A/N: Yes, I'm still alive. And still writing, even! I'm sorry it's been so long since I've updated, but I had many exams, and life got kinda complicated. Don't worry, it shouldn't take me too long to update March to the Empire! And after that, I intend to update Butterfly's Wings. No promises, though!
I'm a Buffy/Angel fan extraordinaire. I don't like Buffy/Riley as a pairing, though I have nothing against him as a person. This is not a Riley-bashing fic, but it is supportive of Buffy/Angel and Riley/Sam.
Disclaimer: Don't own. It all belongs to Joss Whedon. Not much I can say to make it clearer than that.
Never
Buffy had died.
To be more specific, Buffy had died and they hadn't phoned him. Okay, it wasn't as if he was exactly easily accessible, but they could have reached him, if they put their mind to it, even using only mundane channels. Certainly Willow could have done it, as powerful as she was. But no one had put their mind to it; it hadn't even occurred to any of them that they should phone him. Even Xander, who supported him over Angel, hadn't thought of it.
Angel, of course, had been phoned immediately.
He tried to decide how he felt about it. Hurt, he thought. Also a bit angry, but mostly hurt. He was married now, and this shouldn't affect him...but though he loved Sam, and would never, never give her up, he still cared for Buffy. And, he knew, he was still jealous of Angel.
It was probably stupid, especially now, that he was jealous of Angel. And yet...Buffy had never really loved him, yet she'd obviously still loved Angel. And the one time they'd met, two things had become clear: that Angel still loved her and that Buffy, forced to make a choice, would choose Angel.
It was something that everyone else had known, it seemed. Even Xander, who although he presented the face of obliviousness could be quite observant. Buffy and Angel, no matter how far apart they lived or how much they were, technically, broken up, were forever; Buffy and anyone else were doomed to fail. He'd known it, too.
But, God, it still hurt.
He heard a sound behind him and turned, smiling as his Sam, his beautiful wife, walked up next to him.
"Hello, husband," she said lovingly. "Where were you?" At his blank expression, she continued, "You seemed to be about a million miles away."
He smiled at her. "Nothing important," he replied. To his surprise, he realized that his reply was completely truthful. He'd always care for Buffy, maybe even love her. But—in the end, perhaps she'd already found the one who would love her forever. And, in the end—he'd found Sam.