Part 15

"So yes, Vancouver was, in a word, awesome."

"That's so great."

"Although I have to admit that there were a few close calls with my aunt and uncle. There was this one time, just after we crossed the border, that I swore one of them would zap the other into oblivion they were fighting so much. I was hoping that it would be my uncle and not my aunt since she was driving and all. It really amazes me that they've lived together for so long.
Oh, and did you see those signs they put up all over town?"

"No, I haven't really left the house these past few days."

"Well that's healthy."

"You're not helping."

"Sorry. Anyway, there's some 'theme night' deal at the Bronze."

Willow groaned, "Okay, let's hear it."

"This Saturday it's 'swing'."

"Oh, well that's not too bad."

"That's what I said. In fact, I think we should go. It'd be cool. I could just conjure us
up some authentic looking clothes, not to mention a few guides on exactly how to swing dance…"

"That sounds great…hey, you know what? That reminds me, Amy, we actually have another commitment that night."

"Really?"

"Yeah…" Willow crossed her fingers nervously, "We've been invited to…umm..a private party."

"You're kidding."

"Nope."

"You don't sound to excited," the blonde paused suspiciously, "Why do you not sound excited?"

"It's not really a big deal...it's just that…well…"

"Spit it out."

"It's at Cordelia's house." She instantly held the telephone receiver arms length away from her ear in preparation for the inevitable screaming. Much to her surprise, she didn't happen.

Amy was too busy laughing hysterically.

Cautiously, Willow returned the phone to its original position, "A-Amy?"

The other girl erupted into a fit of giggles, "Cordelia's house?? Cordelia-I'm-such-a-skank-I-can-barely-believe-it-myself Chase invited us to a party? That's a good one Will," she gasped shouting into the receiver, "Yeah, and I'll bet she even invited us to sleep over." With that, she started giggling all over again.

The hacker was somewhat less than amused, "Actually, she did."

Almost as abruptly as the laughter had begun, it stopped.

"What?"

"Cordelia called. She invited me to sleep over, I said yes. She called back later and I mentioned that you might want to come too."

"You're kidding, right?"

"I dunno, I just thought it would be a nice way for us to all get together and to get to know one another."

"Are you on crack?"

"No, I'm serious, Am-,"

"WILLOW. I-I can't believe you. Are you insane? Have you forgotten all of the hell that girl put us through? I might be the witch in name, but Cordelia Chase is more of one in spirit than I'll ever be."

"Amy…"

"How about that time in third grade when she cheated off of you during a spelling test and then framed you for it? Or in seventh grade when she tripped you down that flight of stairs and you broke your arm? Are you totally forgetting the 'We Hate Cordelia Club' of which you were the founder AND president? Jesse was the vice president, I was the secretary and Xander
was the treasurer. Granted, we disbanded when we found out that Xander had been embezzling funds to buy ice cream, but let me tell you, that organization had promise!"

"AMY!"

"What about the bitchy 'Hey Willow, I see you've found the softer side of Sears' comments she made all through ninth and tenth grade? How can you forgive her so easily? H-How can you just agree to go into her house? It's like official enemy territory for pete's sakes."

"Amy, now you're just overreacting. Look, this was NOT a simple decision. You weren't in the library that night when Angel showed up and Giles went nuts and there was all that fighting. She actually stood up for me. I mean, she's been trying to be nicer lately and, well, I just think we should give her the benefit of the doubt."

"Good grief."

"I'm serious."

There was a brief period of silence as both girls were lost in thought.

"Amy?" Willow finally ventured cautiously.

"Fine."

"What?"

"Fine, I'll go."

"Thank you," she beamed.

"You know that I'm only doing this for you, right?"

"Yes, I do, and I appreciate it immensely."

"Only because you're my friend."

"And you're mine."

"I hope you realize that am giving up a perfectly good Saturday night to enter the BOWELS OF HELL all because you're my
friend."

"Amy?"

"Yeah?"

"You can stop now."

Willow stifled a giggle and Amy just frowned.

"All I'm saying is that if she so much as mentions the word "makeover" I'm turning her into a rat."

"It's a deal."

******************

Part 16

"And you have absolutely no idea who attacked you?"

"None whatsoever. Just some anonymous chic vamp, who, might I add, did some serious damage," the slayer paused to point at the bandage on her neck, "My mom is not gonna buy ANY story I come up with to explain this one. Oh, there's one thing that I do remember, the male vampire she was with mentioned something about you 'betraying the clan'."

Angel frowned.

"That means something to you?"

"It might," He took a deep breath, "Over the past 3 weeks, Spike's group, or 'clan' as they refer to themselves, were in preparation of a rather large takeover. This plan was halted and rescheduled once I regained my soul, at least according to what I've been told by my sources, however, I'm still privy to some very delicate information on terms of where certain people and things are located. Much of these things can't be moved very quickly or easily."

Buffy nodded slowly, "So you kinda know where their secret base is?"

"In a way."

"Then let's go nuke em. How come you didn't mention all this before?"

"No, Buffy, we can't do anything to them right now. I think that what they did to you was just a warning. They are, however, very capable of doing much much more. Let's just say that Spike wasn't very pleased when he found out I'd switched sides."

"I can handle them."

"But can Willow? O-or Xander for that matter? What about Giles? Cordelia? Buffy, they aren't at all above attacking your friends to get to you. They know where you live, what you do, and what your weaknesses are. They know who you're friends are, when they're alone and when they're unprotected. It's a skill they learned from me, I'm afraid," he sat down next to her and put his head in his hands.

"Angel, don't blame yourself for this," the slayer sighed softly and inched closer to him,
"You weren't in control then. You've risked your own life so many times just to save ours. You would never endanger anyone, I know that and so does everyone else. Trust me, we'll figure something out."

He nodded slowly and turned his head to give her a grateful smile.

Big mistake.

She smiled back and leaned closer, a mildly seductive gleam in her eyes, "You know Angel," she said softly, "I've been thinking a lot about us, in general."

He felt his heartbeat pick up almost automatically, the way it always did whenever she was close, "And?"

"And I think that we should maybe talk about things more," she leaned even closer and he could feel her breath on his cheek, "consider our options."

He gently touched the side of her face, brushing her blond locks away from her eyes, "Options?"

She smiled again and brushed her lips against his, "I think it should be fine as long as we take things slowly."

The kiss that followed, was, well, amazing. Angel felt his body respond in the same way it always did when he was with Buffy.

And yet, something was very wrong.

Certainly his skin was heating up rapidly wherever she came in contact, nevertheless, there was something deep in his mind and in his soul which was literally screaming in protest.

Reluctantly, he broke away from her and stood up, "You're right, I think we should take this slowly."

She looked a bit surprised, "Angel, is something wrong?"

"No, not at all," unable to return her gaze he turned around and picked up his jacket.

"W-where are you going?"

"I'm going to take a walk. Maybe do some checking up on who attacked you and what's going on."

"Now?" she asked, shocked.

"Well, yes. It'd be a good idea if you stayed here until I got back."

"Yeah. Great."

He couldn't miss the intense sound of disappointment in her voice and it broke his heart.
Turning slightly, he glanced over at her as he opened the door, "I'll be back soon," he said, throwing her a lopsided grin.

She nodded, "Be careful."

"I will."

"Angel, I lo-,"

He closed the door behind him.

"-ve you," Buffy finished softly.

There was no response.

**************************

Part 17

She had long since changed out of her clothes and was now sitting, barefoot, in a thin white nightgown. Thoughtfully, she stared at the rows of black and white keys before hitting one. The note ran out so clear and loudly that it brought tears to her eyes.

Life was, as Willow had come to realize, very strange.

She sighed softly and stared at the shiny black surface of the piano. It had been almost two hours since she'd hung up the phone after talking to Amy and the house was dead silent.

Not that this was really anything new. She was used to being by herself. For instance, this entire past week her parents had been out of town.

But in that time, Willow had never really felt lonely. Not like she did now.

Thinking about things was a rather nasty habit she'd picked up during her childhood. Unfortunately, her seemingly endless loneliness gave her a lot of time to do just that. And while she'd been busy thinking, a few somewhat frightening thoughts had entered her head. Thoughts which refused to go away and which couldn't be dismissed. Thoughts about Angel.

In frustration, the redhead slammed her fist into the keys, producing an oddly comforting discordant sound.

She missed him.

Using both of her hands this time, she pounded out a sad and painful chord.

It was more than that, though. Even she wasn't so naïve and stupid.

In pure irritation and a desperate need to escape her own mind, she turned her full attention to the piano.

All her life, things like this seemed to happen to her. Nothing could ever be simple.

Starting off shakily, she started to play. The song she chose was sad and wistful but had an undercurrent of strength.

It made her almost sick to admit it, but it was true. In all the time she'd known him, she never thought anything like this could happen. She'd never been in a position for anything like this to happen. Mentally, she'd kicked herself for being so easy, for being so vulnerable. Past experience alone should have made her more cautious.

Her playing rose to an almost frenzied pitch as she reached the chorus of the song. She actually began sweating from the exertion as the tears sprang to her eyes, blinding her ability to see the keys.

Maybe she could pull back, pull away from the situation. Maybe she could just close herself off and it would go away.

Crying openly now, she forced herself to close her eyes and to play the song completely by feel. In her heart, she remembered how and when her fingers were supposed to strike the keys. The music was so loud that it could be heard clearly across the street through the open window.

She knew though, that she couldn't. She wasn't Buffy or Cordelia. She was Willow. Poor, stupid, pathetic little Willow Rosenberg. And once she grew emotionally involved or attached to someone, she could never get away. Besides, it was too late.

She had already fallen in love with him.

***************

He stood under the street lamp, staring at her through the open window. He was almost mesmerized by her playing.

He leaned against the lamppost, a concerned look flashing through his dark eyes. Is she unhappy? Did something happen? I should have visited or called her sooner. He silently berated himself over and over again.

Somehow, his 'walk' had taken him past the Rosenberg residence, as it had several times in the past. Feeling only somewhat guilty that he wasn't currently researching who had attacked Buffy and why, Angel gradually began to relax.

Maybe I'm reading too much into this.

The rest of the street was dark. Most lights were off since the neighbors were either asleep or had left town for vacation. He wondered absently why Willow had opted to stay during these two weeks as opposed to going to Boston with her parents. Maybe she had something more important to take care of in town. Schoolwork or that sort of thing.

Shrugging, he pushed off of the post and prepared to go on his way. He didn't want to disturb her, after all.

Once he was out of the glare of the overhead light, however, he got a better look at her. She's playing with her eyes closed. Smiling internally, he hummed along with her playing while starting to cross the street. Talented girl. That's when he saw something else. Wait-is she crying? The smile vanished altogether and his entire face darkened.
What's going on? Standing stock still now, he stared across at her openly. The entire scene had shifted in a matter of seconds. She was obviously in serious distress over something, but what? He growled under his breath, If that idiot Xander said or did something… Yet again, Angel was reminded of the moronic, hormonally challenged teenager who couldn't see what was right under his nose even if it hit him in the head. Although Xander's stupidity wasn't a shock to Angel, it bothered him that Willow was so affected by it.

Ironically, it was then that she opened her eyes. The song was ending and he hadn't even noticed. In a sudden fit of panic, Angel realized that he was essentially out in the wide open, smack in the middle of the street, staring like a fool through the window of a seventeen-year-old. She'll probably think I'm stalking her or something…

All fears vanished, however, when her green eyes turned their gaze, almost casually, out the window. She sent him a small smile as she hit the final note of the song. Slowly, she stood, pushed the bench away from the piano, and left the room.

Angel watched her leave, his heartbeat quickening inexplicably.

Fully expecting the vampire to have left by the time she got there, Willow opened her front door anyway. Much to her surprise, she found him standing on the porch.

She grinned at him shyly and he grinned back. There was almost an warmth, an aura of some sort that followed the hacker wherever she went. It had a tendency to put Angel at ease and to make him want to share things with her. It made him want her to be comfortable.

They stared at eachother for a few seconds before she started fidgeting self-consciously. Suddenly, she remembered what she was wearing and how she must look. In an attempt to explain her unkempt appearance, she took a deep breath and opened her mouth, only to find that he'd done the exactly same thing.

Blushing slightly she shook her head and silently urged him to speak first.

I've never seen such expressive eyes "I…ahh…I used to come here a lot," he began cautiously, "Even before I lost my soul. I'd just come walking..kind of late at night. I'd stop by that lamp post across the street."

She nodded.

"Ever since last year. After I came into your room for the first time when I needed your help. You remember, when I wanted to ask you about Buffy's ex-boyfriend. I mean, then I knew where you lived. I'd come by after that just to listen to you play. You're very talented."

She shook her head and stared at the floor, "How are things with you and Buffy?" she whispered softly.

Somewhat surprised by the change of subject, Angel frowned, "We're okay, she came by tonight. Actually, she's still at my apartment."

"Really?" Willow was careful to keep every hint of emotion out of her voice.

"Yes. We've been talking a lot lately." Why won't she look at me? "Willow, is something wrong?"

Almost instantly, she glanced up at him, "N-no, I'm fine." It was strange for someone to be so perceptive to her feelings and thoughts. Normally, it was the other way around. She was the one listening to everyone else's problems. She'd have to learn to be more careful around him. "I've just been thinking a lot lately."

"About?" he prodded gently.

She sighed, "Nothing important."

"Willow, anything you think about is important."

His conviction surprised her a bit and even embarrassed her to a certain extent. She dropped her gaze yet again.

Feeling a bit more willing to venture out first in building up a sense of trust between them, he decided to offer up a confession of his own, "Buffy actually kissed me tonight."

There were additional moments of silence and the hacker almost seemed to have trouble breathing. Angel furrowed his brows and waited for her to respond.

"Oooh, that's…that's just….great," she pretty much choked out.

She still refuses to look at me. Angel sighed.

Leaning against the edge of the doorway, near her head, he let out a soft laugh, "Not really."

"What do you mean?"

"It's hard to explain…I-I just didn't react very well to it." He gently touched the side of her face and bent closer to get a better look at it.

She glanced up at him again, their noses just inches apart, "Why?"

"Something was wrong. I can't place it. Something just didn't…fit anymore. I think I wasn't really comfortable. It was a weird situation to be in. I've always felt so open with Buffy in the past. I guess there are just some things that take longer to fix than others. It's a good thing I have you to talk to."

Something in her green eyes lit up just a bit and he smiled, it felt nice to make her happy. He was glad she was beginning to trust him and that she could tell he trusted her. " It's a shame, though. That was one hell of a kiss," he joked.

The light died almost instantly and she pulled away from him. His own smile faded.
What did I say?

"Th-that's…nice. Listen, Angel, I hate to do this to you, but it's pretty late. I should be going to bed. I have some research to do tomorrow for Giles and all."

"Oh," he straightened up as well, "Alright, no problem."

"Goodnight," She quickly backed into the house and started to close the door.

"Wait-Willow, would you like to do something with me tomorrow, though?"

She paused. The door was almost completely shut and all he could see were her eyes. Those two, beautiful, dark green eyes. They were full of tears.

"I..umm..I don't think that's a good idea Angel. I have a lot to do tomorrow. Maybe some other night."

He nodded, openly disappointed. She was shutting him out, both physically as well as emotionally. Something was happening and she was obviously holding it back from him. There was so much pain and loneliness in those green eyes.

The door softly clicked shut and he sighed.

The same kind of loneliness reflected in his soul.

**********************

Part 18

Amy couldn't believe it.

She was already a full forty minutes into the "slumber party" and she honestly hadn't had the urge to kill Cordelia.

Even now, as the self-involved brunette happily spread a yogurt and oatmeal based relaxation mask on her face, she was actually enjoying it.

"So, yeah. If you keep this on for about 20 minutes, it'll look great once we wash it off.
It'll get rid of all of those stress wrinkles you've been having and the blotchiness in
your complexion. Cause, you know, that makes you look really kinda gross."

Well, no one was perfect.

"Cordy, have you seen Willow?"

The dark haired cheerleader finished placing cucumber slices on the other girl's eyes and paused to look around, "Nope. I think she's in the other room watching TV or something. Some old show called Kindred: The Embrace, I think. The lead guy is really hot, that's why I remember," she lowered her voice, "We've really got to do something about her.."

Amy frowned, "Who, Willow?"

"She is getting into this really sulky vibe. Not that I blame her, but still. It's not healthy..have you seen her hair? Come to think of it, we should fix it before we go to the Bronze."

"Wait, what are you talking about?"

"Willow's been hanging around, pouting, and not eating or sleeping. Have you seen
how thin and pale she is? What kind of friend are you?"

"Hang on, Cordelia, what are you saying?

"Well, I mean, hel-lo…it's beyond obvious that she totally wants him."

Amy's blood literally ran cold, "Him?" she asked weakly.

"Well duh. Angel!," she hissed.

Amy looked vaguely ill.

"It's sooo there. I mean, when she talks about him and her face lights up like a little puppy-dog? It's borderline pathetic. I mean, they'd make a cute couple and all, but it's like neither of them are going to make a move. It's impossible."

What?! Sitting up, the witch took the cucumbers off of her eyes in one quick gesture, "Wait, are you saying that you think Angel actually likes Willow?"

"Shhh!!" Cordelia sank down next to Amy's chair with a conspiratorial smile, "You weren't in the library that night, were you?"

"No…

"You should have SEEN the look on his face when she stood in front of him, like RIGHT in front of the crossbow!" She was in full-fledged gossip mode.

"It was…intense?"

"Like, beyond. I was so surprised, I couldn't believe it. I mean, I was sorta distracted by the fact that Xander was acting like an ass and all, but there was NO WAY you could miss the look on Angel's face."

"Cordelia, I wasn't there. You need to be more explicit."

"He was, like, in awe."

"You mean it?" Amy could barely contain her excitement, "Oh wow. W-we need to tell her."

"Are you dense? We can't tell her."

"Why?"

"Well A. she'd never believe us and 2. she'd get all nervous around him. No, we can't tell her."

"Cordelia, no offense, but that's about the dumbest thing I've heard in a long time. If we clue her in, she'll know and she'll be happier around him. Right now I think she's sending mixed signals in his direction without realizing it. If we tell her, it'll probably work to get them together."

"Look, I hate to bring this up, but do you have a boyfriend?"

"Well, no."

"Have you ever had a boyfriend?"

"What's your point?"

"My point is that I have a lot more experience in this than you do."

Amy paused, "Point taken."

"Great, then we're agreed."

"Agreed to what? What are we supposed to do??"

The conspiratorial smile returned and Cordelia's dark eyes sparkled, "Not so fast. First, we need a plan…"

**

Willow sat staring blankly at the flickering images on the television.

I can't believe I did that to Angel yesterday night. For the hundredth time that day, she cringed as she recalled the hurt look in his eyes when she'd shut the door in his face. That was NOT something
that a good friend does.

Moaning, she slowly leaned sideways and fell onto the couch. Not to mention the fact that tomorrow is his birthday.

Although the vampire hadn't told her, she'd managed to "sneak a peek" at some of Giles' diaries while she was helping to research that morning. After picking up this little fact, she'd taken some time to secretly sift through some of Amy's spell books to see if she could conjure up a good gift.

It had taken almost an hour, but Willow knew what she wanted to give him. Granted the spell was a bit complex, but she had faith in her growing capabilities when it came to the black arts.

Heck, I restored his soul, how bad can it be?

The excursion to the library itself had been more than just informative. It had also served to help patch up her relationship with the Giles. Although somewhat awkward at first, the visit proved to be very successful. Despite herself, Willow grinned as she recalled how the librarian had gone scurrying around the room, cleaning off her workspace, dusting the computer keyboard, and bringing her cushions to sit on throughout the day. He'd even brought her tea and crumpets before lunch, all the while asking if she wanted anything else. Giles was literally in hyperdrive when it came to making amends.

She appreciated every second of it though. Sometimes it was hard to remember that people actually cared about her. It was nice to receive a reminder every now and then.

"Hey! Ready to go?"

Glancing up at the door, she saw Amy standing in font of her, grinning a little too broadly.

Cordelia's head popped up over her shoulder. She was sporting a matching facial expression.

Glancing warily from one girl to the other, she sighed softly.

Terrific, now what?

***************************

It was almost 10 and Angel felt like a nervous teenager. He hovered silently in
the darkest corner of the Bronze, his eyes skillfully skimming the faces before him.

Where the heck is she?

He felt terrible about ignoring her these past few days and felt even worse after she'd closed the door on him the night before. I'm going to make it up to her if it's the last thing I do.

Tapping his foot absently against the floor, he thrust his hands into his pockets and hummed along to the music.

As long as she shows up first.

As if on cue, Cordelia suddenly appeared at the far end of the room. The dark haired cheerleader was clad in a deep red dress which, although decidedly vintage in style, clung around her hips in a very suggestive manner. It was also cut very high. On the left, she was flanked by Amy whose clothing was extremely similar. In fact, the only difference between them was that Cordelia's was maroon and Amy's was a dark blue which matched her eyes.

But where's Willow?

After a few tense moments, he got his answer.

Following several feet behind, he spotted the red-head as she cautiously made her way through the crowd.

Keeping his mouth from dropping open on sight became a conscious effort the instant he took in her slender frame.

"Oh….wow," he breathed softly.

**

Even she had to admit that the outfit was pretty amazing. Willow smiled nervously and shifted her weight to her other foot. Her
dark red hair was parted down the middle, rolled back and pinned on either side of her head. It fell in gentle waves down her back and shoulders. The dress she wore was white with dark green flowers which matched her eyes. Although somewhat short for her own tastes, it still came past mid-thigh. The heels on her feet were a bit shorter than the ones Cordelia and Amy had on, but almost the same style.

Squinting through the smoky darkness she tried to see through the bodies which were gyrating to the music. Altogether, the scene was incredible. Tons of people had turned out to dance to the live band. Many of them were good. Very good. She'd had no idea that so many residents of Sunnydale were such accomplished swing dancers.

Her mouth fell open as an especially impressive couple flew by. Thus far, she'd looked on in awe as they jumped, spun, twirled and kicked. This time, the male suddenly flipped his partner over his arm and caught her just before she hit the ground. The woman simply laughed and fell back in step with ease. Willow was rapidly starting to realize that the few basic steps she'd picked up from Cordy earlier in the evening were nothing in comparison.

To her left, Amy and Cordelia were sitting at a corner table, scanning the crowd as well.
Xander sat with them, although a little ways off. He gazed darkly at the table in front of him while nursing a coke.

Grabbing the other girl's arm, Amy let out a barely contained squeal, "There he is! There he is!!"

Cordelia snapped around to look, "Oh my ever lovin God..check him out."

"Meeee-ow," Amy nodded her head in agreement, "And she looks just like Heather Graham from Swingers in that dress."

"Uh huh. Dead ringer."

Silently, they high fived each other while bouncing up and down.

Xander just rolled his eyes.

Totally oblivious to the ongoing conversation going on just out of her earshot, Willow swayed slightly to the music. Ooh, Is that him near the bar? Standing on her toes, she leaned forward to get a better view. An especially upbeat song had just started playing and the dancing was escalating to an almost frenzied pace.

That's when she felt an hand on her shoulder, "Can I have this dance?"

Spinning around, she had to suppress the urge to gasp out loud.

There, standing right in front of her, fully decked out in a dark-grey pinstriped suit with a white flower in the lapel, was Angel. His already stunning good looks were only enhanced by the sharp clothing. There was no doubt in her mind that the outfit was completely authentic.

"May I?" he reiterated the question, a slightly roguish grin on his face, "Have this dance?" he extended a hand to her.

Entirely flustered, Willow blushed just about every existing shade of red, "Oh-of course."

Not needing any further invitation than that, his gentlemanly demeanor vanished instantly, only to be replaced by a decidedly devilish gleam in his dark eyes. Grabbing her arm, he snapped her body against his and spun them both out into the middle of
the dance floor.

Within a matter of a few seconds, Willow found herself in the very thick of things. Positive that she must have run over at least 12 different people as he unceremoniously yanked her into the mass of bodies, she tripped along behind him, apologizing all the way. Her apologizes died in her throat the instant her turned back. The almost predatory look on his face scared the living daylights out of her. Has he changed back? Oh my gosh…

As if sensing her fear, Angel's features softened slightly and he winked at her flirtatiously, "Ready?"

Without waiting for her to reply, he grasped both of her hands and swung them out wards, then inwards, moving to the rhythm of the music. Quickly, she picked up the beat and followed his lead. The first few seconds remained sedate enough until the band suddenly went into an almost insanely fast riff and she felt her feet losing contact with the floor. Shrieking in surprise, she was hauled over his shoulder, and thrown backwards, flipping upside down for a brief instant before landing safely behind him, her back to his. Before she could even turn back around, she felt herself being lifted yet again and spun into the air before being
caught easily in his well-muscled arms.

He held her up to his chest so they were almost eye level and chuckled good-naturedly at the shaken expression on her face.

"Put…me…down…" she ground out through clenched teeth.

"Sure, if you say so," he shrugged casually and started to lower her to the floor. Just as her toes brushed the ground, though, he whipped her outwards, careening right into the crowd. A split second before she fell over, he snagged her hand and snapped her to a halt before spinning her back into him.

Now nestled comfortably and safetly in his arms, Willow felt a dark, burning rage build slowly inside her How DARE he? How dare he just throw me around like I was some sort of rag doll or something, I swear I'm going to…

Her thoughts were interrupted by a strange sound.

Angel burst out laughing.

Looking up, horrifically annoyed, the made eye contact.

"I'm sorry, but the look on your face," he shook his head helplessly, "….it's just….priceless."

Normally, this sort of reaction would have made the red-haired hacker even angrier but the rarity of the event itself made her smile. Granted, she'd amused in the past, she'd occasionally even made him chuckle but this was the first time she'd ever heard him laugh out loud. I've made Angel happy. Honest to goodness happy.

Before she could get too self-congratulatory though, she felt him shifting his weight.

Uh oh.

As he swung her out again, she caught her breath. Luckily, he just grinned kindly and held her to the simple box step.

Oh thank goodness. The song was finally winding down and she felt herself relax as her eyes wandered up to his. Damn, he's a good dancer. Why would anyone this good not want to flaunt it? Why was he flaunting it now? What the heck is going on? "Angel, what's gotten into you?" she yelled above the din of the crowd.

Not responding, he spun her out gently, causing her skirt to float higher up her thighs.

Wow. Matching green underwear, huh? Angel raised an appreciative eyebrow.

Catching his gaze, she narrowed her eyes indignantly as he pulled her back into the box step. He simply chuckled, "Well, a wise woman once said, that dancing was good for the soul," he began.

She started giggling as she recalled their conversation, "Oh really?" she shouted back.

He nodded vigorously, "And you know what?" he asked.

"What?" she shouted back.

Yanking her to the side and gripping her waist wordlessly, he supported her with one hand while flipping her over his extended arm. Grabbing her again once she hit the ground, he spun her around into an embrace and dipped her low all in once fluid motion.

Willow felt her world grind to a complete stop the instant the music ended.

His nose hovered right above her own and he smiled seductively.

"I think that she was right."