Disclaimer: The usual. I don't own them.
Notes: The long-awaited (well not really, but it took me forever to finish this) sequel to "Last Kiss". FEEDBACK PLEASE!

Part 1

I open my eyes slowly. I am dimly aware that I was shivering involuntarily. That's strange. I think with an odd sense of detachment. Aren't I supposed to be in Hell?

I cut myself off in my thoughts as I suddenly think of Angel. "Angel! I shouted hoarsely. "Angel! Are you here?" I leap up and scan the area wildly, looking for Angel. In the end he finds me.

He stumbles to me, looking just as confused as I am. He's torn the sword out of his stomach and the wound has already healed.

I race to him, wrapping him in a tight hug, unable to contain my relief. He hugs me with less enthusiasm.

I notice his lack of joy and comment on it. "Angel, what's wrong?"

"Why did you send me here? Where are we?" he asks, with a betrayed look in his roaming eyes.

I release him slowly and stare into his beautiful brown eyes. "You don't remember yet?"

He shakes his head, bewildered. "Remember what? Buffy, what's going- Ahh!" Angel is cut off as spasms ran through him. He falls to the ground in shock, tears running down his face.

I fell with him, clutching him close. Here the memories come. I think gloomily. He weeps openly as the memories ran through him. He holds me close as he cries on my shoulder. I cry with him as I whisper soothing words in his ear, but they have no effect.

"Angel, my darling Angel, it's not your fault. It was never your fault." I cooed.

He jerked away from my touch and stared at me in horror. "How can you ever forgive me?" Angel moaned. "I killed Ms. Calender, I tortured you for months, I laughed at your pain, I mocked what was the best night of my life! HOW CAN YOU EVEN STAND TO LOOK ME IN THE EYE?!" he yelled plaintively. He stood up and turned away from me in shame.

"NO!" I shouted back. "Don't ever say that! It was never you. Don't ever say it was you! It was always the demon!" I whirl him around to face me and stare into his eyes.

"It was never you." I repeat softly. "It was always the demon."

"We're the same." He sobs brokenly.

"No." I insist forcefully. "No! No! No!" I scream angrily. "Angel would never in a thousand years hurt me the way Angelus did. If you keep trying to convince me that the demon and your soul are the same, then I don't-" I break off and begin to cry, still stuttering words out. I'm about to collapse but Angel holds me up. "I love you." I sob. "I can never love the demon. Never. God, Angel you have no idea how hard it's been these past few months, fighting Angelus. He wore your face, and everytime I saw him I didn't know whether to kiss him or kill him! It was so hard!" I yell before I dissolve into tears. "So hard." I mumble into his shoulder.

Now he soothes me. "Buffy, it's okay. I'm back with you now and I'm not going anywhere. I love you."

"I love you." I whisper sincerely.

We hug and kiss each other for an eternity, forgetting for the moment that we're in Hell. Angel and I are brought tumbling back to the present when a loud voice calls indignantly,

"Hey, no smooching here! This is Hell! You're supposed to be suffering!" I break away from Angel's loving arms and stare at the little demon coldly.

"What the hell do you want?" I demand. A second later I groan and say, "Suddenly thinking that's not the best thing to say when we're in-" I cut off and gesture dramatically. "well, Hell."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." the demon says, waving a hand dismissively . "Come on. I don't see how you two souls somehow skipped the torturing." he mutters under his breath.

There was a pop! and we are zapped to a dark and gloomy setting. Screams can be heard from all around. I look at Angel with growing horror as I realize that this is, actually Hell. And we are in for some serious torturing.

Part 2

I stare despondently at the blank computer screen. Buffy has been missing for almost a week now. Where can she be?

I jump, startled, as a finger tapped my shoulder. I turn to face Xander. "Willow, a computer that's off doesn't really help in trying to find Buffy." Xander says, grinning, even as a shadow crosses his face. I wonder, not for the first time, what's the cause of that shadow. What's Xander trying to hide?

I jerk out of my thoughts when I see that Xander is patiently waiting for my usual retort to his jokes. "Um, well you haven't been doing anything to help either." I snap, uncrossing my legs. I inwardly wince thinking, Ow! They're still a little sore.

Xander turns away guiltily. "You're right, Wills. I haven't." he speaks with a voice far beyond his years. It is heavy with resignation. He turns back to face me, sighing loudly. "Willow, I gotta tell you something."

Uh oh. I think. The moment of truth. I wait.

He pauses, obviously extremely reluctant to tell me whatever he has to tell me. "I didn't tell Buffy."

"Tell Buffy what?" I ask stupidly, although inside me my stomach is turning ice-cold with dread. Please don't let it be what I think it's going to be! I pray. I don't want to know that my best friend betrayed her! Please don't let it be-

"The curse." he continues. "I didn't tell her about the curse. I told her to kick his ass. I'm sorry."

I leap up from the stool, knocking it over in my fury. "How could you?" I seethe. "How could you do that to her?"

Xander is totally unprepared for my outburst. "Will." he said nervously. "I-"

"You knew!" I scream. "You knew how much she loved him, and hard it would be for her to kill him, demon or no. Can you imagine? She might have had sent Angel, not Angelus to hell! "I can't believe I sent you to tell her! You could have simply said, 'Willow's gonna try the curse again.' Then you could have saved Giles, and given Buffy happiness! But, no! You had to be a- a" I hestitate here in my anger, almost afraid to curse at Xander, but I have no choice. "A jealous bastard! So instead of giving her happiness, you gave her 'send my soulmate to hell'! Do you have any idea what that must have done to Buffy? She might be dead now because of you! Do you hear me? Dead!" I stop, convinced that I'd proven my point. But now I'm struck with the unbelievable truth. Xander has lied. Xander has betrayed. Xander, the guy I've known for almost my whole life, my best friend, the boy I trust with my life, the boy who until recently I've loved romantically, this same boy I can no longer trust.

"Xander." I moan, horrified. "Oh, God Xander." I backed away from him slowly, unable to stop the tears coursing down my cheeks.

He stepped forward quickly, trying to hug me.

But I pushed him away and ran out of the library, straight into Oz's arms.

I break now and sob my heart out into my boyfriend's loving arms. He holds me softly, whispering in my ear.

Once I'd calmed down, he asks me, "What's wrong?"

"Xander." I sob. "Xander." I trail off, unable to finish.

"What did Xander do?"

I shakily point to the library doors, letting go of Oz. "Get the rest of the gang together. Then ask him yourself. I need to take a walk"

I smile sadly, and make to walk away. Oz grabs my arm, and twirls me around. He kisses me briefly. When we break apart, Oz whispers in my ear, "I love you, Willow. Whatever's happened, I'll see you through it." Then he nods once, and lets me go.

I kiss him back, and reply, "I love you too, Oz."

I walk out of the school. I need to clear my head.

Part 3

"Aah!" I jerk away from the hot poker with a cry of pain. I am chained to a stone wall, in a medieval dungeoun. The demon who tortures me has the shape of Buffy. I try to close my eyes, to blot out her taunting of our love, but it's useless. I can't block her out. She is everywhere.

I am transformed to an open plain. The chains are gone. But I can still feel the pain of the weapons that have been thrust into my side.

Buffy appears before me. The expression of cold cruelty has not left her face.

"Buffy." I gasp. "Please don't mock and hurt me anymore." I am openly crying now.

She ignores my pleas and casually strolls to me. "Angel, angel, angel." she chides. "You never learn, do you?" Suddenly she kicks me in the stomach viciously.

I fall to the ground, wheezing.

"You are a monster." she taunts, jerking me up by the hair. "How could you ever think that I would forgive you for what you did? "You tormented me for months, for pleasure." she snaps. "You killed Ms. Calendar, you tortured my Watcher, you-"

"Nonononononono!" I sob, clapping my hands over my ears. "It wasn't me; it was-"

"Your demon counterpart?" she retorts. She snorts rudely, and said, "Like you expect me to fall for that?

"You never cared; you were just in it for the chase. You faked losing your soul. You and Angelus are the same!"

"No! I would never hurt you intentionally!"

"But you do it anyway! You even said, 'To kill this girl, you gotta love her.' Real sweet, Angel."

I stop crying to stare at her in shock. I am delirious enough to believe this was Buffy under normal circumstances, but not when she made a slip-up like that. "You can't have known I said that." I whisper fiercely, standing up.

She is becoming increasingly edgy. She backs up a little.

But I continue mercilessly. "You aren't her. She wasn't there when I said that. You can't hurt me." I state confidently.

There is a flash of white light, an angry growl, then my world goes black.

Part 4

I awake, extremely comfortable. I was in a bed, the sheets silk. Ooh, Hell certainly can make you comfy. I think. I still haven't opened my eyes, not willing to let this sleepy magic fade.

I jerk my eyes open with a moan of suppressed terror as I realize that I've been here before. The red silk blankets, my virginal bloodstains still on the sheets. No. I pray. Please don't let this be-

"Angel?" my lips form the words without meaning to. But I can't stop myself. I'm caught in the scene. No! I don't want to go through this again!

As I sit here, hoping, pleading with whatever god was in this forsaken place, that I wouldn't have to listen to him mock me again.

But that's my worst nightmare.

So of course they have to play it through.

The jump ahead in time comes quite suddenly for me, even though I'm expecting it. One minute I am sitting in bed, naked, then the next second, the next second I am picking up the shirt and wondering where Angel could be all over again.

I turn to face Angel in the doorway.

"Angel!" I yell, relived, running to him and hugging him. I notice now that he hugs me with no emotion whatsoever.

"Hey!" he says detachedly

"Oh!" I yell tearfully.

"Hey." he repeats.

I kiss him, but he doesn't kiss me back. I hug him briefly, then release him.

"Oh, my God! I was so worried!" I say joyfully.

"I didn't mean to frighten you."

"Where did you go?" I ask curiously.

"Been around."

"Ohhh. Oh, my God!" I hug him again, as if to reassure myself that he was really there. "I was freaking out! You just disappeared."

"What? I took off." He goes to the bed to get his shirt.

"But you didn't say anything. You just left." I say, confused.

He pulls on the shirt and faces me. "Yeah. Like I really wanted to stick around after that." he says, chuckling sardonically.

"What?" I ask, uncomprehending.

"You got a lot to learn about men, kiddo. Although I guess you proved that last night." He laughs again.

"What are you saying?" I speak with confusion and uncertainy.

"Let's not make an issue out of it, okay?" He goes for his coat. "In fact, let's not talk about it at all." He pulls the coat on. "It happened."

"I, I don't understand." My voice is soft with pain. "Was it m-me?" Now my voice is meek and frail, that of a child's. I need reassurance that my first sexual attempt was okay. "Was I not good?"

He laughs mockingly. "You were great. Really." Now Angel- (Angelus. I remind myself. This is not Angel. This is a demon.) is cruel and snide. "I thought you were a pro."

I am almost crying now. "How can you say this to me?"

"Lighten up. It was a good time. It doesn't mean like we have to make a big deal." "It *is* a big deal!"

"It's what? Bells ringing, fireworks, a dulcet choir of pretty little birdies?" He laughs again, that cold, heartless laugh that I hate so much. "Come on, Buffy. It's not like I've never been there before."

He reaches his hand up to my face and I jerk back.

"Don't touch me." My voice is shaking with what I think is hatred. But it's hard for me to call it hatred since everything I've ever associated with Angel has always been love. But now I find myself starting to hate him.

Angelus wagged his finger at me. "I should've known you wouldn't be able to handle it." He turns to leave.

"Angel!" I call desperately.

Angel turns to face me.

Tears are coursing down my cheeks. "I love you." I sob.

He points coolly at me. "Love you, too." He turns away. "I'll call you." Then he leaves.

And I can do is stand here, and wonder what has just happened all over again.

Another skip in time. Now I have taken off the Claddagh ring in my bedroom. I clutch it tightly for a moment, then I fall onto my bed, crying my heart out. *Angel's gone. In his place is a cold, hard, sarcastic bastard. But he's wearing your lover's face.* I think mournfully.

My tears are all I can understand. They are the only sound I hear. All I can do was kiss the ring and cry, mourning for my lost love. Darling Angel, I love you so much. . .

Eventually I fall asleep. But I instinctively know that I will not dream of Jenny Calendar and Angel. I can sleep peacefully. My torment is over. For now.

Part 5

Suddenly I am no longer being whipped by Buffy, shirtless. I am transported back to the Gates, which is the exit out of Hell. Now a few steps from freedom, I can only crash to the ground and weep with gratitude.

Part 6

Giles leans against the wall in the library with all the Scooby Gang surrounding him, except Willow. They all look extremely depressed, and dejected.

"What if we never see her again?" Xander asks, getting dirty looks from everyone. "Hey, I screwed up I know, but if I'd told her, she might have ended up dead."

"And because you didn't tell her, she may be dead." Giles hisses angrily.

Xander goes back to staring at his feet.

"Did anybody stop to think about the positive things?" Cordelia asks.

"What could possibly be positive about the Slayer disappearing off the face of the planet?" Giles asks sarcastically.

"Well, maybe she's not dead. Maybe she ran away, or had an emotional breakdown and is wandering the streets of Sunnydale with a broken mind muttering to herself incoherently. . ." she trails as she notices everybody giving her strange looks. "Or maybe not." she says lamely.

"Shut up, Cordelia." Giles says wearily, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "You're not helping."

"Hey!" she shouts indignantly. "I don't see any of you guys trying to figure out where Buffy could be! Xander's staring into space, looking like a whipped dog, Giles, you're just thinking about yourself, Willow's disappeared, Oz calmly sits in a chair, saying nothing, the way I see it, I bet none of you guys would care if she were in Hell right now!"

Giles stares at her in growing excitement. "Say that again." he soliloquies.

"She's in Hell."

"Yes! She may have gone to Hell with Angel!" he shouts triumphantly. "If he had a soul, and she were forced to strike him with the sword, then maybe she decided to go to Hell with him."

"Interesting." Oz said out of nowhere.

Giles hurriedly grabbed a book, and thumbed through the pages. "Blast!" he says to himself. "It's not here."

"What are you looking for?" Cordy asks, confused.

"A spell to get them out."

"Out of where?" Xander asks.

"Were you listening? Buffy and Angel are in Hell!"

"Oh. So how do we-"

"I don't know." Giles interrupts impatiently. "But let's find out."

Part 7

I awake, screaming my lungs out. I stop abruptly when I see that I'm in a dream anymore, being brutally laughed at and wounded by my friends and family. I let out a sigh of relief when I see that I am finally being left alone, wherever this place is.

But where am I now? I think, looking around. There are tall red gates in the distance/ And a person in black crouches near them, crying.

"Angel." I whisper joyfully, and before I even think about it, my legs are carrying me to him. I desperately need to hug and kiss him to reassure myself that he is really, truly, my Angel. Not the demon.

I approach him cautiously. He is hunched over, shirtless. I gasp softly when I see the whip marks on his back. I reach out to stroke his back tenderly. "Oh, Angel." I exclaim, horrified. "What happened to you?"

He ignores me. He just keeps rocking back and forth, sobbing.

I shake him gently.

I am shocked at how quickly he lunged at me, growling. In full game face, he throws me to the ground. I kick him off and roll him over so now I'm on top of him.

"Angel!" I shouts. "It's me! It's Buffy!"

He stares at me a minute, then reverted to his human face.

"Buffy?" he asks hesitantly. "It's you?'

"It's me." I say, sobbing with relief. "Angel, what-"

He cuts me off by kissing me hungrily. I tense up at first, then relax into his arms. I kiss him with the same passionate fervor that he kisses me with.

We sit up, still kissing each other. I haven't felt him with me for what seemed an eternity.

We break apart and stare at each other.

"Angel." I sigh softly. "What happened to make you so-"

"Barbaric?" he said grimly.

I nod.

His voice took on the tone of someone remembering something deeply painful. "She tortured me. She mocked our love, called it a joke. After she was done hurting me emotionally, she started doing it physically. She jammed hot pokers into my side. When she was done with that, she got the whip." He paused and shivered with the memory. "She whipped me ruthlessly for about-" He paused again, trying to figure out how long he'd been whipped. "I'd say it was about 12 hours. You can't imagine what's it's like to be flogged, Buffy. I've been flogged before, but never by someone with such a cold heart. She whipped me until I screamed out my fear and pain." He looks me straight in the eye. "And she loved every minute of it."

"Angel." I interrupt, blinking at his gaze. I can't listen to him describe how he'd been hurt any longer. But I also have this unsatiable curiosity to know who this "she" is. "Who was she?"

He looks back into my eyes with a sadness that tears at my heart. He sighs heavily. "The demon took the form of the only woman I've ever loved. She was you, Buffy."

I stare at him, speechless.

That's why he tried to attack me. I realized. He thought I was pyscho-Buffy.

"Angel." I sob, clutching him close. "Angel, I'm so sorry."

"It wasn't your fault." he says, running one hand through my hair. "Buffy, tell me what happened to you."

I release him, wiping my eyes. "Well, you know how you met up with the demon version of me?"

He nods slowly.

"I was reunited with Angelus."

He inhales sharply, at the same time urging me to continue.

"It started right after we made love. I had to relive the things he said to me, only this time they were ten times worse. Because this time I knew what was coming. But I couldn't do anything about it." I sob briefly, bringing my hand to my mouth. Angel moves to comfort me, but I signal that I don't need his help. After a second, I regain control. But in my voice you can tell that I'm struggling not to cry. "After he said. . . the things you said, it flashed to when I was crying over the Claddagh ring. But now my crying was worse. I felt like I was dying because you were gone forever. Then I dreamed that everyone, my friends, my family, even you, were all hurting me and yelling that you guys didn't love me. I guess my injuries carried over from the dream because I still have em all. Then there was silence, and I found myself here." I finish, wincing in pain as I see that all the scratches and bite marks are indeed still on my body.

I stare at him, waiting for his reaction.

He looks up at me, plainly blaming himself for everything that's occurred.

"There was nothing you could do. We were separated." I insist.

He chuckles solemnly. "Don't sit there and tell me there was nothing I could do." He averts my gaze, a faraway look in his eyes.

"Angel, what-" I question, perplexed.

"I was there." He says, out of nowhere.

"What?"

He forces himself to look at me. "I was at your house, watching you cry. I loved every minute of it."

I sit silently, inwardly shocked by this revelation.

"Angel, please don't tell me what you did when you were Angelus. We've been through this, okay? That wasn't you."

He stares into space, ashamed. I take his hands and make his eyes meet mine.

"Angel, don't you see? This place is tearing us apart. We each were part of our worst nightmares. We escaped, basically unhurt, this time. But next time they won't be so gentle. Do you know how we get out of here?"

He points dejectedly to the red gates. "I've only read about how to get out of Hell in a mythological books. But I guess we walk to those gates, and answer some questions given by the Gatekeeper. If we get all of them right, we will be granted safe passage to wherever we want to go."

"Alright, then. That's what we need to do. Let me help you up." I stand, pulling Angel with me. He winces as the fresh whip marks pain him. But I'm not in too great shape myself. For the first time, I get a good look at my body. There are cuts and bruises all over me. Leaning on each other, I supporting Angel since he's more injured, we proceed to the Gates.

A scrawny little demon guards the Gates. He looks like a demon version of a first-class nerd. He brightens immediately when he sees us. I guess it's been a slow day.

He is sitting next to two giant buttons. One is red, and says PASS. The other is blue, and says FAIL.

"What is the meaning of true love?" he asks eagerly. I let go of Angel, who staggers but manages to hold himself up. I furrow my brow, pretending to be deep in thought.

Suddenly I lunge for the demon's throat. I shove him up against the wall. "How about this for an answer? Let us through, or I break your little neck."

He wheezes, as a look of comprehension crosses his choking face. Behind me, I hear Angel stand up straight so he can watch me work.

"You two have souls?" he asks, surprised.

I shrug, still holding onto him. "Yeah, so what?"

He ignores me. "Are you Buffy, the Vampire Slayer?" he asks. He looks over my shoulder at Angel. "And you, Angel, the vampire with a soul?" We both nod.

"You two aren't supposed to be here!" he sputters. "We want Angelus, not the souled Angel! And the greatest vampire Slayer the world has ever known! This won't do at all! We can't have the 2 people who are destined to change history with their pals, the Scooby Gang, in here!" He sighs. "Oh, well I guess I have to let you go." He reaches a hand out to push the PASS button. I let him go, and he leans towards me in a confidential whisper. "See, you guys are the only souled beings we respect. It's said that you will change the world in some grave defining way. And as much I'd love to kill you both," he shrugs. "I can't go against such a powerful prophecy. You can go on your way." He disappears in a puff of smoke.

I turn and look at Angel, who has a bemused expression on his face. "You certainly have an interesting way of doing things."

"I didn't feel like answering questions." I shrug, grinning.

I take his hand, and walk up to the gateway. "Sunnydale High School library in Sunnydale, California." I state firmly, making sure that I pronounce each word clearly.

The gates open, and we pass through, hand in hand.

Part 8

There's an explosion of lights, and suddenly we are in the library. Everyone is staring at us in astonishment.

"Um, hi guys." I say weakly, waving a hand. "What's new?"

Giles' mouth works and he finally bursts out with, "Buffy, where in bloody Hell have you been?!"

I stare at him, and burst out laughing hysterically. "Where in Hell have you been?" I titter. "That's a good one, Giles. Real funny. You're a barrel of laughs." I giggle some more.

Angel manages to make me stop laughing like a hyena, and said, "That is actually pretty funny, Giles. We've been in Hell."

"It's a long story." I interject, getting control of myself. "How long have we been gone?"

"We figured out that you'd been in Hell." Giles replies.

"About a week." Oz says, since no one else seemed to want to say anything.

"Where's Willow?"

"She went for a walk." Giles says awkwardly.

I notice how Xander is staring into space guiltily.

"Xand, my man, what's wrong?" I ask playfully.

He looks at me, and the pain in his eyes is unmistakable.

"I- I- I-" he stutters nervously.

"Just get it over with and tell her, Xander!" Giles explodes.

"Yeah, really," Cordelia agrees. "It's not like a few more people angry with you is going to change anything."

I stare at my friends in growing horror.

"Guys," I say. "What is it? What's happened?" The panic is evident in my voice. Angel sits up and moves closer to me.

"I didn't tell you." he mutters softly.

"Tell me what?" I say, feeling an overwhelming sense of déjà vu.

"Willow, she told me to tell you. . ." he trails off.

"'Kick his ass.'" I finish impatiently. "You told me that."

"No." he mumbles. "That's not what she told me to tell you."

He forces himself to look me in the eye. "She said she was going to try the curse again. But I didn't tell you that."

"What?" I ask, disbelieving.

"I lied to you, Buffy."

I really hear him this time.

Which is really bad for Xander.

I jump up from the floor, outraged.

"You did what?" I yell. "How could you do that? How could you lie to me like that? How?"

I turn on one heel, gesturing to Angel on the floor. He stands up, and comes beside me.

"How could you do that to us?" I hiss venomously. "I trusted you, Xander. I trusted you with my life. But I can't now, can I? Because of your lie, we went to Hell! I can't ever forgive you for that." I tremble with suppressed fury.

"Buffy, I-"

"Don't." I say coldly. "I don't want to hear it. I just want you to promise me something."

"Yes?" he asks pitifully.

"I want you to swear that I never have to see you again."

Not waiting for a response, I flee the library, finally letting the tears fall.

Part 9

I stand for a minute, frozen. I finally regain movement, and, not feeling guilty at all, I violently punch Xander on the ground, thoroughly enjoying watching his nose bleed profusely. Then I run out of the library at full speed. Behind me, I hear Giles yell, "You damned fool! You should have been more subtle! Slayers feel everything more strongly than normal mortals! The repercussions of what you've done may be enormous!" I run after Buffy quickly, knowing that she has a few second lead on me, and might get away. I hear her loud sobs echoing throughout the hall. I turn the corner, and finally see her. She's running blindly, the tears blurring her vision. She stumbles over her feet, and cries out. I sit down next to her.

"Buffy," I say hoarsely. "Buffy."

Buffy hears my voice and collapses into my arms, weeping. I stroke her hair tenderly, murmuring soothing words in her ear.

"It's alright, my wife." I mutter, without realizing I've said it. "It's going to be okay."

"B-but Xander! Why didn't he tell me? He's my friend. He should have told me. Was he trying to protect me? Did he think that if he told me, that I wouldn't be able to kill the demon? That's not his choice. He should have given me the choice. If he-" she sobs.

"Buffy." I interrupt gently. "It's okay now. Everything turned out okay. I understand why he did it."

She sighs heavily, and relaxes into my loving embrace. "I know, Angel." Buffy says wearily. "I understand why he did it too. I just feel like I can never trust him again."

"Give it time. He'll regain your trust soon."

She exhales loudly, and turns her head up to look into my eyes.

"Angel?"

"Yes?"

"Why did you-" she grins quickly, and shrugs. "Never mind. It's silly. I just thought I heard you say-"

"Say what?" I ask, mildly disconcerted. Did she hear me when I called her-

"Wife." she says. "You called me your wife. Why?"

"I-uh- well uh-" I stutter nervously.

She lets out a small laugh, and kisses the nape of my neck.

"Come on Angel." she says. "Whatever it is, you can tell me." She snorted. "We're not married, are we?"

"Actually. . ." I trail off awkwardly.

"Spit it out." she says, grinning.

"We sorta are." I inform her. "The ring I gave you on your birthday was a wedding band. Then, later that night, we consummated our vows. We've been officially man and wife ever since your 17th birthday. I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I didn't get a chance before, because Angelus popped up. Then we got sent to Hell. I haven't had time to tell you."

She blinks at me. "I'm sorry, what?" she says stupidly. "My brain isn't functioning properly. I thought I just heard you say we were. . ." she trails off.

"Husband and wife." I supply. "For about 6 months."

"Um, so is this really-"

I kiss her quickly, unable to contain myself. We kiss for a long time, enjoying it as long as possible. Buffy finally pulls away, her face flushed. "I love you." I whisper sincerely. "I've loved you since the first time I saw you. We can start over now if you want, I'll even propose. Buffy, will you marry me again?"

"Yes." she says softly. "I will marry you, Angel." She chuckled. "Even if it's for the second time."

I grin with her saying, "The first time you weren't really aware that that was what the Claddagh meant. First I was going to tell you I loved you, then I was going to tell you the true nature of the ring. But we were interrupted."

"That's alright, Angel. At least you told me now."

I grin again, and stand up, pulling Buffy with me.

"You ready to go back?"

"Yeah, I have to face Xander sometime. But I need to get something first."

"What?" I ask curiously.

She smiles again, looking like she's about to burst from happiness. I am very relieved. Finally her face is regaining some of that innocence it had before Angelus' days.

"Our wedding rings." she answers, then she briskly walks away, a bounce in her step.

I sigh in contentment, happy for the first in over a year. We're getting married; I'm not depressed anymore; my life couldn't be any better.

My life with Buffy.

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