His eyes were smouldering as they looked into her own. His eyes flickered down to her lips as he bent down, bringing himself even closer to her. She focused on his lips for a few moments, then closed her eyes as she felt them meet hers.

Angel pulled away a few millimetres before kissing Buffy again more forcefully, his hands coming to rest at her waist. She brought her own arms up around his neck as she held him at her lips, sighing contentedly as his tongue gently slid into her mouth. She met it with hers, probing tentatively and curling it around his. She almost moaned with delight when his arms tightened around her, pressing her closer to him and massaging her lower back with his fingertips. She threaded her fingers through his hair tighter, then they heard the bell ring at the front door as Joyce came back from her lunch.

The pair sprung apart, licking their lips nervously and Buffy rushed out of the room, greeting her mother before leaving the gallery. Just before she left she shot one last look at Angel, who was standing with her mother. He gave her a small smile, lifting her heart, and she practically skipped out.

The next day she told her mother she was going round to Willow's house after dinner, but went to Angel's apartment instead. He looked mildly surprised when she turned up, but let her in. When he turned around after shutting the door she was right behind him, her hands already on his arms and her face angled up for a kiss. She looked so tempting that Angel had to fight to pull her hands away and walk over to the sofa.

Buffy looked confused. Had she done something wrong? "What's wrong?" She sat down next to him, wanting to place a hand on his arm, but not sure if he'd pull away.

Angel took a deep breath. "Buffy, we can't do this."

Her brow furrowed. "Why not?" He sighed. She didn't get it. It was different for her. "Look, you're seventeen, I'm twenty-one –"

She cut him off. "I've done the math."

He shook his head. "But have you seriously thought about it? I'm four years older than you. Spike's my best friend and he's practically your brother, he'd kill me."

She shook her head. "He wouldn't. And if this is all about Spike, let me deal with him."

"You don't get it Buffy. Spike's trusted me with you. Any time he wasn't there, he'd ask me to look after you. It's like I'm betraying him." She opened her mouth to speak but he cut her off. "And your mom, she's been like a mom to me too. Do you know how much they'd hate me if they knew I was seeing you? You're in high school."

She looked angry, but inched closer to him. This wasn't going to be solved by arguing. "I might be in high school, but I'm hardly innocent, am I?"

Angel raised his eyes to hers. "That's the thing. You are. You're too innocent and good and pure for me. You don't know everything about me, Buffy. You only know what I've told you. I've done things…"

She took his hand. "So tell me." He shook his head and stood up, pacing. She got up and took his arms, standing in front of him. "Do you want to be with me?"

He wouldn't meet her gaze but she placed her hand on his chin, forcing him to and repeating the question. He sighed and leaned in closer. "More than anything."

She smiled up at him. "So isn't that all we need to know?"

She raised herself up on her tip-toes and pressed her lips to his. He tried to stop himself, but having her pressed up against him, having her warm lips moving over his, was too much and he crushed her to him, holding her tightly. She gently slid her tongue over his lips and into his mouth, meeting his. He tightened his grip further, causing a muffled moan to emit from her mouth, swallowed by his. She slipped her arms up around his neck, holding him closer and playing with the short hairs at the nape, when suddenly he moved his hands to her shoulders and pushed her away.

She stood, her chest heaving and she took deep breaths, her arms slightly open, and all Angel wanted to do was pull her back to him and kiss her again. But he didn't. "No, Buffy." Her eyes filled with frustrated tears and she stormed past him to the door, leaving the apartment.

She couldn't go home, not while she was crying. She couldn't go to Kathy's because one, Giles was there, and two, Kathy was Angel's brother. She definitely couldn't go to Xander's, the only place left was Willow's. She let her in immediately, leading her up to her bedroom and settling down on the bed.

"What's up?" Buffy took a deep breath before telling her what had been happening the past couple of weeks between her and Angel. Willow couldn't believe it, Buffy and Angel? They were like brother and sister. He'd always looked out for her, she'd never thought there'd be something else between them.

"Why's he being so stubborn, Will? I mean, four years isn't really that much. And I know he said there's things I don't know about him, but I know all I need to know, and I want to know the other things. I'm sure Spike would come round, and my mom loves Angel. Why would she care?"

"Maybe he thinks Spike would care because he knows things about Angel that you don't."

Buffy shook her head. "I don't care! Willow I…I care about him, a lot. When I kissed him it was…unbelievable. I've never been kissed like that before. And I'm not stupid, I know he's had a lot of girlfriends and a lot of practise but…it felt like it was all for me."

Willow placed a hand over Buffy's. "I'm sure he'll come around."