DISCLAIMER: I don't own anyone but Grace.
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Buffy stood in the bedroom of Angel's new apartment and waited for him to join her. She was scared and excited at the same time. He was
She glanced around the room, taking in all the sights she could of his new life. By studying all the things he'd acquired, she knew that their chances of getting back together were slim to none. For example, there was the beautiful girl that was fast asleep in his bed.
Buffy studied her, wishing she could wake her up and ask her about Angel. What had she learned about him? What did she love about him? What made her want to stay through all the turmoil? She had more respect for the girl than she could have ever imagined. Buffy always thought she'd hate the vampire's new girlfriend, but it was incredible that she felt nothing but admiration.
This girl had the strength of character that the Slayer never had. And because of it, she made Angel truly happy. Something he could finally be without losing his soul.
"Ready?" He asked, coming out of the bathroom.
Buffy glanced up and nodded. "Yeah. I'm good."
Angel went to the bed and leaned over, whispering to the girl. "Grace, wake up honey."
She rolled over and groaned slightly, then opened her green eyes. They focused on Angel's face immediately and she leaned in for a quick kiss.
"You remember what I said about seeing Buffy?" He asked.
Grace nodded. "Is she here?"
Angel pointed and she rolled over, looking slightly surprised. They she smiled. "Hi."
Buffy had to smile back. "Hi."
Grace turned her eyes back to Angel for a moment. "Have a good time. Wes and I are going shopping for some new furniture and stuff today. I'll call you and let you know what I find."
Angel nodded. "Have a good day." Then he stepped away from the bed and joined Buffy.
As they walked, she couldn't help but feeling a slight pang of jealously. While everything back in Sunnydale was still in turmoil, Angel had finally found a place in life. Then she immediately felt guilty. She couldn't be jealous, he'd taken more than a hundred years to find the happy place he was finally at.
"Everything's changed, yet it's all stayed the same." He said as they stepped into the elevator.
"What do you mean?" She asked.
Angel sighed and closed his eyes. "It's so different. I feel good about who I am and what I do. My heart beats, my breath is needed, I can see myself again." He smirked. "And now that I can, I realize my need to get some color into my wardrobe."
Buffy laughed quietly, then waited for him to continue.
"I have this whole new look on life, but at the same time, I'm just going to do the same things I've always done." He smiled. "Angel Investigations is still running, I still have my family, none of that changed."
The elevator doors opened and they stepped into the lobby, then outside, into the sunlight. Angel squinted against the brightness for a moment, still not quite used to it, then he smiled. "I love this."
"I'm so happy for you." Buffy said. "For everything that's happened. I wish I had stayed more in tune with what was going on here. I didn't even know about Grace."
"It was hard for both of us." He admitted. "I had such a hard time with Riley, I didn't think you would want to know about Grace. But then maybe I shouldn't have tried to keep her from you."
"I don't know what's changed, but something has." She said.
Angel glanced at her. "What do you mean?"
"I never thought I'd be happy for you if you moved on. I always thought I'd be jealous." She smiled and paused. "But I don't. Not even a little. I see how happy she makes you and I know how hard it was for her to stick around through everything. But she did it. And you're both so happy. How could I be jealous when a good friend of mine, is truly happy?"
Angel smiled at her. "You're incredible. I mean, I was crazy when I found out about Riley. I went absolutely nuts. I was so jealous."
Buffy shrugged. "I didn't exactly present him to you in the nicest way though, did I? I was mean about it. How could you like him after that?"
Angel just shook his head and sighed. They walked in silence for a long time, enjoying the warm air and sun and the fact that they could just walk together.
"I never thought I'd be able to do this." Buffy said. "When Cordelia called, I thought she was making a joke. Why would I want to come see you after you became human? It would just tempt me and you and it would complicate things again." She smiled. "But it didn't. I've never felt so good to see you before."
Angel smiled back at her. "I was pretty happy when you came in too." He admitted. "Even though I'm with Grace now, I'll never be able to completely close you out of my life. You're always going to be part of it. Just as I hope I'll always be part of yours."
She nodded. "Of course you will. I can't close my friends out, I'll never be able to do that. We'll come visit some time this summer, all of us will. It'll be great."
"Yeah, I'd like that. I think we all would." He sighed. "This is really nice. Just being able to walk and talk with you." His cell phone shrilled, cutting off his next sentence. Smiling apologetically, Angel flipped it open. "Yeah? Oh hey Cordy." There was a pause. "Sure, I'll be there right away." He paused, looking at Buffy. "Mind if I bring a little back up?" He smiled. "I'll see you soon." He closed the phone and put it away.
"A case?" She asked.
Angel nodded. "Seems there's been a little case of disappearing dogs in a neighbourhood. We're probably looking at a big bad demon, maybe one of the smelly types."
Buffy cracked a smile, then frowned again. "This means our visit is cut short."
He nodded. "Yeah. Unless you feel up to a little demon hunting that is."
She glanced at him. "You know, I don't think demon hunting has ever sounded so good. Are the others meeting us there?"
Angel nodded. "Yeah. They said they'd bring the weapons. Come on Slayer, let's see your stuff."
Buffy smiled at him as they walked back to his apartment and got into his car. What she said was true. Demon hunting was an everyday part of her life, but being back with some of the people she'd fought side by side with before made it seem so much better.
She missed them.
End