25

He dove without thinking; no thoughts were necessary. This was instinct, and the primal voice in his head told him that he needed to get to Buffy, needed to get her out of the water. It was the only thing on his mind: saving Buffy. She was his love, his life, and there was no way he would lose her because of his sister's unnecessary act of maliciousness.

Angel reached her within seconds. She'd only been under for maybe twenty seconds, but he knew well-enough that drowning only takes an instant. He was shocked by what he saw: her eyes were closed, her arms floated at her sides and her face was deathly pale. 'I have to get her to the shore. She needs air,' Angel reminded himself. Grabbing her by the waist, he swam toward the light, gasping for breath when he broke the surface.

"Is she alright?" Xander asked when the two resurfaced.

Angel shook his head. "I don't know. We have to get her to the shore. I'm not sure if she's breathing."

Only a few feet away, Melissa dropped her jaw in amazement. "You guys are actually falling for this? She's just faking it. Buffy wants your sympathy and attention. They're all like that. Don't you see? You're both falling for it."

Her brother didn't hear her, he'd already begun swimming for shore with the still-unconscious Buffy in his arms. Xander, however, did hear every word she said. "You have a lot of nerve, Melissa. Sometimes I wonder about you."

"What?" she replied innocently.

"You are so cold-hearted. What happened to the nice, caring girl I grew up with? The one I had a crush on for years? Is she even there anymore?"

"Xander, you're overreacting."

"Then you're underreacting. Hasn't it occurred to you that Buffy could be seriously hurt?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "Like I said, she's faking for the attention."

"You can't fake that blue color in her face. Missy, you know what? Don't talk to me. Until you get over this complex you have about Buffy, pretend you don't even know me. Because I don't want to associate with someone like you."

Meanwhile, Angel reached the shore, still carrying Buffy. He laid her down on the warm, dry sand, then checked to see if she was breathing. His breath caught in his throat when he discovered that she wasn't.

A nearby lifeguard ran over. "What happened?" he wanted to know.

"She-she fell in the water and didn't come back up. I found her on the bottom," Angel explained, barely able to get the words out. He was scared half to death. 'What if she doesn't start breathing again? What if Buffy doesn't wake up?' "Is she okay?"

The lifeguard was already kneeling on the sand with his ear only inches from Buffy's nose and mouth. "How long has she been unconscious?"

"I don't know. A minute, maybe. Is she okay?" he repeated.

The young man opened Buffy's mouth, pressed his own against it and started to give her mouth-to-mouth. After a second, he pushed on her chest. Angel only stared in pain; he felt so useless. 'This is all my fault. If only I hadn't pushed Buffy into playing that childish game with us. God, I should have known Melissa would take things too far. And the girl I love is paying the price.'

Angel was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn't notice Xander and his sister approach, nor did he see the people standing nearby, watching the scene. All he could see was Buffy laying helpless on the sand and the lifeguard trying to resuscitate her.

After thirty seconds of CPR, Buffy's eyes opened. Water spewed out of her mouth onto the sand. Angel thanked whoever was looking out for them for not taking her away so soon. When she could focus her eyes, the first person she saw was a handsome, yet unfamiliar man with short blonde hair and tanned skin.

"Am I in heaven? Did I die?" she asked softly. "Who are you? An angel?"

The young man smiled, but shook his head. "No, you're very much alive. And I'm not an angel. My name is Riley." 'Good Lord, she's pretty,' he thought.

"Good." She turned her head to the right. "Xander?"

"Hey, Buff. You scared the hell out of us."

"Why aren't you Angel?"

He laughed. 'Typical. A pretty girl acknowledges my existence and she wonders why I'm not Angel. It never fails. I have got to get myself an ugly best friend.' "Sorry to disappoint you. He's right behind you."

"Angel?" she called, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Right here, Buffy," Angel told her, moving into her line of vision. He turned his attention to Riley, the lifeguard who'd saved Buffy's life. "Thank you so much. You saved her."

"Just doing my job. Be careful out there next time."

"I'll make sure she's safe."

Riley walked away, the rest of the crowd leaving with him. As far as they were concerned, the excitement was over. The only people who remained with Buffy were Angel, Xander and Melissa.

"Are you okay?" Angel questioned his girlfriend.

She nodded her head, sitting up with Angel's help. "Yeah, I think. Just really embarrassed is all."

"Easy to understand."

"I hate to ask you this, but do you think you can take me home? I really don't want to be here anymore."

"Sure. Just let me go get the car. You stay right there and don't move."

Melissa huffed. "That's not fair. I want to stay. I'm not ready to go home yet."

Angel glared at his sister. At that point in time, she wasn't his favorite person and he could have cared less what she wanted. "Well, get over it. We're going. If you want to stay, fine. But you can find your own way home."

Xander and Angel left to pack up their belongings, leaving Buffy alone with Melissa. "I certainly hope you're happy now, Buffy," Melissa said. "You've managed to ruin my entire day."

"I don't really care. You practically killed me out there. I hope *you're* happy," the blonde retorted. "I do not know why you are constantly trying to hurt me. Is it because you're jealous of me?"

"Me? Jealous of you? Pfft. Would you contemplate getting over yourself for a minute? Not everything is always about you."

"Then what is it? You're miserable, so everyone around you has to be miserable too?"

"Angel can do so much better than you. I can't wait for him to leave for school. Maybe he'll smarten up and find himself a nice, normal girlfriend."

"I'm sorry you don't approve of me. From what I've heard, you have that problem with all of your brother's girlfriends. Is it against your nature to get along with anyone he cares about who isn't you?" Buffy asked.

"If my brother wasn't about to come back, I'd slap you for that."

"I won't stop you. Go right ahead."

Melissa laughed. "Why? So you can go running back to Angel and play 'poor little rich girl' all over again? I won't give you the satisfaction. You're just a phase for him. Something he'll grow out of…like bed-wetting. Once he gets to Emerson, he'll meet some great girl and forget all about you. You'll be a memory. And too far away to warrant any real threat to his happiness."

"You think so, huh? I suppose I should be worried, but you know what? I'm not. Angel loves me and vice versa. Not to mention the fact that I'll be there with him." She noted the look of surprise on Melissa's face. "Oh, you didn't know that? Yeah, I'll be joining Angel in Massachusetts for the spring semester, after I transfer to Boston College. Think of it this way, in a couple years, I might be your sister-in-law. Imagine that."

"My brother has more sense than that," the brunette argued. "He'll never marry you."

"Really? Well, he told me so himself after graduation. Said he wants to be with me forever, that he'll love me for the rest of his life. He wants to marry me and wants to be a father. To *my* children, Melissa. No one else's."

Angel and Xander returned before Melissa had a chance to reply. "Are you ready to go, Buffy?" Angel asked her.

"Yeah. Thank you."

"I'm just glad you're okay. I don't know what I'd do if something had happened to you out there."

"Oh god," his sister muttered.

"Shut up. This is all because of you, I hope you know that," he accused. "Are you coming or are you staying here by yourself?"

She frowned. "I guess I'm coming with you." 'Bitch,' she swore. 'You'll definitely get what's coming to you. Eventually, I'll prove my brother wrong.'

***

"Angel, there's really no need for this," Buffy said to him after he'd carried her to her bedroom and placed her on the bed. "You don't have to treat me like I'm some fragile piece of glass."

"There *is* need for it. You almost drowned out there today, and it's partially my fault. I want to make it up to you."

"It wasn't your fault, so stop blaming yourself. It was an accident, they happen occasionally. Besides, I'm fine."

He sat down on the bed next to where he'd laid her down. "No, you only think you're fine. Just get some rest, Buffy; at least for today. Promise me. Stay in bed."

"Will you stay with me?"

"Sure."

She rested her head on his shoulder. "Aside from the whole drowning thing, I had a really good time with you guys. Xander's a really funny guy. Is he seeing anyone?"

"Why? Are you interested in dating him?" Angel joked.

"Not me. I'm perfectly happy with the boyfriend I've got now. But I was thinking…maybe Xander and Cordy could hook up."

Uncontrollable laughter came out of Angel's mouth. "You have got to be kidding me. Xander Harris and Cordelia Chase? No offense, but I don't see that happening. Ever."

"Why not?"

"First of all, they're too different. Cordelia's very upper-crust and Xander is as down-to-earth as they come. We're talking about total opposite ends of the spectrum."

"The same could be said for us."

"Yeah, but they weren't pushed together by fate, and unfortunately in this case, Xander hasn't been in love with Cordelia his entire life," he responded. "Might hinder the relationship a bit."

"Fate doesn't have to push them, we could. Can't we at least run the idea by them first before you say no for him?"

He shrugged. "You can try. But I gotta warn you, Xander's had a thing for Missy since we were kids."

"Missy's a bitch," Buffy said, harshly. "Look, I know she's your sister, but she's still a bitch."

"She's not on my list of favorite people right now either. I don't know what her problem is, but she had better get over it real soon."

She placed her hand on his cheek. "Forget it. She and I will never get along and that's okay. It's a fact of life that some people are destined to despise each other." Buffy decided to change the subject. "Come on, what do you say? Wanna help me play Cupid for Xander and Cordy?"

He never had a chance to answer. "Buffy?" her father called from the other side of the door. "Is that you in there?"

"Oh shit," Angel mumbled. "Now what?"

"Hide in the closet and be very quiet," she hissed. "Don't come out until I tell you to."

Angel did as he was told. With a deep breath, she said, "Come on in!"

Mr. Summers entered the room. "Hi, honey. Who were you talking to? I heard voices."

"No one. I had the television going," Buffy lied.

"I thought you were going to the beach with your friends. Did your plans change?" her father wanted to know.

"No, we went. I-I left early."

He narrowed his eyes. "Did something happen? Do you want to talk about it?"

"With you? I don't think so."

"Sweetie, I understand that you're still mad at me. But you have to know I did it for your own good."

"Whatever. I left because I saw him there. Angel, with his sister and best friend. Seeing him was too much for me to handle. Are you happy now?" she threw at him.

"Of course not, I hate seeing you like this. I know you think you love him, but you'll get over him and meet someone else." Mr. Summers chose his words carefully for what he was about to ask. "Did Angel attempt to speak to you at all?"

"No. He's keeping up his end of the agreement. He saw me and turned the other way. Look, did you come in here for a reason or did you just want to play Twenty Questions?"

He sighed. "I wondered why you were home, that's all."

"Fine. You can leave now."

One full minute after Mr. Summers exited the room, Buffy figured it was safe for Angel to come out. "Okay," she told him. "He's gone."

"That was close," he commented as he stepped out of the closet.

"Uh-huh. God, what a bastard."

"He's your father, Buffy."

"I hate him."

Angel sat back down on the bed. "That's not fair. You shouldn't hate your father."

"Why not? You hate yours."

"That is different. My father left my mother high and dry with two children to support. He doesn't call or even write to see how she is, or how we are. We don't matter to him. If I passed him on the street, I wouldn't even acknowledge that he is my father. I don't think he ever really cared about us. But your dad loves you. It's obvious."

"He has a funny way of showing it. Paying off my boyfriend to stay away from me. Yeah, that's a real show of love. And how can you defend him after what he's done?"

"Buffy…"

"Forget it. Let's just drop it, okay? Please, Angel."

"All right. But we do have a problem."

"What's that?"

He smiled sheepishly. "Getting me out of your house without your father seeing me."

"Oh yeah. We'll manage."

***