Picking up the pieces

Pairings: will be disclosed later on as they happen. Not that I think they are great surprises but…
Disclaimer: I don't own nor did I create these characters. Writing this makes me happy even without making any money so please don't sue me. That would make me unhappy.

Chapter 7

She got there first. She wasn't nervous at all. It was strange. She almost felt she should be nervous about not being nervous. She was, after all, waiting to once and for all break off her semi-romantic relationship with her first love. Not worrying was very uncharacteristic of her.

It all changed as soon as she felt him walking into the room. Her heart almost leaped out if her chest at the first sight of him. As usual, when he was around it was beating for both of them. He looked good. Not too broody. God she almost sounded like Spike. Spike, now that was a thought that made her heart stop.

In a flash everything about Angel and her went through her head… well some things were just too painful and would always be. That was one of the reasons for what she was going to do. Besides from the pain he brought he was handsome, loving, interesting and actually kind of perfect – perfect for someone else than her.

She watched him come closer. He smiled at her. When had she last seen him smile? Had she ever? She couldn't remember.

She stood up and they hugged. It was just supposed to be a friendly hug, and it was just that until suddenly their lips were locked together.

It just came natural to them somehow. A way they said hello. She couldn't tell who had initiated the kiss. Probably both or neither and as soon as they realized what they were doing they stopped and broke apart.

"I'm sorry. That wasn't supposed to happen," Buffy started.

"Yeah. Me too. Didn't plan that."

An awkward silence followed. They sat down and he looked at her. She looked at him.

"How have you been?" She tried to ask hoping there was something in the world that could ease the atmosphere around them, if only just a little.

"I don't know. Probably been better. The last few months… or maybe last couple of years have been really tough. But it's getting better. You?"

She sighed with understanding. "Alright. Takes some adjusting to this new life. Also a few very hard years to get over. Takes time."

More silence followed but filled with only slightly less tension than before. This time Angel made the first move.

"Buffy, I'm not sure we were meant to be." No point in beating around the bush any longer.

"I agree."

There it was. They had both said it. The bubble burst and the tension was gone. She started to breathe easier and he stopped breathing. They understood each other perfectly. They were just friends that was what they were meant to be from now on… friends with a strange tendency to kiss each other hello.

After an unusually pleasant conversation between them Angel surprisingly brought up a new topic.

"How about Spike? Are you going to see him?"

"Probably. Although I'm really nervous about seeing him again."

"Are you going to turn him down too?"

"I don't know." She answered looking around the room, anywhere but him. When she did she knew that he understood what she wasn't sure he wanted to hear.

"It's alright. If he makes you happy I'll be alright with it."

Her look hardened. "Well, he could have been making me happy for the last year or so but, I don't know, he forgot to tell me he was alive?" Her tone was so bitter it almost made Angel shiver.

"He wanted to tell you, even come see you…. He just didn't know how."

"Yeah. He lost the ability to talk? I find that very hard to believe."

Angel quickly decided that maybe it was time to change the subject again and started asking about Dawn.

--

Spike had been pacing back and forth in the Hyperion's lobby for fifteen minutes now. How had he again justified not telling them he was alive? He had just not thought about it and whenever a related thought crossed his mind he just had a drink or a bottle.

How was he supposed to explain not only being alive… still undead… AND that he had been so for almost a year without them knowing?

He really felt his soul today. There was a slight burn that complemented the knot in his stomach that had been there all day. He was ashamed and he was extremely nervous. Plus Dawn had never really forgiven him for what he did to Buffy before he went to get his soul. With that and the surviving and not telling he really didn't know what to expect – except most likely raging fury.

Suddenly he noticed that he wasn't alone anymore. At the top of the steps just inside the front door stood a stunningly beautiful young woman with arms crossed over her chest and a stern look on her face. "Feeling guilty?"

The voice he knew. Last time he had heard it, it had belonged to a little girl and not the gorgeous woman who only bore a slight resemblance to the girl. "You could say that yes."

"Good." She walked down the steps towards him.

He was still trying to get his head to accept that this was the same little bit he had known a year ago. She kept looking him in the eyes and it was starting to scare him. Now there was just a foot or so separating them. Suddenly he felt pain in his shin. She had kicked him. His Nibblet had looked him straight in the eye and kicked him.

"Oww," he finally had the sense to shout but the sound was soon muffed and the pain overwhelmed by the feeling of a warm small body that threw itself into his arms.