They had walked to the mall after Buffy shyly explained that after driving with her his hair would no longer be black but white. He had laughed out loud at that statement. When they got to the mall they shopped around for clothes for Angel. Much to her dismay he picked out clothes in dark colors, pretty much black, gray, and a few white shirts. "But Angel," she whined. "You have to have some color. Colors are fun, look at me. I'm fun, and wearing color. See they go together!"

He blessed her with a small grin, "I feel more comfortable in darker clothing." She muttered something under her breath before starting to walk again and found herself smashing into something hard and still. She began to fall before two large, strong hands shot out to grab her. She looked up and saw that Angel had stopped suddenly and while he had caught her gently his attention was focused elsewhere.

"What's that smell? It's amazing."

Buffy grinned as she regained her balance, "That would be pizza, and by the way you're drooling I'm going to guess you're hungry again."

He looked at her sheepishly, "Sorry. It's just so amazing, all these smells and different tastes. I haven't experienced anything good in a long time." He stopped abruptly realizing he had revealed more than he wanted to in that simple statement. He looked at Buffy to see if she had noticed the dark undercurrent of his words but she was already walking towards the pizza place. He silently breathed a sigh of relief and moved to follow her.

Buffy had a hard time keeping her face neutral as she listened to his words so she had turned to walk away. She didn't want to make him uncomfortable after his rough morning. She wondered how an angel in heaven didn't have it great everyday; everything should be good in heaven. She ordered for Angel and brought the pizza to a table and sat down. As soon as the pie had hit the table Angel had begun eating. She watched in amazement and mild disgust as he shoved piece after piece into his mouth with such excitement she thought he might burst. While he was eating with gusto Buffy took the opportunity to take in his appearance some more. She traced the lines of his face with her eyes taking in the small amount of stubble that had appeared. Her gaze drifted to his neck where the tattoos stuck out of his shirt, darkly contrasting with his marble skin. He noticed her gaze and slowly sat back in his chair wiping his mouth and debating whether he should explain or not.

"It's Enochian."

Her eyes shot to his surprised. A slow blush started to rise on her cheeks when she realized that she had been staring for a few minutes. "Sorry?"

"It's Enochian," he repeated.

"What does it say?"

He stood and extended his hand to help Buffy to her feet, "That, my beautiful friend, is a story for another day."

They walked towards Giles' house in a comfortable silence holding hands. Angel couldn't believe how quickly the day had gone by or how much he enjoyed Buffy's company. He knew he was here for a reason but when he was with the small blonde everything but her faded into the background. He looked sideways wondering what she was thinking about.

Buffy walked quietly thinking about the great day she had spent with Angel. She was falling fast and hard for this mysterious man. She was so relaxed and content walking with him that she failed to notice they were walking on the outskirts of a cemetery. She suddenly grew anxious and began quickening her pace. Angel noticed her sudden distress, "Hey what's wrong?"

"Oh nothing, jus thinking we should hurry to Giles'. I'm sure he has more to talk to you about."

"Right," Angel whispered unbelievingly.

Buffy was practically dragging him down the street when she noticed movement out of the corner of her eye. Please not right now. She debated running with Angel or staying to finish off her foe when the choice was made for her.

As soon as Angel had noticed her rigid stance and anxiety he began looking around for danger. If there was one thing he recognized, it was fear. He let her drag him down the street until he noticed someone making there way towards them. He jerked his hand from Buffy's and stood in front of her protectively. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up and he coiled himself, ready to attack. He could tell that whatever was moving towards them was not human and definitely evil.

Buffy grabbed Angel's arm and spun him around, "Don't ask questions just get behind me."

He looked at her quizzically, but did not move.

"Didn't you hear me? Get behind me now!" She shoved Angel to the ground behind her and pulled Mr. Pointy from her jacket pocket. The vampire was smiling at her from only two feet away.

"Don't you know it's dangerous to be out at night?" the vampire exclaimed with a grin. He licked his fangs in anticipation of an easy meal.

"Don't you know who I am?"

The vampire's face fell before he hissed, "Slayer….". He lunged at her knocking her to the ground before she kicked him off and leapt to her feet. She punched him hard and could feel his nose crunching beneath her hand. The vampire stumbled backwards clutching his nose that was now bleeding freely. He growled before sending her flying with a roundhouse kick. As her back smashed into a tree and the bark bit into her back she realized that this was not a simple fledging and she had no idea how she was going to dust him while protecting Angel. She was dazed but stood and charged the smirking vampire. She hit him with enough force to knock them both to the ground but in the scuffle she had somehow dropped her stake. They struggled before the vampire gained the upper hand, pinning her beneath him. Her eyes widened when she saw the vampire lick his lips before slowly lowering his mouth to her neck. She clenched her eyelids shut and silent tears began falling down her face as she thought of all the people she let down, including Angel.

Angel watched in morbid fascination as the petite blonde shoved him to the ground and engaged what he now realized was a vampire. How is she so strong? And what are vampires doing here? When he heard the vampire hiss 'slayer' his eyebrows reached his hairline. He could not believe that this beautiful, small, sweet girl was the slayer; he pictured her taller, or bigger muscles and all that. He had heard many stories of the slayer, after all they both fought for good. When he saw that the vampire had pinned her down and was moving towards her neck he sprang into action.

Buffy waited for the prick of fangs but it never came. She looked up and saw that the vampire was off of her and traveling through the air at an alarming rate before smashing into a tombstone. She sat up and saw Angel standing over her protectively, but not for long. He ran towards where he had thrown the vampire and attacked him. They both fought viciously, neither one giving an inch. At one point the vampire had hit Angel in the back and he screamed as he felt his stitches rip. Kicks and punches were continuously thrown before Angel finally put the struggling vampire in a headlock. He whispered something in the vampire's ear, and Buffy saw the vampire's eyes grow wide before Angel snapped his neck and ripped the vampires head off of its body. As he disintegrated into dust Buffy approached Angel who's back was turned to her. She could see he was breathing hard and shuddering with adrenalin. His back was bleeding freely and his hands were clenched so tightly at his sides that blood was running off his fingers from his nails digging into his palms. She approached slowly and gently placed a hand on his shoulder. When he turned to her she jerked her hand away and stepped back. His eyes were red and glowing eerily, and his body was taught with tension. She had faced enough vampires to know that the look in his eyes was feral. "Angel?"

He stared at her unblinkingly, not moving as his eyes followed her movements predatorily.

"Angel, I need you to calm down. Can you do that for me? I need you to take a deep breath and calm down." She was alarmed to say the least. She had no idea what was happening but knew that she needed to get him back to a normal mindset fast.

Suddenly he blinked as if coming out of a haze and grabbed his head with his hands. His breathing slowed and when he looked up his eyes were no longer red but their original black color. He stared at her ashamed, he had hoped for her to never see this part of him.

"I guess we need to talk," he whispered softly not meeting her eyes.