oooooooo Here's the last chapter. Hope you like it. Review please!
Angel had convinced Buffy to come back to the cabin, at least just to finish what she
had to tell him.
"I remember when Xander opened his big mouth at Thanksgiving and blurted out
that you had been in Sunnydale... I was so mad at you, but you already now that,
from when I came to find you in L.A... I remember thinking that I was being tested
or punished in some way, just to see how much I could take. Things were starting
to make some sense, you know.There was a guy I liked, I was starting to move on,
like you wanted me too. I wasn't over you, God knows I didn't forget you. But it was
easier to try to make a new life when you weren't there. I had you with me in my thoughts,
in my heart, but I didn't have to see you, that's what made it bearable to move on. But
then I saw you, and you screwed me upagain, Angel... I knew you came to help me,
and I was grateful that you were still looking out for me, but for you to come back to
Sunnydale and stir up all my emotions again, just to have us end up the way we did at
Graduation, with us not being together, wasn't fair, because in a way, I was still waiting
for you. I remember I left your office that day, and we didn't part on the best of terms.
But it was like that didn't matter at all, because a couple of months later I flew my ass
to L.A. to see you so fast, to make sure you were alright. I gave up on the whole not
seeing you thing. I thought that Faith was coming to take you out... I remember getting
to your place, and I saw you holding Faith... Oh Angel, I don't even know how to
describe the anger that I was feeling and the jealousy, too. Yep, I was jealous that
she was in your arms, and this is when I was with Riley! I wanted to kick her ass
before I saw all that because of what had happened between her and me in
Sunnydale, and what she had done to my mom, not to mention Riley, but add on
seeing you with her like that, and I wanted to hurt her even more... I remember giving
you hell, and I remember you basically telling me off, too. You pretty much told me what
I had told you the day after Thanksgiving... I left there, and I was so upset about what had
happened between us. I was mad at you, big time. But I felt worse about how mad you were
at me. You were the only thing I thought about all the way home... I even brushed Riley
off when I got back, and that was wrong. I was with Riley, yet it was still all about you.
That boy loved me so much. I remember getting back into my dorm, and I decided that I
was going to try not to think about you, just to keep myself sane, and then who shows up
at my door? You. You show up and then so does Riley. Oh yes that was real fun. The
guy who I never got over in the same room with the guy I was dating... Anyway, then
you had to go and make me not mad at you anymore, with your coming all the way
back to Sunnydale to apologize to me... I'll tell you now, because it doesn't matter.
I told you that it would probably be best if you left that day, but I didn't want you to
go. I wanted you to stay. But that was bad, for Riley. I was with him, and I needed
to reassure him of that, and I needed to reassure myself that I loved him. It's really
bad to say, but I couldn't do that with you there, so I sent you away. I think you
know that, too. But it was a good goodbye. There was less hurt and no anger this
time... There was still a longing for you, it never went away, but I wasn't mad this time.
I still loved you, but I knew that I was with Riley."
Angel just sat, listening to everything she was saying. There were things that he wanted
to say, but he knew that she needed to let everything out now, because she was getting to
a point, so he kept his mouth shut and let her talk.
"The next time I saw you after that was nearly a year later, just after my mom had died.
I didn't know what to do with myself. I was so scared. My world just came crashing
down. I was miserable... I stood there in the graveyard, just staring at the tombstone,
for God knows how long, and then I felt you. I didn't even see you, but I knew it was you
who had come, and I put my hand in yours, without any hesitation, because at a time like
that, even if we weren't together, it was only fitting that you would be there with me. It was
only right... You stayed with me for hours, just sitting under that tree, and you were making
some of my pain go away. Then you offered to stay in town as long as I needed you. And I
could tell that you meant it. You would have stayed if I asked you to. And with that, I knew
you still loved me. Just as much as ever. I remember thinking 'Okay, not everything in my life
has just changed. Something is still the same. Something is still good. Angel still loves me,
and I still love him,' and then I kissed you. I needed that, but it also made me realize that I
couldn't let you stay, because if you did, I wouldn't deal with mom's death, I would just be
focusing my sadness elsewhere, somewhere that was happy. I couldn't let you stay. I needed
to be strong, and you helped me realize that. You helped me so much that night. You were
the reason I made it through the night... After that, I first saw you after Willow and my gang
brought me back from the dead... That visit was intense. I wasn't really even me. I was feeling
so numb. I didn't want to be back here. I wanted to be in the peaceful place I was. But I wasn't
there, I was here on Earth, where the pain was. My house was kind of falling apart, I had to
play mother to Dawn, I had to pretend to be happy. Seeing you that day was really bad
because it brought back the memory I only received when I died. When I died, I saw the
day you let the Oracles take back. I was pissed off as it was. Life was horrible, then I had
to go remembering that one perfect day, the one you never let happen because they told you
I would probably die. It made me resent being back even more... I was in no pain, and then I
was here, and it was all hell. I was happy and sad to see you that day. I remember the look
on your face when you saw me, it was a look that would make any girl feel like gold. But not
for me on that day, there was already too much pain, and seeing you just added onto it. I'm
sorry for that day, I wasn't so nice."
"Don't worry about it," Angel told her gently.
"That brings us to the Sunnydale Apocalypse. You showed up out of nowhere, and I was so
happy to see you, hence the big hello kiss."
"It was a very nice hello," Angel smiled.
Buffy laughed a bit. "Inevitably though, everything got serious. I told you I needed you to leave,
and you were right when you said it had something to do with Spike. But he wasn't the only
reason. He deserved the chance to be a hero, he came such a long way Angel. He became
good. He did a lot of good. I had used him so much in the past And I couldn't give that
chance to someone else, not even you. I owed him. There was also the fact that I wanted
you alive. The best way to keep you alive was for you not to be in Sunnydale... After I
gave you my whole cookie speech and you had asked me if I knew who I'd pick when
I was ready, and I told you I wasn't thinking that far ahead, I meant it. So much had happened
in my life, so much was going on in the world. I needed time for myself. Guy-free time. I just
wanted you to know that I wasn't saying no to you. I was saying I needed to figure my life out.
And when I told you that sometimes I did think ahead, I meant that too. Because after all the
time had passed, I still thought about you and me, and it made me happy to know that you did
too. You seemed ready to be with me, like you'd given up on the us not being together for my
own good crap... It was funny, you had finally come around, and I wasn't ready for you. I wanted
to be ready but I wasn't. I made you wait... Now look at us, not quite two years later...So I suppose
you're still wondering why I came here to find you, right?" Buffy asked.
"Yeah."
"I want to ask you something first. And I want you to answer me honestly... How do you feel about
me now, like what do think about me being vamped out?"
"It's- I don't know... Mostly I feel bad because I see how you're hurting... I know it came at
a big price, but I'm happy to see you still standing in front of me, and not in the ground. I'm
sorry for your pain."
"Okay... Well that's that. Now here's my part...I'd been thinking about you a lot, like about me
and you, and then I got your postcard. I got your postcard and I decided it was time for me to
find you... After everything we had gone through, after everything I just mentioned, I was ready
to be with you again. I came here and I was going to tell you that I was ready.
"Buffy-"
"Please let me finish before you say anything else... So I came here, all happy and excited
and then that creepy bastard sired me. Everything changed so fast, how I lived, what I ate,
and the way you looked at me changed too. You acted different around me. I thought you
didn't feel the same way about me anymore.You looked disappointed when you would
look at me most of the time, like I did something wrong."
"Is that why you were gonna leave?" Angel asked.
"That's part of it-"
"Hey," Angel said. "You didn't do anything wrong. Don't think for a second that you did.
And I've never been disappointed in you," he told her.
"Then what's with the sadness?"
"I looked disappointed and sad when I looked at you because all I could see there was how
I didn't save you. I was mad at me, never you. Never you, Buffy."
Buffy nodded her head silently.
"What was the other part?"
"I got turned on my way to see you... That was some kind of sign, Angel-"
"It might have been a sign, but it wasn't a sign for you to leave. It wasn't a
sign that we're not supposed to be together."
"How do you know, Angel?" she asked him.
"Because I do, Buffy. I know that we are supposed to be together. People
don't go through everything that we have gone through, and wind up at the
end loving each other just as much as they had when they were together, if not
loving them even more. That's us. We're here and the feelings are here. How
can this be wrong now? You came here to be with me, then be with me. I didn't
ask for you to be turned, never wanted it to happen. But it did happen, and you
have to deal with it now... There is an upside to this, you know? It's only one,
but it's still an upside. A pretty big one at that."
"What's that?" She asked him with a shaky voice, starting to believe that maybe
Angel was right.
"If you still want me the same way I want you, we could have forever... We could
be eternal, if that's what you want...Even if that's not what you want, I have
something I want to ask you... If you'd let me come back to Rome with you, if you
wanted to, you and me could help people, you know, like I did before, with
Cordelia and the rest of my gang... And if you don't want that either, all I ask
is that you don't forget me, and that you come see me once in a while. Either
way, I want an answer, please. I don't want to wait anymore."
Buffy let the tears fall from her eyes as she took in everything Angel had said.
He still wanted her, and he didn't believe that her being turned was a bad sign.
Maybe he was right... He wanted to be with her forever.
That was kind of beautiful.
Angel got off of the couch and began pacing back and forth.
Buffy got off of the couch too. "Stop pacing," she told him. "I don't want to wait
anymore either. Bring on forever."
He stopped and looked at her.
She grabbed him and kissed him, and he returned the kiss eagerly.
After awhile, she pulled away slowly.
She just looked at Angel and smiled, a real smile.
Before either of them knew what was going on, their clothes were being torn off by
the other, and they hit the bed.
"Curses," Buffy said suddenly, pulling back reluctantly.
Angel pulled away and said the same thing.
"Screw the curse," Buffy said suddenly.
"What?" Angel said, sitting up.
"Perfect happiness. I don't think we could be at that point again. There's been too much
tragedy in our lives. We've both lost so much... I don't think it's possible for absolute
happiness, even though this is pretty much as close as it gets. Do you know what I mean?"
"I think you're right," Angel said. "I know what you mean. Life can be good, and being
with you is always good-"
"The only thing better than being with you is being with you and having all our family and
friends here with us. That would perfect happiness. But this is pretty damn close," Buffy
said.
"Let's be happy, then," Angel said, pulling her back to him.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Buffy woke up happier than she had in a really long time.
She smiled as she looked beside her. For the second time, she had woken up before
Angel had.
He didn't stay sleeping very long, however. He was up within ten minutes.
"You make it really hard to watch you sleep, you know?" Buffy said, with a grin.
"I thought that was my thing," Angel laughed.
Buffy smiled back.
"Did you think about what I said before?"
"Which part?" Buffy asked.
Angel chuckled. "The part about you and me working together in Rome," he said.
"I think that's a really good idea, actually," she replied. "I actually thought about that
a couple days back."
"Yeah?" he said, smiling.
"Yeah."
"That's really good," Angel said happily. "We've got almost a week left here, but we
could leave now if you want," Angel told her.
"No. No. I'm happy to be going back to Rome. But I'm really happy here too. I'd like
to have a little bit more time, just me and you, before I go back and face the world."
"Good. I like that idea," Angel said.
"Thank you, Angel."
"For what?" he asked.
"For waiting for me. For helping me through this. For being here with me now," she told him.
"Anything for you," he said simply.
She leaned over and kissed him softly. "Good morning by the way."
"Good morning to you too."
"Hey," Buffy said excitedly. "You wanna fight?"
"Only you," Angel laughed. "Only you would say something like that."
"I'm feeling strong again," she said. "Now, is that a yes or a no? It would be good to train
with someone my own strength. All I've had to work with for the past couple months were
some really sucky slayers."
"Sure, what the hell," Angel grinned.
"Before I kick your ass, I just wanted to tell you something"
"Cocky aren't we?" Angel said, jokingly. "What did you want to say?"
"I know I said it yesterday, but I want to say it again... Thank you for taking care of me,
when I wouldn't take care of myself. That, and I love you. That's all," she said.
"Love you too," he said.
"Alright then, enough with the mush. I'm itching for a fight."
"I'll go easy on you," Angel joked.
"Haha, aren't you the funny one," she said, grabbing his cheek. "You'll go easy on me.
Yeah right," she said, kissing him, where she had just grabbed.
"Oh yeah, you're definitely back," Angel commented.
"We're back," she said, smiling. "Now let's go big guy, you promised me a fight."
"Whatever you want," was his simple reply. "Whatever you want."
THE END!!
Hope you liked it!!!!