Angel walked out through the doors, onto the terrace that looked out over the gardens, and turned his attentions to the figure in front of him.
Willow.
There she was, shining out like the brightest star in the sky. Walking up behind her, he wrapped his arms around her body.
"What are you thinking?" he asked her as he rested his head on top of hers.
"Only how much I've enjoyed tonight." She replied, a smile coming to her face as she remembered how he had wined and dined her.
"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself." he replied tightening his hold around her as he felt her lean in against him while they looked out towards the gardens.
They stood there like that for what seemed like forever, until Angel heard Willow sigh sadly.
Worried about her, Angel let go of her and turned her to face him.
"Willow, what is it? What's wrong?" Angel asked, the concern in his voice evident.
"It's...it's nothing. It doesn't matter." Willow said, unable to meet his eyes.
Reaching up Angel gently raised her head and looked into her eyes.
"Willow, you know if something's wrong you can tell me right?"
"I...I know that I can Angel." Willow said looking away.
"Then why won't you tell me what's the matter?"
Sighing, Willow looked back up at Angel. "It's...It's just I'm worried about Buffy."
Pulling away from her slightly Angel looked deep into her eyes. "Buffy?"
"Well, I'm just concerned. I mean what's she going to do when she finds out about us? I mean look how she reacted before, you more or less told her about us and she wouldn't even entertain the idea, she just got mad and ran away."
"Willow, this has nothing to do with her. This is about us. You and me."
"But-"
"But nothing. She just has to accept this. How she deals with it is up to her. But no matter what, I won't let her hurt you Willow, don't worry."
"You promise?"
"I promise."
"Okay, I just...I just don't want to lose you." Willow said, her voice wavering.
"Oh Willow." Angel said drawing her close to him. "You're never going to lose me, okay?"
"Okay." Willow said in a child like voice as she wrapped her arms around him. I just guess...this is all still a little new to me."
"Sush I understand." Angel said gently kissing her forehead. "Willow, would you like to dance with me?"
"I'd love to Angel." Willow said, for the first time noticing the soft strains of music that were filtering out from the dinning room and onto the terrace.
Pulling her even closer to him, if that were possible, Angel slid his arms around her waist and started slowly swaying them to the music.
Sighing in contentment, Willow rested her head against his shoulder and moved her arms to encircle his neck.
Totally at peace for what seemed like the first time in ages, Angel buried his face in her hair inhaling her sweet scent and continued to move them as the stars shone down above them, both not wanting the evening to end.
Willow's house
Angel got out of the limo and held his hand out to Willow. Taking it, she got out and let Angel shut the door behind her as the limo drove off into the night.
Taking her hand in his Angel lead Willow up the path to her house and stopped in front of her door.
"Angel, thank you for this evening, I had a really lovely time." Willow said.
"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself Willow."
"Well of course I did, I was with you."
Smiling at her last remark Angel took a step closer to Willow. "Willow, come here"
Willow looked up at Angel and started to walk closer, her mind unconsciously remembering the last time he had said those words to her.
When she was in reach Angel reached out and pulled her those few final steps towards him and wrapped his arms securely around her.
"So, does this mean I get to see you again Willow." He asked, a playful tone in his voice.
"Um, I don't know, I think I need to be convinced." Willow said catching on to his game.
"Well okay, if you insist." Angel said as he leaned in to softly kiss her.
After a couple of seconds Angel pulled back. "Well?"
"Okay, I'm convinced." Willow said blushing slightly.
"Good." Angel said as he moved to kiss her again.
Lifting her head up Willow met his lips, sighing contentedly into his mouth.
Taking advantage of this Angel slid his tongue into her mouth and deepened the kiss.
Letting Angel continue is exploration of her mouth, Willow lifted her hands from his neck and tangled them into his hair trying to pull him closer to her.
Pulling back slightly to allow her to breath, Angel began to kiss his way down her neck and along her collar bone before Willow pulled his head back to hers and kissed him with an urgency she didn't realise she had.
Standing up on her tiptoes, Willow slid her tongue into his mouth and felt a tinge of satisfaction when he moaned in response. Then all of a sudden the door opened and someone spoke.
"Willow?"
Jumping apart like two guilty school children, Angel found a particularly interesting spot on the floor, while Willow turned a very interesting shade of red as she realised that she had just been caught, and just what she had been caught doing. Outside her house no less, and who she had been caught by.
"Um...Mom..um, I was..Just...well..Um..."
Sensing her daughter's discomfort, Willow's Mom stifled the laugh that was threatening to get loose at the sight before her and looked at her daughter.
"So Willow, are you going to introduce me to this young man?"
"What..Oh! Okay, this is..um..A friend of mine, he was just...walking me to the door."
"Yes, I noticed that." Willow's Mom replied as she turned to face Angel.
"Hi, I'm Angel, it's very nice to meet you Mrs Rosenberg." Angel said trying to take the attention away from Willow, who looked like she wanted to curl up and die from embarrassment.
"So your Angel huh? It's nice to meet you at last."
"You too Mrs Rosenberg," Angel said taking a sideward glance at Willow, wondering what exactly she had told her Mom.
Noticing her daughter's growing discomfort, Willow's Mom decided that she had embarrassed them enough.
"Look, I'd better get inside before I let all the cold air in. I'll let you stay outside and say goodbye to Angel though, okay."
"Uh huh. Sure, thanks Mom." was all Willow could say.
"Okay, goodnight Angel."
"Goodnight Mrs Rosenberg." Angel replied. And with that she disappeared back into the house.
As soon as the door was closed Willow threw herself into Angel's arms and buried her face against his chest. "Oh god, I've never been so embarrassed in my entire life. I mean she walked in on..I mean out on us..doing..kissing! What's she going to think of me?"
"Willow relax." Angel said gently stroking her hair. " She's not going to think anything of you except that you're a normal seventeen year old girl, coming back from a date. And as for you Mom walking out on us, just be grateful it wasn't your father."
"Why?" Willow said looking up at Angel, confusion written clearly on her face.
"Just trust me on this one Willow. Experience has taught me that if you're going to get caught, it's better that it's your Mom. Fathers don't take well to seeing their little girls kissing guys outside their house. It can get kind of...intense, and it normally ends up involving shot guns."
"Oh...oh!" Willow said catching on. "Well that's okay because my dad doesn't have a gun."
"Well, I'm glad to hear that." Angel said grinning. "Look you better get inside, before your Mom comes back and drags you away from me."
"Yeah, I guess." Willow said lifting her head up to look in his eyes. "When will I see you next Angel?"
"Soon. How about I come by here tomorrow night? You parents will probably want to talk to me anyway."
"Okay, but you have to be on your best behaviour." Willow said.
"I promise to behave myself." Angel said, a smile coming to his lips as he remembered the time he came to visit Willow in her room.
"Okay, good." Willow said a smile of her own forming at the memory.
"You better go." Angel said reluctantly moving away from her.
"Yeah...I'll see you tomorrow then?" Willow asked opening the door.
"Tomorrow." Angel said as he went to kiss her goodnight.
Pulling back from him Willow smiled "Night Angel."
"Night Willow." Angel said as he watched her disappear through the door and into her house.
Watching as the door close behind her Angel turned around and headed home, a smile forming on his lips.
Willow quietly closed the door behind herself and started heading towards the stairs. She was almost there when a voice stopped her.
"Willow, we need to talk."
End Part 11
At hearing her mother's voice Willow froze, slowly she forced herself to turn around. "We do?"
"Yes, we do, but I think you already know that."
Ok..Okay." Willow said nervously "Um, could I go and change for bed first though? It's been a long night."
"Okay, but don't take to long. We have a lot to talk about." Her mother said before disappearing into the living room.
Willow quickly walked up the stairs and into her room, shutting the door behind her.
<Oh god, Mom wants to talk to me, about Angel, about kissing. God, what am I going to say to her? > Willow thought nervously as she paced around the room. Realising that she was going to have to deal with this sooner or later Willow pushed her worry aside and went about getting changed.
Slowly sitting down in front of her mirror, Willow removed her make-up and then reached up to unfasten her necklace and remove her hair slides, placing them in her jewelry box. Carefully taking off her dress, Willow hung it on a nearby hanger and looked at it admiringly. Quickly walking over to her dresser Willow took out something to wear to bed, her fingers momentarily lingering on the white T-shirt that lay there. Reaching into the drawer Willow was about to take it out when she stopped. She somehow had the feeling that going downstairs wearing Angel's T-shirt would lead to questions she didn't want to answer just yet.
Realising that her mother was waiting for her Willow quickly shut the drawer and reluctantly headed downstairs, a feeling of dread washing over her.
Walking into the living room Willow saw her Mom sitting down in an armchair. Looking at her Willow tried to sense what kind of mood her mother was in but was unable to tell. Walking past her Willow sat down on the sofa and started to fiddle nervously with her hands.
"So Willow, am I to gather that this is the same Angel that you were going to all that trouble for earlier in the week?" Her mother began.
"Um, yes." Willow said unable to meet her mother's eyes.
"So Angel's the 'friend' that you've been going to see over the past few weeks?"
Willow looked up at her mother shocked, she didn't realise she had known she was going to see Angel. "What?"
"Willow, I may be you mother but I'm not totally clueless." Sheila said.
"Oh, well yes, Angel's the friend I've been going to visit. He was lonely so I kept him company."
"So he's your friend huh?" her mother asked.
"Yes..Angel and I are friends..just friends, that's it." Willow replied nervously.
"Funny, it didn't seem that way to me, when I saw you two."
"What...what do you mean?" Willow asked, uncertainty in her voice.
"Well, the last time it checked 'just friends' didn't play tonsil hockey outside of peoples houses."
"Mom!" Willow said, blushing bright red, unable to believe her mother had just said that. "It's just that..well.. it's like this..."
"It's like what Willow? Are you going to tell me it was an accident, that you didn't mean for it to happen? Come on Willow, I saw how you were dressed."
"No! It was just well.....You noticed how I was dressed?"
"Well of course I did. What, did you think that I wouldn't notice the fact that my only daughter was dressed like that? Willow, you looked so beautiful, I don't think there's anyone in Sunnydale who wouldn't have noticed."
"Really?"
"Really. Look Willow you can relax. I'm not mad at you about what happened outside. You were just acting like a normal teenager. What I am mad about though is that you didn't tell me about your relationship with Angel. I know it's not the sort of thing girls like to talk about with their parents, but it would have been nice to know you had a boyfriend."
Willow looked up at her Mom and felt relief wash over at her. <She's not mad about outside. She's not mad about outside. >
"I know, I'm sorry Mom. I would have, should have told you but things only really changed today, and I wasn't sure how I felt."
"Today? He really knows how to sweep a girl off her feet." Sheila said.
"Yeah, I guess he does." Willow said unable to stop a smile coming to her lips.
The next question Willow's Mom asked completely threw Willow.
"Willow, do you love him?"
"What?" Willow said looking up at her Mom.
"Do you love him?"
"Um, well...we've re...really only been close these past few weeks and-" Willow said lowering her eyes.
"Willow, I didn't ask you that, how long you've known someone doesn't matter. I asked you if you loved him."
Lifting her head back up Willow took a deep breath and looked her mother straight in the eye. "Yes, I do."
Sheila sat there looking at her daughter and realised that she meant what she said. She had suspected that she had deep feeling for the young man, maybe even love, but hadn't actually thought her daughter would admit to it. But as she looked now at her daughter she could she how much she was changing. She had started to grow up into a young lady, she wasn't a little girl anymore.
"Does he love you?" she asked her daughter looking closely at her daughter.
Willow looked up at her mother, unsure how to answer her. She knew that Angel liked her, tonight had proven that.
< But does he love me? > Willow wondered.
Realising that she had to answer, she told her Mom the only thing she could...the truth.
"I'm...I'm not sure." Willow admitted.
Now it was Sheila's turn to be shocked, she hadn't expected that answer. When she had seen them together saying goodbye to each other from her vantage point next to the window, their feelings for each other were obvious. Willow admitting she loved Angel had confirmed it. She had just assumed that he had told her he loved her too.
"What do you mean, your not sure Willow? I mean he knows you love him right?"
"Well, not exactly." Willow said, surprised to find talking about this becoming easier, especially with her mother of all people, but it felt good to finally tell someone.
"What do you mean not exactly Willow?"
"Well...um, he doesn't know."
"You mean you haven't told him?" her Mom asked surprised.
"We..well no...because he probably doesn't feel the same way." Willow said, feeling tears starting to well up in her eyes.
"Oh Willow, I'm sure that's not true." Her Mom said reassuringly. Sensing her daughter's growing discomfort at discussing Angel's feelings for her, Sheila decided to leave the conversation there and call it a night.
"Look, it's late honey, why don't you go to bed?"
"Okay." Willow said getting up and moving towards the stairs.
"Willow," her Mom said as she started up the stairs. "I would like to meet this young man sometime."
"Oh..okay.. Well he's coming round tomorrow evening, you can talk to him then if you want"
"Great, I'll tell your father."
Willow's face visibly palled as she looked at her mother.
"Your going to tell Dad!" Willow asked alarmed.
"Yes, of course I am. Don't worry, it'll be fine. We won't try to embarrass you, I promise."
"Okay, goodnight Mom."
"Goodnight sweetheart." And with that Willow disappeared up the stairs.
<Of course I won't embarrass her. Well, not too much anyway. Now where did I put those baby photos...> Sheila wondered as she headed back into the living room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As Willow lay down on her bed that night, she found herself thinking back to her conversation with her mother.
Although she had dreaded it, the conversation with her mother had forced her to get things out in the open...and to finally admit to someone other than herself that she loved Angel. Willow briefly wondered where this new found confidence had come from, and had an idea that Angel had a large part to do with it.
She also remembered her Mom's shock at the revelation that Willow didn't know whether or not Angel loved her. And although she had said she wasn't sure if he did, deep down Willow had a nagging feeling that his feelings for her were not as strong as her feelings for him. What had surprised her more was that her Mom hadn't said anything along the lines of it was too soon for Willow to be in love, that she was too young.
But Willow once again pushed that thought from her mind, concentrating on trying to get through this meeting tomorrow evening with Angel and her parents.
That's when another thought came to mind. Her father. Would her Mom tell her Dad about them kissing outside? And if so how would he react. All of a sudden, images of her father with a gun levelled at Angel came to mind and Willow shuddered at the thought.
<I'm being silly, Dad would never do that...Buffy though is a different story.>
Realising where her thoughts were heading, Willow closed her eyes and tried to get some sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Later that night....
Angel paced restlessly back and forth around the mansion thinking about the events that had happened earlier in the evening.
He couldn't believe the way he had acted when Willow's Mom had found them together. He had acted like a schoolboy, not a two hundred and forty plus vampire.
He remembered the last time he had acted like that. He had been ten years old and been caught eating berries round the back of the barn, knowing full well that he wasn't meant too. He didn't know why but there was something about being around Willow that made him act as if he were ten years old again.
He then remembered back to even earlier in the evening. Back to when what had started out as a playful game had turned into something much more intense. He could still feel her arms around him as she pulled him over for another kiss, and how she had buried her head against him after her Mom had caught them. To when they were they were dancing together for what seemed like hours as he held her close to him.
The way she made him feel when he was with her was something he had never experienced before, and he sometimes wondered if she had any idea the reaction she caused in him. And finally he realised that with each second more he spent with her, the more he was falling in love with Willow Rosenberg.
Standing alone in the mansion Angel sighed and headed to bed, knowing full well that he was going to need all his energy if he was going to face Willow's parents tomorrow night.
End Part 12
Willow was sitting down on the steps in front of her house waiting for Angel to arrive. Her parents were inside waiting and the whole situation was making Willow increasingly nervous.
Her mother had told her this morning that she had informed her father about Angel. Although from what her mother had told her, it seemed she had just mentioned that she was seeing someone. Not that she had caught them doing some pretty heavy kissing outside the house. She had a point, though after all it wasn't just a quick goodbye kiss.
The fact that her Mom hadn't mentioned it to her Dad relieved Willow a lot. The thought that her father might have known what she had been doing with Angel freaked her out just a little.
Sighing to herself, Willow wondered about how tonight would go. Yesterday while they had talked, Willow's Mom had been much more relaxed about it than she had thought possible, She was her mother after all. It was only natural to expect her to be mad, or at least a little annoyed. The fact that she had also confessed her feelings for Angel to her Mom still unnerved her slightly. But Willow had faith that Angel would make a good impression on them...as long as he didn't mention the fact that he was a really old vampire who had tried to kill her more than once.
She was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't notice the footsteps approaching her. Nor did she realise that anyone was there until she felt a light tapping on her head.
Breaking out of her thoughts, Willow looked up, directly into Angel's eyes.
Taking in her surrounding, she noticed that it had grown dark, the stars shining bright in the sky above. Turning her attention to Angel, who was crouching down in front of her, she noticed that he had replaced his normal causal shirts for a light grey polo neck that made him look like the mysterious stranger he was. It also somehow made him look more respectable, which was the impression she wanted to give her parents.
"Hey." Angel said resting his head on his hands staring at her.
"Hey yourself." Willow replied. "I don't suppose you could make a bit more noise when you walk? You nearly gave me a heart attack."
"Sorry, I thought you would have heard me. Now do you care to share what had my a stóirín so preoccupied?"
"I was just wondering how tonight's little meeting will go."
"Don't worry about it, I'm sure it'll be fine."
"Yeah, I guess. Just as long as you don't screw it up." Willow teased.
"Me, what about you."
"Hey, we wouldn't have been if this situation is you hadn't kissed me last night."
"Well, as I recall you weren't exactly objecting. Besides, your Mom probably didn't see that much, we most likely jumped apart before she really saw anything."
"Right, that's why she was saying I was playing tonsil hockey with you. No, she didn't see anything at all!" Willow said mockingly.
"'Tonsil hockey'? Your mother actually said that?"
"Uh huh, so I guess she did see."
"Yeah, I guess so."
" So," Willow said getting up. "Are you going to wish me luck?"
"You, what about me?" Angel replied as he moved to join her.
"What about you, they're my parents, but if you wish me luck I'll wish you luck too." She said smiling.
"Okay then, good luck Willow." Angel said, leaning down to kiss her.
"Thanks." Willow said pulling away from him. "Good luck yourself."
"Um, aren't you forgetting something?" Angel asked.
"Um, no. I don't believe so." Willow said hiding her smile and trying to act innocent.
"Oh, I think you are little girl." Angel said, and with that he leaned down and kissed her again, wrapping his hands around her waist so she couldn't escape.
"Hey!" Willow said when she finally pulled away to breathe, "What do you think your doing?"
"Well, it looks like I'm kissing you at the moment." Angel said as he kissed her again.
Giving up any chance of escape, Willow admitted defeat and kissed him back, giving a small shriek as he lifted her off of her feet to bring her closer to him.
If Angel's plan had been to take her mind off this meeting it had worked. All Willow could think about was the feel of Angel's arms around her and his lips against hers.
In the background Willow briefly though she heard a voice, and was just about to check when Angel slipped his tongue into her mouth, deepening the kiss. After that all thoughts fled her mind as their tongues started to do battle.
"Ah hem, sorry to intrude. Am I interrupting something?" Willow's Mom asked staring at the couple making out in front of her eyes.
Breaking apart from each other at record speed Willow tried to explain what she was doing to her mother.
"Mom! I...um didn't hear you come over. I was just...saying hello to Angel." Willow said blushing with embarrassment. Looking over at Angel she noticed that he was trying to look anywhere except at Willow's Mom.
"Yes of course, I had a feeling that was what you were doing." Sheila said smugly.
"Hello again Angel." "Mrs. Rosenberg." Angel replied politely with a nod of his head his own embarrassment beginning to appear.
"Well Willow, I had just come out to tell you we were ready to start, I'll see you inside okay."
"Sure Mom, we'll be right in."
Okay, honey." With that Sheila walked inside, a small laugh escaping her lips.
<Twice, twice in two nights. God, don't they do anything other than kiss?> Sheila though as she joined her husband. <Teenagers. >
"Oh god, I can't believe it. She walked out on us again. I am so embarrassed. And you! What sort of impression do you think she has of you now, huh? And I mean we were kissing outside, anyone could have seen us!"
"Your right." Angel said thoughtfully. " We really need to find somewhere more private."
Willow looked up and glared at Angel. He was acting as if this were all some sort of joke.
<Ugh, he can be so frustrating at times! He's nothing but a typical male. >
"So, what do you think Willow, do you want to go in there or make out some more?"
"Oh bite me Angel!" "Well if you insist." He said stalking towards her.
"Angel!" Willow said with a yelp as he cornered her against the door, a playful glimmer in his eyes.
End Part 13
"An..Angel, we...we really have to get inside or my Mom will come looking for us"
"So?" Angel replied distractedly as he began placing feather light kisses over her face.
"Well, she won't be too hap...happy if she comes out and finds us...agai-" Willow said, her voice trailing off as Angel began to suck lightly on her neck.
"Uh huh." Angel mumbled, not stopping his ministrations.
"Angel come on, this is serious. I...I really think we should go inside." Willow said, regaining a little of her composure.
Slowly pulling away from her, Angel looked at Willow and pouted. "Spoil my fun why don't you."
As Willow looked at Angel she was unable to stop a small laugh from escaping her lips at the sight before her. Here he was, a 240-year-old vampire sulking as if his favorite toy had been taken away from him.
"Oh, don't be such a baby, I promise to make it up to you later. Okay?" She replied playfully with a raise of her eyebrows.
At this the vampire's interest picked up. "Really?"
"Yes really. But only if you're a good little vampire and behave. Now do you promise?" Willow asked as if speaking to a child.
At the sight of Angel nodding his head, Willow took it as a yes.
"Okay then." Willow said grabbing the door handle. She was about to open the door when Angel stopped her.
"Willow?" he asked, suddenly serious.
"Yes Angel." Willow replied, confused by his sudden change in mood.
" Are you sure about this?"
"Of course I am. I mean, I know it's not like we had a lot of choice about this meeting, but we knew it had to happen eventually.
"No, that's not what I meant. I mean are you sure about us, you and me? Because if you're not I'll understand you know."
"Angel, of course I'm sure. I'm right where I wanna be, where I belong. With you."
Looking down at Willow, Angel smiled. "I'm glad. I just wanted to be sure, to let you know you can back out anytime if you want too."
"Well I don't okay, so stop worrying. Now come on, we still have to get thought this evening with my parents." Willow said as she opened the front door and starting to walk through.
"Willow wait." Angel said grabbing her hand.
"What is it?" Willow asked concerned.
<I love you. > Angel thought to himself. However, instead of saying that he leaned down and gently brushed his lips against hers.
"Alright, lets go then." He said pulling back from her. A feeling of dread beginning to wash over them both.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As Willow and Angel headed for the living room, Willow's Mom approached them. Glancing at each other, they both wondered what was going on.
"Willow honey, why don't you come with me into the kitchen. Your father wants to have a word with Angel alone instead of us all together, okay?"
"Yeah, sure I guess." She said looking over at Angel nervously and a little confused.
"Is that a problem with you Angel?" Sheila asked him.
"Um no, I suppose not." Angel said, having a fair idea what Willow's father wanted to talk to him about.
"Oh good. Come on then Willow, you can join Angel when they're done, after you and I have a little chat too."
As Willow and Sheila walked away, Angel gave Willow's hand a quick reassuring squeeze, and then taking a deep breath that he didn't need, he knocked on the door, and headed into the living room.
The living room...
Angel slowly walked into the living room, preparing himself for the barrage of questions he knew he was bound to face.
Stopping in the middle of the room, Angel stood facing Willow's farther.
"Mr Rosenberg, it's nice to finally meet you." Angel said looking at him sitting on the sofa.
"It's nice to meet you too. Please, have a seat." Ira said, indicating a chair opposite him.
Looking at Angel as he made himself comfortable, Ira Rosenberg started to scrutinize the man that was apparently dating his daughter.
Taking a deep breath, Ira began his questioning of Angel.
"So, it's Angel isn't it?" at the nod of Angel's head he continued. "So Angel tell me about yourself, your family."
Inwardly groaning at his choice of a first question, Angel started to recite the background he had made up for himself.
"Well sir, I'm currently in the middle of my first year at college, studying history."
"That's an interesting choice, what about your family?"
"Angel winced at the question, but kept his mind focused. "Well sir, I don't actually have any. They were all killed when a fire spread through our house one night when I was 14. I was the only one to survive as I was staying with a friend at the time. I've pretty much been taking care of my self since then."
Angel knew his answers weren't the most creative he'd ever come up with, but considering he couldn't seem to get his mind off Willow all day, he was lucky he had even come up with that.
"I'm sorry." Ira said after hearing about his family.
"Thank you." Angel replied, cringing at his misplaced sympathy.
"So," Ira said moving swiftly on. "You look older than your typical first year college student. How old are you exactly?"
"I'm nearly twenty-one." Angel replied, hoping that would be believable.
"I see, And how long have you know my daughter exactly?"
Um, I've know Willow for over three years now, Mr. Rosenberg."
Ira nodded his head at this. "So how come she's never mentioned you to us before? If you were so close and all."
"Well sir, we were never really close until recently. We never really knew each other before."
"I see." Ira said.
Taking a deep breath he looked up at Angel, and asked the question he wanted the answer to the most.
"Angel, what are you intentions towards my daughter?"
"Um, I'm sorry?" Angel said, as the question every male was hoping to avoid came up.
"Well, I was just wondering. I mean here you are, an older man, who's only really known Willow a couple of weeks and is going around buying her expensive jewelry. Including the fact that it seems that you can't seem to keep your hands off my daughter, I think it's reasonable to ask what your motives are. Even more so considering how impressionable she is at her age. So I ask again. What are your intentions towards my daughter?"
<You mean, am I just using Willow to sleep with her. > Angel thought to himself. Looking up at him he answered.
"Well..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Willow paced back and forth around the kitchen, wondering what on earth her father could want to talk to Angel about for so long.
Sheila looked up at her daughter and sighed, deciding that they might as well get started on their little talk, even though she knew it was bound to make Willow uncomfortable, but knowing it had to be talked about sooner or later.
"Willow honey, would you come and sit down for a moment please?"
"Sure." Willow said, taking a seat at the table.
"You seem a little distant Willow. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. I'm just wondering what's taking them so long in there, that's all." Willow replied.
"Well, don't worry, I'm sure they be finished soon enough. Until then though there are some things that you and I need to talk about too."
"There are?" Willow asked, she had thought that they had talked about everything last night.
"Yes, there are. Now I know that this may be a little uncomfortable for you, but I'm your mother and I think I have a right to know, to know that you're okay."
"Ok..okay." Willow said getting nervous.
<What could be so important that she wants to talk to me about? > Willow wondered.
"Okay Willow, I'm not going to insult your intelligence by dancing around the subject alright?"
"Okay."
"Willow I can't help but notice how much you like Angel. I mean, you yourself have admitted you love him right?"
"Yes." Willow said wondering what all this was about.
"And that you're not sure of his feelings towards you."
"Yes, why."
"Well, it's just that...it's just that I want to make sure you know what you're doing. I mean considering the amount of time you've really know each other, from what I've seen of things, they appear pretty intense and I was just..I mean..He's not pressuring you to do anything you feel your not ready for is he?"
"Not ready for?" Willow asked confused.
"Yes."
"I don't..Oh!" Willow said realizing what her mother meant and turned bright red at the implications.
"Willow, you know you can tell me right, I won't be angry if that's what your afraid of."
"Um..I..um..well..no! No, he's..Angel's not..he wouldn't do that to me..kissing that's all, I promise."
Willow's Mom smiled at her daughters babbling and nodded her head relieved. She had been pretty sure that everything was okay, especially after seeing the way Angel acted around her, but had wanted to make sure, just in case she was wrong.
"Okay, honey. I'm sorry I had to ask but I needed to know that you weren't feeling pressured or anything."
"I..I understand Mom." Willow said, wanting nothing more than to find a hole and crawl into it.
<I can't believe my Mom asked me that, I'm so embarrassed. Oh no! What if Dad asked Angel the same thing? Ugh, I wanna die. >
"Well, I think that your Dad and Angel will have probably finished talking by now." Sheila said, glancing at her watch. "Come on, why don't we go and find out."
"Sure, okay." Willow said, relieved that the subject had been dropped.
As they stopped outside the living room, Willow looked in to find Angel turning to face her and givegiving her a small reassuring smile.
Giving him a smile in return, she ignored the looks that her parents were giving them and gave a pointed look at her father.
Taking the hint, Ira stood up and motioned for Angel to do the same.
"Well, I think we're all done here. How about you Sheila?" Ira asked, looking at his wife.
"Yep, we're all done. Willow, it's starting to get late. Why don't you say goodnight to Angel okay?"
"Sure Mom." Willow said grabbing Angel's hand practically dragging him out of the room.
"Goodnight Angel." Willow's parent's said.
"Goodnight Mr. and Mrs. Rosenberg, nice to meet you." Angel replied just as he got pulled outside and the door shut behind him by Willow.
Shaking their heads at the sight before them, Willow's parents headed upstairs, planning on getting an early night after the evening's events.
"Will..Willow! I think you can stop now." Angel said as Willow hauled him down the path.
"What..Oh!" Willow said as she realized that she was still dragging Angel behind her and stopped suddenly at a halt, causing Angel to slam into her from behind, at the end of the path. "Sorry."
Turning to face him, Willow looked up into Angel's eyes expectantly.
"Well, how'd it go?"
"Um, I think it went okay." Angel replied.
"What do you mean, okay? What questions did my Dad ask you?"
"Well...he asked things like how old I was, what I did, how long I'd known you. You know, the usual things." Angel said, not wanting to tell her what a large portion of the meeting had been about.
"Oh, okay. So it went well then, my Dad does like you right?" Willow asked worriedly.
"Willow relax, it went fine, and as for your father. Yeah, I think he likes me. Now what about you?" Angel asked trying to change the subject. "What did you and your Mom talk about while I was gone?"
At hearing his question, Willow blushed. "Well, um you know..stuff. Just how long I've known you, where did we first meet. Stuff like that."
"Oh, so it wasn't that bad then?" Angel asked.
"Um, no." Willow replied, hating to have to lie to Angel, but knowing that she couldn't tell him what they had really talked about.
"Look Willow, your Mom's right. It is getting late and you have school tomorrow, so I'd better go. I'll see you tomorrow at the library though, okay?"
"You're going to the library tomorrow? Are you sure that's such a good idea? I mean Giles and Xander still aren't to keen to see you."
"Well actually it was Giles who called me to go. It seems that they've just received an important book, but it's in Gaelic, and rather old Gaelic at that. So he though I might be able to help. He said it was time to move past what had happened."
"Oh Angel, that's great! See I told you he'd come around eventually. Xander, on the other hand, is a different matter entirely."
"Well, Xander's never exactly been my greatest fan, I'm sure everything will be fine though" Angel said as he pulled Willow into a tight hug.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sheila Rosenberg walked into their bedroom, and noticed her husband staring intently out of the front window.
Walking towards him, she looked out the window to see what he was staring at. After looking for a moment she found the focus of his intentions, standing at the bottom of the path. Willow and Angel talking.
"Oh Ira, would you come away from that window and give them some privacy." Sheila asked taking her husband's hand.
"I want to keep an eye on them Sheila."
"Oh whatever for? You've talked to Angel right? What, don't you trust him with Willow?"
"I..I want to. He seems a nice enough man. But that's what he is, a man. He's older than her, he probably wants different things out of a relationship. I'm just worried about her. You did talk to her right?"
"Yes, I did."
"And what did she say?
"She..she said everything was fine. Willow's a smart girl. She wouldn't do anything she isn't ready for. Besides, he cares a lot for her, I'm sure he wouldn't push her to do things she didn't want to."
"I know but..." Ira said trailing off.
"But what? Look at them Ira." She said looking out of the window once more as Angel pulled Willow into his arms. "He cares about her, he really does. I've seen it in his eyes when he's with her, and Willow cares about him too. For the first time in ages she's truly happy. Who are we to take that away from her?"
"I suppose your right, I just want to make sure she doesn't get hurt..." Ira said, his voice trailing off as he saw Angel kiss Willow lovingly before once again wrapping his arms around her as they continued to talk.
Pulling the curtains closed, Ira sighed and walked away from the window, his thoughts on the exchange he had just seen between them and wondering if he may have been wrong about Angel.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Willow slowly pulled away from the warmth of Angel's arms and looked up at him.
"I suppose I better get inside." Willow said sadly, casting a glance over to the door.
"I suppose your right. The last thing I want to is make your Mom come looking for us again." Angel said with a small laugh.
"Yeah, I suppose that might be bad." Willow said smiling.
"Um, I'll see you tomorrow then?" Angel asked.
"Sure, just don't be late okay?"
"Oh, I wouldn't dream of it. Besides you still have to make up earlier to me, remember? I mean I did behave myself and all."
"Well, okay, since you were good." Willow said.
"Very good." Angel added with a playful smile.
"Okay then, if you say so." Willow said, her eyes twinkling. "Goodnight Angel."
"Night Willow." Angel said, leaning down to give Willow a gentle kiss before he left.
Watching until Willow safely entered the house, Angel walked home, wondering what he had done to deserve someone like Willow.
Waiting until the two figures had disappeared from view, a lone person emerged from the shadows, having witnessed the entire exchange and headed down the street.
End Part 14
Willow slowly walked up the stairs and headed into her room. Shutting the door behind her, she walked over to her bed and flopped down onto it.
Sighing, Willow rolled over and stared up at the ceiling, her mind replaying everything that had happened that evening.
As far as things went, the evening had gone quite well in her opinion. She had wanted to avoid the whole thing and was more than a little embarrassed and uncomfortable when her Mom had started to talk to her about sex and the incidents outside. But all that was mild in comparison to what she had envisioned earlier in the day.
She had had images of her parents hating him, telling her she couldn't see him anymore, that he was too old, and her Dad going after him with that damm gun....not that it would do him any permanent damage of course.
<I must remember to thank him for putting that Image in my head. > Willow thought, swearing to make him suffer later for it.
Slowly the tiredness of the day started to catch up with her, and Willow forced herself to get up off the bed and get changed. Once she was done Willow crawled into bed and fell fast asleep, just minutes before her mother came in to check on her and wish her goodnight.
The next day...
Willow woke up later than normal the next morning and, after she had showered and dressed, headed downstairs into the kitchen.
After Willow had gotten herself a drink and something to eat she sat down at the kitchen table to find a note from her parents saying that they had decided to go out for the day and that they would see her this evening.
Walking into the living room Willow sat down on the sofa and turned on the TV in an effort to pass the time till she had to go to the library.
The Library
Willow paced around the library as she waited for the others to arrive. Checking her watch, she wondered where they were. Deciding to go and check for them outside, just in case there was trouble, Willow left the library and headed down the corridor.
Stepping out of the building Willow walked down the steps leading to the school and started to slowly walk around the building looking for any sign of her friends.
As Willow rounded the corner of the school she suddenly felt herself connect with something hard. Stumbling back a few steps Willow lifted her eyes and found herself looked straight into Angel's.
Releasing the breath that she had unknowingly been holding Willow allowed herself to be pulled forward and into Angel's waiting arms.
When they finally pulled apart Angel looked down at Willow with a concerned look on his face. Wondering what was the matter, Willow took hold of Angel's hand and smiled up at him.
"Angel, what is it? What's the matter?"
Hesitating for a second, Angel gave Willow's hand a reassuring squeeze and took an unneeded breath.
"It's..It's nothing. It's just that I get worried about you, walking out here all alone at night. I mean there could be vampires hanging about and I don't want you to get hurt...or worse."
"Oh Angel, I'm sorry I worried you. I know I shouldn't have come out here by myself. But it's just that none else has arrived yet and I was getting worried."
"Don't worry Willow, I'm sure they'll be here soon. Come on, let's go back inside okay."
Nodding her head Willow and Angel walked hand in hand back round to the front of the school and started up the steps.
Just as they were about to enter the school Willow stopped and turned to Angel.
"Angel, were you really worried about me?"
"Of course I was Willow. You know I'd never want anything to happen to you. I couldn't stand it if you...If you got..." Angel was cut off with Willow placing a silencing finger over his lips.
"Angel, nothing's going to happen to me okay. I don't want you to think like that. You understand?"
"I..I know. I just worry, that's all."
"I know Angel. But you don't need to okay."
"Okay." Angel said pulling her close to him.
"Good.," Willow said as she rose up to kiss him.
Wrapping his arms tighter around Willow's waist, Angel kissed her back till she reluctantly pulled away to breath.
"Come on let's go." Angel said taking Willow's hand and heading back into the building.
~~~~~~~
Buffy walked happily down the street and turned the corner to go into the school. Although the events of the past few days had been less than pleasant for her, she was sure everything would work itself out tonight and be like nothing had happened.
<Everything will be fine. > Buffy reassured herself as she got closer to the school. <I'll just say I'm sorry to Angel and that I was under a lot of stress and he'll forgive me and then we can go have a little chat to with Willow to clear things up and let Willow know that her interest in Angel has to stop. >
Buffy was broken out of her thoughts, however, as she saw two figures standing on the steps by the school entrance.
Walking closer to the couple Buffy could make the figures out to be Willow and Angel.
<Great, Angel's already having a word with Willow. This is working out even better than I hoped for. >
Her happiness was soon cut short however when she saw Willow reach up and kiss Angel. Buffy was about to storm over to them when she noticed that Angel wasn't pulling away, that he was in fact drawing Willow closer to him.
Buffy stood frozen to the ground in shock, unable to move at the sight before her. Watching as the couple walked hand in hand into the school Buffy finally snapped out of her daze and felt her anger start to boil.
Quickly crossing the distance to the school, Buffy stormed though the doors and headed towards the library to find them. She wanted answers, and she wanted them now.
End Part 15
Willow and Angel approached the library in comfortable silence. Stopping outside the doors, Willow turned to Angel and looked up at him.
"Um Angel, I'm just going to go and get my bag out of my locker. I'll meet you in the library in a few minutes okay?"
"Alright, just don't be too long.," Angel said with a smile before pulling her to him for a quick kiss.
"I promise.," Willow said as she pulled away from him and headed down the corridor towards her locker.
After watching Willow's retreating figure disappear around the corner, Angel turned and walked into the library.
The Library
Angel was pacing back and forth in the library waiting for Willow to return, anxious to spend a few more minutes alone with her before the others arrived.
Hearing the library doors slam open behind him Angel turned around smiling expecting Willow. His smile soon disappeared, however, when he came face to face with a furious slayer.
His instincts for self-preservation kicking in, Angel backed away a few steps from the angry slayer and wondered what had caused her to erupt.
"Um, hi Buffy, is...is everything okay?" Angel said knowing full well, by the look in her eyes, that it wasn't okay.
At the sound of Angel's voice, Buffy snapped out of the daze she was in and took a step forward towards the vampire closing the gap between them.
"Is everything okay? Is everything okay!" Buffy screamed. "No, it's not. Not unless you count the fact that my boyfriend is cheating on me with someone who I thought was my best friend and then I catch them practically making out together on the front steps of my school!"
Angel stared at Buffy, his mouth hanging open in surprise. Pushing down his growing anger at the way Buffy was acting and talking about Willow, he took an unneeded breath and tried to compose himself. He knew that the best way to deal with the situation was to try to calm Buffy down...and fast, before Willow returned.
"Look Buffy, if you'll sit down for a moment we can talk about this okay?"
"Talk? Talk! If that's all you and Willow did then there wouldn't be a problem in the first place, now would there?"
"Buffy, if you'll just take a seat-"
"No, I'm not going to sit down! Why the hell should I? I mean I've just found out that my boyfriend is running around behind my back with some lying, relationship breaking little whore!-"
"Okay, now that's just about enough!" Angel shouted, finally losing the fragile hold on his temper. "I'm not going to have you talking about Willow like that!"
"Why not? It's true!" Buffy shouted.
"No it's not! She didn't steal me from anybody. You and I had broken up long before Willow and I became involved. You didn't want anything to do with me remember? And Willow is NOT a whore!"
"Oh, come on Angel, what else could you want her for? You know you can't be with me because of the happiness clause, but you can be with her. I mean she'll never in a million years make you feel the way I did."
Forcing down the urge to vamp out on her there and then, Angel fought to control his emotions.
"I am not sleeping with Willow okay! Not that I have to explain myself to you anyway Buffy."
"Oh yeah?" Buffy taunted "then why the hell are you with her?"
Suddenly stopping, Buffy smacked her hand against her head and smiled up at Angel.
"Of course! Now I know why you're with her. It's to make me jealous and realize that I made a mistake about saying I wanted to break up with you. Oh Angel, that's so sweet!"
Angel was about to reply when Buffy suddenly launched herself into his arms.
As Buffy flung herself at him, Angel stumbled backwards and fell onto the table taking Buffy with him.
As Angel tried to push Buffy of him, he heard the doors to the library creep open and a feeling of dread filled his stomach.
Looking past Buffy, Angel was just able to see a stream of red hair disappearing as Willow bolted out of the library.
"Willow, Willow wait!" Angel shouted as he pushed Buffy off of him.
Angel was half way across the library and was about to take off after Willow to explain when he felt Buffy grab his arm.
"Angel, what is it, why are you going after her?"
"I have...I have to explain to her-"
"No...no you don't Angel. She knows that we belong together and what she saw here just proves that. Besides, she must have known that you weren't really interested in her, that you were trying to get me back through her. And now that Willow's out of the picture we can focus on getting us back on track."
Pulling his arm out of Buffy's grip Angel turned to face Buffy.
"Us? There is no us Buffy, there hasn't been for a long time and there won't be an us in the future either."
"But-"
"And do you really care so little about Willow that you'd just stand by and watch her get hurt so you get what you want? Buffy, I hate to burst your bubble but I have no intention to, nor do I want to ever get back together with you."
"But you love me Angel!"
"No I don't, I love Willow and though I've tried to deny it I now realize that I have for a long time."
"No, you don't mean what you're saying!"
"Yes I do. I'm sorry that I'm hurting your feelings but you'll forgive me if I'm more concerned about Willow right now okay!"
And with that Angel walked away from Buffy and headed out of the library desperate to find Willow. Just as he was about to close the doors behind him he heard Buffy's voice cry out.
"You can't deny what we have Angel, it's our destiny!"
Angel just kept on walking, not turning back as Buffy's voice continued to echo down the corridor.
End Part 16
As soon as Angel exited the school he stopped for a moment to pull himself together. Buffy's screaming had followed him all the way down the corridor telling him how they were meant to be together. Now that Angel was free of it, his concern for Willow once again came to the front of his mind...not that it had ever really left.
As Angel rushed down the street he prayed that Willow had gone home and hadn't run off somewhere else. He also prayed that wherever she was, she was safe.
As Willow's house came into view Angel rushed forward in a sudden burst of speed, praying that she would be there and unharmed. Noticing that her parents car was missing, Angel ran up to the door and knocked repeatedly waiting for someone to answer.
Angel was about to give up when he noticed the hallway light flicker on and suddenly the door opened.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As Willow opened the door she hastily tried to brush away her tears.
As the person on the other side came fully into view Willow felt a stab of pain through her heart and she started to slam the door shut, however Angel was too quick and stepped forward to block it from closing.
"Go away Angel!" Willow shouted from behind the door.
Angel knew that he could force the door open in a second, but didn't want to risk hurting her. Instead he tried a different approach.
"No, not until you listen to what I have to say and we talk."
"I have nothing to talk about with you Angel!"
"Well I do. Now please Willow let me in."
"No!"
"Fine, I'll tell you from out here then." Angel said.
"I...I should of seen it coming you know. That Buffy would want you back. I mean it's not exactly a hard choice to ma-"
"Willow, listen to me! You've got at all wrong. Buffy saw us together and confronted me about it. I tried to tell her that it was over between us but she wouldn't listen, then she got this crazy idea that I was seeing you to make her jealous."
"No, you're lying! I saw you together." Willow cried.
"Willow, I swear that's not what was going on. She just flung herself at me, it's like she came from nowhere. It surprised me and made us fall back onto the table. I was about to run after you when Buffy grabbed me."
When Angel received no reply he carried on.
"Come on Willow, do you honestly think that I'd do that? That I'd ever hurt you?"
"N..N...No, I..I don't." Willow sobbed as she slowly slid down the door till she hit the floor.
Feeling the door give way slightly, Angel gently pushed it open enough so that he could fit through. Shutting the door behind him, Angel turned around to find Willow against the wall, her knees drawn up to her chest and her head bowed, sobbing quietly.
Crouching down next to her Angel pulled her into his arms. He whispered words of comfort to her as he slowly started to stroke her hair, savoring the feel of her in his arms.
"Shush Willow, it's going to be okay. You know I'd never leave you or hurt you. You mean everything to me Willow. I love you, I-"
All of a sudden Willow's head shot up as she turned to look at him, shock clearly evident on her face.
"Wh...what?"
It took Angel a moment to figure out what Willow was talking about when realization suddenly dawned on him.
"Uh..Um..I..I...What?" Angel stammered as a war began to wage itself inside of his body.
Part of him wanted to cover up what he had just confessed. The other half of him wanted nothing more than to just pull her close to him and tell her over and over how much he loved her.
<But what if she doesn't love me back? What if I've just ruined the best thing that's ever happened to me? >
"An...Angel?"
The sound of Willow softly calling out his name broke him out of his thoughts. His decision made, Angel looked down at Willow.
"I..I love you. I tried to deny it to myself for so long. But I can't deny it anymore, not after I almost lost you."
Willow sniffed lightly and looked up at Angel with wide eyes.
"You...you do?"
"Yes, I do. I mean how could I not?"
"I...I lov-"
"Willow," Angel started, cutting her off. His emotions were caught between desperately wanting to hear what she was going to say and equally afraid of hearing it, not wanting to believe that someone...anyone could love a person...monster like him.
"No Angel! I do love you. Why can't you believe that?"
Angel tried to answer her but found no words to describe how he felt. Instead he pulled her closer to him and kissed her, letting all of his love for her come through in that one moment.
End Part 17
Angel must have held Willow in his arms on the floor for an eternity. Finally though, Willow started to fidget and Angel reluctantly let her go. As they both got up Angel drew Willow in for a quick kiss.
"Come on," Willow said, grabbing Angel's hand and leading him over to the stairs.
"Willow, where are we going?" Angel asked.
"Upstairs silly, I've got something to show you."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I found it at the same shop where I got one of your Christmas presents," Willow said as she led him into her room.
"Well, what is it?" Angel asked curiously.
"This!" Willow said, jumping around with something fuzzy in her hand.
"What's this?"
"Come here and take a look," Willow said excitedly.
As Angel approached Willow he started to get a better view of the object. Taking it from her, he held the item up, examining it.
"It's a witch. A teddy bear witch."
"Exactly. It's just like the vampire one I got you. Well not just like it cos mine's a witch and all...but isn't it cute!
"Yeah...but it's not the only thing that's cute in this room," Angel said as he tossed the bear on a nearby chair and started walking towards her.
"What?...oh...I get it. Cute-"
"You," Angel said as he answered her question and finished crossing the distance between them, pulling her to him.
"S...so you think I'm cute? Really?" Willow said hesitantly, not quite believing what he was saying to her.
"Oh yeah," Angel said, his voice taking on a distinctively sexy tone before pulling her in for a kiss.
Losing herself in the feelings that Angel was creating, she soon gave up any interest in their prior conversation.
"I was so scared that I had lost you, you know," Angel said as he broke the kiss and began stroking her hair.
"I know, me too," Willow said, burying her face into his T-shirt.
Placing a light kiss on her forehead, Angel looked down at Willow, who was now looking up at him. Unable to keep a smile from forming on his lips at the sight of her, Angel pulled her even closer to him and leaned down to kiss her again.
Sighing into his mouth, Willow wrapped her arms around his neck and gave a little yelp of surprise as she felt his hands slowly slide down her back to rest just above her hips.
Angel started to pull away from her when Willow raised one of her hands up from his neck to his head. Tangling her fingers up in his hair she pulled him back to her, effectively holding him to her.
When Willow finally decided to let Angel go, in order to breathe some much needed air into her lungs, he took the opportunity to start placing tiny kisses over her cheeks.
"So," Angel said as he kissed her eyelids and nose, "I've been thinking."
"Hmm...about what?" Willow said distractedly as Angel slowly moved his lips down to her jaw.
Pulling away from her slightly, Angel rested his head on hers and shuddered a bit as he felt her warm breath on his neck.
"Well, I just thought it might be nice to spend some time alone together. Away from parents and friends and life in general."
"Hmm, sounds nice. I could do with some time away from everything..." Then, pulling away from Angel slightly, she looked up at him with a dangerous twinkle in her eyes.
"But right now...I have other things in mind," Willow finished as she pulled Angel down to her until their lips met.
Tangling one of her hands in Angel's hair again, Willow pressed her body up against Angel's in an attempt to get closer to him until she felt his hands fall down to her hips, slightly stopping her movements.
Breaking the kiss between them, Willow looked up at Angel innocently with confused eyes as she continued to sway back and forth.
Groaning inwardly at her movements, Angel looked down at Willow.
That's...that's not a good idea," He said, trying to stop the sensations that were now running through his body.
Not fully comprehending what Angel was saying to her, she raised her head up, hurt showing in her eyes. "What? Why? I...I don't understand. Don't you want to be near me?"
"Of course I do Willow, it's...it's just..." breaking off what he was saying, he tried to find a way to explain to her without embarrassing her...or him.
Finally giving up he said, "You have no idea what you do to me, do you?"
"Angel, what are you talking about? You just said you did want to be near me."
"That's the whole point Willow, that I do want to be near you. I just want to hold you in my arms and never let you go. But when I'm around you, and you're so close to me, with the way you make me feel, my body tends to react before my head does."
"Angel, I..I don't...Ohhh!" Willow said, her eyes going wide as realization dawned on her.
Although feeling slightly embarrassed at discussing this with Willow, he carried on anyway. "Now do you see why I stopped you Willow?"
"You...you mean that before when I was...that I was..." Willow said, blushing.
"Uh huh."
"But...but that's a good thing right? I mean if...if you...." Willow trailed off embarrassed, unable to continue.
Unable to hide the smile forming on his lips, Angel raised his hand to her chin and tilted her head up till their eyes met.
"Yeah, I mean it is a good thing Willow...kind of. I mean it's good that your causing this, but it isn't because I don't want to scare you...or rush you or make you do something your not ready for. Besides, none of this matters anyway, with the curse and everything."
Sighing to herself, Willow started to bite her lower lip and lowered her eyes.
"Angel, we need to talk."
End Part 18
"Talk...talk about what?" Angel said concerned at her sudden change in mood.
"Um well..."
"Willow?"
"Well...perhaps you'd better sit down before I tell you."
Nodding at her request Angel sat down on Willow's bed and waited.
Fiddling nervously with her hands Willow started to pace back and forth in front of Angel.
Taking a deep breath, Willow stopped pacing and turned to face Angel.
"Angel I...I don't know how to tell you this. I don't want you to get angry but I suppose I deserve it-"
"Willow," Angel cut in, "you should know by now that I could never get angry at you, no matter what."
"Well, perhaps you'd better hear what I have to say before you make your mind up."
Okay," Angel said growing nervous.
Moving over to her desk, Willow leaned against it for support.
"Okay, well you...you remember when I restored your soul to you right?"
"Of course I do, how could I ever forget something like that?"
"Well, when I found the disk with the translated curse on it I noticed that one part of it had to do with the happiness clause, well a rough translation of it anyway. So...I sort of left it out when I did the spell."
"Wh... What?"
"I...I left it out. I was going to tell you but there never seemed to be a right time."
Slowly, Angel raised himself of the bed and started walking over to Willow.
Backing up slightly against the desk at seeing the blank look in his eyes Willow started to feel nervous.
Quickly crossing the distance between them, Angel stood in front of Willow not saying anything.
"Ang...Angel?" Willow asked hesitantly, scared at how he was acting.
Deep down inside Willow knew that Angel would never hurt her, but his actions were scaring her none the less.
"Angel say something, you're scaring me."
At hearing the fear in her voice Angel snapped out of his thoughts and looked at Willow, surprised to see her looking afraid...because of him.
"Oh Willow, I'm sorry, please don't be afraid of me. I didn't mean to scare you. I... was just caught off guard that's all, Angel said, a guilty look starting to appear on his face.
Sighing inwardly to herself, Willow was pleased to know that he wasn't with her. However , seeing the look of guilt look on his face, Willow knew that she had to do something before he reverted to his old ways.
Moving over to him, Willow wrapped her arms around him and started to whisper into his chest.
"Oh Angel, I could never be scared of you. I know you wouldn't hurt me. I was just worried you were going to be mad, that's all."
"Mad? Why would I be mad Willow? You restored my soul back for good. The only thing I could be angry about is that you'd try something so dangerous."
"I...I know it was, especially after I altered the spell. But I had to try. Besides, even if there was only a tiny chance that it would have worked, I had to try it. And it did so..."
"I don't deserve you." [replace period with comma] Angel murmured into her hair.
Giggling slightlyand relieved that Angel wasn't mad, Willow said, "I know you don't, but I felt sorry for you making those little puppy dog eyes so-"
"Hey, you're not meant to agree. And I do not make 'puppy dog' eyes!"
"Ugh, you do too. You sit there trying to look all sweet and innocent so you can get out of trouble with me."
"Well, does it work?" Angel said as he kissed her.
"No, Willow said, shaking her head.
"Oh really? Are you sure?" he asked kissing her again.
"No...I mean yes-" Willow stopped abruptly, however, as Angel silenced her with his lips.
<Hmm, maybe having an argument isn't so bad if this is how we make up. > Willow thought to herself.
Willow's thoughts soon disappeared, however, as she yelped in surprise when Angel lifted her up into his arms, never breaking the kiss between them and started to carry her towards the bed.
End Part 19
Removing his lips from hers, Angel lowered Willow down onto her bed, covering her body with his a moment later.
Lowering his head, Angel recaptured Willow's mouth, running his tongue along her lips, moaning slightly as her lips parted for him and her tongue reached out and stroked his.
As he moved his hands up to Willow's face, he ever so slightly brushed one of her breasts with his hand, causing her to moan into his mouth.
Smiling into her mouth at her reaction, Angel decided to repeat the action, coaxing similar sounds from her, which only helped fuel his desire for her.
Pulling away from her to allow Willow some much needed breath, Angel looked into Willow's eyes and saw his own desire reflected there.
Slowly, he began to trail a line of kisses down her face. When he reached her jawbone, Willow tilted her head slightly, allowing Angel access to her neck.
Continuing to make his way down her throat, he kissed his way along her collarbone before he made his way back up to her neck and begin kissing and sucking on her pulse point.
Closing her eyes, Willow bit her lip to keep from crying out as Angel worked on her throat. Reaching up she tangled her fingers into his hair, holding him closer to her.
Pleased at the reactions he was causing in Willow, Angel released her neck, causing Willow to moan in protest.
Hovering above her for a few moments, Angel slowly sucked in a small amount of air, forcing his long dead lungs to work. Leaning down Angel blew across her neck, hitting the same point his mouth had been only seconds before, ignoring her pleas to return his mouth there, causing Willow to whimper in frustration.
Finally taking pity on her, Angel lowered his mouth back down to her neck and began to suck on it one again, causing Willow to sigh in contentment.
Moving his mouth away from her neck, Angel darted out his tongue and began to swirl circles over the red mark that was slowly turning a nice shad of purple, sending shivers sown Willow's spine.
With every cell in his being, Angel forced himself not to bite, or even graze her skin, not knowing how she would react to such a thing.
So instead, he returned to tasting her neck with his tongue, loving the noises it made Willow produce, returning occasionally to plunder her mouth, muffling her moans of pleasure while Angel tried to keep control of his body as she withered beneath him.
~~~~~~
Sighing happily as Angel continued his work along her neck, Willow opened her eyes and found her facing her window.
Stargazing not being at the forefront of her mind at the moment Willow was just turning away when a flash of light crossed her window.
It barely registered in her mind though as Angel choose that moment to stop his attentions on her neck and move his lips back to hers in a searing kiss.
Slowly moving one of his hands down, Angel slipped his hand inside her jumper, causing her to jump slightly at his cold touch on her burning skin. As Angel caressed her stomach and sides, but avoiding her breasts, he delighted in the moans he produced from her.
Just as Angel's hand started to slide higher up however, Willow froze.
Worried he had done something wrong, Angel started to remove his hand when he noticed Willow motioning for him to be still.
As soon as Angel had stopped his movements, Willow tried to calm her erratic breathing, mostly due to Angel but partly because of what she thought she had heard.
Listing carefully, Willow hard the familiar noise of a car door slam shut and the lock downstairs beginning to turn.
Pushing Angel off of her, Willow jumped up and ran to her window, checking to confirm her suspicions.
"Willow! What's the matter? Did I-"
"Sush." "Willow whispered.
"Look Willow, if I-"
"My parents are home!" Willow said, panic clearly in her voice. "Keep your voice down!"
"Willow, calm down."
"Calm down? Angel is my parents find me up here with you, looking like...like we do they'll kill you and ground me for life."
"Willow, I think your overacting." Angel said trying to stop Willow's hysterics.
"Angel, just take a look at us! We're...." Willow suddenly trailed off, as she heard to the open and shut seconds later.
Slowly looking at the both of them Angel realized Willow had a point. Willow's hair was all ruffled and her face was a lovely shade of red...in Angel's mind anyway.
Not to mention that her jumper was hanging off one shoulder and her tight skirt had inched considerably higher, giving Angel a lovely view of her legs.
At the same time though Angel's hair was sticking out in all directions, his shirt was untucked and partly unbuttoned, not to mention the fact that his trousers had gotten rather more confining since his arrival here.
Looking back up Angel found himself unable to look higher that her waist.
"Angel!" Willow whispered.
"Hmm...what?" Angel said, removing his gaze from her legs.
"What were you...oh!" Willow said, subconsciously pulling her skirt down slightly.
"Sorry."
"Um, it's okay. Look you have to go. Now!" Willow said as she moved to open her french doors.
"Sure...okay. Look, I'll see you tomorrow night in the library okay. How about we meet before hand by the main doors to the school?"
"Sounds good to me."
"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow." Angel said, pulling Willow to him for a goodnight kiss, wrapping his arms around her.
At the feel of Angel's lips on hers Willow quickly forgot their previous conversation.
As Angel's hands roamed her back Willow could not restrain herself any longer and slowly slid her hands down his back until they reached his ass.
Noticing Angel's slight shock at this move from her, Willow waited for him to recover form her movements. As soon as he had, she gripped his backside firmly and pulled him to her, pressing there bodies closely together, causing then both to groan in each other's mouths.
By now they had both completely forgotten about Willow's parents, and even if they could remember they doubted they would have cared.
Willow's labored breath and moans of desire pushing him on, Angel rubbed his growing erection against her, causing Willow to gasp in shock. Taking advantage of this, Angel slipped his tongue inside her mouth and settled his hands on her waist.
Lifting her up, Willow wrapped her legs around his waist, her mind hazy with lust and desire.
Angel was about to carry her over to her bed again when a noise from downstairs broke through into their minds, breaking the passion filled trance they were in.
As the realization that Willow's parents were downstairs from them returned, Angel reluctantly lowered Willow back to the ground and moved away from her.
Looking at each other for a minute, Angel took Willow's hand and walked over to the french doors.
Both of them realizing that Angel had to leave, he leaned down to give Willow a parting kiss, gentle but with promises of what to come in the future also there. And then before Willow know it he was gone.
Staring out into the night for a moment, Willow shut and locked the door behind her and pulled her curtains. Walking across the room Willow finally allowed herself to collapse on her bed and let what had just happen slowly seep into her brain.
<Oh god, what just happened here? I can't believe it. Angel and me almost...almost.... And Angel he...he...when rubbed against me I felt his...his...epp! >
At hearing her mother calling out her name, Willow broke out of her thoughts deciding to sort her feelings out later and went about beginning to make herself decent before going downstairs to greet her parents.
End Part 20