A/N: Okay, here it is! The moment you've all been waiting for! I must say, that this chapter is a day later than usual specifically because of this chapter. This chapter is huge for Angel and Buffy and I wanted to get it right, but at the same time I wanted to do it without getting out of my comfort zone. You know that saying, "Write what you know?" Yeah...that doesn't apply in this case. I'm seventeen. I have no social life (my best friend often calls me a hermit). This is strictly my imagination, and I hope it doesn't suck. No pun intended. That being said, I definitely did not go all the way with this, but I get you half way (I think), so I hope you guys are happy with it. It was actually probably pretty funny if anyone had been watching me write this, because like every three sentences I would pause and be like, "This is so weird."

And I got to say a quick 'thank you' to everyone who has taken the time to review this story. 339 reviews is ridiculous. 21 reviews for a single chapter is ridiculous, but definitely in a good way! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

But anywho, I'm going to stop babbling at let you guys get to readin'!

Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy. If I did...Angel would have punched Xander more, had more lines, and would have never left. I also believe that penquins have a great chance at world domination; I have a locket with no picture in it; I want to get a dog and name her Kitty; I am terrified of hand puppets; I think that Kirk beats Picard any day; I think that seagulls are strange creatures; Spiders haunt me; I believe that the Smurfs are really spies; I have a dog named Kono; I wish that Lt. Cmdr. Steve McGarrett was a real person; Vampires should NOT sparkle; My mind isn't twisted...merely sprained; And here's an awesome piece of advice: Never argue with an idiot. They'll just drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience; A wise man once said, "You can't fix stupid."; I have a picture of a wall...on my wall; Mac N' Cheese is the key to the universe; Jack Sparrow is real and totally hangs out in my closet; Merpeople are real...they're just shy; Waffle cones are the best; Christian Bale is really Batman, I kid you not; I have exactly 10 days before I'm technically a senior in high school; I'm convinced Elves are real; Oreos are from heaven, giftwrapped in chocolatey goodness...Still think I own Buffy?

Previously…

Lightning bolted across the sky, shedding light on them all. Crashing, booming thunder soon followed, and everyone was soaked to the bone, but no one cared.

"Angel?" Buffy asked hesitantly.

Slowly, Angel lifted his head. He looked at her with warm, soulful, chocolate brown eyes, and smiled tiredly, "Buffy."

Buffy simply stared at him for a moment. He was absolutely soaked to the bone. His brown hair was plastered to his face. But those wonderfully warm chocolate brown eyes sparkled with relief and joy. A happy, exhausted laugh filled the air as Buffy stared at him. She couldn't believe it. He was here with her. Permanently.

Angel looked up at the sky wryly, "Why does it always rain when these things happen?"

Buffy shook her head, her smile fixed on her face, "I have no idea," she replied as she began undoing the chains. She didn't think about how easily they fell to the ground; how loose they had been. She wasn't going to think about how close Angelus had been to escaping. It was over. He was gone. Forever.

During this time, Spike had drifted back into the mansion to escape the rain. He'd gone into the mansion to escape the rain and the disgustingly happy smile on his grandsire's face. He was supposed to be broody! But even Spike had enough sense to just let the moment be. He'd been there to see that Angelus was locked up. Key thrown far, far, far, away. He'd accomplished what he'd come to do. So Spike spared one more glance at Buffy and Angel before slipping out the front door back into the rainy night.

"How ya feel?" Willow asked as Buffy and Angel came into the main room, dripping wet but not seeming to care.

Angel thought about it for a moment, "I don't know…it's not really that I feel any different—I just know that he's gone. And that's a relief."

Buffy took his hand and squeezed, looking up at him with sparkling green eyes. "Told you it'd work."

Angel grinned and shrugged almost sheepishly, "You know me. I can't pass up a chance to work on my brooding face."

Buffy rolled her eyes, and looked back at Willow. This wasn't over completely yet. They still had one more thing to do, and once Angel got passed the euphoria of Angelus being gone forever, he'd be back to broody and nervous. "So…what about part two of the plan?"

"Oh," Willow said awkwardly. "Um, just make sure that you do it within twenty four hours. And when I say 'it' I don't mean it. Not that you can't do it, but I mean, you know, uh, the whole biting part…" Willow said ducking her head embarrassed.

Buffy laughed, torn between being amused at Willow's rambling or being embarrassed about what was rambled during said rambling. "Yeah Willow. I think I understand," she smiled.

Willow giggled nervously, suddenly realizing that Buffy and Angel would probably want to celebrate. Very soon. Probably as soon as they all left. Feeling awkward and rushed, she said quickly, "I need to give you something."

Buffy raised an eyebrow, as she watched Willow scurry over to the little bowl she'd had the rosemary in. Of course, said rosemary was nothing more than black ash now, so Buffy was wondering what Willow wanted with it.

When Willow turned around and approached them, Buffy noticed she was clutching something in her fist. "Willow?" she asked as the corners of her mouth twitched in amusement. "Whatcha got there?"

"Oh, well," Willow began to stutter, knowing the significance of the object concealed in her hand. "That night I came to kidnap you and take you to the Bronze, I saw something on the floor. And you know me…always curious. So I went over and picked it up. And well," Willow held out her hand, to Buffy revealing the now completely restored Claddagh ring. Except now, the heart in the middle was a clear stone.

Tears automatically pricked the corners of Buffy's eyes, "Wh-what? How?" Buffy swallowed, trying to organize her thoughts as she reached out and took the ring from Willow's palm, treating the cool metal like it was the most precious thing in the world.

"Willow, I," Buffy began, but didn't seem to be able to finish. Instead she chose to throw her arms around her best friend in a bone crunching hug that had Willow pulling away so she could breath.

"I think she means 'thank you'," Angel said with a soft smile. "Thank you Willow."

When Angel had seen the Claddagh ring in Willow's palm, he could have sworn his heart had beat. The entire time he'd been here he'd wondered where it was. He'd known that it wasn't on her hand, not that he'd really expected it to be. He still had his, even though he didn't wear it anymore...on his hand at least. It was currently on a chain in one of his dresser drawers. But seeing Buffy's ring, and then seeing her eyes light up at the sight of it, Angel didn't think he'd ever felt so special. Something he'd given her, a little ring that meant more to him that she would probably ever know…and she treasured it as much as he did.

"Sure thing," Willow said feeling like she'd done her good deed for the year. It hadn't been an obligation. She had gone through all this trouble, all those long nights filled with research, surrounded by the smell of old parchment, just to see the look on Buffy and Angel's faces. It had been worth it. Every minute. Every hour. Every day.

"You'll know that everything is sealed when the stone turns red," Willow explained, the irony of the color change not lost to any of them.

"Willow," Buffy said quietly as she clutched the ring in her palm tightly, almost as if she was afraid it would disappear. "I'll never be able to thank you enough…"

"Don't try," Willow smiled. "It was worth it," she said as she began to make her way towards the door. "I think I'll go. Everyone is headed to the Bronze to celebrate—you've got this big old mansion to yourself," she added slyly before shutting the door.

Angel and Buffy were left in the mansion alone then. However, instead of the automatic fiery passion one would probably expect to erupt the minute the door shut, Angel simply looked Buffy up and down and smiled, "I think we need to get out of these wet clothes."

Buffy grinned, "That's a great idea."

Both of them headed upstairs and Buffy snatched one of Angel's shirts off of the bed and immediately went into the bathroom to change. As soon as she shut the bathroom door, she leaned against it and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath, trying to control her already rampant heartbeat. She shouldn't be nervous. It was just Angel. A completely curse free Angel…

Buffy shook her head as she slipped out of her wet clothes, draping them over the old claw foot tub to air dry. She quickly buttoned up Angel's shirt and toweled her hair so she wouldn't be leaving a trail of water droplets behind her. That done, Buffy realized there was no reason for her to still be locked away in the bathroom. Maybe she shouldn't have gotten ready so quickly…

She shouldn't be nervous. Because really, what was there to be nervous about? Angel was going to drink from her. He'd done that before. Granted, she'd almost died, but who was going to get technical? Then they were probably going to have passionate, mind blowing sex. They'd definitely done that before. So why was she nervous again?

As soon as Buffy shut the door, Angel sighed and ran a hand through his wet hair. He was two hundred and forty four years old. He was way too old to get performance anxiety. But this was Buffy. Buffy. They'd made love before. Of course, there was the first time when they unknowingly unleashed the most feared vampire of all time on Sunnydale. Then there was the other time, or rather times, when they had both been human. But she'd only just remembered those times. When had they ever had sex where nothing bad had happened afterward?

Why am I even thinking about this? Angel asked himself mentally as he shrugged out of his wet clothes, opting to drop them on the floor in the corner for the time being. Angel grabbed a pair of sweatpants out of one of his drawers and pulled them on, choosing to remain shirtless. He was just going to shut the drawer when something silver caught his eye.

Angel's lips twitched in a smile as he took out the chain that held his Claddagh ring. Gingerly, he undid the clasp and let the ring slide off the chain into his waiting palm. As soon as the ring dropped off into his hand, Angel felt calm. His soul was bound. He had to drink from Buffy to keep it that way. He loved Buffy more than anything. He'd be able to stop. It was as simple as that. But first they needed to do something.

Angel heard the bathroom door open and there stood Buffy in one of his shirts. He grinned. He'd never get tired of seeing her in his shirts. Sometimes it was funny—simply because his shirts dwarfed her small frame. But most the time it filled him with an odd sense of pride. It was his shirt on his girl.

For a moment they both just stared at each other. Then, Angel started laughing. It didn't take long before Buffy joined him. Angel went over and sat on the end of the bed, waving Buffy over as he continued to shake with laughter. Buffy followed his instruction and sat down beside him, bumping his shoulder playfully, still giggling. They were being ridiculous. The moment both of them saw each other, they'd both felt the nervous tension in the room. It wasn't as though this was some huge deal. It was just them. Angel and Buffy.

As her giggles faded, Buffy glanced at Angel's hand and noticed that in his palm was his Claddagh ring. She dropped her gaze to look down at her own Claddagh ring, gingerly picking it up and holding it in front of her face to get a good look at it. She'd never thought she'd get it back. She'd left it to let him go. And now she had him back…it only made sense for her to have her ring back too.

Buffy glanced up at Angel, who smiled and slowly took the ring out of her hand while simultaneously taking her left hand. Realizing what he was going to do, Buffy smiled softly as he slid the ring on the third finger of her left hand, heart pointing in. Silently, he brought her hand up to his lips and kissed the ring with a smile. Buffy was almost giddy with happiness, but she remained serious as she took Angel's ring and placed it on the third finger of his left hand, heart pointing in. And instead of kissing the ring as he had done, Buffy decided she'd rather plant a soft kiss on his lips.

However, once Buffy's lips met Angel's, all thoughts of a soft, tender kiss were forgotten. It was as if both of them suddenly realized that they didn't have to hold back. Neither of them had to be responsible and know when to stop. They didn't have to stop. And that knowledge seemed to send them both in a frenzy. Angel immediately maneuvered Buffy onto his lap so she was straddling him. Buffy traced her tongue along his bottom lip, asking to deepen the kiss. Angel instantly complied, their tongues dueling for control.

Angel slipped his hand under her shirt, letting it rest momentarily on the small of her back to pull her even closer to him. Buffy broke away to breath and Angel kissed his way down to the crook of her neck before working his way back up to the sensitive spot behind her ear, eliciting a moan from Buffy that sent shockwaves down his spine.

Buffy gently pushed him back onto the bed, as she found his lips again. She let her hands roam over his shoulders and chest as one of Angel's hands slid down her back, over her butt, down her thigh, stopping at her knee before gently rolling over so that he was on top of her. Buffy pulled him to her and let one of her hands slide down his back, enjoying the feel of his muscles contracting and relaxing. She let her fingernails dig into his skin, causing him to growl, the vibration sending shivers down her spine.

Angel tore his lips from hers, knowing it was about time for Buffy to breathe again. She threaded her fingers in his hair as he kissed the hollow of her throat, before kissing his way across her collarbone, unbuttoning her shirt as he went, revealing more of her deliciously tan skin. Angel paused only a second to note with great gratitude that she hadn't bothered to put anything on under the shirt before resuming his worship of her body.

Buffy moaned as his mouth found her scar and began sucking on it, hard. It was almost painful, but the heat that was thundering through her veins was so hot that the contrast of Angel's cool skin to her flushed skin made Buffy wonder how she'd ever been able to be with another man. Angel was her everything. He made her feel safe. He made her feel special. He made her feel loved.

Buffy had no doubts as more clothing was shed. It was just her and Angel. Together. No consequences. No holding back. Just them. Finally.

Well? I gave it my best shot. I'm not too thrilled with it, but I don't know how to make it better, so there it be! For those of you who were hoping for a little bit more, I'm sorry. And I know that some of you, probably most of you, were wanting to read the bite scene. I don't know about you guys, but I think Angel would wait until the big moment before he bit her...and there's no way I would be comfortable enough to write that. lol

But I shall not overlook that moment! We still have pillow talk to do, and I have a feelin' that subject will come back, with maybe a few personal thoughts from Buffy.

Anywho, I've never been so nervous about a chapter, so review and tell me it didn't suck completely (pun actually intended),

ArthursCamelot