Buffy and Angel spent the entire today together again. They had their amusing breakfast date with Cordelia and Jesse then they'd spent the rest of the day back at his place. They had taken it easy for the most part, cuddling on his sofa watching a few movies, lounging around and talking. There had been a few times they'd also wound up back in bed together making up for some of their lost time.

When night fell, Angel hated to see the weekend come to an end. They'd ordered a pizza and set up an indoor picnic spot in the living room in front of the fireplace to top the evening off but he still felt a little bit of dread in the bottom of his stomach the more time went on. He knew eventually they'd have to be apart again for one reason or another but that didn't mean it didn't suck all the same.

Angel drove Buffy back to her apartment knowing they both had work to return to come morning. She stuck her bottom lip out in a pour as they stood together in her doorway. "This feels harder than it should," she told him.

He nodded in agreement. "I could swing by and take you to work in the morning?"

Buffy rolled her eyes. "That would be ridiculous. You go in too early for me to be doing any of that and you'd be driving back and forth way too much for that anyway."

"Worth it though."

Buffy laughed. "Did you know that there's an ice rink in town?"

"No, can't say that I did."

"Hmm. Well, Wednesday's they have prices half off and slightly extended hours."

"Is that so?" Angel asked, getting amused. Buffy nodded. "Don't supposed you'd want to go with me?"

"When is the last time you went ice skating?"

Angel thought for a moment. "About nine years ago... maybe longer?"

Buffy's smile grew. "Oh, yeah, I wanna see your grand return."

"So, it's a date?"

"It's a date," she confirmed. Angel drew out leaving as long as he could but finally kissed her goodnight. "I'll see you Wednesday," she whispered.

OoOoO

Cordelia Chase was all smiles come Monday morning. Buffy knew she was in for a long day at the first glance at her friend. Most of the day had been gossiping about the newly mended couple but Buffy honestly didn't mind, she needed to gush to someone. She'd already talked a little to Willow but it was nice to just lay it all out there.

"You know, normally I'd say you two are moving way too fast - even for a couple I got together," she added with a wink, "but I don't think the same rules apply to your unique situation. It's more a feeling like you need to kind of rush into some of it and make up for the time apart but also just get back to knowing one another, you know."

Buffy debated it but then told Cordelia about Angel asking her to move in.

Cordelia's eyes widened and asked for more details about that news. "Is it crazy that I almost want to tell you to just go for it?" she said with a laugh.

Buffy sighed and told her how yes, it was crazy, but even she kept thinking about it.

OoOoO

Sunday night, all of Monday, Tuesday and on through Wednesday seemed to drag on endlessly. Buffy had spoken to Angel via phone calls and text messages but she was beyond ready to see him again. She'd had to will herself not to grab a taxi over to his house several times or not to just ask him to come over the past few days. Additionally, she had gone through an extreme amount of up and downs when it came to her emotions, her excitement and worries.

"Was it our third date when we first went skating?" Angel asked, watching her show off for a few moments.

Buffy nodded and smiled at the memory. "Yep," she said. "And you landed right on your ass about five seconds in."

"I feel like we're about to have history do a repeat of itself."

Buffy laughed, telling him to come on. It was busy tonight and Angel almost did fall down as soon as he got onto the ice and a small girl almost knocked him over. Buffy laughed harder as he gripped for the side wall earning some dirty looks.

"I feel like I am too old for this."

"You probably are," she told him, holding back a smile. "But you're already here so you've got to make the most of it. Do you want one of those training poles?"

Angel shot her more dirty looks as he tried to regain his composure. It took nearly the entire time they were there for Angel to get comfortable in skates again and he'd only fallen once in the three hours they were there. She decided to call that a win.

"I'm going to be sore as hell tomorrow," Angel complained as he got into the driver's side of the car.

Buffy was sure she would be as well, it'd been about a year since she'd even been out here. "Aww, poor baby," she teased.

"That's right, poor baby. I was going to try and get you to go out and with me again Friday but I think my ass is broke and I'll be laying up in a bed trying to recover from this date."

Buffy bust out laughing. "Awww. I could always come over and take care of you," she playfully offered.

"And you probably will need to," he countered. "I'd already put that down in your schedule," he continued. "Now, where do you want to get some food from before I probably need to take you back to your apartment?"

Buffy glanced at the clock in the dashboard, it was later than she usually intended on being out on a weekday. Buffy bit the side of her lip for a moment. "Can we stop there for a minute but I stay at your place tonight?" she asked in a rush. Three and a half hours together after days apart didn't feel like enough. "We can get something along the way, whatever you want is fine."

Angel glanced over at her. "Yeah," he told her, seemingly taken aback a bit. "We can do that."

Buffy wasn't far from the skating rink which she was thankful for, she rushed up to her apartment and grabbed some clothes for work tomorrow and any additional overnight items she might need such as her toothbrush and phone charger. They got some food from a drive thru and then were on their way back to Angel's before long. Buffy took control of his radio, singing along and feeding him fries as they drove along.

Walking into his town house felt more like coming home than her apartment had since she'd moved in. Buffy breathed it in as she walked into the kitchen and on into the dining room. It'd felt like a lifetime since she'd been here despite it only being a few days. Angel went to put their coats up and her bag into his bedroom while she sat the food up at the table.

"What time do you need to be in tomorrow?" Angel asked as he returned. He asked if she wanted to be dropped off early in the morning or wait for Cordelia but Buffy was fine with going in a little early, maybe she'd get a little more caught up with a few things she'd thought. He fiddled with his phone for a moment before putting it away and setting down at the table with her to enjoy their quick meal. "I missed you."

Buffy smiled, looking over at him. "I missed you, too," she told him. "It somehow felt way longer than basically three days."

Angel nodded in agreement. "I don't know what the hell you're doing to me, woman."

OoOoO

Buffy decided to try and get ahead some of the ache that was bound to take over a good portion of her body come morning and go soak in Angel's large bathtub before going to bed. While she let the water fill up, she took that little extra tour of these last two areas of his bathroom and his walk-in closet that she hadn't paid much attention to over the weekend. Buffy's fingertips danced along various items inside his medicine cabinet and she peeked in the cabinets ad small corner linen closet. His closet was deep, he had a lot of plastic totes along the bottom and it was about half-filled with clothes. Buffy's eyes raked over the suits, the tee-shirts, the shoe rack in the middle.

She walked deeper inside, flipping through some of his shirts until she found one she liked and took it off its hanger and brought it back into the bathroom with her. She turned the water off then went to stick her head out to call Angel in to join her.

Buffy was sure she could fall asleep right there in the tub, it was so warm, Angel was so comfortable. He put her hair up and started to massage her scalp, neck, shoulders and she was sure she probably did pass out for a few minutes in there somewhere. Angel kissed her neck and she let out a happy sigh, leaning her head back more.

The pair sleepily discussed bits and pieces of their day that they'd hadn't gotten into earlier but for the most part they just laid there together enjoying each other's company until the water started to get cooler. Buffy groaned as she moved to get out, already missing the nice, hot bath. She got dressed in one of Angel's old shirts which earned a look from him but he didn't comment. He did smile at her before disappearing from the bathroom briefly. When he returned he was in a new pair of boxer shorts and the two finished getting ready for bed together.

Buffy felt like her body was almost floating as she laid there in bed with him. Angel wrapped her up in his large arms, holding her tight as they both drifted off to sleep. Everything was soft and warm, she felt safe, happy. Her final thought as she fell under was how this felt like exactly where she was supposed to be and what she hadn't even realized she'd been missing.

OoOoO

Angel was finishing getting dressed when he walked back through the master bath seeing Buffy doing the same. He was about to comment on how beautiful she looked when she suddenly said, "I have months still left on my lease."

Angel stilled, his hands pausing at his neck. The let her words bounce around his mind for a moment. "Okay," he finally said slowly, unsure where this was going. He finished getting his tie on.

"The more time that I spend with you... the more that I want to spend time with you," she said. "And it's crazy... but I almost feel like I want to get out of the lease and just be here. I miss you when we're apart, especially after just getting you back. And then I think about how fast all of this and everything but... I don't know... I know we can't nor should we be together every second of the day but I really like the idea of not having to go days without seeing you as we do this whole dating thing. I like the idea of coming home - here - and you being here. I like the idea of... not saying goodbye to you in the door way of my apartment, of eating most meals together, relaxing after work, falling asleep beside you as much as I possibly can..." Buffy paused after letting all that spill out and then got a horrified look on her face but he was there in a flash, kissing her, stopping any of those negative thoughts that swirled around as soon as she let all of that out.

"I will figure out how to get you out of your lease if you will move in with me," he told her gently.

"Angel... this is..."

"I know," he told her and kissed her again. He paused for a moment, letting his forehead rest against hers. "I put in a form saying I am no longer willing to relocate and will accept a permanent position Monday," he told her. Buffy's eyes widened as she took a step back. "I am also probably going to buy this house... unless you think you'd want something else... but I put in an offer to go from this whole rent to own thing to actually just buying it outright."

Buffy let out a slow breath. "What is happening? This so isn't a conversation to have before work..."

Angel reached an arm out to her, pulling her back to him. "No, probably not but timing hasn't always been our strong suit. But I'm trying to work on that. I fucked everything up before and whatever Powers That Be gave me a second chance and I don't want to mess that up. I don't want to be anywhere else, Buffy. I want to be home - make a home - with you like I should have done in the first damn place. I want to prove to you it won't be like it was, that I won't ever let that happen and that I am sorry - endlessly sorry - that I ever let us fall apart in the first place. I am all for the fun and games and I will be up for that the rest of our lives but it's more than that for me, too. Everything is moving fast and I know that and that is scary... it is... but it also feels right. You being with me, you being here, us diving into this and getting through the things that split us up before and coming back together and doing this right this time? That's all I want and I want to start now, yesterday, hell the second I even saw you again I think part of me had the urge to. You're what I want, all I want."