Disclaimer: Not mine, just borrowing them and having a little fun!

A/N: I'm really sorry about the horrendous amount of time it's taken me to update this. It was originally supposed to be a one or two part fic that kind of got a bit out of hand, and it took me so long and so many re-writes before I was finally happy with it. I will be updating this and my other fics more regularly for the next month, but as a warning I have A-level exams in June, which have to take precedence. Hopefully I will have this fic finished by then though. Again, I'm so sorry I took so long. Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed in the interim, and thanks for sticking with me! Big hugs and much love to you all!

Buffy woke up the next morning with a smile on her face, for the first time in what seemed like forever. Angel would soon realise exactly what he was missing, she mused. How she had coped for all these months without realising that she needed him was beyond her though. With all these thoughts flitting through her head, Buffy began to throw together a bag to take with her to Los Angeles, where she would persuade one tall, dark and brooding hunk of vampire that he was NOT going to walk away from her again. Little did she know, he wasn't as far away as she thought…

Angel stepped back from the wall on which he was working. Those manacles, while they may have been quite fun, held too many bad memories for Buffy. And, if her friends, family and Watcher would be here on a regular basis, they weren't exactly… appropriate. He turned and surveyed the rest of the mansion. Well, it wasn't a home – yet – but for now it would do. And it had the essentials… He smiled. Whatever had happened between Buffy and Riley, he would make her forget that… boy had ever existed. She was his. And soon, he'd prove that to her. But first, he had to find her. And NOT get burned to a crisp while doing it…

Buffy woke up slowly, jerking awake when she realised that she wasn't in bed in her dorm with Willow, or asleep in her seat during a lecture. Taking in her surroundings, she realised with a start that she was in the mansion. Wondering at the change in décor, she tried to sit up only to realise she was chained to a very large bed.

"I wouldn't try that. Those chains are specifically designed to hold a Slayer. You won't break them." Buffy's head whipped up at the familiar voice. It couldn't be… could it?

"Angel? WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!" Momentarily forgetting that she herself had a similar plan, Buffy yelled at Angel.

"Oh, come on now Buff. Not happy to see me? Maybe you wish I was your little puppy dog?" Angel's voice, while carrying more than a little hint of jealousy, made Buffy moan inside. It had been so long, and she missed him so much… Snapping back into reality, Buffy finally registered Angel's comment.

"Puppy dog? You mean, Riley? Angel, are you jealous!"

"Jealous? Me? No, Buffy. Just a little annoyed. I mean, come on. All that talk about forever, and THAT'S my replacement? He's a child!"

'And you're not jealous at all,' said the little voice in Angel's head. 'It doesn't bother you one bit that he got to touch her when you couldn't, got to hold her, kiss her…'

"Yeah, well, you left me, remember? For sunshine and children and fucking picnics!" Buffy spat at him, more than a little angry. "I mean, you walk away from me, cuddle up with someone who by the way did more than her fair share of damage in my body, hit me, and then YOU have the nerve to be angry at ME for doing exactly what you fucking TOLD me to do! No, Riley can't compare to you! You were the love of my life, Angel, and no one ever could! But I couldn't HAVE you, you made that very clear! So maybe I tried to find love wherever I could! And it paled in comparison to you, but YOU LEFT ME! And you didn't even CARE to come and tell me that you got your soul permanently. So I guess that's where we stand now."

"What the hell? Buffy, I left you because it was dangerous. And when I found out about my soul, I didn't want to hurt you. What was I supposed to do, swan back in to Sunnydale, 'Hey by the way we can screw without endangering the world, so just slot me back into your life like I never left?' I couldn't do that to you Buffy. And there was still the issue that I was a vampire and you weren't. It was-"

"For my own good, yadda yadda yadda. I've heard the sales pitch. Did it ever occur to you that I'm a grown up now Angel? I grew up pretty fast that summer on my own in L.A. And grown-ups make their own decisions! I could have told you that I didn't WANT sunshine and children and picnics without you! You were the one part of my freaky world that made sense; do you remember me telling you that? But as soon as my mother opened her mouth – and yes, I found out about that – you turned tail and ran. You weren't worrying about me, you were worrying FOR me. I'm capable of figuring things out for myself! And if you'd ever bothered to ASK me, I would have told you that you were the most important thing in my life, vampire or not! I LOVE you Angel! I always will. Just because you weren't there didn't mean that I wouldn't want to know about your soul, even if it was just so that I could be happy for you!"

"Because that's how it works. You want the person you love to have whatever makes them happy, not some notion of a perfect life that they could never achieve anyway! I'm a Slayer. We die young. And do you think that even if I had a long and happy life in front of me, I would bring up a child in a family without love? I had that, and I would never inflict that on my child! And it wouldn't be a family with love, because it wouldn't be YOU! Riley wasn't you. He never could be. That's why I broke up with him – I can't love someone else. Not when every tiny little part of me calls out for YOU!"

Angel sat there speechless, his brain still trying to wrap itself around Buffy's admission. 'She broke up with the boy? He couldn't be me. She still wants me…'

Buffy lay there, exhausted. That admission had taken her more effort than Angel could possibly know, and she was trying desperately to keep herself from breaking down. 'He doesn't want me any more, he hasn't said anything, he can't want me, he left…' Suddenly, Buffy heard a low growl, her only warning before Angel pounced on her.

"Mine!" Angel lowered his mouth to Buffy's, capturing it in a possessive kiss. She moaned into his mouth, kissing back until she came to her senses.

"Angel? What are you doing!"

"Mine. All mine. Only ever mine." Angel replied in between soul-searing kisses.

"Are you sure? What about sunshine, picnics, chi-mmfph!" Buffy found herself cut off as Angel recaptured her mouth. The kiss rose in passion, and when they finally broke apart Angel noticed with satisfaction that Buffy was breathing heavily, and her lips were all swollen.

Suddenly becoming well aware of their position – he was lying on top of a manacled, dishevelled Buffy, Angel moved away. The sight of Buffy, with her hair mussed up, her lips all swollen, and in chains no less, was doing some rather interesting things to certain parts of Angel's anatomy, and while, granted, he had been the one to chain her, he didn't want them rushing into something that she may not be ready for. Moving to unlock the manacles, now that he was satisfied that she was really his again, he was surprised when the previously compliant Buffy grabbed him the second her hands were free. Flipping him over onto his back, she had him chained in the same position she had been in a split second, before he could put up any resistance.

"Buffy? What the hell? I thought we had dealt with everything? Why are you chaining me up?" An edge of panic crept into Angel's voice, although underneath there was a tremor of excitement. It had been a long time since Angel had been in this position…

"Well, lover," Buffy replied, putting a seductive emphasis on the second word that had Angel feeling a sudden… rising in a particular area, "You got to chain me up, and win me back. That little possessive display there definitely had its charms! But it seems that you got all the fun. You never did stop to ask if maybe I had been planning something… Unfortunately, when you kidnapped me I didn't get to bring my toys."

Crawling up the length of Angel's body, Buffy's voice dipped lower, and became husky, dripping with want. "You see, when I found out about the curse, I had Willow put a little spell on some chains as well. I was going to drive to L.A., and chain you up, and make you mine again." Nearing Angel's ear, she leaned over, and whispered, her voice making him tremble with need. "It's almost a shame you came here first. I had such… fun planning what to do to you…" Standing up, and walking away from him, she turned back, and with a wicked gleam in her eye, said, "But, now I have you right where I want you. And I don't even have to bother with the tricky persuasion part. I just get to play…"