Chapter Thirteen
Buffy woke with a smile to cool lips tickling up her spine. She started to flip onto her back and the light pressure of a cool hand on her shoulder blade kept her on her stomach. She giggled.
"Good morning," Angel said his voice still husky and heavy with sleep.
"It's beginning to look that way," Buffy said.
Angel swept her hair to one side, exposing the nape of her neck. He placed a kiss there and tickled her skin with a slight, cool breath blown out between lips that needed no air.
Buffy flipped nimbly onto her back and met Angel's smiling eyes. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and tugged him closer. She nipped at his lips, teasing playfully. Angel laughed into her mouth. Complete, overwhelming joy swept over him. He closed his eyes and dared not move. He still hadn't gotten used to the feeling.
Buffy smiled and cupped his face with her hand. "It's real you know. You aren't going to wake up and find it's a dream," she whispered.
"Are you sure? Because sometimes, it feels so much like one I'm afraid to take a breath. I'm afraid for you to take a breath."
"Angel, open your eyes," Buffy said.
After a moment he did, and looked down into her hazel eyes. He shook his head, still unwilling to believe a dream come true.
"See, I'm not going anywhere," she smiled.
There was a knock on the bedroom door. "Come on you guys, Willow is making smiley face pancakes for dinner!" Dawn's voice came through the door.
"Be right down, Dawnie," Buffy yelled.
"Yeah, right and yesterday be right down was forty five minutes later. And do you guys have to be so loud?" Dawn said through the door.
Buffy laughed and turned bright red. "No, really we're coming down right now," she promised.
Angel's soul had been anchored for six months and they still couldn't get their fill of each other. There were days Buffy felt like she couldn't breathe if Angel wasn't touching her.
Dusk spread itself over the kitchen. Willow stood at the stove, the tip of her tongue between her teeth, as she poured the pancakes onto the griddle.
"Hey, Will," Buffy greeted as she bounced into the kitchen, Angel trailing her.
"Hey, Angel, Buffy, want some pancakes?" Willow asked.
"Yeah, thanks," Buffy said sliding onto a bar stool next to Dawn. Angel got a container of blood out of the fridge and popped it into the microwave. It had taken a couple of months but now he was as comfortable here as he had been in his own house.
He watched as the women he'd come to love, all of them in a different way, laughed and teased each other. Angel loved his life. He never thought he'd have one family, much less two, but Willow and Dawn had become his family as much as Buffy was.
Buffy got up and took her plate to the sink. She was almost there when she screamed "Vision!" Angel knocked the bar stool he was sitting on over but he caught her before she hit the floor. Buffy had learned to talk through the visions, no matter how bad they were.
"LA Sunset blvd I think, vamp four of them-too late Wes and Gunn are -going to be too late-girls-they are grabbing-no-yeah-grabbing prostitutes off the street-not drinking-"Buffy's voice trembled and sounded strained with pain. She kept her eyes tightly shut. When it was finally over she opened her eyes. She smiled up at him and it was tight and filled with pain. "Call Wes and Gunn, they should be able to handle it."
Angel said something to her but it sounded far away, as if it came from a tunnel or a great distance. She shook her head. "Can't hear you,"
Angel looked puzzled at her, and then he noticed the blood coming from her ears.
"Willow, call Wes and Gunn for me, tell them what Buffy said. I'm taking her to the hospital," Angel said.
Buffy shook her head. "It'll be okay, I just need to lie down," she almost shouted.
"Buffy-"Angel started.
"Please, Angel, I don't want to go there. I just want to take my pills and lay down until the pain is gone," Buffy begged him.
Angel sighed. He couldn't remember if his ears had ever bled after a vision. He was going to ask Wes though. He would know. "Alright, but if it gets worse, your going to the hospital."
Buffy nodded and let Angel scoop her up in his arms. He took her up to the bedroom and laid her on the bed. He got a glass of water and the pain pills she took. She gulped them down and lay back, closing her eyes.
Angel smoothed the hair back from her forehead. "I'm going to go on to LA and help Wes and Gunn. I'll be back before morning though," he promised.
Buffy nodded. "Be careful, call me when it's over."
"I will," he kissed her on the forehead. "I love you,"
"Always," Buffy whispered and held onto his hand as he backed out of the room. He paused and then took another step. Their hands separated and Angel turned and left. As soon as Buffy heard his GTX pull away from the curb, she got up and went into the bathroom. She removed the top of the toilet tank and got a heavy Ziploc bag out of it dripping with water. There were a dozen different types of pill bottles in there. Buffy took pills from two or three of the bottles. She turned on the water in the sink and cupped her hands, filling them. She gulped down the pills and splashed her face with water. She sat back down against the wall, the water still running, and muffled her sobs into the back of her hand.
Most of the time she could hide the pain, fight through it, at least until the crisis was over, and then when it was over she could come and take enough pain pills to knock her out. The pain had been steadily increasing for several months. She had been back to the doctor and he'd given her an increasing supply of pain pills. She'd gone to some more doctors when that didn't work and gotten some different pain pills. She'd come up with her own concoction that chased away enough of the pain and knocked her out.
Buffy got up and took a washcloth from the cabinet. She dunked it in the cold water and washed the blood off her ears and the sides of her face. She took the cold cloth to bed with her and laid it across her forehead. She lay down and tried to let the pain seep away and sleep crawl in.
At some point in the night she noticed Angel crawled into bed with her. She smiled in her sleep as he spooned his cool body against hers and then the blackness grabbed her again and dragged her under.
* Buffy stretched along the stair railing, just managing to secure the garland at the top. She stepped back and surveyed her handiwork.
Angel rubbed a towel over his hair as he stepped into the lobby from the training room in the basement. He sniffed the air and smelled the pine just before he saw the stair banister bedecked in fresh pine garland.
"Buffy, what are you doing?" He asked giving her a completely befuddled look.
She beamed at him, "Christmas is in two weeks and we're celebrating here with everyone. Now before you say anything, I know vampires not big on Christmas but it's sort of like a family holiday and well, you have a family now and so celebrating."
He grinned at her. He wanted to argue with her but he couldn't, not when she looked at him like a little kid in a candy store. "Alright, so we celebrate Christmas in two weeks."
She ran down the stairs and flung herself at him. He caught her and wrapped his arms around her. She kissed him soundly on the mouth.
"I'm so glad you don't mind. I have people bringing a twenty foot Christmas tree by in a half hour." * Buffy twisted her hair into a messy bun and checked her reflection in the mirror one last time. She wore a bright red sweater and light gray slacks. Willow, Dawn, Xander and Giles were due at the hotel any minute. Wes and Gunn were already downstairs digging into food a caterer had delivered the day before. Angel walked up behind her and slipped his arms around her waist. She leaned her head back against his shoulder and smiled at the lack of reflection in the mirror.
"What are you smiling about?" He asked.
She shook her. "Because you don't have a reflection."
He bowed his head and kissed the top of her head. "That makes you smile?"
"Uh huh, because it's like us, even though I can't see you I know you're there, you'll always been there, you've always been there, even when I couldn't see you."
He squeezed her tight and then let her go. He turned her around to face him. "Always,"
She nodded and stood on tiptoe to kiss him. Angel cocked his head and listened to something downstairs.
"The Sunnydale crew just got here," Angel said.
"Let's go down and say hi," Buffy grabbed him by the hand and let him down stairs.
There was general embracing and chattering. Xander and Giles hauled presents from the car and placed them under the tree with all the presents Buffy had been shopping for since the Christmas tree went up.
Giles brought eggnog, the good stuff and the Dawn stuff. After a few glasses of the good stuff they sang rousing rounds of Christmas carols.
"One more cup of nog and then I'm thinking bed would be a good place to go," Buffy said. She took Angel's cup from him and stood up to get them both cups. She swayed a little on her feet and stopped to get her balance. The cut crystal cups tumbled from her hands and shattered on the floor. Angel lunged to catch her, his preternatural speed allowed him to just barely get there. He fell on his knees, the glass biting into them. Buffy twitched in his arms. Her eyes were squeezed shut. Her entire body arched upward in his arms, like a bowstring being drawn tight. Her lips moved but Angel couldn't hear anything she was saying. Finally her body relaxed and she looked like she was sleeping peacefully. Angel smoothed the hair back from her head. He could hear her heartbeat pounding strong and a little fast.
"Buffy, baby, wake up," Angel said shaking her slightly.
She didn't even bat an eyelash. Angel's forehead furrowed. "Someone, get me a cool cloth."
Gunn handed him a wet, cool cloth. Angel dabbed it on Buffy's forehead and neck. She still lay limp in his arms, eyes closed. Angel shook his head. "They've never knocked her out like this. They made her ears bleed once and have left her hysterical but never unconscious."
He picked her up and laid her gently on the couch. He knelt down beside her, watching her face for any sign of wakefulness. He crouched like that nearly fifteen minutes, oblivious to the people around him. Willow finally laid her hand on his shoulder and he started.
"Angel, let's call the doctor. Do you know where she keeps her medicine?" Willow asked.
Angel nodded and led Willow up to the bathroom. He opened the medicine cabinet and displayed a few bottles of pills. Willow sat down on the toilet and looked at the labels, opening a couple of the bottles. "There should be some pink pills somewhere. I swear I saw her take pink ones one time."
"That could have been before. She's changed medication a couple of times. She said some of them gave her an upset stomach," Angel offered.
Willow twisted and set one of the bottles on top of the toilet tank. It was then that she noticed the corner of a plastic bag sticking out. "Hey, what's this?" She asked taking the tank top off and pulling out a large gallon sized Ziploc bag of pill bottles.
Angel shook his head.
Willow dug in the bag, pulling out prescription bottles and reading off medicine labels and doctor's names. "They're all pain pills, but there are at least four different doctors here and six different prescriptions," Willow glanced up, her eyes met Angel's. He looked down at her in horror.
"I think maybe she needs a hospital," Willow finally said.
Buffy woke with a smile to cool lips tickling up her spine. She started to flip onto her back and the light pressure of a cool hand on her shoulder blade kept her on her stomach. She giggled.
"Good morning," Angel said his voice still husky and heavy with sleep.
"It's beginning to look that way," Buffy said.
Angel swept her hair to one side, exposing the nape of her neck. He placed a kiss there and tickled her skin with a slight, cool breath blown out between lips that needed no air.
Buffy flipped nimbly onto her back and met Angel's smiling eyes. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and tugged him closer. She nipped at his lips, teasing playfully. Angel laughed into her mouth. Complete, overwhelming joy swept over him. He closed his eyes and dared not move. He still hadn't gotten used to the feeling.
Buffy smiled and cupped his face with her hand. "It's real you know. You aren't going to wake up and find it's a dream," she whispered.
"Are you sure? Because sometimes, it feels so much like one I'm afraid to take a breath. I'm afraid for you to take a breath."
"Angel, open your eyes," Buffy said.
After a moment he did, and looked down into her hazel eyes. He shook his head, still unwilling to believe a dream come true.
"See, I'm not going anywhere," she smiled.
There was a knock on the bedroom door. "Come on you guys, Willow is making smiley face pancakes for dinner!" Dawn's voice came through the door.
"Be right down, Dawnie," Buffy yelled.
"Yeah, right and yesterday be right down was forty five minutes later. And do you guys have to be so loud?" Dawn said through the door.
Buffy laughed and turned bright red. "No, really we're coming down right now," she promised.
Angel's soul had been anchored for six months and they still couldn't get their fill of each other. There were days Buffy felt like she couldn't breathe if Angel wasn't touching her.
Dusk spread itself over the kitchen. Willow stood at the stove, the tip of her tongue between her teeth, as she poured the pancakes onto the griddle.
"Hey, Will," Buffy greeted as she bounced into the kitchen, Angel trailing her.
"Hey, Angel, Buffy, want some pancakes?" Willow asked.
"Yeah, thanks," Buffy said sliding onto a bar stool next to Dawn. Angel got a container of blood out of the fridge and popped it into the microwave. It had taken a couple of months but now he was as comfortable here as he had been in his own house.
He watched as the women he'd come to love, all of them in a different way, laughed and teased each other. Angel loved his life. He never thought he'd have one family, much less two, but Willow and Dawn had become his family as much as Buffy was.
Buffy got up and took her plate to the sink. She was almost there when she screamed "Vision!" Angel knocked the bar stool he was sitting on over but he caught her before she hit the floor. Buffy had learned to talk through the visions, no matter how bad they were.
"LA Sunset blvd I think, vamp four of them-too late Wes and Gunn are -going to be too late-girls-they are grabbing-no-yeah-grabbing prostitutes off the street-not drinking-"Buffy's voice trembled and sounded strained with pain. She kept her eyes tightly shut. When it was finally over she opened her eyes. She smiled up at him and it was tight and filled with pain. "Call Wes and Gunn, they should be able to handle it."
Angel said something to her but it sounded far away, as if it came from a tunnel or a great distance. She shook her head. "Can't hear you,"
Angel looked puzzled at her, and then he noticed the blood coming from her ears.
"Willow, call Wes and Gunn for me, tell them what Buffy said. I'm taking her to the hospital," Angel said.
Buffy shook her head. "It'll be okay, I just need to lie down," she almost shouted.
"Buffy-"Angel started.
"Please, Angel, I don't want to go there. I just want to take my pills and lay down until the pain is gone," Buffy begged him.
Angel sighed. He couldn't remember if his ears had ever bled after a vision. He was going to ask Wes though. He would know. "Alright, but if it gets worse, your going to the hospital."
Buffy nodded and let Angel scoop her up in his arms. He took her up to the bedroom and laid her on the bed. He got a glass of water and the pain pills she took. She gulped them down and lay back, closing her eyes.
Angel smoothed the hair back from her forehead. "I'm going to go on to LA and help Wes and Gunn. I'll be back before morning though," he promised.
Buffy nodded. "Be careful, call me when it's over."
"I will," he kissed her on the forehead. "I love you,"
"Always," Buffy whispered and held onto his hand as he backed out of the room. He paused and then took another step. Their hands separated and Angel turned and left. As soon as Buffy heard his GTX pull away from the curb, she got up and went into the bathroom. She removed the top of the toilet tank and got a heavy Ziploc bag out of it dripping with water. There were a dozen different types of pill bottles in there. Buffy took pills from two or three of the bottles. She turned on the water in the sink and cupped her hands, filling them. She gulped down the pills and splashed her face with water. She sat back down against the wall, the water still running, and muffled her sobs into the back of her hand.
Most of the time she could hide the pain, fight through it, at least until the crisis was over, and then when it was over she could come and take enough pain pills to knock her out. The pain had been steadily increasing for several months. She had been back to the doctor and he'd given her an increasing supply of pain pills. She'd gone to some more doctors when that didn't work and gotten some different pain pills. She'd come up with her own concoction that chased away enough of the pain and knocked her out.
Buffy got up and took a washcloth from the cabinet. She dunked it in the cold water and washed the blood off her ears and the sides of her face. She took the cold cloth to bed with her and laid it across her forehead. She lay down and tried to let the pain seep away and sleep crawl in.
At some point in the night she noticed Angel crawled into bed with her. She smiled in her sleep as he spooned his cool body against hers and then the blackness grabbed her again and dragged her under.
* Buffy stretched along the stair railing, just managing to secure the garland at the top. She stepped back and surveyed her handiwork.
Angel rubbed a towel over his hair as he stepped into the lobby from the training room in the basement. He sniffed the air and smelled the pine just before he saw the stair banister bedecked in fresh pine garland.
"Buffy, what are you doing?" He asked giving her a completely befuddled look.
She beamed at him, "Christmas is in two weeks and we're celebrating here with everyone. Now before you say anything, I know vampires not big on Christmas but it's sort of like a family holiday and well, you have a family now and so celebrating."
He grinned at her. He wanted to argue with her but he couldn't, not when she looked at him like a little kid in a candy store. "Alright, so we celebrate Christmas in two weeks."
She ran down the stairs and flung herself at him. He caught her and wrapped his arms around her. She kissed him soundly on the mouth.
"I'm so glad you don't mind. I have people bringing a twenty foot Christmas tree by in a half hour." * Buffy twisted her hair into a messy bun and checked her reflection in the mirror one last time. She wore a bright red sweater and light gray slacks. Willow, Dawn, Xander and Giles were due at the hotel any minute. Wes and Gunn were already downstairs digging into food a caterer had delivered the day before. Angel walked up behind her and slipped his arms around her waist. She leaned her head back against his shoulder and smiled at the lack of reflection in the mirror.
"What are you smiling about?" He asked.
She shook her. "Because you don't have a reflection."
He bowed his head and kissed the top of her head. "That makes you smile?"
"Uh huh, because it's like us, even though I can't see you I know you're there, you'll always been there, you've always been there, even when I couldn't see you."
He squeezed her tight and then let her go. He turned her around to face him. "Always,"
She nodded and stood on tiptoe to kiss him. Angel cocked his head and listened to something downstairs.
"The Sunnydale crew just got here," Angel said.
"Let's go down and say hi," Buffy grabbed him by the hand and let him down stairs.
There was general embracing and chattering. Xander and Giles hauled presents from the car and placed them under the tree with all the presents Buffy had been shopping for since the Christmas tree went up.
Giles brought eggnog, the good stuff and the Dawn stuff. After a few glasses of the good stuff they sang rousing rounds of Christmas carols.
"One more cup of nog and then I'm thinking bed would be a good place to go," Buffy said. She took Angel's cup from him and stood up to get them both cups. She swayed a little on her feet and stopped to get her balance. The cut crystal cups tumbled from her hands and shattered on the floor. Angel lunged to catch her, his preternatural speed allowed him to just barely get there. He fell on his knees, the glass biting into them. Buffy twitched in his arms. Her eyes were squeezed shut. Her entire body arched upward in his arms, like a bowstring being drawn tight. Her lips moved but Angel couldn't hear anything she was saying. Finally her body relaxed and she looked like she was sleeping peacefully. Angel smoothed the hair back from her head. He could hear her heartbeat pounding strong and a little fast.
"Buffy, baby, wake up," Angel said shaking her slightly.
She didn't even bat an eyelash. Angel's forehead furrowed. "Someone, get me a cool cloth."
Gunn handed him a wet, cool cloth. Angel dabbed it on Buffy's forehead and neck. She still lay limp in his arms, eyes closed. Angel shook his head. "They've never knocked her out like this. They made her ears bleed once and have left her hysterical but never unconscious."
He picked her up and laid her gently on the couch. He knelt down beside her, watching her face for any sign of wakefulness. He crouched like that nearly fifteen minutes, oblivious to the people around him. Willow finally laid her hand on his shoulder and he started.
"Angel, let's call the doctor. Do you know where she keeps her medicine?" Willow asked.
Angel nodded and led Willow up to the bathroom. He opened the medicine cabinet and displayed a few bottles of pills. Willow sat down on the toilet and looked at the labels, opening a couple of the bottles. "There should be some pink pills somewhere. I swear I saw her take pink ones one time."
"That could have been before. She's changed medication a couple of times. She said some of them gave her an upset stomach," Angel offered.
Willow twisted and set one of the bottles on top of the toilet tank. It was then that she noticed the corner of a plastic bag sticking out. "Hey, what's this?" She asked taking the tank top off and pulling out a large gallon sized Ziploc bag of pill bottles.
Angel shook his head.
Willow dug in the bag, pulling out prescription bottles and reading off medicine labels and doctor's names. "They're all pain pills, but there are at least four different doctors here and six different prescriptions," Willow glanced up, her eyes met Angel's. He looked down at her in horror.
"I think maybe she needs a hospital," Willow finally said.