After the long last chapter, this one his shorter again. And it also doesn't really further the story, it's just there for some further character development.

"And they bought it," Cordelia asked in a whisper as she stood in the kitchen of the Summers residence while looking around the corner into the dining room, still not believing how easy Xander's relatives bought the excuse that Anya's friends were all circus people.

"Remember the Harvest," Buffy asked back, grinning.

"I... Point taken," Cordelia conceded. She had witnessed vampires attack the Bronze and kill people right in front of her, and had somehow managed to explain it away. "I guess living in Sunnydale is giving you a lifetime of exercise to buy into excuses like that," she admitted.

"Ye think," Buffy joked before handing her a bowl. "You know, by now I actually understand why Angel would rather stay with Spike tonight than here," she said after taking a bowl on her own.

"Yeah, never thought I'd see the day," Cordelia agreed as they walked back into the dining room. Most of Xander's family were present, and a lot of Anya's demon friends as well, but they did decide to refrain from asking obvious questions about Sahjhan.

As they sat down Xander's already drunken father turned to Cordelia and eyed her with interest, undressing her with his eyes. "Just for your info, Mr. Harris, I've got a boyfriend, and if he comes back and catches you looking at me like this, you'll spend your son's wedding, and a considerable amount of time afterwards, in the hospital," Cordelia told him very calmly despite being crept out by his behaviour regardless her day to day work in which she had to deal with far more creepy guys.

"So, where's this boyfriend of yours," he slurred.

"Dad," an annoyed Xander warned him.

"He's catching up with some old friends at the moment," Cordelia lied. This had been the cover story they had agreed upon for the evening.

"Cordelia, what have you been up to since you moved to Los Angeles anyway," Xander's mother suddenly asked her.

"Oh, I tried to get into acting, but the parts you get as a beginner nobody just weren't, let's say, stimulating enough to actually make me care, so I gave that one up. At that point I already started to work as a secretary at a private detective agency, and I still work there today," Cordelia replied, trying to sound as if she was sad about not making it as an actress, but she didn't really manage it.

"I can see why," Mrs. Harris joked and winked at her before turning her attention back to the food in front of her.

Cordelia, Buffy, and Willow exchanged some looks, all three of the them wanting this event to end. Prior all of them asked themselves what would be more annoying – Anya or her guests. Now they knew the answer – Xander's family.

"So is your boyfriend from Sunnydale as well," one of Xander's aunts asked.

"Kinda. He lived here for a couple of years before moving to L.A., but he's originally from Ireland," Cordelia answered honestly, glancing at Buffy, begging her to save her from this conversation.

"Anyway, I think we can find a more interesting subject than Cordelia's private life. This isn't about her after all," Buffy said. Just as Mrs. Harris wanted to object to that Buffy asked who wanted more soup.

Xander seemed to have gotten the hint and tried a new approach. "So, who's going to win the World Series this year? Mets or Yankees," he asked.

"Yankees. The Mets will have a hard enough time to get through the Braves and Phillies," answered one of Anya's guests. Several people eyed him suspiciously. "What? I watch Baseball," he answered. And suddenly most men at the table started to discuss the upcoming Baseball season.

Angel was sitting on the armchair in Spike's crypt. He knew that it used to be Buffy's, or Joyce's to be more correct, but he didn't ask what it was doing here. There were only two options: Spike stole it and Buffy never said anything about it, or Buffy, or Joyce, had given it to him. Either way Buffy was apparently okay with the armchair now standing here since he knew that she had been over as well.

It hadn't taken long after his arrival at the crypt for Spike to disappear, claiming that he couldn't stand to be alone with him for too long before wanting to hit something. Angel believed him since he felt the same. After managing to get Connor to sleep he had started to take a good look around the crypt. The upper floor really looked like a living room, with lightning, television, a fridge, and everything. The lower level on the other hand looked like it was in desperate need of reconstruction. It looked like a bomb had exploded in there. To Angel's surprise he could smell Buffy down there, and the scent was the strongest close to the burned bed standing there. Angel could only come up with one reason for this – Buffy had slept with Spike. Either very recently or often enough for her sent to linger in the air this long, and to be nearly ingrained in the burned bed sheets.

Now he was sitting in the armchair, watching television, constantly looking over to his son, checking up if he was still sleeping, waiting for Spike to come back from wherever he went. The sun was down by now. As Spike had put it, he'd be out patrolling tonight since the Slayer wasn't, and it gave him an excuse to stay away from his crypt and to hit something. "I'm starting to wonder if he's only coming back until we're gone," Angel asked his sleeping baby son.

"That was kinda the plan, but I'm starting to get hungry," Spike answered from the entrance as he walked inside.

"You've become more sneaky," Angel commented, not really sure how to feel about that.

"Man, you didn't even notice me spying on you back when I tried to steal the Gem of Amara from you," Spike replied as he went to his fridge and got a pack of blood from it.

"Pigs blood?"

"No, human," Spike answered sarcastically. "Of course it's pigs blood, you big poof."

"Then I'll have one as well," Angel replied.

"Then make it yourself."

Angel groaned and got up, walked over, and just as he reached the fridge, Spike slammed the door shut. He growled at the younger vampire, who just smirked. "Grow up, Spike," was all Angel said before opening the fridge again to get a pack of blood out. He smelled at it to make sure that it was pigs blood, and then went on to pour the liquid in a cup. He waited until Spike's own cup was done before putting his into the microwave as well. The two stood there in uncomfortable silence until Angel couldn't take it any longer. "So, tell me, since when do you sleep with Buffy," he asked.

"What," Spike asked back shocked.

Angel rolled his eyes. "I've been downstairs. I smelled her, and the source for the smell was the bed," he explained.

"What the hell were you doing in my bedroom," Spike asked back angrily.

"I was having a look around the place," Angel explained. "Now back to my question. Since when are you sleeping with Buffy?"

"None of your business," Spike answered and walked over to the armchair Angel had been sitting in. The blond vampire sat down and immediately changed the channel.

Angel shook his head and followed him. "If you hurt her...," he started but Spike interrupted him. "If I hurt her? Peaches, this thing is more the other way around."

Angel frowned. "What do you mean?"

Spike groaned. "Well, Captain Forehead, since you're obviously slow, I'll spell it out for you. I can't hurt humans, at least not as long they want to, so..."

"I didn't mean physical," Angel interrupted, wondering what he meant with his comment about being able to harm humans as long as they wanted to.

Spike let out a short, cruel laugh. "For that she'd have to care first."

Angel noted the slight hint of pain in Spike's voice and realised that if anybody had hurt somebody in this weird kind of relationship, it had been Buffy instead of the other way around. "You really do care about her," he said.

"I nearly staked Dru for her," Spike admitted, sounding defeated. "If Harmony hadn't gotten in the way, I would have. Only that the Slayer despised me for it."

"What," Angel found himself asking out loud, actually taking a bit of pity on his grandchilde.

"Yeah. Told me that I'm a monster and not capable of loving her, or loving in general. And yet, when she needs help she always comes back me. Do you want to know why," Spike asked, staring directly into Angel's eyes.

Angel himself remained silent and simply returned Spike's glare.

"Because she knows that I'm love's bitch and that I'd do anything for her. She knows that I do love her, and she knows that she cares as well, and that's the real reason why she broke things off."

"Are you sure that had nothing to do with you selling stolen demon eggs," Angel asked, not really sure he wanted to know the answer that Spike had come up with in his mind.

Spike scoffed at that. "That was just an excuse. Do ye wanna know how this started?" Angel nodded. "After she returned, I was the only one she told the truth, her having been in heaven and all. And then we started to sleep with each other. She wanted to feel something again, anything, she simply wanted to feel alive again. She wanted it rough, and often she wanted it in the dark, so that she could forget whom she was actually sleeping with. Because at first, she wanted me to be you. But over time, she didn't just leave after we were done, she didn't object to do it with the lights on, she didn't even longer moaned your name. No matter what blonde is telling herself, I know that she had started to like it, to enjoy what we had. And that's why she had to break things off, because how can little Miss Perfect have any kind of feelings for a monster like me? I mean, it's not like she never had any kind of relationship with one before."

Spike's tirade made Angel sick. He looked over to Connor and found the little guy still sleeping. Sighing he turned back to Spike, who had rage in his eyes. What made Angel sick was not that Spike believed this but that he himself didn't found it unbelievable either. He knew that Buffy must have had sex with Spike. He knew from Willow that Spike had claimed to love Buffy and had shown signs of affection for Buffy in the past. And he had noticed Buffy's tendency to defend Spike when other people attacked him while she did the same all the time herself. But most of all, there was something about Spike right now that made Angel believe him. The vampire with a soul asked himself what it was, and slowly realised that he reminded him of himself back when Cordelia had rejected him at first. "I'm sorry," was all he could say.

"What," Spike asked in surprise.

"I'm sorry," Angel repeated.

"Why?"

Angel shrugged. "I don't know," he admitted. "I just know that for some reason, I don't think you're too far off from the truth."

Now it was Spike's turn to look surprised. "Seriously? You of all people believe that the love of your life might have some feelings for me?"

"What does Cordelia have to do with this," Angel asked. He knew that Spike had meant Buffy, but he didn't care. As much as he hated the idea of Buffy potentially being in love with Spike, it had more to do with his dislike for the vampire sitting in front of him at the moment than still wanting to be with Buffy in anyway, and that was something he wanted to shout from the rooftops.

Spike himself crocked his eyebrows. "You'd seriously chose the cheerleader over the Slayer?"

"I already did," Angel replied. "Listen, Spike. I won't pretend that I like what I just heard. I might not longer be in love with Buffy, but I still care about her, and I can't even describe how grateful I am for her taking me and my family in like she did. And because of that I want her to find somebody with whom she can have what I have with Cordelia. Honestly, I don't think you're that person."

"Great pep talk, Peaches. Do you practice in front of the mirror," Spike spat.

Angel shook his head. "Spike, believe it or not, I know how you feel right now."

"I highly doubt it."

Angel sighed. "When I finally told Cordelia how I felt about her, she denied it. She ran away. I felt like my heart had been ribbed out of my chest, stomped upon, and put through a meat grinder, with the rests being stomped upon again. I felt like I had just lost my best friend forever. Nothing had ever hurt that much, not even leaving Buffy, or having her rub her relationship with Riley in my face. So I think I have a pretty good idea how broken down you might feel right now."

"Pfft, the hell you do. So she ran out crying and a few hours later the two of you probably had a heartfelt talk that ended with you making out and declaring your ever lasting love. So you might've had been hurt for a couple of hours, and even that was not the same. Or did your chit use you as a way of emotional and physical relief, knowing how you felt, only to throw you away because her own feelings started to scare her?!"

Connor suddenly started crying. Spike getting louder and louder had woken him up. Angel looked angrily at his grandchilde as he ran over to his son to soothe him back to sleep. "Hey there, buddy. Everything's fine, daddy's here," he said and vamped out, making Connor stop crying and instead starting to laugh.

"That works," Spike asked surprised.

Angel turned around to the face the other vampire while still rocking Connor. "Yeah. For some reason he finds the vamp-face thing funny but Cordelia glowing scary."

"Probably has something to do with being the child of two vampires," Spike noted.

"Probably," Angel agreed and then asked him to get the formula he had put in the fridge.

Grunting Spike agreed and asked his grandsire how long to put the bottle in the microwave. Once that was done he watched the older vampire feed his son. "I guess I won't have your blessing pursuing Buffy?"

Angel sighed. "You don't, and you know why."

Spike scoffed. "Why? Because I'm a monster? A man without conscience?"

"Pretty much."

"Right. Because if you didn't have a soul you'd the pinnacle of moral righteousness."

"I know, but I got one. You don't."

"No, I don't. And at the same time, the sole thing that keeps me from committing any crimes with actual victims is a chip in my head that stops me from directly hurting anyone. I could easily order other demons and vampires around to kill people. I mean, I can still harm and kill them. And still I decided to switch sides, and that was before I'd fallen in love with the Slayer. Maybe that's what always pissed you off about me? Angelus was always angry at me for keeping a bit of my humanity, and you Angel, you're angry at me for being able to do that without having a soul while you're not."

Angel felt anger rising inside of him, and the sole thing that kept him from attacking Spike was that he was holding his son in his arms. Instead he took an unneeded breath to calm himself down. " Do you really believe that?"

"What? That I'm both, a man and a monster? I don't just believe that, I know it. You on the other hand, you can barely accept that you're both, with the monster simply being locked away inside of you. And that's why you hate me so much. Because I'm better than you."

Angel had to close his eyes. God, Spike was annoying. Angel knew perfectly well that Spike kind of had a point, but that he also ignored one important detail. A vampire's personality was determined by the subconscious desires and suppressed emotions of the sired human. In Angel's case that had meant a lot of pinned up anger at his father and society had been released once he had become Angelus. And he had already been an arrogant, violent, misogynist prick as Liam to begin with. Having his soul returned to him had allowed him to finally grow out of it. Spike on the other hand had been way more gentle when he had been William. His siring had set free his rebellious nature and his desire to show it to those who had ridiculed him in life. That's why he had treated killing like a competition instead of an art like Angelus did. He never was the monster Angelus was, because William had been a better person than Liam to start with. That of course didn't change that Spike didn't really have a conscience since he didn't have a soul. He did good because he wanted to be recognised for it, not for the sake of it. For Angel that meant that he was a monster pretending to be a man. And while he felt like that himself sometimes, Cordelia had shown him that he wasn't but that he was in fact a man with a monster locked away inside of him, as Spike had put it.

"What, no argument? I'm disappointed," Spike commented.

"I just don't have to nerve to fight with you at the moment, especially not with Connor being here," Angel replied and sat down on the casket in the middle of the crypt.

Spike shook his head. "Of course," he replied sarcastically. "Anyway, I had my snack. I'm going to head back out and do something useful," he added and left again.

Now it was Angel's turn to shake his head. He looked down to his now asleep son. "You know, Spike is kinda your cousin. But please never look up to him as a role model, okay? Even Xander would be a better one," Angel said to him with a soothing voice. "And I really don't see what your aunt Buffy might see in him, but I know that she does see something there," he admitted out loud before putting Connor back into his carrier and returning to the armchair, changing the channel back to the classic movie programme he had previously watched.