11

Twenty minutes later, Buffy walked to the living room, finding Angel sitting on the couch wearing a pair of black boxer shorts and a white t-shirt.

"Hope I'm not interrupting anything," she said.

Angel looked up from the book he was reading. "No. Just getting ahead on our English assignment."

She laughed at him. "Always the overachiever. And you look so darn cute in those glasses. I forgot that you wear them. It's been so long."

He blushed. "I took out my contacts while you were in the shower. I must look like some kind of circus freak."

"Not at all. It's a very…scholastic look for you. I like it."

His eyes surveyed what she was wearing. A pair of flannel pajamas with elephants on them. "Interesting choice of bedtime apparel you've got there. Definitely not what I expected."

"And what did you expect?" she questioned, taking a seat next to him.

"I don't know. Something light and silky."

"Like something out of the Victoria's Secret catalog?" she joked.

"Yeah. But you never cease to shock me."

Buffy took her time before saying what she wanted to say next. "Look, about what I said earlier at the dance -"

"Buffy…"

She put her hand up to silence him. "Please let me get this out before I lose my nerve. Angel, I meant every word I said to you there. I love you. I just couldn't hold it in any longer. It's been going on since I was five years old, ever since that day in the playground when Melissa accused me of cheating and you believed me over her. I fell in love with you that day.

"And for thirteen years, I have kept my true feelings a secret, nobody else knew except my mother. In seventh grade, everyone made fun of me because I looked different; I had bad skin and bad teeth, I was a physical mess. People called me names, but you never did. You were always nice to me. Back then, I never had the courage to ask you out.

"Then we got into high school. I thought, 'This is my chance to make him love me.' But I never got the chance because you started going out with Kelley halfway through freshman year. I kept wondering what you saw in her that you didn't see in me, what it was she had that I didn't. For years I wondered that. Every time you walked into the room, I would smile to myself, just because you were near me.

"When you and Kelley broke up, I couldn't believe it. On one hand, I thought, 'Why is she breaking up with him? He's everything I've dreamed of for years and she doesn't even realize how lucky she is.' And then on the other, I wondered if you'd even look at me. Cordy came up to me and told me that she was planning to ask you out. It cut me right to the bone and I told her all this stuff to keep her away from you. I told her that you weren't good enough and too poor for her; I said things to her about you that I never meant because I was afraid of losing my only chance at winning your heart. I thought I'd lose you to my best friend.

"Tonight at the Prom, Jeremy made some comments about both of us. Dancing with him, listening to him say all that stuff made me see that I needed to tell you how I feel. I never meant to blurt it out the way I did. If you don't feel the same, I understand completely. I just had to say it, though."

"Buffy, I do feel the same," Angel admitted.

It took several moments for his words to register in her mind. "You do?"

He nodded. "Yes, I do, but I couldn't say what I have to say in front of the entire senior class. I dated Kelley for three years and I thought I loved her. But what I feel for you is stronger than anything I ever felt for Kelley. It scares me, but in a good way. Maybe I haven't loved you for as long as you've loved me, but I feel it just as strongly. Buffy, I love you."

She felt like she was going to cry. "This is so unreal. It's the best day of my life. You feel the same way I feel about you."

Angel leaned over, cupping her chin in his hand, slowly bringing his lips closer to hers until they finally touched. Her right hand wrapped around the back of his neck, moving upward into his hair. Buffy's lips parted slightly, leaving enough room for his tongue to enter.

Their kiss was growing more passionate with every passing moment, the intensity growing to proportions neither had ever experienced. Buffy took the opportunity to straddle his legs with her knees, sitting on his lap, facing him. When their embrace broke, he looked her in the eyes. "I love you so much."

"I know. Me, too."

He brought his hand to move her wet hair over her left shoulder. "I don't think I've ever told you just how beautiful you are."

"I think you said it earlier, when I got to your house."

"Without the five pounds of makeup on. You don't need to wear any, Buffy. You're a natural beauty."

He kissed her again, only this time his hands found the buttons on her pajama top, loosening the top two buttons. Still locked in their embrace, he pushed it over her shoulder, leaving the skin exposed. His lips parted from hers, moving along the left side of her face, trailing a line of kisses down her neck. Angel left open-mouth kisses along her collarbone to her shoulder.

"You smell so good," he commented between kisses. "Like a field of raspberries."

Buffy had nearly lost herself in a sea of lust. "I used raspberry body wash in the shower."

Angel couldn't seem to get enough of her. He kissed a trail back up to her lips, greedy for another taste of her. Their lips met in another searing kiss, Buffy pressing her body against him. While her hands held him about the waist, his moved to her back, lifting the hem of her top and slipping them inside.

He caressed the bare flesh of her back, his fingers trembling. He and Kelley had not even gone that far and he was nervous and afraid. Angel worried that Buffy would push him away for touching her like that, but she loved it. She knew she had his love, and as long as she had it, everything she was belonged to him.

As if his hands had a mind of their own, they caressed over her back, along her sides until they reached the front of her body. His thumbs brushed the undersides of her breasts, and before Angel knew what was happening, he was cupping them in his hands. Immediately, he broke off their embrace, removing his hands from her body.

"What's wrong? Why did you stop?" Buffy asked. She had loved the feel of his hands on her, touching and caressing her.

"I-I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For touching you."

She smiled shyly. "You don't have to be sorry. I know you wouldn't take advantage of me. Angel, you're a gentleman."

"A gentleman," he scoffed. "That's why Kelley dumped me. I was too much of a gentleman, too noble for her liking."

"I like that you're a gentleman. And she's an idiot for breaking up with you over something like that. That girl doesn't know a good thing when she sees it."

He glanced at his watch. It was almost one in the morning. "I think maybe we'd better get some sleep. It's been a long, eventful day."

Buffy agreed. "Alright. I guess I'll see you in the morning."

She walked back to her room, missing him already. Taking one look at the oversized bed she was to sleep in, she knew it was all wrong. Grabbing a couple pillows and a blanket, she went back to the living room.

"I'm back," she announced.

"Did you forget something?" Angel asked.

"Nope. I'm sleeping out here with you. I feel guilty for sleeping in a bed when you're stuck on the couch. So I will be sleeping on the floor tonight."

He laughed. "You're a nut, Buffy."

She set the pillows on the ground, laid down and covered herself up. "Angel?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you snore?"

Angel paused. "I don't know. Nobody's ever been in a position to let me know."

In the dark, Buffy grinned. She'd gotten the answer she wanted. "Night."

"Night."

***