Disclaimer: If I ever change my name to Joss or get a job with Fox, UPN, WB, etc I’ll let you know!

“Someone please tell me why we’re-...oomph!” Buffy was cut off mid-sentence and then groaned as a snowball slammed into the center of her face. “Xander you are so de-,” she started to chastise her friend but was again interrupted.

“Smile!” Willow yelled, snapping a picture of Buffy’s snow covered face with her handy Polaroid camera.

“Gah! Willow! You’re not helping!” Buffy stomped her left foot hard onto the snow-covered ground and then glared at Willow.

“Come on, Buffy! This is supposed to be fun! We’ve been working almost non-stop the last two years. It’s time for some relaxing!” the redhead explained, pulling the instant picture out of the camera and chuckling at it.

“Fun?” the Slayer snorted. “Yeah, well, you’re not the one who keeps getting pelted with snowballs!”

Xander walked over to where Buffy was standing brushing the snow off her face and hair and put his arm around her. “You need to lighten up, Buffster!”

“Yeah, Buffy. Don’t be a party pooper!” Dawn agreed, joining Xander by putting an arm around her sister.

Buffy pouted for a second before an evil smile formed on her face. Willow noticed the look but before she could warn the others Buffy used her legs to buckle the knees of her sister and friend, sending the both sprawling to the ground. Unfortunately, they took Buffy down with them. They were soon a tangled mess half-buried in the almost two feet of snow on the ground.

“Buffy!” Dawn shrieked in annoyance. “It’s freakin’ cold!”

Propping herself up on her elbows, Buffy looked innocently at her sister. “You’re point?”

Not about to let Buffy have the last laugh, Dawn leapt at her and began tickling her mercilessly. Xander joined in and the two had Buffy rolling around defensively on the ground trying to get away from their attacking hands. From a foot away, Willow laughed at the group and took another picture for the photo album she was going to put together of their vacation.

“Children, please. This is not a romper room!” Giles interjected. He stood from the bench he’d been sitting on and turned to head back to the cabin all the while hiding a smile. Despite his admonishment, he enjoyed seeing his ‘children’ having some fun for once.

Buffy, Dawn, and Xander froze at Giles’ words. They looked at each other all thinking the same thing. Again, Willow saw what was coming, but this time she had no intention of saying anything.

“Hey Giles!” Buffy shouted at his retreating form.

Giles swiveled his body to see what she wanted and before he could react three snowballs came flying at him. Buffy’s landed quite forcefully on his left cheek, Dawn’s hit him square on the right shoulder, and Xander’s impacted on the center of his stomach. He opened his mouth to censure them, but could say nothing when he saw the three of them plus Willow laughing almost to the point hyperventilating.

“What’s going on?” Faith asked after walking out of the rented cabin. She cocked her head and looked a snow-covered Giles up and down. “That’s a nice look ya got goin’ there,” she told him.

“Hey Faith!” came Dawn’s yell from nearby.

As soon as Faith looked to the direction Dawn’s voice spoke from she, too, was pelted by three snowballs. Actually, only two hit her. Xander’s sailed over her right shoulder and hit Giles in the left arm instead. The three attackers fell into a fit of giggles at the look on Faith’s face.

“Smile!” Willow ordered, popping up in front of them with her camera at the ready. She snapped a picture of Giles and Faith both staring slack-jawed at her.

“Fuck!” Faith cursed when she’d finally regained her sense. She wiped the snow off her face and then tried to grab the camera from Willow. “Give me that damn thing!”

Willow snatched it out of her reach and took off when Faith started to come after her. She ran towards Buffy, who was now standing, and hid behind her. Faith followed and chased her around an amused Buffy for a few seconds before giving up.

Stopping in front of Buffy, Faith put her hands on her hips. “Give me that picture now! There’s no way anyone is ever going to see it!”

“It’s just a picture!” Willow argued.

“Willow!” Faith whined, crossing her arms over her chest. She did not want to take the chance that someone would see her looking like a schmuck with snow all over her.

“What’s the matter, Faith?” Dawn questioned, walking up to Faith and bumping her hip, a wicked grin on her face. “It’s just a picture. It’s not like we’re gonna blackmail you with it.”

“That’s it! Give me that camera!” Faith shouted and again went after Willow.

Shrieking, Willow took off, but first tossed the camera to Xander. Faith ignored the hand off and tackled Willow down onto the snow. The two fell backwards, both laughing at their silliness.

Giles removed his glasses and pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket to clean off the melted drops of snow. Once they were dry, he returned them to his face and with a wry smile said, “are we quite finished now?”

“Aww, come on, G-man!” Xander spoke, using the dreaded nickname.

“Don’t look at me, Giles,” Buffy defended her actions. “They told me to have fun so that’s what I was doing,” she explained smugly.

Shaking his head and trying to keep himself from laughing, Giles looked to the group and sighed in fake exasperation. “Well, if you are done harassing me I will go in and get dinner started.”

“Oh, good! I’m starving!” Xander exclaimed already trotting toward the cabin.

The others looked at each other and chuckled. “Why am I not surprised?” Willow whispered to Buffy.

“I get the bathroom first!” Buffy demanded, sprinting away from the group. “I’m gonna take a nice, long, hot bath,” she called out from the doorway.

Dawn opened her mouth to object, but abruptly closed it at Willow’s pointed look. She grumbled to herself as she, Willow, Xander, and Faith trailed behind.

\-\-\-\-\ ^ /-/-/-/-/

Buffy sank back into the giant bathtub and sighed as the almost scalding water warmed her body. It felt absolutely sinful after being out in the bitter cold for hours goofing off with her friends. She wiggled her toes up through the copious amount of bubbles as they slowly began to regain some feeling to them. Next time she’d have to remember to wear two pairs of socks when romping in the snow.

Despite her reservations, she was glad the gang had convinced her to come on this little vacation. When Willow first suggested the idea of staying for a week at a quiet house in Vermont Buffy had balked at the idea. Seven full days surrounded by snow and cold just did not sound fun. She couldn’t argue with the fact that they all needed a vacation, though, which is why she agreed in the end.

They were all worn out from working too much. Ever since the destruction of Sunnydale three years earlier they had been traveling the world searching for Slayers and working to rebuild the Council. They’d already accomplished so much, but it left little time for relaxation. So even though Vermont wasn’t quite where she would have chosen to go on a vacation, she was already enjoying herself.

\-\-\-\-\ ^ /-/-/-/-/

An hour later, after pampering herself more than what was probably necessary, Buffy slipped out of the bathroom and into the bedroom she somehow miraculously had gotten all to herself. She debated just putting on her pajamas. After all, they were only going to have dinner together and then probably veg-out in front of the fireplace for the rest of the night. Not wanting to be the only one dressed like a slacker, she slipped on a pair of comfortable, worn jeans and her favorite blue sweater.

Grabbing a hair-tie on her way out, Buffy headed down the hall and into the kitchen. She could smell the food cooking, but she didn’t see any of her friends. Wondering where they were, Buffy went to search them out.

She looked in each of their bedrooms as she back-tracked down the hall and found no one. Pausing by the front door, she peered out the side window to see if they’d gone back outside, but again she didn’t see anyone. With a frown on her face, Buffy walked into the living room

And stopped dead in her tracks.

There, standing to the right of the large stone fireplace was Angel; a red bow draped around his body in a sash-like manner. If she hadn’t been so shocked to see him standing there she would have giggled at the sight of the morose, brooding vampire wrapped up in a big bow.

“Angel?” she whispered softly, almost afraid that if she said his name out loud he would disappear.

“Happy Birthday, Buffy,” Willow spoke and Buffy for the first time noticed all of her closest friends and family, Willow, Xander, Dawn, Giles, and Faith, standing to her left.

Buffy opened her mouth and closed it quickly, her eyes darting to Angel and back to her friends, before she managed to squeak out, “what’s going on?”

“Aren’t you going to open your present?” Xander said, ignoring her question, and nodding toward Angel. “The big guy’s over there waiting.”

Turning, Buffy faced Angel with tears welling in her eyes. She strode slowly over and came to a stop a foot in front of him. They stared into each others’ eyes for a moment, exchanging unspoken words.

“Happy birthday, Buffy,” Angel finally spoke after a minute and pulled Buffy into a hug, crushing his red bow.

“Thank you,” she said loud enough for just Angel to hear, hugging him tightly. They held each other for a few seconds longer before Buffy pulled away and smiled at him. “I can’t believe you’re here!”

“I didn’t want to miss your twenty-fifth birthday,” he answered, returning her smile and then frowning when Buffy suddenly smacked him on the arm. “What was that for?”

“I just talked to you two days ago! I can’t believe you didn’t tell me you were coming!” she playfully shrieked at him.

“That kinda ruins the whole surprise aspect,” Dawn chipped in.

Buffy swiped at a tear that was falling down her cheek as she faced her friends. “I can’t believe you guys did this!”

“You know we’d do anything for you, Buffy,” Xander interjected, giving Buffy a hug. “Happy birthday!”

A chorus of ‘happy birthdays’ and hugs came from the rest of the group and Buffy accepted them all with misty eyes. Angel joined the gathering, standing behind Buffy and allowing her to lean against him. She sighed happily at the feel of his body against hers.

After the final battle against The First, the two had talked at length and agreed that they were happier with each other as a part of their lives. They didn’t get back together, in the strictest sense, but they realized that the distance that had grown between them wasn’t something that they wanted. So even thought they both went on with their lives, Buffy working with the gang locating Slayers and rebuilding the Council and Angel striving to dismantle Wolfram & Hart, they spoke often and visited when possible. The communication allowed them to develop a closeness that they both cherished and had long missed.

“I guess you’re happy we didn’t listen to you when you said you wanted us to forget it was your birthday, huh?” Willow asked with a chuckle.

“So far,” Buffy answered, her voice wary. “It’s still early, leaving plenty of time to continue the Buffy birthday tragedy.”

Angel leaned down and spoke softly into her ear, “think positive.”

Before Buffy could answer, a bell chimed. Everyone turned and looked in the direction of the kitchen when Xander shouted giddily, “dinner’s ready!”

“Thanks for telling us, Xan,” Buffy said, cringing and pressing a finger to her ear.

\-\-\-\-\ ^ /-/-/-/-/

“Ooh! I get more presents?!?” Buffy squealed happily an hour and a half later after they had eaten their dinner and cleaned up. She skipped into the living room and plopped onto the couch, patting the cushion next to her for Angel to sit down on.

Angel chuckled, along with the others, and obeyed her not-so-subtle command to sit. The second he was seated, Buffy turned long-ways on the couch and dropped her feet onto Angel’s lap. He didn’t mind though. Seeing Buffy so carefree was enough to make him happy. She could put her feet on his head for all he cared.

“Ok, open mine first,” Faith spoke up, pulling a box out from underneath the chair behind where she was sitting on the floor.

Buffy took the box and then eyed it cautiously. Before opening it, she asked Faith, “there’s nothing in here that bites or involves sex in some way is there?”

“Aww, come on, B! You’re no fun,” Faith teased and then grinned. “Nah, it’s safe to open. I’m just kiddin’ ya!”

Deciding to trust the brunette Slayer’s words, Buffy ripped open the wrapping paper and lifted the lid of the box. Inside she found a gorgeous dark brown leather jacket. “It’s beautiful! Thank you, Faith. I love it!”

“Well, you needed some more leather in your wardrobe,” Faith pointed out.

“Uh huh.” Buffy rolled her eyes and laughed.

“Me next!” Dawn jumped up from her spot on the floor and handed Buffy a square-shaped box.

Turning the box around in her hands for a moment, Buffy hesitated in opening it. “Well, there aren’t any holes in it so I guess there’s nothing alive inside.”

“Buffy!” Dawn chastised.

“Okay, okay.” Pulling off the lid, Buffy was relieved to find a full array of bath products in one of her favorite scents. She smiled at Dawn and thanked her for the thoughtful gift.

“I suppose mine’s next,” Xander said, giving Buffy a rather heavy box.

Buffy shook the box slightly to see if she could figure out what was inside. When the others started to complain, she finally opened it. “Oh my God! Xander! Thank you so much!” she screamed in delight.

“What is it?” Angel asked, leaning forward to look at the strange set of boxes inside the large container.

“It’s a full set of Alias DVD’s!” she babbled, bouncing slightly on the couch.

“Alias? What’s that?” Angel asked in confusion.

“Oh! I forgot! You’re pop-culture challenged,” she said, leaning forward to give him a kiss on the cheek. “Alias is a TV show.”

“Yeah. Buffy’s obsessed with it,” Xander added. “I think she just wants to see Sydney and Vaughn together.”

“Oh come on Xander! They are so cute together!” Buffy told him, glaring.

“Oh. Okay,” Angel mumbled, still not really understanding what the big deal was.

“Thank you, Xander. I love them.” Buffy reached up and hugged Xander.

“Umm, this is from me,” Angel blurted nervously. He reached down next to the couch and lifted up a dark blue gift bag.

Accepting the bag, Buffy couldn’t wait to see what was inside. She knew whatever it was she would love it because it was from Angel. Unable to wait any longer, she quickly waded through the tissue paper and gasped when she saw what he’d gotten her. “Oh, Angel,” she whispered, pulling a familiar looking pink stuffed pig out of the bag.”

“It’s not the original. Dawn told me it was destroyed back in Sunnydale,” Angel explained, feeling his heart lurch at the gleam in Buffy’s eyes.

“It looks exactly the same,” she murmured, hugging it to her chest. “How did you find it?”

“I, uh, made a sketch of it and had someone make it,” Angel responded almost shyly.

“Thank you so much.” She leapt forward and embraced him, squishing the pig between their bodies.

Xander leaned over to Faith and Dawn and whispered, “looks like we’ve been upstaged by a pig.”

“Xander!” Dawn hit him in the chest.

“I love it,” Buffy told Angel, raising the pig up to look at it.

“I’m glad.” Angel smiled at her and placed a light kiss on her lips.

“All right, enough of that,” butted in Xander.

Buffy removed herself from Angel’s arms, blushing over the fact that her friends were all staring at her getting mushy over a stuffed pig. She couldn’t help it though. It was one of the sweetest things anyone had ever done for her.

“So I guess that leaves us,” Willow spoke, looking to Giles.

“Ah, yes,” Giles agreed, adjusting his glasses before he reached on top of the bookshelf next to him to retrieve a manila envelope. Walking over to Buffy, he handed her the paper. “This is from Willow and I.”

Buffy stared at the thin envelope curiously. Whatever was inside obviously wasn’t very big. She assumed it must be a gift certificate to somewhere. Lifting the flap, she pulled out the papers inside. The room was deathly silent and all eyes were on her as she began to read the words.

The group of friends and family only had to wait a few seconds before Buffy’s head shot up and tears once again filled her eyes. “This...you...I...,” she stuttered, not able to form a complete sentence.

Willow moved forward and knelt in front of Buffy. “Yes, it really is a spell to anchor Angel’s soul. Permanently. Giles and I have been working on it for almost eight months. We tapped into every resource available,” she explained in a soft voice.

“I...I...you did all this for me?” Buffy choked out, trying to hold back her tears of joy.

“For you,” Willow answered, and then glanced at Angel. “And for Angel. You, both of you, deserve to be happy.”

“I don’t know what to say,” Buffy said, thoroughly in shock over the turn of events.

“I know we weren’t always supportive of you and Angel being together,” Willow started, taking one of Buffy’s hands. “But we also know that he’s the only one to ever make you truly happy, and you make him happy. You belong together and we wanted to give you that chance. All of us.” Behind Willow, the others nodded and smiled.

“Will...will it really work?” Buffy voiced the one question on her mind.

“Yes, we are one hundred percent sure the spell works,” Giles replied. He had his worries over Buffy and Angel being together, but bottom-line, he wanted her to be happy and he knew that Angel was the one to do that.

“When can we do it?” Buffy quickly questioned.

“We already have,” Angel intoned, having remained silent up till that point.

“What?” Whipping her head around, Buffy stared at Angel wide-eyed. “You have?”

“Yes. Wes, Fred, and Lorne performed it a week ago,” he answered with a nod, feeling slightly nervous.

“A-and it worked?” she asked, chewing hesitantly on her lower lip.

Angel again nodded his head. “Lorne’s sure it did.”

“Oh, Angel.” Buffy threw herself into his arms and sobbed against his shoulder. “I can’t believe it’s really true.”

Lifting her head, Angel looked deeply into Buffy’s eyes. “It is,” he whispered before seizing her lips in a gentle kiss.

Faith stood, yanking Dawn up with her. “I think that’s our cue to leave!”

Willow nodded her head in agreement and reached over to the table where she’d set the pictures she’d taken during the gift giving with her instant camera. The simple look of joy on Buffy’s face in the snapshots was enough to tell her that they’d done the right thing. All she ever wanted was for her friend to be happy. She was just glad to have been able to help.

\-\-\-\-\ ^ /-/-/-/-/

“I missed you,” Buffy sighed softly once the kiss ended. She raised a hand up and touched Angel’s cheek, stroking her thumb across the time-worn skin.

“I missed you, too,” Angel murmured, leaning into her caress. “I look forward to your calls, and emails. They make each day a little less hard to get through.”

“I know what you mean,” she agreed, smiling lovingly. “I’m glad we decided to keep in touch. It was so hard...before. Whenever something bad would happen the first thing I always wanted to do was talk to you. You always knew how to make me feel better.”

“I tried so hard to move on,” he spoke hoarsely. “I told myself that no matter how much I wanted you I couldn’t have you. But you were always in here,” he continued and placed a hand over his heart.

“And you were always in mine,” Buffy answered, resting her right hand on top of his.

This time it was Buffy who leaned forward and drew Angel into another kiss. Unlike the previous one, it contained more passion and heat. Buffy’s hands slithered around Angel and grasped at the back of his neck. Her mouth opened, drawing his tongue in to duel with hers.

Angel accepted the kiss with only a little hesitation. The warmth of her mouth enticed him in ways he didn’t think he would ever be able to describe. And her taste was something he would never be able to get enough of. It was a slice of pure heaven. All too soon, though, he broke away, gasping for air his dead lungs had no need for.

“Buffy,” he choked out, pausing for a moment to gather his thoughts. “I know that just because the curse is fixed it doesn’t mean-.”

Sensing the direction of his words, Buffy halted them by placing a finger on his lips. “I know what you’re going to say.”

“Nothing’s changed, Buffy,” Angel went on anyway. “I’m still a vampire, and there’s still so much I can’t give you.”

“I know all that,” she responded, her voice not holding an ounce of anger. “I’ve known all that since I was sixteen and it doesn’t matter to me.”

“It should,” he muttered, self-loathing tinting his words. “You have so much to look forward to. You have your whole life ahead of you.”

Buffy didn’t reply right away, opting to consider the best way to get Angel to understand. “I know I do. But I’ve learned to live for today because I have no idea what is going to happen tomorrow or next month or next year. No one knows. I can’t live waiting for the future to happen. All I have is today, and I want you to be a part of all my todays.”

“I just don’t want you to regret anything,” Angel explained, trying to keep himself from feeling happy that Buffy was apparently accepting him back into her life on more than just a friend basis.

“I won’t. I’m twenty-five years old now, Angel. I understand the choice I’m making,” Buffy responded softly, looking him directly in the eye and trying to convey her honesty and love.

Instead of answering with words, Angel engaged Buffy in a sweet kiss that expressed all of the emotions he was feeling inside. He still didn’t know whether it was fair of him to reenter her life this way, but he couldn’t deny what he wanted anymore. For so long he had tried to and he just didn’t have it in him anymore. And Buffy was right, she was no longer an idealistic teenager. She knew was she was committing herself to when she accepted him back into her life.

“I love you,” Angel whispered against her lips when the kiss ended.

“I love you, too,” Buffy repeated, tears welling in her eyes.

She almost couldn’t believe that Angel was sitting beneath her, that his curse was no longer an issue, and that he was truly understanding that his limitations were not a problem for her. Ever since he had left Sunnydale years ago, her heart had had a gaping hole in it where he’d once been. She’d tried to fill it with others, but no one could take his place. And now...now her heart felt whole again. She could almost swear she felt a warm tingle on her chest over where her heart resided.

A consuming grin overtook Angel’s face at hearing Buffy’s proclamation of love. He reached up and brushed a strand of hair off her face before saying, “I have another birthday present for you.”

“Having you here is all I need,” she answered truthfully.

Angel reached into one of his pockets and pulled out an object that Buffy couldn’t see. He held it in his closed hand so that she couldn’t see what it was. She could tell, however, that it something small like jewelry.

“I guess you don’t want this then,” Angel teased, moving to put the gift back into his pocket.

“I didn’t say that,” Buffy responded quickly and grabbed at his hand.

“What’s the magic word?” he asked, keeping his hand out of her reach.

“Angel!” groaned Buffy, glaring at him. “Ok, fine. Please?”

Relenting, Angel lowered his hand and opened. Resting on his palm Buffy saw a key ring with a key dangling off of it. She looked at Angel curiously and picked up the key. Turning it over in her hand, Buffy tried to figure out why he was giving her a key.

“What’s this for?” she wondered out loud.

“It goes to a house in Northern California,” Angel started to explain. “Your house.”

“What?” Buffy gasped. “M-my house?”

“I know you haven’t really had anywhere to consider home since Sunnydale,” he told her, smiling at the pure look of shocked happiness on Buffy’s face. “A friend of mine mentioned he was selling one of his houses and I thought of you, and of Dawn. So I bought it from him.”

“Angel, this is too much. I can’t accept this.” Buffy tried to hand the key back to him, but Angel would not accept it.

“You deserve it, Buffy,” Angel said, disagreeing with her claim. “I can’t imagine traveling from place to place is much fun. Everyone needs a home. You, Dawn, and the rest of the gang can stay there whenever you’re not working.”

“What, uh, what about you? Will you stay there?” Buffy asked nervously. She wanted him to say that it would be his home too. She wanted him to stay in her life.

“I still have to work at Wolfram & Hart, but if you want me to I will stay there when I can,” he offered, his mind already drifting to what it would be like to be part of Buffy’s life on a permanent basis.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” she answered happily, hugging him tightly to her. After a few seconds, she pulled away slightly. “Thank you, Angel. For being here, for giving us a chance, for the house, for everything.”

“You’re welcome. I just want to see you happy. It’s all I’ve ever wanted,” Angel responded, staring into her eyes and beginning to lean forward a bit.

“You make me happy,” Buffy whispered just before his lips touched hers.

Their mouths melded together in a sensual kiss that promised more. Buffy’s hands trailed down Angel’s chest till they reached his waistline. Slowly, she pulled his shirt free and allowed her hands to touch the bare skin around his midsection.

Angel groaned at the feel of her warm hands on his cool skin. “Buffy, we don’t have to...,” he trailed off. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to make love to her. He just didn’t want her to feel like they had to right away just because his curse was fixed.

“Shh,” she hushed him, standing up off the couch and reaching a hand out to him.

Taking her hand, Angel too stood and allowed Buffy to lead him to her bedroom.

\-\-\-\-\ ^ /-/-/-/-/

Early in the pre-dawn hours, Buffy and Angel lay tangled in the sheets on Buffy’s bed. Neither had yet to sleep, too caught up in the bliss of their reunion. They were content to merely enjoy and hold each other in a way they had never before been allowed. There were still barriers between them; Angel’s vampirism, their jobs, but the biggest one, the one that threatened the world’s safety, was no longer an issue. The rest they would just have to deal with.

Buffy sighed and curled herself closer to Angel; if that was even possible. She was already practically lying on top of him. She just couldn’t seem to get close enough. It was almost as if she needed his touch to remind herself that he was really there, that he had made love to her more than once without the threat of Angelus hanging over their heads. The entire night had been a dream come true, and her body now felt pleasantly numb, and well, satisfied.

Next to her, Angel was feeling much the same way. It all felt like a dream, like he should pinch himself so he’d wake up. But it wasn’t a dream. For so long, Buffy had been out of his reach; a fantasy forever forbidden. The fact that they were lying in bed together, naked, after having made love several times was hard for him to believe. But the feel of her body pressed against him assured him it was all very much true. If his soul hadn’t been anchored to his body it would have been gone already.

“This has been the best day of my life,” Buffy spoke softly, trailing a hand across Angel’s bare chest.

“This is just the beginning, beloved,” he replied, peering down into her glistening eyes.

“I’m gonna hold you to that,” she told him before raising her head to kiss him soundly on the lips.

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