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"Buffy. Buffy wake up."

Angel clears her hair out of her face, smiling at her pout as she refuses to opens her eyes. He tries to shake her shoulder but, with eyes still closed, she slaps his hand away and turns her back to him. His smile turns into a sexy smirk when he thinks of a better way to wake her up.

"Buffy," he whispers huskily into her ear before kissing it. He kisses and sucks his way on to her neck, nibbling at his mark on her.

"Mmm Angel," she says softly, turning her head to meet his lips.

Distracted from his original purpose, Angel delves into the kiss, rolling her under him. His hands rediscover her curves as he feels her nails dig into his tattoo. Feeling that he is becoming lost he pulls back, chuckling at the whine of disappointment that leaves her lips.

"Baby, you need to get up for school," he says, caressing her forehead. "Remember we talked about this. You're going to finish high school."

"And slay until Kendra gets here," she finishes pouting. She opens her eyes and looks at him pleadingly. "I changed my mind."

"You promised Willow," he reminds her.

She groans and sits up, tossing aside the cover to climb out of bed. Seeing her walk around naked, Angel rethinks and his hand itches to drag her back to bed. Buffy notices him staring and sends him a sultry smile.

"I'm going to take a shower," she turns and wiggles her butt at him, looking over her shoulder. "Want to join me?"

With a smile Angel jumps out of bed and carries a squealing Buffy into the shower.

After a very long shower, Buffy stares into the mirror trying to wrap her mind around the fact that she no longer has a reflection.

"It takes a while to get used to it," Angel whispers grimly from right behind her.

She spins around looking at him guiltily, gripping her bag of makeup in her hands. His eyes stare into hers, his face full of guilt and fear that she will hate him. Not liking her love looking so sad she quickly drops her bag into the sink and moves into his arms.

"I'm sorry," he whispers into her ear. Buffy shakes her head, gripping him tightly.

"No, don't be. I'm just frustrated, I don't know to put on my makeup."

"You don't need make up," he says honestly, causing her to smile brightly into his chest. "But I guess you can ask Cordelia to help you."

"Hey!" she pulls back and playfully hits him as he laughs.

"You guys…wow." Willow says in wonder, staring at her best friend.

Before leaving the apartment, Buffy had called Willow to ask her to meet her early and help her with her makeup. As the red head did her best to enhance Buffy's natural beauty, she asked almost non-stop questions about the details of what happened.

"Yeah," Buffy says, smiling dreamily. "It's amazing. It's like, everytime he touches me I can feel how much he loves me."

"Wow." Willow says again, a small smile on her face.

"Come on, we better meet up with Giles," she says hopping off the sink. As they walk out Buffy looks at the ground to avoid not seeing her reflection in the mirror.

Inside the library Giles sits at the table, pouring over a pile of thick dusty books. He is so absorbed in his reading that he doesn't hear the doors open or the footsteps approach from behind him.

"Hey, G-man," Xander says, startling the librarian.

"Xander," he exhales, glaring lightly at the teen. "I thought I told you never to call me that."

"Sorry," Xander says holding up his hands. As he takes a seat his face turns serious. "Are you looking up how to get Buffy back to normal?"

Giles sighs and takes off his glasses, looking at the boy with kind and sad eyes. "She's a vampire. I'm afraid that there's no bringing her back."

Xander blinks his eyes, his mouth set firmly as he looks down the table. Before either can respond, the doors open again to allow Buffy and Willow to enter.

"Buffy!" Giles says in surprise as he and Xander stand. "What are you doing here?"

"Nice way to make a girl feel welcome," Buffy replies with raised eyebrows.

"Well, of c-course you're welcomed. Its just that-uh"

"We just assumed that you were done with this madhouse," Xander explains for the Liberian, placing his hands in his pockets and not looking into her eyes. "It's not like you need to be here now that you're…"

"A vampire," she finishes for him. She feels a little hurt at his obvious unease around her but knows that she has to give him time. "Well, I figured I owe it to the citizens to keep slaying until Kendra gets here. And it makes it easier to consult with Giles if I'm still a student, so here I am."

"Buffy is something wrong?" the watcher asks concerned, noticing the absence of her usual sparkle in her eyes.

"No. No it's-it's nothing," she shrugs and steps forward and sinking into a chair.

"She had a fight with her mom who said some really horrible things," Willow says with a sympathetic look to her friend.

"What things?" Xander says concerned and protective. He sits down next to the blonde, looking into her eyes for the first time. "Buffy, what happened? What did she say?"

"Doesn't matter. The gist of it is she doesn't know me, hasn't ever really known me," she looks down at her hands in her lap. "She kicked me out."

"Buffy, I'm-I'm sorry," Giles says. "You can of course stay with me, if you need to."

"Thanks Giles," she says softly smiling at the man. "But Angel asked me to move in with him."

Xander shifts but holds his tongue for once. Giles nods, picking up the discarded glasses before clearing his throat.

"Well then, I'm glad you're here. There's something that I'd like to-to discuss," he sits, bringing over a book for the girl to pretend to look at. "I'm concerned about the possible rise this particular group of demons."

"Was it me or was that the most boring day ever?" Xander asks the two girls as they walk down the street after school.

"Xander, you slept through half of your classes," Willow reminds him with a smile.

"Hey, that was self defense," he says pointing at her emphatically.

Buffy and Willow chuckle at the boy as they walk. Buffy looks at her friends and feels a rush of gratitude. Things between the entire Scooby gang were tense but as the day wore on and they got to see that she really was the same, they got more comfortable. As long as they stay off the subject of Angel and most things paranormal it's almost like nothing has changed.

Willow glances at Buffy as she notices how quite she has gotten. She looks up the street to their destination, then grabs the blonde's arm to halt her.

"We can go get them ourselves," she says sympathetically.

"You don't have to go their Buffy," Xander chimes in, his face serious in concern for his friend.

"Thanks guys," she says, sparing them a quick smile before looking back at her former home. "But I got to do this. Besides, I think it will take all three of us."

With her shoulders straight and her head back, she walks the rest of distance until she reaches the edge of the porch. Tears come to her eyes at the sight of all the bags she knows are full of her clothes and the two boxes that rest on the porch. Feeling Willows supportive hand on her back, she sniffs and blinks her eyes.

Wordlessly the three teens climb the stairs and start picking up Buffy's belongings. Because of his longer arms, Xander is handed the cardboard boxes while Buffy takes the heavier bags and Willow takes what's left. It isn't until the house is out of sight that they begin to speak again, acting fruitlessly as if everything is fine.

"Well, I'll uh wait for you outside Will," Xander says uncomfortably as he sets down the boxes outside the of Angel's apartment.

"You can come in Xander," Buffy tries to convince him. Xander shakes his head looking at her in the eyes. With a nod to him, Buffy starts to accept that he may never be all right with her again. Feeling the tension, Willow speaks up to try and lighten the mood.

"Well, we'll all meet up at the Bronze this weekend right? Unless there's an upraise of evil." She stops and her eyes become wide. "Oh no, now I've jinxed it!"

"Well either way, groovy time this weekend huh?" Xander jokes though his eyes still look somber.

"See ya at school on Monday, if not before," Buffy tells him with a smile which he returns before leaving.

Buffy digs her new keys out of her pocket and opens the door, leading the way in. she glances around the room and smiles at the sight of her gorgeous boyfriend dozing on the bed, fully clothed.

"Oh!" Willow gasps at the sight of a sleeping Angel, not sure if he will be mad that she is there. At the sound, Angel's eyes snap open and quickly focuses on the two.

"Buffy," he says softly as he sits up.

"Hey there sleepy head," she says playfully, setting down her bags.

He sees the lingering sadness in her eyes and walks to give her a kiss. Willow averts her eyes to give them privacy, spotting something pink underneath the bed. Furrowing her brow, she tilts her head to get a better look, smiling broadly when she realizes what it is. She looks back at the couple just as they separate.

"Hi Angel. Well I should be going, Xander is waiting for me and I got to help him with that math test," she says quickly walking towards the door.

"Oh, okay," Buffy says slightly confused. "Well, thanks for helping out."

"Anytime. Bye guys," she says, sending Angel an approving smile and head nod before closing the door behind her.

"She is such a strangely sweet person," Buffy shakes her fondly. Angel steps up behind her and wraps his arms around her.

"Are you okay?" he whispers into her ear.

"Yeah," she says, turning to snuggle into his chest with her eyes closed. "It just hurts that it's so easy for her."

Angel doesn't know what to say or if anything he says will help so he holds her, kissing the top of her head. Buffy wraps her arms around him, holding him tightly. She feels so loved in his embrace, safer than she has ever felt in her life. She opens her eyes, meaning to lean back and tell him exactly that but stops when she spies the pink object under the bed.

"Angel? What is that?"

Angel pulls back to see what she is talking about. He shifts his feet, glancing between her and the floor. "Um I uh…"

Buffy looks at his embarrassed and nervous face, loving filling her entire body. She walks over and bends to retrieve the stuffed pig.

"Mr. Gordo," she says softly, running her fingers over the new stitches on his side. "You fixed him."

"I hate to see you cry," he whispers.

She looks up and meets his loving gaze. With misty eyes she sets the pig on the bed and walks over to him.

"I love you so much Angel," she says, smiling widely at him. "Kiss me."

With a smirk he lowers his head to hers, sliding his hands down her sides to her hips. She jumps up, wrapping her legs around his waist and giggling, is carried to the bed.

wow, this story just wont leave me alone lol. i know i said it before, but really only like two chapters left. thanks to my buddy for helping out with the ending to this story, i hope i dont disappoint. please review, it really does help. Thanks!