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"So, what did you find out?" Cordelia asked, "Where's Doyle?"

"He's out celebrating," Angel replied, "And that I'm permanently human. I'm free"

"Oh right, well, congratulations. And why aren't you out there with Doyle?"

"I don't know. I don't feel like getting drunk. Not just yet"

"Well, great. Now I can take you to the beach"

"Huh?"

"I'm taking you to the beach. You need a tan. I've already got you a few things"

She pointed to a bag on the couch, before grabbing her own bag of belongings

"Come on, broody, the beach is calling us"

"Okay then"

Angel grabbed the bag and followed after Cordelia, hopping into the Plymouth and driving off towards the beach with the roof down and enjoying the sunlight. They arrived at the beach, as Cordelia headed off to get changed, leaving Angel to set up. He managed to get everything set, before changing into board shorts, as Cordelia returned, wearing a two-piece bikini and a sarong. And Angel found himself checking her out, despite trying to ignore the way her body moved and tell himself that she was his employee and friend, nothing else

"Angel, have you tanned all of a sudden?" Cordelia asked playfully

She had noticed Angel checking her out and was pleased with herself, enjoying how he blushed and became uncomfortable. Now he can blush, which is great, Cordelia thought. Now he can go out into the sunlight and not go up in flames. Now he could actually have a life

"I'm gonna go for a swim," she said, taking her sarong off, "Coming in?"

"Huh? Oh…yeah, I suppose, why not?"

He got up, taking his shirt off and tossing it aside, not noticing Cordelia checking his torso out, as he headed towards the ocean and dived in

"Come on in. it's great," he called out once he surfaced

Cordelia waded in slowly, as Angel swam about, enjoying human life. He'd been human for several hours now and he loved every moment of it. He looked over at Cordelia and saw her standing there in waist-deep water. A thought came to mind and he dived under, swimming towards her, before rising up beneath her and swooping her up into his arms, getting a shriek out of her

"Angel! Put me down"

"If you insist," he grinned

He dunked her in the water and she came up, sputtering for air, rinsing the water out of her hair, as Angel laughed at her. She growled, splashing water at him, as he splashed her back, before diving under the water again

"Okay, Angel, where'd you go," Cordelia said

He rose up behind her, grabbing her around the waist and lifting her out of the water easily, as she squealed

"Put me down, but don't dunk me please"

Angel sighed and set her down gently, before splashing water in her face. Cordelia coughed and glared at Angel, as he grinned back at her. She smiled slightly and walked over to Angel, as he frowned at her

"What are you up to?" he asked

She grinned, before grabbing his board shorts and yanking them down. Angel yelped and jumped back, falling over as he tried to fix up his shorts, as Cordelia laughed, exiting the ocean

††††††††††

"Did you have fun?" Cordelia asked later that afternoon

"Yeah, I did," Angel replied, throwing the bags onto the couch, "For the first time in a long time"

"That's good then. By the way, I call dibs on the shower"

She headed downstairs, as Angel checked the message banks. Luckily for them, no calls had come through, as Angel headed downstairs, hearing the shower running. He unpacked the bags and hung out the clothes to dry, waiting for Cordelia to get out of the shower. Once she did, he went for one as well, before getting dressed and joining her in the kitchen, where she was at the table, brushing her hair out

"You know, I'm still not quite used to it," Angel said, "Being human"

"Give it a few days," Cordelia said, "You'll be used to it. And there will many more days like this one"

"I sure hope so. It would be great"

"God, now you're gonna have to get a job. Damn, so do I. All I'm good for is international superstardom or helping a vampire with a soul save the world from evil. That makes for a short, but colourful resume"

"Don't worry, Cordy, we'll figure something out," Angel said, "God, I have to get everything. Birth certificate, social security number, everything"

Cordelia got up and joined him by the bench, resting her hand on his

"Like you said, we'll figure something out. We'll be okay"

Angel looked down at their hands and entwined their fingers together

"Thanks for today, Cordy," he said, kissing her knuckles, "It was great"

Cordelia looked up at him, as he leaned closer. She did the same, as their lips touched together. She pressed herself into him, throwing her arms around his neck, as he wrapped his arms around her waist, only breaking the kiss to breathe, both having no idea of what had just come over them

"Cordy…I don't…know. I mean…"

"Shh…who cares? We'll worry later"

Angel kissed her again, as it started to get passionate. He lifted her up with ease, pressing her against the fridge. He removed her robe, as her hands roamed over his bare chest. Angel couldn't understand why he was doing this, why he was kissing Cordelia, but at the moment, he didn't really care. He was caught up in the passion, as was Cordelia. She was having the same thoughts, but all reason flew out the window as he took her towards his room and laid her down on the bed

"Only if you say yes," Angel said, voice thick with lust and passion

"Of course," Cordelia said, "I want you, Angel"

He kissed her with passion once again, as they lost themselves in each other

††††††††††

"Get the chocolate. And don't forget the peanut butter," Cordelia said

Angel grabbed the requested food and huddled back to the bed, where Cordelia was wearing one of his black sweaters, while he was just plain nude, dumping the food onto the bed and joining her. After an hour of passion together, they had decided to ignore the awkwardness and just let things play out. So far, both were quite enjoying themselves in each other's company and what they had just done together

"God, I love food," Angel grinned, eating a chocolate bar

"Food is good. Chocolate is great," Cordelia said

Buffy was far from Angel's mind. All he could think about now was Cordelia and how he could enjoy his humanity with her. She was all that mattered to him right now. He still couldn't quite get over what they had just done or why, but he wasn't caring right now. He had a life and right now, it was with Cordelia…Buffy be damned. He had felt more happiness with Cordelia in one day than he ever had with Buffy back in Sunnydale for the last three years. He felt content being with Cordelia

"This is great," Angel said, "I can look forward to doing this every day"

"I'm sure you can, mister," Cordelia smiled, "And you're staying here"

"Of course. I'm not going anywhere"

"Good. Make sure you keep it that way"

††††††††††

Doyle was down at the nearest bar, having a few drinks in celebration of Angel's humanity. He had thought it a shame that Angel wasn't here with him, but respected that Angel didn't want to get smashed just yet. But he will soon and Doyle would be there with him. As he down his sixth shot of the day, he thought about what he was going to now. Angel had been released, which meant there was no need for visions

"Argh!"

Doyle smacked his head against the counter, cringing in pain, as a vision shot through his mind. He saw the Mohra demon in the sewer tunnels where Angel killed it, bigger and stronger. Then he smelled salt, as the vision stopped

"Oh God. We're in trouble," Doyle said

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