Chapter Seven

The library was even quieter than usual. The smell of sage mixed with that of musty books and tea. The circle of people gathered around the table was tense. Willow was double and triple checking the set up of the spell. Ms. Calender was going over the words and actions she had to perform. Angel kept shifting his feet in a move that Buffy had come to realize meant he wanted to bolt. Buffy was wringing her hands. Xander was busy stuffing his face with Twinkies while Giles stirred his cup of tea almost obsessively. Their movements were all tight, filled with nervous energy. Oz was the only still one at the table.

"Angel, quit with the foot moving. You're going to make me sick and trust me the nerves are doing nothing for my stomach as it is," Buffy scolded him.

"Sorry," Angel apologized sheepishly.

"I think we're ready," Jenny said as she made a final minute change to the arrangement of the candles.

If it was possible the room got more claustrophobic.

"Are we sure this is a good idea?" Xander asked his mouth still full of snack food.

Buffy glared at him. "Would you like to worry about losing your soul every time you got happy?"

"I'm just saying…maybe Dead Boy isn't meant to be…" Xander trailed off when Buffy slammed the palm of her hand down on the table and gave him a look that would have killed wiser men. He cleared his throat. "So, let's get this crazy shindig started."

"Shin dig implies music and food, usually chips. I'd call this more of a gathering," Oz spoke up.

Willow smiled broadly at her boyfriend's rare foray into the conversation. "In any case, I think we're ready."

The library returned to its too quiet state, hardly broken by the words Jenny began to whisper. They were in Romanian and Angel only understood bits and pieces of them. She picked up a bundle of sticks tied with a piece of silk. Jenny had explained that the sticks were blessed and the silk had been woven by an anointed order of monks. They were meant to represent the loophole in Angel's curse. She burned one end in the sage candles, chanted a little more and then broke the bundle of sticks in half. The candles went out as if a giant had blown them out.

Buffy was the first to interrupt the silence. "Did it work?" She whispered.

Jenny nodded. "The spell went as planned and it felt like it worked."

Buffy wrinkled her nose. "I expected a flash or a boom…or a something letting us know that Angel's soul was okay."

Jenny smiled and laid a hand over Buffy's. "I wouldn't have performed the spell unless I was absolutely certain it would work. I've researched for months and I've had members of the Kalderash clan researching for months. It worked."

"So, you and Dead Boy go have a happy and let us know how it turns out…that sounded better in my brain," Xander babbled.

"What brain?" Angel snarked.

Buffy elbowed him. Xander had posed a good question though. She looked at Jenny and Giles. "So…what now?"

Jenny shook her head. "There's nothing else to do. Go about things as you would normally. The only difference is that Angel doesn't have to worry about his soul anymore."

Buffy blushed, remembering her seventeenth birthday and the many afternoons and evenings at Angel's apartment following that night when they'd treaded so close to the edge of want, need, desire and control. She cleared her throat, hoping her skin wasn't as red as she feared it was.

"Speaking of normal things, Angel and I need to do patrol. I slacked off last night." She pushed her chair back and then winced, her hand going to her stomach.

Angel was on his feet, fluttering around her like a mother hen immediately. "Are you okay? What's the matter?"

Buffy shook her head. "Nothing, Slayer Junior here just decided a slayer sized kick to my ribs would be nice."

This goofy grin came over Angel's face. It hurt Buffy to look at him so she turned away, her hands massaging the small of her back. "Let's go. I want to get this over with before slay baby goes into Irish jig mode and pummels my insides."

Angel took her elbow and led her out of the library, knowing better than to argue with her about whether she should go patrol or not. He'd made that mistake before and had gotten an earful of hormonal slayer telling him that she could at least help him do her job.

"That wasn't awkward or anything, was it?" Buffy finally said as they walked through one of Sunnydale's many, beautiful cemeteries.

Angel grinned. "They mean well…okay maybe not Xander, but the others mean well."

Buffy smirked at him and then sighed. "I just want this over with, Angel. I'm so tired of being fat and tired and not myself…" A scream rent the air, pushing Buffy out of her moping and propelling both her and Angel in the direction of the scream. They got there in time to see a vampire in a letter man's jacket trying to chomp down on a pretty brunette girl that couldn't have been more than seventeen.

"One of these days you guys are going to learn the cemetery is –not- a romantic place to make out."

The vampire turned at the sound of Buffy's voice. A feral grin spilled over his blood splattered visage. "Lookie, Lookie what I found…two for the price of one."

Normally executing a round house kick that would wipe the leer off the vampire's face wouldn't have been a problem. With six months of pregnant belly, Buffy found it more of a problem than she had anticipated. The vampire ducked, she stumbled and ended up smacking her head on a flat headstone. Through the stars circling her head, Buffy saw Angel dust the vamp and hustle the girl off toward the nearest exit.

He knelt beside her, one hand cradling the small of her back, the other resting on her stomach. The concern on his face brought tears to her eyes, or maybe that was the hormones, either way resulted in a blubbering mess of Buffy.

"Look at me! I can't even do my job!"

"Shhhh, it's okay," Angel murmured as he helped her to her feet. He probed the knot on the back of her head with gentle fingers. "Any nausea, dizziness or drowsiness?"

Buffy shook her head. "No." She sniffled. "Can you just take me home?"

Angel nodded. "Of course." He started toward Revello drive and she pulled him back, shaking her head.

"I don't want to go to my house."

Angel looked at her, confusion marring his features. "You said home…"

A smile touched her lips. "I meant your place…home."

Angel enveloped her hand in his and started toward his apartment. Once there he fumbled with his keys, dropping them once before finally getting the door unlocked. He knew he had told her that having his soul bound didn't change anything about their relationship, but since her seventeenth birthday when he'd figured out his perfect happiness would be making love to Buffy, he'd known it would change everything.

"I'll just-I'll get you something to drink," Angel said, closeting himself in the kitchen and taking a moment to breathe. He didn't need to…except when Buffy was around and he felt like a sixteen year old boy, then his chest would heave with panting gasps of air. She made him feel alive. She made him feel hope. It was something he hadn't felt in a very long time.

When he stepped back into the main room of the small apartment, Buffy had lit the beeswax candles he kept throughout the room. She was sitting on the edge of the bed, a nervous smile on her lips.

"I hope it's alright…I know you like the candles lit."

Angel nodded. "Yes, I like the candles." He sat down next to her, the glass of juice in his hand completely forgotten. He leaned across her, setting the juice on the nightstand. Her fingers trailed in the hair at the nape of his neck. His skin shivered at her touch. In one graceful motion, he scooped her legs into his lap and laid her on the pillows at the head of the bed. He stretched out beside her, his fingers burning from her ankle, up calf, lingering at the back of her knee, her hip, her stomach, just brushing her breast and coming to rest at the pulse of her neck. She was breathless, her blood pounding under his fingertips.

"Not fair that you can do that to me with just a touch," she whispered.

Angel smiled at her. "Let me show you what you can do to me with just a touch."