Buffy had been on one date with this man and yet as she got home, fell into the bed, and cuddled the closest pillow she could reach, she sure wondered what in the hell she had went and gotten herself into and wondered if just maybe she wasn't already completely in over her head. Not that she overly had a lot of experience with dating in general but never in her life had she left one feeling like this and that was a lot to take in.

Then as if the universe heard her, she heard her phone ding, and a moment later her face exploded into a giant smile as she saw a text message from Angel asking if now was too soon to be doing one of those little check ins she had mentioned.

OoOoO

Butterflies were sure doing their best to overtake her as Friday finally rolled around and she already knew Angel and Connor were going to be swinging by after school as per usual. She hadn't seen Angel since their date but had talked to him at least in some form or another every single day since and it sure hadn't been calming any of these blooming feelings calm their asses down one bit.

She was pretty sure her face lit up every single time they spoke, or she even thought about him, and lord knew she couldn't wait to actually see him again.

OoOoO

Every time Angel would swear it was impossible and yet every single time he had seen her, he was convinced she'd somehow gotten more beautiful from the previous time his eyes had laid on her... and today was no different. Walking into the small parlor, his eyes quickly found her just as she was looking up, an easy, welcoming smile blooming across her face as she called out a greeting to Connor and himself.

Connor's hand reached for his, tugging him as per usual up to the middle counter to look at what they had placed in there today.

Buffy secured a loose strand of her hair behind her ear before leaning down onto her elbows onto the counter, starting to ask Connor about his day and week had gone. Since he'd only just returned to school after Christmas Break, Connor was more than happy to share some of the stories he'd been blessing the family with the past couple of days about all the Elementary School gossip going on well before they even got around to discussing any ice cream options.

"Well it sounds like you have been quite busy," Buffy laughed as she started marking off his latest flavors and handed him his sheet back.

Connor nodded his head, his hair that was getting just a tad too long bouncing with his movements.

Letting Connor go grab a table while he waited for the tray to be finished up, he eased into small talk with her more about how their day had been going before asking her what she had planned tonight after work. He'd been debating asking her for days but asking her to tag along to his sister's goodbye dinner before she left out again, having pushed her flight back as many time as possible already, had seemed like it might be too heavy of a thing but he couldn't help himself now seeing her right in front of him again. They still hadn't figured out what seemed like the best course of action either when it came to trying to make sure all aspects of life would do their best to be balanced out properly when it came to everything with Connor and his dating life and whatever else but at the end of the day he was pretty sure that was another thing he just had to go with the flow on and figure out as things progressed.

Buffy seemed to think it over for a moment. "Well, I mean I would love to but... doesn't that seem more like a family thing?" she asked. "I don't want to intrude on anything."

"Trust me when I promise you would be doing anything but. And I'm pretty sure nothing would make Kathy's send off more," he playfully grouched.

OoOoO

Checking the time, Buffy swore under her breath as she changed her outfit for the fourth time and quickly looked herself back over in the mirror. Deciding this was as good as it was going to get unless she wanted to be late, she hurried through the rest of her hair and makeup before slipping some shoes on and rushing back out to her car.

Double checking the address as she put it into the GPS, she smiled as a quick text message from Angel came through just before she started off. Despite Angel telling her she didn't need to bring anything, she knew better manners than that so had a quick stop to make along the way, too. Thankfully the store wasn't busy when she arrived so it was a quick pop in and out and she managed to get across town with decent time in the end.

Slowly trying to figure out which house was the right one, she couldn't help but smile when her eyes landed on Angel's mom who was standing in the doorway laughing with Gunn and happily waved and gestured for her to hurry on up and get inside with the rest of them. Buffy couldn't help but shake her head as she found somewhere to park, hurried to grab her items from the back and start making her way up to their door.

Handing her several containers of various desserts, Buffy explained she would have happily made something to bring but hadn't exactly had time to throw something together so this was the best she could do. Patricia waved her off, "These will do just fine, sweetheart. I'm so glad you could make it," she then smiled and invited her in.

As soon as she stepped inside, it felt like nearly everyone's eyes went directly to her and she fought not to turn a nice shade of red from the attention. Connor's little face quickly lit up and he jumped out of his seat to rush over to her, quickly getting wrapped in a big hug. "Hey, kiddo," she smiled before slipping her coat off and hanging it up.

She easily recognized the majority of the guests from meeting them back at Connor's concert and just like the time before went straight into acting like they'd all known one another their whole lives, as Angel made his way closer Lindsey shouted how it was about time they got to see one another again, Wesley chipping his two cents in next.

"If at any point you run running from the house, believe me when I say first of all I'm jealous and secondly I completely understand," Angel rolled his eyes.

"Oh, they're fine. It's cute," she shrugged shyly, noticing every one was still pretty honed in on her.

"Uh huh," he muttered. "Well, I am glad you could come."

"Me too!" Connor pipped up. "Let me show you around!" he said, grabbing at her free hand.

OoOoO

Buffy finally had the opportunity to hand Kathy her little gift bag and farewell, have a great trip back present after Connor had toted her all around the elder Angelus' home.

"Thank you!" Kathy told her, standing back to her feet so she could reach over and give Buffy a hug. "I'm so glad that brother of mine had the sense to invite you over, I'm so glad you're here. I just wish we could have had more chances to spend time together and get to know one another a little better."

Buffy agreed and laughed as they fell into discussing Kathy's plans, job and all her adventures traveling the world with work. Angel found them not long after, surprising her as he wrapped his arms around her from behind.

"And see, now that we're best friends and all, you ever have a problem with this fool steppin' out of of line I am just a phone call away," Kathy promised with a wink.

OoOoO

Ever since him joining them in the dining room, Angel had barely let her out of his sight, and had stayed within arms reach every opportunity. As they waited for dinner to be done, he'd led her back to the living room and all but pulled her down to his lap, Connor taking the seat next to them as she snuggled up closer to his warm body.

Buffy was pretty sure she felt more at home here, in this house, with these people in the hour or so she'd been here than all the time she'd visited her father combined. Something about being here made her feel more at home than anywhere had in a long time and she was both nervous and excited to soak up that feeling as much as possible.

Throughout the night she learned about the baby on the way with Fred and Wesley, had done her best impression of a deer in headlights when Connor introduced her as his dads' girlfriend at one point when the Angelus' neighbor was asking about her, answered probably five billion questions, and had been flirted with by both Gunn and Lindsey to the point Angel had smacked them both at least twice that she had seen so far, and had taken half a million photos before dinner was even served. At one point she had also been invited by three different people to always come to these family get togethers... whether or not things worked out with Angel or not.

Connor made sure he had Buffy on one side of him at the table and Kathy at the other, and while watching the two of them she wondered how hard that little boy was going to take her leaving. Bits and pieces that had come up had painted the picture of how Connor had only been part of their lives for just over half of the past year but the more she watched him with everyone, the harder it was to imagine them not always having been together.

OoOoO

"What do you have weighing on your mind over there?"

Buffy turned her head, smiling softly at Angel's dad and thanking him for the new cup of cocoa he'd brought over. "Honestly? I was just thinking how nice tonight was, thank you so much for letting me come. Your house is so beautiful and you are all so lovely," she gushed. "Your family here is just so picturesque."

David chuckled at that. "You're making me want to sit you down and tell you of some of our ill fated holidays of past or vacations from hell or something."

Buffy took a sip of the warm drink and shook her head. "I think that would just drive it home more. The bits of mess that filter in are just icing on the cake, you know? They have their place in the perfect puzzle, too."

He seemed to enjoy her answer. "Well, if we're lucky, just maybe you do, too."

Buffy felt warmth spread throughout her body but told herself eve more than him it was a little early to be thinking about things like that.

OoOoO

Every time Buffy had whispered that maybe she should call it a night, Angel would shake his head and pull her tighter but eventually the guests started bidding everyone farewell for the evening one by one and as much fun as she was in fact having, the day was still doing its best to catch back up with her. Even Connor had found himself tuckered out, falling asleep near mid-sentence at the other end of the sofa with a couple of throw blankets tangled up over him.

Lindsey yawned loudly, slapped at his knee and announced - for about the sixth time - that he had better head out. Taking his cue, Buffy announced that she had probably start heading out as well, very much not wanting to be the last one out nor overstay her welcome. Again, Angel tried arguing but she laughed and playfully shoved at his arm. "I cannot stay here forever, sir!"

He grumbled and pulled her close anyway for a moment before unhappily letting his arms fall away, sighing as she got back up to her feet. Rolling her eyes at his dramatics, she made her way around to everyone left to say a quick goodbye and one last thank you for everything, then let Angel and Lindsey walk her back outside.

Angel held her hand as the boys talked for a few extra moments then led her down the driveway and back to her car. Spinning back around to face him, whatever she'd been planning to say completely blanked out of her head as he took the smallest step forward, his large hands fell to either side of her hips and he leaned in closer. Buffy's eyes slowly shut and she seemed to forget how to breathe as she waited for his lips to meet hers.

OoOoO

The idea of having to say goodbye to Kathy didn't seem to carry a lot of weight until the moment actually came. Not knowing when she'd be able to return their way next only made saying goodbye harder but he hoped it wouldn't be years between visits this time. Connor was a mess nearly the whole day, too. He knew it was going to be hard on him so only tried to be there and help as he could.

They put the popcorn machine Connor had gotten for Christmas to use and watched some movies, helped with starting to take down some of the Christmas decorations finally from around his parents' house, and really just palled around at their place nearly the entire time.

By the time Monday rolled back around and life went back to some sort of normal activity with school and work, he hoped things would settle down a little.

And, not so sure he would make it through waiting until Friday to even see Buffy, then Sunday for their afternoon date plans, he wound up asking her how she felt about him swinging by for lunch one day during the week and hoped that might become one of their more frequent events.

OoOoO

Before he knew it, Angel found they had had a pretty decent schedule going on. He and Buffy would find at least some point each week to spend some time together, be it one of those random lunches, taking her out for dinner during the week, or planning out a date night and just the same he tried about every other week to make sure they found something to do all together.

Connor really seemed to enjoy asking her to tag along to a science museum or trampoline park but tonight she was coming over for the first time and he might have been more excited for the idea of that over anything else. Connor had worked hard for hours cleaning his room up, then insisted on helping with dinner.

He looked so proud as he finished setting the table up just before the doorbell rang, his face lighting up as he went running for the door. "She's here! She's here!" As soon as she stepped inside, he stood on his tip-toes trying to see what she had in her hands, but thankfully he didn't have to wait too long before she held them down to where he could see the giant slabs of brownie she'd personalized for each of them.

Happy to help carry them over, Buffy followed behind, and Angel pulled her to him as soon as the plates were secure on the table. "Hi," she breathed just before he dropped a quick kiss onto her pouty pink lips. She peaked her head around at the stove behind him and told him everything looked perfect just before Connor stole her back away to show her around.

While he was busy with that, Angel finished getting everyone set up then set out to find where they had run off to... not so surprised to find Buffy sitting on the floor in Connor's room as he showed off his mass collection of superhero figures. "Dinner's ready whenever the two of you are," he announced sticking his head in.

Buffy pouted, holding up a Poison Ivy figure. "Aww, we were just getting to some of the girls," she teased.

"I promise you'll have plenty of time to play after you eat."

"Mmhmm," she mumbled. "Party pooper," she told him and Connor nearly fell over laughing.

"Yeah, party pooper," he echoed.

OoOoO

Since Connor had stopped his little tour of the place once they got all distracted with his toys, she'd helped him clean up before letting him show her the rest of the way around then made their way to the beautifully laid out table. The house wasn't overly decorated nor felt as lived in she supposed as his parents' had been, but it certainly felt like Angel everywhere you might look and told him as much, then warned him if they were to ever come visit her shared apartment with Faith it wouldn't be even be a close comparison.

Angel started telling her about some of his previous places he'd called home before lucking out here and Connor tried adding into the conversation by explaining he loved it here as it was the first place that made him feel safe, it was the first time he really had his very own room anywhere. Her heartstrings tugged at both his confession and how it seemed to effect Angel who quickly went to love on the little boy and whisper something to him.

"Well, I am very glad you have that here, Connor because you absolutely deserve to have everything in the world," she told him softly. "Although... as fancy as I think your super cool room is, I do think I noticed something missing," she told him slyly. "Maybe next time I come over I'll have to bring you a little surprise," she told him then amended that as he told her he did have a birthday coming up and she should save it for a present.

And then their conversation shifted again to how excited he was for the upcoming celebration and somehow she wound up agreeing to make him both a cake and two sets of cupcakes, plus being a deciding factor over where he should he have his party hosted at by the end of it.

OoOoO

After dinner she stayed true to her word and happily went back to playing around with Connor for a bit until it was time for him to get ready for bed. She thought he looked so cute in his little pajamas and still damp hair after his quick little bath, tucking him in at his request then sitting at the end of the bed to read him a story before he switched over to wanting his dad to read a different one.

He was already lightly snoring halfway through his second book but Angel continued until the end, she snuck out just as he was finishing and went to work trying to finish up on what dishes still remained needing to be cleaned off and put away.

Just a few moments later, Angel joined her, telling her she didn't need to do any of it but she shook her head. "It's fine, and makes me feel better. You did all that work so the least I can do is help out a little, mmk."

He rolled his eyes and stepped closer, grabbing a towel. "Fine, fine," he surrendered and they started working together to get everything taken care of.

OoOoO

"So. What do you usually do when Connor falls asleep?" Buffy asked, taking the split piece of brownie he was sharing with her from his fingertips.

Angel shrugged his shoulders. "Nothing interesting really, some nights as of late I just call it a day myself, shower and go crawl into bed, sometimes I'll stay up and catch up on work or drown myself in some movie or catch up on a show I've been trying to follow, sometimes I stay up way too late on the phone with pretty blondes..." he smiled. "What about you? I mean, what do you like to do in your downtime when you're stuck at home or just winding down from the day?"

"Pretty much the same," she answered. "I just laze about and unwind. I don't really have too many hobbies to just sit around and get into but I keep trying to find one I guess. I have a whole stack of failed attempts like crosswords and large puzzles I once tried to be all for and things like that but I think I just do better at finding things to enjoy out and about then at home it's just chill out and wing it."

"I used to paint, well, paint or draw or whatever I felt like at the time. Nothing anything real serious and not something I did all the time but I enjoyed it, I just haven't in awhile now. You know we moved and life kept throwing curves ball my way and it kind of took a backburner I guess."

"Sometimes life happens, but there's nothing stopping you from going back to it all when you're ready right?"

OoOoO

Angel had been innocent in asking her if she wanted to try and find something for them to watch but then he found her a lot more interesting than anything happening on the large screen and couldn't have answered a single question about it if his life had depended on it.

She had her head propped up on one of the little throw pillows his mother insisted he had even though he didn't understand the point for a damn second, her tiny body feeling like it was made to be pressed against his as they laid together on the sofa, the smell of her hair, how soft her skin felt not escaping him any either.

His fingers linked with hers and she pulled him arm tighter against her and he quietly asked her if she was warm enough.

Buffy responded by turning back around to face him, nearly knocking the wind out of him with how close she was and how perfect she fucking looked in that moment. He was very certain the only reason he didn't jump to crossing any and every line right then and there into new territory with her was the fact he knew Connor was just down the hall and could easily wake up at any given time and he didn't want to be caught in a situation like that, but even so it was way more tempting than he was ready for all the same.

And, all the same, it didn't stop him from leaning closer and capturing her lips and letting himself get lost in her at least for a little while.

OoOoO

Buffy's breath was coming out in heavy pants, her eyes heavy and having a hard time staying open as Angel's head dipped lower, creating a warm trail of kisses down one side of her neck then giving the opposite side the same treatment before returning to her swollen lips, his tongue easily slipping back inside.

One of her small hands wrapped around the back of his neck as she felt him roll her body underneath his, trying to ignore the ache developing between her thighs. It was kind of a mostly unspoken agreement they had to not rush into anything and yet every single time she was around this damn man it felt like all of that went right out the window and that's all she wanted to do.

He made it too freaking hard to think straight, damnit!

But, whatever tiny bit of brain cells that did in fact seem to be working had her eventually breaking back away from him, panting again until she could get the words out that maybe they should call it a night before they got any more ahead of themselves here.

Angel groaned, dropping his head down to her shoulder. His muffled voice agreed that was probably the right move... but that didn't mean he liked it any.