Disclaimer: Do I own them? Nope. See, my name is RACHEL, NOT Joss. None of these characters belong to me. I'm not making money off them, blah, blah, blah. Do you really think I would put B/A thru all of this and have Buffy sleeping with Riley? YUK!
Rating:  Do you watch the show??? You can read this. Maybe PG-13ish tho (B/C of implied stuff...)
Summary: Angel helps Buffy study for her end-of-the-year exams. Pure B/A-ness
Spoilers: Nothing much…this is MY Buffy universe!
Authors Notes: This is following "Surprise" and then the fluff series: "Finding out," "A Night out,"  "Moving In, " "Bad Dreams," and "Going Home From School." (I plan to have 1 or 2 more stories after this one)
Distribution: My Site Angel Forevermore, the groups I send them to and if everyone else can just tell me where it's going first. I'll probably say yes!
Feedback? <G> Does Angel look hott wearing leather pants? (That would be a YES!)

"Oh my God!" Buffy shouted Friday evening as soon as she walked into her home. "School SUCKS!"

Angel walked in from the kitchen, finishing up his dinner. He knew that Buffy was going to drop by Willow's before visiting her Mom today; however, he was surprised to see her back so late. "Hey Buffy. Have a rough day?" He asked, looking at her pouting expression.

"Yes!" She exclaimed. Buffy dropped her backpack to the floor and sat on the couch, sighing loudly. "The end-of-the-year exams are coming up this Monday and I have NO clue what to do. I'm gonna fail them and fail eleventh grade."

Angel's heart went out for her as he sat down at her side. "No you won't, beloved." He assured her smoothly.

"Yeah, I will. Willow is sick right now…some flu virus or something. And I don't really see myself studying with Xander or Cordelia. And here's the worst part, Angel. When I dropped by Mom's place, she told me that if I didn't pull up my grades with the exams then I…I might have to move out." Buffy stared at her husband with tears welling in her eyes.

<She'd separate me from my love for just a few stupid grades.> Buffy thought. Just the thought of being separated from Angel made her sick to her stomach. "So…what do I do?"

"Well…what do you need to study?" Angel asked, taking her into his arms. He spoke calmly, although, he was very well aware of the importance of her exams. He inwardly cursed as he thought about the consequences if Buffy failed her examinations.

"Math…English, French…but mostly history." Buffy replied. She felt Angel's fingers begin to rub her shoulders. She instantly began to relax and went limp in Angel's arms.

"Well…" Angel began planting kisses up and down her neck. "I could help you study." He said. "After all, I know my history fairly well."

Buffy moaned softly. "I…I would really appreciate that, my love." She sighed. "So…study party just you and me this weekend?"

Angel stopped caressing her shoulders and kissing her neck for just a second to answer her question. "Anything you want, my beloved."  <God, I love her so much.> Angel thought. He felt her small hands meet and hold onto his. He just loved the feeling of her tiny and warm hands running across his own skin.

"Mmm…you give a great massage." Buffy remarked softly.

Angel smiled. "I give better stuff than that." He joked.

Buffy turned around and looked him in the eye. "Oh really? Like…what?" She questioned. Already, the stress from the school day was fading away from her expression.

Angel traced her cheekbone with his fingers. "Like this…" He leaned over and kissed her gently. <Always treating me like I'm glass.> Buffy thought, <Always so gentle…so loving.> Buffy moved closer to Angel so she was straddling him, not once breaking their kiss.  Buffy rubbed his chest with her hands as Angel only pushed her closer to him. Angel stood up from the couch with his hands on Buffy's hips to keep her from falling. Buffy only ran her fingers through his spiked hair as she kissed him hard on the lips.

Angel walked several feet forward and with one fluid motion, the two fell onto the bed. Buffy kissed Angel back with all the passion and love she could muster. Her entire body was burning for the need of him. Buffy slipped her hands underneath his shirt, pressing her hands against his bare back. She wanted to memorize every curve and muscle of his body. "By the way…" she heard Angel whisper in her ear. "I missed you today."

Buffy grinned. "I miss you every moment we're not together." She replied back to him. "Off…now." She added, helping Angel take off his gray shirt. Angel kissed her once again, slowly pushing her back into the mattress of their bed. "I love you." He said as quietly as possible.

Buffy replied the only way that she knew how: "I love you more." And very quickly, her worries of tests were forgotten.      

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Buffy awoke to the aromas of breakfast cooking in the kitchen. She reached down onto the floor and picked up Angel's gray shirt he had worn from last night. She started buttoning up his shirt and stood up out of the bed. The shirt fell to just above her knees as she stretched. She still felt somewhat sore…but in a completely good way. Buffy walked into the kitchen to see Angel standing in front of their stove. "Morning Angel." She said before yawning.

"Morning, love." Angel replied, placing some scrambled eggs on a plate. "Hungry?"

"I'm famished." She replied, taking a seat. "I guess I worked up an appetite from last night."

Angel chuckled and leaned down to kiss her. "Me too." He agreed, handing her the plate.

Buffy stood back up to get a glass and orange juice. Before sitting back down, however, she leaned over and kissed Angel on the lips good morning. "Hey, eat up." Angel said, also placing a plate of pancakes down at the table. "We have some studying to do after this."

Buffy groaned. "Oh man, I should have just stayed in bed all weekend." However, she dug into her eggs and added two pancakes to her plate before covering them in the maple syrup that Angel had set out. In another minute, Angel joined her and the two ate in silence, not needing words to speak to each other.  

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

After a light brunch and changing into some new clothes, the two lovers sat down at Angel's desk and pulled out all of Buffy's notes. They had a TON of studying to do if they needed her ready in 2 days. "All right," Angel began. "Here's the plan. I ask you a question. If you get it right, I give you a kiss."

"Oh! I am liking this plan!" Buffy said, smiling at him. She finished her orange juice and set the glass aside.

"I thought you would." Angel replied to her. "The harder the question is…the…well, the more rewarding the kiss will be."

"Oh, this doesn't sound that bad." Buffy commented. "I could learn to like study parties with you."

"All right…" Angel opened her history book and glanced at something. "Okay beloved. This is on ancient Rome…" He heard her groan. "The day that Caesar was murdered is now knows as….?" He looked at her for the answer.

"Uh…" Buffy stuttered. "Um…the `day Caesar was killed?" She crinkled up her nose for a second, knowing the answer was wrong.

"Oh boy…" Angel sighed. "We are going to have a LOT of studying to do. The answer was `The Ides of March.' okay?" Buffy nodded. Angel, however, quickly leaned over and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. "All right…one kiss even though you got it wrong." He smiled at her.

"All right…give me the next question." Buffy said, determined to get the next one right.

"Okay…" Angel opened her history notes and began scanning over the next few pages in Buffy's notebook. Scattered here and there were hearts or other symbols of love with the letters "B & A 4ever" next to them. <I don't know if I'm ever going to get used to the fact that she's my future.> Angel thought, smiling up at her for a second. "All right, here's some stuff you wrote down. Tell me all you can about the Roman Colosseum."

Buffy's eyes brightened. "I know this! Okay…it was the largest building of it's kind, there were 76 entrances, 50000 spectators could watch whatever was being played there…gladiators fought for their lives in the arena, the walls were 160 feet high…and…something about there being 4 tiers of windows, columns, and arches there." Buffy said. "Was that right?"

The only answer she received was a passionate kiss on the lips from her lover.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The rest of Saturday and another day of studying went by quickly. Buffy brushed up on her math skills, and with her husband being fluent in French, she quickly caught up to where she should have been with that language. And although she was still forgetful of a few history dates here and there, Buffy seemed completely prepared for the exams Monday.

"Hey you." Angel said, walking up to Buffy that Sunday night. She was bent over her history book, cramming in a few extra minutes of studying before midnight. "It's late."

"I know…" Buffy rubbed her eyes. "I'm just so worried about this."

"Don't be." Angel commanded softly. "You are going to do fine. I know you will." He kissed her softly. "Now come to bed. You need enough sleep for tomorrow."

"Well…if you insist." Buffy said, closing the book and turning the desk lamp off. She followed Angel back into their somewhat small bedroom and climbed into bed next to him. Although she could barely see in the dark room, she felt Angel's arms around her. That was all she needed to feel safe. When she felt Angel's lips on her forehead, her troubles seemed to leave her and she felt very calm. <Angel is right. I can do this.> Buffy thought. <I HAVE to do this…I can't leave him.> She thought back to what her Mom had said. <I won't let either of them down, especially my love.>

"Sleep Buffy…" she heard Angel whisper next to her.

Buffy flipped over to her side so she could use Angel as her pillow. "Love you…" she whispered before falling into a dreamless sleep.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Angel waited anxiously for Buffy to return home Tuesday. Monday- yesterday- she had taken the exams at school. He remembered when he came to pick her up from school and she seemed so sad. Buffy had muttered something about doing horribly on her history exams and she didn't walk to talk about it. Of course, Angel would never make her talk against her will, so he let the subject drop.

She looked as though she had spent time crying…and Angel tried as hard as he could to comfort her. Today she was getting her results. This alone would decide a major part of their future for the time being.

As Angel anxiously waited for Buffy to return home (Because she said she wanted to drop by her mother's first,) he thought about all the `what ifs.' <What if she failed a class exam and Joyce makes her move out?> Right then, Angel knew that he couldn't deal with that. Although they had only been living together for several days at the most, he already knew he wouldn't survive without her. Buffy completed his other half; made him a better person; and simply made him feel more alive than he ever thought was possible.

He knew that Buffy felt the same way. Every motion she made towards him, the way she said his name…with nothing but pure love in her tone, the way her eyes followed him when he walked from or towards her. Yes, she was just as much in love with him as he was with her. Angel thought that if she WAS forced to move out, she would blame it on herself…however, Angel still vowed to keep his promise that they would make everything work out for them.

Angel heard the lock on the door start to open and he rose to his feet to greet Buffy at the door. "Beloved?" He asked, looking at her.

"Angel, hey!" She replied warmly. Buffy walked up to him and kissed him softly before walking inside their home. "Did you miss me?" She smiled at him.

"Of course. You know I always do." Angel replied, sitting down on the couch. <OK…she's avoiding the obvious topic.> he thought. "So…how did you do on your testing?"

"Well…" Buffy began, also sitting next to him.

"Beloved, I'm sure it can't be THAT bad." Angel said, placing his hand on her leg.

"All right…" Buffy took off her backpack and reached inside, pulling out five different sheets of paper. She handed them to Angel before tucking her hair behind her ears. As Angel looked over the papers, his mouth dropped open. "Buffy…" He read over the letter grades. Math: B. Science: C+. French: B-. English: B+. History…

"Buffy!" Angel cried out. "You got an A-- on your history exam!" He stared at the paper in amazement.

"Yep! I sure did!" She replied, smiling up at him.

"But yesterday…you said you thought you failed that. You said that you didn't know over half the questions." Angel said, thinking back to how depressed she had been last night.

"I sure did." She repeated. "And the award for best actress goes to Buffy Summers!"

"You tricked me?" Angel questioned. Buffy only nodded. "Why you little…" Angel couldn't help but laugh, however. "Come here." Buffy leaned closer to him and felt his arms embrace her. He kissed her softly, softly moving a piece of hair in her face to behind her ear. "Beloved, that's great. I'm so proud of you."

"Thank you, Angel." Buffy replied. "Mom was surprised. But…she said I can stay with you…so, no moving out!"  

"Really? This is great!" Angel said, kissing her over and over again. His lips were hungry for hers: they always were. Finally, Buffy sat back, her arms still wrapped around Angel.

"Thanks. I feel so smart for once." Buffy said. "I passed the hardest tests of the entire school year with flying colors. And I know I have you to thank for that, Angel. If it hadn't been for you, I would have done horrible on every test I took yesterday."

"Your welcome. Hey, I'd do it all over again if the rewards are kisses." Angel replied.

Buffy grinned. "All right. I'm hereby naming you my official study buddy." She replied, kissing his cheek.

"Hey…we should celebrate you getting these great grades…" Angel said, leaning down to catch her lips in a sweet, tender kiss.

Buffy kissed him back, tightening her grip around him. "Oh really…and what kind of celebrating did you have in mind?"   

"You know what kind."  Angel replied before leaning down to kiss her. Buffy accepted the kiss, raising her hands to the back of his neck and pushing Angel closer to her. Her touch was like fire to him, and without it he would die. <She ignites a passion within me that I thought was long dead,> Angel thought. He scooped Buffy up into his strong arms and carried her over to his bed, his intentions fully drawn out on his face. "I love you." He mouthed to her before capturing her lips in a tantalizing kiss.

Buffy replied with a quiet "I know," before meeting lips with his over and over again.

And late that night, as the stars glittered from above the lovers' apartment, the only sounds throughout the whole night were whispers of "I love you" before the two lovers fell into a serene sleep.

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