Disclaimer: Joss owns them all except the song. Carlos Santana owns the song.
Distribution: My site, Gunnin' Down Angel <http://angel.wicked-raine.com/> . Anyone that has permission, take. Otherwise, just ask.
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Willow/Angel
Summary: Angel realizes the truth behind the saying 'you never know when you'll fall in love'.
Feedback: Oh please, especially since this is my first attempt at W/A. But be gentle. I'm fragile... :)
Author's note: I know the song is relatively new, but I still want this set in Buffy S3 after Angel gets out of hell.
Other notes: Oz and Willow decided to be good friends, even though Oz is still a part of the Scooby gang. The only reason Wes and Faith aren't in this fic is because the story is not long enough. <smirk>
Dedication: To the wonderful Gabrielle who asked me to write a W/A. Thank you for your continuous kind words. You are the sweetest!! And Thanks to Inell for reading it to make sure it was presentable enough to post. :) love ya!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It was Thursday afternoon. Angel was sitting and contemplating everything
that had happened since his return from hell 2 months ago. He and Buffy
had broken up. He knew she could never really love all of him. He also
knew that it was impossible for the whole vampire/slayer thing to work.
He just wanted it to work so that he could feel some form of redemption.
That if a slayer loved him, maybe there was hope for him.
None of the people with whom he fought evil trusted him anymore. Not that that idiot Xander trusted him before. But, he knew everyone, including Buffy, was on edge when he was around.
Except Willow.
**Flashback**
One month ago.
Angel was sitting in front of the fireplace reading when he heard a nearly inaudible knock on the door. He went over to answer it, not sure who would be visiting him if it wasn't the slayer, since he couldn't sense her.
He braced himself and opened the door. He looked down and saw a pair of wide green eyes looking up at him.
"Willow." He said more to prove to himself that she was actually there. Was she always this pretty?
"Hi Angel." She said with a sincere smile. They stood there for a moment before the redhead spoke again. "Aren't you going to invite me in?"
"Oh, I.I didn't think you'd want to come in." He replied. "I mean, I don't blame you if you don't." He said softly.
"Hence the reason I'm here." She stated as she walked past him into the mansion. He looked at her in shock. "You've got to stop beating yourself up over what happened. It wasn't your fault. And I came here," she turned to a still very surprised vampire who was still standing at the open front door, but had turned to face her when she walked in. "To thank you for saving my life. You know, recently.when Gwendolyn Post almost fried me with the Glove of Middigon."
"Oh, um, you're welcome." He replied.
"You want to shut the door and come over here to see what I got you for saving my life?" she asked.
"Willow, you didn't have to." Angel began.
"But, I -wanted- to, Angel." She replied. He shut the door and walked towards the hacker. "It's the least I could do. So, thank you." She handed him the package he had just noticed was in her hands.
"Willow, you restored my soul." He said firmly. "I owe you everything. You don't ever have to get me anything or tell me that you appreciate anything I do for you. I'm just happy to know you."
"Oh." She replied. "I forgot about that soul restoring thing." He looked
at her in awe. Here was this amazing young woman who had worked powerful
magic to restore his soul a few short months ago, and she was thanking
HIM for pushing her out of the way of a lightening bolt. "Anyway," she
continued. "I can't return it. I kinda ordered it and it would just be
a pain if you
didn't accept it."
"Thank you, Willow." He said softly and sincerely. He looked down at the bag the redhead had given him.
"I'll let you get back to your.brooding." She said with a smile. She then headed to the door. "Oh, and Angel." He looked up from the package in his hands. "You're still my friend. You always will be. Don't forget that. And don't be a stranger."
"I'm not sure everyone agrees with you on that subject." He said half jokingly.
"Well, I mean it anyway." She replied before leaving.
Angel opened the package and took out the figurine angel holding a willow tree.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Since
the moment I spotted you
Like
walking round with little wings on my shoes
My
stomach's filled with butterflies
Ooh
and it's alright
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
**End Flashback**
Angel smiled at the memory of that first night. He liked to believe
that it was the night they truly became friends. She'd come over to the
mansion a few times a week before research sessions. He'd volunteer to
walk her home after patrols. His excuse was that both he and Buffy had
super strength. And since there was no way he and Xander could tolerate
being alone
together for just that short amount of time, that Buffy would walk
Xander home, and Angel would walk Willow home. Oz and Cordelia had vehicles,
so they could just drive home.
The two would talk for hours after he'd walked her home. And he'd always leave her with a smile on his face. He really had no idea when he'd actually fallen in love with her.
That's when things became difficult. He was actually nervous when she was around. A 245 year old vampire nervous to be around a cute 18 year old witch.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bouncing
around from cloud to cloud
Got
the feeling like I'm never gonna come down
If
I said I didn't like it then you'd know I'd lied
ooooh
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He needed to tell her. But how could he? She was the nicest, purest, most innocent soul on the planet who was just being nice to him so he wouldn't feel so left out. How could she ever return the feelings of love and devotion to a monster?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And
every time I try to talk to you
I
get tongue tied turns out
Everything
I say to you
Comes
out wrong and never comes out right
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There was a knock at the door. Before he stood to answer it, his unexpected guest walked in.
"Please, don't get up." The redhead said with a smirk. "Wouldn't want to interrupt valuable brood time."
"Ha. Ha." He replied dryly. "What brings you here?"
"Research tonight. Some big baddy from yet another prophecy." She said. "Oh, and here." She added as she reached into her bag. "I laughed the entire time." She retrieved an old, leather bound book Angel had let her borrow and handed it to the vampire. "I didn't think you read things where a sense of humor was involved." She concluded with a smile.
"Don't push it, Rosenberg." He playfully warned.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So
I said
Why
Don't You and I get together
We'll
take on the world and be together forever
Heads
we will, Tails we'll try again
And
I said
Why
Don't You and I get together
And
fly to the moon and straight on to Heaven
'Cause
without you they're never gonna let me in
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At the library, he couldn't keep his eyes off of her. He couldn't get over how much she had become such an enormous part of his life in such a short time. He needed to tell her.
The redhead at the computer felt someone watching her but assumed it was one of her friends willing her to find something useful on the Internet so they could all leave. She stretched and looked up to find her favorite vampire with a sexy smile on his face. {He must be daydreaming about something good.} She thought to herself.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When's
this fever gonna break
I
think I've handled more than any man can take
I'm
like a love sick puppy chasing you around
Oooh
and it's alright
Bouncing
around from cloud to cloud
I
got the feeling like I'm never gonna come down
And
if I said I didn't like it then you'd know I'd
lied
Oooh
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This observation of the hacker did not go unnoticed. Buffy knew her best friend and the vampire were falling for one another. All she had to do was push them in the direction that would lead them to happiness. Of course it helped that when Willow restored his soul, she left out the happiness clause. Definitely of the good.
"Giles," The slayer addressed her watcher. "When is this prophecy supposed to take place again?"
"Well, it may not be today, Buffy, but it would still be nice to be better prepared for when the time does come." The watcher replied.
"So, not for some time then, right?" Xander asked.
"About 17 years, to be exact." Angel answered. Giles stammered but couldn't actually form words to justify having 17 and 18 year olds sitting around searching through musty old books when they could be doing things kids their age normally do.
"That's what I figured." Buffy stated. "Who's up for Bronzing?"
"You don't have to ask **me** twice." Cordelia quickly answered.
"Good. It's settled." Buffy declared as everyone got his or her things together. The slayer stealthily made her way over to the vampire. "I think you should tell her how you feel." She said quietly with a smile.
"Huh?" Angel replied completely flabbergasted.
"You're in love with her." Buffy continued. "And I'll bet the farm she loves you, too. Now go. Shoo!" She smiled as he put on his leather coat and headed towards Willow.
With her job complete, Buffy rallied the group together and headed out to have some fun. Angel nervously walked to Willow.
"Hey, you got a minute?" The vampire asked.
"Sure." She replied. "You wanna talk on the way?"
He nodded, but muttered sarcastically under his breath, "Like that'll help." He knew he would probably never have the nerve to tell her his true feelings, but still quietly followed her out of the library.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And
every time I'd try to talk to you I'd get tongue
tied
turns out
Everything
I say to you comes out wrong and never
comes
out right
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Well, wasn't that nice of everyone to wait for us?" Willow's sarcasm was evident along with her pout.
"You are so cute when you pout." Angel said before he even realized it was out loud.
"I am?" She asked smiling.
"You're cute no matter what." He told her. Then he looked as if he was thinking. "No, change that. You're beautiful."
"Okay, what do you want?" She asked playfully. "It must be a huge favor to heap on the compliments."
"What? I can't just tell you the truth?" The vampire asked.
"Very funny, Angel." She said. She didn't want him to say these things if he didn't mean it. It would hurt her too much.
"I'm not laughing, Willow." He retorted as he stopped and made her look him in the eyes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
So
I'm singing
Why
Don't you and I get together
Let's
take on the world and be together forever
Heads
we will and Tails we'll try again
So
I'm singing
Why
Don't You and I get together
We'll
fly to the moon and straight on to Heaven
'Cause
without you they're never gonna let me in
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I don't know when it happened, Willow." Angel said with a sigh. "But, I'm in love with you."
"Oh." The redhead replied as she looked out into the night.
"Oh?" Angel asked, suddenly wanting to use his vampire strength to run far away and not hear the actual rejection he knew was coming. Instead, he opted to take a step back and wait for her to finish speaking.
"A-are you sure?" She asked.
"Is this a real conversation?" Angel inquired in disbelief. Willow just stared at him with a look of complete and utter confusion on her pretty face. "I just poured my heart out to you, Willow. I'm in love with you!" He paused and stepped up to her again. This time, he spoke softly. "Please tell me what's going on inside that complex brain of yours."
"I-I was asking if you were sure." She stated, still not looking into his deep, soulful brown eyes until now. "Because I love you, too. And I don't think I could survive it if you hurt me."
"My beautiful Red." He said as he put his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. He loved her smell: such innocence and passion. "I'll walk into the sun before I ever hurt you."
"That's good to know." She said when she pulled back and looked up at him. He wiped the tears that had begun to fall down her face and kissed both cheeks softly before brushing his lips softly against hers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Slowly
I begin to realize that this is never gonna end
and
the moment you walk by it's like oh here we go
again
oh
So
I'm singing
Why
Don't you and I get together
We'll
take on the world and be together forever
Heads
we will and tails we'll try again
And
I'm singing
Why
Don't You and I get together
And
fly to the moon and straight on to Heaven
'Cause
without you they're never gonna let me in
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
End