"I must say, I am surprised with you Buffy," Ethan said as he leaned in the doorway taking in the sight of Buffy and Angel together in the same room, something he had been trying to get to happen for such a long time, and now with this little issue with Doyle he had now seen quite a few times and it made him more confident that he was doing the right thing with them.

"Why's that?" Buffy asked, clearly confused.

He smiled. "Well, I have been here for almost three whole days now and not once have you brought up making Liam here leave."

Angel set his jaw while Buffy blushed, her eyes widening. It hadn't even crossed her mind to send him away.

"Uhh... well..." Buffy stuttered, "You know... I had my mind on other things! The man was beaten and even stabbed here! Gosh!" she blurted, "But okay, now that you mention it, what can you do about getting Liam here out of my life?" she asked, her voice getting stronger with each word but inside she was become anything but.

Angel glared her way. "First off, don't do that," he growled her way, before her father could say anything, "Secondly, that is something you do not need to worry about, Princess," he said turning his attention to Ethan as he finished. He couldn't help but smirk as he watched his face fall.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Ethan asked, crossing his arms over his chest. This was not expected. Or wanted.

Angel shrugged and leaned back into the bed that he would be happily leaving behind for good today. "I was just thinking... Maybe I should go back home to recuperate. Besides, there's nothing here that Lindsey or Hamilton or whoever else couldn't handle. Hell, you could even put William The Bloody out there in charge." Again, Angel smirked. "Like I said, babysitting isn't exactly part of my job description, Rayne."

'And just what is?' Buffy wondered then shook her head. 'He's really going to leave?' She really did not like the sinking feeling in her stomach at the thought of that. She also did not like that she had it to begin with. This was supposed to be a good thing, what she wanted.

"Great," she muttered and stood up, trying to conceal the mixture of emotions bubbling inside, "Anyway, I'm going to go see if that Spike guy or whatever is still around and see if he can't give me a ride back to the house. I have been here for days and would really like to go take a shower and change." She gave the two men staring at each other oddly one last look then headed for the door without another word.

Ethan let her pass and he watched her until she was about halfway down the hall, then he walked into the room closing the door behind him and took a seat. "You're really going to leave?"

Angel sighed, resting his head back.

OoOoO

Buffy had returned home, taken a shower in which she stayed in long after the water had turned cold, slipped into some different pajamas then crashed on her bed as she was tired but more so she was not ready to deal with the chaos going on in her little world at the moment.

She had actually managed to get a few good hours in before she heard someone knocking on her door. She groaned at the noise and blinked her eyes open a few good times before she sat up. As she did, everything slowly came back to her wishing whoever was on the other side of that door some horrible accident.

Standing, she checked the clock once then walked over to the door, yawning a few times before she reached it.

"Hey Pet," Spike said cheerfully as she opened the door, "You have some visitors."

Buffy looked at him oddly. "Huh? Who?"

"Some of your friends, they stopped by to say hello. They're downstairs waiting."

Buffy leaned against the door frame and yawned again. "Did you call Angelus for permission to let them in?" she asked dryly.

Spike chuckled, "Nope. Actually you're dad was the one who let them in."

Buffy's eyes nearly popped out of her head. "He did what?! They're already back?! Shit!" she hissed and flew out of there and into the bathroom to clean herself up quickly then ran downstairs with a quick "Thanks" to Spike.

As Buffy entered the room, she slowed down, an odd feeling, or several to be honest, ran through her at the scene before her.

First of all there was Angelus. He was all nice and sprawled out on the new replacement couch, barefoot... which sent all kinds of dirty thoughts to her mind as she knew that old saying was true, at least in terms of that man. He was dressed in an outfit she'd never seen him in, jeans and a tee shirt, which he wore like they were made for him... and for a second, she thought they might have been. Long gone were those expensive business suits that he wore just as nicely, as well as hospital stay's outfit which was absolutely nothing as she learned the hard way how much he'd rather be nude than in one of those hospital gowns. Not that she minded, of course.

And, if that wasn't enough, the man looked relaxed and almost like he was having fun. He still looked like sex on a stick, she was sure no matter what that would be the case with him, but right now he was... in a lighter tone than she'd seen him. And it was sending all kinds of crazy feelings through her.

Oh, and then he laughed. He fucking laughed. Not a dark, lusty laugh, not his mocking, amused by her laugh, oh, no, a real and heartfelt laugh. A fun laugh. A true laugh. And his whole face lit up and he seemed just so... opposite everything she knew about him in that moment.

Then, there was her good friend Cordelia.

Buffy couldn't really make out what she was saying but by the looks of it, she got the point. Cordelia was most certainly flirting with her... seemed to be soon to be ex-bodyguard... and Buffy most certainly did not like it.

She glared at her friend, though Cordy's focus was elsewhere, as her hands playfully rubbed against Angelus... his arms, his chest, his head... 'God, why is she touching him so much?!', as she laughed and gave little winks and flirty looks when she spoke... and 'Ugh!' Buffy's head screamed.

And then, to top it off, she did not see Anya anywhere in sight but she did noticed Willow sitting by her father who seemed to be very interested in their convcersation. She had no doubt he was. And that just added fuel to the fire.

As if sensing her head was about to explode, her father's head turned and he looked at her for a moment then smiled. A smile she knew well. A smile that said he knew she was upset but to please remain calm as he had what he thought was a good explanation for this.

She felt a growl of frustration bubbling but Ethan stood up and waved a hand at her. "Buffy dear, why don't you have a seat?" he said with a smile.

"Hi, Buffy," Willow said cheerfully oblivious to everything going on inside the blonde, "We came to check on you and well Mister Angelus too of course," and Willow blushed as she said his name.

"I bet you did," Buffy muttered under her breath then plopped down angrily in the closest available seat. "Thank you for coming by," Buffy finally said.

Willow smiled and excused herself from Ethan then came to join Buffy, smiling a lot more and making small talk, apologizing for the abrupt visit and explaining it was all Cordelia's idea. She was about to come alone but Willow explained she invited herself and Buffy had to thank her for that.

Buffy had heard all about this lovely side to her new friend Cordelia Chase, had even seen it once or twice, but now she was using it on Angelus and... 'Oh, God,' Buffy thought, realizing why this was bothering her so much. Or, to be more accurate, admitting to herself why it bothered her. She'd been coming to grips with that whole realization about her feelings toward Angelus since she first stepped out of the house and came crashing into that well sculpted chest of his.

"Buffy, are you okay?" Willow whispered, watching emotions fly across her friends face.

"No," Buffy whispered back, "I'm jealous," she admitted.

OoOoO

Buffy rolled her eyes as Cordelia pouted after hearing the news that Angelus wanted to leave. She also rolled her eyes at the annoyed tone to her father's voice as he said it.

She really didn't know what the deal was between those two.

But, Buffy also felt a bit of a stabbing like pain as it was brought up just the same. She was doing pretty good there on not thinking about it.

"Well hmph," Cordelia pouted, her voice sounding as childlike as she currently looked, then a second later she switched, she gave a sexy, sly and seductive smile and inched closer to Angelus, "Well in that case we should enjoy what little time we have left together."

"Oh, please," Buffy heard Willow mutter and couldn't help but smile a bit.

It quickly faded however as Cordelia continued and asked dear ol' Angelus out with promises of a real good time, one he wouldn't soon forget.

Buffy's eyes flew to Angelus who she locked eyes with embarrassingly as he was already looking at her. His eyes were unreadiable, too much going on inside. He stayed with her for what seemed like an eternity then he gave a polite smile Cordelia's way. "Sorry Cordelia, but I'm already spoken for."