Buffy found herself holding her breath as she entered the house, Angel following close behind. They had been on a handful of dates over the past couple of weeks by now and she'd found herself hoping tonight would be the one where he decided to stay-at least the night. He hadn't gone past the foyer since she'd gotten her memories back except for one time he'd helped carry a few bags into the kitchen for her.

Instead, he would drive all the way up to Sunnydale and spend anywhere between a couple of hours to most of a day before driving back to LA after dropping her off. They'd always had an amazing time together... they had gone out to eat several times, he'd taken her to some local festival one time, they'd gone to a trampoline, hung out and danced the night away over at The Bronze, but whatever they did it'd always been fun. And very Angel... he'd always liked to mix traditional dates with something out of the left field.

Afterward, he'd bring her home, they'd sit out in the car and talk for awhile, and he would walk her to the door and kiss her goodnight in a way that had her body begging for more.

When he wasn't around, she missed him terribly. They would talk for hours on the phone, text, or just keep in contact in one way or another but it was never the same. She hated when he was gone, hated when he would leave to head back.

Buffy felt her heartbeat quicken when she turned around, watching as he closed the door behind him. His eyes met hers and he gave a hint of a smile before pulling her into his arms.

Buffy happily went, sighing happily as he held her close and she laid her head of his chest. Both of them were still wet from tonight's last adventure which involved swimming in a private, indoor and heated pool. She'd just dried off the best she could before throwing her shirt and jeans back over the swimsuit while he just slipped a tee shirt on and had kept a towel wrapped around him for the drive.

Tilting her head up to look at him, Buffy tried to get a read on him. "D-do you wanna take a shower?" she asked after a moment, her heart pounding against her chest.

His head tilted so slightly that she wondered if she'd only imagined it, his eyes looking at her, seeing if she meant it in the way he was thinking she did. Which, she very much did. And he seemed to understand that, tipping his head just the smallest bit.

Buffy turned, putting her things off to the side of the stairs before leading him up. Her hand held his the entire way, bringing him into the bathroom with her.

When she turned around this time, Angel's hands quickly went to her hips, pulling her to him. His lips met hers and she felt her legs wobble from the contact. He helped her out of her shirt then her jeans, his eyes taking the sight of her in for the countless time tonight. She slipped out of her shoes before grabbing for his wet tee shirt and together they pulled it off of him. As he got his own shoes off and put them off to the side, she reached into the tub and started the water, pulling the tab up once she was satisfied with the temperature so it turned into a nice water spray from the shower head.

Angel kissed her again. "I love you," he whispered, before kissing her on the forehead next.

She couldn't help but give a shy smile. "I love you, too, Angel."

His hands went to the back of her neck, undoing the knot to the swimsuit top there. Buffy swallowed as the entire item was removed, thrown over to the side with the rest of the wet clothes. She began shimming out of the bottom half, watching as his hands untied the string to the shorts he had on.

Angel was one of the very few men she had ever seen naked but she knew it was a sight she would never get tired of. Her eyes lingered on his manhood, which was already at half-mast.

She was reaching out to touch him before she even knew what she was doing, feeling the pulse between her legs grow stronger. Angel moaned low in his throat but let her play, his hands holding onto the edge of the sink counter as he went from being halfway-hard to twitching and jumping in her warm palm.

He picked her up and lifted her into the tub, the spray barely touching her, and got in himself. "You're going to run out of hot water if you keep that up," he said with a gruff voice.

"I don't think I would mind that much," she replied and he chuckled. He walked her backward until she was under the water and watched her under one hell of an intense gaze as the water rained down on her, her head tipping back and eyes closing.

Buffy gasped, her eyes reopening a few moments later, feeling and now seeing his large hands on her. Buffy arched into his palms as he cupped her breasts, his thumb sliding over the perked up peaks.

Angel closed the small space between them, turning their bodies so she was up against the side wall. His hands trailed up her chest to her neck, cupping her flesh lightly between his hands as he kissed her until they were both breathless. "You are so fucking beautiful," he whispered to her, kissing her again.

As he reached for her shampoo bottle, Buffy found her own arms moving on their own again, heading for the same place as before. Angel let out a shaky breath, pouring some of the red liquid from the bottle into his other hand. Buffy's eyes would go from watching him as he began massaging the shampoo into her hair down to where her small hands were on him. One of her hands braced against his lower abdomen, while the other slowly stroked and played with his throbbing penis.

She'd missed him... in every way, sex had certainly been one of those ways. After they split was a bit easier to deal with the slack in that department but now having had a taste of it not all that long ago, she was craving him like nothing else. She could still practically feel him inside of her or touching her.

Angel helped rinse her hair out and worked on his own while she began to put her body wash on. He watched her the entire time, his eyes somehow managing to get darker by the second it seemed. He took no issue in helping her wash off again either, taking the big white poof from her and rubbing it against her skin. It wasn't long before it was just his hands caressing her.

Buffy sucked in a hard breath as he went from standing before her to his head disappearing below. His eyes stayed trained on her as he lowered himself down, as he lifted one of her legs up over his shoulder, and as his mouth found its way to her sex. Buffy felt a shudder run through her entire body at the first touch of his tongue, her hands flying out to grab handfuls of his hair.

"Fuck, I love you," she groaned, her head falling back against the wall.

OoOoO

Angel shut the water off when it turned cold. He picked her up and easily carried her off to the bedroom. "Buf?"

"Hmm?"

"You sure about this?" he asked. "Because we don't have to anyth..."

She cut him off, her lips seeking his. "Angel, trust me, I am very sure that I want this. I am beyond sure that I want you."

He kissed her then. "You know this is going to be a lot more than sex," he said softly. "It's going to change things... and I don't think I'd be able to walk away afterward."

Buffy smiled slowly. "Do you think you could anyway?" she asked him.

"I don't know, but I would try. If that's what you truly wanted. But if we do this..."

"I don't want you walking away, now or later, Angel. That is what I truly want."

She knew that the rape was also hanging in the air, this being the first time they would be doing this with those memories intact but she was thankful he didn't bring it up, instead muttering that he needed to go run out to the car. He soon explained about having only brought his phone and the keys in with him so he was going to grab some condoms. She felt more than a little tempted to tell him to just forget wearing one all together but instead told him there were still some in the kitchen he'd left before.

"Please," Buffy answered the quiet question in his eyes, asking her one last time if she was sure about doing this. She could feel him at the opening of her entrance and thought she was going to explode if he didn't start making love to her soon.

Thankfully, she never had to find out if she actually would or not as just seconds later she felt her body stretching around him.

Angel moved painfully slow at first, making sure she felt every last inch of him as he moved in and out of her. "I love you," he would tell her, or "I miss you" or other words of love would fall from his lips as he pushed back deeper into her.

"Angel," she finally groaned, his name drawled out. He was not taking up on any of her hints to move harder or faster.

"Yes, love?" he asked, a smirk on his lips.

"You know what."

"Mmm," he said. He flipped them so she was now on top. "Why don't you show me," he said.

Buffy shot him a look, but soon she was moving her body against his. His hands toyed with her breasts as she bounced up and down his long cock, pinching and twisting her nipples with his fingers, squeezing the soft flesh in his palms.

"So close," she said, squeezing her legs around him. "I n-need you to..."

This time, he wasn't wasting time teasing. Angel flipped them once more. "Buf?" he asked, a bit of a concerned look on his face.

Buffy lifted her head to his, kissing him hungrily. This only increased when he held her hands down with one of his above her head. She still craved him holding her down and being the one to finish them off. She knew where the concern came from but it was different with him.

They'd tried to incorporate handcuffs in their play long before but found she at least couldn't be in them as it made her feel too panicked, but there was something about him doing it that set her on fire. Angel's other hand slipped between their bodies, pinching and rubbing at the small bundle of nerves to her sex while he thrusted with purpose until they both fell off the edge.

Buffy's body nearly threw the both of their bodies off the bed as she came like a clap of thunder.

"Jesus fucking hell," she said loudly, her body still shaking well after the fact.

Angel grunted. "Second that. Fuck," he groaned.

Buffy smiled at him, swinging her hips around.

"Mmm, already trying for round two are we?" he asked.

Buffy laughed. "Oh, I think I need to have time to recover after this, but doesn't mean you don't feel damn good in there right now."

OoOoO

Once he had feeling back in his legs, Angel reluctantly pulled himself to his feet and went to the bathroom to clean up. He picked their pile of wet clothes up off the bathroom floor and carried it down to the washer and started it. When he got back upstairs, he found Buffy laid out in the bed underneath the blankets. "I do love you, Buffy Summers," he said softly, just staring at her.

"O'Connor," she corrected him again.

He didn't say it to her, but he didn't feel right using his surname without them being married anymore. Instead, he just gave her a bit of a smile before coming to join her in the large bed.

Buffy pillowed herself on top of him. "I love you, too, Angel. I always have."

OoOoO

Not having to go to work, Angel spent the night and following day and night with her. He was sure he'd been happy to have stayed in bed with her the entire time but that wasn't entirely the case of what did happen. She'd given him quite the wake up call to start the morning off, slipped underneath the sheets and using her perfect little mouth on him before he couldn't take any more, pulling her on top of him.

After that they had gone downstairs to make breakfast together, watching the news as they ate before Buffy got a phone call from Cordelia which she went into the other room to take. He'd cleaned up and went to go grab a few things out of his car-including some clothes since he'd been walking around naked or just in a towel as his clothes were still being cleaned and dried.

Buffy had pouted at his covered body but grew excited when he told her to go get dressed so they could go do something with the day ahead of them. He didn't want to burn the out on extravagant dates or anything like that, but he still liked to go out and do things with her. Given how much time had been stolen from them on top of that, he felt almost like he was trying to make some of it up at times. Though, he knew they never really could.

For a few hours, the two of them just drove around, enjoying the cool breeze flow in from the windows, singing along to the radio. They stopped off a few shops to look around, grabbed some nachos and cookies from a stand along a boardwalk. When the weather looked like it wanted to take a turn, he suggested the head back to her house and figure out some way or another to occupy the rest of the day there.

OoOoO

Even with everything that had happened, things just felt easy with Angel. Natural. From just talking about almost any subject with one another, making love, to just being in one another's company... laying in front of him on the sofa while watching some cheesy romantic movie, falling asleep in his arms, just looking at him and being able to know what he was thinking.

It was a very welcomed change from his stone-cold nothingness she'd grown used to to boot.

And when morning came yet again, she found herself awake before the alarm was to go off again. She sat up, turning over to look at his sleeping face. Her heart felt heavy as she stared on, wishing yet again that they'd have handled things so differently before, but silently swearing that they could make this work. She had no idea how she would even begin to handle losing him again if it came to that, and sure as hell had no intention on finding out.

She cursed herself when his eyes opened up, his hand coming up to brush away some stray tears that had fallen down her face. "Come on, now," he whispered. "Don't do that."

Buffy shook her head, feeling ridiculous. "Sorry," she blubbered, trying to will herself to get a grip. "I just hate knowing you're leaving and that I won't see you for a few days all over again," she told him.

Angel gently brought her face to his, taking her lips softly. "I know, baby. I'm not much a fan of it either. But you sure as hell aren't making it any easier to pull myself out of this bed."

Buffy chuckled just a little, rubbing her cheek against his. Buffy knew she really didn't mind the leaving part as much, it was the fact he would be gone for so long that got to her. Which made her want to blurt something out that she know she shouldn't, but just barely managed to keep it to herself.

Angel did his best to make sure everything was alright before finally taking the steps out the front door. But it didn't make her miss him any less.

OoOoO

Angel felt like an ass as he drove back home. He knew that Buffy had no problem with him having to go into work, especially with his newest schedule which was opening a lot more time up, but hated that they still had so much time apart.

It wasn't leaving for LA in the morning and driving back to Sunnydale as soon as he was done every time. If she wanted him to, Angel knew he'd do it in a heartbeat but he let her lead on that.

He didn't want to be pushy about it. Or overstep any lines or anything like that. They were still in the early stages of fixing the damage they'd created over the past two years and he was treading carefully for the most part.

So, he was rather shell shocked when Buffy called him while he was getting dressed to head to the office and asked him to "come home."

It was how she said it that had him stopping mid-air, furrowing his eyebrows as he concentrated on the small phone in his hand. "I know this is probably rushing things, but I hate it when you're not here, Angel. I have been trying to just deal with it and to let things just fall into place like they should and on their own and everything but... but truthfully, I want you here." Buffy took a deep breath in over the other end of the line. "I want you to move back home, Angel."

Angel swallowed, feeling a strange sensation run through his entire body. The world almost felt like it was spinning. "What?" he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

Another deep breath from her. "I know we still have things to figure out, to work through... but... wouldn't it be easier to do that if you were here? And not only get through the past but already be working on the future for us in the process, too."

"I... uh..." he sat down on the edge of his bed, looking around the room, unsure of what the hell was happening. "You want me to move back to Sunnydale, back in with you?" he asked her after a moment had passed.

"Yes," she answered. "This was our home, Angel. I want it to be again. And with us already having lost so much time over just stupid worthless... I don't want to rush things, but I don't want to miss out on anything either, waste time having what I know I want. I'd like to find a balance for all of that."

He was quiet for a long time and could hear her nervousness bleeding through.

"You think it's a bad idea," she said as he went to open his mouth. "Which, right, it probably is... I mean... I just..."

"Give me a few days," he cut her off. "I'll get things straightened out up here and if you still want me there... I'll come back home."

It didn't fully sink in until after the phone conversation had ended. Angel finished getting dressed, walked out into the living room of his condo and looked around. He'd wished forever and a day for her to tell him it was okay to move back, but had long since given up on such of a hope to actually become reality. It'd only been in very recent times he thought there was even the slightest chance he would get that with her again, even with how well things were going between them. But now here it was, and already she was throwing it out there... and it made his world spin.

The idea of calling their home "their home" again made his heart swell. The idea of going to bed next to her every night, waking up beside her every morning made his face light up like a damn Christmas tree.

He didn't know if it was the right play any more than her, but he wasn't going to turn down the opportunity. If nothing else, he would work twice as hard to make sure things didn't fuck up. And he would do everything in his power to make this the right decision in the end.

Already in his head, Angel started to get excited about seeing his things back in that house mixed with hers.