By Demand! I have written another chapter! The story continues!

All characters except Brian are property of Fox and Joss.

Thank you to those who reviewed! You guys have been so great!

Another Auld Lang Syne :

Chapter Two

Willow ran outside when she heard Buffy's scream.

Her voice had awoken Willow from her dreams of sleigh riding with Oz, but when the reindeer screamed Angel's name in Buffy's voice, Willow as awake and downstairs in a minute flat.

When she opened the front door, the Christmas sun was shining brightly on the snow covered ground. And at the end of the driveway, Willow saw Buffy's curled form holding an envelope and card in her hands.

Thinking the worst had happened and Angel had become dust, Willow rushed over to her best friend.

"Buffy, what is it," she said as Buffy continued to sob, "What happened? Is it Angel?"
Buffy rose up and looked at the red-headed witch, who had always been there for her.

"It's Angel," Was all Buffy could say as she handed Willow a tear stained Christmas card.

As Willow read the message, she feel from her kneeling position, to sitting on her knees.

"Is it true? Angel's really human now?"
Buffy nodded as fresh tears fell from her eyes. "Yeah it's true, Will. He walked out into the sunlight and he didn't turn to dust or anything."
"Oh my god," Willow whispered.

"All I ever wanted in the world was for us to be together," Buffy admitted as she sat on the cold ground, "and now we have that chance, and it's gone. All because I'm married to Brian."
"But you love Brain Buffy!" Willow exclaimed at Buffy.

"Do I really, Willow?" Buffy questioned not only Willow, but herself as well.

I always thought I loved Brian, Buffy thought to herself as she tried to get a hold of her emotions. I had come to the realization that Angel and I could never be, so I tried to move on. Now, that Angel's human, I don't know what I should do!

Willow stood and held out her hand to Buffy.

"Come on," Willow said Buffy looked up at her, "It's Christmas, and the others will wake up soon, if they're not already."

"But what are we going to tell them about Angel?" Buffy asked she took Willow's hand and stood up.

"Let's keep it between us for right now," Willow suggested, "And when the time is right, then we will tell them, ok?"
Buffy showed her first smile since Willow came outside, and said, "Ok."

Then, the two friends walked inside to clean up before the rest of the family woke up.

Dawn was the first to make it downstairs when she realized the sun was up.

"Come on you guys, it's Christmas!"

Dawn flew over to the Christmas tree and began to sift through the presents.

"Sixteen years old and still acting like a kid," Xander said he entered the living room.

"Speak for yourself," Dawn said as she stuck her tongue out at him.

Xander returned the childish action, and Giles next entered the room.

"I do say, that is a lovely tree," he said as he sat down on the couch.

"Well, you should be proud," Said Buffy as she entered from the dining room, carrying a plate of fresh cookies. "After all, you and Willow decorated it."
"Yes, well, the way the sun is shining, it makes it appear to be brighter."
"Not as bright as my girl," A soft voice said as a pair of arms wrapped themselves around Buffy's waist.
"Merry Christmas, Brian," Buffy said as she leaned her head against his chest.

"Merry Christmas, Sweetie," Brian said as he kissed her head and sat down in his signature recliner.

Buffy watched as the Rockwell painting played out before her.

Dawn and Xander were passing out gifts, not counting the one or two they opened before that, and Giles sat on the couch, thanking Willow for new addition to his magic book collection. Brian thanked Xander for the CD of his favorite band.

"Here Sis," said Dawn as she stood up and walked towards Buffy, "This one has your name on it."

Buffy stared at the brightly colored, package of red, gold and green.

It said "To Buffy, From Brian", and Buffy couldn't help but think back to just a few hours ago, when Angel had walked in and right back out of her life. The way the sun had graced his face with such an illuminating grace, it gave new meaning to the name "Angel".

Buffy had always dreamed of seeing Angel in the sunshine, but she also didn't think she would be married when that day came.

"Honey, are you okay?" Brain's voice knocked Buffy out of her daydream.

"Huh? Oh yeah," Buffy lied, as she smiled at her husband. "It's just that I wasn't expecting a gift for some crazy reason."
"You're right," Brain agreed. "You're all the gift I really need, but I had to get you something to show it."
Buffy's eyes watered at Brian's words. She knew he truly loved her, and that he would do anything to make her happy, but Buffy just couldn't get over the past.

Angel had always been there, and no one could take his place.

Buffy loved Brian, she was sure of that now, but because of Angel's appearance, her relationship with her devoted husband, was forever altered. From now until she died, she always dream of the life she could have had with Angel.

"Well," Dawn asked eagerly as Buffy stared at her husband. "Are you going to open it or not?"

"Yeah, Buff," Xander said as he sat stuffing cookies in his mouth. "I wanna see what he got you for your present."
Giles saw the tray of cookies sitting on Xander's lap and slapped his head. "Don't talk with your mouth full," Giles scolded. "And learn to share."
With that, Giles yanked the tray from his lap.

Buffy sat on the floor at her husband's feet and carefully unwound the ribbon from the box. Tearing the paper, Buffy saw a plain white box, with no design at all. Popping the sides that were taped, she lifted the box, and peeled back the red & gold tissue paper, to reveal a rather old looking book.

It was an antique brown, and the pages were worn, but Buffy thought it was beautiful.

As she opened the book, she read the title, and tried to choke back the sobs that were coming.

"Sonnets of the Portuguese?" Buffy breathed as she chocked back another sob.

"I remember you telling me it was your favorite book," Brian explained as Buffy stared at him with tear stained eyes. "And I know that you said you had lost it when you moved from Sunnydale, so I decided to get try and get it back for you."

"But how did you-?"
"Oh, Giles helped me get it," Brian said as he gestured to Giles, who smiling widely. "He knew some old book dealers and they hooked us up. I know it can't replace the one you had, but at least it is close."

Buffy stared at Giles. She was deeply touched that Brian and Giles had tried to do something so sweet for her. And Giles had had no idea that Angel was going to show up and throw her world on its axis. And she never had told Brian the real reason why she had loved this book so much.

Angel had given it to her on her 18th Birthday after she had beaten, or passed as they would say, the Council test.

"Thank you so much," she said sincerely as Brian's face lit up. "You have no idea how much this means to me."

Buffy rose up on her knees, and wrapped her arms around Brian, hugging him tight. Brian returned the hug, as the others watched thinking it was just a special Christmas moment.

Only Buffy and Willow knew the truth.

Buffy was sitting on the front porch, wrapped up in a blanket, and holding a cup of hot cocoa. She was staring at the winter wonderland outside, when Brian came to sit beside her.

"Hey, honey," He said as he took a seat beside Buffy.

"Hey," she replied, turning from the Christmas scene before.

"It's a beautiful Christmas day," Brian said, trying to start a conversation with his wife.

"Yeah, it is," Buffy said softly as she laid her head against Brian's shoulder, and tried not to pretend it was Angel's.

"Are you sure you're okay?"
"Why do you say that?" Buffy asked she raised her head.

"Well," Brian began, "It's just you seem so distant today. And you seem real emotional. "Are you pregnant?"
Buffy almost spilled her cup as her husband asked her. "W-What?"
"I mean, you're moody and you haven't hardly eaten anything all day, I just thought that may you were pregnant."
Buffy laughed, "I'm not pregnant Brian. I-it's just that Christmases, and my birthday are real emotional days for me."
"Why? I know you haven't told me everything about your life, and I respect that there are some things you just don't want to share, but what is it about Christmas that has you so "depressed", if I may ask?"

Buffy sighed. She didn't really want to tell Brian, but she had to tell him something in order to pacify him.

"An old friend I used to know tried to commit suicide on Christmas," Buffy said as truthfully as she could. Yes, Angel was a "friend" at the time, and he did try to commit suicide by standing on the cliffs above Sunnydale, waiting for the sun.

"I'm so sorry," Brian said as he rubbed Buffy's arm.

"Fortunately, I was able to convince him otherwise," Buffy reassured her husband as he pulled her close.
"Your friend must have been lucky to have you for a friend."
"It would be very hard to imagine a world without him," Buffy admitted wholeheartedly.

"Him?" Brian asked.

"Yeah, he used to tutor me when I was in High School," Buffy explained, using the same excuse she had used to tell her mother who Angel was.

"Oh, ok." Brain said as he continued to hold Buffy. "for a minute there, I was afraid that it might have been an old boyfriend or something."
"Oh no," Buffy said laughing it off. "He was just a friend, like Xander."

Buffy felt the tension in Brian's body go away, as her lie started working.

And inside, Buffy felt like dying.

End Chapter Two

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