Chapter II: Sweet Torture

It wasn't the sunlight that woke her. Nor was it the blend of voices and laughter that could dimly be heard through the door of her bedroom, or the soft chirping of birds outside the window…

It was him. His presence. Knowing that he was standing there, just outside of the bedroom threshold, waiting patiently for her to wake up.

A fierce, electrical tingling sensation was coursing through her body and she relished it, knowing it for what it was and cherishing the knowledge: it was a sensation that she had thought she would never experience again, one that touched her as deeply now as it had that very first time she had felt it, so very long ago.

There was only one name she could give to the source of what she was experiencing, and he was standing just a few feet away, on the other side of a door.

"Angel. Hi." She sounded slightly breathless and her hair was still messy from sleep, but at that moment she was barely even aware of how she looked.

It took him a few moments to speak: his eyes traveled over her face, her hair, her shoulders, and in his mind's eye he registered every minute detail, every tiny little change. Mine. The thought came instantly, possessively. It was a primitive legacy of his former self.  Only mine.

"Hi…" His voice was hoarse, and he cleared it quickly, trying to extinguish the desire that had flared up at the sight of her. "I just…"

"Wanted to see if the room was to my liking?" she teased him, unaware of the havoc she was wreaking on his senses. "Why, thank you, kind sir."

He eventually found his voice again. "Fred is making breakfast downstairs. Or she's trying to, anyway," he admitted, gracing her with a rare smile. He didn't see the way she reacted to that smile, that way she stored it carefully away into her memory, to look over later on and enjoy.

It was unrealistic, the love they shared for each other. It was also priceless, because it had come to them instead of any of six billion other people, and they both knew it.

And yet the Slayer and the Angelic One kept apart, fully aware of the consequences their love would bring. But they also knew, instinctively, that the intensity of their love would never fade, and they found ways to show it. Little ways, but important ones nonetheless.

"Sounds good to me," she said cheerfully. "Tell her I'll be down in a minute."

He turned to leave, but something held him and forced him to turn around. She was closing the door when he spoke. "And… Buffy?"

"Yes?" She paused, one hand still resting on the neckline of the T-shirt she had just been about to pull off. He registered the fact with another flare of emotion, and almost forgot what he had been about to say.

"I… it's good that you're here." It was a lame sentence, but he didn't need to say any more – he could tell by the look on her face that she understood him.

She shut the door gently behind her and leaned against it, her breath catching painfully in her throat as she struggled with the sorrow that threatened to overcome her.

She had forgotten what it was like, being near Angel. And now it all came back to her, full force, and as it did she knew she had been foolish to ever think her heart could belong to anyone else. She loved Angel – deeply, passionately, more than she loved anything else she could think of – and every moment she spent with him was slow, sweet torture.

But it was a torture she was willing to endure, if only to be able to spend a few days in his presence.  And Buffy Anne Summers – otherwise known as the Slayer - shut her eyes briefly before beginning the slow and monotonous process of trying to find something to wear for the day.

Angel could barely believe that she was there. Finally, after waiting so long and going through so much – so very, very much – apart, they were finally together… But, of course, only in the practical sense.

Angel couldn't be around her without wanting to touch her, wanting to bury his face in her honey-colored hair and whisper all the words he had been longing to say since the moment he left her.

It had been a tortured love from the very beginning, but it seemed almost worse now that they freely chose to be around each other. After returning all the Potentials to their respective homes – except for Kennedy, who had decided to stay with Willow – Buffy, Faith, Giles, Xander and Dawn had been wandering through most of California in a borrowed minivan, until had Angel offered to let them stay with him at the Hyperion.

They all thought it was mistake, he could tell that by the uneasy glances they cast at him and Buffy; but he had insisted, and eventually they had been forced to give in. And as soon as he saw her face he knew that no matter what anyone else said, it was right – every fiber in his being was telling him so.

Of course, things hadn't been easy. Conflicts sparked up between anyone and everyone, and hidden emotions rippled through the air like underwater currents. But Angel was sure that they would work it out, somehow.

And he didn't care how, as long as it meant he could stay with Buffy.

TBC

Author's Note: I know, it turned out to be very overly-romantic… only God knows how that happened… I think my words are taking on a life of their own… Anyway, it will be a little less romance-fixated in the next chapter, where I could hopefully fit in some real action.

And, lest we forget, our beloved Spike still hasn't arrived yet… And neither has our Future Slayer, so just bare with me while I get the third chapter underway.

You all know the routine by now: reviews, opinions, etc, are all welcome.