I stared into my soda at the Bronze. Everyone was hunting down cockroaches around Willow, Buffy and I.

"Ah, the fumigation party," Willow sighed watching everyone.

"Why is everyone chasing bugs?" Buffy asked her.

"It's an annual tradition. The closing of the Bronze for a few days to nuke the cockroaches," Willow explained.

"Exciting," I said not really paying attention to them.

"It's a lot of fun... What's it like where you are?" Willow asked and I smiled at them.

"Sorry, I was just... thinking," I told them.

"So, we're talking about a guy?" Willow asked me.

"For there to be a conversation about a guy, there'd have to be a guy in my life for us to have a conversation about," I said before laughing.

"Is that a sentence?" Buffy laughed at me.

"You lack a guy," Willow stated with a smile.

"I know I do," Buffy sighed. "Which is fine with me, most of the time, but you said you couldn't be in a relationship. Why?"

"What about Angel?" Willow asked me.

"Angel's even more off limits than guys my own age," I told them with a sad smile.

"I can just see that guy in a relationship. 'Hi, honey, you're in grave danger. I'll see you next month.'," Buffy joked making the three of us laugh.

"He's not around much, it's true," Willow admitted.

"But when he is around, it's like he's all I see. Nothing else in my life matters. You know?"

"Oh, yeah!" Willow said looking at Xander who was dancing and making a fool of himself. We continued talking about the guys in our lives before Xander finally joined us.

"Boy, that Cordelia is a regular breath of vile air. What are you vixens up to?" he asked us.

"Just sitting here, watching our barren lives pass us by," Willow told him before looking down at the ground. "Oh, look, a cockroach." She stomped on it and I made a face at the crunch.

"You can kill vampires and other hell beasts, but you can't stand a dead cockroach?" Buffy asked me.

"Cockroaches are just disturbing, ok?" I asked her. "Vampires and hell beasts will die, given the right tools. Cockroaches just keep coming back for more."

"Now I'm disturbed." I gave her an apologetic look.

"Whoa, well, let's stop this crazy whirligig of fun! I'm dizzy!" Xander said sarcastically.

"And now I'm infecting those nearest and dearest. I'm headed home," I told them getting up.

"I'll join you," Buffy told me collecting her things.

"Oh, don't go!" Willow called out to us.

"Uh, yeah! It's early! We could, um, dance!" Xander tried and I shook my head at his attempt.

"Rain check? Good night."

"Night guys." I waved to them as Buffy and I made our way out of the Bronze. She nudged my shoulders and I smiled at her.

"You gonna be okay?" she asked worriedly.

"I have to be," I told her. "Besides, even if I did get into a relationship with someone Dad would flip out." She laughed, not really understanding everything I'd said was more than true when I turned to look behind us, sensing someone watching.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Yeah," I nodded with a smile. "Let's go."

Buffy and I walked home talking about normal high school things (homework, boys, annoying teachers, parents breathing down our neck, etc.) when she stopped and looked behind us. I turned and looked behind us, but we saw nothing. She looked at me and I shrugged my shoulders. We continued walking when we heard someone breathing out loudly. I rolled my eyes motioning to her. She was the slayer after all.

"It's late, I'm tired, and I don't wanna play games. Show yourself," she called out to them. We heard someone drop behind us with a roar. She reached into her coat, pulled out a stake and quickly spun to stake it. I pulled out one of my own (can't walk around in this town without one) before two more vampires appeared in front of me. Buffy swung her arm at the first one and one of the ones in front of me grabbed her arm. I moved to hit him when the third grabbed my arm and pulled me into his chest.

"Oh, god," I made a face at the smell of the vampire in front of me. "They reek!"

"Ooo! Okay, okay, nice..." I turned to see one vampire grabbing her before they pulled us into an alley. The first one who'd dropped in front of us approached us and the one who held me flipped me around so I could see what was happening. Nice, right? "Okay, okay... Look, I really don't wanna fight all three of you... unless I have to." She kicked one in the crotch, elbowed the second and tried to punch the one holding me, but the second grabbed her arm as the one holding me moved me over so he could knee her in the gut. The second grabbed her in a bear hug and grabbed her head, forcing it to the side.

"Buffy!" I struggled with the vampire holding me as she did the same. The first one was about to bite her when I saw Angel come up behind him. He grabbed the one about to bite Buffy by the hair and pulled him off her.

"Good dogs don't bite!" He punched the vampire in the face and I stomped on the vampire's foot, elbows him in the gut then nose before kneeing him in the crotch.

"Look out!" I turned in time to see Angel sliced in the chest with an iron bar. I turned back to the vamp and pulled his face down to meet my rising knee before moving to Angel's side. I helped him up before Buffy ran past us.

"Run!" We ran out of the alley with the three vampires giving chase.

After a time, we jumped over some bushes in front of her house and ran inside.

"Get in! C'mon!" Buffy ordered as she ran in Angel and I right behind her. She slammed the door on one of the vampire's hands and I helped her keep it closed as he struggled before pulling his hand back out the door. She slammed the door shut and locked it. She looked out through the glass in the door as I moved to the window. They stared inside at us as we stared back.

"It's alright. A vampire can't come in unless it's invited," Angel said grabbing my arm and moving me away from the window. Just because they couldn't get inside doesn't mean that they couldn't break the windows and doors and grab us if we were close.

"I've heard that before, but I've never put it to the test," Buffy told him. I smiled up at Angel before frowning, remembering his wound.

"Buffy, can you get some bandages?" I asked her grabbing his hand and moving him to the kitchen. "You're going to need to take your jacket and your shirt off." Angel moved to the window and looked outside before doing as I said. I watched from behind him as he removed his jacket and noticed a tattoo on his right shoulder of a Griffen straddling a large A.

"Nice tat," I complimented and he turned to look down at me with a smile. "Thank you for saving us."

"How did you happen to come along?" Buffy asked joining us. I grabbed what I needed from the First Aid Kit she brought and began to bandage his chest.

"I live nearby. I was just out walking," he told her.

"Something tells me you weren't just out for a midnight stroll," I said giving him a look. "I felt someone following us from the Bronze."

"Why would I do that?" He asked smiling down at me. I smiled back before looking down at what I was doing.

"Why don't you tell me." You're the Mystery Guy that appears then disappears all the time. Not that we're saying I'm not happy about it tonight, but... if you are hanging around we'd like to know why," I finished bandaging him. "All done."

"Maybe I like you." I looked back up at him.

"Just maybe?" I asked him. We heard the door start to open and Buffy quickly ran into the living room. I turned and put the kit back together with Angel still standing right behind me. "Sorry, I didn't mean to bomb you with questions."

"I don't mind." I turned back to him and he leaned down slightly.

"Are you sure?" I whispered before we heard Buffy's voice right outside the door.

"Can't a daughter just be concerned about her mother?" Angel and I chose that moment to leave the kitchen and walk into the living room.

"Hi," Joyce said, stunned to see us in her house.

"Hi," Angel greeted.

"Hey," I waved with a small smile.

"Oh! Okay... Um... Angel, uh, this is my mom. Mom, this is Angel. Uh, the three of us ran into each other on the way home," Buffy told her. It wasn't a full lie sure, but it wasn't the full truth either.

"Nice to meet you."

"What do you do, Angel?" Joyce asked and he didn't say anything.

"He's a student," I told him and she gave me a disbelieving look. "First-year at the community college."

"Angel's been helping me with my history, you know I've been toiling there," Buffy added.

"It's a little late for tutoring," Joyce told Buffy before going up the stairs. "I'm gonna go to bed, and, uh, Buffy?"

"I'll say good night and do the same!" Joyce looked down at us and nodded

"It was nice to meet you, Angel. I'll see you next time, Liz."

"Good night! We'll hook up soon and do that study thing!" Buffy closed the door with Angel and me still inside the house. She motioned for us to follow her before we all walked up to her room.

"Look, I don't wanna get you in any more trouble..." Angel tried telling her.

"And I don't wanna get you two dead. They could still be out there," she reminded him before moving to the center of the room. "So, uh, oh... three of us, one bed. That doesn't work."

"You take the bed," I told Angel. "You're wounded."

"I'll take the floor," he told her.

"Uh, no, that's not..."

"Oh, believe me, I've had worse," he told us reassuringly.

"It's your room, Buff. You take the bed. I'll share the floor," I told her.

"Okay. Then why don't you check and see if the Fang Gang is still loitering and keep your back turned while I change?" Buffy suggested to Angel. He went to the window and looked outside as she went to her closet.

"I don't see them," he told us. I'd followed her to the closet and she offered me some pjs.

"Y'know, I'm the Chosen One, it's my job to fight guys like that," Buffy told him. "What's your excuse?"

"Uh, somebody has to," he told her.

"Well, what does your family think of your career choice?" she asked him and I gave her a look.

"They're dead," he told us. I'd finished changing and moved to him.

"I'm sorry," I said quietly. "My mom died when I was just a kid. Witches."

"Was it vampires for you?" Buffy asked him.

"I-it was." He turned to face us and I offered him a smile.

"I'm sorry."

"It was a long while ago."

"So, this is a vengeance gig for you?" she asked him. He didn't answer us and she crawled into bed. She tossed the comforter to me and I laid it out on the floor before Angel joined me.

"You look beautiful when you go to sleep," he whispered next to me and I smiled at him.

"And these aren't even my clothes," I joked which pulled a chuckle from him.

Sleep tight," Buffy called to us.

"Night."

"Good night." We stared at each other for a moment before I cuddled into his side and fell asleep.

That next morning, I'd had to sneak out Buffy's window and change when I'd gotten to school. Buffy and I told everything that had happened the night before to the others in the library.

"He spent the night? In your room? In your bed?" Xander asked Buffy.

"Technically in my bed," I said not realizing I'd said it until I felt the look dad gave me. "We were right next to Buffy the entire night."

"That is so romantic!" Willow gushed and I smiled at her. "Did you, uh... I mean, did he, uh..."

"He was the perfect gentleman," I told her and the three of us exchanged smiles.

"C'mon, wake up and smell the seduction. It's the oldest trick in the book," Xander said giving the two of us a look.

"What? Saving our lives?" I asked him.

"Duh! I mean, guys'll do anything to impress a girl. I-I once drank an entire gallon of Gatorade without taking a breath," he told us with a proud grin on his face.

"It was pretty impressive. Although later there was an ick factor." I made a face at the thought.

"Can we steer this riveting conversation back to the events that happened earlier in the evening?" Dad asked us. "You left the Bronze and were set upon by three unusually virile vampires. Did they look like this?" We looked down at the book he placed on the table.

"That's them," I told him.

"What's with the uniforms?" Buffy asked.

"It seems you encountered the Three. Warrior vampires, very proud and very strong," he explained.

"How is it you always know this stuff? You always know what's going on. I never know what's going on," Willow rambled.

"Well, you weren't here from midnight until six researching it."

"No, I was sleeping."

"Uh, o-obviously you're hurting the Master very much. He, he wouldn't send the, the Three for just anyone. We must step up our training with weapons," Dad told her.

"Buffy, you should stay at my house until these Samurai guys are history," Xander told her.

"What?" she asked him confused.

"Ah-ah-ah, don't worry about Angel, Willow can run to your house and tell him to get out of town fast," he said and I rolled my eyes.

"He was gone before we'd woken up," I told him. "And we don't even know where he lives."

"Angel, Liz, and Buffy are, are not in any immediate jeopardy," dad told him. "Eventually, the Master will send someone else, but in the meantime the Three, having failed, will offer their own lives in penance."

That night, I was sitting in my room doing my homework when I heard a knock on my window. I turned and my eyes widened at who I saw. I got up and opened the window for him.

"Hi." I smiled at Angel who smiled back at me.

"Hi." He looked around my room curiously. "So this is your room, huh?" I turned and looked behind me. My room had bookshelves filled with all sorts of books, a desk with my homework on it and my made up bed.

"You want to come in?" I asked him with a smile. He smiled before nodding. I moved back and he crawled inside it.

"Thanks."

"What are you doing here?" I asked him confused.

"I wanted to see you. You called me a 'Mystery Guy'."

"That's because you are," I told him. "Even after we'd met you disappear and reappear whenever there's trouble."

"You want me to change that?"

"Well I'd like to spend time with you without fearing that I'll be attacked," I joked slightly and he chuckled.

"Well, there's no danger now," he told me and I smiled.

"Good. So what did you do all day today?" I asked sitting on my bed.

"Reading, mostly," he told me. "And just thought about a lot of things. Liz, I...

"Don't," I told him my smile falling. "Don't say what you're going to say."

"Elizabeth..."

"No!" I stood up and stood directly in front of him. "I won't hear it."

"But you need to."

"I said no!"

"I did a lot of thinking today. I really can't be around you," he told me and I shook my head. "Because when I am..."

"I'm not going to listen to this..."

"...when I am all I can ever think about is how badly I want to kiss you."

"Kiss me?" I asked with wide eyes.

"I'm older than you, and this can't ever... I better go," he tried to leave and I grabbed his arm.

"I don't care how much older you are," I told him.

"I should..."

"...go... So you said..." He pulled me to him and kissed me passionately. My eyes closed imminently and I wrapped my arms around his neck. After several moments, Angel suddenly pulled back and looked away from me.

"What's wrong?" I asked breathlessly. He turned to face me and growled. I jumped back in surprise at the vampiric face staring back at me.

"Didn't think you'd change just from kissing me." He looked at me confused. "I've known what you are for some time now."

"You knew?" he asked and I nodded. I moved towards him and placed my hand on his cheek.

"I knew."

"Elizabeth!" We both turned in shock to see my dad staring at us in confusion and shock. Angel jumped out my window and I watched him run away from the house.

The next morning, we were all walking up the steps where dad and I were telling them about being a vampire.

"Angel's a vampire?" Willow asked in shock.

"I can't believe this is happening," Buffy sighed. "Can a vampire ever be a good person? Couldn't it happen?"

"A vampire isn't a person at all," dad said and I glared at him before he cleared his throat. "It may have the movements, the, the memories, even the personality of the person that it took over, but i-it's still a demon at the core, there is no halfway."

"So that'd be a no, huh?" Willow asked.

"Then what was he doing?" I asked angrily at the group. "Why would he be so good to me?"

"It could be all some part of the Master's plan?" Buffy suggested.

"But that doesn't make sense!" I nearly yelled at her as we reached a bench. Willow grabbed my hand and pulled me down to the bench before Buffy joined us.

"Alright, uh..." Xander sat next to Buffy. "...you have a problem, and it's not a small one. Let's take a breath and look at this calmly and objectively. Angel's a vampire. Buffy's a Slayer. I think it's obvious what has to happen." I glared at Xander's grin.

"Uh, it is a Slayer's duty..." Dad started and I turned my glare on him.

"I-I know you have feelings for this guy, but it's not like you're in love with him, right?" Xander asked and I looked down at my hands in my lap. "You're in love with a vampire?! What, are you outta your mind?!"

"What?!" We all turned to see Cordelia staring down at us.

"Not vampire..." Xander told her before turning to me. "How could you love an umpire? Everyone hates 'em!" Cordelia turned from us and looked at another girl wearing the same dress as she was.

"Where did you get that dress?" Cordelia pursued the girl. "This is a one-of-a-kind Todd Oldham. Do you know how much this dress cost? Is this a knockoff?" She pulled down the back of the dress and checked the label. "This is a knockoff, isn't it?! Some cheesy knockoff! This is exactly what happens when you sign these free trade agreements!" We watched the two disappear into the building.

"You think we have problems..." Buffy said.

That afternoon, we were looking through books trying to find information on Angel. Well, they were looking. I was sitting around and doing anything else.

"Here's something at last." Dad slammed a book on the desk which startled Xander.

"Can you please warn us before you do that?" Xander asked him.

"There's nothing about Angel in the texts, but it suddenly occurred to me that it's been ages since I've read the diaries of any of the watchers before me," dad told us ignoring Xander's request. "There's mention some two hundred years ago in Ireland of, of Angelus, the one with the angelic face."

"Sounds right," I sighed.

"I'm not saying anything, I have nothing to say," Xander cleared their throat and I rolled my eyes at him.

"Does, uh, Angel have, um, a tattoo behind his right shoulder?" Dad asked.

"Yeah, it's a, it's a Griffen," I told him.

"Now I'm sayin' something. You saw him naked?" Xander asked and I glared at him.

"He got slashed in the ribs, Xander," I reminded him. "He had to remove his shirt so I could bandage his injury."

"So, Angel's been around for a while," Willow guessed.

"Not long for a vampire. Uh, two hundred and forty years or so," dad told us.

"Huh! Two hundred and forty," Buffy said looking at me.

"He said he was older," I told them.

"Angelus leaves Ireland, uh, wreaks havoc in, in Europe for, uh, several decades, and then, um, about eighty years ago, the most curious thing happens," Dad read from the book. "He, he comes to, uh, to America, um, shuns other vampires, and, and lives alone. There's, there's no, no record of him hunting here."

"So he is a good vampire!" Willow said with a smile on her face. "I mean, on a scale of one to ten, ten being someone who's killing and maiming every night, and one being someone who's... not."

"I say that there's no record, but, uh, vampires hunt and kill. It's, it's what they do," dad reminded us.

"Fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly," Xander supplied.

"He could've fed on me at any time since I'd gotten here," I told them. "I'm obviously not dead or a vampire."

"Question: a hundred years or so before he came to our shores, what was he like then?" Xander asked.

"Uh, like all of them. Uh, a vicious, violent animal," dad said.

"But he's not like that now," I told them. "He's different now."

That night I rushed down the corridor in the hospital to find Joyce's room. Willow called us and said that Buffy had found Angel feeding on her mother.

"My friend?" I heard Buffy ask her mom.

"I guess I slipped and cut my neck on... The doctor said it looked like a barbecue fork," Joyce told us before looking up at Buffy confused. "We don't have a barbecue fork." She looked back to look at us. "Are you another doctor?" Buffy turned to us and her eyes hardened when she saw me.

"No, Mom, this is Mr. Giles," Buffy introduced.

"Oh, the librarian from your school and Liz's father!" Joyce said. "What's he doing here?"

"Uh, I-I just came to pay my respects, wish you a speedy recovery," dad told us.

"Boy, the teachers really do care in this town," Joyce smiled with a small laugh.

"Get some rest now," Buffy told her mom before kissing her head and we all left the room. "She's gonna be okay. They, they gave her some iron... Her, uh, blood count was a, a little..."

"...a little low," dad finished for her. "It presents itself like mild anemia. Uh, you, you were, uh, lucky you got to her as soon as you did."

"Lucky?" Buffy asked. "Stupid."

"Buff, it's not your fault," Xander told her.

"No?" Buffy asked staring at him. "I invited him into my home. Even after I knew who he was, what he was, and I didn't do anything about it... 'cause one of my friends convinced me he was different." I flinched at the proverbial slap in the face.

"If you care about somebody you care about them," Willow reminded them. "She trusted him and we trust her. That doesn't change just by..."

"...killing him?" Buffy asked. "Maybe not. But I think it's a start."

"Uh, we'll keep an eye on your mom," Xander told her as Dad and I chased her down.

"Buffy!" I stood in her way and she glared at me. "You can't do this! I won't let you kill him."

"You can't stop me," she told me with a dark glare. "The Three found us near the Bronze and so did he. He lives nearby."

"This is no ordinary vampire," Dad whispered. "If there is such a thing. Now, he knows you, he, he's faced the Three! I think this is gonna take more than a simple stake."

"So do I." She pushed past us and I glared at the ground.

"Elizabeth..." My dad put his hand on my shoulder and I pushed it off before running out of the hospital.

I snuck into the Bronze through a broken window. I didn't know who'd gone through it first, but it didn't matter.

"You're not an animal," I heard Buffy say. "Animals I like." I looked around in the shadows before seeing Angel step out of the shadows to face her. She turned a crossbow on him.

"Let's get it done!" He growled before turning to run. He jumped onto the pool table and Buffy followed him with her aim and shot at him, but missed. Angel jumped up onto the catwalk above them and we lost him in the shadows. He swung down and kicked her in the back, knocking her onto the pool table. She did a standing back kick at him behind her and sent him into the wall. She ran around the table and dived for the crossbow she'd dropped when she'd been kicked to the pool table. She rolled onto her back and I took that moment I step between the two.

"That's enough," I told them. Buffy had the crossbow trained on me as I stared her down. "Are you going to kill me, Buffy?" I felt Angel moving closer to me but didn't bother turning to him. Buffy launched the bolt and it hit the wall next to us.

"Little wide," Angel told her. I glanced behind me to see him standing behind me, but not fully. She could have hit him without hitting me at all.

"Why?" Buffy asked him standing up. "Why didn't you just attack me when you had the chance? Why aren't you attacking Liz? Was it a joke? To make her feel for you and then... I've killed a lot of vampires. I've never hated one before."

"Feels good, doesn't it? Feels simple," he told her.

"I invited you into my home and then you attacked my family!"

"Why not?" he asked her. "I killed mine. I killed their friends... and their friend's children... For a hundred years I offered ugly death to everyone I met, and I did it with a song in my heart."

"But he changed," I said, believing in him.

"Why?" Buffy asked.

"Fed on a girl about your age... beautiful... dumb as a post... but a favorite among her clan," Angel told us.

"Her clan?"

"Romany. Gypsies. The elders conjured the perfect punishment for me. They restored my soul," he explained and I smiled slightly.

"What, they were all out of boils and blinding torment?" Buffy asked him.

"Vampires lose their souls when the demon takes over," I told her.

"It's an easy way to live," Angel said. "You have no idea what it's like to have done the things I've done... and to care. I haven't fed on a living human being since that day."

"So you started with my mom?" Buffy asked him angrily.

"I didn't bite her," he told her.

"Then why didn't you say something?" Buffy asked him.

"Would you have believed him?" I asked her.

"I can walk like a man, but I'm not one," Angel told her. "I came here to kill you tonight." She dropped the crossbow and opened her arms.

"Go ahead, but you'll have to go through Liz and you know it." He looked down at me and I turned to him. We stared at each other in silence. "Not as easy as it looks."

"Sure it is!" We turned toward a voice to see a vampire coming out of the shadows. "Do you know what the saddest thing in the world is?"

"Pretending to be a Catholic school girl?" I asked.

"Bad hair on top of that outfit?" Buffy asked.

"To love someone who used to love you." I looked up at Angel before looking back at her.

"You guys were involved?" I asked.

"For several generations," she told me.

"Well, you been around since Columbus, you are bound to pile up a few exes. You're older than him, right? Just between us girls, you are looking a little worn around the eyes," Buffy insulted.

"I made him," Darla explained with a smile. "There was a time when we shared everything, wasn't there Angelus? You had a chance to come home, to rule with me in the Master's court for a thousand years, but you threw that away because of her. You love someone who hates us. You're sick. And you'll always be sick. And you'll always remember what it was like to watch her die." She smiled at us again. "You don't think I came alone, do you?"

"I know I didn't." Buffy kicked the bow up into her hands and aimed it at the woman.

"Hmm, scary." She pulled out two pistols from behind her back, one in each hand. "Scarier!" She shot Angel and he staggered back onto a post.

"Angel!" I tried going to him, but bullets separated us.

"Oh, don't worry. Bullets can't kill vampires. Can hurt them like hell, but..." she giggled. Buffy and I retreated to hide from her as she started shooting us.

"So many body parts, so few bullets. Let's begin with the kneecaps. No fun dancing without them," she said before capping off a few more rounds and the pool table took a few hits. Buffy suddenly popped up with the crossbow and took a shot at her. I heard her grunt in pain and peaked out to see the vampire doubled over. We watched as she straightened back up again. "Close, but no heart." She grabbed the bolt and tossed it aside.

"Buffy, it wasn't Angel who attacked your mom, it was Darla!" I heard Willow shout out. The vampire let loose a hail of bullets where it sounded like Willow's voice came from. I heard her jump on the pool table and moved behind her. I grabbed the edge of the table and pulled, knocking the vampire on her front. I pushed the table away from me and ran for cover as she flipped over and fired a few rounds at me as she rode the table across the floor. Buffy pulled me behind a glass case and we moved away from the falling glass. The strobes came on above us and the shooting stopped. Buffy moved away from me and let loose another volley.

"C'mon, Buffy. Take it like a man!" I saw a broom in quickly snapped it before turning to her with it. I stared in surprise as Angel staked her from behind with one of Buffy's bolts. She cried out in pain before looking back at her attacker. "Angel?" She fell to the floor and burst into ashes. I moved from behind my hiding place and moved to Angel's side. I smiled up at him before he turned and walked away.

A few weeks later, I was at the Bronze with the others celebrating its grand reopening. They had to remain closed a few extra weeks due to the damage done in the fight.

"Ah, the post-fumigation party," Xander said looking around.

"Okay, so what's the difference between this and the pre-fumigation party?" Buffy asked them.

"Much hardier cockroaches."

"So, no word from Angel?" Willow asked me and I shook my head.

"No, but I still feel like, in his own way, I feel like he's still watching me," I told them with a small smile.

"Well, in a way he sort of is. In the way of that, he's right over there," I turned around and saw Angel watching us. I smiled before heading over to him.

"I just wanted to see if you were okay. And Buffy's mother," he told me.

"We're both good. You?" I asked him.

"If I can go a little while without getting shot or stabbed I'll be alright," he joked and I laughed lightly. "Look, this can't..."

"Can't what?" I asked, my smile still holding on my face. "Be a thing? I don't care what you say, cause I'm going to fight your decision."

"I just gotta... I gotta walk away from this," Angel told me.

"No, you don't," I told him getting closer to him.

"I know." He leaned down and kissed me again and I wrapped my arms around his neck and tried to pull him closer. I felt his hands on my waist before we parted and I smiled up at him.

"You still going to run away from this?" I asked him.

"I have to," he told me.

"Then you'll have a fight on your hands." I pulled away from him before going back to my friends.