When I was reading the transcripts again, I noticed that the first episodes were happening at the same time, but meh. Artistic licence and all that jazz. This chapter is mostly angsty fluff. Fluffy thoughts and then angst 'cause they cant act … love hurts, but it must be done so that this story doesn't become one big cliché!

Just to quickly clear something up: Angel's soul is not bound, as far as they know, and I haven't decided yet if it is or isn't. I have possible plot lines for both, neither of which have sad endings by the way. I'm not about to write this fluffyness and then ruin it – my name isn't Joss!! Lol.

I need to start working harder at school, so you'll have to bear with me fore chapters. I know you've waited a month for this already, but updates are not going to be nearly as fast as in Not Just An Annoying Little Sister.

"You know, one thing about living in two places is that I need so much more furniture than most people."

"Or vampires."

"Well, yeah, that too." The couple stopped for a brief kiss, and then resumed their walk through Sunnydale's many cemeteries. "But the thing about most vampires; they don't normally pay for their one set of furniture, or blood. Or anything."

"You mean … you're not a normal vampire! But, but Angel! I thought you wanted to give me a normal life." Her voice was so not sarcastic, that he had to check that she was actually wearing a smile. Once he was satisfied, he bent down to kiss her again, wishing that he could do more.

He had made this wish so many times in the last year, but nothing had come of it. Even if it had, how would they know about it without trying to see if the curse was still active – that would not go down well. He could imagine Buffy trying to explain herself to Giles:

"We just wanted to see if the curse was still there!"

Wearing that cute little innocent smile that she had. It was saved just for Giles when she thought she was in trouble with her watcher and father figure. He imagined it was around a lot more during the day, when he wasn't. I t was a shame – he loved that smile.

He loved all of her smiles; not least the one that he instinctively knew was his, and his alone. Even if he hadn't come back, and she had found another person to be with (and that thought hurt him so much), he knew she would never smile like that at him. That smile was for Angel, and only Angel.

It was the way her eyes crinkled ever so slightly, and her eyes portrayed love, lust and hurt all at the same time; hurt because she couldn't act on that lust brought out of love. It was the way that she could make him forget all of the terrible things that he had ever done, just with one single smile, all those things that she knew he was capable, because he had done them to her. It was the way he could hear her soul singing to his, and the way that he made his sing back. It was the way he just knew exactly what she wanted from him, even if he couldn't act on it.

It was Buffy.

"Angel? You in there, love?"

"Hmm? Oh, yes – I'm here. Was just thinking s'all."

"What about?"

"You."

Buffy made a small happy noise, and leaning back up for another kiss.

… sometime later …

"I should get back to patrolling."

"We weren't patrolling to start with, so you cant get back to it."

"You're right. I should just stay here, and kiss you some more."

"No, we should do some work."

"But it's a school night! I need to relax – tomorrow's my first day."

"Which is why I'm here and not in LA."

"Oh."

Later that evening, Buffy said goodnight to Angel outside her window, before crawling into her bed wearing one of his shirts and wishing that they could be doing something else together, just as a normal girl would be.

It just wasn't fair. Every time she kissed him, she wanted more. Every time he kissed her, she needed more. In high school (it felt so long ago) everything was so much simpler. First, he was the mysterious hottie, then an evil vampire, then her boyfriend, then more but not Angel, then hell, then they wouldn't and couldn't be together, then they did, then he left and came back. Here they were, together, but not allowed to do more; there was no category for that. He was her boyfriend but not her lover. She was his girl, but she couldn't show him that.

She was always scared that they would go too far … again. On her birthday, she hadn't meant it to go that far, but she soon stopped thinking (which was what she wanted) and apparently, so did he. She couldn't risk it happening again. Couldn't let herself fall deep enough to forget reason and logic. Not again, not ever. Well, not until his soul was bound.

She didn't even know if that was possible. Vampires were not meant to retain their human souls; Angel was the only one, and his soul wasn't really his. To the outside world, maybe, but Buffy knew the truth. That soul wasn't truly his unless she was far out of the picture, and they had tried that before – it didn't work. The soul would be his, someday. She didn't know how she knew, she just did.

Angel would have his soul.