A/N: Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer. Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon. All we own is a wicked obsession with both.

For AngelinaBallerina17…

(Buffy)

Edward.

Why couldn't I get him out of my head? Wait…did I want to? No, I really didn't think I did. I liked him there and, in my little world, he liked it, too.

When we sat together in my living room there was no denying that the room was charged with a crackling electricity. I had to fight with my own limbs to keep from jumping him and finally quenching my intense need to kiss him.

Of course, I wasn't sure that he even wanted me as badly as I wanted him, so that could have been slightly awkward.

"Um, Buffy. What the hell are you doing?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, is this not how lab partners are supposed to conduct their experiments? My bad."

Yeah, that could definitely make the rest of my stay a tad bit awkward…and "awkward" was not how I wanted him to view me. Sexy, funny, witty, beautiful, smart…but in some sort of order that made me look dateable…whoa, wait a minute…dateable?! Slow down, Buffy.

I had to shake my head and get it back in the game. I still had school to bust my ass through…and speaking of 'ass-busting', I had to find that vamp and dust it. This trip was about business, not pleasure.

It was strangely sad to think of dusting that vampire, though. Not because I took pity upon him or anything, but because when it was finally dead, I would have to go back to Sunnydale. And that meant I would be leaving Edward before figuring things out between us. I didn't like that thought at all.

With a semi-defeated sigh and the dawn of a new day on the horizon…well, more like 'behind the clouds on the horizon'…I got ready for school.

Completely bypassing my cute and flirty fall skirts and open-toed sling back heels, I donned my new uniform of jeans and a heavy sweater grudgingly.

I quickly ran a brush through my hair and applied an ample supply of hair product to tame any strays before giving myself the final once-over. Ugh…one of the major upsides to being back in Sunnydale would be relaxing in the sun again. I'd only been here a few days and already my skin looked paler, not to mention the ass-kicking my hair was taking from the humidity. I pinched my cheeks for a hint of color, and after one last look in the mirror, I was ready to go.

It was a pleasant surprise when I left my building to find that it wasn't raining. I had about a ten minute walk to the high school and I didn't think to bring an umbrella. The last thing I wanted was to get there looking like a drowned rat.

I arrived at school with about fifteen minutes to spare and instantly looked for Edward. Something about him had awakened feelings in me that I had thought were dead for months.

Maybe it was his dazzling smile, his warm eyes, his smell, his oh-so-amazing body…whatever it was, I was drawn to him and there was a part of me that couldn't wait to get to know him a little better and explore the feelings that I didn't think I would ever feel again.

I could feel the air around me shift with his arrival. A wide smile played across my lips as I turned to find Edward next to my locker.

"Hey," he said, a crooked smile brightening his features. It made my knees weak and I swallowed thickly. "How was your sleep?" he asked as he propped himself up against the locker beside mine.

"Not as peaceful as one would think," I replied, picking up my Biology books and closing my locker door in preparation to walk to class with him. I lowered my voice as I continued. "You know, it turns out that when someone, even someone as fearsome as the Slayer, finds out that there are indestructible forces out there that can come into their home all willy-nilly, it totally messes with your mojo."

He stopped dead in his tracks and reached out for my arm, his fingers gently wrapping around my bicep in an effort to halt me.

My arm tingled under his touch, and it seemed to travel throughout my body, making me tremble in delight.

His eyes bore into mine seriously. "You know we would never hurt you, right? It wasn't just something I said to get into your good graces."

Laughing softly, I looked up at him. "I know that, but I also recall you saying something about others not being quite so open to your diet. I just need to be prepared for anything. It's a good thing I don't need a ton of sleep to survive with my line of work," I joked.

He chuckled lightly. "I guess that's something we have in common, then."

Before I could ask him to explain that, the bell started ringing and we picked up the pace to get to class. We found our seats and waited for the lesson to begin.

Mr. Banner entered the class and made his way down the aisles, pushing a cart full of microscopes.

He was talking about the different stages of mites…or my toes…or something, I wasn't entirely sure what, as he placed a microscope on each of the lab tables. A hearty laugh erupted to my left and I looked over to find Edward hunched over his desk, nearly hysterical at some joke I had missed.

"Do you care to share with the class?" I asked as he tried, and failed, to right himself.

He shook his head as he finally got a grip. His eyes were sparkling as he ran his fingers through his hair, his laugh dying down until he was simply smiling.

"Really?" I asked. "Because something that funny deserves to be shared. If not with the class, then at least with me."

"Trust me, you probably wouldn't find it too funny," he said, a chuckle escaping him as he clearly remembered whatever it was that had caused his momentary lapse in sanity.

"Fine. Well, don't expect me to share my answers," I threatened, not that I had any idea what we were doing anyways. This only caused him to laugh harder. "Seriously, what the hell?!"

"I'm so sorry. I'm better...I'll behave." He took a deep breath and held it as he softened his features.

My eyes went from him to the microscope on the table and I was sort of afraid to tell him that I had no idea what we were supposed to do.

Well, gee, Buffy. Maybe if you were paying attention to what the teacher was saying instead of focusing on the undeniable hotness of Edward. The way his eyes shine when he laughs, or even how his hands would feel when they…

Edward cleared his throat and pulled the microscope until it was between us. He shifted nervously in his seat before swallowing thickly. "So, have you done this lab before? You know, when you were in Sunnydale?" he asked, doing everything he could to not look me in the eyes.

"Um, I don't think so. But I think I had more absences than appearances," I admitted shamefully. Telling him that really made me sound less 'bad-ass' and more 'ass-like'. "Because of my work, of course."

"Right, of course." He cleared his throat before continuing. He grabbed one of the slides and slipped it beneath the metal clamps as he spoke. "So, my-toe-sis," he began, smirking and putting heavy emphasis on each syllable. "Is the process of cell division which results in the production of two daughter cells from a single parent cell. The daughter cells are identical to one another and to the original parent cell."

"Okayyy."

A single breathy laugh escaped him before he continued. "In a typical animal cell, mitosis can be divided into four principal stages. Prophase, which is when the chromatin, diffused in interphase, condenses into chromosomes. Each chromosome has duplicated and now consists of two sister chromatids. At the end of prophase, the nuclear envelope breaks down into vesicles."

Huh?

He didn't even stop to take a breath as he continued. "Metaphase is when the chromosomes…" He carried on talking and I didn't understand a word of it as he flipped to a page in his text book and slid it between us to show me some diagrams. "Then, there's Anaphase. This is when the centromeres divide. Sister chromatids separate and move toward the corresponding poles."

What?

"And finally, there's Telophase. The daughter chromosomes arrive at the poles and the microtubules disappear…" More gibberish spilled from his mouth and proceeded to leak out of my ears.

From the expression on his face when he finally finished his explanation, I knew I must have been looking at him like he had just spoken everything in ancient Sumerian…and truthfully he probably should have, then I might have actually picked up on a word or two instead of the nonsense he was spewing.

I blinked a few times. "Wow, that made all sorts of sense that, well…didn't"

"Basically, all we have to do is look at the slides, see which ones match the pictures in the textbook, and mark down which of the four stages it's at," he told me.

"Oh, well why didn't you just say that?" I asked, only to have him smile that damn crooked smile again. Holy hell, as if that isn't the sexiest smile I've seen in months.

We worked our way through the lab and finished before the rest of the class, so we had a little bit of down time. "So, I have to patrol tonight," I said quietly.

"Patrol?"

Oh, right. He has no idea what that even means…well, at least you got to confuse him a little bit, for once. "Oh, sorry. Basically, I need to hunt for the baddy with the bumpy forehead. I can't let him catch me off-guard or even let him get close to killing again. It needs to end. Tonight."

"Uh huh," he said, not really sure why I was telling him this.

"Well, I was sort of thinking…you know, if you're willing to…I could use a super sense of smell to help me find him. I mean…I have my instincts and all, but if I had some way to track him before he was around me – that's how it works, by the way…I need to be in a kind of close proximity to them." Stop rambling and just spit it out! "Wow, anyways, I was wondering if I could enlist your help in tracking him."

His brow furrowed as he tried to grasp what I had just asked of him. "So, let me get this straight? You want me to help you hunt one of my own kind?"

It honestly hadn't occurred to me that this would be an issue with him. "Well, yeah. Unless you want him sticking around and bringing your town's mortality rate up?"

Apparently I had offended him, because he became wicked-defensive. "Of course I don't want that to happen, but it's not that easy, Buffy."

"I really don't see the big. He's not your typical type of…well, you know." I had to quiet my voice before the entire class heard us.

The bell rang and Edward grabbed his books before walking past me, seemingly in a hurry to leave this conversation. "That's really not the point."

I picked up my books and chased after him. "Edward! Wait up!" I called as I chased him down the hall.

"I have to get to class," he shot behind him.

I increased my pace, knowing that he wouldn't be able to use his speed or strength in front of this many people without drawing attention to himself. Once I caught up with him, I grabbed him by the arm and tugged him into the first empty classroom I could find.

"Something tells me that you don't really need to attend your next class," I told him as I slammed my books down on the teacher's desk before leaning against it. "Why are you wigging out about this?"

He placed his books down on a desk and pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Look, I can't, okay? I can't just hunt one of my own…"

"That's just it, though. He's not really one of your kind." I wasn't sure how I was going to win this battle. I could have tried beating him into submission, but with him being virtually indestructible, this room probably wouldn't survive. "Look, if it helps, I just need you to track him for me. I'll end it and then I will leave town and you'll never even know I was here. It will be as though I never even existed."

This seemed to catch his attention. "What?" he asked in a quiet voice as his smoldering eyes looked into mine.

"I'm only here to bust and dust his ass, and then I'm on the first bus back to California." Saying those words out loud tugged at my insides. It was almost as though I couldn't even imagine leaving him…and I'd only just met him.

He lowered his eyebrows, his eyes not once leaving mine and he took a step forward. "You're leaving? So soon?" he asked.

I gripped the edge of the desk as I sat there, fighting with myself to not jump into his arms. "Well, yeah. This was just a temporary gig." I was quiet for a moment. "So, can you help me?"

With a heavy sigh he turned his face from mine. "Buffy, it goes against everything I want to be. I don't relish killing another creature…even one as twisted as this one."

Frustration was growing within me as I ran both of my hands through my hair and groaned. "Gah! It's not like I'm asking you to be the one to push the stake into his chest. I'm a big girl. I can handle that all by myself."

"No, instead you're just asking me to be your foxhound and point you in his direction. Well, sorry. I can't help you there," he told me as he headed back to where he had left his books.

"What the hell is your problem?" His total unwillingness to help me was seriously hitting a nerve. "Fine. Whatever. I have a job to do, and if you won't help me, then I guess I'll just have to do it myself."

Turning to face me he smiled. "Tell me, Buffy. Does it get tiring being this righteous all the time?"

A surge of adrenaline flared beneath my skin as I looked up at him with a cocky grin. "It only seems to surface in the presence of brooding vampires," I retorted.

He closed the gap between us in less than a second. Waves of arousal coursed through my body as he lowered his lips to mine and attacked them with a ferocity I hadn't felt in ages. My stomach rolled and every part of my body ached to be touched as he rushed us toward the door.

His hands traveled down from my waist, gripping my backside as he lifted me off of the ground so our faces were level with one another. My legs wrapped instinctively around his waist and I tightened them to pull his body even closer to mine. With a low moan against my mouth, he pressed my back firmly into the door and thrust his hips into me.

With our bodies so closely intertwined, I could feel the coolness of his skin through our clothes as his chilled lips worked furiously against my own. I opened my mouth to deepen the kiss, but this only caused him to groan, almost painfully, and pull his lips from mine.

I was breathing pretty heavily, trying to replenish my oxygen supply, as his mouth traveled to my neck where he kissed it hungrily. Heat traveled through my entire body as he stopped at the hollow of my throat, causing me to moan lustily.

This feels so amazing.

With a growl, he removed his hands from under me and ran them up my sides roughly before he gripped my breasts firmly. My hips pressed forward into his, and he moaned against my neck, sending goosebumps of pleasure to prickling over my entire body.

Oh my god, this feels so right.

"Mmmm, doesn't it though?" he breathed against my neck before bringing his mouth up to be joined with mine once more.

Before his lips could touch mine, though, I pulled my head back, hitting it on the heavy wooden door. "Wait…what?" I asked, not quite sure what just happened.

Confusion was clearly written across every plane of his perfect face as he looked at me with hooded eyes. "What? I was only agreeing with you on how right this feels," he said as his crooked smile appeared and sent my concerns flitting out the window.

My breathing picked up and I was about to pull his face back to mine when I realized that I had thought about how right it felt…I didn't say it.

The look of fear on his face was answer enough for me. "Oh God, you know what I'm thinking…don't you?" I whispered.

His eyes closed as he rested his forehead against my shoulder. "I didn't want to freak you out."

I nudged him away from me so I could drop back to the floor. "And you figured that the best way to accomplish that was by whispering sweet nothings into my ear that referenced my thoughts while we were getting coital in Mr…whoever's…empty English classroom?"

What else had he heard? Did he know about…

"Buffy, I…"

I held my hand up to stop him. "My thoughts are kind of…private, you know?"

"Of course, I didn't mean any…"

I looked at him apologetically. "I…I have to go. I need to…process this. I'm sorry." I grabbed my biology books and bolted.

It took all of my will to tear myself from that room…from him.

A/N: Thanks for reading!! Please review!!

"Grrr...Argh!" ;)