The characters from BtVS and Angel are not mine. They belong to joss and a lot of other people. If I did own them, Riley would have been killed off months ago.
Buffy, Dawn and Willow are in Joyce's bedroom, when there is a slight knock on the door. Riley sticks his head in the room, "Hey Buffy, can I talk to you for a second?"
"Sure" she follows him out into the hallway. "What's up?"
"I was thinking, this weekend will mark our first year anniversary. I want us to go out to the movies and have some dinner. I think you need a normal night out. Take your mind off of your mother and slaying, and just have fun for a night. What do you say?"
"Riley. Do you hear what you're saying? I'll just say, 'Sorry about the problem with your brain and all, mom, but I'm going to the movies' or 'Okay demons, have your fill of all the humans you can possibly eat in one night, I'm going to a fancy dinner myself!' Wow Riley. A night without any problems. Why didn't I think of that myself?"
"What's your problem? I just want you to get away for one night! Is that so wrong?"
"Look, I did not ask to be responsibility girl, but I am. I can't change that. Sometimes it's a big fucking inconvenience, but there are people out there that don't believe in things that go bump in the night. And I risk my life every night to keep people completely ignorant. Ignorance is bliss, they say. I wouldn't know, I don't have that luxury. It's something I have to deal with. It's the way that it has always been. Don't try to tell me that you don't know what my life is like. But I can handle it. What I cannot handle is for the one person who is supposed to be supporting me, asking me to forget for even one night! I died in one night, a lot of other people have died in one night and a lot more will follow them."
"Buffy, I'm just trying to help you!"
"Yeah! Like you tried to help me the other night? You break down my door with a bunch of your little commando buddies. Spike was the one that helped me. You haven't even been around the last couple of days. Willow tells me that you hardly ever show up for patrol. So where have you been?"
"Willow told you I haven't been around? Isn't that something that you should have picked up yourself? Shouldn't my *girlfriend* have noticed first? You are one of the most self centered people I have ever met!"
"Oh yeah! Sorry the whole brain tumor thing has kept me busy! Didn't mean to be so selfish with my time and energy. I'll just let Dawn take care of my mom so we can go out and do 'normal' things!"
"Yeah! Maybe you should. You know Buffy, I think you like being abnormal. I think that's one reason you were so obsessed with Angel, he was just fucked up enough for you to like!"
"Don't bring Angel into this!"
"I don't have to bring him into anything. He's already here. Everybody talks about him. If something happens he comes running, like we can't take care of the problem ourselves!" He calms down. "Just answer me one question, Buffy. Do you love me?"
Buffy pauses. "Yes. I do love you."
"Do you love Angel?"
Longer pause. "Yes-but it's a different kind of love."
"Okay, are you *in* love with me?"
This time Buffy doesn't answer. "Guess I have my answer. Riley turns to leave, you know something Buffy, you've changed, and I can't say that it's for the best. I don't know what's happened to you, or if I was even part of the problem, but you're not the same girl that I met and fell in love with. You're something completely different." Riley leaves.
Buffy returns to her mother's room a little shaken. Uh, mom. I have to go out of town for a day or two. Willow, Dawn, will you take care of mom and the house while I'm gone? I'll leave you directions and the pill time chart and-"
"Hey, Buffy. Chill out. I watch you do this all the time. I know what to do and when to do it. We'll be fine."
"You know I love you, Dawn, right?
"I know Buffy. I love you too." The sisters hug.
"May I ask where you are going?" Willow pipes in.
"I'm going to LA. To see Angel."
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Buffy arrives at the hotel, the new headquarters of Angel Investigations. She walks cautiously through the front door. "Hello?"
"Buffy?" Cordelia comes around from the front desk and studies Buffy, not a happy look on her face. "So, to what does LA owe the privilege of a visit from her Buffyness? I hope you know Angels got his hands full right now. So just go ahead and tell me who died or is dying that Buffy can't deal with on her own?"
At this, Buffy loses all of her composure. She starts crying. A lot. Cordelia rushes over to her and tries to comfort her. "Hey. Hey. Buffy, what's wrong? Come on, talk to me."
"My mom. She is really sick. She's had brain surgery, but he doctors aren't sure if they're going to find out what's wrong with her, or if she's even going to get better. I even did a spell so I could see if there was something magically wrong with her, and that came out negative, too. I didn't know where to go. I'm so scared, Cordy. There's nothing I can do for her!"
"Hey, it's going to be alright. Okay, I know, we'll figure something out. You'll get through this."
"I don't think so. I can't do anything anymore. I'm so worried about my mom and Dawn and patrolling. Willow and Xander have been doing it themselves lately. A fledgling stabbed me with my own stake! I can't focus on anything anymore. Sometimes I just wish everything would stop. I wish that I had no memory of demons. I wish that nothing were wrong at all. But it doesn't work that way, does it? I just don't know what to do!"
"You have people that love you, Buffy. And those people are not unaccustomed to demons and icky things. They can help lighten your load if you let them. You just have to let go and let them take some responsibility. And what about you're little commando? Doesn't he help with patrolling? Isn't that sort of what he does?"
'"Riley? That's a joke. He leaves Willow and Xander high a dry all the time. We finally broke up tonight. Just too many things were going wrong."
"What was the straw you proverbial camel?"
"I sort of told him that I love Angel, and where as I was also in love with Riley, I wasn't *in* love with him."
"Yeah. That's pretty much break up material. Defiantly sounds like a breakup to me. Do you miss him?"
"I don't know. I think I miss being with someone. You know what I mean?"
"Yeah, I've had a couple of moments like that myself. Listen, Angel should be home soon, why don't you go upstairs and get some sleep?"
"That sounds wonderful." Buffy heads up the stairs. "Cordelia? Thanks. Thanks a lot." She turns to go upstairs.
Later on, Angel enters the hotel. "Cordelia, have you heard from Gunn? We split up, he said that he would call if he saw Dru or Darla. Has he called?"
"Call down, you're going to give yourself a heart attack." She pauses, "Okay, calm down, you're making me nervous. Yeah, that makes more sense. Listen, I need to tell you that-"
"I can't believe I let her get turned. She was finally okay with it. I was going to stick by her side till the end. We were going to go through it together. I failed her. I was with her. I could have done something, but I failed."
"Angel! Will you stop being so hard on yourself? It's not your fault. You couldn't stop it from happening! I mean, it's not like I got a v- it's not like you could have known."
Angel gives her a strange look, "Cordelia. Did you see what was going to happen?" His voice is deadly calm.
"Yes, no! It's not what you think. It wasn't a regular vision. If you hadn't come back here and told me about what happened, then I would have thought that I had had a daydream. There was no pain or anything, Angel. I didn't know until it was too late. I swear."
"You knew!" In a rage, Angel knocked a couch over; the room shook with the violence of it.
"Jesus, Angel! Calm down. I *didn't* know! I had no idea. It wasn't like a normal vision. I'm sorry. But don't you *dare* start throwing things. You're acting like you lost your soul mate. Wait. Angel. You aren't in love with her are you?"
"No. I'm not in love with her. But I am trying to help people. That's the reason I came here, that's why you have horrible headaches. People come to me for help. Help with anything. Darla came to me. She wanted my help. I failed her. I couldn't help her."
"Don't you think that she knew how you felt about her. She knew what she had done to you, and there you were, helping her. You were going to stick by her side. Don't you think she realized how much you cared for her?"
"But I let her die. I could have done something."
"Angel. You couldn't have done anything. She was going to die anyway. She had syphilis! She wasn't going to drift peacefully off to sleep. You have to realize that you couldn't help her and you can't change what happened. What are you going to do when you find her? You know that she has lost her soul. She's a demon again. Are you going to try to protect her from herself? Are you going to protect yourself from her?"
"I don't know. I just want to go to sleep. I need to think about what I'm going to do."
"Great, even in your sleep you brood. Very healthy, Angel."
"Goodnight Cordelia" Angel turned to walk up the stairs, that's when Cordelia remembered his houseguest.
"Angel! I forgot to tell you! Someone came here to see you."
"Who?"
"Buffy..."
"What is she doing here?"
"She needed someone to talk to. Her mom is really sick. Buffy was hysterical when she got here. I only got a little of the story out of her."
"Where is she?"
"I sent her up to bed. I figure you two can talk about it tomorrow. By the way, she and Riley broke up. She told him she wasn't in love with him, and that she still loved you. Just thought you should know." A small smile crossed his face as he went up the stairs to look for her.
Angel was going to every bedroom, looking in to find Buffy. Finally he came to his own bedroom, where he saw her laying on his bed, with her back to him. He took the time to look at her. Even after everything they went through, she still was the most beautiful thing to him. Angel doubted if anything could change that.
"You can come in. It's your room anyway." Buffy spoke to him with her back still turned. "I knew you were there. I can still sense you. Don't you find it odd, that I can still sense you?"
"No. Not at all. How did you know that this was my room?"
"All the colors are dark and brooding. Plus, you have a thousand sketches of Darla." At this, Buffy's voice broke and she started crying again. Angel rushed to the bed, wrapped her up in his arm and started to speak to her in a calming voice.
"Are you in love with her Angel?"
"No. I'm obsessed with her.
"Great! Even better."
"Darla was human. I staked my sire, then she was returned as a human."
"Was human?"
"She was turned. Dru turned her. Listen. I'm really tired. Do you mind if we finish this in the morning?"
"No problem. Good night Angel."
"Good night Buffy."
The next morning, Buffy wakes up early to go find Angel. She comes across one of the bedrooms and sees Angel still sleeping. He had the sweetest look on his face. She gave him a light kiss on the forehead before she left. Down stairs she looked in the refrigerator for something to eat. Not surprisingly, all he had was blood. She gave the freezer a look and came across a pint of chocolate chip fudge mint ice cream. It was her favorite. She took the pint out of the freezer, found a spoon, and decided to have her breakfast in bed. Meanwhile, down the hall, Angel was finally waking up. He smiled. He had been having the sweetest dreams about him and Buffy. Not dreams really, but memories. He padded quietly down the hall till he came to his bedroom. If he had had a breath, it would have caught in his throat. Buffy was sitting in his bed, eating ice cream. It looked so much like their forgotten day that he stood in the doorway shocked.
"Oh! Good morning. Did you sleep okay? I found this in the fridge, I hope Cordelia doesn't mind that I'm eating all of her ice cream. I'll buy some more before I leave. Come in, sit down. Did you sleep well?"
"Don't worry. It's not Cordelia's...it's mine. And I slept fine." Angel still stood, shocked, in the doorway.
"But I didn't think that vampires could taste food."
"They can't. I just pretend that I know what it tastes like. It's my comfort food."
"Well, this is my favorite kind! Who'd of thought that we would like the same kind of ice cream? Here, sit down."
As Angel sat down on the bed, Buffy lifted the spoon to his mouth. Angel took a bite. It was like they had traveled through time, to come back to that one perfect day. Angel was so taken with the memory, that in one swift move, he relieved Buffy of the ice cream, and brought her into his arms. He was in full possession of her lips. It was an urgent kiss. Buffy put her arms around his neck and pulled him closer. The kiss deepened. Buffy was pulling him down on top of her when Angel realized what he was happening. "I'm sorry Buffy. I shouldn't have done that."
"I'm glad you did. I miss you Angel."
"I miss you too, but you know that this is the way that it had to be. I can't lose myself in you again. I want you too badly. We can't do this. Not know and not ever."
"I'm sorry Angel. But this is hard for me too. I've never felt the way towards anyone as I do with you."
"I feel the same way about you, Buffy. But I'm too weak, where you are concerned, to be around you and not love you the way that I want too."
"There will be a way, Angel. Someday we are going to be able to be with each other. I want you to know that if we can ever find a spell for the whole curse thing, you won't be able to keep me away. My ears will be totally deaf to your whole 'I want you to have a normal life, with a normal man' thing. I'm not normal and I don't want a normal life. I want you. And some day I'll be able to have that. Just you. No curse will be able to get in the way. I love you Angel."
"I love you too. But you deserve to be with someone right now."
"I was with someone. Hello? You hated him, remember?"
"I didn't hate him. I just really didn't like him."
Buffy gives him the raised brow look.
"Okay, I might have hated him a little."
"Angel...can I ask you a serious question?"
"Of course."
"Do you think I have changed? And not necessarily for the best."
"Buffy...I...you...well, uh...Maybe..."
"Maybe!? You really think I have, don't you?"
"It's not what you think. You have changed. But people do it all the time!"
"But you said that it was a bad change."
"Buffy. A lot of things have happened to you and your friends and family. Those changes are not going to make you into a very shiny happy person."
"Have you been listening to REM again? No. Never mind. How have I changed exactly?"
"Well. The way you talk to people. You can be very condescending, and I don't think that you do it on purpose. It's just he way it comes out. And you're not really a forgiving person. You think that if someone has made a mistake, that they should pay for it for the rest of their lives. You seem to forget that you are not perfect, either, and have made a few mistakes of your own."
"Well, thanks Angel. Really I mean it. It's good to know how someone truly feels about you!"
"You asked me to tell you how you've changed."
"Well you really didn't have to hold anything back!"
Angel is confused, "I didn't hold anything back. Except for maybe the fact that you fall in bed with guys pretty quickly to be mourning the loss of your 'greatest love'."
Buffy just stares at him.
"Sorry. I've just been having issues with that one for a while. Are you okay?"
"Angel. Do you love me?"
"Yes. Even though we haven't been the best to each other, I love you with all of my heart. I always will. And you're right. Someday I am going to be able to love you without turning evil. And when that time comes, I don't care whom you are with. I don't care if you have been married for fifteen years and have two children. I will take you with me, against your will or not."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
"Alright. I need to get back. I don't like to leave my mom alone for too long."
"I understand. Do you want me to get Wesley to drive you back?"
"Yes please. Listen, I'm not saying that I like for you to say horrible things about me, but thank you. I'll try to be better."
"I know you will. I love you Buffy."
"I love you Angel."
"Hey Wesley? You mind giving Buffy a ride back to Sunnydale?"
"Of course not. As long as I don't have to actually talk to any of those people."
"Thanks Wesley. That's very big of you."
"Alright. So, will I see you again anytime soon?"
"I think so. There's bound to be doom and gloom in Sunnydale sometime."
"Comforting thought. I'll see you."
"Bye."
Buffy and Wesley leave together. "Wesley, I didn't know that you have a motorcycle."
"Yes. Being a rouge demon hunter, I find its speed and maneuverability are extremely useful."
"I see. Maybe Giles should get one too?"
They speed off. They are driving towards the interstate, when a car runs a redlight and drives straight into the motorcycle. Three more cars are indirectly involved in the accident. Buffy and Wesley are lying still on the ground. Ambulances arrive shortly, and a total of five people are taken to the emergency room.
"Angel Investigation, we help the helpless." Cordelia answers the phone. Yes, this is his place of business. Buffy is a friend also. What! Where are they?! We'll be right there! Yes. I'll call her family."
"Cordelia! What happened?"
"Buffy and Wesley were in a really bad accident. We have to get to the hospital right now. I'll call Giles and her mom on the way."
"Let's go!"
end
Buffy, Dawn and Willow are in Joyce's bedroom, when there is a slight knock on the door. Riley sticks his head in the room, "Hey Buffy, can I talk to you for a second?"
"Sure" she follows him out into the hallway. "What's up?"
"I was thinking, this weekend will mark our first year anniversary. I want us to go out to the movies and have some dinner. I think you need a normal night out. Take your mind off of your mother and slaying, and just have fun for a night. What do you say?"
"Riley. Do you hear what you're saying? I'll just say, 'Sorry about the problem with your brain and all, mom, but I'm going to the movies' or 'Okay demons, have your fill of all the humans you can possibly eat in one night, I'm going to a fancy dinner myself!' Wow Riley. A night without any problems. Why didn't I think of that myself?"
"What's your problem? I just want you to get away for one night! Is that so wrong?"
"Look, I did not ask to be responsibility girl, but I am. I can't change that. Sometimes it's a big fucking inconvenience, but there are people out there that don't believe in things that go bump in the night. And I risk my life every night to keep people completely ignorant. Ignorance is bliss, they say. I wouldn't know, I don't have that luxury. It's something I have to deal with. It's the way that it has always been. Don't try to tell me that you don't know what my life is like. But I can handle it. What I cannot handle is for the one person who is supposed to be supporting me, asking me to forget for even one night! I died in one night, a lot of other people have died in one night and a lot more will follow them."
"Buffy, I'm just trying to help you!"
"Yeah! Like you tried to help me the other night? You break down my door with a bunch of your little commando buddies. Spike was the one that helped me. You haven't even been around the last couple of days. Willow tells me that you hardly ever show up for patrol. So where have you been?"
"Willow told you I haven't been around? Isn't that something that you should have picked up yourself? Shouldn't my *girlfriend* have noticed first? You are one of the most self centered people I have ever met!"
"Oh yeah! Sorry the whole brain tumor thing has kept me busy! Didn't mean to be so selfish with my time and energy. I'll just let Dawn take care of my mom so we can go out and do 'normal' things!"
"Yeah! Maybe you should. You know Buffy, I think you like being abnormal. I think that's one reason you were so obsessed with Angel, he was just fucked up enough for you to like!"
"Don't bring Angel into this!"
"I don't have to bring him into anything. He's already here. Everybody talks about him. If something happens he comes running, like we can't take care of the problem ourselves!" He calms down. "Just answer me one question, Buffy. Do you love me?"
Buffy pauses. "Yes. I do love you."
"Do you love Angel?"
Longer pause. "Yes-but it's a different kind of love."
"Okay, are you *in* love with me?"
This time Buffy doesn't answer. "Guess I have my answer. Riley turns to leave, you know something Buffy, you've changed, and I can't say that it's for the best. I don't know what's happened to you, or if I was even part of the problem, but you're not the same girl that I met and fell in love with. You're something completely different." Riley leaves.
Buffy returns to her mother's room a little shaken. Uh, mom. I have to go out of town for a day or two. Willow, Dawn, will you take care of mom and the house while I'm gone? I'll leave you directions and the pill time chart and-"
"Hey, Buffy. Chill out. I watch you do this all the time. I know what to do and when to do it. We'll be fine."
"You know I love you, Dawn, right?
"I know Buffy. I love you too." The sisters hug.
"May I ask where you are going?" Willow pipes in.
"I'm going to LA. To see Angel."
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Buffy arrives at the hotel, the new headquarters of Angel Investigations. She walks cautiously through the front door. "Hello?"
"Buffy?" Cordelia comes around from the front desk and studies Buffy, not a happy look on her face. "So, to what does LA owe the privilege of a visit from her Buffyness? I hope you know Angels got his hands full right now. So just go ahead and tell me who died or is dying that Buffy can't deal with on her own?"
At this, Buffy loses all of her composure. She starts crying. A lot. Cordelia rushes over to her and tries to comfort her. "Hey. Hey. Buffy, what's wrong? Come on, talk to me."
"My mom. She is really sick. She's had brain surgery, but he doctors aren't sure if they're going to find out what's wrong with her, or if she's even going to get better. I even did a spell so I could see if there was something magically wrong with her, and that came out negative, too. I didn't know where to go. I'm so scared, Cordy. There's nothing I can do for her!"
"Hey, it's going to be alright. Okay, I know, we'll figure something out. You'll get through this."
"I don't think so. I can't do anything anymore. I'm so worried about my mom and Dawn and patrolling. Willow and Xander have been doing it themselves lately. A fledgling stabbed me with my own stake! I can't focus on anything anymore. Sometimes I just wish everything would stop. I wish that I had no memory of demons. I wish that nothing were wrong at all. But it doesn't work that way, does it? I just don't know what to do!"
"You have people that love you, Buffy. And those people are not unaccustomed to demons and icky things. They can help lighten your load if you let them. You just have to let go and let them take some responsibility. And what about you're little commando? Doesn't he help with patrolling? Isn't that sort of what he does?"
'"Riley? That's a joke. He leaves Willow and Xander high a dry all the time. We finally broke up tonight. Just too many things were going wrong."
"What was the straw you proverbial camel?"
"I sort of told him that I love Angel, and where as I was also in love with Riley, I wasn't *in* love with him."
"Yeah. That's pretty much break up material. Defiantly sounds like a breakup to me. Do you miss him?"
"I don't know. I think I miss being with someone. You know what I mean?"
"Yeah, I've had a couple of moments like that myself. Listen, Angel should be home soon, why don't you go upstairs and get some sleep?"
"That sounds wonderful." Buffy heads up the stairs. "Cordelia? Thanks. Thanks a lot." She turns to go upstairs.
Later on, Angel enters the hotel. "Cordelia, have you heard from Gunn? We split up, he said that he would call if he saw Dru or Darla. Has he called?"
"Call down, you're going to give yourself a heart attack." She pauses, "Okay, calm down, you're making me nervous. Yeah, that makes more sense. Listen, I need to tell you that-"
"I can't believe I let her get turned. She was finally okay with it. I was going to stick by her side till the end. We were going to go through it together. I failed her. I was with her. I could have done something, but I failed."
"Angel! Will you stop being so hard on yourself? It's not your fault. You couldn't stop it from happening! I mean, it's not like I got a v- it's not like you could have known."
Angel gives her a strange look, "Cordelia. Did you see what was going to happen?" His voice is deadly calm.
"Yes, no! It's not what you think. It wasn't a regular vision. If you hadn't come back here and told me about what happened, then I would have thought that I had had a daydream. There was no pain or anything, Angel. I didn't know until it was too late. I swear."
"You knew!" In a rage, Angel knocked a couch over; the room shook with the violence of it.
"Jesus, Angel! Calm down. I *didn't* know! I had no idea. It wasn't like a normal vision. I'm sorry. But don't you *dare* start throwing things. You're acting like you lost your soul mate. Wait. Angel. You aren't in love with her are you?"
"No. I'm not in love with her. But I am trying to help people. That's the reason I came here, that's why you have horrible headaches. People come to me for help. Help with anything. Darla came to me. She wanted my help. I failed her. I couldn't help her."
"Don't you think that she knew how you felt about her. She knew what she had done to you, and there you were, helping her. You were going to stick by her side. Don't you think she realized how much you cared for her?"
"But I let her die. I could have done something."
"Angel. You couldn't have done anything. She was going to die anyway. She had syphilis! She wasn't going to drift peacefully off to sleep. You have to realize that you couldn't help her and you can't change what happened. What are you going to do when you find her? You know that she has lost her soul. She's a demon again. Are you going to try to protect her from herself? Are you going to protect yourself from her?"
"I don't know. I just want to go to sleep. I need to think about what I'm going to do."
"Great, even in your sleep you brood. Very healthy, Angel."
"Goodnight Cordelia" Angel turned to walk up the stairs, that's when Cordelia remembered his houseguest.
"Angel! I forgot to tell you! Someone came here to see you."
"Who?"
"Buffy..."
"What is she doing here?"
"She needed someone to talk to. Her mom is really sick. Buffy was hysterical when she got here. I only got a little of the story out of her."
"Where is she?"
"I sent her up to bed. I figure you two can talk about it tomorrow. By the way, she and Riley broke up. She told him she wasn't in love with him, and that she still loved you. Just thought you should know." A small smile crossed his face as he went up the stairs to look for her.
Angel was going to every bedroom, looking in to find Buffy. Finally he came to his own bedroom, where he saw her laying on his bed, with her back to him. He took the time to look at her. Even after everything they went through, she still was the most beautiful thing to him. Angel doubted if anything could change that.
"You can come in. It's your room anyway." Buffy spoke to him with her back still turned. "I knew you were there. I can still sense you. Don't you find it odd, that I can still sense you?"
"No. Not at all. How did you know that this was my room?"
"All the colors are dark and brooding. Plus, you have a thousand sketches of Darla." At this, Buffy's voice broke and she started crying again. Angel rushed to the bed, wrapped her up in his arm and started to speak to her in a calming voice.
"Are you in love with her Angel?"
"No. I'm obsessed with her.
"Great! Even better."
"Darla was human. I staked my sire, then she was returned as a human."
"Was human?"
"She was turned. Dru turned her. Listen. I'm really tired. Do you mind if we finish this in the morning?"
"No problem. Good night Angel."
"Good night Buffy."
The next morning, Buffy wakes up early to go find Angel. She comes across one of the bedrooms and sees Angel still sleeping. He had the sweetest look on his face. She gave him a light kiss on the forehead before she left. Down stairs she looked in the refrigerator for something to eat. Not surprisingly, all he had was blood. She gave the freezer a look and came across a pint of chocolate chip fudge mint ice cream. It was her favorite. She took the pint out of the freezer, found a spoon, and decided to have her breakfast in bed. Meanwhile, down the hall, Angel was finally waking up. He smiled. He had been having the sweetest dreams about him and Buffy. Not dreams really, but memories. He padded quietly down the hall till he came to his bedroom. If he had had a breath, it would have caught in his throat. Buffy was sitting in his bed, eating ice cream. It looked so much like their forgotten day that he stood in the doorway shocked.
"Oh! Good morning. Did you sleep okay? I found this in the fridge, I hope Cordelia doesn't mind that I'm eating all of her ice cream. I'll buy some more before I leave. Come in, sit down. Did you sleep well?"
"Don't worry. It's not Cordelia's...it's mine. And I slept fine." Angel still stood, shocked, in the doorway.
"But I didn't think that vampires could taste food."
"They can't. I just pretend that I know what it tastes like. It's my comfort food."
"Well, this is my favorite kind! Who'd of thought that we would like the same kind of ice cream? Here, sit down."
As Angel sat down on the bed, Buffy lifted the spoon to his mouth. Angel took a bite. It was like they had traveled through time, to come back to that one perfect day. Angel was so taken with the memory, that in one swift move, he relieved Buffy of the ice cream, and brought her into his arms. He was in full possession of her lips. It was an urgent kiss. Buffy put her arms around his neck and pulled him closer. The kiss deepened. Buffy was pulling him down on top of her when Angel realized what he was happening. "I'm sorry Buffy. I shouldn't have done that."
"I'm glad you did. I miss you Angel."
"I miss you too, but you know that this is the way that it had to be. I can't lose myself in you again. I want you too badly. We can't do this. Not know and not ever."
"I'm sorry Angel. But this is hard for me too. I've never felt the way towards anyone as I do with you."
"I feel the same way about you, Buffy. But I'm too weak, where you are concerned, to be around you and not love you the way that I want too."
"There will be a way, Angel. Someday we are going to be able to be with each other. I want you to know that if we can ever find a spell for the whole curse thing, you won't be able to keep me away. My ears will be totally deaf to your whole 'I want you to have a normal life, with a normal man' thing. I'm not normal and I don't want a normal life. I want you. And some day I'll be able to have that. Just you. No curse will be able to get in the way. I love you Angel."
"I love you too. But you deserve to be with someone right now."
"I was with someone. Hello? You hated him, remember?"
"I didn't hate him. I just really didn't like him."
Buffy gives him the raised brow look.
"Okay, I might have hated him a little."
"Angel...can I ask you a serious question?"
"Of course."
"Do you think I have changed? And not necessarily for the best."
"Buffy...I...you...well, uh...Maybe..."
"Maybe!? You really think I have, don't you?"
"It's not what you think. You have changed. But people do it all the time!"
"But you said that it was a bad change."
"Buffy. A lot of things have happened to you and your friends and family. Those changes are not going to make you into a very shiny happy person."
"Have you been listening to REM again? No. Never mind. How have I changed exactly?"
"Well. The way you talk to people. You can be very condescending, and I don't think that you do it on purpose. It's just he way it comes out. And you're not really a forgiving person. You think that if someone has made a mistake, that they should pay for it for the rest of their lives. You seem to forget that you are not perfect, either, and have made a few mistakes of your own."
"Well, thanks Angel. Really I mean it. It's good to know how someone truly feels about you!"
"You asked me to tell you how you've changed."
"Well you really didn't have to hold anything back!"
Angel is confused, "I didn't hold anything back. Except for maybe the fact that you fall in bed with guys pretty quickly to be mourning the loss of your 'greatest love'."
Buffy just stares at him.
"Sorry. I've just been having issues with that one for a while. Are you okay?"
"Angel. Do you love me?"
"Yes. Even though we haven't been the best to each other, I love you with all of my heart. I always will. And you're right. Someday I am going to be able to love you without turning evil. And when that time comes, I don't care whom you are with. I don't care if you have been married for fifteen years and have two children. I will take you with me, against your will or not."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
"Alright. I need to get back. I don't like to leave my mom alone for too long."
"I understand. Do you want me to get Wesley to drive you back?"
"Yes please. Listen, I'm not saying that I like for you to say horrible things about me, but thank you. I'll try to be better."
"I know you will. I love you Buffy."
"I love you Angel."
"Hey Wesley? You mind giving Buffy a ride back to Sunnydale?"
"Of course not. As long as I don't have to actually talk to any of those people."
"Thanks Wesley. That's very big of you."
"Alright. So, will I see you again anytime soon?"
"I think so. There's bound to be doom and gloom in Sunnydale sometime."
"Comforting thought. I'll see you."
"Bye."
Buffy and Wesley leave together. "Wesley, I didn't know that you have a motorcycle."
"Yes. Being a rouge demon hunter, I find its speed and maneuverability are extremely useful."
"I see. Maybe Giles should get one too?"
They speed off. They are driving towards the interstate, when a car runs a redlight and drives straight into the motorcycle. Three more cars are indirectly involved in the accident. Buffy and Wesley are lying still on the ground. Ambulances arrive shortly, and a total of five people are taken to the emergency room.
"Angel Investigation, we help the helpless." Cordelia answers the phone. Yes, this is his place of business. Buffy is a friend also. What! Where are they?! We'll be right there! Yes. I'll call her family."
"Cordelia! What happened?"
"Buffy and Wesley were in a really bad accident. We have to get to the hospital right now. I'll call Giles and her mom on the way."
"Let's go!"
end