AN: Once again, I just want to say thanks to everyone here at the-site-which-cannot-be-named for all the wonderful feedback!

Chapter 18

Sunlight was streaming all the way across the bed by the time Buffy woke up several hours later. Disorientation set in first. The room and the bed were unfamiliar. It only took a moment, though, for her memories of the night before to resurface. She was at Angel's house, sleeping in Angel's guestroom. And she was currently in the bed that she had fallen asleep next to Angel early that morning.

Before she could stop herself, Buffy whipped her head around to look at the other side of the bed, hoping, but knowing she wouldn't, find Angel there. He had told her he needed to go to work today. As expected, the bed was empty. Or almost.

Lying on the pillow next to her was a single sheet of paper, as well as a cluster of what looked like wildflowers. Buffy couldn't stop the smile that formed at seeing them. Angel had left her flowers. She sat up quickly and scooped them up in her hands, lifting them to her face so she could inhale their fresh scent. The sigh she emitted would have embarrassed her if anyone had been in the room with her.

She held the flowers in front of her for a long minute, all but cooing over the gesture. They were only wildflowers, but they were beautiful, coming in a range of colors and blooms. Finally, Buffy lowered them to her lap and picked up the accompanying note. The sight of Angel's flowing script made her smile again as she read the letter.

Buffy,

I hope you slept well. I didn't want to wake you when I left.

Don't hesitate to use anything in the house. There's plenty of food in the kitchen if you get hungry.

I should be home by 4. I'll stop and pick up a pizza for dinner.

Angel

The mere mention of food made her stomach growl. She couldn't remember the last time she had eaten. Glancing at the clock, she saw that it was only one in the afternoon. Way too early to wait for the dinner Angel promised to bring with him. She'd have to take him up on his offer to raid the kitchen.

Still holding the note and the flowers, Buffy climbed out of the big, comfortable bed and padded out of the room. The moment she walked through the doorway and into the hallway, a black ball of fur lept at her feet, causing her to shriek, then burst out laughing. The kitten stopped batting at her toes long enough to look at her as though she were not quite sane.

"Hello, Shadow," she greeted the kitten, bending down to scratch her ears. The kitten purred loudly and brushed against Buffy's ankle. "Are you hungry, too?" she asked. Shadow cocked her as if to say yes, so Buffy picked her up.

Now carrying the kitten, the flowers, and the note, Buffy descended the stairs and walked through the house. It wasn't until she reached the kitchen that she realized she felt totally at ease in Angel's home. Strange, she thought. She hadn't felt comfortable anywhere since...since a long time ago.

As she searched through the cabinets for cat food, Buffy considered the thought. Why did she feel so comfortable here? She supposed it was because everything about Angel's house was positive. She had no bad memories of the place, unlike the house she shared with her father. Everything here was light and fresh. She rather liked it.

But, she quickly amended, it wouldn't do to get used to it. This was Angel's house. Not hers. She was only a guest. That reminder didn't stop her from wondering, though, what it would be like to live here. With Angel.

A blush crept up her cheeks at the intimate connotation of her imagination. What in the world was she thinking? She had no business thinking fantasies like that. Angel was just...a friend. He was only helping her clear her name and get her life back on track. That was all he was doing. She didn't even really want to consider anything beyond that.

The memory of the kiss they'd shared rose in her mind. That hadn't exactly been a friendly thing, had it? It hadn't seemed like a strictly platonic gesture at the time. It had seemed like...everything. But what did it mean to Angel? Why had he done it? Maybe he had only been trying to be nice to her because he felt sorry for her. She hoped that wasn't the reason. Then again, maybe it was better if that was the case. She could handle something like a platonic kiss between friends. Anything else...Buffy shuddered, dark memories surging to the surface.

A loud meow shook Buffy out of her thoughts, making her realize she'd found the cat food, but gotten so sidetracked thinking about Angel she'd forgotten to pour some into the kitten's bowl. She'd simply been standing there at the counter, cat food in hand, mind wandering. Good thing no one was around to see her act like a fool.

Walking over to the silly porcelain bowls Angel had bought, she poured some of the special kitten formula dry food for Shadow. As soon as she moved away, the kitten happily crouched and starting munching away.

After replacing the cat food, Buffy's stomach growled again, reminding her of her own hunger. She strode over the refrigerator and poked around inside. There was some leftover fried chicken in a bowl that looked appetizing, but she worried that it would make her too full and then she wouldn't be hungry when Angel came back with the pizza.

She put the bowl covered with plastic wrap back on the shelf and looked around for something else. In the dairy drawer, she found some packaged cheese. If Angel had any crackers to go with the cheese, it would make a good snack. Grabbing the block of cheddar, along with a can of diet cola, Buffy closed the fridge and set her selection on the counter.

A short search later, she'd found some cracked wheat crackers and had seated herself at the kitchen table. She was just about to slice off a piece of cheddar when a knock sounded on the front door. Her hand froze mid-cut, panic seizing her instantly.

Who in the world would be knocking on Angel's door in the middle of the day? It didn't matter who, though. Nobody could know that she was here – or that she was alive for that matter. Luckily, whoever was at the door couldn't see into the kitchen where she was. She hoped they went away quickly.

The knock came again, increasing her worry. To be on the safe side, she quietly stood from the table and inched her way over toward the pantry. She could hide there if necessary. She had reached the slatted doors when yet another knock sounded. Whoever it was didn't seem to be going away. Would they try to come in? Peek in the windows?

As Buffy was about to slip into the pantry, she heard familiar voice call out.

"It's Willow!"

Buffy slumped against the wall in relief, and let out a heavy sigh. It was only Willow, someone who knew she was live and didn't believe she was a murderer. And actually, she wouldn't mind seeing Willow. Ever since things had changed, she hadn't had a chance to really talk to her friend.

Even though she knew it was Willow at the door, Buffy was still cautious as she approached. She took care to peek out the curtained side windows just to be safe. The flash of red hair assured her that it was indeed Willow. Still, when she opened the door, she made certain to stand behind it so that she couldn't be seen from the outside.

Willow scooted in, allowing Buffy to close the door quickly. For several drawn out seconds, the two could only stare at each other, feeling an awkwardness between them. Buffy's eyes darted around the foyer while Willow shifted nervously on her feet. Neither knew what to say to the other.

Finally, Willow grabbed at the duffel bag hanging off her shoulder and held it out to Buffy. "I...um...I brought you some clothes." At Buffy's questioning look, she elaborated, "Giles...he...um...I got a key from him and got some of your stuff." What she didn't say was that she'd seen where Buffy had spent the last few years. It wasn't bad. It just looked...lonely.

"Oh...thanks." Buffy's eyes flicked down to her current attire. She pulled at the t-shirt still knotted at her hip. "These are Angel's. They're kinda big."

"Well, Angel's a big guy," Willow replied. The two friends burst out laughing at the silly comment, and suddenly, the awkwardness was gone.

"Yeah, he is," Buffy agreed, flushing a bit as she thought of Angel's large body near hers on the bed the night before. Willow noticed the slight scarlet tint to Buffy's cheeks, but said nothing.

Sighing, Willow looked at Buffy, struck suddenly by the fact that her best friend was really alive and in her life again. "It's so good to have you back, Buffy."

"I missed you, too," she answered with a small sniffle.

Willow stepped forward, wanting to hug Buffy, but hesitated. "Do you mind?" she asked.

Buffy shook her head. "No."

They embraced, and both were soon crying, releasing years of pent up emotions. It was Willow who finally pulled back, but kept her hands on Buffy's arms, afraid to let go. "Oh, Buffy. I wish I'd known...I could have done something...been there for you."

Smiling sadly, Buffy swiped at her wet cheeks. "It's okay. You're here now."

"Yes, I am," Willow said definitively. "And I always will be."

Accepting the reinforcement, Buffy nodded her head, but said nothing in response. She didn't want to talk about her past right now. All she wanted was to spend some time with her best friend. She had missed so much. "I was just about to have a snack. Do you want some?"

"Sure," Willow answered with a smile and followed Buffy into the kitchen.

Once in the kitchen, Buffy went to the refrigerator and pulled out a can of the same soda she'd gotten for herself and held it up to Willow. "Is this okay?"

"Yeah, that's fine," Willow replied, taking a seat on a chair at the table.

Following suit, Buffy sat down and handed Willow the can. She pulled out some more crackers, placing them between them on the table. As Willow raised her hand to open the can of diet cola, a shiny glint off her hand caught Buffy's eye. Shocked, she grabbed at Willow's hand, staring at the medium sized emerald surrounded by little diamonds set in a gold band.

"Is this...," she mumbled, looking up at Willow who was blushing slightly.

"Uh huh," Willow responded shyly.

"You're engaged!" shrieked Buffy, yanking on her hand to get a better look.

"Spike and I are getting married next month," Willow told her even though Buffy hadn't yet asked.

Buffy's mouth dropped open. Spike and Willow? Engaged? Getting married? It was almost too much to fathom. She knew they'd been friends in high school. They had all been friends. But there had never been anything romantic between the two. Willow had been seriously dating...

"What about Oz?" Buffy blurted out.

Shifting in her seat, Willow let the hand that Buffy had let go of drop to her lap. Her anger with her former boyfriend was long past, and they still kept in touch as friends, but she hated to talk about it. This was Buffy though, her best friend.

"We broke up about three years ago," Willow relayed, slicing off a piece of the cheddar cheese as a way to add some distraction.

"Oh, Willow," Buffy said, leaning forward. "What happened?"

Willow shrugged, took a bite of her cracker with cheese, chewed slowly. She swallowed, then sighed loudly. "Well, you know his band was getting popular after high school," she began, and Buffy nodded. "They started touring places within an hour or two driving's distance with this band Shy. One weekend I decided I would go up to Pasadena where they were playing and surprise him since he'd been gone a few weeks. It was fairly early in the morning, and I didn't want to wake him so I convinced the manager of the motel to give me a key. When I went in, Oz was in bed with this chick Veruca, the totally skanky lead singer of Shy."

"No way! Oz would never have cheated on you!" Buffy refuted, completely surprised that he would do that to Willow. Oz had always been so loyal to her.

"I didn't think so either," she agreed, shrugging again. "But they were in bed naked. I left before Oz could explain. But he followed me back to Sunnydale. He said it had been a one time thing. They'd gotten drunk and accidentally slept together." At Buffy's snort, Willow nodded. "Yeah. I don't doubt that's what happened, but what was to stop it from happening again with her? Or some groupie? I couldn't stand the idea of him being all over the place with women throwing themselves at him while I was here in Sunnydale, so I broke up with him."

"Wow." Buffy was almost speechless. She couldn't believe what had happened. Willow and Oz had seemed so perfect together. And she never, never would have imagined Oz cheating on her best friend. "I'm so sorry, Willow."

"It's okay." Patting Buffy's hand, Willow gave a small smile. "It hurt for a long time, but I got over it. I still talk to Oz. We've managed to still be friends."

"That's good." Still, Buffy thought, that didn't explain... "How did you end up with Spike?"

Willow laughed, took a sip of her soda. "It's strange, I know. I never would have thought we'd end up together either," she said, still chuckling. "But he was there for me after everything with Oz. Neither of us really had many friends here so we did stuff together. Then he came up with this crazy idea about starting a business as partners."

"A business? Spike wanted to start a business?" The very idea seemed ludicrous to Buffy. He'd been such a bad boy in high school, always getting in trouble for something. Of course, as his friend, she'd known most of it was just an act. Deep down, he was a good guy. Even so, Spike as a business owner was way too strange.

"Yeah, I thought he was joking at first," Willow said what Buffy was thinking. "But he was serious. When I asked him why, he said he didn't want to be a loser all his life like people thought he was."

"Spike's not a loser," Buffy strongly disagreed.

"I told him that too, but he wanted to have something to stand on, to make him somebody." She bit into another cracker, lifted her shoulders restlessly. "I didn't think starting a business was such a good idea, at least not here with...everything that'd happened. But the more he talked about it, the better it sounded. I had some money that my grandmother left me after she died, and Spike had saved working at that motorcycle garage," she explained, referring to where Spike had had a job since he was sixteen.

"So you started a business?" Buffy asked incredulously.

"Yup." Willow nodded, knowing it sounded odd. "We opened up an internet coffee shop. It was the only thing that made sense here."

"Wow." Buffy shook her head in disbelief. Not only were Willow and Spike engaged to be married, they also owned a shop together. How strange.

"The first few months were rough," Willow went on. "We didn't have the best reputations because of...," she trailed off.

"Because of me," Buffy filled in what Willow hadn't said. "I'm sorry."

"No, Buffy. Don't be sorry. You didn't do anything wrong," Willow stated vehemently, taking one of Buffy's hands. "YOU were the one wronged. And I don't regret being your friend. Neither does Spike."

"Oh Willow." Buffy choked back a sniffle, but when Willow pulled her into a hug, she let the tears flow.

The two remained locked in an embrace, shedding tears for all the time they'd lost, and all that had happened in the past. Four years may have passed since the last time they'd been able to spend any real time together, but to them it didn't matter. They'd been friends since childhood. That kind of connection couldn't be severed because of all that had passed in the intervening years.

Over the next two hours, they talked about Willow's life, her relationship with Spike, and her business. Buffy was eager to hear about all that she had missed. If she felt a sense of loss in her heart over the fact that she had lost so much time, she held it inside. And if she felt any anger at her father for keeping her existence a secret for four years, she fought it back. She didn't want her reunion with her best friend tainted. Which was why she avoided any talk about her own past.

Willow noticed the direction of the conversation, the fact that everything had been about her, but she let it be. True, she did want to talk to Buffy about the four years she'd been gone. Presumed dead. But she didn't want to push. Buffy would talk about it when she was ready. All that mattered now was that Buffy was back. And she was damned sure it was going stay that way. She was not going to let anything else happen to Buffy.

They had just started talking about Willow's family when suddenly the redhead jumped and looked down at her feet where she'd felt something brush against her. Gazing up at her from the floor out of a pair of vivid green eyes was a little black furball. "Oh! How cute!" She bent down and picked up the kitten. "I didn't know Angel had a cat!"

"He just got her," Buffy told her, reaching over to scratch Shadow's head with a smile. "Angel let me name her."

Something in the tone of Buffy's voice made Willow look up at her friend curiously. She was about to speak when the sound of the front door opening and closing interrupted. The noise made Buffy flinch, a worried look crossing her face. But the sound of Angel calling Buffy's name erased the expression. More food for thought, Willow reflected.

"We're in the kitchen!" Buffy called back.

Within seconds, Angel appeared in the doorway. He stopped as he entered, giving a wide smile when he saw Buffy. Willow watched with great interest as Buffy smiled back at Angel, virtually forgetting Willow was there for a moment.

"I brought pizza," he said, holding out the rectangular box, then finally noticed the other person in the room. "Oh, hi Willow."

"Hey, Angel," she greeted him, still watching the byplay.

"Do you want to stay for pizza?" he asked Willow, setting the box on the table.

"Sure," she accepted eagerly, though her desire to stay had nothing to do with eating, and more to do with wanting to observe they way her two friends were acting around each other..

"Cool," he replied. "I'm just going to go up and change. Be right back."

Willow waited until Angel had left the room and she could hear his footsteps on the stairs before turning back to Buffy and asking, "So...what's up with you and Angel?"

TBC