Chapter Twenty

Spike grumbled as he heard the noise coming from the hall. This wasn't exactly what he had been expecting when he showed up at Buffy's door that night. In fact, he had been hoping to be sleeping in Buffy's room, not in the guest room. He figured that she would be over the bloody poof by now, especially after he left her. Although, maybe that was just his own inner desire, his desire to be the one that she ended up with, even though he knew that she would never love him as much as she loved Angel. Now that he was back, she wouldn't have any need for him anymore. He was losing not only the woman that he loved, but also the only family that he had ever known.

"Could you bloody keep it down out there!" He spoke louder, hearing Buffy giggle, presumably because her big strong, beefcake had been touching her, or something. He shuddered with the thought of Angel's hands on her body. Not that he had the right to be jealous, well, then again maybe he did. For years Buffy just used him… Well, that might be a little harsh, you can't be used unless you want to be… Part of him just always assumed that she would give up on Angel, but love doesn't work like that he guessed, no, even he knew that.

"You're pathetic, you know that? You're not even a loser anymore, you're a shell of a loser."Buffy spoke, mocking him as they walked.

"Yeah. You're one to talk."

"Meaning?"

"The last time I looked in on you two, you were fighting to the death. Now you're back making googly-eyes at each other like nothing happened. Makes me want to heave."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Buffy spat at him, although she did know, she knew exactly what he was talking about.

"Oh, yea. You're just friends." He replied, rolling his eyes.

"That's right." Angel emphasized, but he too knew that wasn't the case, and he was beginning to regret the comment knowing that Spike had more to say, that he was going to put them both in their place.

"You're not friends. You'll never be friends. You'll be in love till it kills you both. You'll fight, and you'll shag, and you'll hate each other till it makes you quiver, but you'll never be friends." He stated while pointing to his temple. "Love it's brains, children, it's blood." In a display of the dramatic, he clasped his chest, "Blood screaming inside of you to work its will. I maybe b love's bitch, but at least I'm man enough to admit it."

"Sorry Spike!" He heard Buffy giggle in response, breaking him from his train of though and pulling him back into the present that he had no desire to be in. He turned his head to the side and glanced at the clock, two in the morning. He figured that they were beyond the fighting, he had heard that go down already. Though he had been trying to sleep he couldn't help but hear the miserable poof walking down the hall, presumably with his head hung low like a big puppy, tail thrust between his legs. By now, he figured they were on to the shagging, or at least close enough to it that it began to make him uncomfortable thinking about it.

The bedroom door closed shut, and he rolled his eyes as he turned over hoping to get to sleep and hoping that whatever was happening behind that closed door, wasn't going to be loud, and wouldn't keep him awake the rest of the night.

The Next Morning

"Hey sleepyhead, are you ever going to wake up?" Angel whispered rubbing her back as she snuggled into him.

"Nope." She responded, kissing his chest softly before looking up at him. "It's your fault I'm so damn tired. What time is it anyway?"

"Ten. Moreover, it's not my fault that you didn't sleep last night. You were the one who kept me awake." He teased her, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her closer to him as he kissed the top of her head, taking a moment to smell her hair.

"If you hadn't been kissing me all night then I wouldn't have been kissing you back. Don't go blaming this on me." He felt her stretch, but instead of getting out of the bed she only curled up closer to him. "Coffee?"

"Will that make you get up?" He asked, his hand still rubbing her back in small circles.

"Maybe…"

"Maybe what?"

"Maybe I'll get up if you get me coffee…" She responded, pulling herself up on her elbows and looking at him for a brief moment before leaning closer and kissing him. It didn't take long for the kiss to develop into something more than what she had intended and in a few seconds, she found him pulling her on top of him. After a few moments she pulled away, looking down into his confused eyes. "I think you should get me that coffee."

He grumbled and she rolled off of him, laying back down into her pillow, never once taking her eyes off of him. He stood up, and looked down at her, wanting to be back under those covers, holding her, but since she had made the effort the night before, he figured that it was his chance now to make a little bit of an effort.

When he opened the door to the hall he found Liam standing there, an apprehensive look on his face.

"What's wrong Lee?" Angel asked, closing the door behind him as he looked down at his son.

"I wasn't sure if mommy was sleeping and I was hungry but I can't reach the cereal." He said. "And Uncle Spike is still sleeping so I didn't know what to do."

"Well, I can get you breakfast if you want. I was going downstairs anyways." Angel watched the smile form on Liam's face, and in that moment he wanted to reach down and pick him up but he refrained, wanting to be sure that Liam was comfortable with him. It didn't take long for him to know that though because as they made their way down the hall, he felt Liam slip his hand into his own. Angel felt the smile on his face, unable to contain his elation that the boy was warming up do him and as he looked down, he noticed that Liam was biting his lower lip nervously, presumably unsure as to how Angel would react however as he noticed his smile, Liam too smiled up at him.

"What kind of cereal do you want?" Angel asked, as he opened the cupboard and began to riffle though the boxes.

"Fruit Loops?"

He pulled the box out and poured it into two bowls, one for Liam and one for himself. He knew that he had to take the coffee up to Buffy but he thought that the longer it took him to get to her, that she might get the hint and join them downstairs. The two boys had just begun to dig into their bowls when Buffy stumbled down the stairs, still not fully awake, but smelling the coffee that was slowly dripping into the pot.

She couldn't help but smile as she saw the backs of the two men in her life sitting at the breakfast bar. They weren't speaking but she knew that this was monumental, and her heart seemed to burst at the sight. She would be lying if she said that she hadn't seen this exact scene in her dreams. This had been everything that she had ever wanted, 

Angel to be human, and their child… Okay, well she wanted more than one but right now that wasn't an option, right now she needed to be sure that he wouldn't leave the third time around, and with the way things were settling in with Liam, she was beginning to believe that Angel was being honest, that this time he wasn't going to leave them.

"Good morning baby!" She said finally, watching as both the boys turned to face her, their faces both containing a wide smile as she walked over and wrapped Liam up in her arms. "Did you sleep okay?"

"Yea." He said briefly through bites of cereal.

"Thanks for the coffee." She smirked at Angel who had wrapped an arm around her waist, holding her there in front of their son and right up against his side.

"You're welcome." He grinned as he felt her lips graze his neck and then watched as she pulled away and walked to the cupboard, standing on her toes to reach one of the coffee mugs.

"What time are we leaving mommy?" Liam asked, pushing his bowl away from him and looking at her as she pouring the brown liquid into the mug.

"I think the plan is to leave around five. Is everything in your room all packed up?" She asked before bringing the mug to her lips and gulping down the hot, caffeine infused beverage.

"Yea. Aunt Willow helped me get my clothes in the suitcase last night."

"By helped do you mean she did it for you?" She asked, smiling at her son who's face had flushed, unable to lie to her. She knew that was something that would change when he got older, he would learn to lie to her, just as she had learned to lie to her own mother.

"How did you get her to do that?"

"Did you really just ask that?" Buffy asked, now moving her gaze to Angel who looked at her confused. "Look at that little guys face? How could you not do his work for him?" Angel laughed and took the two bowls to the sink, stopping briefly to kiss Buffy on the cheek. "Why don't you go upstairs and change and I'll let you watch some television for a bit while I get dressed. Then we'll go to the park and get some of that energy out of you so that you sleep during our long drive."

"Okay…" He said, jumping off the chair and walking slowly up the stairs. He paused for a minute to turn around and watch as his dad, or Angel, he wasn't sure what to call him yet, wrapped his arms around his mom and kissed her. Part of him was happy about this, happy that his father was finally coming back to them, but part of him was afraid. Although he was young, he knew that what his mother told him about Angel wasn't the full truth, otherwise she wouldn't have been so guarded.

Deep down he was just afraid that he would leave again. He could still remember the conversation that he overheard between Uncle Xander and Aunt Willow about Angel, saying how selfish he was, and how they couldn't believe that he would leave her, and how torn up his mother was… It wasn't that he was oblivious to it either. There were times that he had caught his mother looking at the picture that she had of him, crying. Although he still didn't really understand, he knew that Angel had hurt her, and he was worried that it would happen again… But this time, he wouldn't just hurt her, he would hurt him too.

"Liam seems to be warming up to you." Buffy said smiling as she sat down on one of the stools.

"I know… He's so great…" Angel beamed, sitting down next to her, his hand resting on her knee. "He's so smart, and funny… I'm not really sure where he gets that from." He watched as she lifted an eyebrow.

"What's that suppose to mean? Are you calling me dumb and dull?"

"I… Um…"

"I'm just kidding." She replied, resting her head on his shoulder.

"God, haven't you two had enough of each other yet?" Spike moaned walking into the kitchen and seeing his ex lover and ex partner in the kitchen, their hands still all over each other. Well, maybe that was an exaggeration but he still felt uncomfortable. Something about seeing the only girl you ever loved with someone you both admired and couldn't stand together… It would be enough to drive anyone mad.

"Good morning Spike." Buffy smiled, lifting her head and looking at him as he poured himself a cup of coffee. "I had something I wanted to ask you."

"Ask away love."

"I think it would be a good idea if you came with us… I want you to come with us. Liam loves you, he trusts you and so do I and I think that with the three of us, I think that we can get through whatever this thing is." She told him, her eyes locked with his.

"Anything pet… You know how much I care about you and Liam. If you need help, I'd be more than happy to be at your service." He responded, looking towards Angel who had wrinkled his brow, causing him to smile inwardly at the poof's jealousy… 'Some things never change,' he thought to himself before taking another sip of the hot coffee.

A/N:

I know it's not that great of a chapter but I was in serious writers block... Hopefully the next will be a bit better... And I apologize for the length, I know it's not the longest chapter I've ever written but again, I attribute that to the writer's block... As always, thank you to those who are continuing to read and EXTRA thanks to all you wonderful people who are adding this story to their favorites/alerts and leaving me feedback! I love hearing what you have to say! Please continue to send me your thoughts!