THE WAY IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN

Buffy looked out her window and wondered. She had been sitting in her room all night long waiting for Angel to come home. He had gone out with the guys for a while and she was anticipating his return. She had watched tv and done a cross word puzzle and taken a bath and still her love wasn't home. Buffy looked at the clock, 12:30am it read. She decided to call her friend Willow and see if she had heard anything from Angel. The phone rang about 3 times and Willow finally answered the phone. "Hey Will, it's me have you heard from Angel tonight?" Buffy asked her long time friend. "Um no why would I?" Willow replied. " I don't know it's just late and he isn't home yet and I thought for some reason that you might know where he is" Buffy stumbled through saying. " Um Buffy you can call his cell phone ya know he does have one of those" Willow replied rather sleepy. "Oh yeah I'm sorry Will I guess I should let you get back to sleep now, tell Tara I'm sorry for calling so late" Buffy said. With that Buffy hung up the phone. She never thought that she could be so forgetful but when it came to Angel her mind went out the window where he was concerned. Buffy picked up the phone and was about to call Angel's cell phone when she heard the door downstairs close and foot steps coming up the stairs. She walked over to her door and slowly opened it and saw Angel coming up the stairs. "Hi honey, miss me much"Angel said with a sly smile crossing his lips. Buffy opened the door all the way and almost jumped into his arms. "I was worried about you. Where have you guys been?" she asked her lover. " Ah we just went to the Bronze and had a few drinks" he answered. "Oh, well next time your gonna be late call me will ya" she said with a laugh. Angel took his slayer in their room and sat her on the bed. "Baby I am fine, there is no need to worry about me" he said. Buffy looked up at Angel and smiled. So many times she had wanted life to be this simple and now it was. She was complete. She had her Angel and nothing and no one could ever tear them apart again. They were finally happy and finally together and that is all that mattered. The two lovers got ready for bed and slid under the covers together. She lay on his chest as he held her in his strong masculine arms. Life was just wonderful. The next morning Buffy woke up in the bed all alone. She thought for a second that the night before was just a dream and that she was alone without Angel once again. She got out of bed and started to get dressed for the day. As she was making the bed she felt two arms wrap around her waist. Angel stood behind her holding her in his arms. "Good morning baby" he whispered in her ear. Buffy sank into his arms and felt all the love that he had in his heart for her. "Mmmm, morning to you too" she said with her heart about to burst with love for him. Angel told her that he had a surprise for her and that as soon as she came down stairs he would tell her what it was over breakfast. Angel went downstairs and started making breakfast for both of them when Joyce came down stairs. "Morning Angel" Joyce said. "Oh hi Joyce. Is Dawnie coming down for breakfast too?" he asked. "Um no she had to get to school early so she left already" Joyce replied. "I have to get to work too so I am just going to grab a cup of coffee and head out myself" she stated. " You and Buffy have a good day" Joyce said as she was leaving. " We will " Angel replied. Buffy came down the stairs just in time to say goodbye to her mom and head to the kitchen for some much needed breakfast. "Okay I'm here now what is my surprise" Buffy asked Angel.

Angel gazed at Buffy as she sat down at the table to eat her breakfast. He started to pace back and forth, down the length of the table, making sure to keep the table between Buffy and himself. "Hmmmn...Uuhh...Ummmm...grunt", Angel tried to start many times. "I didn't think it would be, or even could be, this hard." Angel mumbled to himself. He stops pacing and goes to stand in front of Buffy with his hands folded behind his back.

"Well? What are you pacing around like a nervous puppy for??" Buffy asked in a frustrated voice.

"I have been doing a lot of thinking lately. It all started when that Ammora demon attacked a few months ago. You remember how I became human, Alive I mean. Then I went to the Oracles to have them change me back into what you see before you now. I have just confirmed a theory I had about what they did to me. They made me a vampire with a soul." Angel rambles on.

"Duh!! I know that! Hello, you have to stay out of the sun again!" Buffy interupts throwing her hands into the air. "Was that your big suprise??" Buffy demands, "Because if it is..."

"NO, No. Listen to me. They made me a vampire, they did not curse me! They just made me a vamp!!" Angel exclaimed.

Buffy started to get a very confused look on her face, then a light bulb turned on and Buffy understood what Angel meant by that. He was not cursed anymore. He...They could do anything they wanted to now. ANYTHING!! Buffy started to smile.

"That was only part of my suprise for you. The other part also started when the Ammora demon attacked. We live a very dangeous lifestyle and I do not want to wait any longer and risk one of us not being alive, you know what I mean. The other part is this..." Angel says as he gets down on one knee in front of Buffy, "Buffy Anne Summers, will you do me the honor and agree to take my hand in marriage. I ask this of you knowing that any day might be our last together, and I want to make sure that we have as much time together as we can before one of us is taken from the other. I have loved you from the first time I saw you, I love you even more than I thought was possible now, and I will always love you, even when the only thing left of me is dust on the wind." Angel stammered. When he was done saying his piece he looked up with tears filling his eyes and hoping for the best.

"You want me to muh..muh...marry you." Buffy stammered. "Me and you, married? I, well,..." Buffy burst into tears, "Yes, I will. Oh God Angel, I love you so much!! This is the happiest day of my life." Buffy exclaimed. She dropped to her knees and wrapped her arms around Angel and started to cry on his shoulder.

Angel leaned his head down on Buffy's and cried with her. "I want to get married as soon as we can. That will give us more time together" he said. Buffy was so happy about what Angel had just asked her that she forgot to ask him why he wanted to get married so quickly. After a few minutes of crying and holding each other Buffy took a step back and looked at Angel. "Let's go tell everyone that we're getting married" she said. "Hold on a minute. Don't you think that we should talk about when and where we should do this first?" Angel asked. "Oh yeah. We have to get the church and the reception place and I have to call Giles and ask him to give me away. And you have to find a best man and we have to get tuxes and dresses and I'm going to need at least 3 months to pull this all together" she finished in one long breath. Angel looked at Buffy in surprise. " As long as you need my love" he said to her. Buffy looked up at Angel and took his hand in hers. She led him to their room and closed the door behind them. She had been waiting for this moment for a long time. Buffy led Angel to the bed. She took his hand in hers and placed it on her heart. " All I am is yours Angel. Everything that I am and ever will be is because of you." " I want to make love you to and only you for the rest of my...OUR lives however long that may be" she said to him with tears filling her eyes. The two lovers made love at long last. When they had finished they fell alseep holding each other. So many times Buffy had dreamed of being able to be with Angel in this special way. He made her feel like no one else had ever made her feel...complete and loved. When Angel awoke it was dark outside. He looked at the clock...8:30pm it read. He reached over and hugged his slayer close to him. He hadn't felt this complete in many years and knew that this was the beginning of forever for him. In 250 years he had never loved anything or anyone as much as he loved Buffy Anne Summers. He knew now that he was going to live forever knowing the love of only one person and to him that was like being in heaven. Buffy had been dreaming of this time forever as had he and now they were together heart, mind, body and soul. Angel falls back to sleep holding his slayer in his arms and feeling more loved at this moment then ever before.

The next morning Buffy wakes up feeling happier then she ever has before. She rushes to her mothers' room to tell her the good news. " Mom, Angel asked me..." she says to an empty room. "Mom,...where did she go" she wonders. Shrugging it off Buffy goes downstairs to get something to drink. " Morning honey " her mom says when Buffy reaches the kitchen. " Mom, your never going to guess what Angel asked me " she says excitedly. "What?" Joyce asks her daughter. " He asked me to marry him...can you believe it" she replies. Joyce Summers was taken a back a bit by the words that her daughter spoke. "He asked you what?" she says. Buffy looked a bit surprised at her mother's reaction but knew that she was just a bit surprised by what she had said. " Mom, Angel asked me to marry him " Buffy says. "Oh my god, Buffy I am so happy for you...When, where...did you say yes?" Joyce blurts out. " Of course I said yes. Do I look dumb enough to say no?" Buffy questioned. Just then Angel comes into the room. "Morning Joyce...Buffy" Angel says trying to play it cool. "Angel, Buffy just told me the good news...I am so happy for the two of you" Joyce says with complete happiness in her voice. Angel walks over to Buffy and takes her in his arms. "I'm glad that you approve" he says to Joyce while hugging Buffy tightly. Buffy and Joyce take their juice into the dining room to talk about the wedding while Angel gets on the phone with the Tuxedo shop. Joyce and Buffy talk until Joyce has to go to work. They tell Dawn that Angel and Buffy are getting married and she is ready to help in anyway that she can. After Joyce leaves for work and Dawn for school Buffy and Angel decide to go to Giles' place and tell the gang that they are going to be getting married. When they arrive at Giles' house they try as hard as they can to keep it a secret until the others arrive. " Buffy I thought that you had classes today " Giles says as he invites them into his home. "Nope not today" Buffy replies to her watcher. A little while passes and slowly her friends come into the house one by one. By this time the lovers were just about to explode with happiness. " Ok, now that you are all here Angel and I have something we would like to tell all of you " Buffy says bursting with glea. Anya looks over and says " Oh good I like surprises." Angel looks over at Anya " Well your in luck, it just so happens we have one for you" he says. Buffy and Angel look at each other and smile. "Enough with the suspence already tell us what is going on" Willow says in a loud commanding voice. Buffy takes a deep breath and says "Angel and I are getting married." Everyone looks like they are in shock. " Congratulations " Giles says while getting to his feet and heading to hug Buffy. " We want everyone in the wedding party too " Angel says. Xander, Anya, Willow, Tara and Giles hug their friends and congratulate them on their up coming wedding. Buffy, Willow, Tara and Anya decide that they are going to go shopping and get things going for the wedding. So many times Buffy had dreamed of the day that she would get married and now it was finally going to happen. And the best part of it was that she was going to be married to the one man that she loved more then anything in the world.

When Buffy and her friends walked into the Bridal Shop they ran into Cordy. She had been working there part time to make a little extra money since Angel Investigations had been slowing down due to Angel and Buffy always being together and him never having the time to take away from her to actually do his job. Cordy walked up to Buffy and her friends and in a snide voice said " What are you doing here...hoping someday Angel will marry you?" Buffy looked at Cordy and just smiled. "Angel did ask her to marry him and she said yes" says Anya in a chipper voice. "Oh you have got to be kidding me" Cordy screams. "So what now he is just going to shut down Angel Investigations all together and to hell with the people that work for him" she says in a pissy and all to familiar Cordy whine. "Oh, oh " she says in a rising excited voice. " Or are you going to partner and bring in more money" she says happily. Buffy looks at Cordy with all too familiar anquish and says " Have you lost your mind Cordelia or is this just your way of making my happy day seems small in conparision to you?" The two women continue to battle back and forth until Buffy tells her where she can stick it and goes to look at possible wedding dresses. With Anya, Willow and Tara at her side The Slayer finds the dress of her dreams and decides that she has to have it. She pays for her dress and on the way out tells Cordy that she can come to the wedding as long as she doesn't do anything to take the attention away from her. Because this WILL be her and Angel's day not Cordy's day to screw everything up as usual. While Buffy and her friends are out looking for wedding dresses Angel, Giles and Xander go out hunting for tuxedos. After many grueling hours of searching they finally come across tuxes that will pass Buffy's approval and head back to Giles' place.

Times flies when your having fun and so it comes to the day that Buffy and Angel are to wed. All the invitations have been sent. The music picked out and everything is all set to go. As the day grows nearer Angel and Buffy grow closer. They decide to take up residents in The Hyperion Hotel that Angel owns and runs Angel Investigations out of. They decided to have the wedding in the lobby of the hotel as well. Finally it is their wedding day. Buffy is in a room with her friends, mother and sister. While Angel is in another room with Xander, and Giles. Angel looks at Giles and with tears in his eyes tells him that this is the happiest day of his life and that in all his 250 years he has never loved anyone like he loves Buffy. Meanwhile Buffy is telling Willow how much she loves Angel and that she never thought this day would ever come. With the lobby decorated in lavish colors and lights Angel, and Xander take their places. Giles waits at the top of the stairs as Buffy makes her entrance. She is dressed in a lavish white gown with satin overlay and pearls on the train. Her hair is swept up with little curls gently cascading down her face. She looks so beautiful and Angel can't help but gasp at the sight of her. Buffy and Giles make their way down the steps and up toward Angel. Giles gives Buffy's hand to Angel and takes his place beside Xander. The ceremony starts and all is quiet. "Now it is time for the couple to make their vows to each other" the High Priestess says. "Buffy, there has never been a time in my life when I have loved someone the way that I love you. I never thought that I would be so lucky as to find someone as pure and honest and caring as you are. I know that I have found a love in you like no other and I promise to love you even when all I am is dust on the wind" Angel says. With tears in her eyes Buffy smiles at the sweet words that Angel has said to her. "Angel, today I am not marrying a man I am marrying the love of my life. I give all of myself to you heart, mind, body, and soul. All I am is yours...All I ever shall be is because of you and the love that we share. I promise to love you even with my last breath. I have loved you in lives past and I will love you forever." The lovers stand hand in hand tears streaming down their faces. A few minutes later they are declared married. Everyone in The Hyperion claps and yells in their happiness for the beloved couple. The two lovers start to walk out of the room and onto a patio that they had built for their pictures to be taken on. With Angel in the shade and Buffy in the sunlight. The sun is shining and it is a beautiful day. The wedding party gathers with the couple to take pictures. Upon walking back inside for the reception Buffy looks at Angel with complete and utter happiness. Everyone congratulates them on their wedding and heads to their seats. Looking around them Angel and Buffy see all the people that care about them and love them. They feel so happy. A few minutes later they walk up to the dance floor to have their first dance as husband and wife when all of the sudden Angel smells smoke and looks up. Through a small hole in the ceiling there seemed to be sunlight shining directly upon him. He looks at Buffy and smiles. Tells her that it will be ok and the next thing Buffy sees is Angel bursting into flames...In just that instant Angel wakes up. Alone in his room at The Hyperion. He knows now that it was all a dream and that he can never be with his beloved Buffy for he is still cursed with his soul and cursed to forever be...ALONE.

The End

Written by:
Amy and Nathan Wallace AKA Buffy and Angel