It is officially my firm belief that whoever came up with the idea of final examinations should be tortured mercilessly. I am so swamped with reviewing material for my finals, I wish I could just take them and be done with it. I started testing this week and I don't finish with them until May 28th! Evil teachers!

Anyways, as you might have guessed I'm going to be having a pretty busy schedule so it might take me longer to post another chapter, but we'll see. It's starting to look like this story is going to be pretty long, I still have a ways to go.

A/N: I know my chapter titles suck, but oh well, my creativity is really not that great

So, hope you enjoy!

12.

The room was completely dark, and as Angel slowly came awake he looked around, searching for the thing that had woken him. It didn't take him long to find the culprit, for Buffy, still enclosed in his arms, was tossing and turning in her sleep. He didn't remember falling asleep, but that didn't surprise him. They had all been pretty tired, and glancing around, he noticed that everyone else was asleep too, sprawled out in various positions on the floor. Bringing his attention back to the blond in his arms, he smoothly shifted his body into a sitting position, trying not to disturb her. It was hard to see through the darkness but he could just make out her petite form tossing around, her face scrunched up into a frown and tears squeezing from beneath her eyelids. Immediately concerned, he tried to wake her up.

"Buffy, Buffy!" he whispered, trying to keep his voice low so that no one else would be disturbed. "Wake up, it's just a dream!"

His words didn't seem to have an affect on her, in fact, she seemed to become more and more upset, opening her mouth repeatedly in a silent cry. Angel gently grasped her shoulders and shook her slightly, but this just caused her to begin thrashing in earnest.

"No, no!" she cried out, pushing at him with her arms. "Mom! Dad! Noooooo!" Horrified, he finally snapped out of it and grasped her again, firmly this time, shaking her until she finally woke up. She looked up at him with tear-filled eyes, and the sadness that Angel saw in them was enough to have him reeling back in surprise. Quickly recovering, he embraced her in his strong arms again and pulled her tight against his chest, rocking her back and forth in a comforting manner.

"Hey, it's okay, shush, shush," he whispered as her tears continued to fall, wetting his shirt. "It was just a dream, it's okay, you're okay." He didn't know what to do, so he just held her until she calmed down a bit.

Buffy was terrified. She had been dreaming about the night her pack was killed and the images were still fresh in her mind. It wasn't the first time that she had dreamt about that night, but so far this had been the worst. Tonight she had actually seen her parents, calling out for her, covered in blood as Parker and Riley just looked on indifferently. As much as she hated the two of them, she was scared of them too. Deciding that it was too hard to think about right then, she just squeezed her eyes shut and clutched at Angel's chest, willing her body to stop shaking.

"I-I'm really s-sorry, A-angel," she finally managed to get out when she had calmed down enough, pushing away from him slightly and wiping her watery eyes. She then attempted a meek smile, but it soon faded away.

"What's the matter, Buffy?" he asked, concern shining through his eyes. He lifted his hand up to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

"It-it was nothing, ju-just a bad dream." She didn't know why, but she felt really nervous about talking about her nightmares with Angel. She didn't want him to think that she was weak. Knowing she was lying, Angel just gave her a disbelieving look, raising his eyebrows pointedly.

"I'm sorry that I woke you up, I think I'll just go and grab some water from the kitchen, I'm kind of thirsty." She tried to quickly scramble to her feet, seeing that Angel wasn't going to let the issue drop, and wanting to get away before he had the chance to question her further. However, her plan was foiled when he quickly reached up and grabbed her wrist, pulling her back down to him.

"Not so fast, Buffy. Please, tell me what's going on." The concern in his voice was mixed together with a strong determination. Unfortunately for him, their conversation was interrupted by the confused voice of Cordelia, sounding tired and completely out of it.

"What's going on?" she asked, rubbing her eyes.

"Nothing," Angel replied, turning to look at her. "Buffy just had a bad dream and woke me up," he added as way of explanation.

"Whatever," she muttered, her head dropping back down onto her pillow, falling asleep again instantly. Rolling his eyes at the brunette, Angel turned his attention back to Buffy, only to see that see had already left the room. Sighing, he went through a short internal debate, wondering whether or not to follow her, and finally decided to give her some time so she could sort through what it was that was on her mind.

Buffy ran quickly through the hallways, reaching the kitchen in record time. She smiled slightly to herself, thinking about Cordelia's perfect timing and reminding herself to thank her later on. It wasn't that she didn't trust Angel, it was just… actually, she didn't know exactly what it was. She didn't want to keep dreaming about her pack's death, but she didn't want Angel to think she was just some scared little girl who needed to be comforted because she had a bad dream. She groped around in the dark, trying to find the light switch and eventually succeeding, flooding the room with a bright light that forced her to blink and shield her eyes until they had adjusted.

"Glasses, glasses, glasses," she muttered to herself, looking at all of the cupboards and trying to decide which of them held the cups.

She hadn't yet had time to fully master the kitchen layout, so instead she went over and began to open random cupboards in search of something to drink water out of. She really was thirsty, it hadn't been a lie, just a great excuse to leave. She wondered if Angel had decided to follow her, straining her ears, but upon hearing no footsteps she decided that he was still in the rec-room. Then she thought back to how she had woken up in his arms and a blush spread across her previously pale face. It was definitely a feeling that she could get used to, but she then immediately forced that thought out of her mind. So not going there, Buffy, she admonished herself.

She eventually managed to find a glass and proceeded over to the sink to fill it up. Now with a glass of water she moved to the table and sat down, trying to sort through her muddled thoughts that just seemed to be floating around in a random order. Sleep evaded her for the rest of the night and as morning approached she sighed and got up, placing her empty glass back in the sink and then headed back to where her friends were still undoubtedly sleeping.

Meanwhile, an elderly woman was walking down the hallways, humming quietly to herself. She loved the morning hours, when everything was peaceful and the majority of the Raiselk pack had yet to wake up. She was one of the pack's cooks and loved her job, it made her feel good to take care of people. She had no family left and so instead spent all her time looking after others. She was just about to turn into the kitchen to begin breakfast when she spotted the new pack member leaving it. Smiling, she approached the girl, wondering what she was doing up so early.

"Hello there, dear," she said warmly as Buffy visibly jumped, swirling around to face the voice. "Sorry, didn't mean to frighten you."

"Oh, that's okay," Buffy replied nervously. She had been startled but now just smiled back. "I just wasn't expecting anyone else to be up." She had seen this woman around before, she thought that Willow had mentioned something about her being one of the main cooks for the pack.

"Well now, I was going to say the same thing. What are you doing in the kitchen so early in the morning?"

"Well, actually, I had a kind of hard time sleeping so I decided to get some water, and I guess I just kind of got lost in my thoughts and forgot the time."

"You're the new pack member of course, aren't you?" the woman asked, beckoning for Buffy to follow her back into the kitchen while she spoke.

"Yeah, that would be me."

"And what might your name be? I'm afraid that I've forgotten it. Old age will do that to you, you know." Buffy smiled. There was just something about this woman that made her feel comfortable.

"My name's Buffy."

"Well now, Buffy, isn't that a pretty name? I once had a daughter-in-law that looked somewhat like you. Blond hair, and as small as could be! Real pretty thing to, yes, you definitely resemble each other."

"Thanks, umm, ma'm. You know, I just realized that I don't know your name."

"Oh, so sorry. I'm Cathryn, and you can call me by my name, don't worry. But now, lets discuss why it is that you're in here with me instead of asleep with all of your friends."

"Oh, well, I just sort of had a bad dream and needed some time to think." Buffy didn't know exactly what to say. Cathryn seemed really sweet, but she didn't know if she could trust a complete stranger with personal details about her life, or her former life in this case.

"It was about your family, wasn't it?"

"In-in a way, yeah," she admitted reluctantly, swallowing thickly in an attempt to hide her new found tears. Right now she really didn't want to talk about it, she just needed some time to sort through everything.

"Well, I found that the best way to ease the pain of losing your loved ones was to surround yourself with people that care about you," Cathryn declared as she moved around the kitchen, collecting various items as she went, not looking at Buffy. "I remember that I always used to hate it when people tried to get me to talk about them, to help me get over it, and always treating me like I was an invalid." At this point she paused and turned around fully to look at blond-haired girl. "Why don't you come over here and help me get some coffee started?"

Buffy gave a slight smile and then nodded, getting up and moving over to help.

"Now the way I see it, you've probably spent a good few of the last hours thinking about your family, so why don't we talk about something else, hmm?" Cathryn's attitude both surprised and pleased Buffy. This woman was definitely not what she was expecting from an elderly lady. She seemed to jump from one thought to the next, but in a way it made sense, and was oddly comforting when her thoughts were similarly jumbled.

They spent the next hour talking about nonsensical things, such as Buffy's friends, favorite dishes to cook, and which flowers smelled best first thing in the morning. Buffy learned that Cathryn's family had all either passed away or were living with a far-away pack. Her husband was deceased, as well as two of her children, a boy and girl who had both died in infancy. As time went by she felt a growing connection to the kind woman, she was like the grandmother figure that Buffy had never had the privilege to know. After the coffee had been made she then helped in the making of eggs, bacon, toast, and various platters of fruit. The two of them were eventually joined by the other two cooks of the pack and the four of them engaged in lively and fun-filled conversation.

"Well, I think I better be heading back to see what the gang's up to," declared Buffy at last, smiling warmly at the other three women.

"It was really nice talking with you Buffy," replied Cathryn brightly. "Come by again some time in the morning and we can talk some more."

"I'd like that, thanks," she agreed, and then with a slight wave she left, returning to sleepy friends who were just beginning to wake-up.

Angel slowly opened his eyes when he heard the door swing open and someone making their way through the piles of bodies that were strewn all over the place. When had he fallen asleep again? The last thing he remember was waiting up to see if Buffy was going to return, but apparently he hadn't lasted that long.

"Buffy?" he muttered groggily, leaning up from the ground on his elbows and fixing her with an uneven stare.

"Hey, Angel," she replied light-heartedly as she settled on the ground next to Willow who had by now woken up as well.

"Jesus, how long have you been awake?" mumbled a grouchy Faith, who was also just waking up in her position in Spike's arms.

"Don't know, a while," she replied nonchalantly. Everyone who was up exchanged glances, confused at her chipper state.

With a groan, Spike stood up and stretched languidly, running a hand through his mussed hair.

" 'M lord, Blondie. What's got you in such a good mood this early in the morn?"

"Nothing, it's just been a good morning," she smiled, standing up as well and bouncing around.

"Ahhhh," groaned Xander, pulling a pillow over his head to shut out the noise. "It is illegal to be that happy this early in the morning."

"Come on, Harris! Get your ass out of bed," instructed Cordelia happily, throwing her pillow at him. "Do you guys realize that we leave tomorrow for the full-moon trip?" her voice was laced with excitement.

Soon everyone was up and moving about, talking animatedly about the upcoming trip or what would be for breakfast. Angel, watching Buffy carefully, moved over to where the blond was folding up a blanket and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, you okay?" he questioned her, uncertain about her mood after she had woken up just a few hours before, terrified of whatever haunted her dreams. Looking away for a moment, Buffy sighed.

"Yeah, I am. Sorry for waking you up and everything, I just had a slightly disturbing dream about my family, and the night they, well, let's just say it wasn't a very good dream."

"Do you want to talk about it?" It pained him to know that she was being haunted by such ghastly remembrances.

"Thanks, but I'm okay now. Really," she added upon seeing his doubtful look. "I actually already talked to someone this morning and it really helped me out." Changing moods suddenly she pouted, sticking out her bottom lip as far as it would go, and held up a particularly large blanket.

"Help me fold it?" she pleaded, batting her eyelashes exaggeratedly.

"Anything for m'lady," Angel replied with a smirk, glad to assist. Five minutes later the entire gang had cleaned up reasonably well and each person was each heading off to their respective rooms, intent on changing and then heading to the kitchen to grab some breakfast.

"So, are we all set to head of tomorrow?" questioned Gunn as he lounged on a chair in Spike's room where he Angel and Spike had congregated much later in the afternoon.

"I think so," replied Angel, looking at Gunn over his shoulder from where he was searching through a pile of books that Spike had carelessly piled on his desk. "The food's taken care of, and I talked to everyone and they seem to be packed and everything."

"Does Buffy know what she needs to bring?"

"Yeah, Willow and Fred helped her get everything that she'd need. Which reminds me," said Angel, becoming serious and turning around to face his two friends. "There might be some trouble. I heard that Parker and Riley are back in the area again, and word is their out looking for Buffy."

Spike grinned evilly. "Perfect. I hope they find us. Bloody wankers."

"Just don't tell Buffy about them. She's still shook up from when they attacked her last time, we're gonna deal with this on our own."

"Do you think they'll be following us?" asked Gunn.

"I count on in," Angel replied smirking. "They won't know what hit them." Suddenly his demeanor turned to one of barely suppressed fury. "What kind of bastards would go after a girl like that?"

"Sick ones?" volunteered Spike, looking disgusted.

"I mean, why would anyone do that to Buffy? She's so sweet and adorable and…"

"You got it bad Peaches," said Spike laughing openly at his friend's dreamy expression.

"Shut up, Spike. Need I mention a certain brunette sister of mine?"

"Hey, at least I 'ave the guts to express my feelings, unlike some people I know."

With a sigh, Gunn got up from his chair and made his way to the door. "As much fun as it would be to listen to the two of you bickering over your love lives, I should probably be leaving. Me mum wants me to meet her in the back gardens because she says we don't 'talk' enough." Shuddering in mock fear, he exited the room with a short wave of his hand, leaving the two to their bickering.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

"Come in!" yelled Willow, sticking her head out of the closet where she was busily searching for a reasonable blanket to take out into the wilderness for the trip the next day. Frowning at her lack of success, she turned around to face the visitor.

"Hey, whatcha doin'?" asked Faith as she plopped herself down onto the nearest bed, laying back comfortably.

"Searching fruitlessly for a blanket to take with us tomorrow, you?"

"Oh, just bored out of my mind actually. But hey, I think that I saw some blankets over in the laundry room when I was down there."

"Great, thanks. Oh, have you seen Buffy lately? I wanted to make sure that she packed everything she would need for the trip, since she's never gone with us before and everything."

"Nah, haven't seen her. You should ask Cordelia the next time you see her."

"Cool. So, did you need anything or are you just stopping by to chat?"

"Actually, I need to talk to you about something." This immediately sparked Willow's interest and so she moved over to sit on her bed, next to the one that Faith was currently occupying. "You know how Buffy said that the two wolves who attacked her were named Parker and Riley?"

"Yeah," said Willow cautiously, not really seeing the brunette's point.

"Well, the rumor going around is that they're back in the area and looking to cause some trouble," she declared excitedly.

"What!" gasped the red-head, horrified at this new piece of news.

"Oh come on, this is great!" exclaimed Faith.

"How is this great? If they're around here again that means that Buffy is in trouble. They might try to hurt her again!"

"Calm down, will ya? You're missing the bigger picture here. If they come around looking for her, that means that the guys get to act all macho and protect her and stuff. Parker and Riley are gonna get the shit beat out of them if they even come within two hundred feet of her."

"I dunno, it still sounds really risky to me," she replied, still sounding uncertain and not at all sure that Buffy would be kept safe.

"You know that Angel would never let anything happen to her," reassured Faith, seeing that Willow was still feeling uneasy.

"Yeah, I guess," she finally agreed, albeit reluctantly. Then, her expression brightening considerably she got up from the bed. "What do you say we head down to the kitchen to grab some dinner? It's already 6:45."

"Yeah, sure.

Three hours later Buffy was still no where to be found. Most of the pack was heading to bed so as to get a good night's sleep before their trip, but the nine teenagers remained up.

"When was the last time that somebody saw her?" asked an exasperated Angel, growing more concerned by the minute. He didn't like the fact that she had gone missing just when Parker and Riley had been spotted back in the area.

"Well, she ate lunch with us in our room," supplied Fred. "And that was around, like, 1:30 or so."

"I saw her walking through the hallways at around 3:00," declared Oz.

"Do you know where she was headed?" pleaded Angel frantically. Faith smiled at her brother's frayed emotions. If the situation wasn't so seemingly serious she would have laughed out right.

"I didn't see. Sorry."

Just then there was a soft knock on the door to Willow, Fred and Buffy's room, where the whole gang was congregated.

"Hey, guys," said Jenny when she entered the room. "You guys should really be heading to bed to now, it's getting late."

"Well, you see, Jenny, we have a slight problem," said Willow meekly, looking extremely nervous.

"Blondie's gone and disappeared and no one seems to know where she's gotten off to," supplied Spike at Jenny's confused look.

"Oh," she replied, suddenly beginning to laugh. "That reminds me. I was going to tell you guys that earlier when I was in the library I saw Buffy in there. She was fast asleep on one of the back couches, and I decided not to disturb her and to let her get her rest instead."

"I'll go get her," said Angel, sighing in relief that Buffy had not been kidnapped, or worse. He quickly left, followed by his mom.

"Bed, all of you," she commanded playfully just before she left, and soon everyone had said their good nights and Willow and Fred were left to wait for the return of their roommate.

Angel quietly entered the library, cautious to not make too much noise incase Buffy was still sleeping. Thinking about it, he realized that she must be really tired, since she had been up most of the time the night before. Searching around a bit, he spotted her petite form snuggled cozily into the plush cushions of a large red couch back by the far end. He smiled to see her eyes shut tight and a peaceful expression on her face, his breathe catching at her exquisite beauty. Shaking his head to clear his mind, he moved over beside her and shook her shoulder gently.

"Buffy," he called softly, thinking about how it was just this morning that he had been trying to wake her up, that time in fright, this time in amusement and endearment. She just sighed and rolled over, facing away from him and curling up into an even tighter ball.

Standing up, Angel slipped an arm underneath her legs and the other under her back, lifting her effortlessly from her resting place. The entire way back to her room he simply stared at her, studying her every feature. He arrived at her door all too soon and was forced to set his bundle down. The gentle change in position was enough to wake her up, and so it was on unsteady legs that she regained her footing.

"A-angel?" she muttered, confused as to her whereabouts. "Where am I?"

"You fell asleep," he informed her, giving her the most charming smile that he could muster up. "You were in the library so I decided to not wake you up and just carry you back instead."

"Oh," she whispered, still looking confused. "What time is it?"

"Just about 10:00," he replied, lifting a hand to brush a strand of hair back from her face. "You had us all pretty worried. We had no idea where you had gotten off to."

"Oh, sorry," she said sheepishly. "I guess I was just really tired, I didn't get much sleep last night."

"It's okay, but you should probably head to bed now. We're all meeting in the front hall at 5:45 tomorrow morning so you're gonna have to get up pretty early." Groaning, she turned and opened her door.

"Ugghhh, don't remind me! Anyways, thanks, for carrying me, I mean."

"No problem. Oh, and Buffy?" he asked, just as she was about to disappear into her room.

"Yeah?"

"I'm really glad that you weren't hurt or anything." With that, he leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on her cheek, just brushing her skin with his lips, then turned and retreated back down to hall. Not moving, Buffy just raised her hand to her cheek, not daring to believe that Angel had actually just kissed her. Smiling dreamily, she too retreated into her room, closing the door quietly so as not to disturb Willow or Fred, falling back asleep just as soon as her head hit the pillow and drifting off to a world of happy thoughts.

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