~6 months later~

~6 months later~

Buffy quietly let herself into the warehouse that served as both gym and Angel's apartment. After having a really long day, she was in a bad mood, and hoping that this early visit would cheer her up a bit. It usually did.

Shutting the door behind her, Buffy let her eyes sweep across the expansive gym that was laid out before her. In very center of the room was a large work out mat. She smiled as she remembered the many humiliating lessons that she had learned on that mat. Different types of workout equipment and places to practice her crossbow surrounded it.

Looking up, you could see what had originally been a loft style office. Angel had turned it into an apartment. Buffy smiled as she thought about the room that he had converted into a bedroom for her. While it had been meant for occasional use, she usually ended up staying there. It really didn't matter; her parents never noticed what she was doing anyway. They were too busy fighting with each other.

The parental fighting was only the beginning of her recent problems. School was another unpleasant point in her life, it was not going well. As she started putting more time and effort into her slaying, her grades had begun to drop. Unfortunately, *that* was something that her parents *had* noticed. Angel had come to her aid on that front, however. He helped her study so nights, instead of training, so things were beginning to get better.

The other school related problem she had involved her friends. The slaying was beginning to make distant from her them. The things that were so important to them, no longer seemed like the life and death tragedy they made them out to be. to Buffy. She had also broken up with Tyler a few months ago. He had demanded that she spend more time with him, and she had told him that it was impossible. Surprisingly, she hadn't been that upset about it. She was still allowed to be in 'their company', but things were definitely strained and becoming more so. She wasn't sure how long it would be until she was an outcast from the 'popular' people.

'That's ok,' Buffy thought to herself. 'I would rather hang around with Angel, anyway.'

She sighed, all thoughts seemed to lead back to Angel now days. He still claimed that the Watcher's would find her and that he would be forced to leave, but Buffy was determined that she wouldn't let that happen. Even if they did finally find her, which she had serious doubts about, she wouldn't go with them or work with them. When Angel packed up to leave, she would just go with him.

He had been training with her for the last 6 months and Buffy couldn't have wished for a better teacher. He always took the time to explain every maneuver to her and was understanding when she had trouble mastering it. He always listened to her questions and never questioned her feelings.

However, that didn't mean that he was easy on her, it was quite the opposite actually. He was a brutal trainer. She was never allowed to move on to a new task until there were no mistakes in her previous attempts. Her limits were always being pushed, but she understood his motivation. It was all to ensure that she lived to see the following sunrise. The vampires she fought did not go easy on her, therefore neither did he.

Through it all, he had somehow managed to become her very best friend. They always managed to know when something was bothering the other, and one way or another get them to talk about it. It was really nice to have someone that understood her the way that Angel did. She was glad to have him as a friend.

Occasionally, she thought that one day they might be more to their relationship.

Shaking her head at that thought, Buffy looked around to see if she could find Angel. It was still a little early, but he was usually up before sunset.

When she couldn't spot him she decided on a different attempt, "Angel!"

"What?" was the question that came from directly behind her.

"Ahhh!" she screamed, whirling around to face him. Finally regaining her breath she looked into his laughing face, "Don't do that! How do you do that?"

"Practice," was his smug reply.

Buffy looked at him sourly. "Practice," she repeated.

"Uh-huh. So what's up?" Angel asked, as he started up the stairs that lead to his apartment. One look at her, as she stood in the doorway, had told him that something was bothering her. She was very easy to read when she was upset.

Following behind him, she asked innocently, "What do you mean?"

"Ok, we're going to go this route," Angel sighed. "You're early. Why?"

"No one was at home; Mom and Dad must have had other things to do. I didn't want to stay there, so I came over to raid your fridge."

When they reached his kitchen, Angel watched as she rummaged through the food in his refrigerator and sighed once again. It was like pulling teeth to get her to talk if there was something really bothering her. If it had just been a tiff with her parents or some other little thing, she would have burst through the door and started bombarding him with complaints about the problem. Those outbursts usually contained complaints about her parents, or all parents in general. Even when she had broken up with her boyfriend, she had just pummeled the punching bad for a couple of hours, and told him all about the evils that men do. This continued silence told him that there was something seriously bothering her.

Deciding to try again, he said, "You normally like to be at home by yourself, you said it was quieter."

"Do you want me to leave?" she asked, sounding slightly offended.

"No," he answered as he moved closer to her, "I want you to tell me what's wrong."

Giving in slightly, Buffy asked, "Your not going to believe that I just like your food better?'

Angel laughed at that, "Buffy, I don't eat food. You shop for everything that I have here, of course you like it better. Now are you going to tell me what's wrong and get it over with or am I going to have to harass you all night?"

Taking her newly made sandwich with her, Buffy walked to his couch and flopped down. Once he was seated next to her, she began to tell him about the problems she was having with her friends and their whispers and strange looks.

It caused Angel pain to hear that her 'friends' were abandoning her just because she had changed. Because of the major things that were going on in her life, she needed them more than ever and they weren't there for her. It all proved to him that his thoughts about them were true, they didn't really care about her.

As she finished, Angel didn't say anything, knowing that it made her feel better simply to have talked about it. The fact that he had listened and cared about what happened to her, did wonders for her mood.

Feeling much better, Buffy picked up the TV remote, and began to switch through the stations. Quickly finding what she was looking for, she settled into the couch and became lost in the plot of her favorite soap opera.

Angel snorted at her choice and earned a glare for his trouble. He knew that she loved this show, because she made him watch it all the time, but he didn't understand the attraction. He found the whole concept silly. Therefore, while she watched, he dozed off on his end of the couch.

He was brought back to full wakefulness when he felt a stinging pain in his arm. Once he was fully awake, he could tell by the jovial look on Buffy's face that she had pinched him.

"What was that for?" he asked.

"You've slept long enough, you missed all of the good shows," she replied.

"Damn, sorry to miss that," he said sarcastically. Looking around, Angel was surprised to see that he had slept well past sunset. Rubbing his arm, he asked, "Did you have to pinch me?"

She merely smiled in response and asked a question of her own, "Are we going to patrol tonight?"

Angel shook his head sleepily, "No, it's Friday night. Why don't you go out and have some fun, nothing horrible will happen if you miss one night of patrolling."

"I'll agree, on one condition," she replied thoughtfully.

Giving her a quizzical look, he asked, "What?"

"You come with me," she answered. "I want to go to the movies, but it'll be no fun if I go by myself."

He hesitated, and then gave her a look that was full of something that resembled fear, "Are you going to make me see a teenage romance flick?"

When he cracked a smile, she slapped him on the arm, "Angel!"

"Ow, this is Angel abuse," he said with a laugh. When she raised her hand once again, he flinched away dramatically and said, "All right, I'll go!"

"I thought you'd see it my way," Buffy said, as she stood up to find Angel's newspaper.

He chuckled and said quietly, "I usually do."

Almost an hour later, after much deliberation about which movie they were to see, Buffy and Angel arrived at the theater. After buying their tickets, Buffy grabbed Angel's hand and pulled him into the refreshment line, saying that it was part of the experience. While standing in line, Buffy saw three people that went to school with her, standing not too far away. She didn't know them very well, so she just waved and then turned her attention back to the junk food that was before her.

Once Buffy finally had everything that she considered necessities, they were able to go to their seats. They had decided to see this particular movie, because neither of them had ever heard of it and once it began, they found out why. It was, quite easily, the worst movie that either of them had ever seen.

The entire time was spent talking and making fun of the characters and plot. It didn't really matter that they were being noisy, considering that there were only a few other people in the room and they were doing the same thing.

Basically, they had a blast.

As they exited the theater, Buffy said, "Angel, this was so much fun. Thank you for coming with me."

"No problem," he said easily.

She reached up and grasped his arm, causing him to stop walking. Once had tuned to face her, she said, "I mean it, Angel. Today was quite possibly the worst day I have ever had in my life and, somehow, you managed to fix everything. Thank you."

Angel gazed at her for a few seconds and then took both of her hands into his own. "Buffy, before I met you, I had almost forgotten what it was like to have a friend. The last six months have been.... a very bright spot, in a very dark existence. I can't even tell you the last time that I laughed as much as I did tonight, I should be the one thanking you," he said seriously.

His words, combined with look in his eyes, made Buffy blush. Shyly, she said, "Well, I guess it's a good thing that we met then."

A smile crossed his face and he took a step closer to her, "A very good thing."

Angel wasn't exactly sure what he was doing, but being closer to her seemed to be the right choice. He had known for quite a while now that he was loosing his heart to this beauty before him, but had been determined not to let her know. She deserved better than he could give her. However, right now, the happiness in her eyes and the pretty blush that decorated her cheeks were quickly causing him to forget all of his good intentions and drop all of his barriers.

As if they had a mind of their own, his hands released hers and moved to her waist, pulling her closer. Buffy placed her hands on his muscled chest and looked up into his dark eyes. As his head dropped towards her own, all Buffy could think was 'He's finally going to kiss me."

Just as they were anticipating their first touch, the private world that they had created was shattered as a scream pierced the night. Breaking apart, they turned and ran to a nearby alley, where they were greeted by the sight of three people surrounded by a crowd of vampires.

Moving on instinct, Buffy and Angel moved in different directions, hoping to get as close as possible before they were discovered. As she moved closer, Buffy saw that she recognized the people, they were the kids from her school that she had seen earlier.

There were two guys and a girl. The guys were doing their best to protect the girl, who seemed to be frozen in fear. If Buffy remembered correctly, the girls name was Alonna and the guys were her brother, Gunn, and her boyfriend Pike.

Buffy's thoughts were interrupted as she saw Angel give her the signal to move in. Skillfully the each dusted the vampire closest to them, and then turned to face the remaining mob. Just as several of the vampires began to surround her, Buffy screamed, "Run!" to the frightened teens.

After a moment, the message seemed to sink in and the three of them started running towards the alley's entrance. As Gunn passed her, Buffy heard him ask, "Buffy? What's..."

"Just get out of here," she interrupted as yet another vampire moved towards her. Once she had dispatched it, she was glad to see that Gunn had taken her advise. Looking to her left, Buffy saw that Angel was dealing with the last of the 'gang'.

Looking at the many piles of dust that now adorned the ground, Buffy asked, "What do you think that was about?"

Dusting off his clothes, Angel shook his head, "The numbers are increasing, Lothos must be getting ready to make his move."

"Boy, that sounds like fun," she sighed and began walking out of the alley. "What am I going to do about them?"

"Who?" Angel asked as he fell in step beside her.

"Those people we just saved. I go to school with them, Angel. I know that at least one of them recognized me, what am I going to tell them?"

"The human race is not ready to believe in the existence of vampires, Buffy. Most of the time, you'll find that they convince themselves that what happened was completely explainable. They probably won't even remember that you were there."

"And if they do?" she questioned.

Angel stopped walking and looked at her seriously, "Then it's your decision what you tell them."

Buffy understood what her was trying to tell her. He was saying that she could tell them the truth, if she wanted to, because he knew that the burden of carrying this secret was beginning to weigh heavy on her. Thinking about it, Buffy realized that it would be nice if someone else knew, but she didn't really know these people. She would just have to wait until Monday and see what happened.

She looked at Angel, and wished with all her might that the stupid vampires could have waited for thirty more seconds. She *really* wanted to know what it would have been like to kiss him. Buffy sighed, 'Maybe one day.'

Smiling, she held out her hand to him, "Walk me home?"

Angel, who had been thinking almost the same thing, gently grasped the offered hand. Smiling in return, he replied, "Always."