There she was.  Her jeep was steadily approaching the cliff.  Angel tried to swallow, but the colossal lump in his throat wouldn’t allow it.  The brightness of the headlights was blinding him, and he soon began to see small dots of color float in and out of his vision.  After a time, he closed his eyes against the light.
    He sensed the car come to a stop a several feet away from him.  The blazing headlights died, leaving nothing but darkness and a few afterimages on the insides of his eyelids.  The rumbling of the engine was abruptly silenced, and Angel imagined he could hear his own heart pounding.  The car door opened, and he could hear the sand and gravel crunching beneath her nimble feet.  She walked slowly, and he desperately tried to still the tremors that had begun in his stomach.
    "Hi," she said softly, inquisitively.  "You know, if you’re tired, we can do this another time—"
    "What?  No," he interjected emphatically, and his eyes snapped open.  He was amazed at how fast she seemed to have crept up on him.  She was dressed from head to toe in sheer white that sparkled and glinted in the moonlight.  Angel’s vision blurred with the tears that had begun to form in his eyes.  She was so radiant, so wonderful, and she was here for him.  Somehow, it didn’t seem fair that the lowest creature of all should be standing, basking, in the glow of the fairest being who ever walked the Earth.
    Cordelia smiled, eyebrows arching in slight surprise.
    "What’s wrong, Angel?" she asked, concerned.  She could barely control her own urge to join him in tears.
    He grinned and forced the teardrops to recede.
    "Nothing," he said hoarsely, shaking his head quickly.
    Cordelia smiled back, but she avoided his eyes.  She gazed out over the ocean.  The night was relatively clear.  She took a few steps past Angel, toward the edge of the cliff.  He, of course, followed her.  She stopped and waited for him to come up even with her.  Cordelia and Angel watched an airplane make its lazy trip across the night sky, and stillness reigned.
    "So," she said softly.  "Here we are."
    Angel opened his mouth to speak, but the right words eluded him, so he simply looked at her.
    "You…you might think I’m really crazy, but…" she began, trailing off.  She swallowed.  "God, this was so much easier to say in the car."
    "We—we could go sit in the car, you know, if that’s easier…"
    "No, Angel.  Out here’s fine.  It’s a nice night.  No smog," she said, hints of laughter in her voice.  "Well, less smog, anyway."
    "Yeah," he muttered, kicking at some pebbles.
    "Oh God, Angel!  How old am I?  Fourteen?  I just need to say this and be done with it!" she exclaimed, pulling at her hair.
    "Oh—okay!  Say whatever—"
    "Don’t look at me!  You can’t be looking at me when I tell you this because you just might think I’m completely insane, and I really can’t handle seeing the ‘Cordy needs to be committed’ face tonight!"
    Angel quickly stepped back so that he and Cordelia were once again side by side, staring out at the water.
    "This…this is all kinda new to me, but that’s only because I’ve been kidding myself for a long time now." She paused, searching.
    Angel felt the warm skin of her pinky finger brush against his icy hand, and he could barely contain himself.
    "Angel, you and I—we’ve gone through so much, and I know you already know this, but you’re my best friend.  The best friend I’ve ever had," she said, faltering on the last word.
    Angel felt her hand again, and this time he let himself linger there, soaking up the intensity that was emanating from her person.
    "God, what I am trying so pathetically to say," she exclaimed, frustrated, her voice breaking, "is that—oh my God—"
    He slipped his fingers in among hers, lightly and delicately.  Even with his vampire hearing, he strained to understand what she whispered into the chill night air.
    "I love you," she breathed, tears falling unbidden down her smooth cheeks.
    Angel tightened his grip on her hand, willing her to say it.  Tell me, Cordelia.  God, just tell me.
    Cordelia, overcome by a sudden wave of courage, pulled Angel by the hand until he was standing in front of her, dark eyes boring directly into hers.  Lip trembling, breath failing her, she took one of the greatest leaps of faith of her life.
    "I’m in love with you!" she exclaimed, and her face changed from one anguish to a vision of elation.  "I’m in love with you, Angel!"
    He swallowed hard and felt the tears returning, blurring the exquisite image before him.  He could not move.  He was afraid to ruin this moment, to take a wrong step and find that it was all an illusion.  Then, realizing that she might take his hesitation as some sort of rejection, Angel took action with a feverish speed.
    One step was all it took to close the distance between them.  He took her tear-streaked face in his trembling hands, and leaning close, he said the words he’d wanted so hopelessly to say for too, too long.
    "I’m yours," he began, and he whispered the rest into her mouth as their lips met.  "God, Cordelia, I love you so much…"
    She slid her arms around his neck, nearly losing herself completely in the feeling of his mouth moving against hers.  After what seemed like forever, she broke the kiss and embraced him fiercely, enjoying being wrapped in Angel’s arms.
    Angel closed his eyes, the fear that it was all a dream returning.
    "I am so in love with you, Cordy," he whispered, opening his eyes.
    His body went colder than usual, much colder.  His eyes stung painfully, and not from tears.  The woman in his arms was gone, replaced by metal restraints.  Cordelia was gone, and there was nothing to see, nothing but the faint light of the surface, and that light could not compare to hers.  Angel stared at the distant glimmer, adding his salty tears to the endless sea that entombed him.
    He’d been dreaming again.