Sweet Misery

Summary: Cordelia tells Angel about the way she feels about him. Angel makes his move, finally.

Disclaimer: Joss's characters, but my wacky mind. Michelle Branch's lyrics to "Sweet Misery".

I was lost

And you were found

You seemed to stand on

Solid ground.

He walked past me and our eyes met, holding that stare for as long as possible. We both wanted the same thing... each other.

Why did I love him? Simple. He was the hero, the vigilantly, and that brooding thing was in, now, too. He was strong, solid, everything a girl wanted. Everything I wanted.

Why we hadn't gone for it? There were so many reasons. First being his curse. No one wanted Angelus to pop up on us. That was never fun. Second was Buffy. Part of him still loved her, and it killed me to know that.

But today was different. With Fred's insistence that we were meant for each other, and Wesley's friendly encouragement, I knew what to do.

I was blind

And, oh, how you could see

Saw the beauty in everything

Everything in me.

I followed Angel into the office and shut the door lightly behind me. "Do you need something, Cordelia?" Angel asked without looking up.

I didn't answer. There were no words to reply with. What did I need? A Mercedes. A condo in Malibu. A raise, but that wasn't why I was there.

Finally, he looked up at me. "Cordy?" he asked, "What is it?"

I sighed and took a step forward. "We need to talk," I said, "I can't take this anymore, Angel. I love you, but I can't just sit here and wait for you to make your move."

"Cordelia-"

"Wait," I said. " Let me finish," I took a deep breath. This was misery. It was misery to be around him and not being able to kiss him. "I'm not going to wait for you anymore. I know you love me, so if you want me, suck up your pride and let me know, here and now."

He took me in his arms and kissed me. When our lips finally parted, he was still holding me close to him.

"I guess that was your move," I said with a smile.

Angel smiled and we kissed again.

And in my heart I see

What you're doing to me

And in my heart I see

Just how you wanted it to be

Sweet misery.