SEQUEL TO: The Beginning of the End

AUTHOR: Tisienne Blue

E-MAIL: tisatko@msn.com

DISCLAIMER: I am not Joss... hence, I own no-one...

RATING: PG, I think... maybe PG-13...

PAIRING: A/W; S/W (for now...)

DISTRIBUTION: Charity can have it, as can anyone else I've said yes to for other fic... otherwise, just ask, and I'll say yes...

FEEDBACK: is good... and gets you a dedication...

DEDICATIONS: still for George... also for: Nutmeg, Natty, Vampie, Angel, Ali, and Jen... you rock, my friends...

NOTES: still angsty, and * *= emphasis...

&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*

~1~

He watched them through the large window, staring into the living room of their apartment. His love was sitting on the couch, her lover's arm wrapped lightly around her slender shoulders. They were lit only by the flickering light of the television, and to *his* eyes, they looked far too comfortable. He sighed, leaning against the tree beside him, wishing that *he* were the one in that so cozy room, with the woman who had
once been his.

He watched them speaking softly to each other, groaning aloud in the night when the man, her *other* man, leaned closer to her and kissed her cheek. He moaned, again aloud, as they stood and left the room, the television still going although there was no longer anyone there to see it. It should have been *him* in there, taking the girl to bed... it should have been *him*.

He sighed again before walking slowly around the side of the building, taking up his usual spot near the bedroom window, his eyes closing in despair as he heard the sounds he so *hated*, but couldn't seem to stay away from. One day, he vowed, it would indeed be him in there, making his woman moan and cry beneath him... he just needed to figure out *how*...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

She knew he was out there, watching them... she could *feel* him! He was there almost every night, and a part of her wanted nothing more than to go to him, tell him she was sorry... that she'd been wrong. She still didn't know what had happened that night, almost a year earlier, when he hadn't shown up, but... that little part of her didn't care... it just *wanted* him...

She smiled, almost sincerely, when her lover kissed her cheek and led her to their bedroom. She could feel her true love still outside, still looking in the living room window... even as her body went about finding its own pleasure with the man who loved her, she couldn't help but think about the man she loved.

She knew, deep inside, that he wanted her back... he wouldn't have still been in town if he hadn't, and while that small part of her psyche wanted to let him have her, the rest of her refused... he had hurt her too much... had torn her heart apart when he hadn't shown that night... No, she would stay right where she was, with the one she *knew* would never hurt her fragile sense of self... the one who would never make her
doubt her worthiness... and if she sometimes thought of her love, well... She sighed as her body found its release, vowing to herself that she'd never tell her lover that when they were together, she thought of her love... not him.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

He knew she was thinking of *him*... he *always* knew. He didn't begrudge her her thoughts, but still... He rolled off of her, pulling her tightly to his side... Still, he wished that just *once* she was there with him... *all* of her, body *and* mind.

He knew that they were watched every night, just as he knew that *she* knew. He could sense the eyes on them, and he also knew that the bastard who'd hurt his girl was standing outside their window, listening as he did each night, while *he* made love to *his* woman. He grinned slightly to himself, knowing that it had to hurt, hearing them take so much pleasure in each other, and he hoped that it hurt a lot... enough to
make up for the pain the prick had caused *his* girl. For she *was* his, and he vowed, silently, that he would do whatever it took to protect her from further harm... He smiled more broadly as he finally felt the other man leave. The bastard wanted her back? Well, if he thought that he was going to *get* her, he had another think coming...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

He turned sadly, and walked off into the night, as he always did at this point. He'd been thinking and planning for over a week, and had yet to come up with a plan for getting his girl *back*! If he hadn't betrayed her by not showing up, it might have been easier to regain her trust... but he *had*... He sighed angrily, as he stalked towards the old mansion. He hadn't even been able to *approach* her, what with his 'daylight'
problem, and the fact that she was always with that *asshole* after dark... But he'd find a way... he *would*... and then, he'd be the *only* man in her life... as he *should* be!

~2~

He was finally getting his chance, thanks to the heavily overcast day. He'd been waiting for one just like it, obsessively watching the weather forecasts for weeks. He knew that she would be on campus, even knew which of her classes she'd be in right then... he'd had her schedule memorized since the day after he'd first seen her again, first discovered her relationship with her lover.

He glanced quickly out of the window, making sure that the sun hadn't emerged as yet, and that the clouds were thick enough that it probably wouldn't. His hand reached out, snatching up his coat as he stalked through the door and into the gray day... He would go and find her, pull her from class if he had to... whatever it took, she was going to listen to him... and she *would* be his again... She had to be... after all, he
couldn't live without her.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

She was laughing with her friend in the cafeteria when she first felt it. The sensation was overwhelming. It felt like he was nearby, the man she loved... She shrugged the thought off, knowing that it couldn't possibly be true... it was daytime, after all, and while she'd been able to sense him since before he'd betrayed her, she couldn't be feeling him now... not when he was all the way across town, in the old mansion that he had apparently never gotten around to selling. She ignored the voice in her head that was asking her why she'd even bothered to find out where he was staying if she had no intention of using the information, and laughed again at whatever it was the girl across from her had just said. She was distracted, scattered... She tried to convince herself that her lover was enough... that she didn't miss her beloved, but... Deep down inside, in the place where she hid all her deepest, darkest secrets, she knew... She would never be whole without him...

She sighed, reconciled finally to being a shell of the person she could have been... She could never achieve her true potential without her love to spur her on... and she was just too... afraid... to let him back into her life... and she knew it.

She smiled slightly as she made her excuses and got up to leave, the smile fading swiftly from her face as she turned and walked right into the tall, dark figure that had been approaching her. "What?" she said, distractedly, her eyes slowly sliding upwards, "I'm sor..." Her breath escaped in a hiss as her words died, and she found herself pinned in place by the look in his dark eyes. Her own eyes were wide, she knew, and she suspected that they contained the fearful look of a trapped animal within their depths. And why not? She wondered, since that was exactly how she felt... *trapped*.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Sorry?" he asked, breathlessly, stepping towards her as she stepped back. "I'm not..." he murmured, his arms going slowly around her waist as his eyes held hers. "I'm only sorry," he whispered, lips barely moving, "That I couldn't get to you sooner... that I had to wait three weeks for the sky to be dark enough..." He sighed softly, wanting to say so much more, but... she was there, in his arms... and he couldn't resist her. His lips swept down, pressing firmly and passionately against hers, and he moaned happily when he felt her small, warm hands slip behind his neck. He forgot everything then... the fact that she wasn't his, that she had a lover, even that they were standing in a cafeteria, surrounded by people who were most likely staring... None of that mattered anymore... The only thing that mattered was that they were together, that for the first time in almost a year, she was with *him*... and he wouldn't let her go... not again... not ever again...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

She sighed to herself, her fingers threaded through the hair at the nape of his neck... she had almost forgotten how right he felt... or to be more accurate, she had *tried* to forget, and had almost succeeded. At least that's what she had told herself. She had never thought that it would come to this... that he would find a way to see her, that she would fall immediately into his arms... that her heart would beat so quickly for
the very fact of his presence. His soft lips on hers, his strong arms holding her tightly to him... it was all too much. It had been so long... why had it been so long?

She stiffened slightly against him, as her brain reminded her of what had happened... reminded her that she had chosen another in the aftermath of his abandonment, and that that other loved her, with every fibre of his being... and would never, *could* never hurt her the way the man she was kissing had. She pulled back from his hungry mouth, her eyes shadowed with the pain of remembering. "No." she said flatly, stepping away from the circle of his arms, "I won't do this... I *won't*!" She dragged her eyes away from his suddenly worried ones, and gathered her things from where they'd fallen on the floor. "I won't." she said again, hardening her heart against him as she turned towards the door.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Wait!" he called, running after her and stopping her with one hand on her shoulder. "You still love me. You said so yourself. And I *know* that you *want* me, just as much as *I* want *you*, so how..." He swallowed hard at the look in her eyes when she turned towards him once again. "How can you deny this?" he almost pleaded, staring intently into her eyes, "How can you just... walk away?" He growled a bit when she just shook her head. "Fine, Willow," he said, forcing himself to sound resigned, "But just tell me... what am I supposed to do now? How am I supposed to go on with my life? You're all I think about... all I *see*, and I don't... I don't know how to let go of this emptiness... this *ache* I feel when you're not with me."

She bowed her head, shaking it again. She knew just how he felt, because she felt it too... Neither of them was whole without the other, but... "I don't know, Angel..." she finally said, still refusing to look at him, "But you'd better figure it out..." She turned on her heel and continued towards the door, feeling him following right behind her. "Go home, my love," she added softly as she left the building, "Go home, and find some way to get over it... I don't want to see you again." She started down the steps as the sun finally peeked through the clouds. She didn't feel like going to any more classes that day... she felt like going home.
Unfortunately, the only place that really *felt* like home was off limits to her... she'd never let herself be in his arms again. She sighed once more, sadly, and turned her feet in the direction of the apartment she shared with her lover.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

He watched her go, lurking in the shadowed doorway. She loved him still, and he'd be damned, yet again, if he'd let things end like this... she might *say* that she didn't want to see him, but... he *knew* better. He smiled softly, thinking back on the kiss they had shared. That was his proof... she still loved him, still wanted him. And he still needed her by his side... for eternity. He just had to make her see that they were meant for each other, make her forget about her lover, make her admit to him, and herself, that *he* was the only one for her... just as *she* was, for him... He smirked a bit, and stepped out onto the stairs, as the sun was once again hidden behind the thick grey clouds. She was *his*... she always *had* been... she just didn't know it... *yet*!

End-- Pt 2

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