"Buffy."

"Angel"

They never put anything in front of each other's names, each of them tried, but it just didn't work; it was impossible to say 'hi', because then you would inevitably have to say 'bye' and they just didn't. 'Goodbye' was far too final. Even on the phone, they would not say 'goodbye'; it would be 'I love you – hang up' or 'see you when you get home – hang up', never 'see you later' or 'bye, love'. It was those differences that kept them apart from other lovers. They had been put through too much to let it all go to waste, or to pretend that neither was afraid of the other's departure. Simple 'hellos' could not express what each of them felt when they heard the other

"You coming home tonight, Angel? I miss you." And yet he was only gone for – she looked at the clock – just over twelve hours. Angel had left at ten the night before, and had called as soon as he knew she would be up.

He knew her holiday schedule by heart (just as he had known her old school one), knew that in an hour, because it was a Saturday, she would be going out to do something with Dawn until about four, when normally, she would go over to the mansion before patrolling or going to the bronze. When Dawn had school (it had started two weeks ago), she would hang out with Willow or Oz until four, or just stay in. He wasn't usually much company until after four, and there wasn't much to do in Sunnydale. If Buffy's mother went out of town, there were three options: Buffy and Dawn stayed with him, Dawn stayed at a friend's house and Buffy stayed with him, or he spent the night (and day) in Buffy's room with the curtains closed. One of the many rooms in the mansion had been set up as a working guest room for Dawn just in case she ever needed it.

"Slight problem with that – can you come over this afternoon, I need to talk to you before I leave LA, and I'm not sure your mother would like the phone bill if we didn't talk in person. I would come to you, but –"

"Sunlight. Is this going to be a bad talk? Will sewers be involved?" She couldn't mask her worry. If he couldn't talk over the phone, but it was that urgent, she didn't know what else it could be.

"Buffy, I'm not leaving you – I promised. And there will be no sewers unless I really cant help it. You can bring Dawn if you want, she might even be able to help – I have a problem of the non-demon variety … as yet. There may be demons involved later, but for now, I think it's safe." Angel might not have actually known Dawn before he left for LA, but in the last two months, he had grown to love the kid like a little sister, like his Kathy.

"Okay, I'll get Oz or Giles to give us a lift over – you sure it isn't a bad thing?"

"Well, there might be some bag thing elements to it, but I haven't set it out to be a bad thing – would I invite Dawn if it were bad? Beside the fact that she actually knows where I am, that it."

"I would find you, even if I were blind. You know that, Angel."

"I know, sweetheart. I love you, see you at three?"

"Love you too." They both hung up simultaneously.

"Dawn! You wanna go to LA for the weekend? Mum's out tonight." Dawn ran down the stairs.

"Mum's out most nights now – it's like she doesn't even care if you're here to 'baby-sit' me … not that I need it."

"By law you do, and you don't like being alone anyway, so there aint a problem, is there." The conversation was one that was held at least twice a week, always the same.

"Yeah – whatever. Why are we going to LA? I think dad's still on a cough cough business trip."

"Angel needs to talk face to face sometime before tonight – sunlight means I have to go to him, and he invited you because he knew we were planning on spending the day together. So, wanna come with? Bring a change of clothes for tomorrow and something nice to wear tonight just in case – you never know with Angel. He has bathroom stuff and everything, so don't worry about that."

"I have spent the night there before you know – that is how you two got back together."

"And I will be forever grateful. Now, coming or staying with Willow?"

"Coming with. Gimme half an hour?"

"You can have a whole hour if you want – I'm taking it!"

Two hours later, Buffy was being shown the way to Angel's old apartment, Oz having just left after driving them. Buffy owed him, but she wasn't sure when that dept would have to be repaid, or what it would be. It was just a good job it wasn't Xander she owed – that could get ugly. Xander still wasn't back from his trip, and Buffy was dreading telling him about Angel more and more everyday. The best plan so far was to just meet with Xander and drag Angel along at the same time, but that could get a bit messy.

"Angel? We're here."

"I noticed." Buffy yelped as his hands came around her waist. She had felt him in the room, but hadn't realised that he was directly behind her; from her sister's giggling, she guessed that Dawn had probably seen him and had just kept quiet to bug her. She did that a lot.

"So what's the what, Angel? You sounded kind of panicked on the phone, but you said it wasn't a bad thing … tell me?" Her lover took her by the hand and showed her to the sofa before sitting down and pulling her into his lap. He wasn't quite sure how any of this would go, but he felt that physical contact was a necessity.

"Dawn, I bought a few new books and a magazine – they're in the bedroom. Give us a few minutes, would you."

"Sure." She wandered off to investigate what the 243-year-old male had bought for a 12-year-old girl. It was probably a really weird book that had been recommended to him or something. And when did he have the time to buy it?

"Spill Angel. What has you so wigged?"

"This will sound really strange, so just bear with me and don't interrupt, K?"

"Okay." He kissed her lightly on the nose.

"I said don't interrupt."

She just giggled in response. Buffy liked this new Angel, the one who joked sometimes but was still exactly the way she wanted, needed and loved him. Then again, she wasn't sure there could be an Angel she didn't love – she had even had slight feelings for his demon, which was a scary thought.

"When I got back here yesterday, there was some guy in the apartment waiting for me – his name's Doyle apparently. Anyway, he's a half braken-demon (perfectly harmless … well they aren't evil anyway) and it seems that he has been looking for me for two months. He was sent to find me, because I have potential or something, and he had information about my life up until two months ago – he didn't know I went back to you. He gets these vision things from some higher power – good guys as far as I know – and he thinks that I'm the one who has to carry them out and save people … in LA." He paused to let all the information sink in before continuing. "I have a current 'quest' thing that he gave me last night, and he says that it's my destiny to be in LA and not in Sunnydale – where I want to be … where you are. Okay, you can speak again, but you have to know that I don't want to ever leave you."

"So you have to be here, doing some visiony thing, while I'm stuck on the Hellmouth being the slayer. You have to leave me then! I thought you said this wasn't going to be a bad thing – you promised you wouldn't leave me." She began to cry, turning her head so that his chest muffled her sorrow. "You promised, you promised."