Chapter 25: Happy Dreams

Angel watched as the glass before him disappeared. He absently wondered where it went. Soon enough, the culprit got his attention.

"So that's you're Helen. Prettiest gal in all the land who left home with a younger prince." Lorne clucked his tongue.

Angel frowned. "Helen wanted the guy. I don't know what Buffy wanted, but the guy came later." He watched as Lorne replaced his glass. "She never betrayed anyone."

"Nice to see you've recovered from her killing you."

"If you read her, don't tell me." He cupped his drink with both hands. "I want to do it right this time. I'll only know what she tells me when she's ready to tell me."

"That's a lot of patient talk for swimming in bitterness."

Angel tightened his grip. "It wasn't the way things were supposed to go. No one said what would happen if we. . ."

"That's called interfering: a strict no-no for the big guys."

"They sent me to her. They found me in an alley and said she was my destiny." He pushed the glass away. "They interfere alright. I just can't tell if it's too much or too little."

That last sentence left Lorne confused. "So you wish you never saw her."

Angel started to shake his head but stopped. "I don't know what I want, but I was supposed to help her. I think I ruined her life."

"With a lil' puff on the way, I doubt she sees it that way."

"Not even twenty and she's a single parent." He shook his head to a refill. "Tonight, her support system almost disappeared. What happens when next time I can't find it?

"Self-pity wasn't made for a face like yours. Unwrink the brow. I'm betting there's hope for a happy ending yet."

"I won't hold you to that." Lorne placed another glass in front of him. Seeing him refuse it, he pushed it closer. "It's water."

Walking away from the bar, he left his client to his thoughts.

"Whether you like it or not," he mumbled to himself, "I'm looking out for the both of you."

Angel just held the friendly drink without taking a sip. He needed to sit a while and process the night. That way it would distract him later.

After all, tomorrow was another work day.

Dream/Memory

Buffy shuffled to the coffee pot."When did Monday get here? I was just gettin used to Sunday."

"Me too." Lindsey reached for her as she passed him "You didn't have to wake up this early just for me."

"Hey, I won't see you for a whole week - I'll take every minute I can get Mr."

"I'm not complaining." He kissed her lightly. "So I'll see you Saturday afternoon."

She kissed him back. "Yes, now go be the workaholic I love and soon hope to reform."

"Baby, after this, you can say good bye to late dinners, lonely weekends, and all talk of cases. It'll just be you, me and junior for as long as we both shall live."

She stepped closer. "So you're telling me all that's standing between us and perfect happiness is one measly week?"

"And not even a whole one."

She leaned in and when her lips neared his, she stopped, "Get your cute lawyer butt outta here. The sooner you leave, the sooner we can."

She swatted his behind and he laughed at her play. "Beauty and brains."

"Brawn too if you ask the alarm."

Lindsey grabbed his suit jacket off the chair. "Someday, I'm going to find us a sturdy alarm clock -one that not even you can intimidate."

"I see the pile of clock corpses filling our trash have not lessened your confidence." She stepped close again to straighten his tie. "You are a very stubborn man."

"And you, honey, are a fascinating woman with your love of ice capades and buying tea which you never drink. I don't think I'll run out of things to figure out."

She looked up anxiously. "I'm just full of surprises huh?"

"mmhmm, and I'm going to get to the bottom of every one." He heard the nerves in her voice and decided to hug them right out of her. Them being a team meant she had no reason to worry. Whether he understood it or not, he'd always back her play.

As she snuggled into his embrace, her tension eased away."One week till perfect happiness."

"One week."

Buffy's phone started to buzz, so she stepped away to answer it. Opening it, she found one new text: "Happy last Monday. Coffee to celebrate?" This week may mark the end of an old life but not of this friendship.

She texted back, "Definitely. 3"

Lindsey smiled at her smile. "Lilly?"

Thinking about what treats she could surprise her with, she nodded.

"Tell her again how sorry I am I can't help out this week."

"No worries. She understands you'll be my handy guy next week, and the week after, and the week after that."

"Exactly how many repairs does a new home need?"

"As many as I can think up between now and then."

Laughing, he picked up his briefcase. Stepping beside her, he laid a joyful kiss on the side of her hair. "One week."

She glanced at the phone again. For the first time in years, she believed perfect happiness was possible.

She looked back to answer him, but Lindsey wasn't there. Their time was over.

She looked at around their kitchen and realized how surreal it looked. This wasn't her kitchen anymore. Their moment had been over for quite a while.

She woke up with tears creeping down the sides of her face.

Lilly sat at her bedside with a guilty expression. "I'm sorry this brought the dreams back."

"It's okay." Buffy wiped the tears away. "They never really left."

Lilly looked even more distraught. "I shouldn't have trusted them. It was stupid."

"Desperate people do stupid things."

"I guess I was both yesterday."

Lilly felt her gentle tugging and lay down beside her. "You don't need to be- desperate, that is." They both snuggled into the covers. "Linds and I, we didn't get our perfect happiness, but we got close. For over a year, we were a like a normal couple; we were a family. I never thought I'd have that."

Lilly scooted closer as she cried.

Buffy combed her fingers through her hair in a soothing rhythm. "Everyone wants more time with the ones they love, but I'm going to be okay. As much as I hurt right now, I need you to believe that."

Lilly took a second to look into her eyes. "If you believe it, then I will too."

Buffy nodded and smiled through her tears. "Someday, I'm going to be happy again. We both will. That's all Linds and I ever wanted for each other."

Lilly held onto the hand before her. "I'm sorry it couldn't last."

"Me too."

She held onto the hand tighter. "I promise I'm not going anywhere."

Buffy wept without reserve. "Good. That's good."

She started to curl in on herself just as Lilly reached out of her. She went eagerly into arms she loved dearly.

They fell asleep in the morning light with prayers for peace on both their minds. After so much turmoil, rest would be a welcome change.

A clatter interrupted their doze.

Intending to investigate, they both started to sit up when they heard Sunny holler, "I got it!"

"Sounds like the beginnings of breakfast."

Buffy groaned. "Either we help now and feed them, or we help later and clean up the mess."

"School just had to start early." She rubbed her eyes. "When did Monday get here anyway?"

Buffy whispered, "I was just getting used to Sunday."

Lilly interpreted her dazed expression as sleepiness. "Come on lazy bones, let's see if we can catch them before they set off the fire alarm."

Rising slowly, she glanced back at the indent she left. "I'm up."

"You sure?"

Taking in the flesh and blood face before her, she shook away the phantoms. "Let's go."

"No!" As he woke, Lindsey tried to hold on to his dream. Still, everything about her seemed to slip away, fading with the morning light.

From their conversation, only two words remained. He looked at the alarm clock and murmured. "One week."

He frowned. "One week until what?"