BBB

"Right. So, the bruise on his chin is yours."

"Oz's," he told her, a smile crossing his lips at the memory. "He has a mean right hook. Has he thought about training?"

She ignored his question. "The fingers around his neck, then. I can't see Oz trying to choke Xander, mad or not."

"And you can see me doing that?"

Her eyebrow rose tellingly. "Before today, not really. But now… oh yeah, Mr. Caveman."

Angel knew better than to smile. Even though she wasn't angry at his behaviour, she certainly didn't fully approve either. "I wouldn't have gone through with it."

Buffy dropped a kiss on the nearest patch of skin to show that she knew that. "Hm. His chin, his neck and five fingerprints on his cheek. He's gotten out safer from the Master's cave. It almost makes me feel guilty for slapping him. Were we too tough?"

"I thought you'd left me."

Angel-to-Buffy translation: 'The whelp didn't get enough'. Guess those happy group meetings she and Willow had envisioned wouldn't be happening in the near future. Which, right now, was totally fine to her. Her Valentine's had been very Angel-less to begin with, and then she had to deal with love spells? No, her Xander-Love-Meter was low, very low, tonight. Buffy sighed as she remembered the scene last night. Details were fuzzy, as if she hadn't really said and done those things. But she had. She'd gone and basically dumped Angel. For Xander.

Only the Hellmouth could have something that sucky in store for them.

Now she passed her arm over his body, but more than a hug, she sought his hands with hers. They said nothing as their hands twined together, and nothing as they stroked the metal around each other's ring finger.

For Buffy, this moment meant a 'Never again', and an 'Always', and maybe an 'Only if I lost my mind would I leave you'. "I should have hit him harder," she said instead.

Angel shrugged; he knew the feeling. He wished he could do like Giles and put the boy through a weeks-long assignment. As it was, he'd have to do with Xander's shock as he lifted his hand to nurse his red cheek.

"It just made me so angry," Buffy continued. "He was there, smiling as if nothing had happened. Hello? I was ratted!" She squirmed uneasily at the memory. "I can't believe he got what he wanted in the end."

"Makes me wonder about Cordelia's sanity."

"I was actually thinking of why he'd want her that much."

Both questions could only be answered by Xander and Cordelia themselves, so Buffy and Angel silently decided to move back to their original topic: Xander's penalty. "Giles didn't do anything then? Not one scratch mark?"

"Rupert did place him under permanent shelving duty."

Buffy raised an eyebrow. "Must be the English in him." And she shook her head.

Angel thought about it, remembered the librarian's expression earlier. "In fact, I think he was busier making sure Jenny didn't get to Xander."

Buffy sniggered. "Miss Calendar preying on the underage student, and on school time! That must have been fun."

Angel tightened his hold around her back and at her hip and pulled her onto him. Buffy gasped, half in surprise and half in pleasure, and she eagerly met him in a slow, long kiss. "No, it wasn't fun at all," he said moodily when they separated.

She smiled gently down at him. "Hey, I'm here. I'm okay. Not a rodent and not hopelessly in love with my best friend…" She rolled her eyes at the thought. "Promise me that next Valentine's we're getting out of town?"

Angel grinned, kissed her again. He only hoped that she wasn't just joking, because that was exactly what he'd come up with.