Chapter Twenty Nine : The Morning After
The afternoon sun softly filtered through the window of the bedroom, bathing the room in a yellow vale. The shaft of light illuminated the walls, and bathed the room in a warm glow. It's light bounced off the glass of a picture, reflecting on to the covers of the bed. Slowly, the light worked it's way across the satin sheets, exposing the two sleeping forms inside, her arm draped across his chest.
Angel opened his eyes, and looked beside him. Softly, Angel reached over, and brushed the golden strands of hair away from his angel's face. He smiled as his mind replayed the images of last night. It was a little unplanned, after all they had just buried Brian, whom Buffy then had to dust. Then Japer showed his face and tested the waters, leaving Angel wounded. Which led to healing, in more ways than one.
Angel stifled a yawn, as he watched Buffy sleep. He saw her face glow and smile as she dreamed. Slowly, Buffy's smile widened, and Angel felt her arm tighten across his chest.
"Mmm, Angel," Buffy smiled as she nestled closer.
"I'm right here," he whispered, kissing the top of her head. Buffy began to stir, finally raising her head, to look Angel in the eye.
"Morning," he said, beaming.
"Morning," Buffy beamed back removing her arm, to Angel's disappointment, and stretching.
"Sleep well?" Angel asked.
"Heavenly," Buffy replied, looking back at Angel.
She hadn't slept so good in days. She sat on Angel's bed, the covers wrapped around her, concealing her body from the outside. She looked at the smile on Angel's face.
"So much better when it's real," she replied, the filtering sun illuminating her hair.
"I would have to agree," Angel said, reaching up and cupping Buffy's cheek. Buffy nestled her head against his hand, reviling in his touch. Opening her eyes, Buffy moved off the bed.
"I need to use your shower," she said, stealing the sheet.
"Go right ahead," Angel said, motioning towards the shower with his hand, as he leaned across the sheets with the other. Buffy smiled coyly, before closing the bathroom door. After a few minutes, Buffy exited, her wet hair resting on her shoulders, and the shirt Angel had given her last night loosely draped across her body.
"And to think I could wake up to that every morning," Angel smirked, recalling something that was once said to him.
"Easy, Casanova," Buffy replied, grabbing her clothes.
"Hey!" Angel said sitting up. "I am nowhere near, anything like him!"
"Really?" Buffy raised an eyebrow. "What did you and he have some sort of contest going on?"
Angel said nothing.
"You did!" Buffy said laughing, while Angel blushed. "Oh my god!"
"What?" Angel asked as he grabbed his shirt and slipped it on.
"Just men," Buffy snorted. "They never change."
"Hey, now," Angel walked up to Buffy placing a hand under her chin. "Some men change."
"Yes, they do," Buffy answered, standing on tip toe to give Angel a kiss.
"Well, now it's my turn," Angel said scurrying to the bathroom, childishly. Buffy just rolled her eyes, as she laughed at Angel's actions, and continued to get dressed.
Later, Buffy was in the kitchen, when Angel walked in wearing blue jeans and a pastel shirt.
"Angel in blue jeans is a dangerous thing," she remarked as he came into view.
"What?" Angel asked.
"Did I say something out loud?" Buffy said, pretending she didn't just speak her mind.
"I thought you said something about me being dangerous," Angel said, a devilish smile on his face.
"Angel, don't you dare," Buffy warned, aiming her spatula at him. "Angel, I'm warning you!"
But it was too late. Angel already had his hands out and began to tickle Buffy's sides. As she began to giggle uncontrollably, Angel spun her around keeping her from escaping. Buffy's shrill giggles filled Angel's apartment as it joined Angel's own deep laughter.
"Okay, okay," Buffy said as she tried to catch her breath, "That's enough. I gotta finish cooking." Angel nudged his head against Buffy's neck, and quietly slipped the spatula from her hands.
"Why don't you let me finish the cooking?" Buffy smiled at Angel's request, as she slipped away and over to the other side of the island.
"It's kinda hard to get used to a 'true happiness' Angel," Buffy mused crossing her arms on the counter.
"It's kinda hard to feel 'true happiness'," Angel admitted as he flipped the bacon, "I got used to being.."
"Broody?" Buffy pitched in. Angel turned his neck to give Buffy a narrowing of his eyes.
"Unhappy," Angel said, "that I almost feel guilty about it."
Buffy raised her eyebrows at Angel's remark.
"Okay, so I need a little work on the brooding." Angel noted.
"A little?" Buffy replied, "Try a lot."
Angel glared at Buffy again, placing the plate of bacon on the counter. The toaster beside the stove popped, and Angel placed the toast on a plate to compliment the bacon.
"Anything else?" he asked.
"No thanks," Buffy said making a sandwich. "Besides, I need to get back. I have to make sure Brian's family makes it to the airport alright."
"Right," Angel said hanging his head. Why he though Buffy would have forgotten about Brian's family he couldn't really tell. Maybe the ecstasy of last night, had blinded him.
Angel walked beside Buffy as they walked up the steps to her front door. Black crepe draped the door, and as Buffy turned the key and walked inside, she could still see the black cloths that Willow had draped over the mirrors and tables. Buffy held her torn clothes over her arm, and Angel walked a step behind.
"Hello," Buffy called, "I'm home." No one answered, as Buffy looked to Angel who shrugged. Buffy motioned with her hand, and Angel gave her one of the stakes he carried in his coat pocket. Holding the stake defensively, Buffy walked into the living room. She walked over to the couch, and saw that someone had spent the night there, a large pillow lay at one end, and a rumpled sheet was spread across the cushions. Buffy turned to look behind her, and jumped out of her skin.
"Sorry, Buffy," Janet's soft voice replied. "I didn't mean to scare you."
"It's okay, Janet," Buffy said taking a breath. "I just didn't hear you."
Janet smiled warmly at Buffy and Angel before noticing the wooden object in Buffy's hand.
"What's that in your hand?" She asked curiously.
"Oh, this?" Buffy said as she held the stake out. "It's just a stake."
"What were you going to do, kill a vampire or something?"
Buffy and Angel exchanged a nervous glance.
"Um," Buffy said, trying to change the subject. " Janet, this my friend, Angel. Angel, this is Janet, Brian's Aunt."
"Nice to meet you, Angel," Janet offered her hand to Angel.
"Pleasure," Angel returned to gesture, "I'm sorry for your loss. Brian was a good friend."
"Thank you," Janet smiled sadly.
At that moment, Willow and Xander walked into the living room.
"Buffy," Willow exclaimed as she walked in and gave her best friend a hug. "I was worried about you!"
"I'm okay, Will," Buffy assured her friend, returning the hug. Xander tentively held out his hand to Angel.
"Angel."
"Harris," Angel acknowledged Xander as they shook hands.
"Glad to see Buffy's safe. Will paced half the night worrying about her."
"I did not!" Willow glared at Xander.
"She was perfectly safe with me," Angel commented, "You guys know that."
Janet watched the exchange between the her niece-in-law and her friends. Observing each carefully, she noticed that Xander was a little reserved about Angel, while Willow seemed to look up to him like a brother. And Buffy, well she looked at Angel like she used to look at her nephew. There's more between Buffy and Angel than what I see, Janet thought. She locked this moment away in her mind for further study. Clearing her mind, Janet noticed Buffy's shirt.
"What happened to your clothes?"
Buffy looked down at the purple shirt she was wearing.
"Oh, um, I was mugged while I was visiting Brian's grave," she lied. "My sweater got torn, and Angel let me borrow one of his shirts."
"Borrow?" Xander's raised his eyebrows. "So you were at Angel's apartment? Again?"
"Chill Xander," Buffy said.
"Again?" Questioned Janet. "Buffy, what is he talking about?"
Buffy leaned her head back and sighed.
"Look, nothing happened alright?" Buffy said as she made her way to the stairs. "I was attacked. Angel saved me, he got hurt. So I took him back to his place and spent the night!" Buffy looked at Xander. "God, Xander! You act like I slept with him or something!"
Xander was shocked into silence at Buffy's words. Buffy tried to not look at Angel, knowing that what she had said hurt. Only Janet, saw the pain flash across Angel's face, confirming her suspicions. Janet looked back at Buffy, who made eye contact with her, a look of pleading and guilt in her eyes.
"Look, I'm feeling a little tired," Buffy told her crowd. "I'm going to go lay down." And with that, she turned on her heel and jogged upstairs. Willow turned Xander towards the living room, and Angel turned to leave. Janet remained where she was, her arms crossed, as she mulled over the last few minutes. She looked up the stairs, then over to Angel as he walked to the door, a large weight seemingly tied to his chest.
"Wait, Angel," Janet called, pausing Angel's exit.
"Yes, Mrs. Kelly?" Angel asked, pleading with his eyes to be left alone.
"I wanted to talk to you about something," Janet told him, as the look in her eyes changed from quizzical, to motherly.
"Shall we," she stepped out on to the porch, and held her hand out inviting Angel to sit down.
Angel looked unsure as he followed her out on to the porch. Janet sat down, and Angel took a seat beside her. Angel felt a little uncomfortable sitting beside Janet. Granted, Janet wasn't Brian's mom, but she was her sister. Which could be just as bad.
Janet studied the look on Angel's face before she spoke. She could see that he appeared to be wounded by the tone Buffy had taken when she had spoke. Wanting to tread carefully, she chose her words with equal care.
"I couldn't help but notice your change in demeanor, when Buffy spoke," She began. "I take it there is some truth, to her statements?"
Angel was resting his arms on his legs leaning forward, towards the street. When Janet spoke, Angel sighed and hung his head. He then leaned back against the back the porch swing.
"Yeah," he confirmed, looking at Janet. "There's more than a little truth to it."
Janet smiled knowingly, and nodded her head.
"I thought so," she said. "The way you two look at each other…,"
"Is it that obvious?" Angel looked at Janet, a look that resembled shame, crossing his face.
"Only to me," Janet chuckled.
"Yeah, well, I think Xander does too."
"I take it you and Xander don't get along?" Janet asked Buffy's friend.
"To put it mildly," Angel answered. "He's never really liked me. I was competition."
"So Xander is jealous of your relationship with Buffy?"
"He had a crush on her since the first day he saw her," Angel confirmed, "but I was the one she was in love with."
"Hence, the hostility." Janet deduced.
"And he has a right to be pissed at me," Angel leaned forward again. "I mean I did some pretty mean things to Buffy. And I don't expect all to be forgiven."
"Nothing abusive, I take it?"
"God, no!" Angel exclaimed. "Buffy is the last person I wanted to hurt, but she managed to be the first."
"And you feel bad about that," Janet said, as she placed a soft hand on Angel's back. "That's normal. The point is, are you trying to make amends?"
Angel raised his head, and looked up. Just when I thought I had atoned for everything, Angel thought. You would think 250 some years would be enough. Angel turned his head to look at Janet. He found it almost curious that Janet was acting so nice towards someone who had apparently slept with her grieving niece. Something seemed off.
"Why are you being so nice to me?" Angel asked.
Janet smiled. "You're suspicious because I'm Brian's Aunt?"
Angel remained silent.
"I may be Brain's aunt, but that doesn't mean I'm going to turn away from Buffy." Janet told the stoic ex-vampire. "I trust her, implicitly. And although I think she may have rushed, I do believe that she knows what she's doing."
Angel's face softened, just a little, at the kind woman sitting beside him. It had been a long time since a perfect stranger and put any kind of faith in him. If ever. His dad had been borderline abusive, and his mother, passive. Only his sister, Kathy, and shown him unwavering faith. And when Angelus had been born, she was the first to learn how dangerous that could be.
Buffy had shown him that same faith once, and then Angelus got loose, and almost killed her. After his return, he could tell she could never fully trust him again. Which, thinking back on it now, could have been one of the underlying reasons why he had left her in the first place. Now, Angel looked at Janet, her warm smile telling him it safe to trust again.
"It just hurt I guess," Angel confessed, "that Buffy would act so cold about what happened."
"What did actually happen?" Janet asked.
"Nothing important," Angel said blowing her off.
"Something happened," Janet pressed, " I mean, Buffy said she was attacked. Who would want to attack her?"
"We have reason to believe, that someone is after Buffy," Angel said after a pause.
"Goodness," Janet said concerned.
"She thinks that someone murdered Brian."
Janet remained silent as she absorbed Angel's information. Brian had told her some strange things, but he never mentioned someone being after them.
"So that is what the stake is for?" she asked, placing pieces together. Angel nodded.
"It's kinda funny if you think about it. A stake for self-defense?"
"Well, it did look rather ridiculous," Janet smirked. "But then again, so were the stories Brian told me."
Angel curled his brows as Janet began to giggle slightly.
"What stories?"
"Oh, just wild ideas," Janet replied. "Like how Vampires are real and you used to be one."
Angel looked at Janet wide-eyed. Brian actually told her!? Fortunately, Janet seemed to blow it off. But, as Janet looked at Angel's shocked face, he realized he had just confirmed everything Brian had said.
"It's true!?" Janet questioned. "How can that be?"
Angel sat up to respond, but Janet held up her hand to stop him.
"No, wait. Don't tell me. I don't want to know."
"It can be a lot to handle," Angel tried to console Buffy's aunt as she scoffed.
Janet took a deep breath and looked at Angel. She couldn't believe that Brian was telling her the truth. She had thought it was an hallucination from the medication. But the look on Angel's face told her Brian was indeed right. Clasping her mouth with her hand, Janet shook her head and looked to Angel.
"So you're a vampire?"
"Was," Angel corrected. "It's hard to explain, but I am human now."
"And Buffy..?"
"She fights them."
"Okay." Janet said, reserved. "And this is how you two knew one another? Because of the Vampire thing?"
"We helped each other out." Angel told Janet, as she leaned back against the swing.
Angel watched Janet, wondering if he should tell her truth about Brian's death. Janet was a smart woman. She didn't appear frightened about the fact that monsters and Demons were real.
"You sure are taking this well," Angel pointed out. "It's almost scary."
Janet looked at Angel and smiled. "My husband was a Mythology professor, and he was convinced that creatures of the night truly existed. He even took me to places like Transylvania, trying to convince me Vampires were real."
Angel chuckled.
"He would have loved to meet you," Janet told Angel as she flashed back. "A real vampire. And one who became human, to boot."
"Why the fascination?" Angel quizzed.
Janet began to chuckle. "Because, my darling Henry swore that, as a child, his father was killed by a vampire."
"Interesting."
"No, interesting is, the way he swore that one saved him from a vampire's death."
"Really?" Angel said, folding his arms.
"Yeah, Henry's father had heard noises coming from outside, and went to investigate. When Henry looked out his window, he saw someone standing over his father's body. Then another one came into view, and the two men began to fight. He saw one stab the other, who disappeared right before his eyes. Then the one that was left turned to look at him. You know, you kinda look like the guy Henry described."
Janet turned and looked at Angel who sat stone faced.
"Just a coincidence," Angel tried to dissuade Janet from probing further.
"I guess so," Janet shrugged. "But still, after that night, he was convinced that Vampires were real, and I believed him, because he believed."
Angel smiled, in agreement.
"You know," Janet said leaning her head. "Henry said something to me about the vampire who saved him having soulful eyes."
Angel said nothing as Janet continued her thought.
"You have the deepest eyes, I have ever seen. Very soulful. I would not be the least bit surprised if was you." Angel cleared his throat.
"But of course, it's just my imagination running wild," Janet said patting Angel's knee as she stood to go in. "Right, Angel?"
Angel looked up at Janet as she opened the door, and swore he saw her wink at him.
"Oh, I'm going to have to get on to that girl," Janet suddenly started rubbing her eyes. "Buffy needs to keep a tighter grip on her housecleaning."
Angel shook his head smiling as Janet disappeared inside.
Buffy lay on her bed, sobbing into her silk pillows, when a soft rapping echoed through the door.
"Buffy?" A soft voice called. "Are you okay?"
The door opened, and Janet walked inside. She sat down beside Buffy on the bed, and rubbed her back.
"You want to talk about it?"
"I'm sick and tired of trying to please everyone!" Buffy sobbed, her head turned away from Janet.
"Why do you feel that you have to please everyone?"
"Because, every time I turn around, someone gets pissed off at something I do!"
Janet pulled Buffy up and looked her in the eye.
"Is that truly what you think, or is it something else that has you in tears?"
Buffy wiped her face, confused. "I don't think I understand."
"Your friend, Angel?" Janet tried to explain. "There's more too it than that."
Buffy curled her brows. "Why? You think I did something rash? Immature?"
Janet smiled warmly at her niece-in-law.
"No, Buffy, I don't you're rash or immature."
"Then why did you ask about Angel? Xander seems to think I always make the wrong decisions."
"Screw Xander!" Janet said placing a hand on her hip.
Buffy looked up at Janet.
"What did you just say?" Buffy wasn't sure if she had heard her right.
"Since when have you ever cared about what people think?"
"Never," Buffy said meekly.
"Then why start now?"
"But I just slept with Angel after burying my husband!" Buffy quickly covered her mouth. "Oh, god. I did not just confess to you."
"Yes you did, dear," Janet confirmed placing a hand on Buffy. "And let me tell you something. I did something very similar myself, once upon a time."
The slightly relieved look on Buffy's face, signaled Janet to continue.
"It was during Henry's battle with the big "C". He was suffering from a really bad relapse, and was on his death bed. I was thirty, and felt like I was going to die along side Henry. That's when I met Mikal."
"Who was Mikal?" Buffy asked, suddenly curious about her Aunt's ordeal.
"Mikal was a charming Russian, who Henry was helping with his Thesis. He was there when Henry collapsed. And I began to lean on him for support. Late night phone calls, lunches, and soon one thing led to another."
"You slept with Mikal?"
"It wasn't as if I had planned it," Janet defended, "But he actually made me feel like I could still go on living, even if Henry died."
"Yeah," Buffy agreed. "I know that feeling."
"It's warm and safe, isn't it?" Janet looked at Buffy, as she nodded.
"Angel has always been able to make me feel safe. I don't know what I would have done several times, had it not been for him."
"Then why feel guilty about what happen?"
Buffy sighed, and twirled her ring.
"Because, I had just buried Brian."
Janet looked at Buffy and knew there was still more to come.
"And…?" Janet pressed. "What else?"
"I –Well, -Angel and I had kinda been building up to this for weeks."
"So had Mikal and I," Janet said. "The question is though; do you love Angel?"
"Yes," Buffy said without hesitation.
"Then why should you let what someone else says stop you? If you love him, then be with him. I won't be upset."
"But what happen between you and Mikal? Didn't it end badly?"
Janet laughed. "No, on the contrary! Henry's health improved, and we decided that we should stop. So we did. And Henry and I had 15 more wonderful years together."
"So Mikal just stopped loving you?" Buffy questioned.
"No, he went back to Russia, and tried to keep in touch, but life got in the way."
"Oh", Buffy said. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be." Janet patted Buffy's leg. "He was there when I needed him. And if you feel anything like what I felt, then you should act on it." Janet glanced around as if someone was listening in. "Besides, I like Angel. He has that Tall, dark and broody look, that makes him irresistible. Mind if take him for a turn?"
"Aunt Janet!" Buffy said exasperated, slapping Janet's arm.
Janet laughed as she kissed Buffy's forehead.
"I was just kidding. But seriously, follow your heart, and let fate take care of the rest."
"I will," Buffy nodded, as Janet walked to the door.
"That's my girl," Janet winked as she closed the door and left Buffy to follow her heart.
End Chapter
A/N: I'm baackkk! LOL And I am soo glad to be back! Thank you all for your prayers and support! My sister is doing better, but still sick. There are not many chapters left, but I promise to make them worth the read!! As always, READ & REVIEW!!!! Feedback is a MUST!! Update Soon!
