Part 1

The crowd was screaming like the world was coming to an end when he stepped out of the car. Lights tried to blind him as they clicked away in his eyes. He extended his arm and the small blond took it. Together, they walked up the carpet under the stars while fans begged him for an autograph and reporters pushed for an interview. He finally stopped for one man, who looked like he could be from an important magazine of some sort.

"Mr. O'Connor, tell us about this lovely woman on your arm tonight!" he man said before he extended the microphone to him.

"This is Darla Penn," Angel replied. Darla flashed the cameras a dazzling smile and scooted closer to him.

"And are you two dating?"

"Yes," Angel said.

"How long have you been-"

The screams grew to an almost alarming level and the reporters mouth moved but no sound seemed to come out. They looked back to see what was going on and Angel knew that the world was, in fact, ending. A black limo had pulled up and out the stepped the most stunning woman anyone had ever seen. People were yelling her name so loudly that Angel knew he wouldn't be able to hear for a while after this. As paparazzi ambushed her, he fought the urge to go over and rescue her from the swarm of them.

He felt Darla tighten her grip on his, reminding him of her presence. He reluctantly turned and lead them further along the carpet. Darla knew exactly what the other woman meant to him and wasn't about to let her get in this way again. Angel was hers.

Buffy Summers glanced up as she made her way closer to the entrance. She halted abruptly when she saw an all too familiar back walking away from her. She also recognized Darla and tried to brush away the unwanted feeling of jealously at seeing her fit so comfortably next to Angel. Putting on her poker face, she gave a smile to the crowd and cameras before going inside.

~~~

Buffy had always enjoyed these awards. They were completely relaxed and fun to attend. And the fact that they'd given her a seat in the front was an added bonus. Winning hadn't once crossed her mind as she listened to everyone cheer for the nominees. That was why she momentarily flustered when she felt someone pushing her towards the stage. Don't trip! she screamed at herself, knowing that if she did that would be bye-bye good career.

But she almost tripped when she got up there and saw who was waiting there.

"And here they are, the stars Becoming, Buffy Summers and Angel O'Connor. Best On Screen Chemistry!"

Buffy could have sworn the entire theater was holding their breath, waiting to see what they would do when they reached each other. It was no secret that their relationship had been very intimate. Not just sexually (which was not lacking at all) but they were never seen no holding hands or with the small blond seated in his lap. Always close. Always touching. How would they act now?

Buffy didn't know. As she came within a foot of Angel, she knew that he was feeling the same way. On the outside he kept up his cool, suave expression, but only she could recognize the distress that played hiddenly across this features.

Polite. That was they way he kissed her. He bent only his head over, careful to keep their bodies from touching, and placed a quick, polite kiss on her cheek. No smile, no words of congratulations, nothing. He handed her the award they had been given. Had it been merely a few weeks ago, Angel would have swooped down in front of all the millions of onlookers, flipped her backwards and used all the time they had for their acceptance speech to kiss her dizzy. And she (not to mention everyone else) would have loved it to no end. Now, the gigantic building was oddly hushed as Angel began:

"Thank you all. This is a wonderful honor for us and the film. These two characters were very compatible with each other and I'm glad it showed." He stepped back, allowing Buffy to approach the microphone.

"Thank you all very much. This means a lot." She gave a half-hearted smile that would be on the cover of the tabloids for weeks to come and turned away. Angel, always the gentleman, waited for her to lead off as they audience reluctantly clapped and watched their favorite couple (former!) leave.

As Angel and Buffy arrived off stage, they were immediately led to the part of the building where they would have their interviews. But first, at least fifty reporters got to take pictures of them together. And so they stood next to each other (at least two feet apart) as the flashes clicked.

"Could you two get closer and hold up your award, please?"

They both eyed the man uncertainly, as if he was speaking in tongues.

"Just for the picture," he requested.

Buffy couldn't even begin to explain how effected she became as Angel slid his hand around hers, which held the award. She fought herself not to run away and cry, knowing it would not help the situation in the slightest. They plastered overly peppy smiles on their faces, and the reporters had a juicy fest, contemplating the stories they would come up with.

As the next winner came up behind them, they were ushered to another section of the building where they were pushed into chairs in front of colorful backgrounds with TV station logos.

"Ms. Summers, Mr. O'Connor, lovely to see you. Cordelia Chase, E. So, to begin, how do you both feel about this award? Pleased?"

"Very much," Angel said. "I mean, it's always great to win an award for a movie you're very proud of."

Cordelia nodded knowingly and turned to Buffy. "So, Ms. Summers, what was your favorite part of working with Mr. O'Connor?"

Buffy eyed the woman, her brow arching in an almost distasteful fashion. "He's very focused. Easy to feel comfortable with."

Cordelia leaned forward, intrigued. "Yes? And what is your favorite personal quality about him?"

"Excuse me?" Buffy asked, though she was sure she'd heard correctly.

"What is your favorite personal guilty about Angel? Funny, romantic? Hmm?"

Buffy stared at the woman, hiding her incredulity. Was she serious? Just oblivious to everyone else's feelings and a little thing called personal space? Something was very wrong. "This really doesn't have much to do with the movie."

"But your award was about chemistry. So tell me, Buffy – may I call you Buffy? – what is it that you love about him?"

"He's very nice," she said, her voice holding no room for anything else mentioned on the subject.

Cordelia seemed to give into the fact that she wasn't going to get anything worthwhile out of her so she turned to the delicious, dark hared actor next to the blond. "So, Angel, what about Buffy? What is it you love about her?"

Angel shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "She's wonderful at getting into her character."

"But personally?"

"Easy to talk to," Angel said, trying to sound like it truly was the finest trait. In actuality, the truth was that he loved the way she was able to render him completely useless whenever she smiled. His knees wouldn't even try anymore and he would stutter and mumble something incoherent. She would pretty much do the same. They had known each other for two months before they started dating. Those first weeks had been filled with awkward silences and sweaty palms. They acted like it was the first time they'd talked to members of the opposite sex.

"So, tell me how it was doing love scenes," Cordelia said interestedly.

Buffy was utterly dumbfounded. Who was this woman and what did she do with the human who she'd possessed? This time she had to be joking. There was no way in hell that anyone but maybe their closest friends would dare ask about. The interview came to a complete halt as stunned silence settled upon the former couple. Suddenly, the small distance between them became much too close and oddly intimate. They subconsciously leaned away from one another. All Buffy could think about was doing the real versions of love scenes with Angel. A lot. Some might have said it was weird for a woman to lose her virginity at the age of twenty but Buffy honestly hadn't wanted to give herself to someone before she felt it: love. And so, last year on her twentieth birthday, she and Angel had just wrapped for the day, and she was talking about how strange she felt during the more, well, clothes-less scenes. Somewhere during their conversation, which was filled with tons of blushing on Buffy's part, it had slipped out that she'd never done anything clothes-less with a man. At first, she'd been angry when Angel was surprised at the news, but he explained by saying that he would had thought that someone so beautiful, talented, smart would have chosen one of throes men lined up around the block for her to make her happy. Needless to say, one thing decided to lead to another and pretty soon they were officially a couple.

A lot happened in a year. A little too much for Buffy's liking. And now look what was happening: they were being interviewed by psycho bitch reporter from hell about their failed relationship.

"The director was very good about making sure we were always comfortable," Angel said stiffly.

"And I'm sure you were both very comfortable," Cordelia said with a chittering laugh, her eyes dancing.

Buffy stood up and walked off. Angel cast Cordelia a darkened look and quickly followed, ignoring the brunette's cry of protest at being walked out on.

"Buffy, wait."

She sighed inwardly as he caught up to her when she'd reached the deserted lobby. Of course he would follow her; it was what he did. He would probably say something that was designed to be distant but…God, it's that stupid word again. Comfortable. That's what this whole game was about: being comfortable, not being caught up in the throes of unrestrained passion and the heat of the moment. At least now it was. But back then…no.

"Sorry about the woman. I guess you don't know who you're going to meet during these things."

Buffy didn't look back at him but, after a silence, said, "It wasn't her."

"What?"

"It wasn't her. She didn't upset me."

Angel quirked an eyebrow. "Could've fooled me."

"If it had been any other time, those questions wouldn't've meant anything to me. They're just questions about why we got our award, it didn't mean anything."

Angel was all over silence. He stood staring at his hands, feeling guilty.

"You should go," Buffy said, her voice quiet.

"What about you?" Angel asked in an equally soft tone.

"I don't have a date waiting for me. You go."

Angel closed his eyes. "Buffy-"

"Don't. I don't want to hear anything else you have to say. Please just leave."

"Darla's just-"

Buffy spun around, her eyes full of emotion and tears that were being adamantly restrained. "Angel, for once in your life will you listen to what I'm saying. Just. Go."

"Buffy, I'm not just going to leave you in the lobby!" Angel said, his voice rising rapidly.

"Yes you will. You have no say in what I do anymore so don't presume to have some special role that entitles you to give me orders." Buffy set their award down on the ground. "And this means nothing to me. You can keep it, I don't care."

"Why?"

"Because we weren't acting." Buffy turned and left.