Cowritten with Scribes1015!

Thank God, the rest of the ride was made in silence otherwise Angel was sure something else would have went down between he and Lindsey. Having some time to breathe, to calm down was nice, he enjoyed the damn silence. Of course, as soon as they pulled into the driveway his damn mouth had to open. "I sure hope you've gotten over your pissant attitude before you go in there."

Angel glared.

"Because she did nothing wrong," the asshole dared to continue, "and you have no reason to be all pissed off at her. She was put into the shit situation not on her own damn accord."

Angel grit his teeth together. "Once more, asshole, I'm not pissed off at Buffy. I am pissed off at you, however." Before they wound up in another dumbass fist fight tonight, he got out of the car and slammed the door shut behind him. This day was a shit show and he was over it.

Going inside, Angel found a tired looking Xander who he was happy to let off of guard duty and send home after they caught up for a few minutes. Xander looked between the other two men before he left and asked if he even wanted to know what the hell happened. Both Angel and Lindsey just shook their heads and Xander left it alone.

Buffy had already gone to lay down and all Angel could think about was how badly he just needed to be around her, today had been rough and he'd spent way too much time apart from her with all that had been going on. Leaving Lindsey downstairs to do whatever the hell he wished, Angel started up the stairs which made his feet feel like lead more and more with each step. He briefly thought about taking a much needed shower but he didn't think he could stand or stay awake long enough for one.

Angel sighed, stripping out of all of his clothes other than his boxers as soon as he got to the bedroom and made his way toward the bed. He let out a sigh of relief as he pulled Buffy into his arms as he laid down, it made some of the tension in his shoulders ease up just being able to see her, touch her, and know for sure she was alright. His hands slid under the shirt she was wearing and came to rest atop where their little girl was resting and said a silent prayer of thanks that she was alright as well.

"You're home," Buffy whispered, sleep heavy in her voice.

"Yeah, just got here a couple minutes ago. I sent Xander home." She nodded and started turning to face him, pillowing her head on his shoulder. "You sure you're okay?" he asked for the hundredth time today.

Buffy nodded as she yawned. "It's just been a long day, but you're all too well aware of that. I tried getting Xander to go home hours ago."

"I'm glad he stayed," Angel told her, yawning his own self.

"Is Lindsey back?"

"Yeah. Fucker's downstairs," he said right before the door opened and the light was flicked on to show Lindsey standing in the doorway and Angel let out a groan.

"Lindsey? Oh, my God! What happened to you?!" Buffy asked after squinting against the brightness. She sat up all concerned and Angel groaned once more.

Lindsey pointed his finger over at Angel. "That mother fucker right there!" Buffy looked over at him and took in his own state of haggardness then looked back at Lindsey. "My arm hurts," he whined. "And don't get me started on my pretty face that he's gone and messed all sorts of up!"

"Oh, for crying out loud," Angel rolled his eyes.

"You two really started a fight?" Buffy asked and made him sit up so she could get a better look at him too. "You two are ridiculous, I swear."

"It really hurts!" Lindsey whined more and Buffy got out of bed and asked him to follow her to the bathroom so she could doctor him up. Angel muttered some curses under his breath then grabbed Buffy's pillow and just threw it over his face and counted to ten.

OoOoO

Buffy was trying hard not to crack a smile and keep her annoyed face on as she finished up with Lindsey and he continued to play the innocent victim role. She pushed just a little extra hard next to his eye as she put a small bandage over the wound and he winced. "Now, do you want to tell me what really happened?" she asked after just another few seconds of applied pressure.

"Ow!" he whined and pulled away from her. He gave it another couple of moments before he looked up at her, his blue eyes that she was sure could make any woman with a pulse weak in the knees full of concern and exhaustion meeting hers. "He was scared today," he said with a shrug. "You know he doesn't always know how to process his emotions."

"Uh huh," she said pointedly.

He smirked at that. "He pushed everything down trying to get through the day and I did, too. We got back together in a tiny space and shit happened. We blew off some steam... that's all. He was in a pissy mood and didn't need to come home with it anyway." Lindsey shrugged again. "Everything will be back to normal in the morning, you know us."

"Yeah, and you're both morons," she told him, pushing on his shoulders before stepping back so he could stand before asking how the other part of the day had gone and thanking him for stepping in.

Lindsey washed his hands and checked out the damage Angel had left on his face. "I could have probably just let her run out of there but it didn't seem right. Especially not when we didn't know how bad the situation might have been."

Buffy hugged him. "I know." Lindsey patted her hands around his chest and he turned to make sure she truly hadn't been hurt. Buffy shook her head. "She didn't touch me. Threatened to, and I know she would have had she really had the chance to again."

"We're going to make sure that doesn't happen, love."

"I hope so."

OoOoO

"I'm going to bed, princess!" Lindsey shouted as he passed by Angel again. He wasn't really sure if he was talking to Buffy or him but he decided to let that shit go. "You two should really think more about moving out of this shit hole because I'm feeling more and more like I just never want to step foot in this town again. Every damn time I come here..." he trailed off in an annoyed mutter.

"I think that gives me more reason to want to stay."

Lindsey turned and looked half amused, half annoyed. He didn't say anything else other than telling Buffy and Baby goodnight and he'd see them in the morning.

"Okay, your turn."

Angel shook his head and patted for her to return to bed. "I'm fine," he told her. "I just want to fall asleep with my wife."

Slipping between the covers, Buffy sat up leaning back against the headboard, her eyes raked him over as she fully took in the sight of him. There was a small cut on the corner of his lip, his arms were riddled with scratches, and he was probably going to have a bruise or two come morning, she couldn't believe they had gotten into a fight after everything that happened this morning. Her fingers brushed his check, as he leaned into her touch, every brush of her hand caused him to relax a bit more, it had been a good long while since he had experienced a day this shitty. He was just grateful that this time it got to end with her in his arms.

"I love you."

Turning, he pressed a kiss into that palm of her hand. "I love you too," he told her without ever opening his eyes. "Now come here," he groaned.

Buffy willingly obeyed, snuggling down in his arms, she rested her head against him carefully, as he held her tightly to his side. She got lost in her own thoughts as she doodled down the expanse of his chest, he'd been silent for a while but his grip on her was steadfast. He looked drained, emotionally, physically, just everything. It made a knot form in the pit of her stomach, he was the calm one of the two of them, so if he was this worked up, then that only meant things were bad, probably worse than either of them had even imagined possible. She tried to keep the thoughts of what could have happened from her mind all day, but some of them still wormed their way through the cracks of her false bravado.

"Stop."

She jumped slightly at the sound of his voice, she had assumed he'd fallen asleep by now. "I'm scared," she confessed, knowing that if she tried to play dumb or deny something was wrong, he would see right through her.

"So am I." Him being this forthcoming was never a good sign, "And I started the fight with Lindsey because of it," he sighed, leaning his head down to rest against the top of her blonde locks.

"I'm sure he wasn't completely innocent," she attempted to reassure him. Having witnessed their fights many times over the years, she knew better than anyone the roles they each played. It was just how they were, like Lindsey said she was sure everything would be fine come tomorrow.

Angel's only response was to huff out a bat of exasperated air. He didn't want to think about Lindsey anymore, he certainly didn't want to think about fucking Darla, he just wanted to pretend like everything was fine. He just wanted to hold his pregnant wife, and pretend their biggest concern was which shade of pink they were going to paint the nursery.

The rest could wait until morning.

"Everything will be okay," he whispered hoarsely, as he tried to hide the fear in his voice, kissing the top of her head.

She knew he was just trying to make her feel better, she could hear it in his voice. "How do you know," she questioned quietly, her breath tickling his chest.

"It has to be."

Each of them stayed awake a while longer, though no more words were exchanged. Both nearly delirious from the days events, there was nothing else that could be said that would make either of them feel any better. Angel waited until he felt Buffy's breathing even out, her muscles release the last bit of tension they held, signaling that she had finally succumbed to slumber, before he allowed himself to fully relax. Slipping into a restless sleep moments later, his grip never loosened on her throughout the night.

OoOoO

Lindsey woke early the next morning, well before sunrise. As it usually was, it had been one hell of a weekend in the Dale. Peeking in their room as he exited the bathroom fresh from the shower, he took in the sight of them sleeping peacefully in one another's arms. Raking a hand through his long tendrils of hair, he briefly wondered when he'd grown so fucking soft as he quietly clicked the door back in place and tip toed down the stairs.

Shoving his dirty clothes into his duffel bag, he quickly finished dressing, before making his way into the kitchen to scribble a note. He hadn't wanted to wake them after yesterday, well that was a lie. He couldn't care less if he woke Angel up, but Buffy needed her rest, all this stress couldn't be easy on her right now. He didn't want to imagine the state his best friend would be left in if something happened to her or the baby. Hell, he'd barely survived losing her once, there was no doubt in his mind, it would destroy him to go through it again.

Briefly he considered really hunting the bitch down to shoot her, but he quickly nixed that idea, he looked terrible in orange. One thing was for certain, he had to convince them to get out of this hell hole. Grabbing his phone, he put an order in for doughnuts to be delivered a while later. Couldn't very well have Angel thinking he'd left because of a bruised ego...he just couldn't fathom a single minute longer in this god forsaken place.

OoOoO

Angel woke before Buffy, but remained motionless, simply enjoying the feel of her body pressed next to his, as he ignored all of the things he knew they would eventually have to deal with later.

He smiled slightly at the sight before him, he always loved how she looked when she slept, completely at peace, not a worry in the world. Her smooth thigh was slung between his own, her hands curled under her chin, the smallest amount of drool seeped from her mouth, as he relished in the feel of the tiny movements he could feel from her stomach pressed firmly against his side.

He unconsciously tightened his hold on her when she began to stir not wanting her to wake just yet.

"Mmm, good morning," she grumbled, burying her head further into him. One thing she was not was a morning person, "Morning beautiful,".

She stretched her body along the length of his, before finally blinking her eyes open to sneak a peek of him. Shocked at the image before her, she shot up at her first glance of him, "Oh my god," he looked terrible. Along with his busted lip, he now sported a nasty looking bruise on one of his cheek bones, and she could definitely make out some fainter ones around his neck.

"Did he fucking choke you!?" Oh she was going to kick his ass.

Angel winced, maybe he should have snuck out of bed before she woke up. He knew that it had to be bad to garner this reaction from her, this wasn't the first time they had woken up after a brawl.

"Shhh, I'm fine. It's nothing," he told her, scooting up against the headboard, as he tried to calm her.

"It is not fine! And it is not nothing, Angel! I am looking right at you!"

"I'm sure that it looks much worse than it feels, Buffy," he offered. He was feeling it, though, that was for sure. He was feeling his age right about now, he and Lindsey weren't exactly the spring chickens they once were. And Lindsey did know how to throw a fucking punch.

It did make him smile a little thinking of how awful Linds must look right about now and couldn't wait to rub that in his smug, broken face.

Buffy huffed out a breath of air. "You two belong in my preschool class," she muttered. She still had that to worry about when school got back in session. Thank goodness they had a long weekend so she could hold off on that meeting a couple more days. Her hand came down to cup his busted up face. "You should have let me at least do something to try and help last night. Maybe you wouldn't be so swollen and purple."

He shrugged, leaning more into her touch. "You could help me now..." Her lips twisted a little. "I bet you could find some way or another to help me feel better."

Angel could tell she was having an internal debate about giving into him or poking him in all his bruised and beaten parts but finally she laid back down in bed and snuggled back up to him, kissing those wounds instead. "Stop fighting with Lindsey," she said and he groaned a little. That was much, much easier said than done. "We have enough problems without you two reliving your glory days."

That was true and the weight of that statement held in the air around them for a long pause. Angel's hands lowered absentmindedly as his hands played around her growing belly, trying to see is he could get any response from the little one. There was nothing in this world he wouldn't do for his family but he hated feeling like he didn't know what exactly the what he needed to do was. He just hoped they'd get it figured out sooner than later so they could breathe again.

He needed Buffy to be safe, and more so, he needed their little one to be kept safe against all of this.

Buffy's lips were what distracted him from those worries, her soft lips pressing hard into his and making everything else slowly begin to fade away around them.

Angel grabbed her fingers that had begun dancing along his chest and slid it down his body, under the waistband of his boxers and used his hand to help wrap hers around his awaiting erection. Buffy squeezed him and he groaned as she began giving him the attention his body craved, her hand squeezing him lightly, stroking him base to tip in a lazy rhythm.

Angel's hand left hers in search of wanting to drive her just as crazy as she made him. He slipped a hand inside her little lace underwear she had on along with one of his old tee shirts finding her drenching wet already. One finger, then two slipped inside her heat easily and he used his sore wrist to slowly pump in and out of her. He matched her slow pace and increased his speed only as she did and he ate up the feeling of her hips beginning to rock against him and the moans falling from her lips.

Angel nearly ripped the teeny tiny underwear she had on off of her before pulling her on top of him. She pushed his boxers down out of the way and he quickly rid her of that old black tee shirt so that she was completely bare in front of him. Angel stroked himself once with the wetness of her still on his fingers before guiding his way to her entrance. Buffy adjusted her knees and he grabbed onto her thickening hips as she began pushing down on him. They both trembled as she moved, taking him in slowly, inch by inch.

Once he was fully seated inside of her, his hands reached out, grabbing her by the hair and pulling her to him. He put everything he had into that kiss, the stress of yesterday, his worries for today, his love for her for his entire life. Buffy let him tangle tongues with her until she needed to breathe and pulled away, her hips beginning to move again, pulling away from him until he was almost ready to fall out before slowly pushing back down again.

"You're killing me," he moaned, closing his eyes as she continued her slow ride.

Buffy chuckled. "Not yet."

OoOoO

Buffy laughed and yelped as she was flipped over, Angel unable to take anymore. His fingers stroked between her legs a couple of times before he entered her once more. Buffy felt her heart thundering in her chest as he began thrusting in and out of her, all toying and playfulness aside now.

His hands held her, almost hard enough to bruise, and she felt like the pressure building inside of her was going to drive her mad. She pleaded for it to break, to find release. Angel's hand slipped from her hip to brush and tease at her aching clit but not enough to give proper friction she desired. She pushed against him, her hips moving to try and create it but it wasn't working so she pleaded more with him.

Buffy felt him begin to probe her as she wished, his fingers circling her, massaging her into oblivion. Buffy screamed his name as she felt her arms and knees give out from under her and barely registered the laugh that came from behind her, the hands that just barely caught her and held her in place as he found his own release.