The were curled up on Buffy's bed at her house, talking softly even though there was no one around to wake up.
"What do I do about school? I can't stay in the dorms, and I definitely can't do the normal college thing – I have to look after Dawn now! And what about the house? I don't know if I can afford to live here anymore, and I don't understand any of it, and mum understood, but now she's gone, and –"
Angel put his forehead against hers and stroked her hair out of the way of her face. It didn't seem to matter if she was ecstatically happy, or terribly sad; she was always the most beautiful thing in the world. The most beautiful girl–woman out there. And she was his. Nothing on earth could make him want to leave her again, and he still couldn't remember exactly why he felt that he needed to go in the first place.
He had gone because of the curse, and because he had felt that they had no future together, ignoring his heart, not for the first or last time in his long life. It was increasingly tricky to work around the curse, but they were managing it, and the others would come only with time, if they were to come. He had wanted to let Buffy live her life without him before it was too late, but since returning to her, he had realised that it was too late that very first moment he saw her on the steps of Hemry High School all those years ago. It felt life a lifetime at least, and yet it was only just past four years now.
How was it possible to come to love someone so much in just four years? How was it, that when she came to Sunnydale, he couldn't bear to be around her, because he couldn't be with her? Who dictated that their love was so special that it lasted through hell and decades of torment? How could it be that even the demon with the face of an angel had fallen for this … this girl?
When he finally met those pesky PTB, they were clearly going to have words. Lots of them. And the powers weren't likely to come out of that talk in very good shape.
He stroked her head once more before returning his thoughts to her ramblings.
"You don't need to be in school all the time – you might even be able to speak to your professors about a schedule that would allow you to be there for Dawn, and still live your life. You may not be able to live in the dorms now, but that will give you more money from your fund to spend on clothes and … stuff."
Being 243 years old didn't mean he had any more of a clue than any other man when it came to shopping, clothes or girls. He was lucky that he'd made it this far in life as undamaged as he had. Oh wait, he was basically immortal, and those cute puppy dog eyes of his made it impossible for any woman to want to stake him. It was no wonder he was still alive … or not alive when you think about it.
Yeah, I have A-Level coursework in the morning…later today even, so I have to leave this here.