"Angel, what the hell are you doing here?" Buffy asked, irritated that he had interrupted her almost kiss with Spike.

"It's nice to see you too, Buffy." Angel glanced from Buffy to Spike with a none-to-pleased facial expression. "I thought I would drop off Spike's things instead of mailing them. It seemed so impersonal."

"I don't think you being here is such a good idea." Buffy said.

"I didn't come here to fight with you, Buffy. I just wanted to see how things were going and to make sure everything was ok. I also hoped I could talk to you alone for a little while."

"Why?" Spike asked before Buffy could respond. "So you can beg her forgiveness for betraying her or so you can try to convince her that she's dumb for trying to help me?"

"Well, a little bit of both actually." Angel admitted.

Buffy walked up to Spike and gently placed her hands on his chest. "It's ok, Spike. I really do need to talk to him. It'll be fine."

Spike looked over at Angel to see that smug smile on his face that he always had whenever he felt like he had won. He glanced back over at Buffy and rolled his eyes. "Fine. Have your little reunion or whatever. Just leave me out of it."

Spike was angry and she knew it but there was no time to explain or reassure him right then. She had to deal with Angel first. She knew she would have to tell Spike how she felt about him soon. It didn't seem like he was about to take her indecisiveness any longer by the way he just stormed out of the room and slammed the door.

Buffy sighed deeply. "This better be good, Angel."

He walked over to her and smiled uncomfortably. "I'm sorry."

She waited for him to say more but he did nothing but stare at her.

"You're sorry." Buffy repeated. "Is that it? That's all you have to say?"

"What else can I say? I already explained why I did what I did. I thought you would understand."

"Understand? Angel, you weren't there. You didn't see how my relationship evolved with Spike. You were off in L.A. fighting your own battles. You have a lot of nerve coming back here."

"You're right. I wasn't there but I know Spike. I know Spike better than you do."

"Are you sure about that?" Buffy shot back. "You know one side of him. I know every side of him."

A look of disgust crossed Angel's face. "You only think you know him. I saw all the evil things he did. He's not worthy of you."

"And you are?" Buffy asked incredulously. "What makes you think that you have risen above everything in your past? What makes you think that you are better than he is? You've done just as many terrible things in your past and then some but you somehow have this idea that he's beneath you!"

"He IS beneath me."

"Angel, you make me sick sometimes, you know that? I don't know exactly when you let your ego get the best of you but let me tell you right now, get over it. I will not stand here and listen to you try and tell me that you are superior. He has always stood by my side. He has always watched my back. You haven't. You left because you couldn't handle the fact that you had a soul cursed upon you. You couldn't handle the fact that you were unable to get all bump and grindy with me in fear of losing a soul you seem to have so much resentment for. Spike, on the other hand, went out to get a soul on his own. He chose to have one. He was tired of being evil and hunting and killing. He wanted to be good."

"He wanted to get into your pants." Angel seethed. "That's why he wanted a soul. You give him too much credit."

"I may have been a huge factor in his decision to get a soul but it wasn't for sex. If you think that, then you really don't know him anywhere near as much as you think you do. He wanted to be a better man for me. He wanted to be worthy enough for me to love him. He loved me so much that he couldn't bear not to be by my side. It didn't matter if I was yelling at him, punching him or kissing him as long as I was with him. I threw him out of my life once and I'm not prepared to do that again. So unless you can accept that, I suggest you leave now."

Angel let out a defeated sigh. "Obviously there is nothing I can say to make you change your mind, is there?"

"No." Buffy said matter-of-factly.

Angel nodded. "Ok. Just let me stay one night. I just want to make sure that everything is going right with him. I want to make sure you are safe."

"I don't know, Angel. That's a bad idea and entirely unnecessary."

"Please, just one night. Then I'll leave you alone and you never have to see or talk to me again if you don't want to."

"Fine. But Spike is gonna hate this."

"I hate this!" Spike yelled twenty minutes later after being told Angel was spending the night. "How can you agree to this? He'll probably stake me in my sleep."

"Calm down. This was the only way. He would have just kept bothering us otherwise. He promised to keep his distance if I agreed. Please don't be angry." Buffy pleaded.

Spike's face softened. He reached out and wrapped his arms around her. "I could never be angry at you." He placed a soft kiss on her forehead. "But I still don't like it. I think he's up to something."

"It'll be fine, I promise. Nothing will happen to you. I will be by your side all night long and I'll have a weapon near me at all times if that will make you feel better."

"Ok. It's a deal, but no stakes. I don't want you having nightmares of demons and things that go bump in the night and have you get all stake happy in your sleep. You'll wake up next to a big pile of dust."

Buffy looked at him questionably. "Spike, you can't be dusted anymore remember? You are all human now with the warm blood and the heartbeat." She said and placed a hand over his heart so she could feel it beat again.

"Oh yeah." Spike replied sheepishly and lowered his head. "I keep forgetting. It's so weird. I've got this heart thumping in my chest and even that doesn't seem to be enough to remind me."

"Let me remind you." Buffy said, pulling his head down for a kiss.

Her lips brushed against his and he felt the pounding in his chest increase.

Her lips pushed harder against his and when they backed away from each other to breathe his heart practically leapt into his throat.

She opened her eyes to see an intense look of passion on his face. His lips were slightly parted and his chest heaved up and down trying to calm his practically bursting heart.

Taking this opportunity to deepen the kiss, she quickly lurched forward once again, attaching her lips to his but letting her tongue slip into the deep recesses of his mouth in the process.

He moaned gently at the feel of her tongue's enticing moistness as it circled his own. He reached his arms around her and tightened his grip.

Reaching her hand around the back of his neck, she pulled him even closer as she moaned softly in his mouth. Her remaining hand reached up the back of his shirt to caress the soft skin at the small of his back, all the while urging him to do the same.

At the feel of her warm hand against his skin, he pulled away and looked into her lust filled eyes. Lust filled. What if that's all it was? He couldn't handle sleeping with her just to have her move back into denial and make him feel like crap when she told him for the hundredth time that it didn't mean anything. He didn't want to ruin what they had again. Last time, it seemed like they had become friends but when they started sleeping together it all changed. If they weren't shagging then they were fighting. All the friendliness in their relationship had faded and that was the last thing he wanted to have happen.

"Buffy, I can't." He whispered, trying to catch his breath.

"What's wrong?"

"I just can't. I'm not ready. It's too fast." Spike avoided her eyes.

"It's alright. I understand." She said but couldn't hide the disappointment in her voice. "Why don't we just lay down."

They both changed into their nightclothes, neither embarrassed to get undressed in front of the other. There was so much history between them that they did it without even thinking and they were too flustered to even think about staring at the exposed skin that was suddenly available.

Walking over to the bed, they slipped between the cool cotton sheets and sighed at the comfort. She turned her head toward him and felt warmth overcome her. Not being able to help herself, she leaned over and kissed him on the lips once again, this time softly and with affection.

He couldn't remember ever being kissed by her like that. It was always hard and urgent to the point that he thought she would nibble his lip right off. Her gentleness made him feel more alive than anything had since he's been back.

He leaned forward; suddenly wanting to continue when the door to their room burst open and Angel came strolling in. He leapt onto the bed, not saying a word when he squeezed between them and joined them under the covers.

"Hey guys!" Angel finally greeted. "I thought we could watch a movie. Ya know, hang out before I make my final exit." Angel grabbed the remote and turned on the television, making a blue glow travel across the walls. "Anyone want some popcorn?"

Spike and Buffy groaned and simultaneously flipped onto their sides, facing away from him. Ignoring him, they tried to fall asleep, leaving him stretched out between them. Angel smirked, knowing that he had interrupted something as he continued to flip the channels on the bedroom television set.

To Be Continued...

Additional Note: I would like to apologize ahead of time to all of those Angel fans out there that didn't want me to be so hard on him but what will happen next in the story is necessary for me to get to where I'm going. Also, I don't think Angel acting this way is totally far fetched. I don't think he would be happy at all if this actually happened. He definitely wouldn't just stand by and take it. So to all those Angel fans out there, I hope you continue to read this even though Angel's dark side may start to come out a little. It will be worth it, I promise. Please Review!!