Thank you for the reviews, TheSlayer96 and Sassy.B93! I really appreciate them!

This chapter got slightly delayed because my best friend and I were discussing in length, if this chapter was still considered a Teen rating or if I should up the rating on this story. So, to be on the safe side, I have decided to bump up the rating to Mature. I don't think it is anything that is to bad though. Feel free to leave me a review and let me know if you think it is a Teen or Mature rating.

I also already have chapter 26 written, it just needs to be edited and I have started on chapter 27.

Chapter 25: Trouble

Buffy looked over at Angel as he drove the work truck, it had taken slightly longer to get the bed loaded up than it should have because they kept stopping to kiss. There used to be something so innocent about their relationship, now things were so intense she felt like she would spontaneously combust. That probably wasn't good for either one of them, especially Angel.

"I should get gas." Angel said, looking down at the fuel gauge by the steering wheel.

"Huh?" Buffy asked. She had been looking right at him, she could see his lips moving but she couldn't hear his words, she had been too busy thinking about kissing him. Again.

"I should get some gas." He repeated. "Before we leave Los Angeles."

"Oh!" Buffy nodded.

"Are you okay?" Angel asked, and Buffy nodded. But, the truth was, she wasn't okay, she had this feeling in her stomach ever since she felt Angel's hand on her sensitive bare stomach. It was odd, but no guy had ever touched her like that before, yeah, Pike had tried to get his hand up her shirt many times but it was different with Angel. The only way she could think of to describe it was it felt like a swarm of butterflies had taken up residency inside her. Angel's touch had been so gentle that just thinking about it was making that swarm of butterflies flutter quicker. Angel gave her a quick smile. "I will be right back." He leaned over, giving her a quick kiss.

Buffy watched Angel climb out of the driver's seat, she bit her lip as he pushed a few buttons on the gas pump and swiped his card through the machine to pay. By the time he was pumping the gas, Buffy had slid across the seat, and climbed out of the driver seat door. Angel looked up at Buffy, questioningly. "Did you want something…?" He asked, pointing towards the convenient store part of the gas station.

Buffy nodded, wrapping her arms around Angel's neck. "You can't just leave me with that kiss." She whispered, kissing him.

Angel smiled against her lips, wrapped his arm around her waist and turned them around so Buffy was pressed against the truck. After a few moments, Angel pulled away from Buffy, smiling. "I love you, Buffy."

Buffy smiled brightly, Angel had told her that he loved her at the beach but in the past couple of days, he hadn't said it again, she was beginning to think even though he loved her, he didn't mean that he was in love with her. There was a difference. She knew, without a doubt that she was in love with him. "I love you, Angel."

Angel smiled wider and kissed her again. He didn't know what it was about Buffy Summers, he just couldn't get enough of her. He never thought he would be one of those people that would make out at a gas station, in a car or even in a restaurant but, in the past week, he had. It was exactly one week ago that he had kissed Buffy at prom.

Buffy arched her back, pressing herself closer to Angel as they kissed passionately.

"Well, well, well." Came a voice that Buffy never wanted to hear again. Breaking away from her kiss with Angel, which irritated her enough as it was, she had to deal with Benny too. She knew though, where there was Benny, there was also…

Pike glared at the couple, still in each other's arms. "Thought you weren't havin' sex with him."

Buffy let out a sigh, resting her forehead on Angel's chest. She so didn't want to deal with them, why couldn't she just kiss her boyfriend in peace? Buffy turned around, still in Angel's arms. "Benny… Pike…"

"You know, for someone who isn't havin' sex with this guy…" Pike glared. "You certainly are really protective of him, I mean, you give up your friends for him when you kicked us out of your town." Buffy rolled her eyes at her ex-boyfriend. "…and now your making out with him in the middle of a very populated area."

Angel glanced around the outside of the gas station and only saw one other person there besides them. Very populated? Was this guy at the same gas station as them?

"Pike..." Buffy trailed off. "I'm not having this conversation with you. Again."

"I don't remember having a conversation." Pike took a step closer to the couple, with Benny nodding behind him. "I remember you yelling at me about sex and how he…" Pike motioned to Angel. "…was a man and I wasn't."

"Yeah." Benny pursed his lips and nodded. "He's so sweet and kind and genuine and makes you smile." Benny started to laugh uncontrollably.

Buffy glared at the dark-haired boy. "Benny, shut up."

Benny stopped laughing and looked at Buffy. He had always been slightly afraid of the blonde.

"I don't get it, Buffy." Pike shook his head. "How could you go and hook up with this guy? We have been together for a long time..."

"Pike!" Buffy raised her voice to get his attention, stepping away from Angel. "We haven't been together in a year, we weren't even together that long to begin with and we definitely weren't good together."

"How could you say that?" Pike exclaimed. "We have been together since that night at the park…"

Buffy rolled her eyes, she knew exactly what night he was talking about. It was the night Pike had gotten in a fight with one of her basketball player friends, Grueller, she still didn't know why she took Pike's side that night and took him back to her house to clean him up and offered to let him spend the night because her parents were out of town. Thinking back to that night, Pike was the one that was drunk and had started the fight to begin with. Pike had slept on the couch but that night was when everything started going downhill and she hung out with Pike more and more. "We didn't get together that night, Pike! That was just when we started hanging out."

"No." Pike shook his head. "You asked me to spend the night…"

"You slept on the couch!" She exclaimed. "It was a huge mistake on my part. HUGE."

Benny shook his head. "No, I'm pretty sure if someone spends the night at your house then you are a couple."

"Oh, wow." Buffy laughed, turning to Angel, who had been quiet the whole time. "You hear that Angel? You and I have been together longer than we thought." Buffy turned back to Benny and rolled her eyes.

"Seriously, Buff! This guy?" Pike asked, shocked. "That's like double the slap in the face!"

"Yeah!" Benny nodded. "Double."

Buffy rolled her eyes, these guys really did bring out the worst in her. Buffy heard the sound of police sirens in the distance. "Please tell me that isn't for you."

"Probably." Benny nodded sheepishly. "I mean, it was only a car…" He motioned behind him. "and maybe some vodka."

Rolling her eyes again, she started to walk back to the truck. Same old Pike and Benny. If Pike and Benny were going down, she wasn't going to be anywhere near them when it happened.

"I didn't think you were like this, Buff." Pike called out to her, shaking his head. "I mean, I never thought you would cheat on me like a two-bit whore…" Pike was cut off by Angel's fist making contact with his face.

"Oh my God!" Buffy screamed in shock. "Angel!"

"Oh shit!" Pike cried out in pain, holding his nose, trying to stop the blood from pouring out of it. "My nose! I think it's broken!"

"Stay away from her. Don't look at her. Don't contact her. Don't even think about her." Angel growled before going back over to the pump, taking the nozzle out of the gas tank and back into the pump, never taking his eyes off Pike.

Buffy looked at Angel shocked, she had never seen him like that before, she didn't think Angel had the ability to get angry.

"Ah, Buffy…." Benny said quietly, he didn't want to get hit next. "I went to Faith's and you know, she wasn't there…"

Buffy whipped her head around to look at Benny. Was he seriously asking about Faith right now? The cops were coming for him and Pike, not to mention Angel probably broke Pike's nose and he was asking about Faith?

Buffy looked back at Angel, ignoring Benny. Angel was staring down at Pike, who was still trying to nurse his nose. "Angel, we have to go." She said as the sirens got louder. "Angel!" She shouted, finally getting his attention. "Now." She nodded towards the truck. She had a feeling of panic all through her body, it wasn't the same panic she had felt all those times she had gotten arrested with Pike, Benny and Faith, it was worse. This time, she didn't want Angel to get in trouble.

Buffy and Angel both got into the truck, about to pull away when Benny called out again. "Buffy! About Faith..."

"She doesn't live in LA anymore." Buffy told him through the window, as Angel started to pull away. "And she's dating someone."

Benny frowned, he never thought Faith would actually move on. Even though he and Faith had both been having sex with other people, he had been her first and only boyfriend.

Just as Angel and Buffy pulled out of the gas station driveway, a couple of cop cars pulled in. Angel pulled over, watching as a couple policemen got out of their car, walked over to Pike and Benny like they knew them and then hand cuffed them both. Angel watched them get taken to separate police cars, before he pulled into the street again, heading towards Sunnydale.

0o0o0

Buffy looked at Angel several times, he hadn't said a word to her since getting into the truck and that was a little over an hour ago. Everything was just silent. That scared her. If there was ever silence between them then it was a content silence, but right now, her anxiety was still high and she got a feeling that Angel was mad. She didn't want him to be mad at her. Look over at him again, she finally got the courage to speak. "There's blood…. on your hand." She motioned to his right hand that currently had a death grip on the steering wheel. "Are you hurt?" She asked shakily.

Angel looked at Buffy, he didn't like the sound in her voice, she almost sounded scared. "It's… I don't think it's mine."

Buffy bit her lip, then looked through the glove compartment in front of her, once she found a small travelers size package of hand wipes, she took one out and handed it to him. Angel took the wipe from her, cleaning what he was pretty sure was just Pike's blood from his knuckles. "I'm sorry, Buffy." He whispered.

Buffy took a deep breath, looking straight ahead at the road, was this the part where he said he was sorry but he couldn't be with her anymore because of her past? He had said he was okay with her past, but how could he be when she wasn't even okay with it?

"I just…" Angel shook his head, he had never been in this kind of situation before, he honestly, never thought he would have been and he reacted out of character for him. "I didn't like what he called you."

Buffy whipped her head to the side, looking at him. "Angel, I don't care what he called me. I just don't want you to be mad at me."

"Buffy." He said gently, shaking his head. "I'm not mad at you. I'm mad for allowing myself to react like that." Checking his mirror, and making sure there were no cars near him on the highway, he pulled off to the side. "I don't want anyone to ever speak to you or about you like that, baby."

Buffy thought she was going to turn to goop when he called her baby.

"The Buffy I know and love, is far from a…" Angel trailed off, he didn't want to repeat the word that her ex-boyfriend had called her. "but we also haven't discussed this stuff yet. If you have… if you did, with Pike…"

"Angel." She whispered. "If you are asking me if I am a virgin then the answer is yes."

Angel gave her a smile of relief.

"It's part of the reason Pike and I broke up." She whispered again. "We didn't share the same views on it and he wanted to have sex, I wasn't ready."

"What…" Angel trailed off, he watched as a car drove past them and then looked back to Buffy. "What are your views?"

Buffy shrugged. "Well, before, I just wanted to be with the right person… it started a lot of fights with… with Pike. His views were if you were in a relationship then you had sex, I wanted to be with the right person and I knew it wasn't him. But now, as a Christian… everyone waits until marriage, right?"

Angel shook his head. "Some Christians still live like Hell."

"But you are waiting until marriage, right?" Buffy asked. "You said that…"

Angel nodded, waiting until marriage was something that he strongly believed in. "Does that bother you?"

Buffy shook her head and smiled at Angel. "Not at all. I want my first time to be special and what's more special than being with your husband?"

Angel smiled back at Buffy, he was relieved to hear her say that. He just hoped that he could last until marriage, the way he had been feeling, he knew it was going to be hard. "Love always makes it special."

"So…" Buffy shrugged with a smile. "When you say you love me… do you love me or are you in love with me?"

Angel's smile dropped from his face, he apparently hadn't made it clear. "Buffy Summers, I am completely and utterly in love with you."

Buffy smiled brightly at him, scooting closer to him on the seat, she took his hand in hers carefully, if his hand was hurt from hitting Pike then she didn't want to make it worse. "Me too."

Angel smiled at her again, kissing her softly.

"Does it hurt?" Buffy asked her question from earlier, as she lightly ran her finger over his red knuckled.

Angel shook his head. "It's not too bad, I think his nose got it worse."

Buffy gave him a teasing smile, from the amount of blood Pike had lost, she would have to agree. "But, it does hurt?" She asked, bringing his hand up and lightly kissing his knuckles.

"Just a little." He whispered, taking his hand out of hers, he took her face in his hands and kissed her lips.

"Angel." She whispered, looking into his eyes. "Is it bad that I found it incredibly sexy? When you hit him…" When Pike used to get in fights it annoyed her, but when Angel had hit Pike, she could once again feel that swarm of butterflies in her stomach. She was shocked that Angel had hit him, but it was also incredibly hot.

Angel was surprised. "You did?"

Buffy bit her lip and nodded. "I really, really wanted to kiss you but it would have ended badly if we didn't get out of there."

"Oh, I believe you." Angel nodded, he knew that she had been through way too much with those two guys not to know how it would have ended. He quickly pulled the truck back out onto the highway.

"Angel?" Buffy asked, looking around at the road. Every time she was in the car with Angel, he always drove exactly the speed limit, but this time he was certainly going faster.

0o0o0

Angel turned the truck down a dirt road that had trees on both sides of it, Buffy looked around, unsure of where they even were. He hadn't said anything about where they were going. It was pitch dark outside, they were driving down a dirt road in the middle of nowhere, if she was with anyone else, she would be afraid, but she was with Angel. She knew she was always safe with Angel. After several long minutes, they pulled out into an opening, she could see that there were a lot of cars in the distance but Angel pulled off and stopped the truck before they got to the other cars.

Buffy looked around for a second before turning back to him, he surprised her when he kissed her. "Angel?"

"We're about a half hour from your house." He offered, kissing her again. "I have never been here before, but I have heard my friends talking about it since high school."

Buffy raised her eyebrows when he kissed her passionately, but she responded in kind. When they finally broke the kiss, Buffy glanced out the windshield then back to Angel. "Where is here?"

Angel smiled at her, placing a soft kiss to her lips again. "Lovers Point."

"Lovers…" Buffy paused, looking around as another car drove past them. She had never been to a place like this but she knew what people did here. "People have sex here."

Angel nodded. "I'm sure not everyone here is having sex tonight… you don't think…?"

Buffy shook her head. "Well, we aren't, so obviously not everyone is."

"Yeah." Angel shrugged. "It just was the closest place I could think of."

Buffy looked at him questioningly. "To do what?"

Angel smiled, unbuckled his seatbelt and scooted even closer to her before kissing her again. She instantly knew what he wanted to do, and she was all for it. She would never pass up on Angel kisses. It wasn't long before they were in a full on make out session, Buffy sat on Angel's lap, straddling his legs while they kissed, she moaned when she felt his hand slip a little higher under the back of her shirt. She was sure the windows of the church's work truck were just as fogged over as everyone else's windows there tonight.

"How sexy was it?" Angel whispered between kisses. He didn't know why it had gotten him so excited when she said it was sexy when he punched Pike.

"So sexy." She whispered back, against his lips, while her hands roamed his chest. "Everything you do is so hot. The way you play the guitar…" She kissed down his neck. "quote scripture…" She nipped his neck. "how you talk… walk." Buffy gasped when she sat down slightly in Angel's lap.

Angel looked at her sheepishly, as much as he hated to admit it, he was still a man and Buffy was still a gorgeous woman that he was extremely attracted to. He knew he was playing with fire as soon as the idea of coming to Lovers Point had popped into his head. He couldn't help it though, just like Xander, Angel was weak. What he didn't know was what Buffy's reaction was about to be, he just proved to her exactly how weak he was.

Much to his surprise, she leaned her forehead against his. "I love you." She whispered before kissing him.

Angel and Buffy both slightly jumped when they heard a knock on the driver side window. Hesitantly, Angel rolled down the window with Buffy still in his lap. The young dark-haired man looked surprised at what he found inside the truck. "Uh, hey. I just… I saw the church sticker on the back of your truck." He motioned to the rear of the work truck. "I figured you were here to give us a hard time." He smiled. "But it looks like you are here for the same thing we all are."

Angel closed his eye and let out a sigh. He had forgotten that the truck had an Awaken Church sticker on the back of it. If it got back to his parents that he was at Lovers Point, with Buffy and in the church's truck, they would kill him.

"Don't I know you?" The young man asked, then thought about it. "I'm pretty sure I went to school with you."

Angel felt Buffy start to move off his lap, but he held on to her waist. Right now, she was the only thing shielding their visitor from what was going on in his pants. It was bad enough that Buffy was aware of it, but she didn't seem to mind. She didn't seem upset or offended by the reaction his body was having to her and for that, he was grateful. Turning back to the young man, Angel shrugged, he honestly didn't remember who this guy was, but at the moment, he also wasn't thinking clearly. "I don't… I don't know…"

Suddenly the guy nodded. "Yeah, you are Angel Giles. You're the Preachers kid. I'm Parker, we went to Sunnydale High together."

Angel cringed, if this guy knew who he was, then it could get back to his parents.

Parker looked around at everyone else in their cars. "Don't worry." He smiled at Angel and the blonde girl. "I won't tell anyone. You're a man too."

Buffy and Angel watched the guy leave. "Who was that guy?"

Angel shrugged. "I think I remember a Parker in my History class senior year."

Buffy sighed, without thinking, she sat all the way down on Angel's lap, letting out a surprised squeal.

Angel shrugged again. He didn't have anything to say for himself. He knew what kind of reaction he got from Buffy, especially since walking in on her in the bathroom, and now she knew too.

Shaking her head, she smiled. "Do you want to get out of here? It's almost midnight and you still have to put the bed together so my mom will like you more than Xander."

Angel narrowed his eyes are her playfully, and hugged her to him.

0o0o0

Buffy ran in front of Angel to open the front door of her house, while he carried pieces of the bed up the sidewalk to the porch. She knew her mom was still awake because the lights were still on.

"Door next to yours, right?" Angel asked, walking past her and into the house.

Buffy nodded. "Yup. Are you sure you don't need any help?"

"I got it." He smiled as he started up the stairs.

Joyce and Faith got up from the couch, making their way over to Buffy as Angel went into the cleared-out room that was going to be Faith's bedroom. "That took a while, was everything okay?" Joyce asked her daughter.

"Uh." Buffy paused and then nodded. "Yeah, we just made a pit stop. For food." It wasn't a lie, they had stopped for food but that was after they had stopped at Angel's dorm room and he had taken a cold shower. From the look on Angel's face, he was grateful to her for not making a big deal out of it, why would she? He isn't the first guy to ever get an erection and he wasn't the only one in that truck that was turned on.

Faith smiled at the blonde. "Yeah, food, I'm sure."

"Aunt Arlene and Celia said hi." Buffy offered awkwardly. She felt like somehow her mother would know that they had stopped to Lovers Point, she didn't even know if her mother knew there was a Lovers Point in Sunnydale. Her mom always seemed to find things out though. Buffy was sure that Faith already knew something had happened.

Angel jogged down the stairs and nodded at the women. "Hello, Mrs. Summers, how are you?" He smiled.

Buffy shook her head with a teasing smile. His need for her mom to like him was a little overboard, she had only been teasing when she said her mom would be okay with her dating Xander. It was really bothering Angel though.

"I'm good, Angel." Joyce smiled. "How about you? Was the trip okay?"

Angel looked to Buffy for a moment, then back to her mother. "Yeah, things went fine."

"And what am I?" Faith asked sarcastically, teasing Angel. "Chopped liver?"

"Of course not." Angel smiled. "How are you, Faith?"

"Five by five." Faith shrugged. "You know, we thought you guys would have been back sooner… Xander was here to put together the bed."

"Xander was here?" Angel asked quickly, looking from Faith to Buffy then to Joyce.

Buffy laughed, lightly slapping his arms. "Just go get the rest of the bed!" Angel walked out into the night to get the rest of the bed from the truck, Buffy laughed harder when he mumbled something about Xander. "Angel is going to put the bed together."

"That's so nice of him!" Joyce smiled, as Angel came back in with the headboard. "Oh wow, that bed is pretty big."

"B, do I have a bigger bed than you now?" Faith teased as Angel went directly up to the bedroom.

Buffy laughed. "I think so. Aunt Arlene said it is a Queen size, and I have a full. Lucky you."

Faith shrugged but smiled at the same time. She had never had a bed that big before, when Faith was five her grandmother had given her a twin size mattress that she was pretty sure was still laying on the floor in the old apartment she shared with her mother.

Buffy smiled at Faith. She was fully aware that her dark haired best friend had never had a bed like she did now, even if it was a used bed, it was still better than what she used to have.

Joyce watched as Angel walked past them again to go back out for another trip. "Does he need help?"

Buffy rolled her eyes, she knew exactly what he would say if they asked. "I'm positive that he won't let us help, he wouldn't let me help him load it up, but I will ask him." She followed the same path Angel had taken to meet him at the truck. "Need any help?"

Angel looked towards her with a pointed look and shook his head no. "I got this."

"Well…" Buffy trailed off teasingly. "Can I at least carry the tools for you?"

Angel thought about it for a moment and shrugged, as he picked up sever other pieces of the bed. "Fine, but just the tools."

Buffy watched him as he started to walk past her. "Angel." She whispered.

He stopped beside her, waiting, with his arms full of shorter pieces of wood.

Buffy glanced behind her towards the house to make sure no one was looking out. "Can I have a kiss?"

"Buffy." Angel said warningly. He didn't want her mother to find out about them because she looked outside to see them kissing. "Not here."

Buffy pouted. "Fine."

Angel looked at Buffy, helplessly, before looking towards the house. Buffy was fairly blocked by the back of the truck. He dropped a quick kiss to her lips before giving her a smile and making his way to the house again.

Buffy smiled happily, grabbing the tool box and making her way to the house behind Angel.

Joyce walked out of the kitchen just as Buffy walked in the house. "He didn't need any help?"

Buffy shook her head, but held up the tool box. "This is all he lets a lady do."

Joyce laughed and shook her head. "It's extremely nice of him to put the bed together right now, he really doesn't have to. Faith can sleep with you one more night."

"I know." Buffy shrugged. "But he wants to do it."

"It's almost two in the morning, Buffy." Joyce shook her head. "Doesn't he want to go home and go to bed?"

Buffy shrugged, she didn't know what to tell her mom, she couldn't really tell her mom that Angel really wanted her to like him because they were dating and he has some weird issue with Xander helping out around the house so much.

"Well then." Joyce leaned against the door frame in the dining room. "While I have you here, we haven't had the chance to talk about what you wanted to do for your birthday."

Go on a date with Angel and walk through Main Street holding his hand, oh wait, she couldn't tell her mom that. "Whatever." She shrugged. "I'm just one year older."

"Would you like to go to the mall and go shopping?" Joyce asked with a smile, it used to be their birthday tradition when she was younger but they hadn't done it in several years and because Buffy wasn't allowed at the mall without her, she knew her daughter hadn't gone in a while. "We haven't done that in a while."

"Yeah, Mom." Buffy smiled. "That sounds fun. You could also… meet my boyfriend."

"Boyfriend?" Joyce asked shocked. When did her daughter get a boyfriend? "Buffy, please tell me this one hasn't been to jail."

"Mom!" Buffy exclaimed.

Joyce sighed. "How many times?"

"None!" Buffy exclaimed again and Joyce sigh of relief. "He has never been to jail before, he is a really great guy!"

Joyce shook her head. "When did this happen?"

"Recently." Buffy whispered. "but it's serious."

"How serious?" Joyce asked, crossing her arms over her chest. She thought Buffy was opening up to her more and that her daughter was doing better but now Joyce wasn't so sure what was going on.

"Pretty serious." Buffy whispered again. "You will like him, mom, I promise."

0o0o0

Buffy walked into the doorway as Angel almost had the whole bed put together. She let out a low whistle and smiled teasingly. "Hey Sexy."

Angel looked up from where he was placing a wooden slab across the bed. "Right back at ya." He whispered with a wink.

Buffy laughed, before walking further into the room. "Need any help?"

Angel picked up the power drill from where he had placed it on the floor and shook his head. "I'm actually almost done."

Buffy nodded, it was probably for the best that she didn't help him. When it came to taking things apart and putting them together, she was much better at taking them apart. "You know, I was thinking… you should meet my mom."

"Buffy…." He laughed. "I have met your mom."

"I know." She smiled. "But in a boyfriend capacity."

Angel nodded. "After your birthday."

Buffy shrugged. "I kind of suggested to her that she should meet my boyfriend on my birthday."

Angel set the drill back down. "You… told her that you already have a boyfriend?" Joyce would know that they were together before Buffy was eighteen now.

"I didn't say your name." Buffy bit her lip. "I'm pretty sure my mom will be cool about it. After talking to my Aunt and Celia, I really think she will. I love you, I don't want to feel like I have to hide that."

"Just a few more days, baby." He whispered, taking her in his arms and lightly kissing her hair.

Buffy nodded. "Besides, she's already relieved that you have never been to jail."

Angel laughed.