Author's Notes: Thanks go out to: AnGeL GiRl, shahid, Becky, lana, VP, briony, Aurora, Christine, Tariq, Slayer88, Wendy, Emma, Meghan, and Karin for their feedback on Part 14. I really appreciate it!!!

^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^ Part 15 - Second Chances ^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^

The second he opened the door, all thoughts left Buffy's head. The only thing she could focus on was Angel's shirtless chest in front of her. She unconsciously licked her lips at the sight. He'd obviously been working out the past few years. He was still incredibly sexy though.

Somehow she managed to say 'hi' and barely heard him say her name in surprise. Finally, she snapped herself out of her lust induced hazed. Not that she didn't love staring at his body, but she'd come for a reason other than that.

"Umm, hi. I'm, umm, sorry for just coming by," she spoke nervously, trying to avoid looking at his chest.

"That," Angel cleared his throat. He couldn't believe that she was here. "That's okay. Uhh, why don't you c-come in?"

"Okay," she answered softly before walking into the apartment.

After entering the apartment, Buffy looked at its interior. She was curious about where Angel lived. She wandered around, looking at the pictures on his bookshelf and took in the furniture and decorations. The place was homey and not over-done. It was just like she had imagined a place he lived would be.

Angel watched her study his apartment. He would have spoken but he was too shocked that she was only few feet away from him. So he just let her look around. But when he saw her wince and grab the edge of his desk he moved into action.

"Are you all right?" he asked, rushing to her side.

"I'm fine!" she responded more harshly than she meant to. "Sorry. It's just a cramp in my leg. My physical therapist said they're normal. I usually only get them when I'm standing for too long."

"Oh, uhh, why don't you sit down then?" he offered while pointing to the comfortable looking couch in the middle of the room.

"Sure," she shrugged. For a moment, Buffy was regretting her decision to come see Angel. She knew what she wanted now, but there was still a large part of her that was angry with him.

For a long few minutes, Buffy sat on the couch while Angel sat on a chair with neither of them speaking. Angel was too afraid to say something, and Buffy didn't know what exactly it was that she wanted to say to him. So they just sat there until Buffy finally spoke up.

"I got your letter," she told him while staring at her fingers.

"I-I'm glad," Angel stuttered. He was beyond nervous, and intensely afraid that he would say something that would make her leave.

"Thank you for writing it," Buffy praised awkwardly. She was wracking her brain for the right thing to say to him.

"You're welcome. I just...I wanted you to know everything," he explained quietly. So far, Buffy was not giving away anything. He had no idea if she was here to give him a chance or to tell him it was over for good.

"I appreciated it," she said before lifting her head up to look him straight in the eyes. "But I need to know one thing."

"What?" he asked, matching her gaze.

"Was everything you said in it true?" Her voice was solid and determined. This was the one thing she needed to know, first, before anything else.

"Every word," he stated simply. And it was the truth. He had been completely honest in the letter.

"Good," Buffy responded succinctly.

Silence followed. Angel knew that Buffy needed to be in control of whatever was to happen. He had to just let her do or say whatever she wanted.

Buffy, for her part, was struggling with conflicting emotions. There was the part of her that just wanted to leap into his arms and have him hold her. But there was also the part of her that still was not quite ready to forgive. That part was the louder of the two. So she just sat there trying to gather her thoughts.

"I'm still angry with you," was the first thing that came to mind to say.

Angel looked at her for a moment, catching a possible hidden meaning to her statement. "I wouldn't expect you not to be."

"You'll never know how much it hurt when you left like you did." Her voiced wavered slightly, her eyes misting at the memories.

"I know," Angel looked down shamefully. "I've regretted what I did almost since that day."

"I wish you would have talked to me," Buffy spoke in a whisper. "We were in a relationship. We were supposed to make decisions together."

Angel's shoulders sagged. He knew what he did was wrong, but it hurt even more to hear her say it.

Buffy watched him intently. She needed to know that he understood. And a small part of her wanted to make him suffer just a little bit.

"I'm sorry," Angel apologized hoarsely. "Nothing I can do can take back what I did. If I could do it all over, I would not have left like that. But I can't change anything. I can only say I'm sorry. I know you probably can't forgive me," he finished dejectedly.

"I didn't say that," Buffy countered quickly, surprised at her own words.

"What?" he responded in astonishment She couldn't be implying what he thought she was implying. Could she?

Buffy closed her eyes. This was the moment she was dreading. The proverbial 'moment of truth'. Unable to stay seated any longer, she got off the couch and slowly paced the room. When she had calmed herself a little she spoke.

"I'll never forget what happened, Angel. It's just not something I can push out of my mind. But I think..." she trailed and took a deep breath before continuing. "No, I know...that I can forgive you."

Buffy stopped pacing after finishing her sentence, but kept her back facing Angel. She couldn't look at him just yet. She was still a little unsure of what she was doing. Could she really open up her heart to him again? Could she take the chance of getting hurt again?

Her eyes closed as she took a few deep breaths. Yes, she could take all those chances. She didn't want to lose out on the possibility of happiness because she was afraid to give him a second chance. That was what she had realized earlier that day. She wanted a chance at happiness...happiness with Angel.

Angel sat on the couch in shocked stillness, his mouth hanging open. Had he really just heard her say that she could forgive him? He couldn't possibly have heard that. But he had. She had just opened the door to giving them another chance.

"You can?" he spoke in disbelief.

Buffy turned to face him finally. "Yes."

He stared at her for a moment, not knowing how to react. "I-I don't know what to say. I never expected you would forgive me."

"I'm not saying we can just jump back into what we had before. It's going to take a while for me to rebuild the trust I had in you," she told him honestly.

"I know, and I understand. I-I..." Angel stopped speaking, his emotions becoming too hard to control. His eyes grew moist with tears at the realization that Buffy was going to forgive him and let them try again. "I- I'm sorry...I just didn't expect this. When I didn't hear anything from you, I thought you hated me."

Buffy took a step closer to him. "I could never hate you, Angel. I just needed some time to think about everything. I had no idea what I wanted. But I know that I miss you. And this...everything that's going on with the coma and the memory loss is so hard," she choked back a sob. "And I wake up everything morning wishing you were with me. That you would just hold me and tell me that everything is going to be okay."

Angel's heart broke as he saw the tears streaming down Buffy's cheeks. Without thinking, he got up off the couch and walked over to her. His arms wrapped around her now shaking form.

Buffy fell into his embrace, instantly feeling safer. Her senses were overwhelmed with the feel of his arms on her body, and the spicy scent of his cologne. She wrapped her arms around his waist, her tears falling rapidly onto his unclothed chest. The stresses of her situation were suddenly overtaking her and the only thing she could do was cry.

His hands soothingly rubbed her back as he gently held her to his body. He hadn't seen her in a week and had no idea that she was holding in so much because of the coma and memory loss. As her body sagged further against his, he went against his logical reasoning and picked her small body up.

Walking over to the couch, Angel sat with Buffy in his lap. His hands continued to rub her back as he let her release her pain.

"Shh, baby," he whispered into her ear. "Everything will be okay. I promise."

"It's...so...hard, Angel," she said between sobs. "There's so much I don't know. I hate it."

"I know. I wish I could promise you that will get back all the memories, but I can't. But I can promise you that I will be there for you," he assured her, lifting her chin to look into her eyes as he spoke so that she would know he was serious.

Buffy tucked her head back down onto Angel's chest. She wanted to believe his words, but she was still afraid. So she just continued to cry, taking comfort in his embrace.

Finally, after almost twenty minutes, her sobs quieted.

"I'm sorry for crying all over you," she apologized softly, wiping at the wetness on his bare chest.

"I didn't mind at all," he answered with the half grin that she loved.

Buffy smiled weakly in return, feeling exhausted all of a sudden.

Noticing her tiredness, Angel spoke. "I should get you home so you can get some sleep. How did you get here anyway?"

"I had Xander bring me over," she explained with a yawn.

"Come on, I'll drive you home. Your Mom, Giles and Willow must be wondering where you are," he stated, hating that he would have to let her out of his arms.

"No one's home. Mom and Giles are away until tomorrow, and Willow went up to LA with Oz for some gig that the band had," she told him, snuggling deeper into his arms. The last thing she wanted to do was leave him, not after it had taken her so long to come to him.

"Oh," he muttered, not liking the idea of leaving her alone at the house.

"I want to stay here with you," Buffy mumbled against his skin, knowing full well that staying with Angel was rushing things a little.

"You do?" he asked, surprised.

"Yeah," she whispered, her arms holding him tighter. "Could you just hold me until I fall asleep?"

Angel smiled at her. "I would love to."

"What are you doing?" she asked when Angel started to get off the couch with her in his arms.

"I don't think the couch would be very comfortable to sleep on. We should go into my bedroom," he explained as he stood up, still holding Buffy.

"Oh, okay," yawned Buffy, resting her head on Angel's chest.

Angel carried her into his room and laid her gently on his bed. Buffy snuggled underneath the covers as Angel went into the bathroom and changed into a pair of sweatpants. When he return he crawled into the bed next to Buffy and pulled her body against his, wrapping his arms tenderly around her.

"Thank you," Buffy mumbled before drifting off to sleep.

"You're welcome," he answered although he knew she was already asleep.

The sight of Buffy in his arms, in his bed, caused Angel to stay awake long after Buffy had fallen asleep. It was almost too much to believe. When he had woken up this morning he hadn't expected this at all. But he was so very glad that it had happened. Having Buffy back in his arms was a dream come true.

"I love you," Angel whispered softly and kissed her forehead before he too drifted off to sleep, a happy smile playing on his lips.

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TBC!...feedback happily welcomed :)