Chapter 12: The Love We Share


Angel pressed the doorbell and then shoved his free hand deep into his pocket
feeling like a schoolboy on his first date. The other hand was holding a single
yellow rose, but the moment Buffy opened the door all he could do was stare and
the flower was instantly forgotten.

"Hi," she smiled at him. When he didn't say anything she frowned slightly,
"Angel?"

"Oh, sorry," he gave her a loop-sided grin, "You're just so beautiful."

Her smile grew wider, "Thank you. I'm glad you like the dress."

"Yeah," he breathed, hoping that his heart would stop racing, "I mean, I do," he
said quickly, feeling suddenly breathless. Then he reminded himself of the rose in his hand and held it out to her, "That's for you."

She took it from him and held it to her face, "Hmmm, smells wonderful. I just put it into a vase, then we can go. Why don't you come in for a moment?" She turned towards the kitchen, while Angel entered the apartment and closed the door behind him. He'd been here many times before, but tonight everything seemed different. After two minutes she was back and Angel was glad he had had the time to get himself under control. The red-dress she wore had caused more than only a slight arousal in him and he was glad he wasn't wearing tight leather pants that night.

"Okay, I'm ready now," she smiled at him expectantly.

"Fine," he smiled back. "Do you need a coat or something?," he asked looking
pointedly at the strapless dress.

She shook her head, "No, it's warm outside and it doesn't look like raining. So
I'll be alright."

He just nodded and opened the door for her.

*

Buffy glanced around the expensive restaurant Angel had her driven to. She'd
already read about it in the newspaper. It was Italian and the gourmets were
singing praises over it. Never, not in her wildest dreams, Buffy would've
expected to dine here. But now that she sat there with Angel, she felt great.
"This is like a dream," she said smiling at him. "I feel like Cinderella and
you're the prince spoiling me."

He smiled back, "I'm glad you like it. I wanted this to be special. It's the
first dinner we ever went to."

"It is, isn't it?," she said with an odd look in her eyes, "For all the years we
know each other, we never went out for dinner."

"Well, I wasn't much for food before. And I doubt they would've served liquid
diet in a restaurant."

Happiness flooded her heart to hear him making a joke about him having been a
vampire. He was so relaxed about it now, the familiar pain was gone from his
eyes, sometimes there was a flicker of it, like the moment he had told her he
couldn't have children, but the fact that the PTB had given him his humanity
seemed to make all the difference. He had redeemed himself, he had earned to
experience this and he didn't refuse it anymore.

The waiter came and took their orders, then disappeared again. "Cordelia sends
her love," he said, breaking the silence.

"Thanks," she grinned, "I'd never expected Cordelia to feel love for me."

He grinned as well, "Yeah, well, it's a post-honeymoon thing I think. Ever since
she and Gunn came back, she's floating around the office. There's no other way to describe it." He laughed, "When I first met Gunn, I'd never thought he and
Cordelia would fall for each other."

"They are very different, but then who could have been more different than a
slayer and a vampire," she gave him a smile. "Cordy looks very happy. And Gunn
seems to be a nice guy."

"He is," Angel confirmed. "And a good friend. He had it tough though. When we
first met each other he tried to kill me." Seeing her gasp he shook his head,
"Not me as in 'I want to kill Angel', but he was the leader of a bunch of kids
fighting vampires. And I was one, no doubt at that. Then his sister was turned
and he had to kill her." He paused for a moment thinking about a time when he had done the same or more specifically his demon. "After that he helped me from time to time and then came to work full time for Angel Investigations."

"So he's a street kid?"

"Yeah, you can say so. Cordelia's parents were shocked, to put it mildly, when
she told them she was going to marry him."

"I didn't see them at the wedding," Buffy said slightly frowning.

He shook his head, "They didn't come. They simply refused to go. It hit her hard. Cordelia tries to be tough all the time and she tried to cover her disappointment and in the end she was okay somehow, but I wanted to go and strangle them for it. How can parents do such a thing to their child? I will never understand it."

"It's their loss. Just thinking that I couldn't go to Ashlynn's wedding," she
suddenly laughed and at Angel's confused look she explained, "She would kill me,
if she'd heard me saying this. For her boys are just stupid idiots. She isn't in
that age where they become interesting."

"She's a wonderful child," he said warmly. "And David too. You can be very proud
of them. And you're a wonderful mother, exactly how I always pictured you to be." A sad expression entered his eyes and he quickly tried to cover it, not to ruin the mood, but she'd already seen it.

She reached out and covered his hand that was laying on the table with hers,
"I'm very sorry you cannot have children of your own, but ... well, don't
understand me wrong. Brent loves his children and they love him too, but he's
always so busy. Almost like my dad was. Ashlynn and David adore you, so dependent upon how serious this 'us' is going to be you could be their second father." Suddenly realising what she'd said, she tried to amend, "That is, I mean ... I didn't want to ..." She pulled her hand back, but Angel caught it and held it in his.

Locking his eyes with hers, he asked, "How serious do you want this to be,
Buffy?"

"I ...," she began, but they were interrupted by the waiter who brought their
drinks and the food. But Buffy had suddenly lost her appetite. His eyes had been
so intense when he'd asked the question. Did it mean what she thought it did? And more importantly what was she going to do?

*****

Buffy lifted her face towards the stars and smiled while marvelling in the
feeling of her fingers entwined with Angels. After dinner he had asked her if she would like to go with him for a stroll at the beach. She had been thrilled by the thought and now she was walking beside him, both of them carrying their shoes in their free hands.

"It's a perfect evening," she said after they'd walked in silence for quite some
time.

"It is," he confirmed and then stopped abruptly and pulled at her hand so that
she was facing him. She shivered at the gleam she saw in his eyes and her
heartbeat quickened. "There's just one thing. To make it entirely perfect I
really need to do this." And with this he pulled her in his arms and caught her
lips with his.

All rational thinking - did she ever think rationally she wondered - instantly
fled her mind. They had already kissed yesterday, but tonight it was different.
Tonight it seemed there were no barriers anymore. The kiss swept them back to the time of sweet innocence, when they'd still believed everything possible.

The shoes fell from her hand and Buffy's fingertips moved to his shirtfront and
felt the skin warm through the cotton. His hands flattened on her warm, bare
back, drawing her nearer as his tongue slipped between her silken lips, warm now, but bringing back some long-remembered essence as individual as a fingerprint. A sound rose in his throat and came a second time while his tongue duelled with hers.

"Buffy ... Buffy," he murmured, the name a bit slurred between their hungry
mouths. And as the kiss grew greedier their bodies became more intimate with each other. Their mouths experimented, recalling how it had been in the past - a
scrape of teeth against a soft inner lip, a gentle bite, an interchange of
tongues, a suckling that seemed to tug deep within.

Buffy's body seemed to shimmer in response. It had been so long ... so long. His
body pressing at hers was vital, resilient, healthy. Her breast peaked and
yearned for the warmth of his hands.

But the kiss ended and he backed away to look down into her eyes, "Buffy," Angel
whispered in wonder. "Is this real?," he asked. "It's almost as if we've never
been apart. Do you feel it too?" Her wrapped her in two tight arms, her cheek
resting against his chest as he rocked her, not able to let her go. "God, this is like a dream," he murmured into her hair.

She smiled against his chest and hugged him back, "Yes, it is. But it's reality."

"This night is like magic," he whispered, then smiled, "or maybe it's the magic
of us, I don't know. And I honestly don't care."

She pulled back and smiled up at him, "It could be. But whatever it is, it could
become a habit of mine."

"I believe, Buffy," he kissed her eyelids, "it could become one of mine too." The next kiss came down on her nose.

When his mouth again opened over hers she found herself clinging, kissing him
back with nothing held back. His hand caressed her hip, then sought her flat
stomach stopping right above her warm center.

His breath came hard and fast when he finally pulled back, "I think we better
stop," he said with a little smile on his lips, "This could easily get out of
hand."

She took one of his hands in hers, pulled it to her mouth and kissed it. "Don't
stop because you think you have to," her eyes were shimmering brightly with love, "I want it too you know."

Again this expression of wonder entered his eyes, as if he couldn't believe the
words she'd said. God, how she loved this man. And how much she wanted him right
now. "But not here," he said. "We're not alone," he added with a pointed nod
towards a couple who was coming towards them - obviously enjoying the summer
night as well.

"We could go to my apartment," she suggested.

"But what about ...,"

"The kids are with my mom," she told him with a wink.

In response he laughed, realising she had expected it to happen. Sweeping her up
in his arms he whirled her around, "Buffy Summers, your are amazing, and I love
you."

"And I love you."

End of Chapter Twelve.