"He lives in your apartment building, Cordy," Fred repeated the bombshell she'd just dropped.

Cordy's face drained of all color and her legs gave out. She would have fallen if not for the strong arms that wrapped around her waist and then lifted her into his arms. Once in his arms, she buried her face in his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist, needing to get as close to him as she could. Angel walked to the sofa and lowered himself onto it, Cordy still in his arms. He freed his arms from under her legs and wrapped them around her, offering her the comfort of his embrace. After a few minutes, he felt hot tears seep into his shirt. "Hey," he whispered, gently lifting her face to his own. What he saw in her eyes ripped his heart in two. He didn't think he'd ever seen so much fear in her eyes before, not even on the night of her attack.

"Angel, promise me you'll find him," she whispered.

Angel nodded. "Cordy, I promise we'll find him."

She nodded. "I'm going upstairs. I need to be alone for a little while, Angel."

"Okay," he told her, watching as she stood and walked in the direction of the staircase.

Halfway up the staircase, she turned back. "Angel?"

"Yeah?"

"I want to be alone...but not for too long," she told him, hoping he'd understand she wanted him to come up in a little while. He did.

"I'll be up to see how you're doing before too long." She nodded and continued up the staircase. All three of them watched her go, each face bearing different degrees of concern.

"What now?" Gunn asked once she was gone. "We have to find him."

Angel nodded. "Yes, we do. You said he goes to Cal State L.A.?"

"Yes," Fred confirmed.

"Today, work the phones. See what you can find out about this guy. Tomorrow, take a trip over to the university. Talk to his professors, administrators, his friends, janitors, anyone who has come into contact with him. Find out everything you can. Where he hangs out, what he likes and dislikes. We need to find out everything we can."

"Okay," Gunn agreed. "What are you going to do?"

Angel looked toward the staircase. "I'm going to check on Cordy."

Fred nodded. "Take care of her, Angel. We can handle this."

Angel looked at the young woman gratefully. "Thanks, Fred."

***

Angel quietly opened the door to their room, not making a sound. He didn't want to wake her if she was sleeping. "Oh, Cordy," he whispered, hurrying to her side. She was lying in bed, hugging his pillow to her, sobbing. He climbed in beside her, gently taking the pillow from her and pulling her into his arms.

"What can I do?" he asked when her sobs had been reduced to the occasional sniffle.

She looked up at him tearfully. "You're doing it. This helps more than you know."

He gently brushed the last of her tears away. "You're beautiful, you know that?"

This earned him a small laugh. "I'm not beautiful, Angel. My body is still bruised from what he did to me and I know I smeared my makeup from my latest crying stint. That is not a beautiful sight."

"Cordy, you could be covered in mud and chicken feathers and I'd still think you're beautiful," he told her, smiling. "You take my breath away."

"Angel, you don't have breath," she smirked.

"See? Permanently removed."

She just rolled her eyes. Sometimes the man she loved was a big dork. She considered that thought. Okay, more than sometimes. But she did love him. "Thank you," she told him, suddenly serious.

"For what?"

"For thinking I'm beautiful. I don't know if I'll ever feel that way again, but thank you for thinking it."

Angel smiled. "You will."

She reached up and gently stroked his cheek. He turned his head ever so slightly and kissed the palm of her hand, causing a small smile to appear on her face. She tenderly pressed her lips to his. "I love you so much," she told him, kissing him once again.

"I love you, too, baby."

***

"Find out anything?" Gunn asked as Fred hung up the phone for the umpteenth time that day.

"Not much," she admitted. "I did just talk to the apartment manager at Cordy's complex, though."

"What did he say?"

"He only moved in six months ago, pays his rent on time and doesn't make trouble."

"Nothing out of the ordinary," Gunn supplied.

"There was one thing," Fred told him.

"What?"

"Apparently, when he moved in he asked for an apartment in Cordy's building specifically. He thought it was odd at the time, but didn't think too much about it."

Gunn considered that. "You think he was stalking her?"

Fred nodded. "Yes, I do."

"We need to tell Angel," Gunn told her.

"Yeah."

***

"You want anything to eat or drink?" Angel asked.

"I'm not really hungry yet, but a bottle of water sounds great."

"I'll be right back."

***

As Angel came down the staircase, Gunn stuck his head out the office door. "Angel, do you have a minute?"

"Sure."

He walked into the office and sat down. "Did you find out anything?" he asked.

"Got a lot of what we expected: he's a good guy, never causes trouble, that sort of thing," Gunn answered

"But?" Angel prompted.

"We also talked to the apartment manager," Fred told him.

"And?"

"When he first moved in, he asked for an apartment in Cordy's building specifically," Gunn answered.

"He was stalking her," Angel realized.

Gunn nodded. "Yeah, looks that way."

"She can't go back there," Angel said, more to himself than to them, but they heard him anyway.

"Kind of why we told you now," Gunn told him.

Angel nodded. "Okay. Let me know if you find anything else out," he told them, rising from his chair.

"Will do."

Walking out of the office, he headed for the staircase and got halfway up it before he remembered Cordy's water. Turning around, he hurried into the kitchen where he retrieved a bottle of Ice Mountain from the refrigerator and poured himself a glass of blood. Tossing the empty bag in the trash can, he walked back up the stairs.

***

Angel walked back into their room and handed her bottle of water. "Here you go, Cordy," he told her, sitting down beside her.

"Thanks." She opened the bottle and took a sip. He smiled and took a sip of his blood.

"I've been thinking, Angel," she told him a moment later.

"About what?"

"As much as I love my apartment, I don't think I can go back. I don't think I'll ever feel safe there again."

"Cordy, you're not safe there." He put down his glass of blood and took her hand.

"What?"

"When he moved into your apartment complex, he specifically asked for your building."

"Oh, God," she whispered.

"I'm so sorry, Cordy, but you can't go back there."

"Oh, the joy of looking for a new apartment. I had so much fun last time," she told him, rolling her eyes as she remembered her apartment search with Doyle.

Angel just smiled, but Cordy didn't miss the look on his face. "What?" she asked. "You want to say something so say it."

Angel laughed softly. "I should have known you would know," he told her.

"Yes, you should. Now spill."

"I'd like you to consider moving into the hotel with me," he told her softly. The softness in his eyes told her more than his words ever would. This wasn't a spur of the moment thing. He really did want her here.

She nodded. "Okay."

"Okay?"

She laughed, knowing she'd just confused him. She decided to clear things up for him. She put her bottle of water on the bedside table and slid closer to him. When her lips were just inches from his, she whispered, "Yes, I'd like nothing more than to move into the hotel with you, Angel."

Angel smiled and closed the distance between them, capturing her lips with his own. He didn't need to tell her how happy she'd made him. She could feel it in that kiss and she could see it in his smile.

"How soon can we start packing?" she asked. Now that she knew this was going to be her new home, she was ready to move her belongings as soon as possible.

Angel smiled. "How about tomorrow?"

"Sounds perfect," she told him, snuggling into his arms. They lay like that for awhile, neither speaking, just enjoying the comfort of each other's embrace.

"You know, that apartment hasn't really felt like home for awhile now," she told him a little while later, breaking the silence. He looked at her, waiting for her to continue. "The truth is, this hotel has felt like my home for a long time."

"And now it will be."

She nodded. "Yeah."

***

"Hungry?" he asked a little later

"Yeah."

"What sounds good?"

"A sandwich sounds good."

"Ham, turkey?" he asked.

"Ham."

"You got it. Stay here. I'll let Gunn and Fred know what's going on and be back soon."

She nodded, picking up her book from the bedside table and began to read.

***

Downstairs, Gunn and Fred were just pulling on their jackets when Angel got there. "Going somewhere?" he asked.

Gunn nodded. "Yeah. We're starving so we're going to go get something to eat."

"Before you go, I just wanted to let you know what's going on," Angel told them.

"What?" Fred asked.

"I asked Cordy to move into the hotel."

"That's great, Angel," Fred told him.

Angel smiled. "Yeah," he agreed. "We're going to go over to her apartment tomorrow and pack everything up while you two do those interviews."

"Sounds like a good idea," Gunn told him. "The sooner she's out of there, the better."

Angel nodded his head in agreement. "Have a nice dinner. We'll probably be in bed by the time you get back so we'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay. Goodnight, Angel," Fred told him with a smile.

"Goodnight," Angel said. Angel watched them walk to the door, where Gunn waved. Then he went to make Cordy's sandwich.

***

"Here you go. One ham sandwich with cheese, lettuce and mayo," he told her as he walked back into the room.

"Thanks, Angel."

"I brought you another bottle of water, too," he said as he handed it over.

She smiled and bit into her sandwich. Angel sat down with a glass of blood for himself.

***

Dinner over, Angel took the dishes back downstairs while Cordy changed for bed. He rinsed off her plate and his glass and put them in the dishwasher. Dishes done, he turned off the kitchen light and returned to Cordy.

***

"Hey," he greeted her as he walked back in the room.

"Hey," she told him around a yawn. "Are you as tired as I am?"

"If by tired you mean absolutely exhausted, then yes."

"That's what I mean," she told him.

"I'd say it's time for bed, then," he said, pulling his pajama pants out of a drawer. He quickly shed his clothes, completely unembarrassed that she was watching him with a keen eye. He looked up with a smile. "See anything you like?"

She nodded. "Everything."

He laughed and picked up his clothes, tossing them into the hamper. He climbed into bed and held out his arms to her. She immediately fell into them and lay her head on his chest.

She sighed with contentment. "This is all so normal," she told him softly.

"What is?"

"This. Us. Having dinner, getting ready for bed."

"It is normal," he agreed.

"Can we really have this? Are we allowed to have that?"

Angel nodded and kissed the top of her head. "Yes."

Cordy smiled. "Good. I was just checking."

Angel chuckled and turned out the light. "I love you, Cordy. Goodnight," he told her, kissing her.

"I love you, too. 'Night."

They were asleep within minutes.