Fire And Ice (cont...)

11

Twenty minutes later, Buffy walked to the living room, finding Angel sitting on the couch wearing a pair of black boxer shorts and a white t-shirt.

"Hope I’m not interrupting anything," she said.

Angel looked up from the book he was reading. "No. Just getting ahead on our English assignment."

She laughed at him. "Always the overachiever. And you look so darn cute in those glasses. I forgot that you wear them. It’s been so long."

He blushed. "I took out my contacts while you were in the shower. I must look like some kind of circus freak."

"Not at all. It’s a very…scholastic look for you. I like it."

His eyes surveyed what she was wearing. A pair of flannel pajamas with elephants on them. "Interesting choice of bedtime apparel you’ve got there. Definitely not what I expected."

"And what did you expect?" she questioned, taking a seat next to him.

"I don’t know. Something light and silky."

"Like something out of the Victoria’s Secret catalog?" she joked.

"Yeah. But you never cease to shock me."

Buffy took her time before saying what she wanted to say next. "Look, about what I said earlier at the dance –"

"Buffy…"

She put her hand up to silence him. "Please let me get this out before I lose my nerve. Angel, I meant every word I said to you there. I love you. I just couldn’t hold it in any longer. It’s been going on since I was five years old, ever since that day in the playground when Melissa accused me of cheating and you believed me over her. I fell in love with you that day.

"And for thirteen years, I have kept my true feelings a secret, nobody else knew except my mother. In seventh grade, everyone made fun of me because I looked different; I had bad skin and bad teeth, I was a physical mess. People called me names, but you never did. You were always nice to me. Back then, I never had the courage to ask you out.

"Then we got into high school. I thought, ‘This is my chance to make him love me.’ But I never got the chance because you started going out with Kelley halfway through freshman year. I kept wondering what you saw in her that you didn’t see in me, what it was she had that I didn’t. For years I wondered that. Every time you walked into the room, I would smile to myself, just because you were near me.

"When you and Kelley broke up, I couldn’t believe it. On one hand, I thought, ‘Why is she breaking up with him? He’s everything I’ve dreamed of for years and she doesn’t even realize how lucky she is.’ And then on the other, I wondered if you’d even look at me. Cordy came up to me and told me that she was planning to ask you out. It cut me right to the bone and I told her all this stuff to keep her away from you. I told her that you weren’t good enough and too poor for her; I said things to her about you that I never meant because I was afraid of losing my only chance at winning your heart. I thought I’d lose you to my best friend.

"Tonight at the Prom, Jeremy made some comments about both of us. Dancing with him, listening to him say all that stuff made me see that I needed to tell you how I feel. I never meant to blurt it out the way I did. If you don’t feel the same, I understand completely. I just had to say it, though."

"Buffy, I do feel the same," Angel admitted.

It took several moments for his words to register in her mind. "You do?"

He nodded. "Yes, I do, but I couldn’t say what I have to say in front of the entire senior class. I dated Kelley for three years and I thought I loved her. But what I feel for you is stronger than anything I ever felt for Kelley. It scares me, but in a good way. Maybe I haven’t loved you for as long as you’ve loved me, but I feel it just as strongly. Buffy, I love you."

She felt like she was going to cry. "This is so unreal. It’s the best day of my life. You feel the same way I feel about you."

Angel leaned over, cupping her chin in his hand, slowly bringing his lips closer to hers until they finally touched. Her right hand wrapped around the back of his neck, moving upward into his hair. Buffy’s lips parted slightly, leaving enough room for his tongue to enter.

Their kiss was growing more passionate with every passing moment, the intensity growing to proportions neither had ever experienced. Buffy took the opportunity to straddle his legs with her knees, sitting on his lap, facing him. When their embrace broke, he looked her in the eyes. "I love you so much."

"I know. Me, too."

He brought his hand to move her wet hair over her left shoulder. "I don’t think I’ve ever told you just how beautiful you are."

"I think you said it earlier, when I got to your house."

"Without the five pounds of makeup on. You don’t need to wear any, Buffy. You’re a natural beauty."

He kissed her again, only this time his hands found the buttons on her pajama top, loosening the top two buttons. Still locked in their embrace, he pushed it over her shoulder, leaving the skin exposed. His lips parted from hers, moving along the left side of her face, trailing a line of kisses down her neck. Angel left open-mouth kisses along her collarbone to her shoulder.

"You smell so good," he commented between kisses. "Like a field of raspberries."

Buffy had nearly lost herself in a sea of lust. "I used raspberry body wash in the shower."

Angel couldn’t seem to get enough of her. He kissed a trail back up to her lips, greedy for another taste of her. Their lips met in another searing kiss, Buffy pressing her body against him. While her hands held him about the waist, his moved to her back, lifting the hem of her top and slipping them inside.

He caressed the bare flesh of her back, his fingers trembling. He and Kelley had not even gone that far and he was nervous and afraid. Angel worried that Buffy would push him away for touching her like that, but she loved it. She knew she had his love, and as long as she had it, everything she was belonged to him.

As if his hands had a mind of their own, they caressed over her back, along her sides until they reached the front of her body. His thumbs brushed the undersides of her breasts, and before Angel knew what was happening, he was cupping them in his hands. Immediately, he broke off their embrace, removing his hands from her body.

"What’s wrong? Why did you stop?" Buffy asked. She had loved the feel of his hands on her, touching and caressing her.

"I-I’m sorry."

"For what?"

"For touching you."

She smiled shyly. "You don’t have to be sorry. I know you wouldn’t take advantage of me. Angel, you’re a gentleman."

"A gentleman," he scoffed. "That’s why Kelley dumped me. I was too much of a gentleman, too noble for her liking."

"I like that you’re a gentleman. And she’s an idiot for breaking up with you over something like that. That girl doesn’t know a good thing when she sees it."

He glanced at his watch. It was almost one in the morning. "I think maybe we’d better get some sleep. It’s been a long, eventful day."

Buffy agreed. "Alright. I guess I’ll see you in the morning."

She walked back to her room, missing him already. Taking one look at the oversized bed she was to sleep in, she knew it was all wrong. Grabbing a couple pillows and a blanket, she went back to the living room.

"I’m back," she announced.

"Did you forget something?" Angel asked.

"Nope. I’m sleeping out here with you. I feel guilty for sleeping in a bed when you’re stuck on the couch. So I will be sleeping on the floor tonight."

He laughed. "You’re a nut, Buffy."

She set the pillows on the ground, laid down and covered herself up. "Angel?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you snore?"

Angel paused. "I don’t know. Nobody’s ever been in a position to let me know."

In the dark, Buffy grinned. She’d gotten the answer she wanted. "Night."

"Night."

***

12

The first rays of sunlight burst into the living room at six-thirty the following morning, waking Angel from a peaceful slumber. Sitting up and stretching his tired muscles, he looked around the room, seeing Buffy still asleep on the floor twenty feet away. He smiled at the sight; her hair in a state of disarray, her pajamas wrinkled and her blanket bunched around her knees.

He slowly stood up, careful not to wake the sleeping girl on the floor. Bending down next to her, Angel pushed the blanket so that it covered her shoulders. ‘She looks so cute when she’s sleeping.’

"I’ll be back in a little bit," he whispered, knowing that she couldn’t hear him.

With it being such a beautiful morning, Angel didn’t want to waste it by sleeping through the early morning solitude. As he did almost every single morning, he decided to go for a run. Only instead of doing so along the streets of Sunnydale, he’d be running on a secluded beach.

Quickly changing into a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, Angel left the beach house. It amazed him how beautiful the surroundings were. White sand as far as the eye could see, the silhouette of a pier several miles down the shoreline, water so blue it reflected its surroundings and birds chirping in the nearby trees. It was a picturesque scene. Angel fell in love with it.

***

When Buffy woke up at ten o’clock, she found the couch unoccupied and the living room empty except for herself. ‘Where’s Angel?’ was her first thought.

After searching the entire house extensively, she found no trace of him. "Angel?" she called. "Where are you?"

Walking to the sliding glass door facing the beach, she finally saw him. He was sitting on the back steps, staring at the ocean. "Hey, you," she greeted, smiling as he turned around. "I’ve been looking everywhere for you."

"Sorry," he apologized. "I went for a run along the beach. I go for one everyday, it helps to relax me."

Buffy crouched down in the sand in front of him. "Yeah, I know. I’ve seen you run by my house really early in the morning."

"You’ve seen me?" he asked. "And here I thought I was being stealthy."

"Uh-huh. It got to be where I could set my clock by you, you always ran by at the same time. I looked forward to seeing you pass by every morning."

"I never realized I was that predictable," Angel commented. "Maybe I should change my routine."

She shook her head. "Don’t. Then I won’t have anything to look forward to every morning at six o’clock. Is that what time you were out here this morning?"

"No, I slept in ‘til six-thirty."

Raising her eyebrows, Buffy laughed. "You consider six-thirty sleeping in? Ugh."

"I don’t like wasting the day. Lemme guess, way too early for you?" joked Angel.

"Yep. I love sleeping in. The later, the better." She looked up at the cloudless blue sky. "God, it’s beautiful outside. Warm and sunny."

"That’s why I didn’t go back inside. It’s too nice of a day to be cooped up in the house."

"Well, if you want, we can spend the day outside. Lay on the beach and work on our tans, go swimming, possibly have a picnic lunch or something," Buffy suggested.

He brightened visibly at the suggestion. "Sounds great. I couldn’t tell you how long it’s been since I’ve relaxed on a beach. Years probably. Just let me shower. I’m all sweaty and smelly."

"You look fine to me."

As they walked back to the house, Angel grabbed hold of Buffy’s arm. "You know, I have been wondering about something all morning."

"What’s that?" she wanted to know.

Angel smirked. "Do I snore?"

She laughed. "Nope. I didn’t hear a peep out of you all night. You’re a very quiet sleeper."

***

Three hours later, the couple headed back outside, carrying their beach towels and bottles of water. By the time Angel finished showering and Buffy got dressed, it was already quarter after eleven. So they decided to forgo breakfast and the picnic lunch in favor of brunch in front of the television.

While Angel removed his t-shirt, Buffy tried not to be obvious as she stared at him. She hadn’t realized how muscular he was. With a washboard stomach, broad shoulders and large muscled arms, he reminded her of the perfect man. Angel was exactly what she imagined he’d look like. He was perfect.

Unbeknownst to Buffy, Angel was doing the exact same thing. He nearly gasped out loud as her shapely form was revealed under her shorts and tank top. She wore a two-piece, turquoise bathing suit that covered only the essentials. It might have been looked slutty or trashy on some other girl, but on Buffy it looked sophisticated.

"Hey, Angel?" Buffy asked twenty minutes after they’d laid down, turning on her right side to face him. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"Do you ever dream?"

"Occasionally. Of course, it all depends on what I’ve had to eat before I went to bed," he answered.

She playfully slapped his left arm. "Not that kind of dream. Something you’ve wanted for longer than you can remember; something you never imagine could ever come true?"

"Sure I do. I guess everyone dreams of meeting someone, falling in love and raising a family with that person. So I guess that doesn’t count. Aside from that, I’ve only had one other dream my entire life. All I ever wanted to do is be a writer. Not necessarily a household name like John Grisham or Stephen King, but just have something of mine published for people to read. And for people to actually read it and like it. I always dreamt of graduating from high school, going to Emerson College in Boston and then after getting my Master’s Degree, I’d submit my first manuscript to a major publishing house, where it would go on to being a New York Times best seller. But I’ve given up on that dream."

"Why? It’s a wonderful dream."

"Because it’ll never happen."

"But you told me you got accepted to Emerson. Angel, I looked up some information on that college. It’s one of the best creative arts colleges in the country. If your dream is to write, that’s the place to go," Buffy informed him.

He nodded. "I know it is. And I was so excited when I got the acceptance letter in the mail until I did some serious thinking. I can’t go away to school. I have obligations, my mother, my job, not to mention that I can’t afford the tuition. That’s the end of it. What about you? Do you have a dream?"

She turned on her back again. "It’s stupid. Nothing like yours." ‘And embarrassing,’ she thought. ‘No way can I tell you that my dream is to fall asleep in your arms after we’ve made love. Stupid.’

"Hey, I told you mine."

"I can’t tell you. It might not come true then."

"Am I in it?" he kidded.

"Yeah," she replied reluctantly. "And that’s why I can’t tell you. You’ll laugh at me and it won’t come true."

"Buffy, I promise I won’t laugh at you."

She shook her head. "Nope. If and only if it happens, I’ll tell you." Buffy stood up. "I’m going swimming."

She waded into the ocean, enjoying the feeling of the warm sun beating down on her and the cool water on her legs. She dunked her head under the water, cooling her face. While she swam, Buffy reflected on what had happened so far that weekend with Angel. In less than fifteen hours, they’d had a heart to heart talk, they’d shared their dreams of the future – or Angel had, anyway – and Buffy recalled the unpleasant memory of her mother’s death. And most importantly, they had professed their love for one another.

Grinning mischievously, she got out of the water, cupping her hands together to hold some of the cool water. When she reached Angel, Buffy separated her hands, letting the water fall to his chest.

As soon as the water landed on him, Angel jolted up into a sitting position. "What the hell…?"

"You looked like you could use some cooling off," she said, giggling.

"I’ll get you back for that, Buffy," he swore.

"You’ll have to catch me first." She ran back to the water.

He bolted up, chasing his girlfriend into the water. The coolness of the water felt like needles pricking him all of his body, but Angel ignored it, concentrating only on his revenge. By the time he caught up with her, the water was already to his chest.

Picking her up by the waist, he threw Buffy into the water. She resurfaced, wiping water from her face. "You’re real funny, you know that?"

"I know. But I’m not done yet." Without warning, Angel dove under the surface, grabbed her by the knees, successfully making her lose her balance. She fell underwater and he took the opportunity to pull her into his embrace. His lips met hers and they continued to kiss even after their heads came above the water.

***

"I had a lot of fun today," Angel said later that night as he and Buffy were watching a movie on television.

She curled up deeper in his comfortable embrace. "Me, too."

"Thanks for inviting me to come here this weekend." He planted a kiss on the back of her head. "You know what? I’m glad Missy and Xander didn’t come with us. I don’t think I would have had as good of a time."

"I totally agree. We needed some ‘us’ time."

A bolt of lightning lit the dark night sky and several seconds later, the power went off. Buffy and Angel were left in complete darkness.

"Shit," she cursed when a rumble of thunder came from outside. "We lost power. Now what?"

"Maybe it’s only a broken fuse. Where’s the fuse box?" asked Angel.

She thought for a moment, trying to recall. "Outside. Five feet off the ground on the right side of the sliding doors."

"I’ll go see if I can fix it."

She reached over, opening a drawer on the end table. "Here’s a flashlight. Dad always keeps one here just in case. Take it with you. And be careful."

He took it from her. "I will be."

Buffy didn’t move a muscle in the entire five minutes Angel was gone. Every time there was a roll of thunder, she jumped. Ever since she was little, she’d been deathly afraid of thunder. Moreso, she hated being alone during a thunderstorm.

"It’s not a busted fuse," Angel announced when he returned. "The power is totally out. The lightning must have hit a power line or something. We’ll have to wait awhile until the power company comes out and fixes it."

She took the flashlight from him, rainwater dripping on her hand in the process. Turning it on, she flashed it on him. "You’re soaked to the bone."

"It’s pouring out there."

"You should get out of those clothes before you catch pneumonia."

"I should."

Another crash of thunder sounded, only this time, Buffy screamed. "Are you okay?" Angel asked.

"I’m afraid of thunder. As in deathly afraid," she divulged. Yet another one sounded and she screeched.

"Come here," Angel told her. She fell into his arms and he stroked her hair. "It’s okay. I’m right here."

"Hold me?"

"Whatever you want."

Angel simply held Buffy for a few minutes. He leaned down to kiss her, hoping it might take her mind off the electrical storm brewing outside. It deepened to passionate in a short amount of time.

"We should probably stop," he said between kisses. He wasn’t really sure if he wanted to stop, though. In fact, he knew he didn’t want to stop.

"I don’t want to," Buffy answered. "I-I want to do this."

"Buffy—"

"No. I mean it." She took his left hand in hers and placed it over her right breast. "I want you to touch me. Like last night. Only I don’t want to stop this time."

Angel took a deep breath. "Maybe we should wait."

"I’ve waited thirteen years, Angel. I love you. And I want to do this."

She kissed him, praying that he wouldn’t tell her to stop. His hand remained where she’d put it, but his other one traveled to the small of her back, holding her in place. Their kiss intensified and she thrust her tongue into his mouth, brushing it against his until the two were dueling. She moved her arms around his waist, untucking his wet t-shirt from his shorts.

Angel broke the kiss. "Bedroom?" he asked breathlessly.

Buffy shook her head. "Too far. Here. Right here."

And as the storm raged outside, the rain pounded against the windows, the thunder crashed and wind blew. The occasional bolt of lightning lit up the otherwise dark living room where Buffy and Angel gave in to their feelings and desires and made love.

***

13

The power came back on in the middle of the night. The lights turned on, as did the air conditioning and the television. The volume on the television was so loud that it woke up Angel. He opened his eyes, unsure of where he was and why it was so loud. Buffy lay next to him, mere inches away. A peaceful, contented smile adorned her face, proof that she was sleeping soundly.

Angel got up off the floor to turn off the lights and the television. He didn’t want them to wake up Buffy as they had him. The first thing he turned off was the television. In doing so, he came to the realization that he was completely naked. ‘Maybe I’d better put on a pair of shorts or something,’ he thought. So he reached into his overnight bag, pulling out a pair of black boxer shorts. Slipping them on quickly, Angel turned back to see if his girlfriend had woken up.

Buffy lay on the floor, uncovered and hiding nothing in her slumber. For the first time, he was seeing her. It had been too dark while they were making love for them to see one another clearly. And she was utterly breathtaking. There was no part of her he could see that he didn’t love.

The previous morning, he’d placed his blanket on the back of the couch, so Angel grabbed it before turning off the lights. When he laid back down again, he covered them both up with it. The last thing Angel wanted was for Buffy to feel uncomfortable when she woke up. Placing a feather-light kiss on her forehead, he went back to sleep.

***

At nine forty-three, Buffy began to stir. Being an early riser, Angel had been awake for two hours, but did not want to leave her side. He’d been watching her sleep since nearly eight in the morning.

Her eyelids fluttered open, and she smiled shyly when she looked right into Angel’s brown eyes. It all came back to her: being comforted by him when the power went out and the thunder crashed, kissing him and telling him not to stop, asking him to make love to her, and falling asleep in his arms afterward. He had made her life-long dream come true.

"Good morning," Angel greeted, lightly stroking her silky blonde tresses.

"It’s morning already?" she asked.

He nodded. "Yep. The sun is shining and the birds are chirping. It’s perfect."

"No more rain?"

"Nope. It must have stopped after we fell asleep."

Buffy sighed happily. "Thank you."

"For what?"

She snuggled tighter in his embrace. Her cheek rested on his broad shoulder, his arms were wrapped around her waist. "For last night. You made me feel so safe."

"I wanted to help you forget about the storm brewing outside. You must really be afraid of thunder," he commented.

"Terrified," she admitted. "But not last night. I never felt so safe and secure in my life."

"That’s what I’m here for."

"Wh-what time did you wake up this morning?" Buffy wanted to know.

He shrugged. "Around eight, I suppose."

"Did you got out for your morning run?"

"No. I didn’t want to leave your side so I watched you sleep instead," he answered. "Besides, I think I got enough exercise last night to get me through the day."

She frowned with worry. "Angel, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to push that on you. We’ve only been together for a couple of weeks, but I’ve wanted it for so long. I don’t know how long you and Kelley waited before you two slept together, but I feel like I pushed you into something you didn’t want. Did I push? ‘Cause if I did, I’m sorry and –"

"You don’t have to apologize for last night, Buffy. You didn’t push me into doing anything I didn’t want to do. And I don’t even know what the standard waiting period is for what we did last night. In the three years Kelley and I dated, we never once made love and that’s the reason she broke up with me."

"Never?" It was one thing to hear the rumors around school, but it was different to hear it straight from Angel.

"Not once. Maybe deep in my heart I knew she wasn’t the one I was meant to share that experience with. You were." Angel paused. "Buffy, I didn’t screw up at all, did I? I did everything right?"

"I don’t know. There’s nothing else for me to compare it to."

He looked at her with shock evident on his face. "But I thought…"

"That the rumors were true?" she finished. "I’m not a slut and I haven’t slept with anyone else. Last night was the first time for me, too. How could I give my body to someone else when my heart belongs to you?"

"I didn’t mean to insinuate anything."

"I know you didn’t. I’ve dated a lot of guys and people automatically assume I slept with them. When I was in eighth grade, my mom gave me the sex talk. What happens, how special it is and that you should only share it with someone you love. And in my heart, in my mind and in my dreams, that someone was always you."

Angel put his fingers under her chin, lifting it as he lowered his head to kiss her. His tongue slid into her mouth and she opened it wider to accommodate him. Buffy broke the kiss shortly thereafter.

"Ugh. Morning breath. Someone needs to go brush his teeth," she teased.

He narrowed his eyes. "Ha ha."

***

With Buffy dressed in a white tank top, khaki shorts and a pair of tennis sneakers, and Angel in a blue t-shirt, jean shorts and sneakers, the two of them took a walk along the beach. They had originally planned to go for a short hike through the woods, but the ground was still muddy from the previous night’s storm. So instead, they planned to walk down to the pier two miles down the beach.

She wrapped her arms around his right one. "I can’t believe we have to go back tomorrow morning. I don’t want to leave."

"Neither do I," agreed Angel. "Too bad we couldn’t stay for another day."

"If you call in sick for work we can," she suggested kiddingly.

"I wish I could."

"Yeah, I know. God, I never want to leave. This weekend has been perfect."

Forty-five minutes later, they reached the pier. It was for the most part deserted with the exception of several people fishing and a few other couples walking around. When they couldn’t walk any farther, Angel took Buffy into his arms.

"I love you. I can’t seem to stop saying it," he said.

"Then don’t."

She wrapped her arms around his neck, standing on her tip-toes to reach her lips to his. Their kiss was gentle and loving, not wanting to draw too much attention to themselves by making it more passionate.

An older couple in their sixties watched with smiles on their faces as Buffy and Angel kissed. "Aww," the lady gushed.

With embarrassed expressions on their faces, Buffy and Angel broke their embrace and blushed when they saw the other couple watching them.

"Now do you see what you’ve gone and done, Anna? You have embarrassed these poor kids," her husband chastised. "Why don’t you apologize?"

"Sorry about that. It’s just that you two looked so cute. And so in love," Anna commented.

"Thank you," Buffy replied. "We are."

"You’ll have to excuse my Ted, he doesn’t have a romantic bone in his body. How long have you kids been together?"

Buffy and Angel exchanged glances. "Three weeks," Angel answered. "But it seems a lot longer. We’ve known each other since we were little kids. It just took us a little while to get together."

"How sweet. Ted and I have been together for forty-four years now. The best years of my life."

"That’s great."

"And I’m still as in love with him as I was when I was twenty. I wish the same for the two of you. I can see you’ll make it. There is something in your eyes that tells me you’re in it for the long haul. Good luck."

Buffy grinned, hoping with all her heart Anna was right. "Thank you. Same to you as well."

***

When they returned from their walk, the two of them started dinner. Angel still couldn’t believe what an amazing cook Buffy was. She’d prepared a sirloin steak smothered with fried onions and mushrooms and gravy, mashed potatoes and broccoli. For dessert she made peanut butter chocolate chip brownies.

At ten after eight, the two of them sat on the beach watching the sun set over the ocean. Buffy’s head rested on Angel’s shoulder, his right arm flung around her shoulders.

"Dinner was delicious, by the way," Angel complimented. "You’re an outstanding cook."

"Years of practice, I guess."

"I don’t think I can move a muscle. I’m so stuffed!"

She playfully punched him in the side. "You’d better be able to move. I’ve got big plans for us tonight and you’ll definitely need to move to partake in them."

"I’m not *that* stuffed," he said, playing along.

Buffy put her head back on his shoulder. "This is such a beautiful scene. The sun setting along the ocean horizon…if I could draw, I’d draw this."

"I’ll keep that in mind next time I have my sketching pad out."

"You draw?"

He nodded. "A little. I mostly sketch and doodle, though."

"You draw, you write, you get straight A’s…is there anything you *can’t* do?" she asked.

"Haven’t found anything yet."

The sun dipped below the horizon and five minutes after it did so, Angel grabbed Buffy and scooped her up into his arms. She squealed when he began to walk toward the house.

"What are you doing?" she demanded.

"Well, you said you had plans for us tonight and I could use some exercise to burn off some of those excess calories I got from dinner. Unless you are opposed to the idea," Angel informed her.

"You won’t find any opposition here. I’m all yours."

He carried her inside the house, heading straight for the bedroom. Angel was going to make damn sure everything was perfect this time around. No sooner had he placed Buffy back on the ground than she pulled his shirt off. His muscles rippled under his tanned skin as she ran her hands along his chest. She could feel the beating of his heart and she smiled. ‘He is so perfect, everything I imagined he’d be. I’m so lucky I found him and that he loves me back,’ Buffy thought.

"I love you," she whispered.

"I love you, too."

They kissed with a passion the extents of which they’d never experienced before, even the night before.

A pang of nervousness went through Buffy. "Angel, stop for a second. I-I’m really nervous. Scared."

"Why? You don’t have to be nervous. It’s just me."

She bit her lip. "I know that, and that’s why I’m scared. I don’t want to disappoint you."

"What are you talking about?" Angel couldn’t understand where these things were coming from.

"What if I’m not what you expected? I don’t want you to see me and think ‘What the hell was I thinking?’ or wake up in the morning and go ‘Giyah!’. I couldn’t stand it if I lost you because I’m not pretty enough."

"Buffy, that’s crazy talk. I love you and I’d never think that."

"Still…"

Placing his pointer finger on her lips, Angel silenced her. "I-I saw you. This morning."

"What?"

"Sometime in the middle of the night, the power came back on. When I got up to turn everything off, I saw you sleeping. And the sight of you, it was so wonderful, so perfect and beautiful. It didn’t disappoint me at all. I’m still here now, so that should tell you something."

"Really?"

Angel nodded. "Really. Now, are you going to let me finish what I started?"

"Okay."

Buffy ran her hand along the side of his face. "I love you, Angel. Only you, for the rest of my life."

He closed his eyes at her words. "I know. Me, too."

"Will you hold me until I fall asleep?"

"You never had to ask."

After he’d settled into bed under the covers, he took his love in his arms. "Remember yesterday when we were talking about our dreams?" Buffy asked.

"Yeah."

"This was mine. Right here, right now. Falling asleep in your arms. And you made it come true. This is all I ever dreamed of."

Angel kissed the top of her head. "I’m glad I could make it come true for you. And I’ll do my best to make them all come true. Every last one."

***

A horrific nightmare woke Buffy up several hours later. She bolted upright in bed, her eyes filled with frightened tears and her breathing heavy. Holding the blanket to her chest, she tried to catch her breath. Angel, who’d been asleep next to her with his hand resting on her stomach, awoke a minute later.

"Hey. What’s wrong?" he asked, sitting up alongside her.

Her lower lip quivered as she touched her hand to his warm cheek. "You’re real? You’re really here?"

"Of course I am. Where else did you expect me to be?"

Buffy rubbed her eyes with the palms of her hands. "I…it must have been a dream. An awful dream."

"I’m thinking it must have been really horrible if you’re so upset. What did you see? What happened?"

"It was a nightmare, Angel. I dreamt that none of this happened. You and Kelley never broke up, you went to the Prom with her and I asked you to dance. When I told you how I felt, you laughed at me. Everyone laughed at me. You and Kelley and Xander and Harmony and Cordy and your sister…the entire senior class! You said I was just some snobby little princess and that you hated me. It was horrible!"

Angel put his arms around her, holding her so that her back was pressed against his chest. "It’s okay, Buffy. It wasn’t real. Right here, right now…this is real. I swear it."

She felt his hands moving under the blanket to embrace her. "Promise?"

Planting a kiss on her shoulder, he replied, "You have my word."

***

14

At noon the following day, Buffy walked into her house. She was both happy and sad at the same time. On one hand, she’d spent the most perfect weekend of her life with the man she loved. On the other, she was disappointed that it had to end. And that she and Angel had to part. They’d kissed and held each other when she dropped him off at home, but he promised to call her when he got home from work.

"Buffy. You’re home awfully early," Mr. Summers commented when his daughter entered the kitchen.

"Yeah. Wanted to beat the holiday traffic. How was your meeting in Seattle?"

"Boring. But everything’s okay now, we worked it out."

She smiled. "Glad to hear it."

"And how was your weekend? Did you have a good time?"

Buffy blinked. ‘Does Dad know?’ She always felt as if her father could see right through her. And she knew he’d be livid if he found out she’d lied about spending the weekend with her friends. Especially when she had actually spent the weekend with her boyfriend.

"Yeah. We had a great time. Girls’ weekend and all that, big fun," she lied.

He turned back to his newspaper. "And Prom? That went well, I suppose?" he continued, not showing a great deal of interest. He only asked because he felt he was obligated to.

His lack of interest didn’t go unnoticed by Buffy. Her face fell. "I was voted Prom Queen."

"That’s great, honey," he replied casually. "Glad you had fun."

"I’m going to my room to unpack my stuff," she informed him, biting her lip to hold back her tears. She hated being back home; she missed Angel. Not just him, but she missed having someone around who was concerned about her feelings. Her father obviously didn’t care.

"Cordelia called this morning and wants you to call her back," Mr. Summers said. "Didn’t she go with you to the beach house? I thought you said she was."

‘Oh shit,’ she thought. ‘Now what?’ "Um, she had a family thing to do. Her parents wouldn’t let her go."

"All right. Oh and, Buffy?" he called before she stepped out of the room.

She turned around. "What, Dad?"

"Wear something nice to dinner tonight. I have one of my business associates coming over."

"Okay."

"Why don’t you invite your new boyfriend to join us? That way I can meet this young man of yours and you’ll have someone to talk to."

Buffy shook her head. "He has to work tonight. Maybe some other time."

She left the room, heading straight for her bedroom. Upon closing the door, Buffy leaned against it, a solitary tear falling down her cheek. ‘Angel, I need you. I miss you so much. I need your arms around me right now.’ She wondered what he was doing at that exact moment.

***

Angel stood on the front porch for close to five minutes after Buffy pulled away. He kept his eyes on her car until she made a left-hand turn at the end of his street, heading in the direction of the wealthier side of town. It felt strange for him to be away from her. They’d spent nearly every minute together since Saturday morning. He missed her sunny presence already.

He entered his house, half-expecting to be dive-bombed by his mother and sister. Thankfully, he found the living room empty.

"Mom?" he called. "Missy? Is anyone home?"

"We’re in the kitchen!"

Holding his overnight bag in his left hand, Angel found them sitting at the kitchen table, watching him expectantly. "I’m home. Did everything go okay while I was away?"

"Yes. Us women managed fine without you," Melissa replied sarcastically. "No major catastrophes occurred while you were off frolicking in the sun with your girlfriend."

"Missy…"

She raised her eyebrows. "God, take a joke. Actually, Mom felt a little dizzy yesterday but that’s about it."

"Are you alright?" he asked his mother. Suddenly, he felt guilty for being away when Mrs. Riches needed him.

His mother nodded her head. "It was nothing. Just a minor dizzy spell. Nothing to get all worked up about."

"I should have been here."

"Like I said, it was nothing. Besides, you deserved a weekend away from all this doom and gloom. Did you have a good time? And Prom, how did that go?" Mrs. Riches wanted to know.

Angel smiled. "I’m glad I went. I had a great time at Prom with Buffy. It was fun."

"Your sister said Buffy was voted to be Prom Queen. You must have been very proud of her achievement."

"I was lucky to have gone with her. And the weekend trip to the beach house was a lot of fun as well."

"What did you two do there?"

He couldn’t tell his mother everything that happened over the weekend. "Friday night we talked, Saturday we laid on the beach and went tanning and swimming. There was a storm at night and it knocked the power out. And then on Sunday Buffy and I went for a walk down to a pier and watched some movies later on. Nothing too exciting."

"You must be exhausted. Buffy probably wore you right out," Melissa commented harshly.

Angel chose to ignore his sister. "Like I said, it was fun. Buffy and I had a great time."

Mrs. Riches smiled. "And I seem to remember three weeks ago when a certain young man came into this house swearing off girls. Said they only went for bad boys. It looks like you found one who likes the good guys. You might want to keep Buffy around, Angel."

"I plan on it." He sighed. "I’m going to put my stuff away before it gets all wrinkled and take a nap before work."

"It sounds like Angel really enjoyed himself this weekend," Mrs. Riches said to Melissa once Angel left the room. "I like his new girlfriend. Buffy’s very down-to-earth and is such a lovely girl. They make quite a handsome couple."

Melissa shrugged. "I guess so."

"And she makes your brother quite happy. Did you see that smile on his face? I bet she put it there," Mrs. Riches noted.

"Yeah." ‘I bet I know how it got there, too.’ She stood up. "I have to go ask him something. Excuse me."

Melissa headed down the hall to Angel’s bedroom, not bothering to knock before entering. He looked up when he heard the door open. "Missy, what are you doing in here?" Angel demanded.

"I want to know what really happened this weekend."

"I don’t know what you are talking about."

"Oh please. Don’t act stupid, Angel. It doesn’t become you. Do you honestly expect me to believe that all you did with Buffy was swim and talk and tan and go for walks? How stupid do you think I am? You might be able to pull your good little boy routine off on Mom, but it doesn’t work with me," accused Melissa.

Angel nonchalantly hung up a shirt. "Fine. What do you want to know?"

"Did you sleep with her?"

"That’s none of your business."

"You did! I can’t believe it. My own twin brother had sex with the Ice Princess!"

"You’re putting words in my mouth, Missy. I never said that."

"You don’t have to! It’s written all over your face. What the hell is wrong with you?" she asked. "Angel, you could have any girl in the entire school, but instead you had to pick the bitchiest, most self-centered person on the planet! Why?"

"I love her. And she loves me."

Melissa shook her head. "She’s playing you for a fool. How much are you willing to bet that your precious little girlfriend is on the phone with all of her other bitchy friends telling them what it was like to finally land you in bed?"

"Get out," he ordered, doing his best to keep his voice under control.

"I’m simply stating a fact."

"You don’t know the facts. Actually, you have no idea what happened between me and Buffy this weekend. It was wonderful, she made me feel alive for the first time in my life."

She nodded. "You did sleep with her. You did it with Buffy."

"So what if we did sleep together?!" Angel exploded. "It doesn’t concern you or anyone else. It’s my life, let me live it."

***

"Are you going to tell me what happened this weekend or not?" Cordelia asked excitedly when Buffy came over an hour later. "I want details!"

"What do you want to know?"

She sighed, exasperated. "Hello? Everything!"

"It was nice."

"Nice? Nice?! You have got to be kidding me. You spent the entire weekend with *the* most gorgeous guy at Sunnydale High and all you can say is ‘it was nice’?"

Buffy plopped down on Cordelia’s bed. "It was the best weekend of my life!"

"Care to elaborate or am I going to have to guess?"

Buffy smiled softly. "Friday night, Angel and I had a long talk. I told him everything…I said that I have loved him since grade school."

"What did he say?" she wanted to know.

"He didn’t get angry or push me away or anything. Cordy, he loves me, too. More than he ever loved Kelley. We kissed and we went to bed," she said.

Cordelia raised her eyebrows. "You went to bed? As in slept together?"

"Not like that."

"So, nothing happened between you two."

"That isn’t what I said. Let’s just say I owe you a very expensive Prada purse," Buffy told her, cryptically.

Her jaw dropped. "You’re kidding. Something did go on this weekend. I knew you two wouldn’t be able to keep your hands off of each other."

"It started out innocently enough," she began. "Friday night he and I were kissing and before I knew it, he was touching me. Hands-in-my-shirt kind of touching. Plain old making out Saturday on the beach, but then there was an electrical storm at night. And you know how afraid I am of thunder. Angel held me and comforted me and one thing led to another. I woke up Sunday morning on the floor in the living room with his arms around me."

"You actually slept with him?" Cordelia couldn’t believe it. Granted, she assumed something would happen between Buffy and Angel, but she never imagined it would go beyond kissing and touching.

Buffy nodded sheepishly. "Yeah. It was great, wonderful, perfect, and a million other adjectives I can’t think of. I made love to the man I love, how could it not be perfect and wonderful? It felt right and he made me feel so safe, so beautiful. Everyone’s first time should be like that."

"Did you guys spend the entire rest of the weekend in bed? Was it a day-long sexfest on Sunday?" her friend joked.

"No!" Buffy exclaimed, agitated. "See, now you’re just making what Angel and I shared seem so cheap. It wasn’t."

"I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. Buffy, I was curious, I guess. But…what was it like?"

"Great. Every single time, because I was with him. Neither of us were sure the first time, so we had to follow our instincts. I wouldn’t trade this past weekend with him for anything in the world."

"Wow. That is so cool. Almost makes me want to rub it in Kelley Page’s face that you slept with him before she did."

Buffy shook her head. "Cordy, don’t. It’s not right."

"Who cares? It’ll be fun. Besides, that was the whole reason she broke up with him. It will eat her up inside and I want to see it."

"I can’t do that. She doesn’t need to know and I’m not going to say anything. And if you are really my best friend, you won’t say anything either. Everybody doesn’t need to know. What me and Angel did was private; I’m only telling you because you’re my best friend. Please, don’t tell anyone else."

"I won’t say a word."

Buffy hugged her. "Thank you. This is it, Cordelia. I’m going to be with Angel forever. We were destined to be together, and after this weekend, I am positive of it."

***

15

At school the next day, Angel stood in front of his locker reading the index cards he’d made for his and Buffy’s presentation first period. He was worried that he’d mess up the dates and cause both of them to fail. After all the hard work they’d put into it, Angel didn’t want that to happen.

"Doing some last-minute cramming?" Buffy asked, walking up to him.

He nodded. "Yeah. I wanted to go over all the information one last time before we have class."

"Nervous about having to talk in front of the entire class? You never seemed like the type who had a fear of public speaking."

"I just don’t want to screw up the facts and end up wasting all of our time. We worked hard on this project."

"We did. But I’m confident that we’ll do fine. Come on, Mr. Giles adores you, you’re not going to fail. And he’s not going to fail me either. Don’t worry about it."

"Still –"

Buffy interrupted him. "Angel, just shut up and kiss me. I guarantee it’ll take your mind off things."

He couldn’t deny that it would. Looking at his girlfriend, Angel wondered if he’d be able to concentrate on the project with her being so close, smelling like raspberries and looking so good. She was wearing a pale pink skirt with flowers on it, a white button-down blouse and cream-colored Mary Janes. The outfit itself was conservative, yet it hid nothing from Angel. He knew the curves that were hidden beneath the concealing clothes. Her hair flowed in waves to her shoulders, and he had to keep himself from running his hands through it.

Bending down to kiss her, Angel placed his hands on either side of her waist, lifting Buffy slightly off the ground. She threw her arms around his neck, brought her lips to his and they kissed gently. Neither wanted to make a big scene in the middle of the hallway, so they kept their embrace rather toned-down.

"Mmm. Do you have any idea how much I missed being able to do that?" Buffy questioned when their embrace ended. "It was hell not being with you yesterday."

"It wasn’t like we didn’t see each other, Buffy. Plus, we were on the phone for two hours last night," Angel pointed out.

She frowned. "You know what I mean. I missed falling asleep in your arms, your heartbeat lulling me to sleep, making love to you, waking up with your arms wrapped around me so tight and secure…I missed all of that yesterday. It was like the biggest piece of me was missing."

"I know what you mean." Angel leaned his head down, pressing his forehead against hers. "I think maybe we need to talk about something, though."

"What is it?"

He took a deep breath before beginning. "This past weekend was wonderful, pure heaven. I never felt so free in my entire life, and I have you to thank for it."

"I’m sensing a big ‘but’ here."

"Some stuff happened there that I never planned on. And I think maybe you and I should have thought more about it before we…before we slept together."

Buffy backed up a few steps. His words took her by surprise. "You’re angry. At me, for pushing you. I knew it. You didn’t want to do it, but I made you and now you’re mad."

Putting his hands on her shoulders, Angel shook his head. "No, I’m not angry or mad or even the least bit regretful about anything we did. I wanted it just as badly as you did, believe me. But like I said before, it wasn’t planned, at least on my part. I was re-living it last night before bed and in retrospect, I realized we forgot something really important."

"What?"

He looked around, making sure nobody was listening to them. "Protection."

"No we didn’t."

"Buffy, we did. Trust me, I didn’t have anything. I never expected to do what we did and I didn’t bring anything with me just in case."

"I had it covered, Angel. I…I’ve been on the pill for years now." She caught the look of confusion on his face. "For medical reasons. You know you’re the only one."

Angel sighed with relief. It was a load off his mind. "I feel a little better about it now. But maybe next time we should have more. You know, just to be safe."

"Next time?" she asked with a smile.

He nodded. "There’s going to be a next time, right?"

"Probably. I wouldn’t say no if you proposed the idea. And do whatever you feel you need to do. If it’ll ease your mind, do it."

He grabbed a hold of her hand. "That’s why I love you."

"I love you, too. Now let’s get to class and ace that presentation."

***

Kelley found Melissa after third period and pulled her off to the side of the hallway away from everyone else.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Melissa demanded.

"I’ve got questions and you’ve got answers," Kelley stated.

"Go away."

"As soon as you tell me exactly what’s going on between Angel and Buffy."

Melissa raised her eyebrows. "Why do you care, Kelley? As I seem to recall, you dumped my brother for Parker. What’s the matter, did he get sick of your annoying, incessant whining?"

"I’m concerned about Angel, that’s all. I don’t want to see him get hurt."

"Like you hurt him? You have no idea how upset he was when you broke up with him. But he’s moved on. Get over yourself, Kelley. Angel certainly has." She enjoyed tormenting her brother’s ex-girlfriend. It was almost as much fun as tormenting his current one.

"Is it serious?" she wanted to know. "I know they’ve been working on some project for English class and they went to Prom together. And I walked by them this morning and saw them kissing. All I want to know is how serious they are."

"It’s pretty serious. Satisfied?"

"Is it true they went away together this past weekend? That’s what I heard."

"What’s wrong? Are you jealous of their relationship? Angry because he moved on to someone else when he’s supposed to be pining over you?" Melissa asked.

"No!"

"I think you are. Angel’s happy, so just stay out of it. I may not like Buffy Summers personally, but she is a vast improvement over you. She makes him happy; happier than I ever saw him with you."

Kelley shook her head. "No. Angel still loves me. He always will."

"Sure, whatever. Feel free to keep deluding yourself. He’s in love with Buffy. Told me so yesterday afternoon, as a matter of fact. Oh, and yes, they did go away together," Melissa informed Kelley with a hint of glee in her voice.

The worst possible scenario entered Kelley’s mind. She imagined Angel wrapped up in Buffy’s arms, a loving smile on his face, blankets wrapped around his waist. "Did they…sleep together?" she choked out.

"Don’t know," she lied. Melissa knew that her brother would kill her if she told anyone else. As much as she wanted to blurt it out, just to see the expression on Kelley’s face, she did not want to hurt Angel or break a promise to him.

"Angel tells you everything, Missy. You *do* know." ‘Do I really want to know, though?’ Kelley thought. ‘Wait. Angel would never do it with the Ice Princess. He’s too chivalrous and noble and old-fashioned. He didn’t try to touch me for three years, no way did he go all the way with someone he’s only been seeing for a couple weeks. And certainly *not* with her. Not my Angel.’

She smirked. "Maybe I do and maybe I don’t. But you’ll never find out unless Angel tells you so himself. And I don’t see that happening. Now get out of my way before you make me late for class."

As she walked down the hall, Melissa smiled to herself. Kelley was jealous of Buffy. ‘How funny is that? Oh, if only she knew. I have got to tell Angel.’

***

Buffy met up with Angel in front of the cafeteria as lunch was beginning. They hadn’t seen each other since their English class ended two hours earlier.

"Hey," Angel greeted. "I missed you all morning."

Her green eyes sparkled with glee at his greeting. "Really? You missed me?"

He kissed her cheek lightly. "Of course I did. I always miss you when you’re gone."

"That’s so sweet."

"You make it sound like nobody’s ever said that to you before."

"That’s because nobody has. Well, except my parents, but they don’t count. But coming from you, it does."

Angel laughed. "I count, huh?"

"Uh-huh." She bit her lip. "Am I…am I allowed to sit with you or isn’t it appropriate or proper or whatever? I’m not up on these things."

"Of course you can sit with me. It’ll be something new; Kelley never sat with us. She and Missy didn’t exactly get along."

"I take it Melissa doesn’t get along with anyone you go out with."

He narrowed his eyes. "What makes you say that?"

"’Cause she doesn’t like me either."

"She just hasn’t given you a chance yet. Give her some time and she’ll come around. I’ll *make* her come around."

They walked over to where Xander and Melissa were sitting. "Hi, guys," Angel said to them. "Do you mind if Buffy’s sits with us today?"

Xander shook his head. "Fine by me." Ever since Prom, he’d discovered that he didn’t dislike Buffy as much as he thought he would. He’d been judging her based on rumors and as it turned out, he liked the girl. She was nice, funny, sweet and most of all, his best friend was in love with her. Xander felt he owed it to Angel to try to get to know Buffy, and he wanted to. "How’s it going, Buffy?" he asked.

She smiled shyly at him. It felt uncomfortable to be sitting with them; part of her felt unwanted at this table with Angel’s best friend and twin sister. "Really good, Xander. What about you?"

"Same. Happy that that English presentation is finally over. I hope Sherri and I did okay. The last thing I need is another F in that class."

"You guys did great, I’m sure of it," Buffy reassured him. "Mr. Giles looked really impressed with your project."

"You and Angel nailed it. Add another A in the grade book for you two."

"I hope so."

Melissa picked up her can of Pepsi and took a sip of it. "So, Buffy, where’s your tiara? Prom Queen is such a big honor, I would have thought you’d be wearing it all the time."

Buffy knew that Angel’s sister was being sarcastic. "No, I took it off when Angel and I got to my dad’s beach house Friday night. Haven’t worn it since. And when I got home yesterday, I put it on a shelf in my bedroom with all my other prizes and trophies and things. Why did you think I’d be wearing it?"

"I figured you’d want to prove to everyone that you really are the prettiest girl in the Senior class. Vindication and all that. You know, they can’t call you names anymore, like ‘Buck Tooth Bitch’ or ‘Pimple Princess.’"

She glared at her boyfriend’s sister. "Well, as I recall, Melissa, those were all names you made up for me."

"Still…"

"Truthfully, it doesn’t matter to me anymore. I honestly don’t care what people said about me when we were in junior high. I’m not the same person I was back then."

Melissa smirked. "Yeah, I know. You’re only half the person you were back then. It’s amazing what Weight Watchers and a little plastic surgery will do. Especially when Daddy’s loaded and his daughter has a face with mountains of acne."

"Missy, that’s enough!" Angel chastised.

"I was only kidding."

"Well, you’re taking it too far. I don’t want to hear it anymore. Can’t you just be civil for five minutes?"

She rolled her eyes. "Fine, whatever."

Angel placed his palm flat on Buffy’s back. "I’m so sorry about that," he apologized. "Melissa doesn’t know when to stop. Are you okay?"

Buffy nodded. "I’m fine. I can handle it. Hell, I have for years, I should be used to it by now. Angel, she’s mostly right. I was fat, ugly and had awful skin. No big deal. Let’s forget about it."

***

From across the lunchroom, Kelley stared angrily over at Angel’s table. His left hand was rubbing Buffy’s back while she fed him french fries off her plate. She balled her hand in anger and disgust; he’d never been that attentive or loving during their three years together.

‘Look at her,’ Kelley thought. ‘She’s eating it up! Goddamned little bitch. Who the hell does Buffy Summers think she is? Rebound girl, that’s who!’

"Kelley?"

She turned around, seeing Parker looking at her with questions in his dark eyes. "I’m sorry, what did you say?"

"I was asking you what you wanted to do tonight," he told her. "But apparently, your mind is somewhere else. Like, on your ex-boyfriend."

"Don’t they realize this is a classroom, not an orgy?" she asked. "How gross! God, we never did that. Look at them! He’s got his hands all over her. Angel refused to touch me or even kiss me in public. He’s practically groping Buffy in front of the entire school!"

He glanced over at the other table. "Can’t say I blame him any. Buffy’s a hottie. She’s got an amazing body now that she’s lost all that weight. He’s a lucky guy."

"Excuse me?!"

"You heard me."

"You’re sick. It…it’s gross. My boyfriend’s got his hands all over that little slut. It’s a disgusting sight."

Parker narrowed his eyes. "Ex-boyfriend."

"What?"

"Angel is your ex-boyfriend, Kelley. You dumped him for me, remember?" He took a deep breath. "As I seem to recall, he wasn’t man enough to give you what you needed. But I was more than willing to do it. It certainly looks like he’s giving Buffy what you wanted from him all along."

Kelley hit him. "That’s not funny."

"And neither is sitting here while my girlfriend is staring at her ex. You need to get over this fascination with him. Who cares if he’s screwing her?"

"I care."

"Well, get over it or pretty soon, you won’t have a boyfriend. ‘Cause frankly, I’m getting sick of it."

She sighed heavily. "Parker, I didn’t mean it like that. Really. I can’t help but care about him and worry about him."

"Do you still love him?"

"I was with him for three years and a part of me will always love him," she answered honestly. "I hope you understand that."

"Yeah, but I don’t like it. You’re my girl, not his. He seems to have moved on, maybe it’s time you did the same," Parker suggested.

***

16

"So, I heard you went to Prom with the owner’s daughter," Liz said to Angel at work that evening.

"Yeah, I did. We had a great time."

"And here I always thought you hated Buffy as much as the rest of us. Were all the other guys at school afraid to be seen with her and her daddy paid you to go with her?"

Angel glared at his co-worker. "Where did you hear that from?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "That’s what I heard at school. Everyone’s talking about you two. How much did you get paid for taking the Ice Princess to Prom? A hundred dollars and the weekend off? Not worth it if you ask me."

"I went with Buffy because she asked me to go," he replied through gritted teeth. "Her father never paid me, I went because I wanted to go with her."

"Are you two dating now?"

"Yes. She and I have been going out for weeks now. Is there a problem with that? Is it against some law or rule to date the girl I love?" Angel shot at Liz.

Her jaw dropped. "Love?"

"Love. L-O-V-E. Do you want me to shout it throughout the entire store that I love Buffy? I’ll do it."

"I wouldn’t mind hearing it," a voice from behind him stated.

Turning around to the checkout line, Angel found his girlfriend standing there with a pleasant smile on her face. "I didn’t see you standing there just now," he said. "What are you doing here?"

"I missed your handsome face. And I needed a few things."

He looked down at the pile of stuff she bought. "Apparently so. Want it on your account?"

Buffy shook her head. "I think I’d better pay cash for this. Dad doesn’t need to know everything I bought today."

Angel began to ring up her items. Shampoo, conditioner, the raspberry body wash he’d loved the smell of Friday night, a pair of shoes, a silky black nightgown and a matching robe. "Nice," he complimented.

"Do you like it?" she wanted to know.

"Very much."

"I’ll model it for you one of these days. Next time Dad goes out of town. Which should be soon, given his track record."

When Angel picked up the nightgown to place it in the bag, he noticed two boxes underneath it. He was a little tongue-tied. "Buffy – you bought…"

"Uh-huh. I thought you might be a little too self-conscious buying them yourself, so I figured ‘what the hell’ and picked them up myself. Are you upset?"

He shook his head. "Not at all. Just surprised I guess. Why two boxes?"

"One to keep at my house, one for yours," she replied with a mischievous grin on her face. "Think about how many we would have gone through this weekend if we’d had them. Besides, you said you wanted us to use more protection. Here you go."

"You’re amazing, Buffy. Totally amazing."

She pulled him close to whisper in his ear. "They’re multi-colored and ribbed for added pleasure. Thought you’d like to know."

Liz heard them giggling and from her lane, she caught sight of a box of condoms on the conveyor belt in front of Angel. Her eyes widened. ‘Looks like things are moving pretty fast there. Either that or the Ice Princess thinks she’s going to get some. Ha! Like he’d do that.’

"Doing anything after school tomorrow?" asked Angel, putting the rest of her things in the plastic bag.

"Nothing written in stone. Depends on what you’ve got planned."

"Well, Missy’s got softball practice and Mom’s going to visit an old high school friend. I wondered if maybe you’d like to come over and keep me company."

She lifted her eyebrows. "The whole house to ourselves?"

"We can work on that box for my house. I don’t want to see them go to waste."

"Oh no, wouldn’t want that to happen. How can I say no to that proposal? You’re on."

***

"I don’t get you, Buffy," Harmony said to her during lunch on Wednesday morning.

Buffy lifted her eyebrows. "Why? What did I do?"

"The graduation party you’re having next month. I was under the impression it was going to be very exclusive. Only the really cool people were to be invited, that’s what you told us. Now it’s a big free-for-all. There’s flyers everywhere!"

"Thank you, Harmony, for telling me. But since I’m the one who put them there, I already knew that. I decided to invite the entire Senior class," she informed her friend. "It’s only fair."

"Are you aware that there will be major losers at your party? People like Anya Emerson and Xander Harris will be coming. It’s just wrong!" complained Harmony.

"Xander Harris happens to be a very nice guy. You should give him a chance."

Harmony made a face. "Ew! I *so* don’t think so. Talk about gross and disgusting. Why are you inviting everyone?"

"It’s not just my graduation, it’s everyone’s. And I don’t want to exclude anyone because they’re not ‘cool’ enough for you."

Cordelia sat down across from Buffy. "Whoa, intense conversation going on here. What did I miss?"

"Nothing, except Buffy has completely lost her mind!" Harmony screeched.

The brunette smiled. "And how did you come to this conclusion, Harm? What did she do?"

"Didn’t you see the invitations Buffy posted on the bulletin boards around school? Anyone and everyone can come to her graduation party."

"Your dad gave you the okay?" Cordelia asked Buffy. Her friend had called her last night with the idea. She thought it sounded like fun. Even though she knew the real reason was so she’d have an excuse to invite Angel and his friends.

Buffy nodded. "Yep. He even agreed to spend the night at a hotel so he wouldn’t get in the way."

"That is so cool. Have you told Angel yet?"

"Nope. He’s the whole reason I’m doing this, you know that. If it was just the quote-unquote cool people, he’d be bored out of his cute little mind. If I invite the whole Senior class, then he’ll have someone talk to, etc.. Think about it, if I invite you guys and just him, he’d probably be stuck by my side the entire night."

Cordelia pouted her lips. "Oh, horror! An obviously smart and good-looking guy hanging on your every word…what torture for you, Buffy."

Harmony sighed. "Can we not talk about the dementia that is your boyfriend? God, Buffy, what do you see in that boy?"

"I thought I covered it with smart and good-looking," Cordelia said. "Buffy loves him; we should be happy for her."

"Hey, I’m happy that she found someone. I just don’t understand why it had to be him. Of all the guys at Sunnydale High, it had to be the poorest, least worthy."

"Harmony, I don’t expect you to understand," Buffy told her. "It seems like nobody else does and I’m sick of having to explain it. I love him and he loves me. That’s all that matters."

***

Buffy glanced around Angel’s house after they walked through the back door. "Are you absolutely positive that nobody else is home?"

"Yes. Missy has softball practice until four-thirty and Mom said she won’t be home for dinner. We’re completely alone, Buffy. You and me and an empty house for an hour and a half."

She stood in front of him. "So, what do you want to do?"

"I thought we’d get to work on that box you bought yesterday. Unless you have a better idea as to how we can pass the time."

"I don’t have any better ideas, sorry. Looks like you’ll have to lead the way to your bedroom, though."

Taking her hand in his, Angel led her to his bedroom. Upon reaching it, he opened the door for her. "Here we are, my lady."

Buffy walked in, looking around the room with interest. She’d never been inside his room before. "Nice. Definitely not what I expected from you, though."

"What did you think you’d find?"

"I don’t know. Something more masculine. Trophies, posters of football players or half-naked women. Not…stuffed animals and a blanky. That is a blanky, isn’t it?"

He nodded, looking down. "Yeah. Embarrassing, but I can’t seem to part with it. It’s like comfort to me. But the stuffed animals are mostly Melissa’s. Only one or two of them are mine."

"I think it’s so cute that you have a blanky after all these years. Most guys would never admit to that."

"Guess it’s a good thing I’m not most guys?"

Buffy pulled him closer to her until their bodies touched. "It’s a very good thing. You’re different from other guys, that’s part of why I love you. Now, what do you say we open that box?"

Angel grinned. "Your wish is my command."

***

It was quarter to four when Melissa returned home from softball practice. The coach had let the team leave early because she had a parent-teacher meeting at her son’s school. So Melissa jogged home rather than call her brother for a ride home.

She sighed with aggravation when she saw Buffy’s car parked in the driveway. ‘Great. Just what I need. Now I’m going to have to deal with her on top of everything else. I hope she’s not staying for dinner,’ Melissa thought.

The house was silent when she entered. "Where the hell are they?" she said.

She headed for Angel’s bedroom, wanting to tell him that she was home. But when she opened his door, Melissa caught sight of something she really hadn’t wanted to see.

Angel and Buffy.

In his bed.

Naked.

Trying her best to suppress the scream inside her throat, she closed the door silently, hoping she had not been noticed by the two lovers.

"Ew…" she mumbled. "I *so* did not need to see that." She tried to shake away the images of her brother in an intimate embrace with Buffy. Walking into her room across the hall, Melissa turned on the radio and waited.

***

"Are you sure you can’t stay for dinner?" Angel asked after they were finished getting dressed.

Buffy shook her head. "I wish I could, believe me. But Dad’s got some client of his coming over for dinner and guess who has to cook it? Me. Although I’ll take a raincheck on that dinner."

He bent down to kiss her. "Anytime. Do you want me to walk you to your car?"

"That’s okay. I think I can find it. Besides, it might be a better idea if you straightened up your bed before Melissa and your mother get home."

"We did make a mess, didn’t we?" he commented with a smile.

"A little bit. I’ll give you a call when my Dad’s client leaves."

"Promise?"

"Yep, I promise. Thanks for this afternoon. It was…pleasurable."

Angel laughed at her choice of words. "I have to agree with that. I never knew what I was missing until I met you. And fell in love with you and…well, this. And I saw the flyers around school. I can’t wait for your graduation party. It should be fun."

"Oh yeah. We can sneak off and have our own little private party." She glanced at her watch. "Okay, I *really* need to get going. See you tomorrow."

After giving him one last kiss goodbye, Buffy left his room and walked to the front door. She didn’t see Melissa sitting at the kitchen table working on her homework.

"Well, I was wondering how long it would be before you two came out of my brother’s room," Melissa said.

"I–I didn’t see you there."

She laughed shortly. "Yeah, apparently. I’ve been home for half an hour, but you and Angel were too busy to notice. But I suppose it’s understandable when you’re focused on screwing the guy on top of you."

Buffy visibly paled. "You saw us?"

"Unfortunately. You know, I never thought my own twin brother would be the fire who’d melt the Ice Princess’ heart."

"Shut up."

"Look, Buffy, I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing with Angel’s heart, but if you hurt him, you’ll be hearing it from me. And you’ll wish you’d never met him, or me. Is that understood?"

"I have no intention of hurting Angel, Melissa. I love him and I don’t hurt the people I love. There’s no game here. It’s real. You are going to have to deal with that."

Melissa stood up. "I’m just giving you fair warning. It’s no secret that I don’t like you."

"Why? What did I ever do to you? Because if my memory serves correctly, I should be the one who hates you," Buffy stated with a razor edge to her voice. "You and all your friends teased and tormented me for years because I was overweight and ugly. I can understand that and I’ve moved past it; ignored it and not let it bother me. But what’s your excuse now? Huh? I’m not fat anymore, and if my Prom Queen crown means anything, I’d assume I am no longer ugly. So, come on, tell me. Why do you still hate me?"

"You’re a stuck up princess who thinks the world revolves around her. You have always looked down on everyone else because we’re not good enough to be in your line of sight."

"That’s not true. I never did that."

Melissa smirked. "Sure you didn’t. Tell me, is sleeping with my unsuspecting brother considered slumming? Or is it a dare, perhaps, from one of your snobby friends?"

She shook her head. "No, never. Maybe you don’t care that I’ve loved Angel since I was five. He never treated me the way the rest of your friends did. He was nice, he always stood up for me when you were making fun of me. I don’t need your approval, nor do I want it. Can’t you see that I make him happy?"

"That’s why I don’t want you to hurt him. Remember, I warned you."

"I’m obviously not going to change your opinion, which is fine with me. Think what you want, Melissa. But if you keep this up, I’ll show you why they call me the Ice Princess. Don’t push me. ‘Cause I’ll push back."

***

17

"This is it," Buffy said to Angel as they prepared for graduation. The entire Senior class was milling around the gymnasium, waiting for the ceremony to begin.

"Yep. Looks like," he agreed.

"Are you excited about your speech?" she wanted to know. Buffy couldn’t wait to hear it; Angel had refused to let her see the four drafts he’d made of it. He’d been very self-conscious about letting anyone read it.

He shook his head. "Not excited. More along the lines of nervous and utterly terrified."

"You’ve given speeches before," she reminded him.

"Yeah, in front of a classroom of people. This is ten times different, Buffy. It’s not twenty-five students this time around. It’s one hundred students and their families. That’s a lot of people."

Buffy put her arms around him in a show of comfort. "And you’ll do just fine. Forget about the three hundred other people in the room and pretend you’re talking to me."

"I wish it were that simple."

"It’s time, students! Take your places!" Mr. Giles called.

The students filed into two straight lines, heading for the auditorium. Buffy stood behind Melissa and she reached around her to touch Angel’s arm. "Good luck."

He smiled weakly. "Thanks. I’m going to need it."

***

"Now, may I introduce the 2001 class Valedictorian. Angel Riches," Principal Snyder announced.

Carefully standing up, Angel ascended the stairs that led to the stage. He stood behind the podium, his index cards spread before him. Taking a deep breath, he began.

"Ladies and gentlemen, faculty and staff, my fellow students, today we stand at a crossroads. Graduation. To some, it’s the end of an era, a great period of time that is coming to an end; to others, it’s the beginning of a new life. Where do we go from here?

"I see life as a neverending road. Occasionally, you reach a fork and you must decide which road to take. Do you continue along the same path or do you turn onto another road to see where it takes you?"

Buffy listened attentively to every word he was saying. She couldn’t have been more proud of him as he spoke about the difficult choices they’d be faced with; being forced to leave behind loved ones, friends, significant others and everyone they care about during their journey. Angel spoke about true love and finding the one person to spend eternity with. In her heart, she knew he was speaking about the two of them.

When his speech was concluded, the audience stood up and applauded. Angel’s words were true, everyone knew it. Buffy felt tears sting her eyes when he ended by saying, "And no matter where our respective roads take us, we’ll always be connected. We will be able to look back and say that we are the Sunnydale High Class of 2001."

***

After the graduation ceremony ended, Buffy caught up with her father in the campus quad. "Hi, Dad!"

He embraced her. "Hi, my little graduate. I can hardly believe that my little girl is out of high school. I wish your mother were still alive to see it; she’d be so proud."

"Wherever she is, I know she’s watching," Buffy responded.

Mr. Summers nodded. "You’re probably right. She wouldn’t have missed it for the world."

"Do you want me to introduce you to Angel now?" she asked. "He’s over there with his mom and sister. It’s the perfect time for you two to meet. And you can say hi to Mrs. Riches. She told me the two of you went out in high school."

"Only a few times, nothing really serious," he said, keeping his voice devoid of emotion. When he’d seen Adrienne Riches across the quad, his heart had skipped a beat. She was as lovely as ever, Mr. Summers couldn’t deny it. Or the fact that he still harbored feelings for her, even after close to twenty-five years.

"You two can get reacquainted. She’s divorced, you know," she informed her father.

He nodded once again. "Yes, I know the story. Her husband ran out on her, left her with two young children."

"It’s awful. And she’s been sick with cancer on top of it. Angel’s told me everything. He works nonstop to support them and pay off her hospital bills. It’s been rough on the whole family."

"He sounds like a good son."

Buffy grinned with pride. She knew her father would love Angel. "He’s amazing. Straight-A student, editor of the school paper, hard worker and an all-around great guy. Angel even got accepted at one of the most prestigious creative arts colleges in the country. But he can’t go."

"Why not?"

"Can’t afford it. He has to go to community college instead. Just wait and see, though. My Angel will be famous. I just know it."

Mr. Summers cocked an eyebrow upward. "Your Angel? How serious is it between you and him? You’ve only been going out for a few weeks."

"I love him. And he loves me. Does it get more serious than that?"

"Be careful, Buffy." Deep inside, Mr. Summers was worried.

"I am. I’m a big girl, I can handle myself."

He bent down to kiss his daughter on the cheek. "Have a good time at the party tonight."

"You’re leaving already? I thought you wanted to meet Angel." Disappointed filled Buffy’s voice.

"Some other time. Invite him over for dinner tomorrow night," he suggested. "We’ll have more time to talk then."

"You mean, more time to give him the third degree?" she joked.

He smiled. "You know me too well. Have fun tonight and be careful."

"I always am, Dad. You do the same."

She watched unhappily as her father left the campus. Something was amiss with him, Buffy could tell. It wasn’t like him to be so disinterested in her personal life.

Cordelia caught up with her, grabbing her by the arm. "Buffy, you’ve got a big problem," she hissed.

Buffy looked at her in confusion. "Huh? What are you talking about, Cordy? What problem?"

"I just overheard Kelley talking to Michelle Blake and Susan Miller. Parker broke up with her yesterday afternoon."

"Why is this a problem for me? I could care less if Kelley and Parker aren’t together anymore. What’s the big deal?"

"The big deal is that she’s single now. And from what I heard, she’s very regretful."

Buffy waved her hand for her friend to continue. "Meaning…?"

"Meaning that she’s got her sights set on getting her ex-boyfriend back. You know, your current boyfriend."

"No."

"Yes. Need I remind you that Angel and Kelley were together for three years? They’ve got a history; one that Kelley Page is looking to repeat." Cordelia sighed. "Maybe you’d better go talk to Angel before she does. Let him know what’s going on."

Buffy shook her head. "Nope. I think I’ve got a better idea. One that will make her think twice before going anywhere near my boyfriend."

Glancing around the crowd of people in the quad, Buffy found Kelley standing ten feet away from Angel and his family. ‘Probably waiting for the right time to tell him. Not gonna happen, Kelley,’ she thought. She made a beeline for her, plastering a sweet, innocent smile on her face. Tapping the girl on the shoulder, Buffy said, "Hi, Kelley."

Kelley turned around, raising her eyebrows in the process. "Buffy. Hello."

"Can you believe that we went here for four years and never once had a single class together? It’s weird."

"Yeah, weird." She eyed Buffy curiously. "What do you want?"

"I heard about you and Parker breaking up. Such a shame."

"Why do you care?"

Buffy smiled. "Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t care. But I found out you want to get back together with Angel. I’m here to tell you to forget it. It’s not gonna happen."

"Oh yeah, that’s right. You’re his rebound girl. I almost forgot about that. My sympathies," Kelley replied coldly.

"You know, at first I thought I really was the rebound girl. That Angel was only with me because he was missing you. But it’s been over six weeks; I know he cares for me. Angel’s in love with me, he said it himself."

Kelley smirked. "I hate to burst your little bubble, Buffy, but he loves me. We were together for three years. How can six weeks with you compare to that? And you don’t think he’ll come running back to me with open arms when I tell him that I made a mistake and I want him back? You will be yesterday’s news. If I hadn’t broken up with him in the first place, you wouldn’t even be in the picture. ‘Cause in the real world, Angel wouldn’t touch you and we both know it."

She didn’t let Kelley’s words bother her. Buffy believed in Angel’s love for her, but she wanted his ex-girlfriend to back off. And she had just the ammunition. "Three years together? Really? That’s a long time. But it’s quality, not quantity. Angel and I have shared a lot in our time together. It can’t even compare to what you two had. Had, Kelley, not have. Deal with it, it’s over."

"I was there when his mother went in the hospital and had her surgeries. I stood by his side when they found out the prognosis and I was his shoulder to cry on. I was his first love, the first girl he ever kissed, and I’ll be his first everything. *You* deal with it," snapped Kelley.

"Uh-huh. You think so, huh? Maybe you can help me out with this, I always sucked at grammar. Is it considered comedy or irony when I guy dates a girl for three years and refuses to sleep with her, but then makes love to another girl after only three weeks with her?" Buffy asked.

The question took Kelley by surprise. "No…"

"Yes. If only you’d waited a couple more weeks, you could have been his first. You could have gotten what you wanted from him. But you just couldn’t wait, could you? Looks like your loss is my incredible gain."

"You…had sex with him?" she asked incredulously.

Buffy nodded. "Yeah. Well, I wouldn’t exactly call it sex. Angel and I made love. Several times. There’s a difference between sex and making love. But yeah, technically we had sex. After the Prom."

"He…never…he wouldn’t do that. Not with you and *not* after only three weeks."

"Do you want details, Kelley? Should I tell you what Angel likes? What he can do? What he makes me feel? How much stamina he has?" Buffy enjoyed seeing the look of horror on Kelley’s face.

"You’re lying. You’re sick."

She raised her eyebrows. "Am I? Then why do you look so scared? You know it’s true, so stop denying it. Face it, honey, it’s over. Angel has moved on; took things to the next level. Without you. It’s me and him now, you don’t fit into the picture anywhere. So live with it."

***

18

"I still don’t understand why I have to come here," Melissa complained while she and Angel walked up the driveway towards the Summers’ house. "She’s your girlfriend. I didn’t even want to come in the first place."

Angel sighed. "Quit whining, Missy. If Buffy was nice enough to invite the whole Senior class, the very least you can do is make an appearance. Pretend to have a good time."

"The only reason she did it was to make you happy."

"Don’t start," he warned.

Buffy met them when they entered the backyard. It was already crowded; people were milling around in the tents that had been set up, swimming in the pool or relaxing in the hot tub. There were even a few people dancing on the makeshift dance floor in front of the DJ Mr. Summers had hired.

"Hey, you," Buffy said. "I was wondering when you were gonna show."

"Yeah, whatever," Melissa replied, brushing past Buffy, heading for the food.

"She sounds really excited to be here," Buffy commented.

Angel bent down to give his girlfriend a kiss. "It was like pulling teeth to get her to come."

"She didn’t have to if she didn’t want to."

"No, I told her she had to. She can grin and bear it," he told her.

"Did you bring you swim suit like I told you to?" she asked.

"It’s in my car."

"Why don’t you go get it? That way we can skip the formalities and head straight for the hot tub," she said.

He grinned. "I’ll be there in a couple minutes."

Buffy made her way to the hot tub, which had been left empty after the previous occupants had decided to go swimming. Discarding her black skirt and emerald green blouse, she slipped into the warm water wearing a conservative black two-piece bathing suit. The water reached her neck when she sat down and she dunked her head underneath to wet her hair.

Five minutes later, Angel joined her, wearing a pair of red trunks. Her eyes gazed hungrily at his body, filled with both lust and love for him. He sat down across from her.

"Sorry it took me so long," he apologized. "I stopped to say hi to a few people."

"No need to apologize. It’s a party, you’re supposed to socialize."

"Then why are we in the hot tub by ourselves instead of being out there socializing?" Angel asked jokingly.

She moved to sit next to him. "We are socializing. With each other. Besides, when I’m with you, it’s like there’s nobody else around. It’s as if we are the only two people in the world. Is that crazy?"

He shook his head. "Not at all. That’s exactly how I feel."

***

They remained in the hot tub for an hour, ignoring the other people at the party. Buffy broke the passionate embrace they were sharing.

"Maybe we should be doing this somewhere else," she suggested.

Angel nodded his head. "Yeah, we probably should."

"Everyone’s watching us. Not to mention, I feel like a prune. My skin is all wrinkly."

He stood up, stepped out of the water and then offered his hand to Buffy to help her out of the hot tub. "I’ll get dried off and changed in the bath house."

"I have to fix my hair, so I’ll go inside. I know it looks awful. Just come upstairs to my bedroom whenever you’re ready. For some alone time."

"I’ll be there."

Angel headed for the bath house, passing by his sister along the way. "You and Buffy were certainly in the water for a long time," Melissa said in an accusatory tone.

"Yeah, so?"

"Nothing. I couldn’t help but wonder what you two were doing."

He scowled at her. "Mind your own business."

"Meow. You’d better watch it, Angel. Your girlfriend’s bitchy personality is starting to rub off on you."

Shaking his head, Angel walked away from Melissa. He simply wasn’t in the mood to argue with her. Instead, he walked to the bath house to change back into his pants and shirt. It took him only five minutes to dry himself off and get dressed again. When he exited the building, he found Kelley standing outside the door waiting for him.

"Hi, Angel," she said shyly.

He smiled politely at her. "Hey."

"How are you?"

"Good. How are you?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "Been better, I guess. Can you believe we made it through four years of high school?"

"Four years? I never thought I would make it."

"Here we are, though. We graduated."

"Yep."

He was all set to end the conversation there, but Kelley continued talking. "Angel, I…I made a big mistake."

"What do you mean?"

Kelley sighed. "Parker and I broke up. He said I cared more about you and your feelings than I did about him. And he was completely right. I never stopped caring about you."

Angel didn’t know what to say. "Okay…"

"Look, I know what I did to you was unfair. I only left you because I thought I needed more in our relationship; I needed a physical tie to you in addition to the emotional one. Parker provided that physical tie that I craved. But it wasn’t emotional. It wasn’t the same as being with you. It was nice, don’t get me wrong. It just wasn’t enough."

"I’m sorry to hear that."

"Which brings me to why I’m here. Angel, I want a second chance. I promise to be honest and faithful this time around. No screwing around behind your back."

He shook his head. "It’s too late, Kelley."

"No," she argued. "It’s not too late. I admit it, I made a mistake. Everybody makes them. After all we’ve been through, how can you say no?"

"I moved on. What you and I had is over, you said that yourself when you dumped me for Parker."

"And I told you that I was wrong. I need you; we can work past it."

"No we can’t. I’m with Buffy, remember?"

Kelley frowned. "Like that’s going to last. She’ll be bored with you in another month. The girl only wants you for your body; what you can do with it and what you can make her feel with it."

"Where did you get that from? My sister?" he accused, narrowing his chocolate brown eyes.

"I know you slept with her, and that’s understandable. You were on the rebound and afraid you’d never have a chance to be with anyone. Angel, I’ll wait another three years to be with you like that if I have to. All I’m asking for is another chance. We can start over from the beginning. Please," she begged.

"No," Angel repeated. "I’m with Buffy. I’m in love with her, don’t you understand that? You and I are over. And I am sorry if that hurts you in any way, but you’ll just have to accept it."

***

Buffy was standing in front of the mirror in her bedroom when a knock sounded at her door. "Who is it?" she asked.

"Me" was the reply.

She opened the door, seeing Angel on the other side. "What took you so long?" she wanted to know.

"I kept getting sidetracked," he answered, stepping into the room and closing the door. "First my sister, then Kelley."

"Oh. I thought maybe you changed your mind or something."

"And turn down the chance for some quality alone time with you? Not a chance." The first few bars of a slow song entered the room. "May I have this dance?"

She nodded and slipped comfortably into his embrace. "All of them forever."

// I try but I can’t seem to get myself
to think of anything but you
Your breath on my face, your warm
gentle kiss I taste the truth
I taste the truth
You know what I came here for
So I won’t ask for more
I wanna be with you
If only for tonight
To be the one who’s in your arms
to hold you tight
I wanna be with you
There’s nothing more to say
There’s nothing else I want more
than to feel this way
I wanna be with you. \\

"Angel, I have to tell you something," Buffy started. "And you’re probably going to be really angry with me."

"Why? What happened?" he asked her. "What did you do?"

"Something really stupid. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but now that I look back on it, it was a mistake."

She was the second person to say that to him that day. It made Angel feel uneasy. "Just tell me what happened, Buffy."

She took a deep breath. "After graduation this evening, Cordelia told me that Parker and Kelley broke up. And I was nervous and afraid that she wanted you back in her life. Cordy said she was telling everyone she was going to get you back. So…I sort of had a talk with Kelley. I wanted her to stay away from you and I ended up telling her what we did. Angel, I told her we slept together. God, I rubbed it in her face. I shouldn’t have said anything, but I couldn’t help it. Now you’re probably going to hate me."

// So I’ll hold you tonight like I would
if you were mine to hold forevermore
And I’ll savor each touch that I
wanted so much to feel before, to feel before
How beautiful it is
Just to be like this
I wanna be with you
If only for tonight
To be the one who’s in your arms
to hold you tight
I wanna be with you
There’s nothing more to say
There’s nothing else I want more
than to feel this way
I wanna be with you. \\

Angel rested his chin on top of her head and laughed softly at her admission. "It’s okay. I’m not angry with you and I certainly don’t hate you."

"But I told her something very private about you and me. And I did it to piss her off. I was afraid."

"Afraid of what?"

"Losing you."

He lifted her head up to look her in the eye. "You’re not going to lose me. How can you even think that, Buffy? I love you."

"You loved Kelley. You were with her for three years."

"And she broke my heart. I was miserable when we broke up. I wasn’t going to put myself through that pain again by going back to her. And I would never hurt you like that. Didn’t I tell you that I feel more strongly for you than I ever did for her? You should trust that."

Buffy nodded. "I do. You guys went through so much together; there’s a deep-rooted history that we just don’t have."

"We will. Just because Kelley and I have a history doesn’t mean I want to repeat it. Despite everything she and I went through, we didn’t make it. Going through hell doesn’t mean a couple is destined to be together. I want you, Buffy, not Kelley."

"Really?"

Nodding, Angel leaned down to kiss her. She held on to him, determined not to let go. Buffy felt so secure in his arms, in his loving embrace and, importantly, in his love. They were destined for one another; everything they’d go through, they’d go through it together. Buffy intended on spending the rest of her life with Angel, making him happy.

Angel backed up, leading her to the bed. The two of them fell backwards onto the mattress and laughed. "Guess that got a little out of control, didn’t it?" he said.

"Just a little." She leaned her head under his chin. "Would you do me a favor?"

"What?"

"Don’t leave me. Stay with me forever."

He stroked her long blonde hair. "Is that what you want?"

"Yes. I want to be with you. Like that song said."

"I’ll never leave you, then. You have my word. Wild horses couldn’t drag me away."

Buffy planted a kiss on his adam’s apple, trailing along the side of his neck. Her right hand unbuttoned his shirt, then pulled it to either side of his chest. She moved her lips downward, her kisses blanketing his exposed skin.

"Buffy, what are you doing?"

"Shh," she replied. "Don’t talk, just feel."

She continued to kiss him and Angel closed his eyes at the feeling of her lips on his skin. But he quickly opened them when she began to unbuckle his belt.

"Okay, we should *definitely* stop now," he told Buffy.

"Why?"

"There’s one hundred and fifty people downstairs."

"So?" she asked. "Nobody misses us."

Angel sighed. "What if someone comes in here and catches us having sex?"

"They won’t. Because we won’t be having sex."

"Buffy–"

"Angel, trust me. Just lay back and enjoy."

***

Half an hour later, Melissa ran up to Willow, who was sitting in one of the tents with Oz. "Will, have you seen my brother anywhere? I haven’t seen him since he and Buffy got out of the hot tub."

Willow shook her head. "Sorry, Melissa. I haven’t seen him. Did you check the pool?"

"I checked everywhere! I can’t find him."

"He went in the house about forty-five minutes ago," Anya informed her. "He’s probably with his girlfriend." She didn’t hide the bitterness from her voice; Anya was still upset that Angel had gone to the Prom with Buffy rather than with her.

"Wonderful," Melissa muttered.

Weaving her way around the people along her path, she made her way inside the house. He wasn’t anywhere to be found on the first floor. ‘Great. Angel’s with her. In her bedroom, more than likely having sex with her. I’m never going to get home now,’ she thought.

She knocked on every door until she heard Buffy answer, "Who’s there?"

"It’s Melissa. Put your clothes back on and open the door, Angel!"

The door opened almost immediately and she was faced with a very angry, yet fully clothed Angel. "What do you want?" he demanded.

"I want to go home."

"Why are you acting like this?"

"I’m bored. Take me home. I’ll be waiting by the car." She turned on her heel and headed back downstairs.

He sighed with aggravation when he turned towards Buffy. "Looks like I have to go."

"Are you going to come back?" Buffy wanted to know. "I still haven’t given you your present yet."

"If you want me to, I will."

She wrapped her arms around his neck. "You know I do," she said. "Stay here tonight."

"I don’t know if I can."

"Please? I don’t want to be alone tonight in this big house. Spend the night with me. I’ll make it worth your while."

Angel smiled down at her. "I’ll do my best. See you in a little bit."

***

19

"We’re back!" Melissa announced when she and Angel stepped into their mother’s room.

"Was Buffy’s party fun?" asked Mrs. Riches from the bed. She had been laying down watching television when her children came home.

"Eh. It was okay. Glad to be home, though."

Mrs. Riches smiled. "I’m surprised you two are home so early. It’s graduation night, you should be out partying. That’s what I did."

"I’m not a big party person."

Angel entered the room. He had quietly sneaked out to pack a change of clothes into an overnight bag. "You doing okay, Mom?"

"Fine. You don’t need to constantly worry about me, Angel. How come you left so early? I figured you wouldn’t be home for a few more hours."

"Missy wanted to come home, so I drove her. But I am going back to the party," Angel explained.

Melissa eyed the bag in her brother’s hand. "What’s that for?" she questioned, pointing to the bag.

"Buffy asked me to stay overnight. Is that okay with you, Mom?"

"Go right ahead. Have a good time."

"Thanks."

From several feet away, Melissa’s jaw fell agape. "I don’t believe it! Mom, how can you do that?"

"He’s eighteen years old. Your brother can do whatever he wants," their mother reasoned.

"It’s not like I never spent the night with her before, Melissa," Angel reminded her. "Remember? She and I spent three whole nights together after the Prom."

"Yes, and do you remember what happened then? You ended up having sex with her!" she shouted.

"That’s my business, not yours."

"Mom, how can you allow that? Angel’s only going over there so he can sleep with her," Melissa whined to her mother.

Their mother took a deep breath. "Melissa, leave the room so I can speak to Angel in private."

She did as her mother told her to. Smirking evilly at her brother, Melissa closed the door behind her. "Mom, she’s exaggerating," Angel said.

"Is what she said true? About the weekend after Prom, I mean?"

Slowly, he nodded his head. "Yes."

"You and Buffy…you slept together?"

Again, he nodded. "Yes. I love her, Mom. And she loves me. I never would have let things go as far as they have if I didn’t feel that way about her."

"The two of you have only been together for a short time," Mrs. Riches observed. "A little over a month."

"I was with Kelley for three years. It never happened with her. I am in love with Buffy. Can’t you trust my judgement?"

"Are you being careful, at least?"

"Very careful. Mom, you know me. I wouldn’t have slept with her if I didn’t have every intention of spending the rest of my life with her. I’m noble and old-fashioned, remember? You brought me up to be that way. I respect her."

She smiled. "I know; you’re a good boy, Angel. Just promise me that if something happens and you two get in trouble, you won’t leave her to face it by herself."

He kissed his mother on the cheek. "You know I’d never do something like that. I don’t run away when things get too rough, like Dad did. I’ll be there every step of the way for her if something should happen. I hope that puts your mind at ease."

"It does. Just please be careful."

"I always am."

***

"Go on, open your present first," Buffy ordered Angel. It was two hours later and they sat facing each other on the bed. All the partygoers had left twenty minutes earlier.

He opened the heavy box his girlfriend had handed to him. "I’m afraid to open it," he said with a smile. "What on earth did you get me?"

"Like I said, open it and find out."

Angel pulled out a laptop computer and stared at it for ten seconds before he even blinked. "Buffy, this is way too expensive. You really shouldn’t have."

"I wanted to. The computer you have at your house is an Apple IIE. It was time for an upgrade," she said. "It has everything you can possibly imagine, and a state-of-the-art word processing program for the Great American Novel you’re going to write."

He shook his head in utter amazement. "This is the best present anyone’s ever given to me. Thank you so much."

"Just remember to mention me when you write that novel."

"It’ll be dedicated to you." He handed her a small box in silver paper. "This is for you. I’m sorry I couldn’t have bought you something nicer."

Carefully, Buffy ripped away the wrapping paper, then opened the box. Inside sat a white gold claddagh ring. "It’s beautiful. I love it."

"The ring has a legend to it," he informed her. "I was so busy this past week working on my speech that I never got around to look into it."

Buffy put the ring on her left hand. She knew what the ring symbolized; her mother had one and had explained the lore behind it. The claddagh was the Irish wedding band. The gift filled her heart with joy. "Thank you. I’ll never take it off."

"I got you one more thing. It’s not a present, really. It is a poem I wrote for you."

He picked up the frame it had been sealed in and began to read the poem. "My Beloved."

"What are the right words to express how much I love you?
Love can have so many different meanings.
It can mean the love of a mother to a child, trying to protect her young from harm.
It can mean the love of a friend who’s always there in your life, during your trials and tribulations.
It can mean the love of a woman to a man, and how she fills him completely in every way imaginable.
My beloved, that is what you do to me.
When you enter the room, the sight of you sends shivers down my spine to the very inner core of my body.
When you flash that big bright smile of yours that exudes happiness and joy, both of which you bring into my life.
When you say the words I love you, I feel this part of my heart that was once empty and hollow being filled by those three little words over and over again until my heart is complete and whole.
When you kiss me with your sweet luscious lips; I can never get enough of that sweet taste that is uniquely yours, showing me every way in which you love me.
When we make love, I feel that we are intertwined as one.
There is no beginning or end; it’s just us; not you or me, but us.
Loving a woman like you has shown me, opened my eyes to new ideas.
You never judged me for my ideas or actions or opinions; you simply loved and accepted me.
If there is one thing I wish for, my beloved, it is an eternity with you by my side.
My beloved, you are my everything.
My beloved, I am fire and you are ice.
Our love and passion together douse the flames and leave behind a cool river flowing endlessly like our love.
My beloved, our love is eternal.
No matter where I’ll be, my beloved, you’ll always be in my beating heart until my very last breath.
My beloved, you mean so much to me.
No matter what words I may use to express my feelings for you, they will never be enough; nothing will ever be enough.
I love you forever, my beloved."

Angel looked up from the poem he’d just read. "Well? What did you think?"

Tears fell down her cheeks. "Angel, that was beautiful. You really wrote that for me?"

He wiped the tears away with his fingers. "Yes. About you and me. I love you, Buffy, and I meant every word I wrote."

"You want to spend eternity with me?" she asked, sniffling.

He nodded. "Yes, I do."

She threw her arms around him, tenderly kissing him on the lips. "Me, too."

Their kiss deepened and they fell back on the bed.

***

Some hours later, Buffy and Angel lay on their sides on her bed, facing each other. Both were exhausted after having spent their passion for one another.

"Angel?" Buffy asked.

"Yeah?"

"I-I was just thinking about something. And I wanted to know what you thought about it, or even if you have thought about it."

"Thought about what?" Angel wanted to know.

She gave him a small, shy smile. "I don’t know why I was thinking about this; maybe it has something to do with your speech at graduation. Have you ever given any thought to having children? Do you want them?"

"I guess so. Who doesn’t?"

"Would you prefer a girl or a boy?"

Angel eyed her suspiciously. "Buffy, are you trying to tell me something?" Fear gripped his heart at the possibility of her being pregnant. He’d promised his mother that he would be careful and he knew that it would disappoint her if something happened. "Are you…?"

She shook her head. "No, don’t worry. Everything is fine. I was just wondering. See, I always imagined having a son. A little boy who’d look exactly like his father."

"Why not a daughter?" he questioned.

"I’m too afraid she’d end up looking like me. Being all awkward and gawky and ugly. And then end up being teased and tormented like I was."

"You’re beautiful, Buffy. Don’t be so hard on yourself. Everyone goes through one of those stages."

"Sure. You never did," she muttered under her breath. "What about you? Have you ever wondered about kids? What they’d look like, that kind of thing."

Angel grinned. "Not until recently. But I think I’d want a daughter. I’d spoil her rotten and treat her like the little princess she is. And unlike you, I want her to look like her mother. With big green eyes and hair the color of spun gold. She’ll be a beauty, just like you are."

"Me?" she asked incredulously. "Why me?"

"Well, I sort of assumed you would be her mother. The mother of all my children. That is, if you’d even want to have any with me."

Joy filled her heart like never before. He wanted to have a family with her. "Would I? Angel, do you have to ask? Of course I do. It’s all I’ve ever dreamed of and wanted since, like, forever. I love you and I want to share everything with you. Absolutely everything; the good, the bad, having children, growing old with you and all that stuff. Nothing is ever going to change that."

He smiled at her response. "Good."

Angel propped himself up on one arm, using the other one to push her back to the bed. Bending his head down, he captured her lips in a sweet kiss. Buffy tangled her fingers in his soft brown hair, holding him to her. His tongue delved into her mouth, running over her own, caressing the roof of her mouth. Moaning his name, she pulled him even closer; then, using all her strength, she flipped them over so that she lay on top of him.

Slipping his hands under the blanket that covered them, Angel ran them over the silky skin of her back. He loved to touch her, and was filled with joy from the fact that he would be the only man to do so for the rest of her life. Removing his left hand from her, he reached over into the nightstand drawer for the necessary protection they would need.

Buffy put her hand over his. "Angel, no. Not now."

"Why not?" he asked, confusion glinting in his eyes. "I thought you wanted to do this."

She smiled at him. "I do, believe me I do. But I’m so tired right now. I only wanted to kiss you, to feel you touch me. It wouldn’t be much fun for either of us if I was just lying there."

"I could make it fun," Angel teased.

"Yeah, I’m sure you could. Please, Angel, let’s go to sleep."

"If that’s what you want, okay."

She frowned. "You’re mad at me, aren’t you?"

"No, not at all. It’s been a long day for both of us. I completely understand. I just thought you’d want to do it one more time before we went to sleep. It might have helped you fall asleep."

"I’m too sleepy. I can’t even form a coherent thought right now," Buffy explained. "Besides, I’ll sleep fine as long as you’re next to me."

"Okay. We’ll go to sleep." Angel scooped her into his arms, turning them so that they lay on their sides, her back pressed against his chest. He nuzzled her neck with his nose.

She closed her eyes, unable to keep them open any longer. It seemed as if she fell right to sleep when she was wrapped in Angel’s embrace. "I don’t think I told you how much I loved your speech at graduation."

"Thank you. I worked really hard on it."

"Yeah, I know. And it was sweet and thought-provoking and poignant all at the same time. I was so proud. You have an amazing creative ability; I told my dad today that you’re going to be a famous writer someday."

"It’s nice that one of us has confidence in that."

Buffy rubbed her hands along his arms, which held her about the waist. "Don’t be so self-effacing. It’ll happen, I know it will. Just give it some time."

***

Mr. Summers pulled into the driveway at quarter after nine the following morning. He gazed curiously at the green Ford Taurus parked behind his daughter’s Pontiac Grand Am. ‘Who is here?’ he wondered. It wasn’t Cordelia or Harmony’s car, that he knew for a fact. ‘Someone must have left their car here last night. Oh well.’

The house was silent when he entered, which wasn’t all that surprising to him. Buffy didn’t usually wake up until ten or eleven on her days off, and he imagined her sleeping even later because of the party. But Mr. Summers was eager to give her her graduation present. A week earlier, he’d purchased a brand new car for her, and he couldn’t wait to see the expression on Buffy’s face when she saw it.

He headed up the stairs to her bedroom and paused before entering. With a smile on his lips, Mr. Summers opened the door. The sight before him was something he had not been prepared for: his daughter laying asleep in the arms of the man he recognized as her boyfriend, Angel. It was apparent to him what had been going on the previous night.

"Buffy Anne Summers! What the hell is going on here?" he demanded, unable to control the anger and outrage in his voice.

She awoke with a start upon hearing her father’s voice. "Dad! Oh my god!" Buffy clutched the blanket to her naked body.

Next to her, Angel roused from his peaceful slumber. "Buffy? Why are you shouting? Who are you talking to?" he asked with a yawn. Looking at the doorway, he saw her father. Gulping, he said, "Mr. Summers."

When he didn’t say anything in reply, Buffy took the opportunity. "Dad, I can totally explain this."

"Downstairs. Five minutes. Fully dressed," he ordered, his face turning red. "Alone, young lady. I want him out of this house."

***

20

The two of them quickly climbed out of bed when Mr. Summers left the room. Buffy wrapped the bedsheet under her arms while Angel wrapped the comforter about his waist. When he looked at her, he noticed that her lower lip was trembling.

From behind her, Angel put his arms around her upper arms, wrapping her in his embrace. "I’m so sorry, Buffy," he apologized. "I never wanted to get you in any trouble with you father."

Buffy closed her eyes as if in pain. "This isn’t your fault. It’s mine. I-I never should have made you stay over. I knew my dad would be coming home in the morning. It’s all my fault."

"Everything’ll be okay."

"My dad was really angry. Angel, I’ve never seen him so pissed off in my entire life. It frightened me."

"He just found you in bed with your boyfriend. I can’t imagine any parent being too happy about that. I know my mom wouldn’t be thrilled if it had been her."

She shook her head. "This is different. Your mom knows about us, you told her everything. God, you can tell her anything and she will trust you and your judgement. Things aren’t like that for me and my father. It’s the complete opposite for us."

"Just explain it to him and I’m sure he’ll understand. I’ll even come with you if you want, for moral support."

"Thanks for the offer," she said, turning around to face him. "But I have to do this on my own."

Angel nodded. "Okay. Like I said before, everything will be just fine."

***

With a tentative breath, Buffy stepped into her father’s study. He was sitting in his leather swivel chair, looking out the window, watching the sun play on the wet grass.

"Is he gone?" Mr. Summers asked without turning around.

"Yes. Angel just left a minute ago. Dad, I can explain –"

Turning the chair, he glared at her. "Don’t. I have a pretty good idea of what went on up there. You were in bed with a boy you’ve only been dating for a little over a month."

"I know how disappointed you must be…"

"Disappointed? You could certainly say that, yes. I am quite disappointed. Frankly, I would have expected more from you." He took a sip of coffee. "I thank God your mother isn’t alive to see this."

"Mom would have understood. She wouldn’t have thrown Angel out on his ass like you did," Buffy said, tears stinging her eyes. "She would have been fine with it. I know she would have."

"You don’t think she would’ve been upset? Joyce is probably turning over in her grave as we speak, wondering where we went wrong with you."

She couldn’t believe her father was saying such things to her. "Where you went wrong?" she repeated. "Nothing’s wrong with me. I’m perfectly fine, perfectly normal."

"So, you consider it normal to be having sex with a boy you’ve hardly known for a month?" he asked, with a sharp edge to his voice.

"I’ve known him my entire life! And I’ve loved him for just as long. You can stop it with the sex lecture, Dad. I’ve already had it. Mom told me that I should wait until I find the man I want to be with forever, the man I love. Well, I love Angel! And he loves me."

"I always expected better from you, I thought you had much better taste in men. It’s almost shameful what you’re doing."

She didn’t understand what her father was saying. "Shameful? What am I doing that’s so shameful to you?"

"You should be with someone better, Buffy. You should be with a young man who can provide a stable life for you, give you what you need. A man with means," Mr. Summers informed her.

"A man with means…you mean a man with money?" she accused. "You think I care about that? I don’t. All the guys at Sunnydale High whose parents have money have egos bigger than the state of Texas. They’re rude and snobby and sick; they’re only after one thing and I’m not about to give it to them. Angel may not have any money, but he loves me. He knows how to treat me, and that means more to me than any dollar amount. He’s a bigger, better person than any of those so-called rich high school boys could ever hope to be.

"Angel works hard to get what he wants. He supports his sick mother and twin sister by working for *you* forty hours a week. He gave up going to an Ivy League college so he could stay at home and take care of them. It’s called substance, Dad, and he has a lot of it. How can you say that I shouldn’t be with someone like him? He’s what parents dream of. He’s what I dream of."

"Someone like him will only end up hurting you."

Buffy blinked. "How? And what do you mean by ‘someone like him’?"

"I suppose you already know about Luke Riches."

She nodded her head. "Yes. Angel told me about his father. He left them when Angel and Melissa were only ten. What the hell does that have to do with anything?"

"It’s been my experience that, in cases such as this, the apple never falls far from the tree." Mr. Summers took another sip of his coffee. "Angel will do the same thing to you that his father did to Adrienne…his mother. He’ll leave you broke, with children to care for. His children."

"Angel would never do that. He’s nothing like his father, he hates his father for what he’s done to that family," she told him. "How can you call yourself my father and say those things about the man I love? Haven’t you ever been in love? So deeply in love where you didn’t know where you ended and she began? That’s how I feel when I’m with Angel."

He fell into his memories at his daughter’s words. A face formed in his mind’s eye: a beautiful young woman with long, curly dark brown hair and deep chocolate eyes, and a smile that filled his heart with love when he had been Buffy’s age. A smile that still filled his heart even to that day. "Of course I’ve been in love like that. But that’s not what you’re feeling."

"How do you know what I’m feeling? You never take the time to find out."

"You are trying to defy me by dating someone you know I would never approve of; by doing things with him you shouldn’t be doing. If you wanted my attention, Buffy, you have it now. End this game you’re playing."

"This isn’t a game. I love him and he loves me. I don’t care if you don’t approve, I wasn’t asking for your approval."

"You have to stop this before you get hurt. That boy will only hurt you. Mark my words, young lady."

***

Angel was worried. It was four o’clock and he still had not yet heard from Buffy. He hoped everything was okay and that her father hadn’t come down too hard on her. ‘I’ll call her after work and make sure she’s handling everything fine,’ he decided.

When he stepped behind his register, Jason McKenzie walked up to him. "You’re wanted upstairs in the office, Angel. I’d suggest you go now."

"Who wants to see me?" Angel wanted to know.

"Mr. Summers," Jason said. "Man, what did you do? He never asks to see the employees. You must have done something big."

He shook his head. "You don’t want to know."

His heart beating nervously, Angel ascended the stairs to the owner’s office. Pausing for a brief moment, he knocked on the door.

"Come in!" Mr. Summers called.

Angel entered, closing the door behind him. He tried his hardest not to look like a scared puppy, but he doubted he was doing a good job at hiding his fear and apprehension. "You wanted to see me, Mr. Summers?"

"Yes, I did. Please have a seat, Angel. You and I need to have talk. It’s about your relationship with my daughter."

***

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