Chapter Seven

A month passed peacefully. No one had heard or seen Spike, which wasn't interpreted as a good or bad sign. Buffy was healing. The bruising was almost all gone, and the breaks were better. Giles was helping Buffy strengthen her muscles and bones, along with work on mental strength, to repair the damage Spike inflicted. She started sleeping somewhat normally again, with only one nightmare a night. Angel continued doing patrol, and they took nightly walks.

Willow and Tara took care of Dawn, who stopped by after school for three weeks to see Buffy before she started going home to have dinner with everyone, Giles included. He was still at the Summers' residence, but Buffy had given him permission to use her room instead of the couch. He'd almost needed new glasses with the force he'd used to "clean" his.

Now, Buffy was walking through a cemetery with Angel, the first time in a month. It was "their" cemetery, the one they'd usually ended up making out in when she had been in school. There were no demons or vamps, so it was basically an easy night.

"I think it's because the heard the Slayer was back," Buffy said, looking around. Angel snorted.

"They have no way to know you're with me."

"Right," Buffy said, drawing it out. Angel chuckled and placed a hand on her cheek. She tiled her head and kissed his palm while looking at him through her eyelashes. If he'd been human, his heart would have caught in his chest. As it was, his breath, more habit than anything else, faltered oh so slightly.

"They don't." She just nodded and looked at his chest. She yawned and rubbed at her eyes like a small child, causing Angel to smile. They'd done an extra long patrol due not encountering any demons, and because of that, she was tired. Her Slayer abilities hadn't fully returned, but she was stronger, quicker and her senses sharper. Her stamina was also better. Just not what it should be.

"If you say so," she muttered, blinking. He smiled and placed an arm around her shoulder as they continued through the cemetery, going towards the mansion. Upon arriving, Buffy went towards her room, grabbed some clothing, and went into the large bathroom. A big marble tub was off to one side, in the corner. It took almost twenty minutes to fill, so she turned on the taps and headed towards the kitchen. Angel was just finishing his mug of blood as she went to the fridge.

"There should be some lemon-pepper chicken in there," he commented while rinsing out the mug and setting it on the counter.

"I found it," she said, picking up the dish and shutting the door. She put it in the microwave, set the machine, and turned to the vampire, head tilted, arms folded. He waited, leaning against the counter. "You don't eat, so why do you make so much food?" He chuckled, surprising her.

"Buffy, do you know how much you eat when you're bored?" he asked, still laughing. Her eyes narrowed. "I didn't mean that in a bad way. I just meant that it's better to have the food here, ready, then nothing." She snorted but let it go.

"Why don't you eat? You did it before," she said, pouting slightly as she though. He sighed.

"Buffy, why are you taking an interest in is I eat or not? You've never cared before." He knew he was snippy, be he was tired too. Even vampires needed sleep.

"I was only asking Angel, calm down," she said as the microwave beeped. She grabbed the porcelain plate without thinking and dropped it, hugging her hand to her chest as she went to the sink. The microwave was set at high, and the plate had conducted heat better then some other materials. The food lay on the floor, forgotten, as Angel got a rag and some ice. He stood behind her as she shut the water off and gently took her wrist. The underside of her fingers and part of her palm was red.

"It doesn't seem bad." he commented, pressing the cold cloth against the flesh. He led her to bathroom, where the tub was about filled. He shut off the taps and left to clean up the mess. Buffy sighed and looked down at her hand before curling it into a fist. It hurt, but she dug her nails into her palms before releasing the fist and undressing. She slid into the tub with a grateful sigh. Almost an hour later, she got out of the tub, having awoken by the chill of the water, and put on her pajamas. She crawled into bed. Angel waited an hour before also turning in for the night.

***

It was just after dawn when Angel awoke, blinking in confusion. He was in a position he'd only been in once before that he could remember. He looked down and saw a blond head against his chest. His arms tightened their already tight hold as he laid his head back down with a sigh. Buffy shifted, muttered, and burrowed into his embrace further. He smiled and went back to sleep after kissing the top of her head.

***

Buffy's eyes snapped open as she realized she wasn't alone in the big bed. The filtered sunlight hadn't reached the bed, which meant it was probably six, six-thirty. She tensed and sat bolt upright, breathing deeply. Angel had awoken when her heart had sped up, as he'd been listening to it in his sleep.

"Buffy?"

"How-what-" she loked around, confused. "How did I end up here?" she finally asked, realizing it wasn't her room.

"I'm not sure. I woke up at dawn, saw you, and went back to sleep." He placed a warm hand, her body heat effected his skin, on her cheek. "Are you gonna be all right?"

"Yeah, fine." She stared at the window, frowning, mind working furiously. Her eyes widened. "I-I remember. I heard something outside. When I went to the w-window, I saw something move. I-it looked like Spike's hair, but I knew it wasn't." she added, frowning as she shook. "I remember running in here, knowing it was safe."

She laughed cruelly at herself. "I ran in here like a little kid." She continued laughing, but he could see the fear and self-anger in her eyes. "I'm the freggin' Slayer, and I'm scared of something outside my window." He stroked her hair and pulled her to his chest. He knew it hadn't been Spike outside last night; he'd have sensed his grandchilde.

"It's all right. Oh, Buffy, it's all right, honest," he said softly as she protested. "Hey, it'll be fine ok? I know it wasn't Spike, but I'm not sure who or what it is. We can check it out tonight." She nodded.

"Thanks," she said, looking at the blanket she was picking at. He frowned, eyebrows furrowed until it clicked that she didn't want to look at him.

"It's fine. I'm not sure exactly what time it is, but maybe we should get up." She nodded and quickly left. With a sigh, he shook his head and began making the bed, telling Angelus to settle the hell down. Of course, the demon was having none up it and telling Liam to shove it and let *him* deal with Buffy. That was met with more than enough force to quiet the demon to muttering. Angel went into the kitchen, hearing the water running.

"I warmed some blood for you," she said, pointing to the mug by the microwave as she wrote something on a piece of paper. He thanked her and picked up the mug before draining it in two gulps and rinsing out the mug. Buffy was munching on an apple slice and still writing. Her writing was so fast, it was kinda sloppy. But not so sloppy it couldn't be read.

"What do you want to do today?" he asked, watching her.

"I'm meeting Giles at the Magic Box. I stupidly told him I'd let him give me some 'educational lessons on being a Slayer that contain more than the physical aspect' and am now stuck to the promise," she said. Angel smiled slightly.

"No crystals?" he asked.

She glared. "Angel, how could you-"

"It was a joke Buffy, calm down," he said gently. She sniffed, looking at him with narrow eyes. He could tell what the real problem was: she needed time to sort things out. It was in her eyes, just barely visible. The shock of the morning had sent everything she knew, and thought, spinning.

She sighed. "I know, I just...I feel so screwed up Angel." In his head, the demon made a comment which he pointedly ignored. "It's all crazy up here," she said, gesturing to her head.

"I'm sure it'll settle soon."

"Maybe," she said absently. They sat at the table for twenty mixtures before she stood and went to her room to get dressed and head out. Angel went to his room and grabbed a book, knowing he wouldn't get any sleep while she was gone. Before he even grabbed the book from the dresser, he'd figured out it would be wiser to go through the tunnels, to the Magic Box. Buffy called good bye and hurriedly left. After five minutes, he went to the back of the house and opened the manhole.

Magic Box

Buffy arrived and went to the table. Since it was Saturday, Willow and Tara were attacking the magical texts that had just arrived.

"Buffy!" they said in unison. Buffy smiled. She sat down and started talking with the witches. Ten minutes later, Angel appeared in the basement. She stopped talking and reached out before rolling her eyes and smiling appreciatively.

A little while later, Giles arrived.

Willow mouthed "Vicarious smooches later?" as Buffy looked over her shoulder, causing her to shake her head and mouth "You wish" back. Willow laughed and returned to her work.

Buffy went to the mats in the center of the room and started stretching while Giles got out the items they would need. Once she was finished stretching, he let her begin the training...

Two hours later, Buffy wiped off her face and emptied the bottle of water. She and Giles were going to relax before starting her other...lessons. She was regretting telling him he could teach her. They went into the main part of he shop and she sat in a chair while he got the books. Angel stood in the corner, smiling in amusement.

Buffy proved to be an attentive student...just not an enthused one. Giles called a stop after three hours, it was about one in the afternoon. She bye to everyone and challenged Angel to a race, surprising him, not that he'd showed it, since he'd thought she'd thought he was gone.

Angel won the race. Buffy arrived five minutes late to find him holding a glass of water and a towel. She tried to scowl, but it came out as a smile. She drank half the water before accepting the towel, her fingers lingering on his hand.

"Come on, time for lunch."

"Yes mother," she grumbled, not really in the mood to eat. He looked over his shoulder.

"I am not your mother," he growled playfully. She blushed, a reaction he'd taken delight in creating once again, and stuck out her tongue. He grinned, snapping at her. She rolled her eyes and sat at the table.

"Food?"

"You think I'm going to cook for you?" he asked. She nodded slowly, an unsure smile dancing on her lips. He sat across from her. "After the comment you made last night?" Her smile fell, making her look like a wounded child. She looked at the glass in front of her.

"I just thought..." She looked at him hesitantly before regaining her composer. "I though it would be nice to eat together. I've always wondered about it, even in high school. I was stupid and worried about other things," she added with a shrug. After a few awkward moments, she yawned unconvincingly and said she was going to bed. He bid her goodnight and sat at the table.

His mind was in turmoil. He wanted to comfort her, but knew it would do no good. Angel also wondered why "Buffy" wasn't completely showing. There was a famous temper to Elisabeth Anne Summers that still wasn't breaking through the surface all that much. What really stumped him was the fact that the timidness seemed to surface near him more. And seeing as she spend most of her time with him, and trusted him the most, it was truly mind boggling; he'd caught Giles muttering about something along the same lines.

With a sigh, the vampire stood, pushed in his chair, and set about checking to make sure the mansion was secure. Ten minutes later, he was in his room, getting ready for bed. He'd passed Buffy's room but hadn't went in, despite the fact that he knew she wasn't asleep. Angel drew the string on his night pants and reached for a shirt. He looked down and noticed the scar where Buffy had impaled the sword into him to save the world. The memory flashed through his mind.

In her room, Buffy tossed in her bead and groaned, giving up. She knew she wasn't going to get to sleep, even though she wanted it.

She knew that was a lying to herself. She wanted to want sleep. But sleep didn't want her. And it wasn't the least bit fair. With a groan, she flung off the covers, quietly stood next to the door, and went into the hall once she was sure Angel was in his room. Silently, she made her way to the kitchen, grabbed a plum, and went into the sitting room. The fire was still going.

Angel sighed and exited his room. His mind was a flurry of activity, which meant no sleep. With a growl, he listened to a board near their rooms creak and stealthily made his way to the sitting room. He watched as Buffy took a bite of her plum before staring off into space, absently licking the juice form her lips. He drew in a breath as she tilted her head back, making the firelight catch her blond hair. Her head snapped up, eyes instantly locking on his position.

"Angel," she said in relief. "I thought you'd went to bed."

"Couldn't sleep." he stated, just as much for him as for her. She nodded and took another bite of the plum. A few bites later, and the pit was thrown into the fire which cracked on the stones and added more noises to the crackling logs.

"Sorry 'bout earlier."

"It's fine," he said, causing her to shrug and drop the subject. He made his way to the couch and sat down, watching. She leaned against him, eyes dropping slightly. Once she was sure he wasn't going to make her move, she closed her eyes completely and relaxed, falling asleep. He wrapped his arms around her, and after being sure all the curtains were closed, he leaned back, letting sleep claim him.

***

They awoke at dawn, both sensing the rising sun that managed to find a crack in the curtains.

"Eep!" was all Buffy said as she pulled Angel off the couch. He'd been inches away from sunlight. Not a very big beam, but enough so it would hurt for a while. "I guess that means we're up for the day."

"Go back to sleep," he said as they walked past her room. "I'll be fine, and you could use the rest." Sticking out her tongue, she went into the room and laid on the bed. After half an hour of tossing and turning, she slept. Angel snuck in and watched her rest for a few hours.