TITLE: The Songs Series: #2: Naked
AUTHOR: x_cutie_pie_x35
E-MAIL: x_cutie_pie_x35@hotmail.com
DISCLAIMER: Don't own the characters, the song is called "Naked" from Avril Lavigne's album "Let Go"

TIMELINE: Season 5: "Forever"
SPOILERS: "Forever"
DISTRIBUTION: Don't take without permission!
AUTHOR'S NOTES: In this series I write a story to do with a song (B/A of course!). This is the Buffy reality, I will also do a song series for an AU reality where no vamps exist, e.t.c. (AU will probably be better stories: more action, these are more thoughtful…and boring)

AUTHORS NOTE2: Please review the stories in the series separately, 'cos they are separate stories(they are in the same series because they all based around songs)

AUTHORS NOTE 3: This does NOT follow on from the previous story (If I never knew you). They are in NO WAY connected.

FEEDBACK: Please!
RATING: PG

~*~

I wake up in the morning Put on my face The one that's gonna get me

Through another day

Doesn't really matter

What I feel inside

This life is like a game sometimes

Then you came around me

The walls just disappear

Nothing to surround me

Keep me from my fears

I'm unprotected

See how I've opened up

You've made me trust

I've never felt like this before

I'm naked around you

Does is show?

You see right through me

And I can't hide

I'm naked around you

And it feels so right

Trying to remember

Why I was afraid

To be myself

And let the covers fall away

Guess I never had someone like you

To help me fit in my skin

I've never felt like this before

I'm naked around you

Does is show?

You see right through me

And I can't hide

I'm naked around you

And it feels so right

~*~

Buffy stared at her reflection in the mirror. Her eyes had lost their sparkle; their life. They had lost it the day she watched him walking away from her, out of her life forever.

"For my own good!" she muttered, "Yeah right!"

She brushed her hair, and studied her outfit. She had gone for traditional funeral wear, pure black, with a short skirt and black jacket. Her hair was loose, and it flowed down her back.

"Buffy? Are you ready?" She heard her best friend, Willow Rosenberg call.

"Just a sec!" she called back.

She applied her lip-gloss, and struggled to keep back her tears. I have to be strong-If not for me, then for Dawn.

She held her head up high, and walked out the door and headed for her mother's funeral.

I wake up in the morning Put on my face The one that's gonna get me

Through another day

Doesn't really matter

What I feel inside

Did her friends even know her anymore? Couldn't they see that she was falling apart? No, she thought miserably, They're too busy wrapped up in their own happy lives to notice.

They all were leaning on each other like a set of dominos, except she was the one on the bottom, falling to the ground under the weight of the others.

"How are holding up?" Xander asked Dawn

"Ok" she replied, but he could see the tears threatening to fall

"Hey" Buffy said from outside the room, leaning on the doorframe, "You ready?"

"As I'll ever be" Dawn replied, gripping Buffy's hand for support.

Doesn't really matter

What I feel inside

The funeral had been large; Joyce had made numerous friends at the Art Gallery. Her employees were also their, saying their goodbyes to their good-natured boss.

"She was a wonderful woman-she shall be greatly missed" Yet another stranger had told Buffy afterwards, Geez, Can't they think of *something* original?

"Can you look after Dawn for a while?" She asked Giles, "I need to be alone for a while"

Perhaps, out of all of them, Giles understood her best, other than…Don't go there.

"Of course-take as much time as you need" he replied, pushing his glasses further up his nose.

"Thanks" she smiled gratefully, and walked down Revello Drive to Restfield Cemetery, where her mother's body lay.

Then you came around me

The walls just disappear

She sat under a tree, tears streaming silently down her face.

"Hey"

"Hey" she said softly, recognising the voice, not needing to turn around.

"Sorry I couldn't get here sooner"

"You came…I need you"

He sat down beside her, "You wanna talk about it?"

"Not yet", she lay her head on his chest and wept.

You see right through me

And I can't hide

I'm naked around you

And it feels so right

"It's just…they expect me to grieve for oh…maybe I'm allowed a minute? And then it's like…wham! I have to look after Dawn…provide for her…be a slayer…save the world. And I can't…I can't cope. They never just let me…be. You're the only person to never judge me, just be there for me, no matter what I decide"

"I'm sorry…I never realised how much you needed me…and how much I needed you. I was thinking…I might come…move…back down to Sunnydale…"

"Really?" she whispered, not daring to believe it.

"Do you want me too? 'Cos, the Fang Gang in LA-"

Buffy laughed, "Fang Gang?"

Angel smirked, "What's the matter? I distinctly remember you being a member from Scooby Doo"

Buffy swiped at him, "That's Xander's idea! Don't blame me!"

"Well-as I was saying- The Gang in LA, don't need me too much anymore…"

"Please…stay…forever"

"Forever" he promised, before pressing his lips against hers.

I've never felt like this before

I'm naked around you

Does is show?

You see right through me

And I can't hide

I'm naked around you

And it feels so right

And it feels so right

~*~

Wow! Two in one day! I know they both sucked…sorry. My AU song series, should be better. Well, I'll continue this series anyway, who knows, maybe I'll be inspired! Please, please, please, review! I love reviews *almost* as much as I love Angel!

~*~