*shy* Hi...

I am still a major Bangel fan! But writing is nearly impossible with univeristy and private life for me. I found a third chappy on my computer and even the first half of a fourth chapter! So I won't change the story to complete, but I can't say when or if I will post another update... Maybe I will! Who knows.. I only know that I will never stop being a shipper.

Please excuse my English!

Chapter four - We'll make it work, right?

The next morning the couple was curled up into each other as they never wanted to break their bond. It was a perfect picture – Buffy's arm laid on Angel's chest right above his beating heart while her blond head rested at his right side. Angel's hand on the contrary was covering Buffy's hand while his chest was falling and rising in a steady rhythm. Both laid silent, dreaming of the last events and their upcoming future as well.

Slowly Buffy's consciousness prevailed her state of sleep as she woke. Instead of a warm tingle and butterflies swarming her tummy, confusion spread her mind.

Despite being the slayer, she had a regular daily schedule – waking up in her door room – recognizing she was way too late again for one of her boring lectures whereas Willow was ready to rumble – bouncing out of bed – making her way into the shower – trying to survive her day … only literally … especially the nightly patrols she wasn't paying much attention to lately.

One of many obvious reasons might have been the fact that Giles withheld himself the last weeks and didn't insisted on her duties as he used to. Officially he was fired – done with his job – Giles's wasn't her watcher anymore, at least not in the classical sense. Still Buffy missed his presence and even wished for his old school sparring sessions, even more his sarcastic undertone. She knew she was always welcomed at his house and could always count on him, but their relationship seemed to chance. It's not that Buffy was complaining all the time about her completely stressful and quirky life, though it wasn't the stuff dreams were made.

But now the page seemed to take an unexpected turn.

She didn't wake in her bed in UC Sunnydale, lectures were miles away, as well as friends and family and for a split second she didn't care.

Not to forget the dream Angel laying next to her – and all the sexy memories of last night.

Wait. Angel - next to her?

There was only one logical conclusion:

"It was a dream – I am dreaming or something like that", she assumed her eyes still closed. Buffy was frightened to open her eyes, afraid of the surrounding she would be waking up.

Finally she opened her eyes, just a bit, not being overflowed with too many information.

The picture her eyes descried only allowed one assumption:

"Oh no! I'm in a coma! A very, very bad coma!" she panicked.

It wasn't a bad coma because she was laying in the arms of her lover, but a very bad one because it was one of those 3D dreams she just overcame few weeks ago.

"I need to wake up – NOW – come on, Buffy, wake up!", Buffy said aloud while sitting up.

She took part of the cover she was obviously sharing with Angel in order to cover her breasts.

Buffy wasn't prude, but right now she was way too confused to let go.

All of a sudden her arduous try of planning her next step was stilled by Angel's words.

"What are you doing?" he asked amused and opened his eyes.

"Me? … Uhm … nothing", she stammered with wide eyes in return.

Still amused Angel went further in "Nothing?"

"Well" she began "This is a dream, right? I mean an all-encompassing coma."

"A coma?"

"It must be. This is surreal! I mean .. you human, me here, we together here .. doing naughty stuff. A coma."

"Wait", he stopped her and sat upright "It's not a dream nor a coma nor magic nor a demonic thing. Even if it was, which it's not, than enjoy it. Your friends will save you." he paused for a second. "But before you're protesting, I tell you. It is not a dream." Angel leaned forward and whispered in her ear "Trust me.", he finished kissing her earlope.

…... Upstairs ...…

Cordelia Chase entered the office with a certain facial expression that showed anything but happiness about Angel's sudden change. She threw her bag on the couch, where Doyle flicked through gossip and tittle-tattle Los Angeles had to offer.

"So where's our dream couple?" she asked with an undertone that Doyle didn't like a bit and went over to the coffee pot.

"You know, it's not particularly advantageous for you to drink extra strong coffee", Doyle bantered her still laying across the couch, observing her in front of the coffee machine.

"Nothing can worsen my current situation. I'm scuppered, no job, no money, no rich husband nor a rich lover", she swore glaring evil at the ceiling and threw her arms at it. "Thank you beloved PTB"

"So, coffee is everything I have left", she finished spinning around to Doyle.

"Come on. I can't be that bad. Be happy for them. Plus you still have me". Doyle's words didn't receive any excitement.

"Great. I already see our bright future. I'm trapped in the fangs of an ugly demon while you're trying to rescue me. An aspirin in your left hand and in the right hand a dull stake.", Cordelia hissed realizing that moment that she went to far.

Doyle however kept silence. He went over to the vending coffee maker, took a cup and filled the hot gold in. "Here you go".

Trying to avoid the broached topic, she asked "Well, where's our contemplator of the night?"

"You know what?" he nodded to the door "Let's grap an ice cream or a smoothy or a real coffee. The sun is shining and we got nothing to do."

After a moment of silence he added "I pay."

Finally she gave in and put the rather awful coffee down. As both made their way towards the door, Doyle rested his arm around Cordy's waist and opened the door with the other hand.

"Don't be vain of it, Allen Francis Doyle" she finished the business.

…... later in Angels Apartment ...…

Angel stood freshly showered in his dressing gown in front of the stove, preparing breakfast. Back in Ireland breakfast mostly consisted out of scrambled eggs, bacon, baked beans and toast, not so much different as it is here nowadays, he thought. Thinking further a certain specialty entered his mind: Black Pudding. Well, back in the days he was crazy about it, though from now on just the thought of let him frown.

"Since when do you cook?", an oh so familiar voice captured his mind.

Buffy had just come out of the shower and followed, wrapped in one of Angel's towels, the odor of bacon and eggs – right into Angel's embracement.

"It's not that complicated. Plus Cordy is far more enjoyable when she's saturated.", he explained and planted a kiss on her blond crown.

"Aha," she answered "does Cordy happened to have a mirror around here somewhere or at least a brush?", she finished and detached herself again. She felt slightly jealous thinking about Cordy and Angel being that close, though she had no reason to be. Which she knew, since Cordy wasn't quite his type, but feelings were hard to control for her anyway. Now it was her turn again to make a lot of women jealous, she grinned innerly.

Angel didn't noticed Buffy's inner monolog and turned to take two green plates out of the cupboards. "Not that I know of, but it's likely she has. You never know", he replied and put the plates on the counter. The table was definitive not usable after their reunion yesterday anymore.

Just in that moment Buffy frowned slightly as she realized in what condition they put the apartment yesterday. "Uhm … were that us?" she asked surprised.

"Seems to be" he chuckled handing her the plate, "and it was worth it" he smirked.

Giving him that look she bit down on her buttered toast followed by the rest. Damn she was hungry, all the physical exhaustion had drained all her energy.

"That is seriously brilliant. I can easily become accustomed to it", she smiled looking him in his deep brown eyes.

"Me too", he returned her smile but was referring to something else instead. God, she was so beautiful, even with wet hair he couldn't get his eyes off of her.

"That will be so much fun, finding all your cravings out.", she grinned now.

Angel closed the distance between them and took the plate Buffy held from her. "Are we still talking about food?", he teased as he put their plates aside.

"Hey," Buffy protested trying not to look him directly in the eyes anymore. Otherwise she wouldn't be able to resist his intention. Not that she didn't want to, but her stomach wanted to be rewarded as well. "I was actually going to finish that. All the fun stuff we did last night left me quite hungry."

"Mhm, me too", Angel mumbled as his glance lowered down to her perfectly shaped lips. All he wanted was to kiss those warm lips, convincing himself she was real. "Food can wait", he managed to say before crashing down in a passionate kiss. Of course there was no way Buffy could resist his hot and electric kisses he was planting. She gave willingly in, moving her hands all over his back up to burry them in his dark and still damp hair. Both became one unit again, everything around them disappeared, they were of nothing aware except the attention both gave to each other. As the kisses were broken every now and then to fill their lungs with needed air, Angel never let go off of her, his hands wandering all over his girl, his Buffy. He wanted her so much as never before yesterday. With that thought he grabbed her well formed bottom and Buffy automatically leaped into his arms, wrapping her legs around his narrow hips. Her kisses wandered from his mouth to his jawline, down to the hollow of his throat. "Mhm, that feels so good", he said with closed eyes, soaking up all information his senses had to offer. Buffy felt his prominent arousal anticipating as she whispered seductively in his ear.

"Make love to me." That was the invitation he had waited for, making their way towards the bedroom.

XxXxXxXx

After they actually made it to finish their breakfast and made up plans for the not so young day anymore (though it was nearly impossible to do it straight in one order without further interruptions) they decided to discover the sunny side of L.A.. The question was where to go first, Angel had known Los Angeles inside out only at night of course. She couldn't drag him to all the numerous supermarkets to get some food – god beware, she already feared his upcoming cravings for fast food and food in general. No farmer's market then as well. How about Venice Beach - a little bit to crowded for starters. Hollywood, Walk of fame? – uhm, question answered.

Buffy decided to let him decide what to see in sunshine. Both drove up to the Griffith observatory. He always wondered how the skyline of L.A. looked like during the day and he wasn't disappointed. All the Christmas like lights were gone, the pulsating of his city seems to be calmed down at first sight. Only at first sight, it was L.A. after all – the city that never sleeps.

Looking down at L.A. Everything seemed so unreal. It was hard to imagine for outsiders that a heavy black shadow covered the city.

Afterwards they decided to discover the actual Griffith Park. Angel truly enjoyed the play of color of nature and the various sounds that could be heard. The total contrast to the night. Still, Buffy did her best to keep him in the shadows as best as she could and regretted not thinking about sun-blockers before. A new world lay in front of Angel, everything was new, even his own perception. As a vampire everything was more enhanced. He could hear and smell way better and his eyes were in better shape as well. Now it all seemed to be more vague and .. dead. However he could live with that and would adapt to it soon, his body temperature and beating heart already made up for it. Not to mention the girl anchored to his hand.

As the sun began to set, they already had cosied up at the beach, although it was quite brisky. However, the view and the new won closeness couldn't spoil the beginning evening. All they needed was the mutual presence. Buffy was sitting between Angel's legs and had snuggled up with her back to him while he was gently caressing her arms, his chin leaning on her head. Both enjoyed the sound of the pacific as the waves crashed and flew out towards them, sunk in their own thoughts.

Breaking the pleasant silence, Buffy said: "I really don't want to spoil this amazing day, but how do you think are we going to deal with this new situation?" The topic didn't come up yet, too many other distractions caught their minds. Plus the fact she seemed to be scared what his opinion would be. Did he wanted to stay in L.A. with his new won friends, or would he change his mind again, like he did some hours ago? She had decided to leave it for now, enjoying and living the moment.

Angel stirred a bit and answered after a short pause. "Well, I'm sure we both don't want to separate again. That only implies one option. I will move back.", he finished now facing her after she turned in his embracement. He was sure Buffy wanted to be near him as much as possible, so he just waited for her smile to turn even brighter and telling her affirmation.

Instead of jumping and lighten even more up, she fell into thinking mode:" But what about your new life, what about Cordelia and the vision guy, what was his name again?"

"Good question and a simple answer.", he finally said." I'll ask them if they join me, visions or not. We could open a new office in Sunnydale and give you some space for college and your life.", he finished not seeing any problem.

Buffy turned a little bit more that she could look him directly in the eyes and asked "So you want to continue slaying demons, huh?".

"What else should I do?", he replied.

"Well, you are human now. With your knowledge you could be a teacher or even tutor in college or you could work in a library like Giles or you could open your own book shop. Or you could open a security company or work as a security guy - maybe even in the demonic field", she rambled, drifting a little bit too far away.

But before Buffy had the chance to continue, Angel brought it to an end.

"I am surrounded by demons and scientific non proven events and activities for more than 200 years, honey."

"Honey" she thought grinning like hell inside "he called me honey. - Life - is - great" she finished applying attention to Angel again.

"I am fighting evil for the last 100 years now. Giving this up means, I would loose some part of my personality." he said gently stroking her cheek.

"But you're human now. If I remember right, the Mohra gave you a pretty hard time yesterday.", she retorted worried now, not letting the fear of "getting him actually killed" in her consciousness.

Angel wanted to forget everything that had happened at the salt plant. He didn't tell her he had trouble looking at the sight of blood, but he could deal with it. Though he couldn't hide the trouble he had with the demon. However he connected the events with the aftereffects of turning human again. His body had a lot to deal with. And Mohras are strong warriors, it had been foreseeable that he would have been powerless against him.

"I admit I bit off more than I could chew yesterday. Though with the right training I'll be back in good shape. There are a lot of effects to the body I need to deal with. My old fighting skills are partly incompatible now. That's what I need to learn, what I can expect my body to do and what not." he explained rational.

Buffy still looked him in the eyes, not saying anything. Suddenly, she straightened herself and planted a quick kiss on his lips. "A lot of sparring sessions it is then.", she nodded in agreement, facing the ocean again.

There was no way she could chance his mind.