Chapter 48-The Dream

-Angel-

The advantage to being human is I don't have to wait until night to drive up to Sunnydale. I get there mid morning and drive straight to the mansion. I run through the courtyard and burst into the main room like I'm running from the daylight.

"Where's Buffy?" I ask breathlessly.

Giles looks at me with resignation in his eyes. "She's in the bedroom. Angel, she's not conscious. I think she's slipped into a coma, it's only a matter of time now."

"No, it's not. I need a knife or a dagger, something." I look around the room frantically. Buffy has moved and changed everything around. I see her weapons chest in the corner. Inside there's an array of swords, daggers, maces and axes. I take out the dagger that she stabbed Faith with, for me. Somehow it seems right.

She's lying so still and pale on the bed. A sheen of sweat covers her skin and it's hot to touch. She's burning up with fever. I take her right hand in mine and turn it palm up. I place a kiss there, an apology. I draw the sharp edge of the dagger's blade across her palm. The blood wells up crimson against moonlight pale skin. I measure careful drops of the silvery green liquid from the glass bottle into the cut. It swirls with a life of its own there on her palm before mixing with her blood and flowing into her veins.

She is shot through with silver light. The poison is purged from her body. Her skin takes on a healthy pink tint. I watch as the gash on her chest and palm heals instantly. Her eyelids flutter and open. She squints, trying to focus on me. I stand up and pull the curtains in the room apart. She cowers from the sunlight, covering her eyes with her hands. It takes a few moments to realize she's not bursting into flame.

"Angel," She peeks at me through her fingers.

I slide into the bed next to her. "I'm here, Buffy. I'm never leaving, not even if you want me too."

She touches her chest and looks up questioningly into my eyes. "What did you do?"

"It was nothing. I just had to find a portal to the dimension the Powers hang out in. Then there was the matter of convincing them to get off their immortal asses and do something, like give me a bottle of Mohra demon blood." I smile at her.

She swallows thickly, tears in her eyes. "You went to see the Powers for me?"

"Buffy, I went to Hell for you, what makes you think I wouldn't go to the Powers if that's what had to be done." I take her hand and place it against my cheek, hot little hands, just like they should be. I can not help the tears that sting my eyes. "You need to sleep, Baby." I kiss her forehead.

"Stay with me?" she asks in her little girl voice.

"Always."

*

-Buffy-

I wake up in inches, not sure if I want to or not. I crack open my eyes. The bed is empty. I feel a knot start in my throat. It was dream, a hallucination caused by the poison, which I guess finally ran its course. I roll over with a sigh. I slide my feet into fluffy pig slippers and run fingers through my sleep mussed hair. I yawn and trudge into the main room of the house. Giles and Xander are both asleep on the couch. The door to one of the spare rooms is open. I can see Dawn lying on the bed. I sneak into the kitchen, careful not to wake anyone, and run smack into Angel's chest.

"Oh God," I cover my mouth and look up into those soulful eyes I love so much. I take a deep breath and notice for the first time, I'm breathing, not because it's habit, because I have to.

Angel smiles down at me.

"It wasn't a dream?" I squeak.

He shakes his head. "It wasn't a dream." He tangles his fingers in my hair and pulls me close for a kiss. I devour his mouth. I can't help it. I've spent too many weeks missing this, wishing and praying for this. I can feel his heart thud under my hand. He pulls away gasping for breath.

"You're human, I'm human, this has got to be a dream, Angel." I whisper through my tears.

"Then it's one we don't ever have to wake up from." He rests his forehead against mine. Our noses touch and his lips are a breath away. He takes my hand in his and slips something cool and round on the third finger of my left hand. "Promise me, we'll never wake up."

"I promise." I say as I glance down at the silver claddagh ring on my finger. I stand on tip toe, winding my fingers in his hair, and catch his bottom lip in my teeth. He responds instantly, bending over a bit and slipping his tongue inside my mouth. I tug on his hair just a little, pulling him deeper into the kiss. Fire slips up my spine and explodes every single nerve ending I have. He slides his hand to the small of my back and pulls me closer. His other hand slips to the buttons of my pajama top. His fingers brush the top of my breast. I am jerked back to reality.

"Wait a minute, did you just ask me to marry you?" I ask.

He grins and his eyes sparkle. "That's not a problem is it?"

"Oh, no, not a problem at all. In fact we have a lot of things to discuss, in the bedroom." I grin wickedly at him and hook my fingers in the front waistband of his pants. I tug him through the main room of the mansion and into the bedroom, soundly closing the door behind us.

*

I guess Giles, Xander and Dawn got tired of waiting for me and Angel to come out of the bedroom, because when we finally did, they were all gone. I'm starving and I know Angel is too because I heard his stomach growling. We take a shower that was supposed to be quick but sort of turned out not. There's a strong possibility that Giles could find Angel and I weeks from now starved to death still wrapped around each other because we didn't want to leave the house. I'm almost afraid to, if that makes sense. I know this dream exists in this house, but what about when we go into the world beyond?

Angel and I drive his car Main Street. There's a burger place there that makes these great old fashioned greasy burgers. We order cheeseburgers, fries and cokes. I frown at Angel as we sit down in a booth. The sun is coming through the big plate glass window.

"You've lost weight, too much of it, since the last time I saw you." I say.

"Yeah, I also need to call Wes, Gunn and Fred and make sure I have some actual friends left after the way I treated them. I don't function well without you." He says reaching across the table and taking my hands in his.

"Tell me it's real one more time. You're human, I'm human, there's no curse, no can't go out in the sunlight, no can't have kids, no can't get married, no more creature of the night elements. This is really real, right?" I say.

"It's really real. There are no more can'ts in our relationship, no more creature of the night elements. The only mythological element to our relationship anymore is that I'm pretty sure even the myths couldn't come up with a love like this." Angel says.

I watch Angel eat with a pure joy that I couldn't appreciate before. He savors every single bite. I lazily dip one of my fries into a pool of ketchup and watch him take a huge bite out of his cheeseburger. I smile at him.

"I love food." He says.

I giggle. "Food is good. Eating food with you is really good. Which leads me to the though, eating food on you..." I grin wickedly at him.

We both plow through what's left of our burgers and fries and head for the grocery store. We end up with a pile of food like pizza rolls and hot pockets and snack cakes, chips, cokes, juice, ice cream and macaroni and cheese. I hold aloft a bottle of chocolate syrup, the kind you pour over ice cream. I wiggle it in front of Angel's face.

"This would be good with a side of Angel." I tease.

He growls and pulls me into his embrace. His mouth crushes mine. His kiss is naked with want and need. He sucks on my bottom lip and I moan. He shoves back against the shelves, taking bites of my neck with blunt teeth. He suckles at the scar on my neck, the scar he put there. I slide one leg between his legs and wrap the other around his leg. There's a sound of breaking glass. We both jump apart. We're surrounded by bottles of chocolate syrup and broken jars of maraschino cherries. I can't help the laughter that overtakes me. It brings tears to my eyes and I have to double over at the waist to catch my breath. Angel is laughing right beside me. I pick up a bottle of chocolate syrup and put it in our basket. I give him a chaste, quick kiss on the lips.

"You go get in line. I'm going to get the whipped cream."