DISCLAIMER: NOT MINE!!! None, zippo, nada.
TIMELINE: 5th season
SPOILERS: Mentions Dawn, but nothing earth-shattering.
SYNOPSIS: Buffy feels sick. Stuff goes from there. Just read it for pete's sake!
DISTRIBUTION: Ask and ye shall receive.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: This is slightly a songfic thing. It revolves around some of the lyrics. Oh, and I started this, oh about 6 months ago and never got around to finishing it. I finished it over Turkey Day Break and so here it is. Oh, side note. RILEY BASHING IS ABUNDANT. YOU HAVE NOW BEEN WARNED. I used to think that Riley was a good guy because my psychologist (psych student anyone?) at school playes basketball (Marc's fav. sport) and looks almost identical (6', blue eyes, blonde hair) to him. It's scary. My friend and I call him Riley, even though his name is Paul. He just looks at us weird. He never gets it.
FEEDBACK: Yes please!!!
RATING: PG, possibly PG-13 if you're really sensitive.

The opening chords of a song came in over the sound system at the Bronze. All of the scoobies were there and Buffy jumped up.

//A scrub is a guy
That thinks he's fly
Is also known as a buster
Always thinkin 'bout what he wants
And just sits on his broke ass//

"I love this song! Riley, let's dance." she said as she pulled him towards the dance floor.

//No, I don't want your number
No, I don't wanna give you mine
And no, I don't wanna meet you nowhere
No, don't want none of your time
No, I don't want no scrubs
A scrub is a guy can't get no love from me
Hanging out the passenger side of his best friends ride
Trying to holler at me.//

They started dancing at a fast pace...well, Riley was.

He didn't really know how to dance to this new-age kind of music, so he just tried to imitate those strange people he saw on god-forbidden MTV. In Iowa, he loved to listen to his "Sounds of the Farm" 8-track, but Forrest had broken it accidentally. At least, that's what Forrest had *said.*

//A scrub's checking me,
But his skins got away, And I know that he can not approach me
Cause I'm looking like class and he's looking like trash
Can't get with a deadbeat ass.//

Buffy looked at Riley strangely. His dancing was embarrassing her and she started to turn bright red.

//You have a car and you're walking
(Oh yes son, I'm talking to you)
And you live at home with your mama
(Oh yes son, I'm talking to you)
You have it short, but you don't show love
(Oh yes son, I'm talking to you)
Wanna get with me and know my name?//

"Riley!" she hissed. He continued to dance, too wrapped up in himself and trying to impress Buffy with his smooth moves.

"Riley!" she tried again. He still didn't hear her. "Desperate times call for desperate measures, whatever the heck that means." she said under her breath. With her slayer powers she dragged him off the floor, back to where the Scoobies were still sitting.

//Oh no, I don't want no
No, I don't want no scrubs
A scrub is a guy can't get no love from me
Hanging out the passenger side of his best friends ride
Trying to holler at me.//

"Oh, hey Buffy, I thought you loved that song!" Riley protested.

"Umm, yeah. Look, I don't feel so good. I think I'm just going to go back to the dorm...kay? She wasn't *really* lying. Her head kind of hurt from Riley's incessant ramblings, and she started to get that feeling that someone familiar was watching her.

*Not again. Another stalker, another demon to kill, another day with Riley. When is my life going to be simple again?* she mentally questioned.

"I'll come with you! Maybe we could do that thing...that we sometimes do...together...you know?" Riley said. His eyebrows raised in a suggestive manner.

"NO!" she said a little too quickly. "What I mean is, umm, I really just need to go home and rest. Thanks...though. Umm, bye." she turned around and walked toward the door. Suddenly, the stalker feeling overwhelmed her, making her somewhat dizzy. She picked up the pace and made it out the door just in time to collapse in the ally.

*What the heck is wrong with me? I guess it's just a stalker, but why do they have that effect on me?* she wondered. The slayer took a few deep breaths and got up. It was all she could do from collapsing again, the feeling wasn't going away.

"Must - get - home!" she gasped. Just then, she fainted. However, strong arms surrounded her and prevented her from dropping to the grimy ally floor.

**********

Buffy awoke to the feeling of soft satin sheets underneath her. Her stomach was aching; she hadn't had anything to eat since the previous day's lunch, and by the look of the light streaming in the nearby window, it was midday. Noticing she had a pair of black boxers and an overly large shirt on, she sat up. Buffy noticed the lack of pain that she had the night before. She slowly got up and examined her surroundings. There was a queen sized bed in the center of the bright room with white satin sheets and a white comforter. There was a fireplace opposite of the bed and a wood rocking chair adjacent to the bed. She looked out the floor-to-ceilng windows and almost got dizzy. She was easily 4 or 5 stories up looking out over an overgrown garden on a large piece of property.

Buffy made her way to the door and cautiously made her way down the stairs. As she went down a feeling of familiarity hit her. This was the mansion; the Crawford Street Mansion. Questions flooded her mind.

*Why am I at the mansion? Why was I in the very top room, and why was I brought here? More importantly, who bought me here?*

Buffy wandered into the living room, hearing the faint lyrics of one of her favorite songs "In the arms of the angels, fly away from here..." it sang, and she stopped dead in her tracks.

There, seated on the couch reading an old, musty book and listening to some campy teen radio station was him. Her savior. Her all.

Her Angel.

**********

Buffy's mouth hung open. She was completely and utterly speechless.

It was him, him who saved her from that awful feeling. And now, he was sitting almost 10 feet from her. In the flesh.

"Buffy." Angel said calmly, despite his mind that was screaming at him to jump up and kiss her. He stood and swiftly walked into the kitchen.

"I, uh, made some breakfast for you. Bacon, and some eggs. I have pancakes, too. Here, sit." He almost calmly offered a chair at a simple small table in the kitchen.

Buffy just stood there, mouth agape.

"Umm, Buffy?" his voice turned soft and loving. He started to approach her to bring her to the table. She snapped out of her daze and cautiously started to make her way to the table. She sat down and started to eat.

"This is good. I didn't know you could cook." She said suddenly, but softly.

"I guess you learn something new everyday." Angel replied in the same manner.

"Yeah. Well, something I would like to learn is why you're here." She said it more in confession, than in sarcasm.

"Buffy, I don't think either you or I are ready to hear that out loud right now." Angel replied cryptically.

"Oh."

Silence.

"So, how's college?"

"Not as bad as it could be."

"How so?"

"Well, I could find out a life changing secret, meet someone I would love the rest of my life, fight the Master, *die*, unleash the 'Scourge of Europe', have my teacher killed, send my boyfriend to hell, run away, have him return and rehabilitate him, be drained by a vampire, fight almost to the death with a sister slayer, fight an apocalypse and *win*, and have *him* leave. Yeah, it could be worse."

There was a pause and then Buffy spoke again. "I'm done. I'm going home now."

"Let me drive you. I have my car here." Angel offered. *I have to buy myself some time.* Some strangely familiar song was in the background...something about "Oops I did it again, I played with your heart..."

"Not under these circumstances."

"Why not? Why can't we be civil? Why can't we be in the same room without fighting? Why must you leave, especially when I..." he broke off.

"I meant because it's sunny outside. Vampire, remember?" She said distractedly, "What were you going to say? When you...what?" Tears started to form in her eyes. At seeing this, tears formed in Angel's eyes too. *I have to tell her.* he thought.

"When I still love you." He whispered. In an instant Buffy was in his arms and comforting him. They cried together and in each other's weakness' they sunk to the cold floor in a heap.

"I still love you too."

Some boy band was in the background crooning "From the day my life is through...This I promise you..."

**********

"So. What happens next?" Buffy asked after their own personal falling-out sessions. The two were sitting on the living room couch.

Buffy risked a glance up at Angel and became lost in his gaze. Quickly, without warning, Buffy's slight body moved forward and pecked Angel on the lips. The power that went through them was immeasurable. A moment later they captured each other again and were soon engaged in a full make out session.

Neither of them heard the front door of the mansion swing open as a figure stepped in.

**********

"Buffy? Buffy? Are you here?" shouted Riley. *Hmm, where could she be?* he thought as he stepped into the mansion's living room. He'd never been in this mansion before because Buffy always had forbidden it.

There on the couch, however, was a couple making out.

"Oh, well excuse me folks, but I'm looking for a petite blonde girl-" Riley said in an all important voice, trying to make his voice as deep as it could be.

"Riley?" Buffy asked after reluctantly breaking the kiss with Angel.

"What are you doing?!?! Who is he? Why were you kissing him? Why?" Riley girly-sobbed.

"Angel was...is my best friend. And I love him! I'm sorry for leading you on, but my heart has always been with Angel." Buffy replied calmly.

"But why? You were supposed to be *my* girl! We shared so much! I even," and his voice got very low, "lost my virginity to you!"

//No, I don't want your number
No, I don't wanna give you mine
And no, I don't wanna meet you nowhere
No, don't want none of your time.//

"Look Riley, I was never *your girl*. And as for the sex? That's all it was. Sex. Never making love, just sex. Get over it." Buffy said coldly. She knew she could be kinder, but she was really, REALLY getting annoyed with him. Plus, she was becoming increasingly aware of the song on the radio that was playing softly in the background.

//A scrub is a guy
That thinks he's fly
Is also known as a buster
Always thinkin 'bout what he wants
And just sits on his broke ass.//

"You know what Riley? I don't want you here. Leave before I make you, and believe me, when we were sparring I was definitely holding back. You really don't know what a Slayer's strength is like." She was about five seconds from punching him into next year...or a coma...which ever worked best.

//No, I don't want no scrubs
A scrub is a guy can't get no love from me
Hanging out the passenger side of his best friends ride
Trying to holler at me.//

"Fine Buffy! If you want to do it that way! I'm leaving! But you know what? Never come to me again. I won't be there for you. And for the record? You're a big, fat, MEANIE!!!" Riley shouted, making an even bigger fool out of himself. With that, he girly-ran out the door; arms flailing mixed with a bit of screaming.

//A scrub's checking me,
But his skins got away, And I know that he can not approach me
Cause I'm looking like class and he's looking like trash
Can't get with a deadbeat ass.

You have a car and you're walking
(Oh yes son, I'm talking to you)
And you live at home with your mama
(Oh yes son, I'm talking to you)
You have it short, but you don't show love
(Oh yes son, I'm talking to you)
Wanna get with me and know my name?
Oh no, I don't want No Scrubs.//

"Finally! He was the most annoying person I've ever met!! Attentive, yes. But very, and I do mean very, annoying! I'm so grateful that he's gone now."

"Me too. I can't believe you slept with that guy."

"Me either. But now I am so very, very glad I have you. I missed you so much." Buffy said as she snuggled into his shoulder.

"You missed me?"

"Of course! You're bound to complain when someone replaces a full symphony orchestra with a kazoo." Buffy recited a quote she had read on the signature of someone's e-mail. It seemed so fitting to her.

"So would I be the symphony orchestra or the kazoo?" Angel asked coyly.

"Am I complaining?" She answered slyly. She reached over and pulled his face down to hers, lazily kissing him, settled back and promptly went to sleep.

**********

"So seriously, what brings you back to Sunnydale?" asked Willow.

The whole Scooby Gang was seated at the large, round table at the Magic Box. Well, Giles was standing by the counter, Anya was sitting in Xander's lap at said table, Tara was standing behind Willow (who was seated at the table), Dawn was looking at a very expensive, very old crystal ball near a bookcase until Giles careful removed it from her hands, and Buffy and Angel were standing in front of them all clasping hands.

"Well, I haven't told anyone this, not even Buffy. I'm, well I'm here on personal business. Nothing apocylypsey is going to happen, as far as I know."

"And for that we are grateful. But what were you going to say?" Giles said impatiently. He wanted to find out the news. He had a growing suspicion, but he wasn't quite sure. Buffy had told him about how he was going to drive her home, but he had "forgotten" that sunlight would harm him. He had never done that before. And when they were picking out weapons to patrol the previous night, he had picked up a cross and not so much as winced. Something was up.

"I've sort of..regained my humanity?" he said in a small voice. He didn't know what to expect. Would he be welcomed? Rejected? Killed? Would they care? His mind was filled with questions.

The room went dead silent.

"Human? You're human?" Buffy squeaked.

"Kind of." He said in a small voice.

Suddenly the room exploded in voices.

"Human?"

"When did this happen?" Willow asked.

"Are you fully human?"

"This is great!"

"I don't believe this has ever happened before!" came from Giles.

"When did this happen?" Willow asked again.

"Two days ago. After it happened, I knew that I had to get to Sunnydale as soon as I could. That's where I found Buffy at the Bronze. She fainted in the alley and I brought her back to the mansion. I'm sorry I sort of...stalked." Angel replied.

Buffy just stood there, almost catatonic. She started to sway, but Angel was there to sweep her up before she hit the ground. Her eyes fluttered open. "Human?" she said breathlessly.

"Yes, well, except that I have power. Like yours. And I heal fast. I'm not a liability to you." He answered, smiling. Buffy captured his lips in a kiss.

"So you're like a male Slayer? Cool deadboy...ahem, Angel. Sorry. Old habits are hard to break." Xander congratulated. He was, surprisingly for all involved, happy for them.

"Yeah. And thanks, Xander. It means a lot." Angel replied.

"I've waited for this day forever. When you could be mine. It's all just happening so fast." Buffy said dreamily.

"I know. I love you."

"Love you too."

The room held a few moments of comfortable silence.

"Sorry to ruin the happy, and I know that this is off the topic, but umm...why did the Buffster faint?" Xander suddenly inquired.

"I was looking into that myself," Angel replied," and I think that the only thing that can make a Slayer faint like that is when she is deathly sick, but that is only characterized by a very high fever and jaundice. The other way is when a stalker is nearby. But the stalker must be human to give off those feelings. By the looks of it, she's perfectly healthy, but I don't know who the stalker would be. I didn't see anyone suspicious around her."

"You." Came Tara's simple answer.

"What? asked Giles.

"I-I mean," Tara stuttered. She wasn't used to talking in front of all these people and being so attentively listened to. She was somewhat intimidated. But she continued, "A-Angel. You said th-that you were stalking her...s-sort of. And you're sort of human, I m-mean, enough t-to give off those vibes. A-Also, I-I've heard Willow talking ab-about Buffy and Angel's m-mental connection. They can feel e-each other. M-Maybe the c-connection made her feel i-it more."

There was a pause of silence.

"Angel," Buffy sighed dreamily, "you do things to me that no one else can. Are you aware that I love you?"

"Yes love." Angel sighed as dreamily as she did. He shifted her around, for she was still in his arms, to where she was straddling his hips. She pressed her forehead to his and kissed his nose. She began to place butterfly kisses on his face until she found the perfect place...his mouth. They kissed passionately, exploring each other's mouths for several moments. The others averted their eyes and tried to distract themselves by reading the books on the table. Giles went over to shield Dawn's eyes.

"Giles! It's not like I've never seen them kiss before!" Dawn complained.

In fact, she'd seen them get a lot further than that...but they didn't have to know about that...

"Yes, but you've never seen them kiss like that before." Giles said before he cleared his throat quite noticibly.

Angel reluctantly broke the kiss while Buffy licked her lips.

"Sorry...We'll be going." Buffy muttered. Angel let her down and the two started to walk out of the door, hand in hand.

"Nice to meet you Tara." he called. Much more quietly, "you too Dawn."

Buffy smiled inwardly.

Somewhere, in some radio box, the lyrics of a strangly fitting song played.

"I know we are, we are the lucky ones, dear..."

I'm all done! Yay. Tell me what ya think: JillpyBean13@excite.com

Oh, and song credits are as follows:
"No Scrubs" by the wonderful women of TLC
"Angel" by Sarah McLaughlan
"Oops...I did it again!" by Britney Spears (Umm...who doesn't know that?)
"This I Promise You" by *NSYNC
and last, but certanly not least:
"Lucky" by Bif Naked (If you don't have this CD, GO OUT AND BUY IT!! IT IS WONDERFUL!! THE CD'S NAME IS "I BIFICUS" AND IT IS MY FAVORITE!! WHAT ARE YOU STILL DOING HERE??? GO!)

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