11.

Cordelia led Angel to Jenny's office, stepping out of the sight of their friends. The brunette wasn't interested in Angel the way Xander and Buffy thought, though. Sure, it had crossed her mind, but after a few minutes of thinking, she figured she was happy with Xander. Angel was the definition of a Greek God, hell yeah, and he was obviously a fantastic basketball player, but he was way too broody and mono-syllabic for her likings. It was just nice to have him as a friend.

"Come on in!" The friendly teacher said from her seat in front of her computer, finishing typing her notes for a class. Angel entered the office silently, looking around for a moment before looking at Miss Calendar, hands in pockets. "Well hello!"

"Er...hi. I'm sorry to disturb you, but I wanted to talk to you...if it's ok." Angel said calmly.

"Sure Angel. What can I do for you?" She smiled kindly. Angel intended her class, and she had noticed that he was a lot smarter with computers than he seemed at first. He was doing...well basically nothing in class. Jenny enjoyed very much annoying her students who didn't make an effort at all, by embarrassing them in front of the whole class with a tricky question about computers, but much to her surprise, Angel had always managed to answer perfectly, making her the embarrassed one. He looked like he enjoyed that a lot, and she loved challenges. Jenny had taken a liking in that mysterious new boy.

Angel sat in front of her and leaned slightly on the desk. "I know I don't work at all during your classes." He started, feeling somehow uncomfortable that he had to be honest and everything with a stranger. And a teacher.

"Really?" She asked sarcastically, grinning openly. That made him less nervous and he answered by a small smile.

"Yeah, but it's just 'cause it's what I do."

"Not working at school?"

"Exactly. It's a rule, and don't get me wrong, I'm not gonna bail on it. It suits me." He stated, shrugging.

"Oh, well what can I possibly do for you if you insist on not working?"

"I'm a challenge and you love it." He explained simply, making her smile. "And the not working part, it's just at school. Which leads me to my point here. I'm sure you read my file. Snyder made it clear to me that the whole faculty knew that I was...what were his words? Oh yeah, a post-pubescent underachiever."

"He's so nice." Jenny sighed, amused.

"Anyway, I kinda thought about going to you for help, 'cause you're the only teacher who doesn't look at me with pity drooling all over your face."

"I love your way to admit that you like me." She stated, curious about what he was about to ask her and pleased that he trusted her enough to come.

"I'm 18 now, so I'm allowed to live on my own, even though I'm doomed to have the social services on my back for years. But I'm broke. Last year...the persons who were in charge of me were not so bad and they used to give me money for dates, lunch and stuff. But now...the Evans are not the ones to share."

"Why do you wanna live on your own?" She questioned him, getting serious seeing it was an obviously important matter.

Angel remained silent for a moment, trying to decide if it was not stupid to share too much with her. He had been thinking a lot about Miss Calendar lately, and it disturbed him that he felt like he could share everything with her. She was beautiful, kind, generous...and he liked that a lot, but he couldn't help feeling it was wrong to feel this way. And it was hard for him to admit that he didn't appreciate those feelings he had towards Jenny because he already felt this way about another woman. Eventually he figured that the fact that she could be able to help him was worth the try. "I don't want to live with anyone but with my parents or my sister. Kristin is living with her dream family and I don't wanna intrude. So alone it is. Not that I complain, it's what I want, but I need money to get that apartment."

"Okay, I understand, but how could I help you?"

"Er...I was thinking you could...maybe need a little help...with anything. I don't know much in Sunnydale yet, so you're the only person I could think of. Well, not the only, but the other job I got is paying enough for the rent of the apartment only, and I need stuff...food is kinda important. I've heard of the virus that has contaminated the computers of the school and that is starting to destroy important files."

"Yes, it is an amazingly tough one. I've been working for weeks on a program to get rid of it before it starts destroying every file the administration keeps on students, but I just can't seem to find it." Jenny told him, sighing.

"So you could use a little help. Right?" He asked, hoping she'd say yes. She chuckled slightly at his suggestion. She did believe he was better with computers than he showed, but she doubted he could succeed in something she didn't.

"Look, I appreciate Angel, but it is one of the most complicated virus I've seen. I'll talk to other teachers to see if they need help with something, if you want."

"Thanks, but no. I don't wanna be the butt-monkey of some Snyder-wannabe. What do you say...if I can get rid of that virus and save every single file you already lost...would you pay me? 'Cause I've already started my job at the garage yesterday, I just need money to pay for food so that I can move in as soon as possible."

"Wow. You certainly don't like to wait." She remarked, impressed.

"If you had to live with Hannibal Lector's relatives, you would too." He smirked.

"Okay, I'll leave you one chance. Meet me at the computer lab after lunch, and we'll see how good you are, champ." She said, standing up to go to her class.

"Thanks, I really appreciate."

*****

Later that day, Buffy was walking to the computer lab, where Giles had sent her to give Jenny some old musty book his girlfriend wanted to borrow. She entered the room and spotted Jenny at her desk, talking to some guy she had classes with.

"Hi." She made herself known with a little smile.

"Oh, hello Buffy." Jenny replied. She handed the guy a file, thanked him and he was gone. That's when Buffy realized there was someone else in the room, sitting with his back at her on a desk at the other side of the class. He had his feet crossed on the table, the keypad on his lap and was typing amazingly quickly for her opinion. Well, she never remembered where all the letters were, so whenever she saw someone actually typing without having a look at the keypad, she was amazed. Although, at this moment, she was more staring at Angel's hands, his legs, the back of his head, the way his black shirt hung to his muscles on his back and arms...

"He's yummy, isn't he?" Jenny whispered in Buffy's ear. The young slayer had not heard Jenny when she called at her, so the teacher had followed her gaze, to Angel.

"What?" Buffy jumped in surprise.

"Angel. What a hottie, he's so sexy." She told her student and friend, with a bright teasing smile.

"Miss Calendar, are you forgetting you are involved with a certain British librarian?" Buffy answered playfully.

"I was just reading your mind. Don't tell me you're not thinking about going over him, sit on his muscled thighs, lick his bottom lip and pinch his firm butt."

"Oh my god! Jenny, how can you say that!" Buffy retorted, her eyes wide open.

"Come on, just looking at the way you were staring at him I could tell you've got a huge crush on the boy. So spill. Naughty thoughts about his computer skills?"

"Hell yeah." Buffy admitted, sighing deeply. "Anyway, here's the book you wanted to borrow from Giles."

"Oh thanks. And he asked me to let him try to get rid of the virus on the school computers." Jenny answered as she was flipping through the book.

"Excuse me?"

"Angel. I'm sure you were wondering what he was doing here." Jenny grinned.

"Hey Buffy." The blonde heard the sweet honey voice of Angel and turned around to look at him.

"Hi."

"Are you going home?" Angel asked her.

"Er...yeah. In a few minutes."

"Would you mind if I walked you home? I need to go talk to the Parkers so I figured I could...you know...go with you." He asked, mentally crossing his fingers.

"Sure. I'd like that." Buffy answered, a broad smile on her face. With a smile on his own, Angel turned back to the computer. About five minutes later, Jenny and Buffy were interrupted in their conversation by noise coming from Angel's computer. They went over to see that Angel was grinning, his arms crossed over his chest. They looked at the screen, where files were flying all around, then it stopped and the computer screen turned normal again.

"Oh my god!" Jenny exclaimed, taking Angel's seat and going through a few files to check if Angel had actually succeeded. "I can't believe it! You did it! You even saved the files we had lost! How did you do that?"

"Well, it was not that complicated. Anyone could have done it" Angel teased with a half smile.

"You are amazing! How did you know how to..." She trailed of, unable to finish her sentence from the surprise.

"Like you said. I'm amazing." Angel joked, grinning as he saw Buffy smiling at him. "So I did it, right? You said you agreed that if I could get rid of the virus you would...you know."

"Oh, yeah. Give me a second." Jenny left the two of them to get her purse.

"So...you're like a computer genius or something?" Buffy asked Angel.

"Or something."

"Then how did you know what to do?" She insisted. Much to her surprise, Angel leaned over her with a smirk.

"I created that virus with a bunch of friends last year. But it's a secret, ok?" He admitted in a whisper against her ear, which made her shiver from the feel of his breath on her skin.

"Did you put it in the computer to get money from stopping it?" She asked before she could stop herself.

"No, I didn't. I'm over my hacker phase." He answered, staring at her lips with lusty thoughts about them in his mind. Before they could do anything else, Jenny came back and handed Angel his money.

*****

"I just don't get it Kristin!" Willow told the brunette over the phone that evening. "Buffy called this afternoon and she told me that Angel had asked her to walk home with her. They even hold hands again and everything!"

"Did he kiss her before he left?" Kristin asked her partner in matchmaking.

"No, but she doesn't know if he was about to do it, 'cause she heard her mom move around in the house and she freaked that Joyce would see them."

"Damn, can you say worst timing?"

"Well, as I was saying, I don't understand those two. They're both crazy about each other but they don't act on it! Why don't they go on a date or just kiss for goodness' sake?!"

"I guess they're afraid the other will brush them off. Well, at least I know Angel is. He's been through hell the last few months 'cause of a girl, and he's trouble moving on. I'm not sure he would handle it very well if Buffy rejected him."

"She's not gonna! He's all she can think about!" Willow almost shouted in frustration. Her best friend was really great, but sometimes she could be so stubborn.

"I know that."

"Did you tell him to come over this week-end?"

"Well, I asked him what he would be doing, and he said he would put away his stuff in his new apartment. He's moving in on Friday evening. So it's a no."

"Oh." Willow was a little disappointed. She had hoped that if they saw each other more...

"Anyway, all that deal with Cordelia, it was nothing. Snyder made Angel join the basketball team, and Cordelia helped him a little since she's a cheerleader. I asked him and he said they were just friends."

"Yeah, I know. They talked about it this afternoon and Buffy said he had told her he thought that Cordelia was nice but she wasn't his type."

"His type is the blondes."

"Which works out pretty well for us, since Buffy is blonde." Willow pointed out.

*********

12.

"Aura! Aura, you have to come see him!" Harmony was completely excited. She ran into Willow as she made her way toward her friend but ignored it.

"What are you talking about Harmony?" Aura exclaimed, raising an eyebrow.

"You know Angel, right?" The moment his name came out of her mouth, five of her friends were listening too, plus Buffy and Willow, who were standing nearby.

"Angel? Jeez, I'm not sure. Are you talking about the hunk that scored from the opposite side of the court, wearing only a t-shirt which made his abs look absolutely irresistible? No, I don't know him." Aura replied sarcastically "What about Angel?"

"I saw him, just a minute ago. He's working at the garage."

"Wow, that's absolutely fabulous Harmony." An other girl said, looking bored.

"Oh, but I didn't tell you the best part." Harmony grinned.

"What is it?"

"Well...he's working...on a Mercedes Benz, covered in grease, in leather pants, and...shirtless! He's got a tattoo on the right shoulder!” Harmony almost shouted, making every other girl gasp, both from her voice and from the news.

"Let's go see the hottie!" Aura suggested. They all followed Harmony away from school.

"So Buffy...what do you say, you and me go meet Angel at the garage? 'Cause you'll get to see him shirtless, and I'll get to see Harmony and the Harmonettes madly jealous." Willow asked Buffy a moment later.

"Why would they be jealous?" The slayer replied, already knowing the answer. But she loved it so much to hear it...

"Because Angel's crazy about you and every single time you guys talk you're all" She started mimicking them "Buffy, you're so great! Can I drive you home with my hot sport bike? I would love to, and I hope you'll kiss me goodbye this time Angel. Oh Buffy, I want it so much, but your mom always come at the wrong time! Really, you want me Angel? Oh yeah, totally, I wish I could grab you and kiss you and make love to you right in the middle of the class Buffy." Both girls laughed as they followed the path Harmony and the other girls took.

*****

"Hi Angel!" Harmony chirped when they reached the place she was talking about. Angel was indeed very much shirtless, he was working on the engine of a white convertible. He frowned when he saw the girls (all 7 of them) around him, smiling brightly at him or staring at his bare chest.

*Fuck* "Er...hi. Do you need...something?" He asked them, wishing they weren't there just for him.

"Can we ask you a few questions?" Harmony continued, moving very much next to him much to his annoyance.

*Fuck, fuck* "What about?" He tried to be polite, he really tried.

"Oh, you know...Cars, bikes...your bike...you."

*Fuck, fuck, fuck* "Why?" He returned his attention on the engine after he picked a screw-driver the right size.

"Because you are fairly new in Sunnydale, and we noticed you didn't make any friends."

"I made friends." He disagreed, still not tearing his gaze from his work.

"Really? You mean cool people and not those losers?"

"What losers?"

"Buffy Summers, Xander Harris, Willow Rosenberg. Well, at least you know Cordelia. She might be dating the moron, but she still has a fashion sense."

"They're not losers." He simply replied.

"Hey Harm, he does hang a little with Hogan and Percy now that he's in the team. He had lunch with them today." Aura told Harmony.

*What are they? Spies?* He thought, wishing they would just leave him alone.

"That's great. But Angel, you need to hang a little more with us. Maybe we could go on a date sometime, I'd introduce you to the cool persons at school." Harmony replied, moving even closer next to Angel. At that, he couldn't help but glare at her.

*Is this the same girl I turned down weeks ago? Damn, I thought I had been rude on that one, why is she still trying?*

Suddenly, Harmony and Aura, who had been standing next to him, were pushed away. Angel looked up and grinned when he saw Buffy and her best friend.

"Hey sweetheart!" Buffy greeted, wrapping her arms around his neck and giving him a peck on the cheek...actually more on the corner of his lips. But it was enough to make the others believe she had kissed him full on the lips. She beamed when he also wrapped his arms around her waist, keeping her close to his body.

"Hi Buffy." They exchanged an amused smile at their game, there was no need to look at the girls to understand they were really mad.

"Could you NOT put your hands on my butt Angel? I don't want any grease or oil stain on my pants. It was already hard enough to clean all that stuff you put on my face last Sunday." Buffy warned him playfully.

"Aaaww, I'm sorry about that baby. I just can't help touching you." He apologized, caressing her nose with his own. When they started staring into each other's eyes, Willow figured it was the good time to enjoy herself, too.

"Hey Harmony. What are you doing here? You car is broken or something?" She exclaimed, and Buffy and Angel looked at Harmony too.

"Er...no...I just meant to say hi to Angel. He seemed lonely." She answered nervously, still shocked.

"That's so sweet of you Harmony!" Buffy replied with a big smile, the one that said "I'm in that guy's arms and you're not." She started playing with Angel's hair behind his head with one hand, as her other hand traveled downstairs and rested on his butt, making sure Harmony and the others saw her. Angel was stunned by her move, but he was far too glad she was in his arms and had her small hand on his ass to say anything.

"Yeah, well I'm like that. Er...so...you guys are dating?" She asked, frowning. To illustrate her question, Angel moved his head down towards Buffy's neck and shoulder, and Buffy figured he would stay here and make everyone think he was kissing her. However, much to her surprise and her delight, he didn't pretend to do it. He did.

*Oh god! Oh god he's kissing my neck! He's kissing my neck! Wait...no, he's not kissing anymore...he's licking! Oh shit, that feels so good!* When Angel moved his lips to the sensitive spot behind her ear, she couldn't help the moaning that came out of her mouth, and she felt Angel smile against her skin.

"What do you think Harm?" Willow answered her question with a huge grin. Harmony made a weird noise of disgust hearing Buffy moaning and stormed away, followed by her friends. Willow waited for an other minute, trying to control her urge to do a little victory dance. "Er...guys? You can stop the PDA now, they're gone."

"Oh...y-y-yeah...right." Buffy stuttered, turning red from what happened. They might have been a little carried away with the fake-not-so-fake kissing.

"Thank you so much for that guys. You saved my life." Angel told them with a half smile that would have sent Buffy over the edge if she hadn't already passed the damn edge when she touched his bare chest.

"Oh, don't get false ideas. I did it mostly to see Harmony and her group's reaction and Buffy...well, she seemed to have enjoyed herself." Willow replied, grinning like an idiot and receiving a glare from Buffy.

"Alright, I'm off, guys. See ya soon." She ran away, leaving Buffy and Angel alone. Very, very much alone.

"So...how about I show you how an engine work as you asked me last Sunday, huh?" Suggested Angel as he returned his attention on his work.

"Sure." She replied, moving closer to him to get a better view. *No staring Summers, ok? Don't stare at his chest. His hands. His abs. His back. His tattoo. His lips. His butt. Holy shit his butt looks so good with leather. Although I bet it looks even better in boxers...or without the boxers...No! Bad, bad, bad Buffy!*

"Come here. You'll do it and I'll help ya." He grabbed her gently by the hip with one hand and moved her at his former place, as he took a step back so that he was standing right behind her. He softly pressed himself against her so that he could have a look over her shoulder and slipped his arms around her waist so that he could control her gestures with his hands. Then he started explaining briefly what everything was, showing her what tools were used and what were their names. After a few minutes, he gave her the screw-driver he had been working with before she arrived and told her what to do with it, guiding her movements with his hands.

"You're doing great." He whispered in her ear, making her shiver from the extreme closeness of his body and his face against her ear.

"Thanks...but it's easy with you doing everything. You're just using my fingers to keep from getting grease on yours." She teased him.

"You complaining?" He asked in a mock-hurt tone as he was slowly loosening his grasp on her body.

"Nope, no complaining here!" She exclaimed, pressing her body back against his and making him smile.

"I'm moving in my new apartment next Thursday, you know?" He informed her as they resumed their work.

"Oh, that's too bad, you won't get to catch naked blond girls in your bed anymore." She teased him, referring to his misadventure with Joey.

"You're sure about that?" He replied in a velvet voice that made her insides melt. He would have preferred to say *You're wrong, 'cause YOU'll be naked in my bed*, but somehow he doubted she would have liked it. "Anyway, you're doing something on Friday night?"

"I don't know...why?" She asked, full of hope.

"I was thinking...that maybe you could come over...to help me move in. I've got plenty of boxes full of my stuff at the Evans, and you could...help me unpack them at my apartment. I'll carry the heavy stuff as a manly guy and you'll tell me where to put it. I suck at decorating, so I could do with a little help from a girl. And then we could watch a movie on TV, or talk or...whatever."

"Why don't you ask your sister if you need help decorating?" After she asked, she felt her breath caught in her throat as he rested his chin on her shoulder and gently caressed her hands and forearms.

"Because I want to do it with you." He simply answered, both forgetting about the dark leaking engine of the white convertible. Buffy turned around in his arms, putting her hands on his sides. They stared in each other's eyes for a long time, and when they finally closed their eyes and let their lips brush...

"Buffy!" A voice a little too familiar to Buffy was heard from across the street. Buffy and Angel both sighed in frustration and opened their eyes.

"Giles. How NICE to see you.” Buffy stressed sarcastically on the 'nice' as she distangled herself from Angel.

"Buffy, Willow told me you would be there. I was waiting for you." He informed her softly. It wasn't the first time she had forgotten about training, he was getting used to the situation.

"Er...why?"

"The library. Remember? Work? Duty?" He tried to make her remember.

"Oh! Right! God, I totally forgot about that! Sorry. Bad Buffy. It won't happen again. See, I'm sorry." She hit herself softly on the head, to illustrate her point.

"You work at the library?" Angel asked, surprised.

"Er...well, homework. Mom's orders, she wants to be sure that I work." Buffy lied. She felt guilty about it, but she hadn't any choice.

Angel made a face. "That's tough. I'm sorry for ya."

"Thanks." She smiled sweetly at him. That's when Giles cleared his throat to remember her that he was there. "Oh, sorry. Giles, this is Angel. He arrived in Sunnydale a few weeks ago. Angel, this is Rupert Giles, the school librarian and the gang's grown-up friend." She introduced them. "Not in a weird way." She added with a frown.

"Nice to meet you Mr. Giles." Angel said, shaking his hand. *Jeez, I'm getting polite with the school staff. What's wrong with me?*

"Likewise. Hum...Buffy? Can we go now?" The watcher asked, no pleaded, his slayer.

"Ok" She agreed with a sigh. She turned to Angel. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow." She said as she took a step toward him. He took her hands silently, then gave her his trademark half smile.

"You never answered me about Friday night. Will you be there?"

Buffy thought about it for a second. *Oh no, I've got to help mom at the gallery and then patrol. Oh please no, I can't miss it.* "I want to. So much."

"I'm sensing a but here. I don't like buts. Please don't say but." He almost whined, frowning. He wanted so badly to be just with her for an evening. Just the two of them with no one around so they could finally kiss. And do other stuff.

"Er...however?" She tried, smiling slightly.

"Nah, that's a fancy but." He disagreed her, shaking his head.

"Look, Angel, I swear I want to spend Friday night helping you move, but I gotta ask before I say yes."

"Ask who? Your mom? Come on, it's Friday night, it's not like you've got work to do." Buffy knew Giles was listening to their conversation, so she couldn't say she was free. She wasn't. Her only hope was to convince both her watcher and her mom to let her go. And she suspected that the British guy would be a piece of cake compared to her mother. And that says something. How was she supposed to convince her mother to let her spend the evening alone with the guy she had asked her not to be friend with?

"I'll do all I can. I promise." She told him with a sad smile. He nodded, looking really disappointed. *God, he looks so crushed! I'm a bad bad person. No, my watcher and mother from hell are bad! I'm innocent. It's not my fault if...Oh god he's brooding all over again because of me! Kill me now!*

"Ok. Bye."

"Bye." They looked into each other's eyes for a few seconds, before Buffy let his hands go and left with Giles.

*****

"Buffy, I" Giles started as they reached the library.

"Don't." She told him firmly.

"I just"

"Don't you dare pull out all that crap about me dating being wrong, or you'll have broken bones by the end of training." She warned her watcher, trying to control her frustrations and anger.

"Listen to me for a second. I'm not going to tell you how wrong you dating is, because you already know that. And I trust you with your decisions. Well...most of your decisions. I only want you to be careful with boys. If you are in a serious relationship with a boy...this Angel person for instance, you're going to feel guilty about lying to him. But even if you want to tell him, he certainly won't want to learn the truth."

"I know. You're right." She nodded sadly. Then suddenly she looked up at him and smiled innocently. "Hey, are you really sure I gotta patrol on Friday night?" Giles rolled his eyes. She was way too stubborn for him.

"Buffy, you're already going to miss patrol on Saturday because of that sleep-over with your friends." He reminded her of his agreement to give her the week-end off.

"Please? Please, please, please, please? I like him soooooo much Giles, he's so sweet and caring and holy god have you seen his body?" Giles looked at her strangely, so she tried to cover what she said. "Which I mean was that...he is strong. He's not weak, so it's good if there's trouble. But there won't be trouble, he won't be in danger, because we'll be at his apartment. Giles, I'm just going to help him move in. Please? I'll double my patrols the next week. Please, please? Giles? My dear watcher?" She pleaded with puppy eyes which she knew got to him.

"Fine. You are free on Friday. But you know evil is always lurking in a corner, you have to be alert."

"Yeah, I know. Thank you so much, I love you!" She exclaimed, smiling brightly. *Now there's only my mom left.* The smile vanished instantly from her face.

*********

13.

"Mom! Hi! How are you? You must be exhausted! Can I get you something? Tea? Coffee? Anything?" Buffy exclaimed with a bright smile when her mother came back from work on Thursday evening. *So, I'm only being nice to get what I want...who said it was a crime?* Joyce had been in a really bad mood the day before, so Buffy had judged better not to ask her if she could go out all week-end. Tonight was her last hope. If she was very lucky, she would be in Angel's apartment with Angel, kissing Angel, touching Angel, the next evening...

"Er...I'm fine...scared by my daughter but...fine." Replied Joyce as she took of her coat.

"Can't a daughter take care of her dear mother from time to time?" Buffy asked innocently.

Joyce raised an eyebrow at her. "Sure..." She frowned when she remarked the abnormally innocent grin on her daughter's face. "What did you do? What do you want?"

"Nothin" The slayer quickly looked away. *I am not a good liar. That's bad. Bad!!*

"Buffy?" Joyce raised slightly her voice.

"Ok...I'll just ask. Er...you remember the new girl?" *Fake-Emily to the rescue!* "She's having a little party at her house next Friday. Not a big huge party...more like a sleep-over thing with all my friends. They can all go, and I really want to go too, but I promised I would help you at the gallery and I"

"Sweetie, stop it, you're babbling." Joyce interrupted her with an amused smile. "It's ok, you can go."

"I do?" Buffy asked incredulously.

"Yes. It's ok, I can take care of the gallery, I don't see why you couldn't go."

Buffy sighed in relief and hugged her mother. "Thank you so much! I love you!"

"I love you too honey. So, what's going to happen on Friday?" Joyce asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You're staying over at Emily's, you're coming back on Saturday and then you go to Kristin's?"

"Oh...er...Yeah, I'll do that." *Now I'm stuck. Stupid Emily Bitch, she got me into troubles again! What am I gonna tell Angel? Oh, hey, can I stay the night? 'Cause I really don't wanna seem like a slut, but my mom thinks I'm spending the night with an imaginary friend because she hates you so I had to lie. Maybe I could stay at Willow's after...*

*****

The following morning, Buffy was totally excited. Willow had been well-informed of everything that had happened, both by Buffy and Kristin, and she had of course agreed to let Buffy sleep at her place that night. She wanted to hear the whole story as soon as possible.

"Guys! Angel's coming, go away!" Buffy ordered when she saw her soon-to-be-boyfriend walking in the school building.

"Why are we leaving? He's not that horrible, we can stand him, right?" Xander muttered as he was dragged away by Willow, followed by Oz and Cordelia.

"Hi Angel!" Buffy chirped, her lips twisting in a huge grin.

"Hey. How're you doing?" He replied, his usual neutral tone failing to hide his happiness when he saw her because of the big smile on his face.

"Well, I'm good. You?"

"Fine."

"Good. That's good. Er..." She tried to remember what she had planned to tell him, but the minute she laid her eyes on him her mind went blank. "Your...offer for tonight still holds...right?"

"Sure." He nodded.

"I'm free." She informed him.

"Really?" He was suddenly filled with hope.

"Yeah, when do you want me to come over?"

"Er...around 8-30, is it ok?" That way he'd be able to make a quick hunt before she arrived.

"It's perfect." *Good, I'll be able to patrol a little before, Giles'll be glad.*

"I'll pick you up at your place?" He suggested, all the while trying to hide a victory grin. *Buffy. Me. Tonight. Alone. How perfect is that?*

"No!" She retorted a little too quickly, which startled him. "Sorry. I meant, it's not a good idea...'cause my mom is gonna be there, and she's gonna want to talk to you, give you the third degree, and then she's gonna force you to stay for dinner and we'll never gonna go to your apartment." She explained, talking fast. He gave of one of his half-smiles.

"Your mother doesn't know you're spending the evening with me, does she?"

She smiled guiltily "Not likely."

"Wanna meet at the Bronze?"

"I can't wait."

*****

"Buffy! Pay attention!" The slayer looked up to see her watcher raising an eyebrow at her. She leaned over Willow and Xander, who were sitting next to her in the library.

"Help, what were we talking about?" She whispered making a face.

"The big ugly vampires Cordelia ran into at the Mall." Willow informed her.

"Oh...right. I knew that." She smiled innocently at her watcher, who merely shook his head and rolled his eyes. He wouldn't get anything out of his slayer today.

"Their names are the Gortch brothers. You're gonna have to kill them." Jenny repeated.

"I can do that. Do we know where they live?" Buffy asked, forgetting about her Angel-related day dream and changing into slayer gal mode.

"Willy said they moved in a crypt in Restfield cemetery. The good thing is that they're not two of the intellectual vampires...like vampires who actually think. But they have got muscles, you need to be careful with them Buffy." Her watcher warned her.

"I'll check the cemetery tonight before I go the Bronze." Buffy told them before she left the library with Willow and Oz.

*****

"What should I wear?" Buffy asked her best friends at the end of the afternoon, as the three of them were standing in front of her closet in her bedroom.

"What do you expect from tonight?" Cordelia demanded.

"Er...well...kissing I hope. I'm sure. Lots of kissing." She sighed happily. "I just want to spend a good time with him, help him like he asked, get to know him better. And lots, lots of kissing."

"Are you sure it's what he wants, too?"

"Totally!" Willow chirped in. "Come on, you saw how they couldn't keep their eyes off the other the whole week."

"But what does he expect of tonight?" Cordelia insisted.

"The same thing I guess." Buffy answered hesitantly.

"No seduction needed?"

"N-No...I don't think so. Well...we flirt a lot, but we don't actually hit on the other." Buffy explained.

"Ok, so we forget about that." Cordelia stated as she dropped on the floor a tiny leather skirt that would barely reach the middle of Buffy's thighs.

"You know Buffy, I don't think Angel expects you to dress up. It would be better if you dressed like every day." Willow advised.

"She's right. And also, I think you shouldn't be wearing any clothes that would give him easy access to your body." Cordelia added.

"What do you mean?" Buffy frowned.

"Just that he's a year older, he's been living in the streets for years, and he's a total hottie. I'll bet you anything that he hasn't been a virgin for a long time."

"Buff, relax! He's not even taking you out to dinner, or to a club, or anything. He asked you to help him move in, just to spend time with you alone. Wear something casual." Willow told her best friend with a smile.

With Willow and Cordy's help, she picked a blue and white tank top with a pair of tight jeans that shown her belly button. She let her hair hang around her face, applied little make-up and put on black heeled shoes that didn't cover the tip of her toes. At 6, Cordy and Willow left, agreeing to meet Buffy at the Bronze later, and at 7-30, just when the sun disappeared, Buffy went for patrol.

*********

14.

Ever since the Scooby gang found out that there was a new player in Sunnydale, Buffy had tried to be extra alert during patrol (which was hard because she couldn't get her mind off Angel). She was curious to meet him, see if he had a second identity like herself and tried to lead a normal life, or if he had given up trying. She had guessed he was a guy, 'cause her sister slayer Kendra was alive and kicking. Tonight though, she was determined to find those two vampire morons, kill them quickly without getting dirt on her outfit, then go to the Bronze, meet Angel, go to his apartment and ravish him until they were both unable to move. *Jeez Summers! Stop having dirty thoughts about the guy, it'll only make the whole thing more awkward.* She shook her head and sat on a headstone, concentrating. Giles had spent the last month trying to teach her how to feel vampires around her without needing to see them. She thought she was actually getting good at that, but then she felt it once at school when Angel entered the class and approached her, so she had figured she was imagining things.

It didn't take much waiting before the two vampires arrived. As soon as she saw them walking in her direction, oblivious that the hot little blonde here was the vampire slayer, Buffy jumped off the headstone and grabbed discreetly her stake.

*They better not ruin my outfit!*

At the same time, on the other side of the crypt Buffy was standing next to, Angel saw a couple of vampires walking towards him.

*Oh, it's my lucky day. Cowboys!* Indeed, the two vampires were wearing hats, jackets and shoes like the ones in westerns movies. *Wild West lunatics, cool!* The young warrior smirked at the thought. Diversity is always fun.

"You see that Tector?" The first vampire stopped his brother when he spotted the two humans...or at least what looked like to humans. Who was he to know that on both sides of the crypt stood a human vampire slayer and a not so completely human warriors for the Powers That Be, who were both oblivious of the other's presence?

"Meals." Growled his brother with a dumb grin.

"Yeah. Two of 'em! One for each. Which one do you take bro?"

"The girl!"

"Nah, I take the girl!" the first replied, eyeing her outfit from the long distance.

"Then why do you ask if you already know which one you want?" Tector asked with his thick Texan accent.

"Stop asking stupid questions. Go eat, Tector." Lyle commended as he made his way to the girl. The other vampire nodded and took the other path, slipping into game face as he approached the young man.

"Where the hell is your pal going? I had two western freaks! Why did he left?" Angel grumbled, disappointed.

"You're going to die tonight, I'm hungry!" The vampire answered with a growl.

"Don't you guys ever find anything else to say? It's getting annoying." Angel sighed. A second later the vampire had attacked and they were fighting.

*****

"Hey sweetheart! How would you feel about a big hug?" Lyle greeted the slayer, who rolled her eyes.

"Jeez, let's get on the fight already, I've got a date tonight, I don't have time for shit chat!"

"A date with death you shall get" The vampire replied with a stupid laugh.

"You're a pathetic vamp, you know that right?" Buffy told him with a pitiful smile. "I've met lot's of vamps...but that line was truly lame."

"I've heard the slayer's blood is the sweetest. I can't wait to taste it." The vampire guessed as he licked his lips.

"Come on big guy, show the lil' slayer what you've got." She told him, as she showed him her stake.

*****

Angel punched the vampire in the face, making him stumble backwards. As he regained his balance, Tector tried to punch Angel in the face, but the vampire hunter dodged and kicked the demon in the back of his legs, then wielded a powerful roundhouse to his chest just as the vampire was in mid-air from the previous kick, which threw the demon 5 meters away on his ass.

"Aww, that's all you've got cowboy?" Angel taunted him as he walked towards the vampire, who was quickly back on his feet and running in the fight.

In the meanwhile, Lyle and Buffy were fighting fiercely. Lyle had more technique than his brother, and the fight with the slayer was getting more and more interesting. Buffy took a swing at the vampire who ducked it and kicked her hard in the back to the ground. He pounced down on her, moving in for the kill, laughing, but Buffy quickly kicked her legs up and rebounded, stake in hand. She threw a punch to his face and caught his arm, forced him down with all her strength with one hand. She kicked him in the face again, spilling blood, then staked the vampire quickly. Before he realized what had happened, he was dust.

*Shit I'm gonna be late!*

After a few more minutes of punching and kicking from both parts, Angel grabbed the vampire by the throat and threw him on the wall of the crypt. He then plunged his stake deep in the vampire's heart, piercing his heart.

"Night man. Nice fight." As he was wiping dust off his clothes, Angel sensed someone else around him. *a human. Definitely a human...but there's something else* He looked around and, seeing no one, was about to go round the crypt to check, but he realized how late it was. *Shit I'm gonna be late!* Without bothering checking if there was indeed someone else around, Angel took off to get his bike, which was parked in front of the cemetery.

*****

Angel cursed when he arrived in front of the Bronze. *Fuck, 35 minutes late. Fucking vampire. Good for him he's already dead.* He quickly spotted Willow and Cordelia, who were talking with Xander, in a corner of the club. Oz was playing on stage with the Dingoes, and a lot of people were dancing.

"Hi" Angel murmured as he reached them. He was still a little uneasy around them. He wasn't used to have normal friends and he didn't really know how to act. He was used to hang with people who knew his secret, it had been a while since he had to be careful not to say anything.

"Oh, hey Angel!" Willow greeted him with a big smile, and Cordelia did the same. Angel didn't bother look at Xander to see if he reacted to his arrival, he couldn't care less of what that boy thought of him.

"Is Buffy here?" He asked as he looked around the club and the dance floor. He slightly smiled when he saw his sister laughing and dancing with a blonde guy.

"Er...no, she's not here." Cordelia answered from her spot on her boyfriend's lap.

Angel frowned. "I'm more than a half hour late."

"Yeah...but she had...stuff to do before coming here. It's no big deal, she'll be here soon." Willow covered for her friend.

The dark haired boy nodded slightly nervously. As much as she was excited about their first date, he couldn't help being anxious. Seeing his uneasiness, Willow moved from her seat on the armchair and sat on the couch next to Cordy and Xander.

"Come on, sit and wait with us." She told him kindly. He looked at her with surprise and sat hesitantly, making the red-head wonder about his behavior and his life. Kristin had been pretty vague when she had told her about her brother, obviously not feeling at ease with the subject of his life.

"So, what have you planned for the evening?" Willow asked, trying to make conversation.

He shrugged. "I don't know."

"Ok..." *Jeez, he's not the easiest guy to talk to!* "Oh, here she is!" Willow exclaimed when she saw her best friend entering the club.

"Hey guys!" She greeted her friends, then turned towards Angel. "I'm so sorry, I'm really late, I was just very busy with that...thing I had to do...sorry. I hope you didn't wait for too long."

"It's fine, don't worry. I arrived 2 minutes ago. Late too." He smiled at her as he tore his eyes away from her body.

"Oh. Good." She smiled brightly at him, and for a minute they were the only persons in the world.

"Ok...er...we can...go. If you're ready." Angel murmured eventually.

"Yeah, I'm good to go." She nodded and he stood up. As Angel was saying goodbye to his sister, Buffy did the same to her friends, and a minute later they were out of the Bronze.

"Do you live far from here?" Buffy asked as they started walking away.

"Not too much. We're gonna drive though." He led her to his bike, which was parked across the street. "Sorry I don't have a helmet. I used to have one but...it kinda broke when I hit a truck a few months ago" He saw her eyes widening, and chuckled. "Don't worry, I'm a good driver. It was an accident, I was chasing someone...in the streets of LA...not my fault. You're safe with me."

"Ok, I trust you. But if you see a truck, you stop." She warned her, pouting slightly. At the sight of her bottom lip, Angel had to fight the urge to lick it and take it in his mouth. He smiled at her and climbed on the bike, and waited for her to climb behind him. She sat close to him, more because she was afraid to fall than because she wanted to touch him. Although she enjoyed it fully.

"You ready?"

"Er...yeah." She encircled his waist and pressed herself against his back. He could feel her breath on his neck, and he had to close his eyes and take a deep breath to help him focus on the road instead of the little blonde behind him. After a couple of minutes of driving, they stopped at a red light, and Angel took the occasion to talk a little.

"Are you hungry? I got a pizza at home, but we can get something else if you want." Angel told her.

"Pizza sounds good." She spoke in his ear and giggled when she felt him shiver. Without pausing to think if it was a good idea or not, she slipped her fingers under his shirt and caressed softly his stomach with the tip of her fingers, and rested her head on his back. He turned his head a little so that he'd be able to see in her eyes and gave her his trade-mark half smile.

"If you keep that up, we'll never get home." He warned her half-jokingly and resumed driving, biting his lips to keep a clear mind when she kissed him softly behind his ear.

Five minutes later, Angel stopped in front of a big building that was located in the bad part of town. The only light around came from the moon, which shone brightly in the heavy darkness of night.

"Come on baby, we're here." Angel told her with a smile as he climbed off the bike.

"Delancey Street's not the most joyful street in town." Buffy commented as she took a look around her. The building was located in front of the entry of the Delancey cemetery and surrounded by other buildings as scary as this one, most of them being disaffected warehouses and factories.

"Well, you can cuddle in my arms if you're scared. I protect damsels in distress." He teased her, parking the bike next to the door.

She hit him on the arm playfully. "Shut up!"

He grinned at her and took her hand in his, leading her inside the building. "Wow. It's nice and gloomy in here."

"I know, the lights in the hallway don't work. Just don't let go of me and you won't fall over anything. I've got a good sight in darkness."

She giggled as she grabbed his arm. "You're like batman."

"Batman, huh?" He smiled at her, although she couldn't see his face.

"Yeah. You know, with the black clothes, the cool black bike, the dark spooky buildings...it's funny."

"I'm a funny guy. Here we are." He took his keys in his pocket and opened the door. He let Buffy enter the apartment and turned on the lights before closing the door behind them. It was a lot bigger than Buffy thought it would be. There were boxes full of Angel's stuff all around the living room, where there were a couch, two armchairs and a low table. A bookcase and a cupboard were in a corner, and there were a lot of empty shelves on both sides of the fireplace. There was a small kitchen which had direct access to the living room. Buffy walked inside the apartment and saw Angel's bedroom, which was completely empty safe from the bed and a closet, and the bathroom on the other side of the corridor.

"It's nice." She told him with a smile.

"Right now it's a mess, but it'll be ok in a few days. I know it's not big, but I don't need much space." He told her as he took off his leather jacket and threw it on the closest armchair. He then went to the kitchen, took a pizza out of the fridge and put it in the microwave.

"Really, Angel, I think it's great. Well, it's not located in the nicest area of Sunnydale, but your apartment is great." Buffy walked over the boxes scattered in the living room as she took off her jacket. Silently, Angel followed her and stood behind her, holding his breath. "So, what are we doing now? Do you wanna...start unpacking your stuff...or what?"

"I kinda wanted to do something else first." He whispered in her ear, placing a light kiss where her neck and shoulder met and making her gasp slightly. She turned around to face him, and they were silent for a minute, simply looking into the other's eyes. Eventually, Angel leaned over and brushed her lips with his. They broke eye contact by closing their eyes, anticipating the kiss. Angel pressed his lips softly against hers, and captured her lips in a soft kiss. She wasted no time responding to him, her hands around his neck, as he wrapped his arms around her waist gently, holding her to him. The kiss soon turned more and more passionate, and Angel slid out his tongue, caressing Buffy's lips to make her open her mouth. She did so and their tongues met in the most passionate kiss Buffy had ever known. Their tongues dueled in each other's mouth, as Buffy ran her fingers through his thick spikey hair, and Angel moved his hands up and down on her back. Eventually, they pulled away, both out of breath.

"Wow! Do you know how long I've wanted you to do that?" Buffy asked, staring in his eyes. Angel smiled at her, keeping her close to his body.

"No, but you're going to tell me." He murmured, raining kisses along her jaw line.

"Well, basically ever since I led eyes on you."

"Oh...and are you satisfied with what you got?"

"Kiss me again." She commended, panting. He stared silently at her, amazed by her beauty, and gently stroked the side of her face before lowering his head to hers, capturing her lips in another sweet kiss. Suddenly, a sound interrupted their embrace, and they both chuckled.

"Microwave. Right, and I thought if I got you here we wouldn't be interrupted." Angel sighed with a smile, dropping two more kisses on her lips, which were swollen and red from their long kisses. "You hungry?"

"Yeah." She nodded, playing with the hair at the nape of his neck.

"Okay, fine."

*****

They ate quickly between kisses and smiles, and retreated to the living room. They sat in the middle of the boxes, and started opening them. Buffy found it extremely interesting as soon as she had opened the first box. They were all full of Angel's stuff and she was able to get to know him a lot better, find out what he liked and what he didn't.

"Wow. That's a lot of books you've got here." She commented, picking the first one. "You like Shakespeare, huh?"

"I'm a fan." He replied with a grin. He looked around for a moment, opened the box he was looking for, pulled out his laptop and put it on the table in front of him, as Buffy was going through his books.

"Stephen King, Frank Herbert, Tolkien, Anne Rice...You sure like to read stories about ghosts, monsters and stuff." *Funny. If only he knew half the stuff is true*

"Yeah, I admit. But you'll find more serious books inside." He told her as he was setting his television and VCR.

She chuckled when she saw the rest of the books. "Wow! Giles would flip if he saw your collection! You've got weird tastes buddy."

*Shit, the research books!* "W-Why d-do you say that? What's wrong with those books?" He asked nervously. *Oh, I'm sure I'll find something real smart to tell her when she'll ask why I've got dozens of books about vampires and demons. Moron!! You couldn't think about putting aside your freaking hunting stuff before she got here?*

"Nothing. It's just that Giles's English and you've got a scary collection of British literature books here." She clarified, smiling, as she stood up to put them in the bookcase.

Angel relaxed instantly *Ok, it's ok, she didn't see anything, it's in another box. Stay cool.*

"You okay?" Buffy asked, seeing that he was acting weird.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He assured her with a smile, checking the boxes for those damn research books. She wasn't convinced, but didn't push the subject. Instead she opened another box, but didn't look inside at first, because she looked at Angel with an idea.

Just as he found the box he was looking for and released a breath, he heard Buffy's voice and looked up. "Hey, do you have a stereo?"

"Yeah, but I left it to Kristin with my CDs when we moved in town 'cause I-" That was when he realized what was inside the open box Buffy was sitting next to.

*FUCK! My weapons! FUCK FUCK FUCK!!!!* He was frozen, he just couldn't say anything, too afraid that if it wasn't the good answer she'd look down in the box and figure that he was a freaky lunatic murderous psychopath. *You DUMB ASS! Say something! Anything!* "Buffy...er...I..." *Careful! Careful!* "Could you...er..." *Think! Think!*

"What's wrong?" She was starting to feel really worried.

*Say something for crying out loud!!!*

"Angel, just tell me." She got up and walked over him, sitting next to him and stroking his cheek gently.

*YES! You're the best, man! Oh yeah, that was good! Very smooth! Except...now, what do I tell her?* "I'm sorry, Buffy, I just...I remembered I had really private things in here. I don't want to hurt your feelings, but I wouldn't feel comfortable if you saw them. It's...pretty embarrassing, and disturbing...and scary in a way. It's not a big deal, but..." He explained nervously, casting his eyes on the floor.

"Angel, don't worry. I understand you want to keep some things private. I needed to go to the bathroom anyway." She smiled reassuringly at him. He stared at her for a moment, and eventually smiled too.

"You're the best, you know that right?"

"Now I do." She replied before kissing him sweetly and taking off to the bathroom. Angel wasted no time picking up the few compromising boxes and put them away in the closet of his room. *Great, now I'm gonna need to find hiding places for my hunting accessories. I'm such a freak, how could she ever understand me?*

*********

15.

"Hmm. Mmmm." Buffy moaned loudly, making Angel chuckle. They had been making out for more than 30 minutes now, laying on his couch, after they had finished emptying Angel's stuff, hanging posters on the wall, moving around furniture...She finally broke the kiss, panting heavily. "Wow. You're an amazingly good kisser." The slayer commented, caressing Angel's back through his shirt.

"I try." They smiled at each other, and then Angel started kissing Buffy on her cheek, along her jaw line, tracing a path with his lips to her neck and on her shoulder to finally find his way back to her lips.

"I gotta" kiss "go at" kiss "Willow's. She" Angel cut her off by crushing his lips on hers in a demanding kiss. His tongue caressing and massaging, his hands exploring, Buffy was overwhelmed by Angel's touch.

"We have time" He whispered as he nibbled at her bottom lip and slipped his hands under tank top to caress her back.

"Wait, Angel stop." She pressed her fingers against his mouth and forced him to move his head back a little, making him whimper slightly. "What time is it?"

"I don't know." He said, kissing her fingers and making her giggle. She tried to grab his wrist to check the time on his watch, but he grabbed her first by the waist and pulled her to him as he sat on the couch, forcing her to straddle his thighs. He kept her quiet with passion-filled kisses for another 5 minutes. When they broke the kiss, they looked into each other's eyes and sighed happily.

"That was good."

"Yeah, it was." He agreed, still holding her to him by the waist. She rested her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes to enjoy the moment fully, as she was gently caressing the nape of his neck.

"I'm really gonna have to go though. Willow said her parents wouldn't be home before 12.30 'cause they had a dinner with friends or whatever, but she said I'd better come over before they come back." Buffy told him, her voice slightly muffled by his shoulder.

"Why?" He was fingering the hem of her tank top, trying not to forget about his sister's warning not to do anything more than kissing. He had promised her not to go too far with Buffy, but now he realized just how much it was hard to respect his word. She was sitting on his lap, straddling him and nuzzling his neck, and he couldn't stop himself from wanting to rip off her clothes and make love to her right here, right now.

"Cause if they see me coming over in the middle of the night, they'll ask questions, and tell my mom."

He was still perplexed. "And you're not allowed to go to your friend's in the middle of the night after a date?"

She was surprised by his disbelief and looked at him. "Duh! I can't even imagine how long I'd be grounded! How would your mother react if she found out her child was out in the middle of the night?" She asked, raising her eyebrows, forgetting for a moment about his situation.

"Well, it's not like I've got a way to find out." He replied calmly, not showing the hurt her question had caused him.

And now, she remembered. "Oh my god, Angel, I'm so sorry. I forgot...God, I'm so stupid. Sorry, I didn't mean to bring that up." She smiled apologetically at him and stroke his cheek sweetly.

"It's ok, it's not your fault." He whispered, casting his eyes on the floor.

"I'm really sorry, I'll never bring that up ever again."

He looked up at her, tracing the outlines of her lips with his thumb. "Don't worry about it."

"But you're upset."

He sighed and kissed her sweetly. "It's just hard here. In Sunnydale. Back in New York and Los Angeles everybody knew who I was...I had friends."

"You have friends here." She disagreed, kissing his temple. He gave her that half-smile that made her knees weak.

"I guess, but it's really not the same. Your friends are nice, and everything, but they're not the kind of persons I used to hang with."

"Why?"

"If you meet my friends, you'll understand." He replied as he was caressing her hair soothingly. She caught his wrist and looked at his watch.

"11.45! Damn! Ugh, I have to go." She told him with a deep sigh of disappointment.

"Well, you don't have to. Why don't you just stay with me for the night? Sleep here." He suggested hopefully.

*Okay...Now I'm scared. What the HELL did he mean by that? Sleep here, sleep sleep or sleep here as in sleep with me as in sex? Oh god, it was going so great, and I just screwed up everything when I mentioned his mom and now he's hurt and he'll think I want to stay away from him and...Oh my god! What if he expects me to have sex with him because it would make him feel better and I would...Oh look at that, I'm babbling in my own head, I'm going insane!*

As Buffy had been silent for quite a long time and was just staring at him with wide eyes, Angel realized what she might have thought. "Stay with me as in sleep, as in you in the bed and me on the couch." He clarified, although he would have preferred the other meaning of sleeping.

She smiled at him sheepishly. "Sorry, I was just...whatever." she started blushing from the embarrassment, and he couldn't help but grin at that.

*She's so cute.* "What do you say?"

"Sorry, I'd like to stay, but I should go to Willow's. I don't wanna...you know...go too fast."

"Too fast? Buffy, I was just asking you to stay over for the night to...talk. I wasn't implying we'd have sex. I never thought you'd even want on the first date." He explained, a little annoyed. After Julie, his first and almost only serious girlfriend, Angel had never frequented innocent sweet girls like Buffy, the girls he had been with had been all in it for sex, not that he complained. He was truly making efforts with Buffy, not giving in to his desires, listening to her. He really cared a lot for her feelings, even more than he had for Julie...and that meant something. So he was a little upset that she could think he wanted her to stay only to sleep with her.

She smiled inwardly. *He's been thinking about sleeping with me. I can't believe he thought about being with me that way...well, I guess it's normal for a guy, but he's so sweet to admit it and assure me he didn't expect it to happen.* "I know, and I didn't mean to say that you did anything wrong. I'm so glad about tonight, it was the best date ever. I care so much about you and...I can't help being scared."

"I don't understand, what scares you? Me?" He asked anxiously. She smiled reassuringly at him and kissed him sweetly.

"YOU don't scare me, but you're older, you have a totally different life... I don't really know you." She admitted, biting her bottom lip.

"We'll go slow." He promised her, and they sealed their decision with a sweet long kiss.

*****

"Will you be there tomorrow? You know...come over at your sister's?" Buffy whispered so that she wouldn't wake up the neighbors. Angel was holding her tightly against his body, and she had her arms encircled around his waist. They were standing in front of the door of Willow's bedroom balcony, saying their good-byes for the night.

"I don't know. I don't wanna intrude." He whispered back, pressing his forehead against hers.

"Angel, you're not going to intrude on your own sister, your friends and your girlfriend." She assured him.

He was surprised by the way she mentioned herself, as his girlfriend. He should be upset about it, because he did swore he'd never commit himself to a girl that way ever again, but it somehow excited him that Buffy was his girlfriend. Key word: HIS. "girlfriend." He repeated after a moment.

Buffy looked lost. "huh?"

"Y-You said...that you were my girlfriend." He clarified, enjoying the way it sounded.

"Oh." She blushed suddenly and cast her gaze on her feet. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to...well I just...figured that since we were on kissing terms...we were...you know...but if you don't want to"

"Buffy" He interrupted her babbling, raising her chin with his fingers. "I'm glad I'm your boyfriend." That made her smile. They kissed for a long time, until they heard a shriek behind Buffy. They pulled apart and Buffy turned around to see Willow standing at her bedroom door, grinning like an idiot.

"Sorry guys, I didn't mean to stop you. Please, go ahead, finish. I'll just wait in my bedroom." She told them excitedly before going back in.

After a beat, Buffy turned back in Angel's arms to face him with a smile. "I guess that's my cue to go."

Angel sighed heavily. "Yeah."

"See you tomorrow...maybe?" She looked at him hopefully.

"Maybe. I've got stuff to do, but if I don't finish too late I'll pass by."

"Okay." Angel bent his head down, pressing his lips softly against hers, and Buffy returned immediately the kiss. She moved even closer to him and placed her hand on the back of his head, slipping her tongue into his mouth and massaging his tongue sensually.

"Good night." She whispered when they pulled away.

"Night baby" He murmured back. After a couple of last kisses, they pulled apart and Angel walked away, climbed on his bike and drove home as Buffy entered Willow's bedroom, preparing herself to tell the whole story of the date over and over again to her best friend. She smiled broadly at the thought.

*****

~~ Angel was walking out of the club, in search of Steven. It had been a while since his best friend had gone out to call his girlfriend, and Angel couldn't help but wonder what in the world took him so long. As he walked from the entrance of the club to the other side of the parking lot where the public phones where, he felt a human presence. Two actually. He turned around, scanning the area, his sight not being too much restrained by the thick darkness of the night, thanks to his vampire senses. That's when he spotted them. They were facing each other, obviously arguing violently, about 200 meters away from where he was standing. He walked towards them, being able to distinguish more and more details of their appearance with each step he took. Angel was feeling somehow anxious, and the knot in his stomach was becoming more and more important as he approached the two persons. Eventually he saw it. In her hand. Fear gripped his heart and he started running like crazy, as fast as he could. He ran...and screamed. FLASH. Blood everywhere. He couldn't see anything. Blood had stained his shirt, his pants, his hands where soaked with blood and blood dripped on the floor. Soon the siren of the ambulance was piercing the silence of night, but Angel didn't hear it. His mind had gone blank. He couldn't have formed a coherent sentence right now even if he had been able to make a sound. His entire body was trembling, and he was clinging at his brother's hand like a lifeline. Suddenly he heard Steven's abnormally angry voice. "It's your fault! You did it! It's all your fault you! I'll never forgive you, you fucking bastard!!" ~~

Angel's eyes shot open, his body sweaty and shaking violently from the still fresh memories of his dream. Tears rolling freely on his cheeks, he curled up in his bed and cried for the rest of the night, begging for forgiveness between sobs.

*********

16.

"Hi guys! Come on in!" Kristin greeted the Scooby gang the next evening.

"Hi!" Cordelia, Willow and Buffy exclaimed happily, entering the house. Oz nodded his greeting.

"What happened to good old Mary? Isn't she the one who answers the door usually?" Xander asked his new brunette friend.

"Usually, yeah. But I gave her the week-end off. She'd just get in the way."

"I have nothing against nice ladies getting in my way with a plate of cookies." He chuckled at his own joke, and the others merely rolled their eyes.

"Ok, we only have two guest rooms, so Will and Oz will go in one, Cordy and Xander in another, and Buffy, you don't mind sleeping in my room, right? The couch is a folding bed, so you'll be comfortable there." Kristin informed everyone as she led them upstairs.

"It's fine, don't worry." The slayer assured her.

As everyone was setting their stuff in their rooms, Willow grabbed Kristin by the arm and led her downstairs, away from the others.

"What's up Will?"

"What do you mean what's up? Kristin, this is huge!" the red-head exclaimed happily.

"What are you talking about? What is huge?" Kristin asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Buffy and Angel!" Willow wanted to scream it, but she managed to stay calm.

"What happened?" The younger girl demanded, suddenly very interested.

"You mean you don't know?" Willow asked incredulously. She had assumed Angel would have told his sister about it.

"No! I know nothing, now spit it out!"

"They are together! I caught them in front of my house yesterday night after their date. And your big brother had his tongue down Buffy's throat!"

"Oh that is so great! I was starting to wonder when it would happen!" She was smiling brightly.

"Why didn't Angel tell you?"

Kristin frowned at that, the smile disappearing from her face. "I don't know. I tried calling him a few times this morning and this afternoon, but he wasn't answering. It's weird...he was all excited about the date, he wouldn't shut up about it yesterday. Why didn't he call me?" She asked herself more than Willow.

"We'll find out soon enough. Maybe he just thought it was too private or he didn't want to make a big deal out of it." Willow rationalized with a reassuring smile.

"Yeah. Maybe." Kristin replied as they joined the others in the living room to start their movie evening. *But he would have made a big deal out of it. What the hell happened?*

*****

Angel groaned when he finally reached Kristin's balcony. Usually he didn't have any problem climbing all the way to his sister's room, but tonight, with the three deep cuts in the stomach he had received from some demon with claws during hunting, climbing was a tricky business. Well...simply moving was a tricky business. He groaned one more time when he realized the bedroom was empty. *Of course, she HAS to be in the living room the ONLY time I visit and my guts are sliced* He took of his duster and dropped it on the bed as he made his way out of the room, around the corridor and finally to the evening. He suppressed a growl of frustration when he remembered the gang was staying over. With a sigh, he discreetly walked to the entrance of the living room, trying to hide the fact that his shirt was tattered. He didn't say a thing, as they were all watching the movie intently, and waited until Kristin realized he was there. She frowned when she saw him, stood up and walked out of the living room.

Surprised by Kristin's sudden urge to get out of the room, everyone looked at her leaving and saw Angel at the door.

"Hey Angel! You decided to come over after all, that's great!" Willow exclaimed, smiling brightly at the perspective that this would be an interesting evening for her best friend.

Angel looked at them awkwardly, and his gaze eventually locked with Buffy's. She wasn't smiling at him, instead her face was showing worry. "I-I...I just needed to talk to you" He told his sister, his jaw straightening from the pain in his stomach.

"Sure. Let's go to my room." She told him with a warm smile, showing him that she understood he needed some patching up, and he didn't want the others to know. "We'll be back in 5 minutes guys."

They walked back to the bedroom and Kristin went to her bathroom to grab bandages and everything she'd need to help him. It wasn't the first time she did it, so she knew exactly what to do.

"You need help with your shirt?" She asked him as he was struggling to get it off. He nodded and she approached him, quickly putting away what was left of his shirt. She gasped when she saw how badly he was hurt. "Wow! What the hell happened?"

"Demon. Claws. Met him while I was hunting tonight." Angel answered as she tended his wound.

"Was it like a superdemon or something?"

"No, I killed it without much difficulty."

"While hunting."

"Yeah."

"He attacked you while you where hunting and hurt you right before you killed it?" She repeated, frowning.

"Yeah." He answered with a nod. "I just wasn't paying attention and he took me by surprise."

"YOU. You weren't paying attention during hunting." She repeated again. *He doesn't make sense!*

"Well...yeah."

"Are you kidding me? Angel, when you hunt, you're like all vampire senses out! No one could even sneak up on you when you're hunting." He simply shrugged, obviously not willing to tell her what really happened. So she decided to try something else. "Why didn't you tell me you and Buffy had gotten together yesterday?" He cast his eyes for a moment on the floor, and then he looked into her eyes.

"I was going to. I just had...a bad day." He replied lamely, knowing she'd understand anyway.

"You had another nightmare about Steven didn't you?" She had seen the hurt in his eyes as she mentioned Steven. He nodded with a sigh as she finished the bandage. "Angel, you-"

"Oh god Angel!" Kristin turned around and Angel looked up to see Buffy standing in the doorway, her hand in front of her mouth from the surprise. She hadn't expected to see her newly boyfriend's stomach completely covered with bandages. That meant something bad had happened.

"Buffy..." He tried to say something, but realized he didn't have anything to say, so he cast his eyes on the floor, not willing to have to explain exactly why he was wounded.

"What happened?" Buffy asked as she crossed the bedroom and stood next to him.

"I'll...go back with the others." Kristin murmured and left the room.

Buffy sat next to him, and took his hand in hers. "How bad is it?"

"I'm fine, don't worry. It's just a scratch, I didn't even need stitches." He answered while caressing the back of her hand.

"What happened?" He looked into her eyes, and smiled inwardly when he saw real concern there.

"Just a...fight. I was walking around and some guys were drunk, they jumped on me before I could do anything."

"Yeah, you do live in a bad neighborhood." She added, smiling sadly.

"Don't worry baby, I'm used to fight. I'm a good at it actually. Tonight I was just distracted."

"Is there something I can do?" She asked, trying not to smile at what she was actually thinking about. He grinned, knowing what she had in mind.

"Kiss me"

*****

Much later in the evening, the gang was hanging in Kristin's bedroom, Angel included. Buffy and Angel had not told the others that they were together, but it was kinda obvious since Buffy was sitting between Angel's legs on the bed, leaning her back on his chest, with his arms around her. Xander hadn't made nasty comments, but Buffy highly doubted that Willow had threatened him to shut up. Cordelia had seen it coming for days, and Oz...well Oz's Oz.

"Hey Kris! How about you show us the pictures you were talking about. We could know a little more about you two new people that way!" suggested Cordelia.

"Good idea!" Willow chirped in. Kristin nodded and went to the closet and looked around a moment for her photo albums. Buffy heard Angel's groan and turned her head around to face him with a smile.

"What? Afraid I'll see something compromising?"

"Nah. But you gotta know that Kristin takes pictures of...everything. She must have like 6 or 7 albums full of pictures of our friends and us." He replied, rolling his eyes. Kristin then put 3 albums on the bed. Buffy, Cordelia and Willow each took one. Every once in a while, someone would show a picture to Angel or his sister, asking who it was. Angel told them briefly about his friends on the photos. The bleached blonde was Spike, his most trusted friend in New York, the tattooed brunette was Faith, Spike's girlfriend and a good friend of Kristin's. The black tall guy and the shorter boy with glasses were Gunn and Penn, Angel's best friends in Los Angeles. There were dozens of other boys and girls from either Manhattan or LA.

"Hey, who wants to see Angel wearing nothing but a towel?" Cordelia asked, grinning. Buffy grabbed the picture and smiled at the sight. Angel looked at it from his place behind her and smiled too.

"Please, I was like 6 years old! You've got some much more nasty ones."

"Aaww, you were such a cute kid! Look at this one, with your little cap and that basketball!" Buffy told her boyfriend, pointing at a picture. Buffy continued flipping through the pages of Angel's childhood, until she noticed one girl who was fairly often on the pictures of Angel when he was a little kid, holding him in her arms as a baby or holding him by the hand when he was older. "Who's that girl? She's on plenty of pictures. Is she your cousin...or a neighbor or something?" She pointed to a picture where Angel was 3, in the arms of a 16 year old brunette. Everyone looked at it.

"No, that's my mum." Angel answered simply, and everyone but Kristin looked at him like he was crazy.

"Angel, that girl must be like 16 here, and you've got to be about 3!" Willow pointed out, and Angel merely shrugged. Seeing that the dark-haired boy wouldn't explain, they turned towards Kristin.

"Yeah, that's our mother." She flipped two more pages and showed them a picture of a 17 year old dark-haired boy that looked extremely like Angel. "And that's our dad. They had Angel at 13 and me at 16."

"You mean she was pregnant at 13?" Cordelia raised an eyebrow.

"Huh, huh. When he was 8, Angel asked them why they were so young when his friends' parents were more than 35. They just said that they were in love and wanted to have sex when they were 13."

"That's cool. I wonder how it would be if my parents where 30 at the moment." Xander said, as he was looking over at Angel.

"I wonder too." Angel whispered, not loud enough for the others to hear him, but Buffy did hear him and she squeezed his hand reassuringly. As everyone else got back to the albums, Angel buried his head in Buffy's shoulder, discreetly but sensually licking her neck and shoulder. She bit back a moan at the sensation of Angel's lips and tongue on her skin.

"Stop it!" She whispered urgently, embarrassed that the others would notice. "I can't. You just taste so good." Angel whispered back in her ear, making her shiver.

"Angel?" Willow called after a moment. The older boy stopped his actions on Buffy's neck and looked at Willow. "Who is the guy who's always next to you ever since you're a kid? He's in half the pictures of every album." She handed him a photo, and he looked at it with Buffy. It was a picture of a 16 year old Angel with his arms around a brown-haired boy, who was smaller built but just as tall as Angel. Suddenly, the slayer felt her boyfriend tense.

"Angel?" Buffy called him again, frowning.

"T-T-That's...Steven." He answered with a deep sigh.

"Family or friend?" Cordelia asked, curious.

Angel hesitated for a moment, then answered casting his eyes on his hands and not on the picture. "Both"

"I thought you said you two were the only family you had." Buffy added with a frown.

"Steven's not really family. He's been Angel's best friend ever since kindergarten. They saw the other more like a brother than just a friend. They were inseparable." Kristin explained, while looking at Angel with worry.

Buffy knew it wouldn't be wise to ask, but she was just too curious towards Angel's past. "They're not any more? What happened?"

"He got killed." Angel mumbled as he let go of Buffy's waist and stoop up. He crossed the room and went out on the balcony, in the night, where the others couldn't see him.

"His best friend was murdered?" Buffy turned towards Angel's sister, shocked.

Kristin nodded solemnly. "Yeah. Last summer. He got shot by Angel's girlfriend. In front of Angel." There was a very heavy silence before Kristin continued telling them what happened. "Angel had dumped that slut that night. They had been going out for about 3 or 4 months. Darla got very drunk, she took her father's gun, and she ran into Steven on her way to see Angel. She wanted to have sex with him, but Steven was totally not interested. They started arguing violently and then Angel saw them. He went over to see what was going on, just when Darla shot Steven. She ran away as quickly as she had pulled the trigger. Steven died in Angel's arms."

"That's horrible!" Willow mumbled, feeling extremely sad for Angel.

"What happened with Angel?" Buffy continued with a lump in her throat. She had figured her new boyfriend had had a rough childhood, but she had never imagined it was like that terrible.

"It was nasty. When the cops arrived they thought Angel was the one who had killed Steven. He got locked up for the night, until Darla's father, who was the cop in charge of the case, found his daughter completely insane at home with his gun. She's in jail from what Gunn and Penn found out. Angel had completely disconnected from his former self. He blames himself for everything. I mean...he has always been the brooding type, but now...it's worst than ever." Kristin stopped talking there, because she was pretty sure Angel would mind a lot if she also told his girlfriend and her friends that after Steven's murder he had tried to kill himself and had ended up spending 3 months in an institution.

"I'll be back in a moment guys." Buffy murmured, receiving supporting smiles and nods, and she went to see Angel. She closed the door of the balcony, careful to make noise so that he would realize he wasn't alone. She saw him standing at the far end of the balcony, watching around the garden, nowhere in particular.

"I'm sorry, Angel. We didn't know about Steven, but we shouldn't have asked so much questions." She told him softly, standing next to him.

He remained silent for a long moment. "It's not your fault."

"I wouldn't know, but it must be hard. Losing such a close friend, it"

"Buffy!" He looked at her suddenly, a look of fear on his face. Buffy didn't expect to see that he had tears on his cheeks, and his eyes were red and puffy. "Please stop." He pleaded, looking like a scared little boy. "I can't talk about it. It's too painful." Buffy reached out and wiped off his tears with her thumb.

"Sorry, I'll let you deal with this the way you want. Just remember that I'm here for you." He nodded, and she pulled him into a hug. He rested his head on her shoulder, keeping her close to him. They stayed like this for a long time.

*********

17.

~FLASHBACK~ Last June...

"Angel dude, we were all waiting for this day with impatience. Especially the ladies." Penn told his friend as he took a sip of his beer.

"You know, we were all stunned you stayed with that chick for so long." Gunn added with a smirk.

"What can I say...she's great in bed for one thing." Angel admitted, taking the bottle of beer Penn handled him. Everyone around the table whistled and laughed. "And well, at first it was fun. It was a challenge. Most popular girl at school, head cheerleader. And...you all know I like diversity. She was different."

Steven smacked him on the head lightly. "Oh cut it off bro! You fell for that slut, so what? Everybody makes mistakes." Angel was about to reply, but he met his best friend's gaze and rolled his eyes. Steven was a year younger than him, but he had always been the one who understood Angel the best.

"Fine! You won. I had it bad for that fucking chick. That doesn't mean I'm not back to my former self!" He stated seriously. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna enjoy the night. Where's Rachel?"

"Nope, Rachel is done with one-night stands ever since she started dating Pete." Carrie, Penn's girlfriend, informed her friend.

"Fuck. It had been great last time with her. How about Vanessa?" Angel asked Carrie.

She smirked at him. "She's out of town for a couple of days."

Angel sighed deeply and sat back. "Man, I'm too tired to find a new girl tonight."

"Angel, you do realize that you screwed half the goddamn chicks in the neighborhood and that the other half is begging you to get into your fucking bed, don't you?" Penn pointed out.

"Yeah, but I just wanna have fun with a friend tonight. By the way, why is it so empty here tonight? Where are the others?"

"You told Jeremy to take a group with him and check the cemeteries for you since you were at the game." Gunn reminded his friend.

"And Jeremy is kinda paranoid these days. He took a lot of back-up. Kris went with them, too." Steven added.

"Oh yeah. Shoot, am I actually gonna have to hit on girls tonight? So not in the mood..." Angel mumbled as he looked around. There were many girls dancing, and he had slept with quite a lot of them, but he wasn't close friend with any of them. Sighing deeply, he leaned on the table. That's when he realized who was sitting next to him, acting as if she had not heard the conversation. "Am I gonna have to seduce you Jess?" He asked his friend Jessica, who grinned at him.

"Maybe" She replied, tracing the lines of Angel's lips with her pointing finger. "Maybe not. Who would say no to a full night of mind numbing sex with the boss?"

"Wanna dance?" Angel asked with a grin, and she nodded, planting a kiss on his lips.

The whole gang of Los Angeles was reunited in the club where they went all the time. It was inside their neighborhood, so they knew everyone around that came here and everyone knew they were the leaders of the city. And they also knew Angel was the boss around here. Tonight, they were celebrating Angel and Steven's last basketball game of the season. Thanks to the 2 of them, the Hemery High basketball team had won the most important game of the year. Since the basketball game and the football game had been scheduled by some moron on the same evening, the cheerleading team had been split in two. Angel had expected to see his girlfriend among the ones who would cheer his team, and when he asked her why she had decided to join the other team, she simply said his team sucked and that they would lose. She'd rather cheer the football players who would of course win. Angel had been hurt by her words and had dumped her, understanding for the first time what all of his friends meant when they wouldn't say her name, and would only say the 'cold-hearted bitch". The basketball players had won, the football players had lamely lost. It was indeed a good reason to celebrate.

A few hours of dancing/mating with Jessica later, Angel came back to his friends' table. He found his best friend missing.

"Where's Steven?"

"He wanted to call his girlfriend." Gunn informed him.

Angel was confused "Wasn't she supposed to be here tonight?"

"She was, but her parents grounded her when they found out her boyfriend’s best friend was the infamous Angel Connelly." Penn explained with a grin. Steven had been dating Tess for 2 months now, and she had joined their group, becoming close friend with all of them. Her mother was one of Angel's teacher at Hemery, and to say she loathed the boy would be an understatement. She wasn't supposed to find out that her daughter was one of his best friends.

"How long has he been gone?" Angel asked finally.

"He was already gone when I came back to take a drink." Jessica pointed out. "And that was 20 minutes ago."

"I'll go check on him." Angel informed the others and took off, just as a slow song started.

//And I'd give up forever to touch you
Cause I know that you feel me somehow
You're the closest thing to heaven that I'll ever be
And I don't want to go home right now//

Angel walked out of the club, noticing how loud the music actually was, he could still hear clearly the song.

//And all I can taste is this moment
And all I can breathe is your life
Cause sooner or later it's over
I just don't want to miss you tonight//

Suddenly, he stopped walking, as he felt two presences. He looked around and recognized his ex girlfriend and his best friend. Frowning, he walked towards them. *What the hell can they be talking about?* He realized they were arguing, Darla yelling at Steven while he remained calm. Angel walked faster, and his eyes widened when he spotted the gun Darla was holding. And she was pointing it towards Steven's chest. "Darla, no!" He shouted to make her look at him, and stop threatening the guy he saw as his brother. Angel ran as fast as he could...and his heart skipped a beat when he heard the shot. He screamed Steven's name as he threw himself on his knees next to his body, as Darla ran away. His hands shaking madly, he reached out for Steven's cell phone and dialed 911. When the call was over, he threw the phone away and pressed his hands on the bullet wound, with was between Steven's heart and his stomach. "It's ok. I-It's gonna b-be ok."

"A-Angel" Steven gasped out, clutching to his friend's hand to resist to the pain.

"Don't talk...just hold on for a few minutes, the ambulance's coming." Angel murmured, trying to stop the bleeding with his hands. There was blood everywhere. Steven's shirt and his own were soaked with Steven's blood.

"I can't breathe...I'm not gonna make it"

"Don't say that!" Angel half-shouted, tears in his eyes. "You're NOT going to die, I'm not gonna let that happen, I swear!"

"It's too painful. I can't" He coughed blood, which leaked on his cheeks. "A-A-Angel!" His entire body was shaking, as was Angel's, and he looked into Angel's panicking eyes.

"Steven, stay with me! Stay with me!" Angel pleaded his dying friend. "Please, the ambulance's gonna be here in a minute, please, please, hang on."

Steven shook his head no slowly, not breaking eye contact. "Angel...you're more than my best friend. You're my brother. Always remember that, please."

"I don't wanna hear that crap! You're not gonna die!" Angel snapped, trying to change position so that he could stop the bleeding more easily.

"Please stop it." Steven coughed again, his throat burning. "Listen to me." Reluctantly, Angel raised his eyes and looked at his friend. "Promise me something." Angel nodded. "Tell Tess she was the best...that I loved her. And also Lizzie and my parents...and Kristin and..." He suddenly coughed harshly. "Oh god!" He realized that he didn't have time left, he couldn't say all he wanted to say. Tears rolled on his cheeks, and he gripped Angel's hand. "Tell them all I love them...I'll miss them."

"Steven what am I gonna do without you? I can't...you can't die. It's not fair." Angel whispered.

"I-I-I...I love you Angel." Steven gasped out. His breathing was harsh and painful.

"I love you" Angel whispered back, as his friend kept his eyes shut tightly. All of a sudden, Steven's body stopped shaking, and his grip on Angel's hand loosened. "No. No. No, no, no, no...Steven! No!" Angel put his hands on his shoulders and shook him a little, trying to make him move or make a sound, anything that would prove what he knew was true...wasn't true. As he realized his brother was gone, Angel burst into tears, holding Steven's body close. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

In the dead silence of the night, in the middle of the parking lot, Angel could hear clearly the lyrics of the song coming from the club. Someone must have been particularly fond of that song to repeat it all over again.

//And I'd give up forever to touch you
Cause I know that you feel me somehow
You're the closest thing to heaven that I'll ever be
And I don't want to go home right now

And all I can taste is this moment
And all I can breathe is your life
Cause sooner or later it's over
I just don't want to miss you tonight

And I don't want the world to see me
Cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am

And you can't fight the tears that ain't coming
Or the moment of truth in your lies
When everything seems like the movies
Yeah you bleed just to know your alive

And I don't want the world to see me
Cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am

I don't want the world to see me
Cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am//

Soon the siren of the ambulance could be heard louder and louder, covering Angel's desperate sobs.

*****

Buffy had been watching Angel's restless body for about 10 minutes that night. After Angel had calmed down, they had gotten back to the others and watched an other movie before they went to sleep. Kristin and Buffy had insisted that Angel slept here, seeing that he was wounded. Kristin had also insisted that she would sleep in Diane and Frank's room, so that Angel wouldn't have to sleep on the floor. So Angel took his sister's bed and Buffy the other one. Somewhere in the middle of the night, Buffy had been woken up by Angel's whimpers. She didn't know if it would be a good thing to wake him up. Maybe he was simply restless in his sleep, and it wasn't a big deal. But when he started calling out for Steven, she got out of bed and sat next to him, caressing his forehead in an attempt to calm him down. It didn't work, he was more and more agitated. Then tears started rolling on his cheeks, and Buffy decided to wake him up. She shook softly his shoulders, whispering his name. "Angel, wake up. Come on, wake up." After a moment, his eyes shot open, and he sat up quickly, his breathing harsh and his head spinning.

"Steven?" He murmured softly, not sure where he was. A minute ago he had been reliving the events in his sleep, as he had so many other nights. He looked around, confused, and his gaze fell on Buffy, who was sitting next to him, her face full of worry. Then reality hit him and he led his head on Buffy's lap, as her arms came around him. He cried himself to sleep as she gently caressed his arms, and his face, whispering soothing words in his ear.

*********

18.

"Morning sleepyhead." Buffy murmured softly in Angel's ear, as she felt him stirring, about to wake up, the next morning. During the rest of the night, neither of them had moved away from the other, so when he woke up, Angel had still his head on Buffy's lap. He sat up when he was fully awake, and looked at Buffy anxiously. He hadn't meant to broke down in front of her that way, especially since it was the very beginning of their relationship. But she felt amazing, having her around was comforting. He had never sleep as peacefully as he had the second part of the night, next to her, ever since Steven's death.

"Morning." He replied awkwardly. She smiled at his discomfort.

"Did you have another nightmare afterwards?"

"No." He paused for a second, to take a deep breath. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"You know...for waking you up and falling asleep on you..."

"Don't worry about that." As he was about to protest, Buffy leaned over and caught his lips in a heated kiss. They both laid down on their side facing the other, never ending the kiss.

A few minutes later, they were interrupted by two of their friends, who were chuckling from the entrance of the room at the sight of the two of them on the bed, engaged in a heavy make-out session.

"Hi guys!" Kristin exclaimed happily. Buffy and Angel pulled away slightly and looked at them with a sigh.

"Morning" Buffy murmured, embarrassed. Angel merely nodded and stood up, heading to the bathroom to check on his wound.

"You want breakfast? The others are already downstairs." Willow informed Buffy.

"I'll come in a minute. I just need to change first." The slayer replied, pointing to her duffel bag. The two other girls nodded and exited the room, leaving Buffy by herself. She opened her bag and took out her change of clothes, then stood up and started undressing, forgetting that Angel was in the next room.

Angel's wound was almost fully healed, thanks to his vampire powers, so he got rid of the bandage and went back in the bedroom, only to froze instantly. Buffy was standing her back at him, as she unclasped her bra and threw it in her bag. A second later, Buffy stopped moving as well, her slayer senses telling her she was being watched. She grabbed her t-shirt on the bed and put it protectively in front of her chest as she turned around.

"Angel!" Her eyes widened in shock and embarrassment. Angel tore his gaze away from his girlfriend's barely covered breasts after he realized he had been staring, and turned around.

"Sorry...I should have knocked or something." He apologized, crossing his arms in front of his chest. He looked down and groaned inwardly when he realized that the response of his body to the sight of Buffy's bare back and a small part of her breasts was clearly visible through his pants. He quickly grabbed his shirt that he had left on the floor and put it on, making sure it hanged in front of his discomfort, as she quickly finished dressing up.

"You can turn around." She murmured, blushing. He smiled sheepishly at her, and when he saw she was uncomfortable, he walked towards her and engulfed her in his arms, dropping a kiss on her forehead as she buried her head in his chest.

"Excuse me, I didn't mean to spy."

"It's ok." She replied, sounding like a little 8 year old girl.

With a smile, he leaned over and whispered in her ear "If it can make you feel any better, I almost didn't see anything, and the little I saw was really not unpleasant." He felt her smile against his chest and pulled away slightly. He lowered his head to hears, capturing her lips in a soft and gentle kiss.

"Breakfast?" He suggested, after they pulled apart.

"Breakfast." She agreed, taking his hand in hers and following him downstairs with a smile.

*****

The following morning at school, Angel looked around campus, in search of his beautiful girlfriend. They had agreed to meet at school 20 minutes before classes started, so that they could spend a little time together.

"Angel!" Hearing his name, the vampire hunter turned around and smiled when he saw the friendly teacher walking towards him. "Hey, how are you big boy?" She greeted him with a smile.

"I'm fine." He replied simply, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"You've been sick lately?" Jenny continued innocently.

"No"

"Huh, huh. So...are you gonna tell me why you weren't in class last Thursday and Friday?"

"No."

"And what if I tell you I'm gonna report your absence to Principal Snyder if you don't explain yourself?" Jenny told him firmly.

"Go ahead, I don't give a crap." Angel retorted, showing no emotion. Jenny sighed at his stubbornness.

"Angel, listen to me. You're going to have troubles if you keep acting like that." She warned him gently. She really cared about that boy.

He shrugged casually. "So, I missed a few classes, what's the big deal?"

"Look, I don't care if you miss classes. I care about the reason that made you miss them."

Angel paused for a moment, looking into Jenny's eyes, and he saw that she meant what she said. "Why do you care?" He asked incredulously.

"Because I believe that you're not a bad guy. You're a smart boy who grew up way too fast. Because of what happened in your past, you shy away from the normal world."

"What's THAT supposed to mean?" He snapped at her, not really upset by Jenny, more by the truth in her words.

"Do you have any friends at school?" She asked softly, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah" He answered nervously, knowing it wasn't true. Not really.

"I meant real friends. The kind you can tell what you feel. Not your team mates like Hogan or Percy. Have you even tried to be friends with regular students?" When he didn't reply, she figured it would be for the best if she didn't push the issue too far, yet. "Whenever you wanna talk, if you have something that bothers you, if you're feeling lonely, anything, I'm here. Ok?"

"Ok." He nodded, still deep in thoughts.

"So...are you finally going to explain why in the world Angel Connelly is 20 minutes early for class instead of 20 minutes late?" She asked with a teasing grin. He looked up at her and smirked.

"I gotta meet..." He pause just for a second, enjoying the way it sounded "my girlfriend."

"Who's the lucky girl?" *As if I didn't know*

"Buffy. Buffy Summers." He answered with a sense of pride.

*Oh, what a surprise!* "Interesting choice." Jenny commented.

"What?"

"Well, with that pretty face, you could have any girl at school. It's interesting that you chose Buffy among every other normal girl. She's far from being the regular kind." She explained cryptically, making Angel wonder on what exactly she meant. "You'll find her at the library." With that, she took off, winking at him.

*Why would she be at the library??* Angel walked towards the library, wondering why Miss Calendar had said all that stuff to him. To his surprise, he saw that Buffy, Willow, Xander, Oz and Cordelia were all sitting around in the library, talking to the librarian...Geeves or something. He entered the room silently, and no one noticed he was there.

"Guys, this is starting to get creepy. I mean...this guy could be anyone...anything!" Cordelia whined, sitting on Xander's lap.

"She's right, you know! This IS creepy. How do we know he's a good guy? Maybe he just wants to kill everyone!" Willow replied, frowning.

"Relax Will! It's not like you're gonna see him anytime soon. I highly doubt he's a teen. I think it's more like...super macho guy, who rides his big bike into the night around America." Added Buffy.

"Yes, well I suggest you..." Giles started, turning towards his slayer, only to see a tall young man in front of him, who was smiling, obviously amused by something. "Who are you?" Giles demanded, wondering at the same time why they hadn't noticed him coming.

"Morning baby" He told Buffy with a smirk, leaning over for a quick kiss.

"Angel...what are you doing here?" Buffy asked him as she stood up anxiously, afraid that he had heard too much. They had been talking about the new demon hunter of Sunnydale for the last 10 minutes, and since she hadn't heard him coming...which was kinda strange...she didn't know how much he had heard.

"We were supposed to meet each other before class...so when I saw you here, I came to talk to you." He replied, smirking. Then he sat on the chair Buffy had been using and pulled Buffy over him so that she was sitting on his lap. "What's with the reunion in the library?"

"Scooby meeting. Exclusively for official members of the Scooby gang. So you should go." Xander answered coldly.

"Xander, shut up!" Willow snapped at him, smacking him on the upper arm.

"We were just talking about...that guy...that...Willow met on the internet." She lied, hoping he wouldn't notice.

"Yeah! He said he was in Sunnydale...and we just said that it could be anyone" Willow added quickly.

"Whatever." Angel murmured, shrugging. He then dropped a small kiss on Buffy's temple and whispered in her ear "Can I see you for a minute?"

"Sure." They both stood up, and took off, holding hands.

Angel led Buffy around the corridors without a word, and then stopped suddenly. He looked around, checking that nobody was there, and grinned at Buffy. She gave him a confused look, and he grinned wider. Before she could say anything, his mouth was on hers, and they were sharing a passionate kiss. Angel reached quickly for the door knob and opened the door of the utility closet, leading them inside without breaking the kiss, and closing the door behind them as soon as they were safely inside. Buffy chuckled when a broomstick fell on Angel, interrupting them.

"Are we even allowed to be there?" Buffy whispered, hugging Angel close.

"No, but it's more fun that way" He whispered back, as he gently stroked her cheek and kissed her tenderly.

"Maybe we should turn on the lights. We wouldn't fall on anything if we could actually see something."

"Come on, it's more exciting in the dark. You can't see what I do...that makes you feel my touch more intently." He kissed her lips one more time, then placed feather-like kisses on her jaw, to her neck. "The darkness makes your senses react to my body more fully, you're not distracted by what you see." He murmured in a deep sexy voice as he licked the sensitive spot behind her ear, making her shiver from excitement. Buffy ran her hands on Angel's back and then on his chest, before caressing him at the nape of his neck. His mouth found its way back to her lips, capturing them in a deep kiss. He teased her lips a moment with the tip of his tongue, running it sensually on her parted lips, without entering her mouth. After a moment, she decided he would never give in. Her tongue met his in the middle between their mouths, massaging, caressing. Buffy moved her tongue back into her mouth, hoping he'd get the message. He smiled slightly before slipping his tongue in the confines of her mouth, joining hers again.

*****

Later that day, during lunch, the gang was reunited in the library, with Angel, who was still confused by why they were here...in the library of the school. Buffy had told him that Geeves, or Gil or whatever he was called, was their friend, and they had taken the habit to hang around the library. Angel could see clearly the look of disapproval Giles was sending him, as Buffy sat comfortably on his lap. The vampire hunter smirked at the librarian, tightening his grip on Buffy's waist, and kissed her neck softly, making Giles wince slightly.

"Why are you laughing?" Buffy asked her boyfriend, raising an eyebrow in confusion. He grinned at her and kissed her softly on the lips. As she deepened the kiss, Angel opened his eyes and looked over at Giles, who was watching them, his body taut. Angel smiled on Buffy's mouth, tracing her spine with his finger above her shirt. "What?" She asked again once they pulled away, but keeping her face close to his.

"Daddy doesn't like the boyfriend." He whispered in her ear. She looked at him, still confused, but turned around to look at Giles. He was blushing, and when he met her gaze he took off his glasses and cleaned them with his handkerchief nervously.

"Nah, Giles is just...you know...old. He's embarrassed when he sees two young people make out. Plus he's British." She explained to Angel, placing another kiss on his lips.

"So...hum...Buffy, what are you doing tonight?" Giles asked his slayer as he sat down.

Buffy was about to answer, but Angel did it first. "We're going out." She smiled at her boyfriend, who kissed her quickly in return. "Why sir? Did you have something planned tonight? With my girlfriend?" He stressed the last word, enjoying the librarian's reaction. "You understand that when two persons are dating, they need to see each other, away from grown-ups." He added with a mock politeness that the others didn't notice. But Angel held Giles' gaze, and the older man could see clearly the amusement in the 18 year old boy's eyes.

"Yes...er, anyway. Buffy I would like to see you tonight. Before you go out."

"Can't we do it some other time? I'd rather spend a quiet evening, Giles." Buffy told him with a pleading smile.

"No Buffy. You are going to meet me tonight, whether you-"

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but you're not her father. You don't have a right to tell her what do to. And she'll be with me, so I don't see why she should see you. It's not like she'll be bored." Angel stated innocently, and smirked when he saw the watcher wince.

"It must be driving him crazy that he can't use his watcher card." Willow whispered in Cordelia's ear, making her chuckle.

"Wow, overly possessive much? He can't even let his girlfriend away from him for one second?" Xander murmured, glaring at the dark haired older boy.

"Oh Xander, shut up! He's not being possessive of Buffy, he's just teasing Giles to death." Cordelia defended Angel.

"And it works." Added Oz, who was watching Giles clean his glasses again.

*****

"Oh shoot!" Buffy exclaimed suddenly. She was in Angel's arms, outside the school, at the end of the last class. The whole gang was talking about what they would do tonight. Buffy and Angel had planned to meet up in the library after Buffy's meeting with Giles, who had insisted she came to 'talk'. "I forgot my bag in the library." She clarified when everyone sent her curious looks.

"I'll go get it Baby." Angel told her. She smiled at him, a bright smile that warmed his heart, and kissed him deeply to thank him.

*********

19.

"Hey, Mr..." *Shit! What's his name again?* "Mr. Gives?" *Or maybe it's Geels...whatever!* "Sir?" Angel called again as he walked further inside the library. There was no one, though.*Must be doing the nasty with his girlfriend.* Angel spotted quickly Buffy's bag on the floor next to the table and picked it up. He looked around a moment, thinking how strange this school library was. It had a very dense and powerful atmosphere. Which made him a little uneasy. Subconsciously, he felt drawn to this place. Well, not exactly himself, more his vampire part. If there was one place where he would easily slip into game face without doing it and noticing it, it was this room. *Well, Skip did say that I'd find this town interesting. Looks like he's right again.* When he looked over the cage where students had to return the books, where stood a closet *probably full of books and stuff*, Angel spotted something laying on the desk. Frowning, he walked over the cage and frown even more when he realized he had guessed right. *What the fuck is my favorite stake doing on the desk of Sunnydale High's librarian??* Confused, he picked his birthday present and tucked it in the waistband of his pants. *Looks like there's more to good old Geeves than he lets people see. Gonna have to keep an eye on him.*

*****

"Why on earth would you date someone like him?" Giles asked Buffy, shaking his head.

"Because he's sweet, gentle, trustable, good looking, good kisser! Do I need to tell more?" Buffy snapped at him, starting to get angry.

"Buffy, this boy is older than you, he has a horrible school record,"

"So have I" She reminded him.

"He is undisciplined, disrespectful, older"

"You already said older." She retorted as she crossed her arms in front of her chest defensively.

"Fine. That's not the point. He's not good for you."

"Why the hell not?"

"First of all, you're the slayer, he's a normal boy, and you're not supposed to be dating. Although I won't say anything more about the dating part, because I know you too well. Second of all, he'll have a bad influence on you. You can't take the liberty of getting into troubles at school and in your life. Both as a slayer and as student."

"You don't know what you're talking about, Giles. You're only saying that stuff to me because you're mad that Angel teased you like that this afternoon. He was just having fun." She told her watcher calmly, hoping he'd just leave it there.

After a moment of thinking, Giles shook his head and sighed. "Alright, you can date him. But make sure he doesn't know about your secret identity. And...try to keep him from teasing again." He added that last part in a murmur, but Buffy heard him perfectly and grinned.

"So my dear watcher, did you find anything about the names written on the guy's stake?"

"Erm...no, I believe there is no group of people in Sunnydale with those names, but I can be wrong...those can be nicknames. But I think it can be useful to you during patrol. It has been made with extreme care, you have a very good grip of it due to its form, and" He stopped his sentence when he realized the stake wasn't where he had put it. He looked around the desk, the closet with all the weapons, but he couldn't find it. *Maybe I brought it home...* "Anyway Buffy, I think that" He turned around and stopped his sentence again when he saw that his slayer was no longer paying attention to what he was saying. Maybe it was because of the tall dark handsome boy who had his lips glued to hers. Giles had lost her for the night.

*****

"Give me your jacket." Angel told Buffy when he closed the door of his apartment behind them. She took off the black jacket she had been wearing for their date and handed it to him. He put it on a coat hanger with his and joined her in the living room. He walked behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder after placing a kiss behind her ear. "Thank you." He murmured softly.

"What for?"

"For the date."

She chuckled a little "YOU're the one who paid for the restaurant" She pointed out, intertwining her fingers with his on her stomach.

"I meant thank you for being there. I haven't had fun like that for a long time." He clarified with a smile.

"So...what can we do now?" She asked, relaxing against his chest.

"I want to make love to you."... ...*Oh yeah, I'm sure she wouldn't have freaked if I had actually told her that!* "Whatever you want" He answered, a pang in his heart as he said it. *God, I wish I had told her the first one...I want her so much, I'm not gotta make it through the rest of the evening.*

Suddenly, she turned over and grinned devilishly at him. "I know what we can talk about. Come on."

As Buffy was going over the couch, Angel turned towards his stereo and started it, as he remembered Buffy had asked him for music in the background the last time she was in his apartment.

// You cannot quit me so quickly Is no hope in you for me No corner you could squeeze me But I got all the time for you, love//

She made him sit, and she sat on his lap, resting her back on the arm of the couch.

// The Space Between
The tears we cry
Is the laughter keeps us coming back for more

The Space Between
The wicked lies we tell
And hope to keep us safe from the pain

But will I hold you again?
These fickle, fuddled words confuse me
Like 'Will it rain today?'
Waste the hours with talking, talking
These twisted game we play//

"What do you wanna talk about?"

"I've got a question for you." He nodded, showing her that he would listen to whatever she wanted to say. "Why Angel?"

He looked confused for a moment. "Why what?"

//We're strange allies
With warring hearts
What wild-eyed beast you be
The Space Between
The wicked lies we tell
And hope to keep us safe from the pain//

"I mean, why are you called Angel? No offense, I love it, but it's a weird name...you know...for a guy and all." She asked, slightly blushing. He groaned, and that made her blush even more.

"It's kinda complicated. It's not my real name."

// Will I hold you again?
Will I hold...

Look at us spinning out in
The madness of a roller coaster
You know you went off like a devil

In a church in the middle of a crowded room
All we can do, my love
Is hope we don't take this ship down//

"What is your real name?"

"William."

She raised her eyebrows, surprised. "Wow...I can't see you as a William. But maybe it's because I'm used to call you Angel."

//The Space Between
Where you're smiling high
Is where you'll find me if I get tickled

The Space Between
The bullets in our firefight
Is where I'll be hiding, waiting for you
The rain that falls
Splash in your heart
Ran like sadness down the window into...

The Space Between
Our wicked lies
Is where we hope to keep safe from pain//

"The thing is, my great-parents had an argument about my name. My mom's parents are British, and they wanted me to be called William. But my dad's parents are Irish, and they didn't care about the name as long as it was Irish, which is why they wanted me to be called Liam. Which is the Gaelic for William."

// Take my hand
'Cause we're walking out of here
Oh, right out of here
Love is all we need here

The Space Between
What's wrong and right
Is where you'll find me hiding, waiting for you

The Space Between
Your heart and mine
Is the space we'll fill with time
The Space Between...//

"I guess the English won the argument, huh?"

"Yeah."

"And why are you Angel, now?"

"It's a nickname my mom gave me when I was a baby. From what they told me when I was older, it used to annoy to death dad because he thought it wasn't manly enough for his son. But mom used it so often that I never answered to William, only to Angel." He smiled at the memory of his parents telling him the story when he was 8 years old after he came back from school crying because a boy had said his name was girly so he was a girl.

"It's cute."

"Gave me lots of problems though. When I was 11 I asked my parents if I could be called William now, because I was sick of people thinking I was a girl."

"And what made you go back to Angel?"

"I used William for about a year, but then I met one of my best friends Spike. His real name is William, and at that time everyone called him William, too. We decided to change our names. I came back to Angel since my sister never wanted to use anything else, and Spike...well chose Spike."

"Why that name? Spike is weird."

Angel made a face. "I don't know. I guess it was because of his hair...at the time he had it in spikes...I'm not sure. There are a lot of other gory possibilities we imagined, but I'm not going to tell you." They smiled at each other and kissed sweetly. The passion they had both tried to keep inside was let free, and they both laid down on the couch, with Angel on top, as their tongues dueled in each other's mouth.

*****

Later that evening, Buffy and Angel had been fooling around in the kitchen, and Buffy ended up spilling coffee all over Angel's shirt and pants. After lots of apologies from Buffy, Angel had gone to his bedroom to change, so Buffy had gone back to the living room. She looked around for a moment, then her eyes rested on Angel's desk. Curiosity took the better of her and she opened the drawers. In one of them, she found a sketch pad. She remembered that Angel had told her he could draw and he did it from time to time, when he was bored. She opened the sketch pad and was surprised to see a drawing of Cordelia's face. She went through the pages and saw a few more drawings of Cordelia, some of Willow with Kristin, but most of them were drawings of girls she didn't know, and some of them were very very much nude. Not one of them was of her. Not one. Confused, she looked again in the drawer, but the other sketch pad hadn't been used yet.

"You know baby, the next time someone spills coffee on the other, it'll be me on you, cos guys get to see a lot of more interesting stuff when a girl's shirt is soaked wet." She heard Angel comment with a chuckle from the bathroom. Then he closed the door and came back into the living room, just as Buffy put the pad back in the drawer and closed it. He saw her crouched next to the desk and panicked. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing." She replied a little too quickly.

"Did you look through the drawers?" He asked her. Not that he wanted to accuse her of make her feel guilty...but still.

"No. I didn't." She forced herself to calm down, so that he wouldn't notice that she was lying. Apparently it worked, because he relaxed a little.

"Ok. Sorry baby, it's just...this stuff is really private." *Duh! Stakes and knifes and holy water are so private!!*

"Er...I should go." She told him in a small voice.

"Now? Why?"

"I-I'm tired...and my mom will be home soon from that dinner and...I should go."

"Ok...if that's what you want." He relented, disappointment obvious in his voice. However Buffy didn't do anything to reassure him. She took her jacket and went for the door, just turning...to see Angel with his leather jacket on.

"I'm driving you home."

"No, it's ok, thanks." She murmured, shaking her head.

"That wasn't a question Buffy. There is no way I'm letting you walk back home at 11 at night. Come on." He made it clear that there wasn't place for any argument, so she merely nodded and got out of the apartment, with Angel following close.

Ten minutes later, Angel parked the bike in front of Buffy's house.

"Thank you for the ride. I'll see you tomorrow at school." She told him quickly as she climbed out of the bike. She smiled a little at him and started walking to her front door.

"Hey!" He called at her, raising his eyebrows, surprised. "Don't I get a kiss or something?"

"I'm tired." She turned over for a second and then walked again towards her house.

"Baby, what's wrong?" He spoke louder as she walked away.

"Nothing, I'm just tired, ok?" She snapped at him, not even turning over. Angel was completely stunned, he couldn't make a sound. When he got his voice back a second later, Buffy was already opening her front door.

"What's with the brush off?" He asked incredulously.

"Just leave me alone!" She half shouted angrily.

"What did I do?" She didn't answer. "Baby?" She was inside her house and without looking back at him she closed the door.

*********

20.

Angel hadn't been able to sleep at all during the night, so instead of brooding in his apartment, sitting in the dark, he spent the whole night hunting. The main...and only reason he had been sleepless had been Buffy's behavior at the end of their date. He had figured it was something he had done that had upset her at some moment during the evening, but he just couldn't see what. She had acted weird ever since he came back from the bathroom. It just couldn't be because of what he said about girls' wet shirt...she had understood it was a joke, right? He was teasing her...not insulting her or whatever! Buffy was too smart to misunderstood what he had said. Then what? It's not like he had some dark secret that she could have discovered while he was changing clothes! Well...ok, so he DID have some dark secret that she could have discovered while he was changing clothes, but he didn't understand her behavior. He had checked the drawers and realized that he hadn't put any stake or knife or anything huntingy in the desk on the living room. But she still could have checked in his bedroom. The next question would be: Why in the world would she be looking through his stuff in his bedroom? Nope, that didn't make any sense. And even if she had discovered weapons or stuff, she would have asked why he kept a weird collection of antic stuff...she wouldn't have done that!! So when he arrived at school the next day, he was more confused than ever and convinced that she would explain herself when he would ask her about it.

Angel found her in front of the school building, talking with Willow, Cordelia, Oz and Xander. He took a deep breath and walked over them. "Hey" He murmured to get their attention. They looked at him, stopping their conversation. Oz nodded, and Xander made some witty comment about how he would never be able to get Buffy's attention between the smooches. And to Angel's surprise, Willow glared at him. Cordelia on the other hand didn't show any emotion, as if she didn't know on which side she was supposed to be. Angel swallowed hard before he was able to make a sound. "Buffy...can I talk to you..." He looked at the others' curious faces "in private."

She hesitated for a long time before nodding. Buffy and Angel walked away from the others, the slayer keeping a minimum safe distance between them.

"Buffy...is...er...did I...what did I do?" He asked her hesitantly. He looked into her eyes, and was surprised to see anger in them. He concentrated a little so that he'd be able to hear her heartbeat with his vampire senses, and he could feel it had a quick pace. She was far from calm...*is that a good thing??*

"You tell me." She replied coldly.

*Great! The 'You tell me' line is so much better than the 'actually answering the damn question' line!!!* He thought sarcastically. "I honestly don't know. Buffy, I haven't slept all night because I didn't know! I don't know what the hell happened last night! One minute we can't keep our hands off each other and the next one you're avoiding me like I had a disease or something!"

"Just stop pretending ok?" She snapped angrily at him. "I'm sick of your game! What do you want Angel? What do you want from me?"

*Ok...I thought I was confused before...but now...WHAT???* "What are you talking about? What game? And...how am I pretending?" *She just CAN'T be talking about my non-so-human abilities, can she?*

"Was it funny? Using me? Making me feel for you?" She was really close to shouting by now, and Angel couldn't help but stare at her in disbelief.

"I've never..." He paused for a second, as he took in what she had just said. His lips curved in a small smile. "Feel for me?"

"It's really not the issue right now." She retorted, making his smile disappear instantly.

"Right...sorry" *God, I'm becoming her puppy or something! What's up with her? I've done nothing wrong!!* "Just tell me what I did." He pleaded one last time.

"You are a selfish jerk ok? Why did you give me hopes if you didn't give a damn about me? Why did you date me in the first place?" She didn't care that they were in public, she was just too much in pain right now to care.

Now Angel was upset. More than that, he was pissed. How could she say that he didn't care about her? He had fell apart in front of her not once, not twice, but three fucking times! It had taken months for him to trust enough his friends Spike, Faith, Gunn and Penn to show his feelings in front of them. Kristin, Steven and Julie were another matter, he had known them his whole life. And now, Buffy was accusing HIM not to care for HER! *Why did I date her? Because I'm fucking crazy about her!! Can't she see that?* "For the last time Buffy. What did I fucking do?" He almost spat at her. His blood was boiling and he had to fight to stop himself from slipping into his vampire face. His hands were clenched into fists, and that didn't go unnoticed by the slayer.

"I lied ok? I did look trough your drawers! I don't know why I did it, and I'm very sorry I did it. But I found your sketch pad." She explained herself, trying to sound angry and not desperate.

"Huh?" He wasn't sure he had heard it right. *She's upset because of my drawings? What??*

"How can you say you care for me if you don't even think about me when you want to draw something? How did you think I felt when I saw you had hundreds of drawings of girls, a lot of them nude, and you didn't have one of me? How did you think I felt when I saw you didn't even think about drawing me but you drew CORDELIA and WILLOW! God Angel, you even had some of Jenny!! Why do you even bother with me if you don't think about me? Stop acting as if you cared for me." Without leaving him time to reply, she stormed away, tears in her eyes.

Angel stood there, completely stunned. He ignored the curious looks he received from the ones who had seen the argument. After a minute, he went back to his bike and took off, towards his apartment. There was NO WAY he was going to let her believe he didn't think about her.

*****

"Buffy, you okay?" Willow asked her best friend softly. Buffy had been crying in the library for 10 minutes, and Willow and Cordelia had figured she had had enough time alone.

"No" She murmured between sobs. "I miss him so much."

"I know."

"What did he do? After I left. How was he? Did you talk to him?" Buffy demanded quickly, her cheeks stained by her tears.

"Er...no, we didn't talk to him. He...he just took off." Cordelia answered, biting her lower lip.

"He looked so hurt." Buffy sobbed even more as she pictured his face when she told him he didn't care about her.

"Buffy...maybe you overreacted. Maybe it's not what you think. Maybe there were drawings of you...you just didn't see them." Willow told her softly.

"I don't know...I remember that he had put his drawing stuff in the desk when he moved in...and he had others pads that were empty...there was none of me, that's all. And he looked pissed when he saw me next to the desk...like I had done something wrong...like there was something he didn't want me to see." Buffy answered in a whisper.

"Well, you don't really know him. You don't know how he deals with relationships. Maybe at first he thinks he likes a girl, but after a while he loses interest." Cordelia stated bluntly. Buffy couldn't say a word. She buried her head in her hands, sobbing quietly.

Suddenly, the door of the library opened, making the three girls jump. They saw Angel walking towards them, looking really upset. He stopped when he reached the table, and looked at Buffy in the eyes. "Tell me if I care." He told her coldly, throwing something on the table, then took off without looking at her again. Buffy looked at what he had left, it was a sketch pad, with a piece of paper on top. As she saw that Buffy was unable to move, Cordelia picked the paper and read it. Trying to suppress a smile, she handed it to Buffy.

"I practice in the living room. I draw the good stuff in the bedroom."

With shaking hands, Buffy opened the sketch pad, and her eyes watered even more when she saw the first page. It was a drawing of her face, smiling brightly. She turned the page and saw an other one of her, this time her whole body, sitting next to a tree. Buffy looked at every drawing, Cordelia and Willow grinning like idiots the whole time. On each page there was a different picture of her, some of them she remembered from one of their dates, at the movies, the restaurant, at the garage, at school. A lot of them where simply drawings of her face of her body. There were also a few where Angel had drawn himself next to her, kissing her, holding her in his arms.

"Seems like he has a lot of time on his hands." Cordelia commented, exchanging a smile with Willow.

"Buffy, there are dozens of you only in there." Willow added, as if her best friend hadn't noticed.

"I gotta find him." The slayer mumbled before running out of the library.

*****

"Percy! Percy, hey!" Buffy called the basketball player. She had been looking around the school for Angel, but she hadn't seen him anywhere.

"Buffy, what's up?"

"Have you seen Angel?"

"Yeah, he's practicing on the basketball court. Well, it seemed more like he was trying to exert energy...he looked pissed." Percy told Buffy, shaking his head. He hanged often with Angel, but he was sure he would never understand that guy.

"Thanks." She smiled sweetly at him before heading to the court.

She stopped a second when she saw him, throwing the ball expertly right in the basket, then she walked towards him, trying to fight back tears. Angel stopped moving when he realized she was next to him, but didn't look at her.

"They're beautiful." She told him shyly. Still he didn't look at her.

"I can't believe you thought I didn't care about you."

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry Angel. I know I overreacted, but I freaked when I saw your drawings of Cordelia. I didn't think straight."

Slowly, Angel turned around and looked in her eyes. "Buffy, when I practice, I just can't draw you."

"Why?"

"Because I don't want to fail you. I want my drawings of you to be as perfect and as close from reality as I can make them. Cordelia is my friend, that's all. Drawing her doesn't mean anything, it's just a different face."

"I'm such an idiot." Buffy whispered, and then she couldn't hold the tears anymore. After a short moment, Angel took a few steps towards her and pulled her into his arms, stroking her hair softly.

"Buffy, you have to understand that you're not just a girlfriend to me. I trust you. I take comfort in you. I let you see me when I'm down. I care so much about you baby, never forget that." Angel whispered in her ear, letting her cry on his shirt.

After a moment, he pulled away a little and smirked at her. "Do you think you could give me what you didn't last night when I dropped you home?"

She smiled at him as he whipped away her tears with his thumb. "Definitely." Angel leaned down and captured her lips in a passionate kiss.

*****

"So, you guys made-up, huh?" Cordelia stated when the gang interrupted Buffy and Angel's make out session, somewhere in a classroom, where supposedly no one would go.

"Yeah" Buffy hugged Angel close, resting her head under his head. "It was just some stupid misunderstanding." Buffy explained, smiling at her boyfriend, who returned the gesture.

"Great. Here goes the smooches again!" Xander mumbled as he took off with Cordelia. Willow and Oz followed them after a moment, leaving Buffy and Angel alone again.

"We have classes you know." Buffy whispered between kisses, as the bell rang, announcing the next class.

"I don't care." To illustrate his point, he caught her lips in a heated kiss, placing his hands on her waist and lifting her to his level. Soon the kiss got out of control, and Angel's hands were roaming on her back. Keeping her as close to his body as he could, Angel made Buffy move back of a few steps until she hit the desk, then made her sit on it. She obliged, and leaned over without breaking the kiss so that Angel could keep his head straight. After a moment she spread her legs and he moved closer to her between her legs as she held his waist with her knees. They stayed this way for a long time, until they were interrupted by someone clearing his throat. They froze, pulling away, and with a groan they turned around to face Principal Snyder.

"Miss Summers, Mr. Connelly! I have to say you make a perfectly adequate couple of troublemakers. Follow me in my office." Snyder ordered coldly, but with a devilish grin on his face.

"We're going down." Muttered Buffy as she climbed off the desk and followed Snyder, Angel behind her.

*********

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