Here I am again. Another update! A decent sized one this time too. (Pats self on back)

I'm sorry to those of you who like this fic but I don't think it will be all that many chapters longer, I had initially planned to finish this story in about ten chapters so I could get back to my other temporarily abandoned fic quicker as I feel bad for leaving that on a cliff-hanger. Then I had a nice review from someone who described Buffy and Angel as 'in a maze' when they were both out in the garden, well, it wasn't quite intended that way but when I looked it over I can see how it was read that way and therefore I intend to grab that great idea and run with it. It is what made me decide not to end the story sooner and gave me evil ideas! Those happy the story isn't just about to end should thank Catlimere for accidentally unleashing that particular plot bunny on me! I reckon I'm good for about fifteen chapters now!

Many thanks to all the lovely reviewers; I wouldn't be a happy or inspired author without you!

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"Wow," she breathed as the kiss ended. Impossibly, that second kiss had been even better than the first.

Angel smiled slightly as they rested their foreheads together for a moment, she sounded as unsteady as he felt. When she kissed him it turned his mind to mush and the world fell away to become just the two of them. Not that he would voice that just yet, as until yesterday she and Spike had been together, but these past few moments had given him hope - in a hefty dose.

He kept her wrapped tightly in his arms and eased back slightly to look at her better. The words came unbidden and wondering before he could snatch them back, "I have never felt like this before." It seemed that neither his heart nor mouth could be persuaded to behave.

Buffy flushed happily, "Me either." Her tiny fingers crept up to trace his jaw and guide his lips to hers, "I am so happy to be here, with you."

At the back of his mind Angel was aware that they still hadn't resolved the possible problem of his brother but with Buffy kissing him like this he just couldn't bring himself to care quite enough to stop her and insist she explain. Spike was indoors with another woman, probably Faith now he thought about it and Buffy was out here in his arms. What could go wrong?

"Oy! Buff? Angel? You up there?"

Buffy froze in his arms and pulled her mouth from his mid kiss. Within a second she was out of his arms and on her feet.

Okay, so that could go wrong. Angel grimaced and followed suit; trust Spike to ruin things. Though to judge by Buffy's behaviour at his shouts there hadn't been much to ruin. He could admit it; he was totally confused. If he didn't think he knew Buffy better he'd say this was a horrible prank at his expense, but his judge of character had always been immaculate. Surely he wouldn't fall for a bad woman? He smiled wryly, not bad, just dangerous. If Buffy were about to hurt him or break his heart she wouldn't be doing it deliberately.

Then unexpectedly she whirled around to face him in a flurry of skirts and lacey petticoats and grabbed his sleeve. "We need to go." She whispered, "I want to explain things to you myself, not with Spike laughing himself sick in the background and putting in his ten cents worth."

"Yoo Hooooo!" hollered Spike. Luckily he was still some distance away.

Angel eyed her for a brief moment, he quite agreed with her. Spike could find very inappropriate things funny and if he was about to be made an idiot of he preferred not to have his brother as a witness. Hastily he blew out the two softly flickering lanterns plunging them into near darkness and scooped up the half-full bottle of champagne.

To his amusement Buffy was equally quick to grab the dish of candied berries, hugging them to her breast she looked at him expectantly, "It's your garden," she reminded him gently. "Where's private, that we can talk?"

Angel quickly considered, they might be able to make it into the tree house, which Spike wouldn't necessarily think to check, but if he did then they would be cornered. It would all depend on how determined Spike was to talk to them, though there was one place that Spike almost certainly wouldn't follow.

"Buffy, are you there?"

Faith was with Spike he realised, as the Bostonian accent he had expected to hear a little earlier cut through the night. What was going on that Faith and Spike were stalking them in the garden?

"We need to talk to you guys!"

Angel didn't wait to hear more; he gently took Buffy's upper arm and guided her unresisting towards the end of the garden.

Buffy allowed herself to be led, though she had no idea of where they were going. She had given the gorgeous, spacious garden a pretty thorough exploration when she had arrived and as far as she could remember Angel was leading her towards the tall, thick hedges that ran along the bottom and sides of the garden, then even in the gloom she saw a small gap in the hedge and her mouth fell open. Her hostess had mentioned a maze in passing but she had assumed it was a kind of tourist attraction nearby; after all, it wasn't exactly something you often saw on private land.

"Won't he follow us in?" she whispered as they stepped through the gap with Angel immediately turning left.

Angel chuckled quietly as he began to lead them deeper into the maze, "Spike could get lost in a grocery sack, I assumed you'd know that."

Buffy giggled, "Well, yeah. I know his sense of direction could be better, like a lot better but this maze has obviously been here longer than he has so surely he knows the way to the middle by now?"

Angel snorted as he chose yet another left. "He hid in here as a kid since he'd just stolen my toy truck but then when it was time for lunch he couldn't get out. He'd been stuck for quite a few hours until mom found him and he hasn't been back much since."

Buffy smiled slightly, "Well let's hope he doesn't come over all brave now." She walked in silence for a few more minutes and then smiled to herself, "Is it me or are you just taking almost every left turn there is?"

Though she couldn't see his face she could feel his smile, "Yeah, you can solve any maze by taking every single left turn, though of course I know a few of them here are dead ends so I skip them. Don't tell Spike, but a blind man could get in and out of here simply by always turning left and just keeping his left hand on the wall at all times."

"You learn something new everyday." Buffy teased softly right before she gasped and almost dropped the dish she carried.

"Mom used to call it hidden paradise when I was little." He offered. "My Great Grandfather built the garden as a wedding gift for his fiancée and grew the maze around it. I always liked to read here as a kid, there should even be a sofa and lanterns and stuff in the temple thingy if it's still like it used to be."

Buffy gazed around her in delight, it seemed that the moon had finally decided to soar high in the sky, free of clouds and it lit up the marble columns of the admittedly Greek temple-like summerhouse. Flowers, shrubs, trees, benches, statues and even a small lake glowed silver and ghostly in the moonlight. She half wanted to stand and gawp at the beauty of the garden but Angel was already heading towards the 'temple' and she needed to talk to him more than she needed to stand and stare. She just hoped he wasn't too mad, and that Spike didn't have a sudden attack of finding his way any time soon.

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"Where the hell did they go?" grumbled Spike as he stared at the still hot lanterns, part full of melted wax. "They had to have been here when we started shouting."

"You mean when you started shouting," corrected Faith. "I told you they might take off if we were interrupting something a bit personal."

Spike snorted, "Yeah right. Neither Buffy nor my charming brother are the sort to shag on the sodding garden furniture!"

Faith shrugged, "Who knows, but that wasn't what I meant anyway. They're only just getting to know each other and probably don't want to be disturbed."

"Well how can the two of you swap costumes for the unmasking if Buffy has bloody well tramped off with Angel for some quality time with his tonsils!"

Faith hid a smirk, "Unless you actually have a clue about where they are I suggest we go back to the party and just happen to disappear prior to the unmasking."

"But Buff and me are the guests of honor!"

"And you got distracted and went off to smooch!" Faith retaliated, "You can talk your way through it tomorrow if need be, I don't think persuading people that two lovebirds have disappeared off to bed will be particularly difficult."

"Bed, eh?" Spike asked with a lascivious smirk.

Faith rolled her eyes, "you know what I mean!" Hitching up her skirt to mid thigh she wrestled the torch from Spike and shone it about a bit. "Where do you think they might've gone?"

"Tree house!" Spike bellowed suddenly and set off at a gallop with Faith tottering behind him as he made for the largest tree on the property.

A few minutes later he had scrambled down again a little chastened, "Well I guess that would've been too easy."

"Anywhere else?" Grumbled Faith, "Because I'm thinking plan b right now."

"The maze." Spike said suddenly.

"The maze?" echoed Faith, "You guys have a maze?" she shook her head in disbelief, "Well, lets check it out."

Spike pulled a face, "I don't know the way in, or out for that matter. I'd probably just get us lost so if Angel has dragged Buffy in there they can damn well stay in there."

"But what if they decide to waltz back out at the very wrong moment and we end up making lousy explanations in front of the guests? Your mom would kill you for sure."

"Why me?!"

Faith folded her arms and looked at him meaningfully, "Ooh, maybe because it's your fault."

"I guess." He agreed reluctantly." Okay, I say we go and shout at them."

"As they hide in the middle of the maze?"

"Yep."

"I worry about you."

Spike shrugged, I worry about me. I worry about my health when mom discovers the monstrous disaster I've created."

Faith grinned as she followed him towards what she had assumed was the rear hedge of the garden, "move over Doctor Frankenstein." She kidded.

"Har, Har."

"So seriously, we're just gonna stand here and yell at the hedge?"

"Pretty much." Spike agreed. "Well here goes. Oy! Buffy and Angel! If you two are lurking in that maze listen up. It would probably be best if the whole thing doesn't come out tonight, we can explain it all to mom after the party. Just don't go marching back in the front entrance tonight okay? Either be in your rooms before midnight or stay out here until later and sneak back in then. Okay?"

He turned to Faith, "I think that's pretty much the best we can do."

Faith nodded, "perhaps we should take our own advice and be safely tucked up in bed before midnight. Maybe even let a few people see us sneaking upstairs."

Spike grinned, "Okay."

"We should probably both be in your room too, just to make it look convincing."

"Absolutely."

Faith smiled, "Then lets go lover, we only have all night."

"I can't persuade you to the morning too?"

Faith chuckled, "How persuasive are you?"

"Very."

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Buffy and Angel stood in the doorway of the mini temple and listened to Spike bellowing at them. Despite the distance his lungs were up to the job and they had both heard every word. Angel was merely confused by Spike's words but Buffy was grateful, very grateful in fact that he hadn't been more in depth about the whole mess. He had cued her in well for an explanation without an unnecessary word. She just had to be brave and believe that Angel wouldn't be too angry. She'd need all her powers of persuasion tonight that was for sure, somehow she had the sense that he was a very upright kind of guy and might not totally understand their reasoning behind the subterfuge - reasoning that was seeming more cracked by the second.

Buffy gulped nervously at the champagne Angel had poured her in a crystal goblet; apparently the temple was kept well stocked with a bit more than lanterns and a sofa she noted, it was furnished almost as well as a proper house.

Angel was looking at her expectantly though. Apparently this time she was going to get to tell her tale. She walked down the few steps in front of the temple and made her way to the bench where she plonked herself down in an effort to ensure her knees didn't knock together too obviously, after a second Angel joined her and she began to babble, her half prepared speech forgotten in her desire to convince him of the most important truth. "Angel, about me and Spike, or rather the total lack of me and Spike. Because there is no me and Spike. I am a Spike free zone. Except in a friend type way. We, well, I don't feel that way, not about him, never about him. I uh-" She tailed off and paused for air gauging his reaction, no explosion yet. That was good right?

Angel was puzzled; she was denying ever having felt anything for Spike? Had she wanted his money? Was she trading him in for the richer brother? Quickly he shook off that thought, Buffy wasn't like those women, there had to be a reasonable explanation. Besides, if she had never loved Spike what did that mean for him? He took her hand and smiled reassuringly at her, his heart beating furiously with fear for his own rejection and relief at his brother's. "Tell me?"