…
It had been over an hour since Angel stormed out of the building and zoomed off in the SUV, Buffy hadn't actually seen him, but she'd gotten the word.
The instinct to chase after him had been strong, but she held back. He was rightly pissed at her and she wanted to give him time to cool off. Mostly, she hoped he'd come back on his own after a few hours and she could apologize for being an uber bitch.
Giles was due back with the kids soon, she dialed his cell and asked if he could pick her up and drop her off at home.
"Are you alright, Buffy? You don't sound well." He'd asked her over the phone, she could practically hear his desire to clean his glasses on his shirt.
"Yeah" The lie tasted bland on her tongue, "Ok…no" She signed, "I just…Angel and I got into a fight…I don't want to talk over the phone, which you shouldn't be on while driving with my children anyways. Please, just pick me up and I'll tell you about it after, ok?"
"Very well, we'll see you soon." The watcher promised, wanting to get to his depressed slayer as soon as able.
Forty minutes of pacing in her office ended as her cell rang, alerting her to Giles waiting out front.
She walked stiffly out to his car, her belly upset from more than just physical trauma and missing lunch.
Seeing her kids took some of the sting out of her pain over Angel, but only some.
…
"I'll stay here with you tonight." Giles informed her as they sat on the couch in the living room, watching the kids play as they spoke. "At least until Angel returns."
'If he returns.' Buffy added silently. "Thank you, but that's not necessary Giles, I'll be fine."
"Nonsense." He countered, "Might I remind you, you are still recovering for a major operation and are now dealing with a multitude of emotional issues, this is certainly not the time for you to be alone Buffy, especially when you're responsible for two young children as well."
Taking a deep breath, Buffy nodded slowly, "I know, but you've been gone all day, you must want to get home."
The watcher and father-of-her-heart leaned in and placed a light kiss on her forehead, "I want what's best for you more."
"Thank you." She swallowed back tears as she leaned against him, glad for the warmth and love he offered, but wishing it was her husband she was holding.
…
Four hours had passed with no word from Angel. Buffy was nervously pacing her living room while Giles put the kids to bed.
Slipping her cell from her pocket, she looked at her husbands name for a few tense moments before hitting send.
The phone rang, and rang, and rang.
'Please Angel, please pick up so I know you're ok.'
After what felt like a lifetime his voice-mail clicked on. She listened with a heavy heart to his cheerful sounding voice to leave a message.
"Angel, please call me. I'm sorry and I'm worried and I love you. Please, come home. I'm here with the kids." She hung up and looked at the phone for a few minutes, willing it to ring.
Nothing.
After a few minutes she dialed his number again, the phone rang for an eternity before his voice-mail popped on again. She left another message, asking him to come home.
Twice more she called, 10 minutes apart, now getting very worried that something had actually happened to him.
She was wound so tight by then, that when her phone beeped, she nearly hit the ceiling.
"Hello? Angel?" She asked as she answered it, but only heard a dial tone.
Looking down at it she realized it hadn't been a call but a text message alert.
Her heart leaped as she read Angel's name as the sender.
She quickly opened and message, but her happy faded slightly as she read.
* Not dead. Stop calling, not answering.*
It wasn't what she hoped, but at least she knew he was alive.
She immediately called again, hoping he's answer.
He didn't.
She tried twice more before her phone beeped another message.
*Turned off volume.*
Hitting reply she sent him a response, *Please come home, I want to talk*
After a few long minutes, his reply popped up. *I don't*
*Please Angel, where are you?* Buffy was chewing her lip, ready to go get him herself and drag him home if need be.
*Out* Came the short and cryptic reply.
Texting back she pleaded, *I want you in*
*Tough*
*Will you be home tonight?* She asked him.
After what felt like an eternity her phone beeped, *Don't know.*
Not knowing what else to write, she sent, *I love you*
She waited and waited, but there was no reply.
Wiping a tear from her eye, she started at the silent phone in agony.
…
Giles came downstairs a short while later, finding her balled up on the couch, her red tinged eyes glued to her phone.
"Buffy?" He asked as he sat down, "Have you heard from him?"
"Kinda." She sat up, wincing slightly at the pull of her healing skin on the stitches, "He texted me, let me know he was alive."
"That's good, anything else?" The watcher inquired.
"No, he's being an evasive cryptic jerk and I want to punch him in his thick-bull-headed-skull." After a second she left out a breath, "I also want to kiss the shit of out him and not let him out of bed for a month."
"Ah." Giles stumbled, not sure how to reply to that.
"Sorry, you really didn't need to hear that second part." Buffy sighed, feeling drained and lost and in need of her husband.
"I'm a horrible wife." She muttered, looking at her silent phone again.
"Buffy, you are no such thing." Giles interrupted, "You had a fight, it certainly isn't your first and I'm sorry to say it wont be your last. Angel will come back when he's ready and you'll settle your differences as always."
Buffy looked down at her phone, "I hate when we fight."
"I'm sure he feels the same, but you'll make amends and be stronger for it afterwards."
She nodded and turned her watery eyes to her watcher, "How about a change of subject, how was the trip?"
The former librarian could tell she needed a distraction from her thoughts about Angel, so they spent the next few hours talking about all the safe subjects that didn't involve the living vampire, like his day-trip with the kids.
…
Buffy almost had to physically shove Giles into Connor's room by 11pm, she was determined not to keep him up all night and practically threatened him to sleep so he wouldn't be dragging all day tomorrow. All-nighters were finally starting to catch up to the watcher and she didn't need to hear he fell asleep in his demonology class tomorrow.
Once he was safely tucked into bed, Buffy went back downstairs and looked at her phone again. There were no new messages, so she quickly scrolled threw the older ones before calling him again.
She hung up as his voice-mail connected.
About ten minutes later, she was about to try again when her cell rang.
"Angel?" She answered quickly, not even looking at the display.
"Umm hello, Buffy...or ahh...Mrs. Summers?" A tentative female voice asked.
Buffy's shoulders dropped, "Yeah, this is Buffy. Who is this?"
"Hi Buffy, it's Vikki Harrisburg." The slayer over the line addressed.
Buffy wondered to herself why one of her students was calling her so late, figuring at this hour they were just getting back from a mock patrol. "Hi Vikki, is everything ok?" Suddenly Buffy was afraid there had been a problem with the patrol and the girl was reporting an accident.
"Yeah, everything is fine. I just…well there is a story going around you and…your husband got into a fight and he left earlier." The girl cautioned.
'And she's calling me about this at midnight on my cellphone, why?' Buffy shot to herself, unnerved her personal life was a public rumor. "Why are you asking this Vikki?" She asked a little sterner than intended.
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Summers, but I thought you might want to know your SUV is parked in the lot out back at AI." The girl said quickly.
'Angel went back to AI?' Relief washed over her, "He's in the building then."
The line was quiet a second before the young woman replied, "Umm, well no. That was the weird part. Stacy at the front desk claimed he never came in when we asked about the car, and his office was locked and empty. We were hoping maybe he was with you…or if he wasn't…you should know right away."
Buffy's stomach hit the floor. 'Oh god, what happened to him?' A hundred terrible things flashed though her mind, him getting jumped as he parked, being kidnapped… up and leaving.
"Thank you, Vikki." The eldest slayer said and she hung up, her mind whirling. 'Angel, where are you!'
With a nearly frantic determination, she picked up her phone again and dialed his number. The call connected this time and she heard a sleepy woman's voice on the other end.
"Who the hell is this? Where is Angel!" Buffy yelled into the phone, appalled some woman would be answered her husband's cell.
"Wrong number, crazy bitch." The woman hung up.
Buffy's mouth dropped open and right before she hit re-dial she realized it was a wrong number. 'Oops.'
With red cheeks, she quickly scrolled to her contacts and hit Angel's picture, this time eliminating the risk of miss-dialing.
The phone rang endlessly before she hung up at his mocking cheery voice-mail.
Trying the only approach that's worked so far, she sent another text, *Angel, please tell me where you are! I know the van is at AI and you're not*
She was racking her brain and thinking about calling Willow to perform a tracking spell when her phone beeped a message. *Nope ;)*
*Angel! I'm worried sick!* She quickly typed out, grateful he replied at least but annoyed as hell at a winky face, that wasn't like him at all.
A few long minutes later her phone beeped again, *Late. U shud b in bed*
The words looked foreign to her, Angel wasn't a big texter, but he always used full words. 'Is this even Angel?' She though horrified.
Hitting Call, she tried once again to speak to him.
"What in under f*ck woman, I said I wasn't answerin the bloody phone!" His slurred voice suddenly blared into her ear, shocking the hell out of her.
"Angel!" She alarmed, realizing he sounded extremely intoxicated, the thick Irish brogue was a pretty good indication. "Are you drunk?"
He chuckled into the receiver, "I've a throat on me tonight, Aye, two sheets to the wind."
'Oh my god, he's completely wasted.' She couldn't believe it, he went out and got himself drunk. "Angel, where are you?" She demanded, afraid even more now she knew he was venerable to attack in his current condition.
Last time he took off drinking after a fight he got jumped by vampires and ended up in a motel with some blond sleeping beside him. Buffy was very much against that situation ever happen again.
"Right now…the floor." He grinned, staring up at the wooden ceiling.
"Angel! Tell me where you are!" She practically yelled, even more scared since he admitted to being on the ground.
"Christ Lass, me ears are bleedin." He muttered, pulling the phone back away from his head as her shouts pieced his sensitive eardrums.
After taking a breath to calm down so not to cause him to hang up, she asked calmer, "Angel please, just tell me where you are, I'll come get you."
"Won't be needin a ride." He replied with a yawn, sounding like he was fading.
"Angel?" Buffy called into the phone again, "Angel, please, please tell me where you are."
"Hmm, I'm bushed." He muttered, his eyelid growing heavy.
"Angel!" She yelled, "Wake up and tell me where you are!"
"Oak tree." He muttered before flipping the phone shut.
Buffy yelled his name into the phone again but to no avail, the call was disconnected.
'Shit, shit, shit.' She paced, terrified he'd passed out on the floor in some scuzzy bar. She hurried into the kitchen to grab her purse off the counter where she'd left it as she ransacked her brain for bars with a tree logo. She was half way though the kitchen when something made her pause and look out the window into the backyard.
'Oak tree?' She thought, remembering the tree-house was built in an Oak, 'No, he can't be…'
Momentarily forgetting her plans to jump into the GTX and drive to every bar within 10 miles, she pulled her robe tighter around her and stepped out the back door and into the spot of light in the darkness surround the light bulb on the back deck. Squinting across the far corner of the yard, sure enough she could faintly see the trap door ajar and the rope hanging down for the hatch to the tree house.
'He's in the f*cking tree house.' She thought with a wave of anger, storming towards the structure. 'All this time he's been in the f*cking tree house!'
Of course that was just far enough away where she couldn't feel him, however as she approached, the tingle grew steadily stronger.
She carefully climbed the ladder and poked her head up into the dark wooden room, just making out an Angel-sized lump on the floor.
'I'm going to kill him.' She ground out between her teeth as she hauled herself up, not an easy task when you're not supposed to use your stomach muscles.
Once inside, she walked over to him and gently nudged him with her slippered foot, holding back the urge to kick his repeatedly.
He didn't move.
Worried now, she knelt and ran her hand along his cheek, "Angel? Can you hear me? Please open your eyes"
He groaned and turned his head, whiskey scented breath forced out, "Go away, sleepin."
"You're not sleeping out here, now get up and come inside." She ordered, grabbing his arms and pulling him up.
He groaned again as he was forced into a sitting position, "Was havin the most pleasant dream."
"Tough, you're coming inside. Get up."
She yelped in surprise as he suddenly grabbed her and dragged her down against him, "I was up…and coming…inside…was a very pleasurable dream indeed." He whispered against her neck, his hand running suggestively down her body.
'Holy shit, both drunk and horny…so totally not what I needed to deal with right now.' She thought with a frown, smacking his hands off her body.
"You're drunk." She pointed out, pulling from his grip and standing, "Now stand up and come inside the house."
He laughed at her as he pulled himself to his feet, "Course I'm drunk, tends to happen when ya drink too much whiskey."
Buffy folded her arms across her chest, "Get in the house."
He just smirked at her, "I ever tell ya, ur sexy as hell when ya mad?"
Rolling her eyes, she grabbed his arm and hauled him towards the trap door, "Of course you have to pick a tree house to get drunk in, god forbid you get trashed on the ground."
He wrapped a long arm around her waist and pulled her flush up against him, taking a big whiff of her hair, "Mmm, ya smell nice."
"Knock it off." She warned, shoving him off her.
He took a step back, and without much in the way of stability or reflexes at the moment, quickly fell though the open trap door to land on the cold hard ground below.
"ANGEL!" Buffy yelled as he'd fall backwards, too fast for her to grab.
She dropped to her knees at the edge and looked down into the darkness, he was lying on the ground and choking.
As fast as she could, she flew down the rope as quickly as her stitches allowed and dropped down beside him, eyes wide in fear, "Angel? Are you ok? Can you breathe?"
After a moment she realized he wasn't choking, but laughing.
"Tryin to kill me lass?" He asked, sitting up and rubbing the back of his head.
"Don't move!" Buffy yelped, trying to push him back down, afraid he could have broken something. Granted it was only 7 feet and she'd seen him fall further distances.
Instead, he tugged at her, pulling her down on top of him, and flashing her a cheeky grin, "Ahh, this is more to me liking."
"Angel! Stop it!" She scolded again, trying to pull away as to not injure him further if he was hurt.
At her denial, "Figures." He huffed and let her go, "Bloody wife doesn't even want me." He abruptly stood and started walking sideways away from the house, fully intending to to go find himself another bottle to keep him company.
"No!" She hurried up, grabbed his arm and pulled him back towards the house, "I do want you; I want you to come inside."
"You be a very frustratin wife." He accused as he relented and let her guide him towards the house, using the opportunity to wrap an arm around her shoulders to steady himself…and to be that much closer to the petite blond.
"You're a very frustrating husband, now watch your step." She countered as she helped him up the back steps and into the kitchen.
A few minutes later, she managed to man handle him into the living room and positioned him in front of the couch, "Here, now sit."
As his knees bent and dropped him down backwards onto the couch, his arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her down with him.
She half expected it this time, so she dropped forwards on her knees with him down onto the couch, with a leg on either side of his thighs and bracing herself with her arms on his shoulders.
A devilish grin spread across his lips as he pulled her closer, nose to nose with his hands wandering over her waist and thighs, "So beautiful." He said as he ran his nose along hers then trailed a line of kisses from her ear to her neck.
"Angel." She breathed out, warring with herself, "You're drunk." She didn't want to take advantage of him while he was obviously intoxicated, but she also did really, really want him.
"Shh, I've a better use of those lips." He spoke before grabbing her face and shoving his tongue into her mouth.
Her eyes widened at the intrusion, but quickly responded, leaning in closer and wrapping her arms around his neck, despite the taste of whiskey, he was just as delicious as always.
His walking left much to be desired but his lips were just as yummy. And the Irish accent…oh that wasn't helping her libido keep still.
"Mmm." She breathed into his mouth, tugging at his bottom lip with her teeth, "I want you."
He growled in response, pushing his growing arousal against her groin. "Good, cus I want to be in ya."
Buffy felt the temperature rising in the room; it had to be 10 degrees warmer now than 2 seconds ago. Unwrapping her arms from his neck, she quickly slipped her robe off, his fingers helping discard the unwanted material before he yanked her flush against him again, devouring her mouth.
Her body began to pound for him, the feel of his arousal rubbing against her clothed bottom was driving her wild. Quickly she stood up with her feet on the couch and he grabbed the waist of her PJs and yanked down, stripping her bare from the waist down.
Before she could step out of the material bunched at her ankles, he leaned forwards and plunged his tongue between her legs.
"Oh!" She gasped in pleasure and shock as he grasped her ass and pulled her pelvis against his face so his long tongue could reach between her folds.
She felt her inner muscles clench as she fisted her fingers into his hair, moaning loudly as his mouth nipped and licked and sucked at her most sensitive skin.
'Oh my god.' She thought as her insides began to quiver in pleasure, her release building fast.
He must have sensed it because she felt him respond by holding her rocking hips steady, forcing her to still and endure the beautiful torture.
"Angel!" She whined as she felt her legs stiffen as her body was pushed closer to the edge.
Without warning, he slipped two fingers up inside of her, rubbing her in just the right spot. She gasped as the pleasure increased, but not quite enough to send her over the edge.
"Angel, please." She pleaded, so close, so very, very close.
Suddenly, his fingers withdrew and he pulled his tongue out of her core. "F*ck, just remembered, we shouldn't be doin this." He moved his mouth north and brushed his lips over her scar, "You're healin still."
"No!" She yelped in utter loss, feeling the pulsing and quickening already fading. "I want this, no I need this. I need you. Please Angel; please I want you to make love to me."
His eyes were misty with lust and drink as he look up and studied her face, reading the sheer want coursing though her veins. The smell of her desire was almost unbearable, especially with her glistening only inches from his mouth.
He answered by drawing her against him again, his mouth and fingers quickly bringing her back to the edge.
She pressed her hips against him mouth as she felt her body stiffening up again, the pressure of her building orgasm aching though her. "Angel." She whined again, her body screaming for release as he played her like a music instrument.
He growled against her oversensitive flesh and sucked hard on her nub, when the vibrations spread, she finally hit the edge and went over.
She cried out his name as her body exploded around her.
He caught her easily as she turned to liquid, her legs dropped out from under her as she rode the waves of her orgasm.
When she opened her eyes, she found herself collapsed against her husband, his arms around her waist, one hand on her ass as the other slowly stroked patterns along her back as he waited patiently for her body to stop quivering. His arousal was pressing hard at her bottom as he lazily sucked at her neck.
"Welcome back." He sent her a gloating grin, which she thought he'd totally earned.
"I love you." She whispered and she went right for his mouth, wanting more of that amazing tongue.
He grinned and groaned into her mouth, making her just want more.
As their kisses deepened, she reached her hand down and quickly found his stiff member.
He growled in pleasure as she practically tore his pants open to get to him. "I want this."
"Greedy Lass." He answered with a grin.
"Greedy for you? Very." She agreed, plunging her tongue into his mouth.
Laughter faded as lust flowed in, strong and demanding.
His hands had been massaging her nipples from under her shirt while his mouth had been teasing her scar; her body was now throbbing for him.
His breaths were coming faster and growing more ragged as she stroked him, before finally he grasped her hand and pulled it away from him, "Inside, now." He growled into her ear.
Immediately, she slammed herself down onto his length, causing them both to gasp in pleasure.
She bit the inside of her lip as her insides stretched to accommodate him, she felt a pinch of pain from her healing wound but was thankful his eyes had been closed so he hadn't see it reflected in her eyes. She wanted this badly and knew that if he discovered it hurt, he'd immediately stop.
Instead, he buried his face against her neck and grasped her hips firmly, giving her total control over the depth and rhythm when she was ready.
When her body was finished accommodating him, she slowly rose her body up and down a few times, gliding up and down his length in a slow and controlled motion, making sure they were both ready for what was to come.
When she felt no more pain, she sped up, rising faster and dropping down harder, he groaned and tightened his hold on her hips, matching her rhythm.
Her body was responding again, the pressure beginning to build as his mouth migrated between her lips and neck. Her fingers were twisting in his hair and her nails were digging into his shoulders.
She felt the heat and sweat drying on her body as the pressure continued to grow, heard his breathing began to hitch as his own release approached.
Her body was being pushed towards the edge again when she felt him growl and his face shift, his fangs lightly grazing her scar.
Something primal inside her called out for her demon, she grasped the back of his neck and pressed his face into her throat.
"Yes." She breathed out, knowing he was waiting for permission.
"Angel!" She cried out as his fangs pieced her skin and her body detonated like an exploding bomb. The feeling was so intense from the mix of various pleasures she almost stopped breathing.
The taste of slayer blood washed over his tongue and his body convulsed, two quick thrusts and his wife's quivering body took him over the edge. He stilled as his seed spill inside of her to the agonizingly sweet sensation of her walls squeezing him tight.
He took a shuttering breath and nuzzled against her neck, the wound already closing as his fangs disappeared. "Mine." He whispered into her hair as she lay draped against him, panting in the aftermath. He was still sheathed deeply inside her, feeling up close the last waves of her orgasm tingling though her.
Warm and safe and sated, he shut his eyes as a bottle of whisky caught up to him, he pulled his lover tighter and passed out on her shoulder.
…
When Buffy regained coherent thought, she sat up and smiled down at her lover. "That was amazing."
His head rolled to the side and she noticed his eyes were shut, "Angel?" She called, running her fingers along his cheek. When he didn't respond she realized he'd finally passed out.
She kissed his forehead before slowly untangling from him, he moaned slightly as she slipped him from inside her.
Almost tripping over her bottoms that were still tangled round one leg, she stood and became starkly aware of being naked below the belt as coolng living room air brushed against her flush and sweaty skin.
Gathering up her discarded robe, panties and PJ bottoms, she hurried into the bathroom to catch his hot release that was oozing down her leg.
After she cleaned up and dressed, she quickly wiped her lover's wet manhood off before tucking him back into his pants.
'Oh god, I hope Giles didn't hear us.' She thought horrified as she realized they'd just had sex in the living room, which wasn't exactly sound proof.
Fighting the desire to crawl onto the couch with her snoozing husband, she quickly ascended the stairs and paused at Giles's door, listening for signs of wakefulness.
Hearing nothing, she looked in the kid's bedrooms, making sure they were sound asleep as well.
Smiling down at her son, she pulled his blanket down off his face and kissed him goodnight. In Katie's room and had to pull the blanket up, her little dancer having kicked the blanket off earlier in the night.
Satisfied her children were asleep and hoping he watcher hadn't heard anything, she tiptoed back downstairs to crawl onto the couch with her lover, except the couch was vacant.
Fear washed over her, 'Oh no, he left.'
"Angel?" She called, looking around the dark living room then moving to check the kitchen.
Both empty.
'Ok, I know I didn't dream that…right?' She questioned her sanity a moment before she heard the downstairs toilet flush.
"There you are." She addressed as he exited the bathroom, even in the dimness of the house she could see he was uncoordinated and half asleep.
"F*ckin bladder." He muttered drunkenly, barely standing.
"Come here." Taking advantage of the fact he was standing, she looped her arm around his waist and led him to the stairs. She wanted him in their bed, not on the couch for the balance of the night.
He tripped once, but she managed to haul him up the steps and into their bedroom. Once inside, she kicked the door shut and stripped him of his clothing. Undressing a 6 foot man when you were 5.4 was far easier when he was upright and at least partly supporting his own weight as opposed to flat on his back and dead weight.
"Didn't get enough of me yet?" He grinned, leaning against her and nipping at her neck as she unbuttoned his shirt and pants.
She knew for a fact he wasn't up for another round, but teased him back. "Never."
It was easier undressing than dressing him, but she managed to get fresh boxers and sweats onto him before he started to fade out again. She nudged him onto the bed and barely got him down before he passed back out.
Of course it was during a rather heated kiss that he'd flopped down like a wet towel.
Smiling despite the fact he'd been turning her on again, she settled next to him and snuggled up to her favorite pillow. Yeah, her favorite pillow smelled like whisky tonight, but she was just relieved he was home and safe and sleeping beside her.
…
Buffy stirred and slid her hazel-green eyes open to find the bedroom awash in morning sun. Her content body suggested she go back to sleep and right as she was about to snuggle back up to her shoulder pillow she heard a soft knock at her bedroom door.
"Buffy, are you up?" Giles's voice asked quietly thought the thick wood. She could hear other voices in the hall with him, Katie and Liam's.
The fact it was too bright to be dawn registered as she sat up. 'Shit.' She quickly and regrettably slipped Angel's arm off from around her and turned around, the clock on the nightstand displayed it was nearly 9am, they were usually up three hours ago.
A glance towards her lover found him still dead to the world, his chest rising and falling in deep shallow breaths as he slept off his bottle of whiskey.
'I could wake him.' She toyed with the idea before deciding against it, today was Saturday and neither had a class so it wasn't necessary to wake the beast. 'Giles has a class today, which starts in an hour.' She reminded herself, quickly donning her robe and heading into the hall to relieve him of babysitting duty.
Giles had been walking away from her bedroom door as she slipped out it and closed it behind her.
He turned and saw her, looking relieved, "Ah Buffy, there you are, I do apologize for taking you from your rest, but I'm afraid I have a Demonology class this morning and well I need to stop at home beforehand to change and freshen up." He explained as politely as possible.
"Uh, Giles, too much British for so little coffee." She shook her head, not awake enough for paragraphs.
"Ah yes, sorry. In that case, I need to split." He shorted it to something more akin to Xander's phrasing.
"Better." Buffy agreed, then looked down smiling at her children as they hugged her legs. "Morning munchkins, how long have you been driving grampa crazy?"
"Grampa Giles isn't crazy mommy, he's just stuffy." Katie giggled.
"Katie!" Buffy scolded, looking mortified at her daughter than at her father-of-the-heart, with burning cheeks she blurted out a slew of apologies.
The watcher shook his head, "It's quite alright Buffy, our little Katie made a valid point, I am rather stuffy."
Seeing he wasn't mad or upset, she relaxed a little, "Still, I did ask her not to say that." She directed her frown to her eldest child who was doing her best to ignore it.
"Truck!" Liam called out loudly, signaling he wanted to stop standing around in the hallway and go downstairs to play with his toy cars.
"Ok, ok." Buffy appeased, taking her children's hands and walking them down the steps to the living room.
As they walked down, Giles studied his Slayer for a moment before asking, "You look better this morning, did you sleep well?"
"I did." She answered cryptically as she helped her children down the stairs, watching as they jumped each step as she held their hands.
Once in the living room, Liam ran over to his toy box and began pulling out a slew of wheeled playthings. "Play for a little bit Ok guys? Mommy needs coffee and will make you breakfast." She kissed his blond head and grabbed her daughter for the same fate before the little girl laughed and danced away, "Yucky!"
'Oh is Angel going to wish you never out grow that by the time you're old enough to date.' She thought as Katie grabbed a doll from her toy box.
To the breakfast comment, Katie answered, "Grampa Giles made pancakes ages ago, but you and daddy were still sleeping."
Giles raised an eyebrow, "Did Angel return home last night?"
Buffy turned and headed for the kitchen so he wouldn't see her blush, "Yeah, he came in late." 'Good, then Giles didn't hear anything…or he's really good at faking not having heard anything.'
"Oh." The former librarian noted as he followed her into the kitchen, "Were you able to speak to him?" He didn't want to mention the fight in front of the children.
Buffy's blush deepened so she opened the cabinet to retrieve the coffee grounds to keep her face out of his line of sight, "Yeah, a little." She replied vaguely.
"Very good." He nodded, seeing she was leaving out something. He had an idea whatever she wasn't saying was also something he didn't want or need to hear.
"Tea?" Buffy asked her watcher as she loaded her favorite appliance, the coffee maker.
"Thank you, but no." He declined, "I really must be off."
"You're welcome to use our shower and I'm sure you could borrow something of Angel's." She offered politely, knowing he'd say no.
"As inspiring as wearing another man's clothes must be, I'm going to decline, if that is alright with you." He replied to the offer.
"I figured." She took a few steps to him and wrapped her arms around him, "Thank you for staying with me last night." She kissed his cheek. "I appreciated it."
The older gentleman smiled warmly and hugged her back, "My pleasure."
"Didn't mean to interrupt."
"Angel!" Buffy startled at the words, abruptly looking up to see a rumpled and half naked Angel watching her and Giles from the doorway.
Buffy quickly released her watcher and took a tentative step back, 'Ok, was that sarcasm or anger or humor?' she wondered, unable to read his face at the moment and having no idea what his current mood was. Just because last night in his drunken state he'd been horny and teasing didn't mean it carried over to today...he could still be mad at her.
He padded barefoot into the room, wearing only the boxers and sweatpants she'd dressed him in last night, as his dark eyes scanned the still filling coffee pot.
He was walking straight at least so she was sure he wasn't still drunk and as he passed them, she couldn't see any bruises or scratches on his back from falling out of the tree house.
"Giles." He said by way of greeting to the older looking man.
"Angel." The former librarian acknowledged back, he too unsure of the living vampire's demeanor.
Buffy moved to stand by the coffeemaker, which was taking a millennium to brew. "Coffee is still pending; do you want a cup when it's done?" She asked him, noting his eyes were a little on the side of bloodshot.
He blinked a time or two before replying, "Please."
Giles shifted from foot to foot, feeling the tension rising in the room. "Well I'm sorry to run, but I really must be going." Giles spoke up, wanting to give the two some privacy and get himself home so he could freshen up before his Saturday Demonology class.
"I'll see you to the door." Buffy offered.
"That won't be necessary, have a pleasant day Buffy, Angel." The watcher said as he turned to go.
"Thanks." Angel acknowledged as the graying haired man left the room with a nod.
Now that she was left alone with her spouse, Buffy had no idea what to say to him. His mood was still unusually unreadable and she wasn't sure how much of last night he even remembered.
Angel rubbed his eyes and took a few steps to the table before sitting heavily in a chair against the wall.
"Tired?" Buffy asked him, checking the coffeepot and finding the dark liquid was ready for drinking.
"Yeah." He mumbled, sitting still and zoning off into space.
She poured two cups of coffee, leaving his black and adding cream and sugar to hers. Walking to the table, she slid the darker cup in from of him before settling into the seat across from him.
He blinked and looked down at the mug sitting in front of him a moment as if they to figure out what it is before he wrapped his hand around it. He held it a moment before lifting it to his lips and taking a tentative sip, but quickly found it too hot and placed it back on the table in front of him to cool.
"Hungry?" She fished, still trying to figure out his current attitude.
"No." He practically groaned, leaning forwards and resting his elbows on the table and laying his head in his hands.
'Ok, shitty…his mood is feeling shitty. I can work with that.'
"Hangover?" She asked him, trying not to sound upset or accusing.
"Yeah." He replied to the table, still leaning forwards with his eyes shut.
She quietly stood and exited the kitchen, grabbing the Aspirin out of the first floor bathroom medicine cabinet. She shook two out into her hand before putting the bottle away and walking back into the kitchen. Filling a glass with cold water, she deposited the pills beside his hand on the table along with the glass.
He didn't move for a few minutes, so she grabbed a yogurt from the fridge and sat back down across from him, eating her breakfast while sipping her caffeinated beverage and hoping he'd feel well enough to talk to her soon.
Buffy was beginning to wonder if he'd fallen asleep while laying hunched over the table when he lifted his head and noticed the pills and water.
"Thanks." He mumbled, swallowing them with about half the water.
'Ok, he's been almost exclusively mono-worded since he walked in here.'
"Are you ok?" She inquired, hoping for something more than 'fine'.
"Peachy" He answered, resting his head back in his hands.
'Ok, so we have hung-over and sarcastic Angel this morning.' She thought, 'But hey,at least he didn't say 'fine''.
She was contemplating trying to strike up a conversation versus leaving him alone until his headache went away. Finally, she settled on saying nothing, figuring if his head was pounding he'd likely rather not engage in a lengthy chat. Not to mention, opening her mouth lead to this situation to begin with, so she figured the only reason she had to open her mouth now would be to fill it with yogurt.
"I'm sorry."
Buffy looked up, surprised he'd spoken and even more about what he'd said.
'Go with it Buffy, he's voluntarily talking.'
"I think that was mine line." She countered, putting down her spoon and wondering what he had to be sorry for, it was her words that started the fight.
'Or is he apologizing for sleeping with me last night?'
He sat up, folding his fingers together and laying them on the table. "I should have handled this better, not gotten so drunk."
'Ok, he's talking about our fight.'
"I didn't mind the drunk so much as not knowing where you were." She admitted, kinda liking horn-dog Angel, especially since she herself had been tensely horny. "I was worried."
"Thus the apology." He reminded.
"I'm sorry about what I said in the elevator, everything came out wrong. Your past had nothing to do with any present or future relationships with my family."
He nodded, "No, it doesn't. Still, I shouldn't have been so standoffish to you about talking to Dawn. She does a lot for us and her heart had been in the right place. I was just being as ass."
"No you weren't, you were telling me how you honestly felt and I was the ass." She countered, not letting him take the blame on that one.
They fell silent a moment before he looked up at her, "I didn't hurt you last night, did I?"
'Good, he does remember.'
She let herself smile at that, "No, quite the opposite actually."
He didn't take the bait on that, but looked back down at his hands. "I shouldn't have drank that much."
"I like drunk-Angel, he's happy and flirty and a complete horn-dog. I wouldn't mind seeing him again, as long as he's here with me and not at some bar or motel."
He looked up at her, as with a raised eyebrow. "You like when I get fall-down drunk?"
She scooted her chair a little closer and admitted, "Maybe not fall-down drunk, but I like how happy and playful you get, and that Irish brogue is sexy as hell."
"Funny, I didn't find Hell to be overly sexy." He added dryly.
Buffy's smile dropped and she looked down at her fingers, feeling like what she though was solid ground a moment ago was actually thinning ice.
Angel kicked himself when he noticed Buffy looking uncomfortable, he sighed and took a deep gulp of his coffee, hoping the caffeine helped wake his muddled brain up. After he swallowed, he watched her a moment before adding, "Sorry, I didn't mean to sound mad at you, the pounding in my head is coming out my mouth."
Buffy slipped from her chair, moved around the table and settled into his lap, facing him. She ran her hand tentatively down his cheek, gauging his reaction.
He watched her with dark intense eyes, leaning slightly towards her touch.
Taking that as acceptance, she leaned forwards and brushed her lips over his.
His chocolate eyes closed as his lips responded positively, encouraging her to deepen the kiss.
Her hands slid down his exposed arms before rising back up his broad shoulders, wrapping her arms around his neck as she teased her tongue along his lip.
She felt him chuckle from the ticklish sensation, before granting her access to his mouth.
His arms pulled her flush up against him, enjoying the feel of her lithe body pressing in all the right places.
Her fingernails roamed up along his neck, bringing a satisfying groan from his throat as she ran them though his hair.
After a few heated moment, she broke the kiss to allow from breath and words, "I'm sorry, you probably want to go lay down until your headache goes away."
"What headache?" He questioned, already replacing the pounding in head for a pounding far lowed.
"Feeling better already, huh?" She teased, resuming her trailing of fingers in places that made him sigh in content.
"Much." He insisted, pulling her mouth to his again.
Buffy was just beginning to feel her actions rousing something when, "Mommy, why are you sitting on Daddy?" Katie's questioning voice asked from behind them.
"Because he's comfy." She smiled as she quickly slid off his lap, discretely adjusting her bra from where his wandering hands had pushed it out of his way.
"What's wrong Honey?" Angel asked, hoping looking at his daughter would help dispel the arousing feelings that had been quickly coming to the surface.
Katie pouted her lip, "My Barbie broke again." Her little fingers held up the head separate from the body.
"Come here, let me see." He offered the now vacant and cooling warm spot on his lap where his wife had been sitting.
Angel took the toy from his daughter's hands and worked the two pieces back together. "Here you go, all better. Next time brush her hair a little more gently and her head should stay on, Ok?" Of course he know his advise would be forgotten the second he put her down.
The little girl nodded exuberantly, "Ok, thank you Daddy!" All smiles, she leaned up and kissed his cheek
He was slipping her off his lap and onto the floor when she turned to her mother and said, "Daddy legs aren't that comfy, he's kinda hard and bony."
It took everything in her to not burst out laughing at the sexual innuendo that the three year old innocently blurted out.
Angel coughed hard as Katie ignorantly skipped back into the living room to play.
The moment she was out of earshot both adults burst out laughing, tears streaming down their eyes.
The blond barely could breathe as Angel pulled her back down onto his lap, he devilish grin against her ear, "She had no idea how hard and bony I can be." He nudged his hips against her as he finished.
"Stop it." Buffy practically choked out, her belly hurting from all strain around her stitches and her mouth muscles were beginning to ache. "I keep…laughing…going to …end up…in the…Med-ward…again." She managed to get out though a fit of laughter.
His humor vanished in a second as his hands shot to her stomach, pulled her robe apart and lifted her shirt to check the healing scar.
"I'm fine." Buffy quickly assured, trying and failing to pry his hands away from her abdomen.
"Yes, you are." He added with a hint of a grin, but continued to check for signs of distress on the wound.
She shook her head and rolled her eyes playfully at the double entendre. "Will I live Doctor?" She teased when he finished.
He grinned again, the wolfish one, "Maybe, but I should check the inside too."
Even as her cheeks turned scarlet she felt warmth spread from her groin outwards. "Well I see you don't need whiskey to be a horn-dog." She teased him, slipping from his grasp, "And maybe I'll let you perform a gynecological exam later, but not in here, not when the kids are in earshot and not while all the best parts of you are covered up."
Angel smirked and glanced down at his bare muscular arms, chiseled chest, defined abs and back up at her with a raised eyebrow, "So my best feature is a dick? How very shallow of you and here I though you loved me for my smile."
She snorted as threw a dishtowel at him, "Ok so one of your many best features." She walked back over and took his slightly stubbly and oh so kissable cheeks between her hands, "And for the record, I don't love you for any one part, I love you for all of them."
Her kiss said even more than her words did, Angel eagerly devoured them all.
"Mommy!" Katie called from the living room, "Can I watch the Little Mermaid?"
Angel almost refused to let her lips go, but finally relented as Buffy elbowed him lightly, "I'll admit." She sent his a teasing smile as she forced herself off his lap and walked over to the open door frame between the two rooms, "Sometimes the dick is defiantly my favorite." She flashed him that Queen Temptress look before she vanished from the room.
He snorted to himself and shook his head, 'God I love that woman.'
…
They were outside watching the kids play in the sandbox in the cool September afternoon when Buffy leaned against her spouse's warm shoulder. Her eyes were on the tree house as she asked, "Were you there the whole time?"
His eyes glanced towards the wooden structure a moment before he shook his head, "Not at first." He wrapped his hand in hers and gave it a squeeze, "I drove around for an hour or so."
"Where did you go?"
He shrugged, "I didn't really have a destination planned, but I ended up at Lake Erie. I walked around for a few hours, just being generally broody and thinking everything over."
"Why did you come back?" She asked him.
He almost grinned, "Because you kept calling and texting me, asking me to come home because you were worried. I wasn't ready to talk to you yet, but I did want to be closer. I didn't want you to be home alone after it got dark, but I saw Giles's car in the driveway. Knowing you had someone to keep you company and help with the kids, I drove by."
"So you parked at AI and walked home." She finished.
"More or less." He added, "Ended up at Sal's Place first, but I couldn't get comfortable at the bar, there were too many memories in that place. I wandered around for a little while before I stopped in front of the dive you dragged me out of a few weeks ago, I realized I wasn't going to relax until I got home, so I grabbed a bottle of Jameson from the liquor store on the way before sneaking into the tree house. I hadn't intended to stay there long, just enough to dull my anger until I talk talk to you face to face, but as the bottle got lighter I lost my motivation to get up and come inside."
Buffy nodded, "And you got drunk enough to forget not to answer when I called."
He smirked, "By then, I think I actually wanted you to come get me."
"And I did." She told him smartly, "Of course you had to fall out of the tree house first."
"Don't worry, I was too drunk to feel it." He smiled, kissing her cheek.
"You were drunk enough to fall down, but not enough to keep from getting up." She countered wickedly, referring to his ability to get fully aroused.
He pulled her closer and grazed his mouth over her scar, "The intoxication I feel around you dwarfs any alcohol."
Her smile grew as she planned to show him how much she liked that after the kids went to bed.
...
That night they were cuddled together in bed, the kids were long since sleeping and they'd more than made up for the lack of passionate lovemaking over the past week.
"I've been thinking." Buffy spoke quietly as she toyed with her husband's wedding ring.
"What? That you really do only love me for my dick?" He questioned with a devilish smirk from their earlier teasing in the kitchen that morning.
Biting her lip to keep from laughing, she swatted him, "No, you ass."
Angel rolled and blocked the blow with his own teasing smile.
He muzzled back up to her after the brief assault, "What were you going to say? I promise I'll behave."
Buffy was silent for a few moments as a more somber tone filled her voice, "I think I know why we fight with each other so often."
His dark eyes focused on her as he waited for her to continue.
"I'm not positive, but I think...it's because we're too happy together." She said quietly.
His brows furrowed, "What do you mean, too happy together?"
She sat up and looked at his shadow, "Not necessary the happy part, but we're…safe. We don't patrol or have huge battles like we used to. Back in Sunnydale there was enough weekly activity we could have had a TV show…but now…" She trailed off.
"We're old and married." He supplied.
She grinned a little, "No, only you're old, but something like that. We don't burn the extra energy we have like we used to."
Feeling his lusty expression she pointed out, "Sex helps, a lot even, but like this week when I was hurt and that wasn't an option…that energy builds up a tension inside us both to the point where we…fight it out."
He lowered his eyes in thought a moment before nodding, "Yeah, I can see that." Those chocolate brown eyes settled back on her, "So what do we do about it?"
Buffy slid closer and leaned against his warm chest as she thought, "I don't know, I was thinking maybe we should start patrolling again."
Since her first pregnancy, they'd both been virtually retired from patrolling. Having children pretty much murdered their usual nocturnal habits.
"What do we do with the kids?" He asked, "Since I'm sure as hell not letting you go alone."
"Slayers are never alone, they patrol in groups." She reminded him, now that there were almost 2,000 of them.
She turned her humorous hazel-green eyes up at him, or at least to the dark shadow she was sitting with in their unlit bedroom, "We can't exactly patrol together, you know that never ended well." Which was usually them making out somewhere as the demons snuck off into the dark.
"We're not that bad." He defended, knowing full well he could keep his pants on for an entire patrol before carrying his wife off immediately after.
"There's a slightly selfish second part to patrolling separately." Buffy added, worrying her fingers into a knot.
"Other than babysitting?" Angel inquired, slipping his hands around hers and ceasing her twitchy fingers.
"Yeah." She admitting, biting her lip about what she was going to say. "You know I love you and I love spending time with you…"
"You want time away from each other, to see other people." He supplied, figuring that was what her tension was about.
Her eyes flew back to his, or at least where she thought they were, "That sounds awful when you say it like that."
He pulled her closer and kissed her neck, "I understand what you mean, we live together, eat together, work together, see each other every morning and night…you want us to have time to interact with someone other than each other, to form bonds and friendships with different people."
"I do." She sighed, "Are you mad?"
He smiled and kissed her neck again, "No, I like the idea."
"Really." She asked, turning in his arms, "It doesn't bother you?"
"As long as it's me you're coming home to." He smirked, emphasizing the coming.
She shook her head, "Unbelievable, you're just thinking about how slaying makes me horny."
"Two way street." He teased, "But seriously, I do actually think it's a sound idea, and I think I'm actually looking forward to time in the field again. As much as I love my new life, I do miss parts of my old. The satisfaction of defeating an opponent, the rewards of knowing a person is alive that would have been killed otherwise, the awe of winning a fight for something you believe in."
Buffy nodded against his shoulder, "Yeah, I miss that too."
They were silent a few moments, just settling back under the covers and getting comfortable and ready for sleep.
"When should we start?" She inquired his opinion.
He yawned, "Not tonight."
She grinned and rested her head against his shoulder, "Ok, we'll hash out a tentative schedule at work on Monday."
"Ok." He muttered, pulled her closer and nuzzled his mark on her neck.
As Buffy shut her eyes, her happy and sated mind couldn't help but wonder where her father was tonight. As much as she didn't enjoy being shot, she was glad he'd shown back up in her life for at least a little while and was grateful for the new positive memories she now possessed.
With all the tension form earlier gone, she almost felt bad for having sent him away, but she knew it was what her marriage and soul needed right now.
She hoped one day they'd be able to work though this ordeal, but until that day came, she was glad how her life turned out.
'Everything happens for a reason.' She thought before she drifted off to sleep.
...
The End…for now.