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Chapter 9: Part Two

In the lead up to them moving was the best and worst time of his life, time with Buffy was amazing, making him love her more than ever but they knew it was coming to an end. They had agreed that once things settled that either he would come to LA or her to Philly.

Joyce was even more supportive than she had ever been before in their relationship, she spoke to the both of them letting them know that she knew that the distance would be difficult but she would do anything to assist in them being able to see each other.

The weekend before the departure he had convinced both of their parents to allow him to take Buffy out of town for the weekend. They rented a condo on the beach and spent the full weekend in each other's arms, clinging to one another as if their life depended on it.

Each morning he would wake up early just so he could watch her sleep, the morning sun that broke through the blinds created a warm glow on her face; his chest tightened, making sure that he could commit this to memory.

Having her in his arms, her petite soft body snuggling into his; it felt right, it felt like home.

The last full day in Sunnydale was surreal, no one mentioned what was going to happen; the day was like any other day spent in the sun. The gang hung out then left the pair to go out for dinner, it was just like normal.

Despite having a good evening, he never managed to get any sleep that night. Tossing and turning, he lay awake, doing his best not to think about what was going to happen. Giving up on sleep, he got out of bed and sat outside to watch the sunrise.

He was unusually calm as he ate his breakfast, tidied up then packed the last few things that he would take with him on the plane. The taxi detoured to Revello Drive to pick up Buffy then set off, even then he was fine.

Buffy clung to him as soon as she got into the taxi, her death grip on his hand didn't bother him in reply he pressed a kiss to her temple and smiled. As they saw the sign for the airport he felt her body start to tremble and the sharp intakes of breath.

Angel managed to keep his composure at the airport as Buffy cried relentlessly; as soon as she was out of sight he allowed the tears to fall. Kathy tried to comfort him but he shunned her touch, she allowed him to wallow on his own.

As he put the seatbelt on and looked out the window he grimaced as he felt a tight crushing sensation in his chest, his hand shook as he laid it upon his chest to feel his erratic heartbeat. It wasn't physical, it was emotional; he was leaving his love and hated it.

At first they spoke every day, they had agreed that Buffy would come out to Philly for the weekend but the time they had agreed got pushed back due to his demanding senior schedule and prep work for College.

After months of being separated their calls became less and the words of love simmered down and before he knew it they ceased to speak.

Thinking on it all, he maybe should have made more of an attempt to keep her in his life, it might have been selfish, asking a girl who just turned seventeen to hold back her life for someone who lived across the country; he knew the answer, he couldn't ask her that.

Seeing her last night brought all those feelings to the surface, he knew deep down that he would never forget his first love but actually seeing her in the flesh he knew that it wasn't deep down – he still had feelings.

Feelings that he knew he could never act upon, he wasn't a home wrecker, he didn't want to hurt her again so he knew that he could force them away and be her friend if she let him. Sitting at the breakfast bar he sipped his coffee, he had no idea on how to contact her, did Joyce even still stay in Revello Drive?

Clicking the mouse he looked through the online site for the showroom in LA where he would purchase a car, Sunnydale had a dealership but the cars were newer but slower; the car he wanted since he was a teen he could only get in the big city.

Sinking the rest of his coffee he rinsed out the mug and picked up his wallet, he needed to pick up more things for the house then head to LA later that day. Although he felt at home he still had that weird feeling, one that he couldn't shake.

He had friends here, they hadn't spoken in years, so he guessed they would be more like acquaintances; maybe they could mend the bridges and get to know each other like they used to?

The bus ride to LA took longer than expected, he hated using public transportation; it was overcrowded, loud, smelly and ran behind its expected schedule. He took a refreshing breath of fresh air when he stepped off the greyhound then walked to the dealership.

After speaking with the salesman he picked up the keys for the vintage Plymouth and set off back to his new home. The car took half the time to get back than the bus would have, which he was thankful for; it had been a long day so far.

When he got back to Sunnydale he pulled into the car park beside the Bronze and stopped the engine; this was a place that he hadn't been in years but he could feel the pull of the place; enticing him back in.

Looking at the surroundings, like everything in this town was still the same, it began to irritate him that this place was like a time warp; the outside world aged and changed naturally – Sunnydale was preserved in earlier times.

He ordered a cappuccino and sat down at the bar, a young woman sat down beside him smiling, trying to play coy, he gave her a pleasant smile then took a sip of his drink. She was pretty but looked much younger than him.

"Angel?" his head whipped round to see who was speaking, he came face to face with Xander; he beamed widely, thankful that it was an old friend that had come along "Angel that is you, wow buddy, looking good!"

Angel chuckled and shook his hand "Yeah It's me, your lookin' good too Xand'" his goofy smile was just the same but his shaggy hair was cropped close to his head, he was wearing plain coloured clothes, rather than the eccentric patterns he favoured as a teen.

Xander looked back to the table then smiled at Angel "Back in town?" Angel nodded yes "Say why don't you come by the table, sit with us" thankful for the invitation he grabbed his jacket and followed Xander to the far side of the club.

Oz immediately stood up to shake his hand "Angel, man long time no see" Angel returned the sentiment then looked to the two woman who were also at the table, Xander picked up the blondes hand and kissed it "This is my girlfriend Anya… and that's Willow"

The red head who sat next to Oz smiled shyly at him "It's nice to meet you all" he sat down, at first he kept out of the conversation just happy that he was involved, then the guys asked him how life had been since he'd moved which took up some time.

He kept an eye out on the crowd to see if he could see her, try to mend bridges, each time he spied a blonde he would get his hopes up. As it came near closing time, longer than he had expected to stay out he followed the couples outside.

Anya and Willow went to the restroom as the guys stood in the alley way. Angel thrust his hands into the pockets of his jacket and smiled "It was great catching up with you guys… once I'm settled in; you're both more than welcome to come over for a beer"

He looked down to the ground then back at his long time friends and forced a smile "I saw Buffy yesterday" both of them shared a look, he chuckled dejectedly "Don't worry guys, I know she's married, I'm glad for her"

Xander bit his lip and looked away; he frowned at their behaviour before he could ask anything Oz cleared his throat "Her husband, Riley… he died… four month ago… car accident" his heart dropped, thinking back over how she reacted to him yesterday; he felt like a bastard.

"Buffy was in the car with him, she wasn't doing too well for a while…" he didn't think it was right to tell the story; Buffy struggled to talk about this and wouldn't be too happy that he was spilling all the details to her ex-boyfriend.

Angel ran his hand over the back of his neck and sighed "God, I didn't know" he felt incredibly bad, there she was out trying to get on with her life and he brought up her dead husband, congratulating her; how stupid.

Xander patted his shoulder "She's getting better… we'll I gotta go" he waved them off and escorted Anya to his car. Oz linked his fingers with Willow's, a shadow of a smile on his face "It was great to see you, we'll catch up soon"

The pair of them watched Angel walk away, Willow turned to Oz with her eyebrow quirked "Yeah that's Angel" Willow nodded knowingly then watched him drive off.

Oooooooooooooo

Angel threw his keys onto the unit and trudged up the stairs, he kicked the door closed and grunted, tonight started off well, the only thing he could salvage from the end of the night would be that he wouldn't put his foot in his mouth if he saw her again.

Looking at the unmade bed he ripped the new sheets out of the packaging and hastily threw them on the mattress. With the bed half made he stripped down to his boxers and crawled under the duvet, wanting nothing more than to fall asleep.