Chapter 7

Willow approached Angel's hotel and paused. She realized she should have probably called in advance, but this wasn't exactly something she wanted to discuss on the phone. 

She waited outside the hotel until eventually she had enough courage to enter. Willow had almost laughed. After the things she had done without a soul and now she was having problems going into a hotel?!

When she entered Angel looked up from the paper he was reading. None of the others were about.

"Willow!" he exclaimed. He hadn't seen her since she had come to tell him about Buffy. The day his world had fallen apart. Seeing Willow again brought back memories he had been trying to suppress.

"Hey Angel, sorry about not phoning, but I need your help." Willow stood just inside the entrance.

"Well that's what we do here, help the helpless. What's wrong?"

"Ermm. I don't think there's a way to say it that wouldn't end with you… killing me before I have a chance to explain." Willow had deliberately left out the word "staking". After all, it was a bit of a giveaway.

Angel looked at her a little puzzled. "O.K, well if I promise not to kill you will you tell me?"

"Alright, but you'll want to call Giles afterwards. O.K, here goes, I got turned into a vampire by a vampire named Edward and did some really and I'm talking REALLY horrible things which include killing Xander's fiancée Anya but then Giles got my girlfriend Tara well sort of ex-girlfriend to do the soul spell thing so now I'm a vampire with a soul who feels really guilty so of course I though "Angel" and now here I am." Because being a vampire meant she didn't have to breath, Willow hadn't even needed to pause when she was talking.

Angel's head started spinning. Willow's a vampire? Wow. He remembered when he had met vampire Willow from another dimension. He was glad this time she had a soul, well he hoped she had a soul. For all he knew she might not have and might just be toying with him. He knew she was a vampire because no human could have spoken for that long without breathing. Except maybe Cordelia. "I think I'll just phone Giles," he said finally.

Willow smiled. "I told you you would."

Angel kept an eye on Willow as he spoke to Giles. She was pacing up and down the lobby.

"So she's definitely got a soul?"

"Yes, and as long as she doesn't experience a moment of true happiness she'll keep it," said Giles reassuringly.

"Good."

When he had finished on the phone to Giles Willow had asked, "Could I have some blood? I got a few bags from Spike but I've already drunk them."

"Sure." He warmed up a mug of blood for her. Her face morphed as she started to drink. Angel was a little stunned. Even though he knew she was a vampire seeing her "vamp" face just made it seem more real. When Willow had finished drinking she spoke. "So the guilt thing, you've been doing it for what? A hundred years? Is it really going to take that long?"

"You know you can stay here as long as you need to, until you go back to Sunnydale," Angel told her.

"I'm not going back to Sunnydale, not after all the things I've done there," Willow replied. She shuddered at the memories.

"You'll need to do it some time. You have to go back and face the people you've hurt. It's part of the process."

"I'm not ready."

"You will be," Angel told her confidently.

Willow smiled to herself. She knew the guilt would never go completely, but with Angel's help she would learn to deal with it. It would take a while but hey, she wasn't getting any older right? One day she might even be able to look Xander in the eyes again. Willow raised her mug of blood. "To my new life."

Angel knocked her mug with his. "To your new life."

The End

Authors note – Ok I have some serious writers block going on. If anyone can give me an idea for my next fic I would REALLY REALLY REALLY be greatful! Plz? E-mail any ideas to AngelicGemma@yahoo.com

thanks