*

I wonder if Cordelia and Wesley know that I can hear them arguing in the next room.

Probably not.

"You don't understand Wesley! He just came back from Sunnydale! That means that Buffy regained her memory, probably said something that broke his heart, and now he's back and you say he's going to be fine!?" Cordelia exclaimed.

"It's not like the world is going to stand still for Angel's pain. There are still demons to hunt, vampires to kill, and right now we have to deal with a bunch of homeless vampire hunters, who could've been dealt with weeks ago if Angel had just left Buffy alone," Wesley told her.

"It's always nice to know you have compassionate feelings Wesley."

"I'm not saying I don't care that Buffy hurt Angel, because I do. I'm just saying we shouldn't make a colossal issue of it. He's over her, right?"

"Angel will *never* be over Buffy. He's always going to love her, no matter how much she tramples and breaks his heart. Always."

I turned away from the conversation then. Cordelia's words hit me hard. I was. I was always going to be in love with Buffy. No matter what she did. It was as if I got rid of one curse, only to discover another.

"Well, I'm going to head back to my place and get some research done," I heard Wesley say as the sounds of the door opening and closing filled the room.

I looked up as I heard Cordelia enter my office. She had her hands behind her back and looked like a little girl that was about to ask her father for something.

"Yes?" I asked, trying to keep an amused grin off my face.

"Guess what?" she asked, trying to sound innocent.

"What is it Cordelia?"

"You get to spend the day with me!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms up into the air as she said "me".

"You don't have to waste your afternoon Cordelia, I'll be fine, I really will. Why don't you go shopping? I'll even give you some money," I told her, knowing she couldn't resist free money.

"I wouldn't be wasting my afternoon Angel. You're my friend, the best one I've ever had, and some things are more important that shop-money, did you say?"

I smiled, her words touching me. I watched as she thought about it, then as her face lit up as she had an idea in her head.

"Okay," she said, taking the money I handed her. "Expect me to come back with a killer outfit and a surprise for you."

"Cordelia, you don't have to-"

"I thought we already covered this. You're not just my boss, okay?" she told me, cutting me off.

I nodded. "Okay."

"Good, now, no brooding while I'm gone."

"Because everyone knows he doesn't do enough of that," a voice said from the doorway.

I looked up and saw who the voice belonged to.

Buffy.

"Oh no, you can't be here. I've just started to make him feel better and I won't let you come here and tell him how much you love screwing your new boy toy, so you can just turn around and leave. Need me to show you out?"

I smiled in spite of the situation. That's Cordelia.

"Angel, we need to talk. Please?"

I really didn't think there was anything more to say. Her actions made it quite clear how she felt.

"I need to explain my actions," she told me.

"Oh, yeah, explaining the technique of sucking someone else's face is a real bridge builder," Cordelia said.

Buffy turned to her. "Do you want to have a rival of the bitches? Because I have four speeding tickets, I got lost *twice* on the roads, I got a flat tire and had to push the car two miles to the nearest gas station, and not one car passed me the whole time, so don't say waiting for someone was a good idea, and don't say I should've just left the car because it isn't mine and the gas station didn't have a phone. I've felt really crappy ever since I got my memory back, and I had to pay the guy at 'Lenny's Gas And Go' twenty bucks, and I owe one-hundred and forty to the state of California. So try me Cordelia, just try me."

Cordelia just smiled and said, "Well, have fun you two. Don't kill each other. And Buffy? If you hurt him, I'll kill you, even if you are the slayer." Then she turned and left the room.

Buffy turned back to face me. "Look, back at Giles' house, when I kissed Riley...I didn't mean to."

She didn't mean to. Well, that certainly makes it all better. Not.

"You didn't mean to? That's the best you can do? At least when I broke your heart, my reasons were better than that," I told her getting up and going out into the main office area.

"I broke your heart?" she asked as she followed me out.

"Well, yeah, after all that happened, you went and started ... what was it Cordelia said? Sucking face with Riley, what was I supposed to do? Smile and ask for a front row seat to the wedding?"

"I came here to apologize," she said. "The emotion of loving Riley was the last emotion I was feeling as my last memories were returning to me. It was an instinct. It took my mind a minute to register the fact that you were there and that I didn't want to kiss Riley. And when I finally *did* realize what I was doing, you were already gone."

She didn't want to kiss Riley?

"What are you saying here Buffy? You felt bad because you knew I was still in love with you, not that I ever stopped, and you came here to ease your guilt, right?" I asked angrily.

"No," she whispered. I could see the tears forming in her eyes. "I came here to tell you I love you. And then beg your forgiveness for everything I've done. For the way I've acted towards you since you left Sunnydale, for hurting you more than you've hurt me, for making you give up your humanity so I could live, and then break your heart when I told you I wanted to forget you afterwards, and for-" she was sobbing so hard it was getting hard to understand her. "-for blaming all the pain you caused me on you, because I know you were only trying to do what everyone, and yourself, thought was right."

"That's why I came here, Angel."

She wiped at her eyes, but tears still continued to fall. I wanted to go hold her in my arms, but I couldn't. It's what she wanted me to do, and as much as *I* wanted to, I couldn't. Not until I knew she was serious.

"What about Riley?" I asked, surprised that my own voice was think with emotion.

"I broke up with him. I told him I was in love with somebody else," she said, looking at me. I looked into her eyes and saw it there. She was serious. She wanted to be with me again. She really did.

A smile crept up on my face. "And who would this someone else be?" I asked.

She laughed even though her tears were still falling, and flung herself into my arms. We started kissing with a passionate fury.

"I love you. I love you so much," she kept saying, kissing me while she continued to cry.

"I love you too Buffy. I never stopped, I never will," I told her, feeling tears cascading down my own face.

We just stood there, kissing intensely, our tears mingling into the kiss. Finally we pulled away and just looked at each other lovingly.

"What now?" she asked.

"We see each other on weekends. And kill Faith so a new slayer can be called and you can live with me," I said.

She laughed and I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her as close to me as possible.

"And then, we run away to a far off land and have wild sex all day long," I whispered into her ear.

"Angel!" she exclaimed while she laughed. "When did you develop a sense of humor, and when did sex enter your vocabulary?" she asked, giving me a mock stern look.

"I'm really not sure about the first one, but the second one would definitely be Cordelia. Wesley can't even get through the word 'passion' without stuttering and blushing," I told her as we both laughed.

I started to gently kiss all around her neck, savoring the way she tasted.

"Angel..." she moaned.

"Hmm?" I answered, because it sounded like a questioning moan. And that sounded like it came straight from Xander.

"I love you, in case you didn't know," she said with a smile on her lips.

"Yeah, I know. And just so you can know back, I love you too."

Yeah, we both knew.

*

"I miss you already," Buffy said.

"Me too," I told her as we kissed. I didn't hear the door open and close until Cordelia's voice rang through my office.

"I knew it! I just knew it!"

Buffy and I looked over to see Cordelia with two shopping bags in her hands, standing in front of the door into my office.

"I have to go. I love you," Buffy told me as she pulled me down for another kiss.

"Always nice to see you Cordelia," Buffy said as she passed Cordelia and went out the door.

"Oh, here we go, groping and moping all over again. Anyway, before I model my outfit, I have to give you your present."

Cordelia reached into one of her bags and pulled out a box. She handed it to me.

"Open it," she instructed.

I did as she told me and pulled the item out of the box. I looked at it. It was a beautiful silver picture frame, bordered with an old Celtic design. Inside the frame was my picture of Buffy.

"Using it as a book mark would've ruined it eventually," Cordelia told me.

I looked up at her and smiled. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. I'm happy for you," she told me, surprising me when she pulled me into a hug.

The sound of someone clearing their throat at the doorway made us both pull away and look over.

"Um, Angel?" Buffy asked.

"Do you have one-hundred and forty dollars?"

*

You think that a vampire would know that a slayer wasn't as stupid as him. The same vamp had been following me for twenty minutes. It was time to stake him.

I turned around and said, "You know, if you wanted something, you could've just asked."

The vampire came out from the shadows, in demon face, fangs bared. "You're going to die little girl. And then you can be my plaything."

"Gee, as much fun as *that* sounds, I think I'd rather just kill you instead." He growled and charged me, I took my stake and held it out. He ran right into it. "Oops," I said with a grin.

"I think my work here is done," I said as I put my stake back in my jacket and headed back to my dorm.

As I passed by the grocery store, I thought I heard something. I looked over and walked right into someone. I heard groceries fall everywhere. Great.

"I'm so sorry," I said, picking up the persons groceries. "It's no problem," the person, a woman, said. I handed the woman her jar of tomato sauce and I saw who the woman was.

"Buffy," Mom said.

"Hello," I replied curtly.

"How have you been?" she asked, trying to make pleasant conversation. We were both well aware of the fact that we hadn't spoken to each other in almost a month.

"Better than I've been in a long time," I told her, thinking of the past year with Riley and how much better I was with Angel. Inside and out.

"I'm glad. Business has been booming at the gallery lately," she told me, expecting me to care.

But the fact still remained, she lied to me, told Angel to leave me, and then tried to pry us apart when I had lost my memory. If she'd just kept her big mouth shut in the first place, Angel might not have even left me at all.

"I'm happy that your job is going good Mom, but I really have to go," I said, walking past her, leaving the rest of her groceries scattered along the sidewalk.

"Buffy!" she called after me. The desperate tone in her voice made me turn around.

"I'm trying to make things better with you. I'm sorry for the things I did, I really am. I've apologized, and now you have to forgive me before we can take the next step up," she said.

My mother was my idol at one point in my life. She was always there for me, no matter what. I always thought she would support me no matter what I did, but being the slayer and loving Angel is something she can't handle.

And I think it was for the better that Angel and I spent some time apart. He was able to grow so much. He interacts with humans more, he jokes more, and this...this new Angel, I love him even more. If he hadn't left, Angel might not have had that chance to grow.

"Mom..." I started, ready to start mending our relationship, when I remembered that she knew all that stuff about Angel, me, and the way we felt, and she still tried to help Riley.

She was looking at me expectantly, waiting to hear what I was going to say.

"Have a nice night," I said, turning the corner.

I didn't even give her the satisfaction of looking back.

*

"Hey Will," I said tiredly, plopping down on my bed.

"Hi," Willow greeted.

"Buffy, we need to talk about some stuff," Willow told me.

"Okay," I said, sitting up on my bed and facing her.

"Well, you know that school's almost out and everything. So what are your plans for the summer?" she asked.

"The usual, slaying, hanging out with you guys, spending as much time as possible with Angel, that kind of stuff," I told her.

"Okay, good."

"Why good?" I asked.

"Because you're going to spend time with Angel. I don't want you to have nothing to do this summer," she said.

"I'm not going to have nothing to do this summer. I'm gonna have you and Xander to hang out with," I told her. What was she getting at?

"Well, you can hang out with Xander and Anya, but I'm not going to be here this summer Buffy. And, I'm not sure we're going to be roomies next year either."

"What? Where are you going? And what do you mean we can't be roomies anymore?" I asked.

"Tara's family lives in Oregon, and she asked me to go with her this summer to stay with them. I said yes."

"And let me guess," I said quietly, "you're going to room with Tara next year, right?"

"I'm sorry Buffy, I really am."

No! Oh great, I've made her feel bad. Nice one, Buffy.

"No, Will. I think that's great. I'm totally happy for you, I'm just going to miss you," I told her, going across the room and giving her a hug.

"Well, I'll write you. I'll just send it to Angel's place, because I know you're going to be there all the time," Willow said with a grin.

"Sunnydale has survived summers without me," I told her, smiling.

And with that thought, maybe I should just leave town and go to LA for the summer. I can pretend I've sent the neighbor's cat to Hell and I feel bad.

Willow must have seen the amused look on my face, because she asked, "What?"

"Nothing, just having a moment."

And I could accidentally kill some flowers. The guilt would be gut-wrenching...

I scare myself sometimes.

*

I let out a frustrated sigh. It had been a couple weeks since Angel and I had gotten back together, and if we weren't around each other physically, we called.

Every day.

And every time I dialed Angel's number, a recording came on telling me the line was no longer in service.

"Buffy, I'm sure Angel is fine. His power's probably out or something," Giles said, handing me a cup of tea.

"Yeah, Buff. Angel's fine," Xander said from his place on the couch, Anya curled up next to him.

"Then why is his line disconnected?" I asked, annoyed that I didn't know what was wrong.

There was a knock at Giles' door. Giles went to go answer it, and I heard him say, "Angel, we were just discussing you."

Giles came back into the room with Angel in tow. I ran to him and gave him a kiss, then I pulled away and smacked his arm.

"Why the hell is your line disconnected?" I asked.

"Because a demon blew up my office building," he said.

"Oh my God! Angel, are you okay?" I asked, suddenly feeling really awful for getting mad at him.

"Yeah. No one was killed. Wesley was injured, but he was the only one in the building at the time. I was feeling kind of bad about staying at Cordelia's house, so I told her that I was coming here."

"I'm just glad you're okay," I told him, giving him another kiss.

"You may stay here if you need to Angel," Giles told him. Oh no, we weren't staying in a house with other people. Definitely not.

"Actually, Angel and I were going to stay at the mansion," I said, smiling. I pulled a fake yawn and said, "Well, I'm sleepy, we better go. Bye guys." And with that, I took Angel's hand in mine and we walked out.

*

We arrived at the mansion and as soon as he shut the door, I pounced on him.

"I thought you were tired," he said with a laugh.

"It got us alone," I said as I started to suck lightly on his neck. He chuckled and said, "Yeah, that it did."

Angel's strong hands wove their way into my hair, and he pulled my head up and soon we were kissing with a hungry passion.

"I'm sorry that your building got blown up," I said between kisses as I started to unbutton his shirt.

"Me too," he said, reaching for the buttons on my sweater jacket.

A bunch of kisses and a great sex session later, we laid there on the floor together.

"Let's see, we've covered bed, table, rug, and now cold hard floor. Should we go for car next?" I joked.

"No, I was think more along the lines of bathtub. Or shower. Or both," Angel said with a wickedly teasing grin.

I laughed and snuggled deeper into the crook of his neck. "Are you cold?" he asked.

"After *that*? No, plus I'm too comfy. And the knowledge that someone could walk in that door any minute adds a thrilling excitement."

"Are you hungry?" he asked. "I'm fine," I told him.

"I just want to make sure you have everything you need," he said.

I looked up into his eyes. "I do."

We started to kiss again when suddenly he stopped. "Someone's coming," he told me.

"Well, it isn't me," I told him with an amused grin.

"No, I mean someone's *coming*," he said urgently.

"Oh. OH!"

We both got up and ran to a nearby closet and shut the door. True to his word, we both heard someone open the door.

"Angel? Buffy? Where are you?"

"Dammit Xander, go away so I can have sex," I hissed. "Shhh," Angel whispered.

"Guys? There's a demon that needs to be killed. Guys?" Xander called out, his voice fading as he moved to further parts of the mansion.

I looked up at Angel and gave him an amused grin. "Haven't done a closet yet."

"Buffy, this really isn't the time-"

I never got to hear the rest of what Angel was saying, because my lips covered his.

We started kissing harder and more passionately ... oh God... Angel's amazing... I could die in his arms ... oh God ... oh God... I love him so much... Angel...

We were both quiet, panting heavily, smiling at each other.

"Add closet to the list," I remarked, still breathing heavily.

"I can't believe we just did that with Xander probably two rooms away," Angel said sternly, but he had a smile on his face nonetheless.

"Oh yeah, add "Xander nearby" right after it," I said with a grin.

Angel looked up and appeared to be sniffing the air. "He's upstairs," Angel said quietly.

Angel left the closet in a flash and came back within a minute.

"You *smelt* him?" I asked incredulously as he handed me my clothes. Angel nodded and we hurriedly got dressed.

"Come on," Angel said, taking my hand in his.

We reached the front door just as Xander reentered the room.

"There you guys are! Did you just get here?" Xander asked.

"Yeah, we took a walk in the park," Angel lied.

"Oh, okay. There's a demon that attacked a girl right by Giles' house. He ran towards the wood. He's big, green, scaly, and he's got gray patches of fur," Xander told us.

"Okay, we're on it," I said, grabbing my jacket off Angel's floor.

"Forgot this last time I was here," I explained, hoping Xander would buy it.

"Angel," Xander started as we left the mansion, "your neighbors have really loud sex."

I had to bite my cheek to stop myself from laughing.

*

Angel looked over at me and grinned. We had been driving to LA for almost and hour, and he had been doing that the entire time. Something was up.

"Okay spill Angel. Why do you keep giving me goofy grins?" I asked.

"Nothing," he said, smiling as he turned his attention back to the darkened roads.

"That is not a nothing smile, Angel. Tell me," I demanded.

He put his hand on top of mine.

"It's nothing, really. There's just this really interesting prophecy I have to tell you about..."