After the gang had sorted out Sunday and her band of merry men and put everything back into Buffy and Kathy's room, Buffy took Xander aside.

"Xand, while you were away, some thi –"

"Buffy! Thank god you're alright!" A new voice entered the room, and its owner's legs carried him towards the slayer at a speed which one would have thought impossible.

"Angel? What are –" Once again, Buffy was cut off by her boyfriend; this time with a kiss. Confused, she broke it, and looked into his eyes.

"What's wrong, Angel? You only just went back to LA."

"Willow called me. She said that they had found a note left by you saying that you had left college, and she assumed that you were already in LA with me. I waited until sunset, and then came here. I was so worried about you – you told me you were sticking it out no matter how hard it got, and then you suddenly up and left. I thought … it thought maybe …"

"It doesn't matter, honey. I'm fine, and it was all just a trick that some vampire played on me."

"Where are they?" Angel's face turned game for a moment, and he growled. She may be the slayer, but no vampire touched her or her things without having a few words with him, all of which ended in dust. Buffy stroked his game face lightly, lovingly. She never cared what he looked like. It never mattered to her.

"They're dust, love. Don't worry about me. If you came running back here every time I was in trouble, LA would never have its guardian Angel."

"It managed without me before."

"You have a mission now."

Throughout the entire exchange, Xander had been looking from slayer to vampire as if watching a tennis match. Finally, he had had enough.

"Would someone please like to tell me what is going on! Last time I checked, you weren't in Sunnydale, you didn't know where he went, and you weren't together. I may have been gone for a while, but come on! This is ridicules."

"Xander! You're back. How was you're trip? Buffy said you went to drive to all the states. You do know about Hawaii, right?"

"Yes, bad and yes. Not nessecarily in that order. Now, what is going on?"

"That's what I was going to tell you before Angel came in. We're back together, as from a week after graduation. Dawn made him see sense, and until last week, things were relatively normal. You know, for a slayer and her cradle-robbing-creature-of-the-night boyfriend. Then, stuff came up in LA (I'll explain in more detail later) and Angel has a mission there, the same as I have one here. So we're doing the long distance thing."

"You know, running up the phone bills between my place and Buffy's room. We've only been at this for a few days, but the plan is to visit at least once a week on both our parts, and to spent any money I make at work on phones." Buffy blushed.

"Sorry." Angel just smiled at her, laughed, and kissed her forehead. Xander just looked as if his head was about to explode.

"I … um. What?"

"Please don't hate Angel anymore, Xander. We're not going to unleash the big bad – we know what could happen if we … get that far – and I'm happy. Isn't that what you want? Even Giles is fine with it. Granted, my mother isn't, but she hates Angel even more than you do, if that's possible."

"Okay. For now, Deadboy, you have the BOD."

"BOD?"

"Benefit of the doubt, love." Angel made a non-committal 'oh' sound, and kissed Buffy's crown again.

"Thank you Xander." The vampire just nodded at the boy, hoping that he would grow up in the near future. Which 'he' is up to your own interpretation.

"So! When do I get to meet your roommate, as I'm here."

"Sure. She wanted to meet you too. Her name's Kathy, and she should be coming back … now." Silently, Buffy wondered if she would ever get to finish her talks without being interrupted …

"Hi, I'm Kathy. Buffy, who's this guy? I know that one."

"We had a hugging session. Later." Xander fended off Buffy's inquisitive glance. No one noticed the way Angel was looking at Kathy.

"Angel. My boyfriend."

"I thought you lived in LA?"

"I do." He paused. "You don't have a soul."

"WHAT?"

"WHAT?"