Title: Missing

Author: Neamh1

Disclaimer: Not mine

Warnings: NC-17

AN: Thanks for all the great feedback, please send more and i hope you all enjoy the next chapter.

Buffy woke early that morning, the clock on the mantelpiece above the fire said that it was only five but she knew that she wouldn't be able to get back to sleep. She decided to head downstairs and make herself and Liam something for breakfast, maybe some eggs or an omelette, she'd have to see what he had in first.
As she entered the kitchen she was startled by Liam's form standing at the counter drinking a glass of juice, when he noticed her he turned and gave her a smile.
"Good morning," she said and walked to him giving him a quick kiss on the lips boldly, he looked slightly startled but she didn't really notice as she carried on talking and moving about the kitchen, "I didn't think you'd be up yet. I thought I'd make us some breakfast if you're up for it?" she said looking in the fridge to see what she could make. "We can't go to work on an empty stomach." She smiled at him curiously, he was looking at her in such a strange way she thought something was wrong until he took a step towards her and claimed her mouth with his. The kiss wasn't tender or gentle like it had been the night before, it was rough and fast and she felt him back them up against the counter. Something didn't feel right and Buffy began to push him away but he only kissed her harder. A million thoughts were going through her head, why was he being like this, had she somehow unintentionally upset him? The next thing Buffy knew, he was being pulled away from her by…Liam? Two of them, what was going on? Liam punched the other man in the face and he stumbled backwards into the kitchen counter.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" said Liam barely controlling his anger towards his twin brother Angelus. When he had walked into the kitchen and found them kissing he had been taken over by rage and jealousy, but after he noticed that Buffy was trying to push Angelus away his rage scaled up ten notches and he couldn't hold back from planting a firm punch in his brothers face.
"Hey to you too brother, and for your information, she kissed me first." Angelus said, with a wicked grin on his face. He rubbed the spot on his face where Liam's fist had connected and looked back to Buffy who was standing next to Liam in shock. When he'd seen her walk in the kitchen he thought she was the cutest thing he'd ever seen, he'd wanted to take her right there and then on the kitchen floor…and he might have if Liam hadn't interrupted them. He had taken advantage of owning his brothers face, and not for the first time either.
"She didn't know it was you." Liam defended Buffy and then turned around to see her pale features starring between him and Angelus. He walked to her and lifted her chin to look at him but she flinched at his touch and Liam took a step back. "Are you okay?" he asked, he was hurt that she had pulled away from him but after seeing Angelus forcing himself on her like that he could understand it, he pushed his feelings aside to try and speak with her. She simply nodded her answer to him and Liam could see the emotions running through her.
She couldn't decide if she was angry, scared or upset, one thing she did know was that she would never mistake Angelus for Liam again.
"Buffy, this is my twin brother Angelus. He's supposed to be in prison though." Said Liam waiting for Angelus to explain why he wasn't and more importantly, why he thought he could just walk into his home uninvited and make a move on Buffy.
"I'm hurt you didn't keep in touch Liam. My sentence is over early for good behaviour, I'm a free man; I got here yesterday afternoon and unpacked my things in my old room. Hope you don't mind, it's just for the next few weeks until I find something more permanent. I was surprisingly tired anyway so I hit the sack and woke up early this morning to be greeted by this lovely creature." Angelus said raking his eyes up and down Buffy's firm, supple little body. Her anger at him clearly displayed in her features, Angelus thought that she was going to attack by the look she gave him. He smiled to her, enjoying the fact that she was so responsive to his taunting, this should prove to be a very interesting few weeks, he thought to himself.
"That's why the dogs went mad when I came home yesterday, because you were along the hall in your room." Said Liam thoughtfully remembering the way his dogs had behaved yesterday.
"Yeah, dam dogs, nearly attacked me when I walked in. Anyway, I'm going to get ready, I have a lot of business to see to today. No doubt I'll see you later brother dear. Buffy…it was a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Said Angelus as he gave her a smirk and left the kitchen leaving Liam all but growling behind him.

When Angelus had left the room Liam turned around to face Buffy and she practically threw herself into his arms. She couldn't describe the way Angelus had made her feel and she really didn't want to talk about it, she only wanted to find some comfort in Liam's arms and remind herself that it wasn't him who had made her feel that way. They stood there like that in the kitchen for what seemed like hours, neither one wanting to move out of the others embrace. Finally Buffy pulled slightly back with a sheepish smile; he smiled back and then sat her down at the island in his kitchen and proceeded to make them both some breakfast. After, they went up to their rooms and both got ready for work. Buffy was still annoyed at Angelus but she knew that she had to push aside her feelings and concentrate on her work if she wanted to keep Terry and Wesley happy, so that's what she did.
When Buffy and Liam arrived at work Buffy was informed that she now had been given Darla's old dressing room which was right next to Liam's. Terry had told them they might want to stay at the studio for the rest of the week because they had a lot of work to catch up on what with all the re-shoots that were needed, and it would be easier all around if they were close to hand. The day flew by and everyone was impressed with Buffy's acting skills. Just before they were about to leave for the day Terry said that he wanted to try the scene where Liam and Buffy would kiss to see what the chemistry was like between them. Terry had heard the rumours that Liam and Buffy were getting close but he didn't want it to interfere with their jobs and the sooner both got used to the difference between on stage kissing and offstage, the better in his opinion.
Buffy and Liam had rehearsed the lines last night but they had chosen not to practise the kissing; they didn't think that Terry would have them do that until they reached that episode which was still a way along in the series. They took their places on the set and waited for Terry to tell them to begin, Buffy again noticed that there was a crowd assembled to watch their performance as usual and it wasn't really making things easier for her. Liam must have noticed the worried look on her face and he quickly squeezed her hand in an attempt to comfort her. She smiled to him and then took her place as Terry told the camera men to start shooting.

Beth heard the doorbell ring and she went to answer it, opening the door she was shocked to see Angel on the other side.
"Angel? What are doing here? Not that I'm not happy to see you but…is there something wrong, is that why you're here?" Beth babbled on, she hadn't expected for him to come to Rivers End after her, in fact she had expected him to simply hide from her for as long as he could. He didn't say a word and when she finally finished babbling he walked up to her and pulled her against his muscular body claiming her mouth with his. He claimed her so completely and never wanted to move from the heaven of her arms but knowing he shouldn't be doing this. He pulled away quickly, breathlessly.
"I'm sorry Beth I shouldn't have…"she cut him off putting a finger against his lips to stop him from saying the hurtful words she knew he was about to say.
"Don't…just kiss me." She said and he lowered his lips again to hers, the kiss was softer this time, full of longing and regret from time spent apart.

"Cut!" shouted Terry, both of them had seemed extremely nervous when he had suggested trying the scene, Buffy more so than Liam, but once they got into their roles they were brilliant. The only trouble being that he had shouted 'cut' and they were still kissing.
They were in a world of their own, they hadn't heard Terry shout cut, or the whispers of people watching them kiss; they were oblivious to everything but each other. That was until someone threw a small squash ball at them which hit Liam on his head, he pulled away from Buffy's lips to see Doyle, who had thrown the ball, and practically everyone else in the room, laughing at them. Buffy's cheeks turned a bright shade of red and Liam stepped back embarrassed that he had not noticed Terry shouting 'cut'. It was something that had never happened with Darla, his on stage kisses with her had been just that, and he really had to make an effort to put any passion into them. With Buffy it happened naturally, the fire and passion just came forth and claimed him and he was helpless against it.
"Okay guys, no need to tell you two that was great. We'll pick up where we left off tomorrow, let's keep those emotions running shall we, good work everybody." Said Terry as he got up from his chair and left them to go home for the night.
Both Liam and Buffy had decided to stay at the studio for a few nights to make an early start so Liam dropped her off at her house telling her he needed to go and feed the dogs and ask Angelus if he would feed them for the rest of the week. He told her he would come by and pick her up at 7:00 and they would go and get some food to take back with them to the studio.
Buffy entered her house and went upstairs to get some more clothes to take with her, Liam had said that he would pack her toothbrush and hairbrush and bring them with him later but he'd leave her clothes there for another time. Buffy entered her room and noticed that something seemed out of place, there was something in the room that was different than the way she had left it the other night, when she looked at her bed she realised what it was, the pillows on her bed were arranged differently. Buffy always placed her pillows the same way every time she made her bed, she liked everything to be neat and tidy but the way the pillows were arranged were completely different. It might have been possible with everything on her mind that she had done it differently, she thought to herself but then realised that it was very unlikely. She walked around the house and sure enough she found that certain things had been moved. Starting to get nervous she called Liam on his cell phone and asked him to come pick her up straight away, she sounded panicked on the phone but wouldn't explain just telling him to get there now. Liam sped back to Buffy's house which didn't take him long; when he got there she was sitting on the front door step waiting for him. He jumped out of the car and ran over to her.
"What's wrong, are you okay?" he asked, he could make something out in her eyes but didn't know what it meant.
"Liam, I think someone's been in my house." Said Buffy and she led Liam into the house showing him certain things that were out of place that she hadn't left there or used the day before. There was food missing from her fridge, not much, just an apple and a bottle of juice, if she hadn't realised something was wrong she wouldn't have even noticed that they were missing.
"Come on, let's get your things and get out of here." Said Liam as he took her hand and led her up the stairs, she pointed out which room was hers and they went in to get her clothes.
"Liam, you don't think Darla would have broken in and…" she trailed off not knowing what to say. She couldn't exactly say 'do you think Darla broke in, slept in my bed and ate my food', she'd sound like one of the three bears.
"I don't know Buffy. I wouldn't put anything past Darla but she's more the confrontational type, not the sort to lurk about messing with your head, besides, there was no sign of a break in. We'll get your stuff and then when we get to the studio I'll give my friend Kate a call, she's a cop, she might want to come and have a look at the house so don't touch anything." Liam said as she passed him clothes and he placed them neatly in the holdall she passed to him.
They hurried out of her house, locking the door behind them and got into his car and left for the studio.
Darla watched as they left, she couldn't believe Liam had just dropped her the way he had, especially for someone like Buffy Summers. Maybe she should pay him a visit in person when little misses goody two shoes wasn't around. She had always been able to wrap him around her little finger, he would be hers again.

Liam had picked up an Indian for them on the way back and he had just finished speaking with Kate on his cell phone, she had told him that she would swing by tomorrow after they both finished work and take a look at the place, Buffy and Liam were to meet her there at six thirty to show her what had been moved.

Liam looked over at Buffy who was playing with her food sitting on the wide sofa in her dressing room, not really paying any attention to the food or the TV. He walked over to her and sat down taking the fork out of her hand and placing the plate on the coffee table at the side. Then he turned back to her and took one of her hands in his whilst he told her what Kate had said.
"You really should eat something you know. We've got a long week ahead and you need to keep your strength up." Said Liam, getting up from the sofa.
"Not hungry," she replied and looked up at him with a questioning gaze.
"I was going to go back to my room, you know, watch some TV before bed as you don't really seem up to company right now." He said.
"Please don't leave me." She replied in an almost childlike tone. She could tell by the look on his face that he didn't think it was good idea so she quickly added "at least stay until I fall asleep?" when he smiled and sat back down next to her she moved closer and leaned against him, her head fitting perfectly in the crook of his neck and his arm circling her waist and resting gently on her hip. "This has got to be the strangest few days ever. What with Darla, Angelus and now this, I feel like hiding in a box and shipping myself to some deserted island." She said in a depressed tone.
"I'm so sorry about Angelus Buffy, he's always been that way, he thinks that no woman can resist him. I'd understand if you didn't want to come by my house again whilst here's going to be staying with me." Liam said, he couldn't believe the nerve of his brother, he realised that whilst in prison Angelus mustn't of had any women but that was no excuse to start with Buffy.
"No it's okay, next time I'll just kick him where it hurts if he gets too close. I won't let him bully me again." She said and Liam laughed, he knew she had a spark and he loved that but most women would be having nightmares about what had almost happened to Buffy, she however, had already planned her strategy for their next meeting.
They decided to watch the movie that had started about ten minutes ago on one of the movie channels, half way through the movie Liam looked over to Buffy who was still snuggled up to his side and noticed that she had fallen asleep. Rather than disturb her and try to move her to bed he grabbed the faux fur blanket that was resting on the back of the sofa and covered them both with it. He continued to watch the movie, intending on sliding out from under her when it had finished and going back to his room to sleep. He just wanted to spend a few more minutes with her curled up against him, the feeling of love and security that accompanied her whenever they were together. Before long his plans flew out the window, he felt asleep on the sofa with Buffy wrapped in his arms, both dreaming contentedly about the other.

"Doyle, quick, come look at this." Shouted Cordy to her boyfriend, Doyle gave a sigh and walked over to her and she led him down the corridor to Buffy's dressing room where she had just come from.
"I came by to see what was taking them both so long and look what I found." She said as she quietly pushed open the door to the dressing room. There on the sofa was Buffy and Liam curled up together, Buffy had her head resting on Liam's chest with one arm over his waist and Liam had both arms protectively circling Buffy's waist. "They look so cute." Said Cordy, "Let's wake them!" she said but Doyle pulled her back out of the room.
"Delia, princess, why not leave 'em to wake up themselves?" said Doyle, he was pretty sure that they would both be embarrassed about being found like that because he knew after a talk with Liam earlier yesterday that he had strong feelings for Buffy. Liam hadn't been sure whether Buffy had felt the same way but after what had happened with Angelus he had decided not to ask her just yet and give her some time.
"Sorry, no can do. Besides, Terry said he wanted them both ready in fifteen minutes." Said Cordy and she went back inside the room. "Wakeup!" she shouted at the top of her voice making Buffy and Liam jump out of their skin and fall of the couch on to the floor. Buffy landed on top of Liam and they both quickly got up, Cordy was nearly in stitches laughing at them and they both turned and glared at her, obviously not happy that she had woken them in the way she did.
"I'm sorry guys, I tried to stop her, but you know my Delia." Doyle said with an apologetic smile.
"It's okay Doyle, why exactly did you wake us with the highest pitched screech ever?" asked Liam as he worked at straightening his shirt which was all crumpled.
"Terry wanted to start a little early today, you two were the only ones not already here and so he said he wanted you're cute little butts in makeup in fifteen minutes." Cordy Said.
"Shit, okay, I'd better go get ready. See you in a minute?" Liam said to Buffy as he headed for his room with Doyle and Cordy following him. Buffy nodded and grabbed her towel and some fresh clothes heading into her bathroom. She decided to take a shower to be quick and she was all ready it ten minutes. She was just combing through her wet hair when Liam knocked on her bathroom door and she called him in.
"Leave you hair Buffy, they'll need it wet to style it anyway." Said Liam taking her hand and dragging her away from the mirror.
They headed to the set and went straight to the stylist so that they could be prepared for the days work.

That week shot by, Buffy and Liam stayed at the studio every night for two reasons, the first was that it was easier with them having to get up early every morning and the second was that Kate had suggested it. When they had met Kate earlier on in the week she had taken a look around Buffy's house and Buffy had shown her what was out of place. That night there had been some of her clothes missing which Kate thought might mean it was a male going through Buffy's belongings. However, she had said it would be best to check all possibilities and that she was going to speak with Darla to see where she had been that week. Kate told them that she would get back to them on Friday night and meet them at Buffy's house at 6:30pm.
Late on Thursday night Buffy and Liam had gone back to his house to make sure that Angelus had been taking care of the dogs. They found him in the kitchen eating a sandwich and the dogs were lying in the living room in front of a blazing fire. Buffy went to sit with dogs whilst Liam went to his room to get another set of clothes and get a film for him and Buffy to watch later that night.
After a couple of minutes Angelus went into the living room and found Buffy curled up with the dogs watching TV.
"Hey." Angelus said in his best Liam impression to see if he could fool her again.
"Hey yourself." Replied Buffy, she knew that it was Angelus and she really wanted to pay him back for treating her the way he had the other morning. Angelus attempted to approach her on the floor but Bertha began to growl so he settled for the seat on the sofa as close to her as he could get.
"I was wondering how you'd feel about coming out with me for dinner tomorrow night, a little candlelight, romance…" he said hoping that the dogs behaviour hadn't tipped her off that it was not his brother speaking to her but Angelus himself.
"You know, they say that a dog is a mans best friend." Buffy said as she got up from the floor when she heard Liam walking down the stairs. "It's no wonder they don't like you, you're more of a pig than a man." She said and walked past Angelus who was sitting with his mouth hanging open at her comment.
Liam met Buffy at the living room door and after seeing the look on Angelus' face he gave Buffy a questioning look. She smiled to him and simply walked out the front door with Liam following. When they got into the car Buffy told Liam what had been said between her and Angelus.
"That'll teach him to mess with you." Liam said laughing.
"You know, you should do that more often." Buffy said laughing along with him.
"Do what?" Liam asked.
"Laugh and I mean a full hearty laugh. It suits you and I haven't seen you laugh all that much since I've known you." Buffy said thinking of the few times that she had seen him this happy.
"Well…you'll have to keep making me happy and you'll see it more often." Liam said in a very flirting manner and leaned slightly closer to Buffy. "Buffy I…I don't want to scare you away but I really care for you and I need to know if you feel the same way for me?" Liam finally asked her. It had been driving him crazy all week and he needed to know how she felt.
"I care for you too…but I don't want to rush into anything. We've only known each for a few days and it scares me that I care so much. I haven't felt this way in a long time and I'm afraid to get hurt." Buffy replied baring her soul to him.
"I know what you mean, I'd never hurt you intentionally Buffy, and I agree that slow is good but I don't want to be dancing around the subject of 'us' any longer. I want to be able to hold your hand and know that it's alright with you. I want to let people know that you're my girl…is that okay?" Liam asked her whilst mentally preparing himself for her to say no.
Buffy gently touched his face and looked straight into his eyes smiling. "That's what I want too." She said and leaned forward closing the distance between them and kissing him softly. The kiss was slow and soft, a declaration of love and understanding between the two. Buffy slowly pulled back and they shared a moment of silence before Liam started up the car and pulled off.
Through the front window of Liam's house Angelus stood watching the scene between the pair. He felt something hit him the moment he saw Buffy touch Liam and move in to kiss him. It was something that he had never felt before and never wanted to feel again. He turned away and went back to sit on the couch and watch TV, trying to take his mind off the small blonde who had captured his heart so easily.

By Friday evening Buffy was getting anxious, she hadn't been home all week so she didn't know what state her house would be in, Kate said that if anything else was missing by the end of the week they would get someone to watch the house and possibly put in some cameras if it continued.
It was now 5pm and Terry and Wesley had gathered the whole crew together to have a talk with them all. Everyone had been working extra hard all week to try and catch up to the point where they had finished with Darla. Liam and Buffy were particularly exhausted because they had to re-shoot all the scenes that Darla and Liam had done together. Both of them were ready to collapse but they had gathered around and Liam had found a chair to sit on pulling Buffy onto his lap to wait whilst Terry spoke to everyone.
"Okay guy's, I don't want to keep you here for too long, we've been shooting great this week and I'd like to give a special mention to Buffy who has done some fabulous work." Terry said and everyone cheered at her. "Okay, now, Wesley and I have been checking the shooting schedule and found that we are a few days ahead, we've decided that rather than keep you working we're going to let you have the weekend off as a thank you. So, make the most of it because it might be the only weekend you get in a long time. I'll see you all Monday at lunch and we'll go over the plan for the next few weeks." Finished Terry and everyone started cheering then practically running out of the place before Wesley or Terry could change their mind. They were all familiar with not having weekends off and they planned to get out and enjoy themselves.
Buffy went to her dressing room to collect some of her things before they went to meet with Kate. Liam went to speak with Cordy and Doyle and some of the others to see if they all wanted to have a party at his the next day. He thought it was the best way to try and ease some of the pressure off Buffy and a good way to start a free weekend. Most of them agreed and Liam told them to meet at his at house at 10:00am. He could get some pizzas delivered and he had plenty of alcohol in the cellar so there was no need to worry about that. If he was lucky Angelus would go out so they wouldn't have to put up with having him being around.
Buffy came back with a small bag of things and they headed for her house, when they arrived Kate was already waiting for them. Buffy let them all in, scared of what she might find she let Liam and Kate go in first. They first went straight along the hall and checked every downstairs room but nothing seemed out of place. Then all three headed up stairs to check the rooms up there. They went from bedroom to bedroom but nothing seemed as though it had been touched. When they reached Buffy's room Kate stopped dead in the door way and Buffy and Liam cautiously stepped forward to see what had stopped her, on Buffy's beside table was a bouquet of fresh flowers. The flowers were obviously expensive, a mixture of white roses and lilies and they had been placed in the vase that was normally empty in the kitchen. Buffy froze and didn't know what to do, Liam tried to comfort her by placing an arm around her shoulders but she stepped forward and moved past Kate walking towards the flowers. She removed the note on the flowers to see if it would say who it was from. Her hands were shaking that much that she couldn't open the small envelope so Liam took it out of her hands and took out the card. In black printed writing were the words:

Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind

-Soon.

"I've heard that before. What's it from?" Liam asked after he had read the verse aloud.
"It's from William Shakespeare's play, A Midsummer Night's Dream." Replied Buffy as she looked at the flowers. "It's the last play that I performed, I played Hermia…Oh God!" she said and collapsed on to her bed.
"Buffy, do you have any idea who this might be, any old boyfriends that live here or someone you've met since you moved here." Kate asked as she kneeled in front of Buffy.
"No, I haven't had a boyfriend for over a year now and the only men I've met here are the people at work, and Liam's brother Angelus." Buffy replied and Kate turned to look at Liam.
"Liam, you know what I'm going to ask don't you?" said Kate.
"He wouldn't, Kate. He just got out of prison, he doesn't even know where Buffy lives." Said Liam, although he didn't know who he was trying to convince.
"Well, just to be safe I'd better speak with him and find out where he's been all week. Can I come with you now to yours? Buffy you're staying with Liam tonight right?" Kate asked the nerve struck girl in front of her.
"Yes she is, you can come with us but I'm not sure he'll be there. I haven't really been home all week because of work." Liam said and went about grabbing some things for Buffy and putting them in her bag for her. They all went down and Liam locked up whilst Buffy and Kate got into the cars. Kate said she would follow them to Liam's and so they left Buffy's house and headed away.
When they arrived at Liam's Angelus' car was at the front of the house so whilst Kate and Buffy waited in the hallway Liam went to find Angelus. He found him in the kitchen and then sent Kate in to speak with him whilst he and Buffy headed for the living room.
After twenty minutes Kate went past the living room being shown out by Angelus, she waved to them both and then said good night to Angelus and left, Kate had thought it would be better not to speak to them about her thoughts in front of Angelus. She would call them later and speak with Liam.
Angelus went back into the living room to Buffy and Liam who sat curled up together on the couch.
"It wasn't me." he simply stated looking at the pair of them, he was hurt that they would have thought he would break into Buffy's home and try to scare her like that. He was also hurt that they would bring Kate over here to question him; at least he didn't have to go down to the station.
"We never said that it was you Angelus. Kate just wanted to speak with you so that she could cross you off the list." Liam replied to his brother, he didn't think that Angelus would be the type to do something like that. For one reason he had only just got out of prison and stalking was illegal, for the second reason, if Angelus liked a woman then he would just go straight after he, not leave her flowers at her house.
"I'm sorry Angelus. Like Liam said, she just needed to make sure, it was nothing personal." Buffy repeated Liam's words, she didn't want to be rude to Angelus, after all he was Liam's brother and she would be staying with them both until the situation was sorted out and she could go back home. She really didn't need to make matters worse by making Angelus angry.
"It's okay Buffy. There's nothing to apologize for, I just wanted you to know that it wasn't me." He said and took a seat next to her on the couch.
She smiled to him and the three sat there in silence watching the TV for the remainder of the night.

TBC