angel.  With the differences in height and the way they were standing, her movement put her face right in the crook of his neck.  She watched as he swallowed convulsively, aware that his eyes were pressed tightly shut.

"Angel," she said softly.

He coughed loudly, clearing his throat as he released her and took several steps back.  Buffy quickly shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts.

"Try it again," Angel said, somewhat gruffly, apparently intending to ignore everything that had just happened.  "Once you have it down, we’ll spar."

"Come on, Buffy!" Cordelia whined.

"Why?  I don’t even know any of your friends," Buffy said, irritated.

"Because it will be so much easier next semester if you already know a few people," she explained.  "Angel won’t always be there to hold you hand.  You’ve got to get out and meet some guys," she added mischievously.

Buffy frowned.  No kidding Angel wouldn’t be there to hold her hand.  Apparently, he couldn’t even stand to touch her.  Yes, he was around all the time, but he didn’t seem to be interested in her as a female.  Buffy wanted to growl.  Where did he get off treating her like she was nothing more than the Slayer?  Yes, she was the Slayer, but she was also a woman!  It wouldn’t kill him to notice.

She wasn’t exactly sure when she’d gotten acclimated to the idea that she was attracted to Angel.  It seemed to have snuck up on her, and now she couldn’t get thoughts of the tasty dark haired vamp out of her head.  She was even dreaming about him ...

And he saw her as nothing more than the Slayer.  She was supposed to meet Angel later to go patrolling, but she wasn’t feeling up to another night of being ignored.

"Fine, Cordy, just give me a few minutes to get ready," Buffy replied, walking back into the bedroom she had just vacated.

She cringed as she looked through her clothes for a suitable "having coffee" outfit.  But she didn’t want something "suitable".  For the first time in as long as she could remember, Buffy wanted to be noticed.  She wanted the guys to be aware that she was a woman.

She sighed dejectedly as she looked in her closet.  There definitely wasn’t anything in there that could help her with her quest.

Against all better judgment, Buffy called, "Cordy, can you help me find something to wear."

Buffy felt like a fish out of water. No, worse, she felt like a fish at 30,000 feet.  She felt like a total idiot in the form fitting red dress with black heels.  She suspected that Cordy had planned this outing.  The dress she’d let Buffy "borrow" fit the Slayer like a glove.  There was no way it was Cordy’s.  The brunette was a good six inches taller and much curvier than the little blonde.

Buffy felt awkward and somewhat uneasy, but she had to admit that she liked the fact that she was getting attention.  Her life hadn’t prepared her for appreciative glances from the men she and Cordy passed as they entered The Espresso Pump.  It gave her a little thrill.  It would serve Angel right if she did pick up a guy.

By some stroke of luck, she managed to sit down at the crowded booth without tripping in her shoes and embarrassing herself.  Cordelia gave her a reassuring smile and introduced her to the three guys already seated at the booth, Scott, Pete and Graham.  Just after everyone had procured their caffeine death of choice, the final straggler showed.

"Sorry, Cordelia, I got hung up," the tall young man explained.  "Duty called."

Scooting farther inside the booth to make room for the latecomer, Buffy eyed him carefully.  He smiled warmly in return.  He was cute, not exactly in Angel’s league, but definitely of the good.  And he seemed to be appreciating the dress.  Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all.

"Hi," he introduced himself, "I’m Riley.  You must be Buffy.  Cordelia talks about you all the time."

"Nice to meet you," Buffy replied, rather mortified that Cordelia talked about her to other people.

As much as she had assumed she wouldn’t, Buffy was having a good time.  Cordelia’s friends were warm and welcoming, they made her feel at ease.  And the guys even flirted with her, probably because Cordy had asked them to, but still it was nice.  Riley, especially, seemed very attentive to her needs.

Upon returning with her second Mochaccino Riley asked, "Are you sure you can handle this many stimulants?  It’s already after eleven."

"Oh yeah," Buffy replied, "I’m a night owl.  No problem."

The two shared a laugh.  Riley was really nice, and sweet.  And it turned out he had an undergrad minor in math, a subject with which she was struggling terribly.  They made tentative plans to meet a few afternoons the following week so he could go over some basic concepts with her.  Buffy was extremely grateful.  Oz was great at math, but couldn’t explain it worth a damn and Angel was lost on anything more difficult than standard addition/subtraction/multiplication/division stuff.

Buffy suddenly had the sensation of being watched, and looked up.  Angel was standing a few feet from the table looking very irritated.  Assessing Riley very carefully, he walked up to the booth.

"I thought we were supposed to meet at nine," he said tersely to Buffy.

"Oops," Buffy lied, "I forgot."

The two stared at each other for a long moment.  All conversation at the table had died as everyone watched the exchange.  Due to attention being focused on Buffy and Angel, they all missed the huge smile on Cordelia’s face.

Finally breaking the silence, Angel said, "I just wanted to make sure you weren’t hurt or anything.  You appear to be just fine so I’ll leave."

"No," Buffy responded, urging Riley from the booth so she could get out, "I’ll come with you."

Angel stopped, waiting impatiently for the Slayer.  What was she thinking dressing like that?  She couldn’t stake a vamp in that outfit if her life depended on it.  And cleavage!  Was she hoping to distract the vampires?  For a moment, he considered the merits of such a strategy.  He was fairly certain that it would work.  He was so distracted he couldn’t think straight.

Turning to Riley, Buffy said, "Thanks for the coffee."

"No problem, maybe we can do it again sometime over math," he replied, pointedly ignoring Angel’s glare.  "And I’m assuming you’ll be at Cordelia’s party next Saturday."

"Yes she will," Cordelia interjected a bit too loudly.

Somewhat confused, Buffy smiled, waving goodbye and followed Angel from the Espresso Pump.

The rest of the night was terrible.  Buffy couldn’t slay in her new outfit and Angel didn’t seem inclined to be chatty.  He walked her home in uncharacteristic silence.  He didn’t say a single word about her dress or new friends.

Buffy couldn’t figure out what she’d done to make him so mad.  He probably thought she was slacking off, ignoring her duties.  Big deal!  She’d earned the right to slack a little.

Irritated and more than a little hurt, Buffy dejectedly crawled into bed.

Across town, Angel was fuming, unable to sleep.

What exactly had gone wrong?  One minute everything had been fine.  He was getting to be friends with the painfully closed off young woman and then boom he goes looking for her mauled corpse and finds her cozied up to some retarded frat boy, smiling and giggling.  *Giggling*!  He couldn’t even get her to crack a smile half the time and she was laughing with that jackal.

And that outfit!  Jesus H. Christ if she’d been a man you would have been able to discern her religion from that dress.  She looked like she’d been poured into it.  Don’t even think the frat boy hadn’t noticed that.  He’d been all over her, panting and drooling.  It was disgusting.

Angel studiously avoided examining the fact that he himself had been hard as a rock the second he saw her dress.  He was justified.  He cared about her for the wonderful person that she was.  All the physical stuff was secondary ...  Or so he told himself.

He’d spend the last few weeks trying desperately to earn her trust and respect.  Apparently that’s not what she was into.  He’d assumed she was experienced, but not that she was easy.  At least frat boy didn’t have a chance to get a peek inside her come-fuck-me outfit this evening and Angel was damned determined to keep it that way.

The End

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