DISCLAIMER: Buffy, Angel and the gang belong to the evil Joss and I only own the characters I make up. In a perfect world however I would own all of them, Buffy and Angel wouldn't have broken up and Riley would never have existed.
RATING: PG
SPOILERS: General (if any)
TIMELINE: Ten years after the wedding (part of long ago series).

"Dad, it's not what you think" Hope told Angel when she saw him standing there.

"I know" Angel replied smiling, "Billy-boy here just did it to annoy me."

"Ah, you know me too well, Peaches" Spike said expertly covering up his true motives behind the kiss.

Angel let them into the house and Hope went straight upstairs to bed. As soon as they were alone Angel asked Spike, "Why is she upset?"

"I think she ran into Bloodbag" Spike replied.

"Dev's in town?" Angel said in surprise, this was the first he'd heard of it.

"Yeah, he's been around for awhile. Hope was upset at first and called Slayer about it" Spike told him.

Angel was fuming, that moronic vampire was hanging around and once again causing his sweet little girl pain. "If I get my hands on him, I'll..." Angel started to threaten.

"You'll what? Peaches, you're not one of us anymore, even Harmony could kick your butt" Spike replied.

"I don't care, he hurt her" Angel said stubbornly.

Spike spotted Buffy nearby and yelled, "Slayer will you tell Peaches too stay out of it."

"Chip-heads right Angel" Buffy answered.

"Why are you on his side?" Angel whined.

Buffy walked over and put a hand on her husbands shoulder, "It's Hope's life, let her live it her own way."

"But..." Angel protested.

"No buts. She's not a baby anymore, she's all grown up" Buffy told him.

"She was all grown up before I got her" Angel replied walking away, leaving a shocked Spike and Buffy standing there.

*

When Angel finally returned to Joyce's, he went upstairs and checked on Hope. As he looked at her sleeping form he wished, once again that he hadn't turned the day back. He'd lost so many precious years with her that he could never get back. Like he'd said earlier, she'd already grown up when he got her, so she'd never really needed him around. He closed Hope's door and sneaked to the guest room where he and Buffy were staying, he went inside and undressed, and as he was about to climb into bed he stole a quick glance at Buffy and felt a tiny flicker of resentment towards her time with Hope. It really bothered him that when any kind of trouble came up she immediately called her mom and he was the after thought. Angel climbed into the bed, unsure of what to do and fell into a fitful sleep.

*

The next morning Hope saw her parents and younger siblings off before work and was in a way glad to see them leave. This way they didn't get the up close and personal view of the mess she'd made of her life, they didn't get to feel her pain over all the stupid decisions she made, this way it was all her doing and all her's to fix. All day Hope went through the motions while her mind made an important choice. She taught her class, trained with Chyna, ate dinner with her grandmother and Giles and when she finally couldn't take it anymore she went on a patrol.

About an hour into her patrol, Hope found herself standing outside Dev's apartment. She was about to walk away, when the door opened and Dev hauled her inside. He backed her up against the closed front door and kissed her until she was totally breathless. "Still think that love isn't enough?" Dev asked her in desperation.

"No" Hope replied, "it's more than enough."

Dev could hardly believe his ears, "What?"

"I've had time to think it through... and I've come to realise that love has to be enough. My parents hung onto each other's memory for almost 18 years of separation because they were in love and then gave it another go. I figure that if they can make it, then we can" Hope told him.

"I'm still a vampire" Dev warned.

"And I'm a retired slayer, who's the daughter of an ex-vampire and a retired slayer and watcher and who's best friend is an evil vampire with a chip in his head. So your point would be?"

"Not important" Dev answered pulling her to him.

"So..." Hope said looking deep into his eyes, "how do we celebrate this new understanding of ours?"

"I have a few ideas" Dev told her seductively.

Hope kissed him as he picked her up and carried her to his bedroom, where they spent the rest of the night reaffirming their love.

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