SYNOPSIS: Angel calls Buffy and she has some explaining to do to Willow...
DISCLAIMER: All the characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel don't belong to me. I'm not claiming them, I don't own anything in the story. Sucks to be me, right?? It would be cool to be Joss, but I have to live with writing my denial fic in the bliss of Denial Land.
TIMELINE: Directly after 'Living Conditions' and 'Lonely Nights'.
SPOILERS: The above-mentioned episodes and 'I Just Had To Hear Your Voice..."
DISTRIBUTION: my site, http://www.angelfire.com/ny2/serenav/index.html, Felicity, Dreamer, Michelle, anyone who has the first story...if you want it, just e me.
RATING: PG-13
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Well, I decided to start another series, The Love Knows No Distance Series. This one is a bunch of phone calls that Buffy and Angel have while they're apart. This is the sequel to 'I Just Had To Hear Your Voice...' so I suggest reading that one first. This story takes place after Lonely Hearts.
FEEDBACK: I'm pretty much a feedback whore, so send some my way if you like what you see! Oh, that didn't sound too horrible or anything... *G* Even if you don't, let me know. I can take it.
DEDICATION: This is dedicated to Rose for helping me and Steph for being a sweetie and helping with all my pics. I've bugged her enough, the least I could do was dedicate a fic to her!

Buffy sighed as she entered her dorm room. She had needed to take a walk after Willow had decided she would get way into the room-sharing thing and eat Buffy's sandwich. The Slayer was still a bit sore about sharing after the whole Kathy fiasco and Willow was totally overstepping her roommate status . But at least she had her soul back, so that was a plus.

Now she knew how Angel felt.

At that thought, Buffy's mind froze. Where in the world had that come from? She hadn't made the connection the entire time it had been going on, yet when she realized it she knew her subconscious had known it from the beginning. The circumstances were different, yet it was ultimately the same issue. She had almost gotten her soul stolen from a demon and Angel had gotten his soul stolen from her...

Whoa. Enough with the digging up the past thing, she thought as she closed the door behind her and removed her sweater. Throwing it on the back of her chair, on top of the blue sweater Kathy ruined, she smiled at Willow and moved to her closet to get a pair of sweats out.

"Did you have a good walk, *roomie*?" Willow asked with a goofy grin. Buffy was glad her back was turned because she didn't want Willow to see her eyes roll, something she chalked up to her soul resettling in her body. It couldn't be because Willow had been annoying the hell out of her all week... Shaking her head, Buffy dismissed the thought and opened the door, stepping into the tiny space they dared call a closet to find the pair of pants she had unceremoniously thrown into the mix of shoes and bags at the bottom.

"Yeah, it was buckets of fun," Buffy said, her voice muffled in the tons of clothes that had been stuffed, shoved, and thrown into the minuscule space. She finally spotted the gray sweats and pushed through to reach them. She was dimly aware of the phone ringing but knew that Willow would answer it. With a grunt, she moved her jeans aside and freed the pants, tugging them out from under a pair of strappy heels.

"Buffy? It's for you," Willow said, her voice an odd tone. Buffy wiggled her way out of the closet and stood, sweats in hand and a triumphant smile on her face.

"And they thought they could hide from me..." she laughed, tossing them onto her shoulder as she swept a wisp of golden hair out of her face. "Who is it?"

Willow didn't answer, only held out the portable. Giving her an odd look, Buffy took it and composed herself before lifting the receiver to her ear and clearing her throat.

"Hello?" she said, cradling the phone on her shoulder as she carefully stripped her capris off and slipped the sweat pants on.

"Hey, Buffy."

The Slayer sucked in a breath. "Angel," she said, her lips involuntarily turning up in a smile as she pictured the dark, brooding vampire she loved. "I wasn't expecting you to call so soon," she told him honestly. Glancing up, she saw Willow staring at her, shock clear on her face. Buffy turned away, feeling exposed under her best friend's scrutiny, and placed her pants in the hamper before taking a seat on the bed.

"I wasn't expecting to call so soon," he replied, a hint of a smile in his voice.

"Well, what made you?" she asked playfully, feeling like a giddy schoolgirl.

"The past few days got to me and I needed someone other than Cordelia to ta lk to," he told her as he settled back into his chair.

"Oh, you mean someone who actually listens for more than three seconds?" she teased as she kicked her shoes off and lay back into the pillows, pulling her afghan up from the edge of the bed where it rested and wrapping it around her body.

"Something like that," he admitted. "I was lonely, I needed to hear your voice."

"Well, if it's any consolation I'm glad you did, I like hearing from you," she said, wondering how she could be so calm when she was talking to the man who had left her so brokenhearted. It didn't matter, as long as she didn't think about it she was all right...

"So...how's school?"

"It's hell...well, in the figurative sense," she amended. He chuckled on the other end. "I swear, the professors all get together and plot against us. They decide what days they'll all give tons of homework on, so you have to study for hours, even though some of us have patrol..."

"Sounds fun," he said dryly. She sighed.

"Oh, yeah, it's riveting stuff," she replied, shifting onto her side and curling into a ball. "And how's your week coming along?"

"I had to spend a few nights in a singles bar. Those things should be illegal," he said. She raised her eyebrows as she switched the phone to her other ear.

"Singles bar? What, that personal ad wasn't working out for you?" she replied playfully. Buffy could just picture his disapproving look.

"It was for a case, a demon seduced lonely people using a host body. After they slept together it would move into the next person, looking for the person it could make a connection with. Quite the fun guy that was," he said sarcastically. Buffy was well aware of Willow's eyes on her as she chatted with her ex-honey, but she could explain later.

"Meet any interesting people?" she asked before she had a chance to think about her words. Silently cursing herself, she decided to joke about it. "Oh, wait, singles bar, nevermind."

"There was this one woman...Kate Lockley. She was an undercover cop who was enjoying her job a little too much," Angel told her. "She wasn't the politest person I've ever met."

Buffy was silent for a moment, gathering her thoughts. This Kate woman could be a threat...a threat to what? It wasn't as if she and Angel were still involved or anything, he was allowed to go out and meet new people. She had, the prime example being Parker. "That's cool. A cop, huh? Interesting..." she trailed off, her voice hinting at something more.

"What?" Angel demanded.

"Nothing. Do...do you two have a lot in common?" she asked hesitantly, not sure if she wanted to know the answer.

"We're both lonely," he said softly.

"You're not the only one," she whispered.

"I know."

There was a pause in the conversation as each fought the wave of sadness that hit suddenly. No matter how light they kept the conversation, the knowledge that they could never again be together was always there. And that they were both lonely and missing one another only added to the feeling of loneliness that would be present until the day they were together again.

"So...I thought you said you had a roommate named Kathy," Angel said, trying to reignite the conversation.

"I did. Funny thing about Kathy...she turned out to be a demon bent on stealing my soul. Cool, huh?" Buffy said with a sarcastic note in her voice.

"Your roommate was a demon?" Angel repeated. "Who wanted to steal your soul?"

"Unless I'm mistaken, that's what I said," she replied with a smile. "Yeah, and she had run away from her dimension or something and her dad came to take her back. It was quite the light show."

"I'll bet," he said. "And Willow? What happened to her roommate?"

"Dropped out or something, I don't know. Didn't really listen when she told me," Buffy said. "I was still trying to get used to having my soul again."

"Disorienting, isn't it?" Angel said quietly. Buffy nodded.

"Freaky stuff," she agreed. Angel sighed.

"Look, Buffy, I hate to do this but--"

"You gotta go. Yeah, so do I, Will's gonna go insane if I don't explain to her why you called," Buffy laughed. She glanced at her friend, who's cheeks had turned a cherry red. Buffy smiled at her and turned her attention back to the phone.

"Listen, let me give you my number so if you ever need to, you can call," Angel said.

" 'Kay, let me just go get a pen." Buffy picked a purple one off her night table, ripping a piece off her psych homework. She could always recopy it later. "Ready."

Angel quickly rattled the two numbers for the office and his apartment off. Buffy began doodling right after he was finished, drawing a small vampire face, complete with fangs, in a heart.

"Thanks," she said as she put her pen down after capping it.

"Anytime. You won't hesitate to call if you need anything, right?" he asked with a bit of urgency in his voice. She smiled at it and nodded.

"Of course," she said teasingly.

"Okay then," he said.

There was a short pause on the line. Buffy cleared her throat to bring Angel's attention back.

"So...I'll talk to you later?" she asked.

"Yeah, later," Angel said, his voice sounding distant. In the background, Buffy heard faint voices.

"Okay, I obviously lost you," she said, "so this is a good time to say bye."

"I love you," he said suddenly, out of the blue. She bit her lip to keep from grinning, she always felt like smiling when Angel said those three beautiful words to her. A warm feeling spread through her soul.

"I love you, too, Angel. Good night," Buffy said.

"Good night, my love," Angel said. With a soft click, he was gone. p>Buffy pulled the phone away from her ear and carefully pushed the TALK button. She stood and replaced the phone on the table and looked up at Willow, who was staring at her with a strange look on her face. Buffy fought down the laughter that rose up, a product of Willow's confusion.

"What?" Buffy asked, her face innocent. Willow pointed to the phone.

"Angel," she said.

"Angel what?" Buffy teased.

"Called. Angel called. Angel called *you*," Willow said, her sentences short. Buffy nodded.

"Yeah, imagine that. He can use a phone, it's a miracle," Buffy said, slightly exasperated. Willow gave her a look, quirking one eyebrow.

"And the million dollar question is...why?" Willow asked. Buffy sighed and sat down on her bed. Willow followed suit, seating herself opposite Buffy on her own bed.

"I don't know. I'd like to think that he missed me but I don't know if I can let myself believe it," Buffy said honestly, sighing as she leaned back, bracing her hands on the soft bed.

"Buffy, of course he misses you!" Willow cried. "He couldn't feel what he did and not."

"I know," Buffy said, tossing her head back and closing her eyes. "I know, it's just that..."

"Just what?"

"If I think that he misses me, it all leads back to the big question why. Why did he leave?" Buffy asked. "His reasons sucked. I was happy, I can't believe he didn't see that."

Willow suddenly stood and crossed to Buffy's side of the dorm, sitting next to her friend and wrapping her arms around Buffy's body. She leaned gratefully into Willow's arms as the witch spoke.

"Oh, Buffy, you know he knew you were happy. I think he left because *he* was too happy," she told Buffy as she stroked her golden hair. Buffy sniffled and sat up.

"I've thought about that every night since he broke up with me," Buffy confessed. "And I think you're right. Me talking about drawers and the Prom must not have helped make him feel guilty. I just can't believe he actually did it," she whispered.

Willow sighed, thinking about how ironic the situation was. Angel loved Buffy enough to let her go, which in itself was a scary thing. To think that someone could love someone else so deeply that they were willing to let their lover move on with their life, in the process leaving their true love behind...it was mind blowing. Willow envied Buffy more than the Slayer would ever know for that, for what she and Angel had shared. She loved Oz to death, but she knew it would never be on the same scale as Buffy and Angel's eternal love.

"Do you want him to not call?" Willow asked.

"No," Buffy whispered, her voice barely audible. "I need some kind of contact with him, I need to know that he's all right. And if this is the only way I'll get it...it's better than nothing at all."

Willow nodded. "I can understand that. But Buffy," she said, her tone serious, "promise that if it gets to be too hard, you'll tell him to stop."

Buffy was silent for a long moment. Could she do that? Could she honestly tell the love of her life that she didn't want to talk to him anymore? There was no way she would ever find that kind of strength. But Willow didn't need to know that... "I promise," she said with a half smile.

"That's my girl," Willow said with satisfaction. She stood and pulled Buffy up. "Now aren't you glad you have me as your roomie instead of Celine Dion's number one fan?" Buffy laughed.

"You have no idea how grateful I am," she told her.

"What do you say? Bronze?"

Buffy shook her head. "We should go visit Xander, the poor boy needs to get out of his house." Willow snapped her fingers.

"Mini golf! " she cried, a little too enthusiastically. Buffy quirked an eyebrow at her. "What?"

"Nothing," Buffy said with a shake of her head. "Call Oz and let me change."

Willow went off to get the phone as the Slayer turned back to her closet. Lifting the phone out of its cradle, she spied the slip of paper that Buffy had written Angel's numbers on. She glanced back at her friend, who was humming the tune of the new Live song under her breath, and sighed, hoping she had made the right choice.

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