After sobbing her heart out in the shower, Buffy came down the stairs ready to face the world with a steely determination. She'd gotten through Angelus' reign of terror in Sunnydale she'd get through the horror of his callous human version.
That was the only explanation she could come up with, that this Angel was Angelus in human form. How else could he have said what he did last night? Touched her in the way he had and then just get up and leave her like she was nothing but trash the next morning?
Expecting to see Dawn watching TV when she got downstairs she was a little surprised that she wasn't. A moment of panic shot through her, what if the real Angelus was back? Where was Dawn? She was about to shout her sister's name when she heard laughter and talking coming from the kitchen.
Intrigued and a little apprehensive at what she'd find she headed toward the kitchen. Images of Dawn's dead body spread on the counter with Angelus standing over her flitted through her mind. Quickly she dismissed that thought when she realised the laughter she could hear was her sister's.
Buffy wasn't sure what she expected to see when she reached the kitchen but her sister and Kathy sitting at the counter eating pancakes, whilst Angel stood at the stove frying eggs and bacon wasn't it.
She stood a little dumbfounded and fascinated whilst she took in the scene before her. Angel cooking! Angel cooking in her kitchen! Angel cooking in her kitchen the morning after they'd made love!
The kitchen's three occupants finally noticed Buffy standing in the doorway. "Hey, sleepyhead," Angel greeted her. "We weren't sure when you were going to get up, so I was making you breakfast in bed."
"You were making breakfast in bed, for me?" Buffy asked softly. Every negative thought and emotion she'd had for the last hour, along with the contrast of the sweet reality in front of her came crashing down on her at once. Tears formed in her already red-rimmed eyes and she couldn't stop them from falling.
Angel quickly took the pan off the heat and turned the stove off, before making his way over to her. "Hey, what's wrong?" He asked sweetly. The softness and concern in his voice just made the tears fall faster.
"Oh for god's sake!" Dawn sighed, rolling her eyes, "She probably couldn't get her hair to curl the way she wants it to!"
Buffy couldn't even think of a biting comeback she was so choked up. "Kath, you and Dawn finish breakfast, I'm just going to talk to Buffy in the next room." Angel put his hand on Buffy's lower back and ushered her into the dining room. Pulling out a chair he gestured for her to sit down before taking a seat next to her.
"What is it? Is it last night? You regret it! Shit! I'm sorry. We can slow things down." Angel nervously rambled on as the panic made his voice rise. Despite all the conflicting emotions running through her, Buffy smiled. She'd never heard Angel ramble like that before, it was a nice thing.
Angel noticed her smiling before he stopped his rambling and returned her smile. "I'm rambling aren't I?" He asked. "I have a tendency to do that when I panic, sorry."
Buffy laughed, and once she started she couldn't stop. Angel amused by her reaction also started laughing. Until it was infectious and they were both roaring with laughter and doubling over.
Dawn and Kathy came running in from the kitchen, before looking at them like they'd lost their minds. "What's so funny?" Kathy asked. Angel shrugged in an 'I don't know' gesture. Before he caught Buffy's eye and they both cracked up laughing again. Kathy and Dawn just rolled their eyes at their peculiar siblings and left them to it.
"Oh god, it feels so good to laugh like that," Buffy said. "It's been so long since I've been able to do that." Angel looked at her curiously but didn't say anything. "I'm sorry for laughing at you," Buffy apologised. "It's just the sight of cool and calm Liam Byrne rambling on in panic was too much."
Angel smiled, placing a hand on her leg. "You wanna tell me what had you so upset?"
Buffy sobered instantly at that. If they were going to have a relationship she needed to be as honest with him as possible. Without actually telling him the whole supernatural gory truth, otherwise, he'd think she was insane.
"There was a guy," she told him. "He was older, more experienced than me. I loved him, and I thought he loved me. We were together for a while, and things heated up between us, as they do. One night we ended up back at his place and things happened."
"Things?" Angel asked. "You did stuff with him? Stuff like we did last night?"
"Yeah." Buffy was going to tell him she lost her virginity that night, but then she realised in this reality she'd technically lost it last night. "We went as far as you can go without actually having sex," she lied.
God, she hated lying to him, but how else could she explain it? "When I woke up in his bed the next morning he was gone. I couldn't find him for nearly the whole day, then when I did see him, he was different, cold. He said some really horrible things to me, made me feel cheap and like a whore…"
"And when you woke up this morning and I wasn't there you came to the conclusion the same thing happened." Angel interrupted.
"Yeah."
"I'm sorry," he apologised. "If I'd known, I would have stayed in bed. When I woke up you looked so peaceful I didn't want to wake you. And then I heard Kathy and Dawn talking, and I didn't want them catching me in your room. So I sneaked downstairs and started breakfast. Kathy and Dawn think I slept on the sofa. I didn't mean to upset you."
"No, Angel. You didn't do anything wrong." Buffy put her hand on his arm, whilst her other hand cradled his cheek. "These are my issues, I overreacted. You were right, the last thing we need is our sisters finding out we spent the night together and telling our moms!"
Angel smiled and turned his head kissing the inside of her palm. Taking her hand in his he said, "How about we spend the day together? Maybe a picnic?" Then rolling his eyes, he said, "With Kath and Dawn tagging along of course!"
Buffy laughed. "I'd love that."
"C'mon," he said as he pulled her to the kitchen. "Those eggs and bacon are getting cold."
Several hours later Buffy found herself being pushed down on the picnic blanket, Angel's large body half covering hers whilst their mouths devoured each other's and their hands began to wander dangerously. Suddenly they were hit by something hard. Pulling apart, Buffy rubbed the side of her head whilst Angel did the same to his. "Ow!" Buffy scowled looking up at Dawn angrily. "What the hell, Dawn?"
Dawn picking up the ball she'd just thrown at them smiled sweetly. "Well if you to weren't about to go at it in the middle of the park I wouldn't have needed to throw the ball at you! I mean hello! There are people here! There could be kids from school. I don't want to be made fun of tomorrow just because you decided to be a tramp all of a sudden!"
Buffy's mouth hung open at what her sister had just called her. "I'm so telling Mom what you called me!"
"Yeah? Well, I'll just tell her Angel spent the night in your room last night. See how you get out of that one!" Dawn taunted before running back to Kathy and their game with the ball.
"Oh my god! I can't believe they know!" Angel said. "They must have seen me sneaking out of your room. Do you think they'll tell your Mom?" He really didn't want her getting in trouble because of him. He also didn't want to not be able to see her.
"No, I'll bribe Dawn so she won't tell. Although I think it may cost me quite a bit." She rolled her eyes before pulling his head down to kiss him again.
Later that night when Buffy's Mom and Giles were home and Dawn was in bed, Buffy lay diagonally across her bed on the phone to Willow telling her about her weekend with Angel. "So he really spent the night in your room? In your bed?" Willow squeaked.
"He did," Buffy giggled.
"And did you…you know?" Willow asked shyly. Buffy could picture her friend's face turning red even though they weren't in the same room.
This time Buffy laughed, "We did, Will!"
"Wow," Willow sighed. "What was it like?"
"It was amazing," Buffy replied, dreamily. "Best night of my life." And it was. It didn't replace the night she'd shared with her vampire Angel but because Angel was there the next morning and all throughout the day, it certainly topped it.
"So you guys are like going steady now?"
Buffy giggled at that, "It's not the sixties, Will. But yes, we're seeing each other."
"So he's your boyfriend then? Wow!" Willow said again.
"Um, I think so." Buffy frowned, "We didn't really label it. But he is picking me up in the morning so we can ride to school together."
Just then Joyce's voice carried from downstairs, "Time for bed, Buffy."
"Ok, Mom." She replied. "I have to go, Will, see you tomorrow?"
They said their goodbyes and Buffy replaced the phone in its cradle. Buffy went over to her dresser and started to get ready for bed. As she was pulling on her pyjama pants she suddenly got a strange sharp pain in her chest. It was powerful enough to knock her back onto her butt. Then as soon as it had hit, it stopped. "Ow," she murmured rubbing at her chest. "What the hell was that?" She sat on the floor for another minute in case it came back, when nothing else happened she shrugged, climbed into bed and turned out her lamp.
Across town, just around the same time, Buffy had gotten the strange pain in her chest the main room in the Crawford Street mansion started to pop and sizzle. Small bursts of light started to appear just above the fireplace. Suddenly those small bursts turned into huge swirls of light and a strong wind began to blow into the room. A loud swirling noise started to make the very foundations of the mansion vibrate and hum. Then a big swirling purple vortex opened, spouting light bursts and gushes of wind that pulled and pushed at the very fabric of reality.
A low rumble could just be heard over the sound of the wind. The rumbling became louder and louder until it was a deafening roar. Then screams slowly started to make their way through, and those too became louder until they were deafening. Bursting through the swirls of light and gushes of wind Spike and a clinging Drusilla fell face first onto the dusty floor of the mansion.
"Bloody hell!" Spike groaned as he clutched at his head.
"Oooooohhhhhhh," Drusilla moaned as she too clutched at her head. She began writhing and moaning on the floor. "I don't like it, Spike, Daddy's gone, he's not right. He's all full of warmth and fuzziness, and his head is still all full of the Slayer."
"Shhh, pet," Spike whispered as he pulled her into his lap from where he sat on the floor. "We're here now, home sweet bloody Hellmouth. And we're gonna devastate this godforsaken little town until there's nothing left."
Dru looked up at him then her eyes sparkling, "Can I have the Slayer Spike? Can I eat her? She made Daddy and all our friends go away."
"Of course you can love," he replied as he stroked her hair. "We'll be feasting on her blood and the blood of her friends for months to come!"