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Part 2
Angel slowly came awake, disoriented in the dark room. He blinked to clear the sleep out of his eyes and reached out for his girlfriend, feeling nothing but the cold sheets in her place. Slowly, he lifted his head and found himself alone in the room, the glowing numbers of her alarm clock reading 4:30. He propped himself up on one elbow and rubbed a hand over his bleary eyes.
The ex-vampire was just about to reach down and get his boxers when the door opened and Buffy snuck in. She shut it quietly, thinking he was still asleep. Angel surprised her when he turned on the lamp next to her bed and she gasped softly and spun around to face him, relaxing instantly when she saw that it was just him and that he was awake. Grinning at him, she locked the door and turned back around to face her lover.
Angel raised an eyebrow at her attire. Clad in a black tank top with a little hot pink duck on the front, bright pink panties, and black knee-high socks, his girlfriend looked rather cute. "Isn't running around in that illegal?" he teased. She shrugged, cracking a grin.
"I had to pee and didn't feel like getting fully dressed. Besides, everyone is sleeping, and those who aren't are too drunk to notice," she said as she crawled back into bed with him, snuggling against his chest.
"Do you always walk around in that?" he asked.
"Only in the middle of the night. And my feet were cold, hence the socks. It's way 'Clueless' but it gets the job done," she replied, wiggling her toes against his leg in emphasis. Angel growled playfully and rolled over on top of her, his weight resting comfortably on her smaller frame.
"Let's see what we can do about warming you back up," he whispered, leaning down to place butterfly kisses on her jaw. Buffy moaned and tilted her head to give him more access.
"You never stop, do you?"
"Would you have it any other way?" he countered, nibbling his way down her throat. Buffy sighed and arched against him.
"Hell no."
They were awakened at around ten the next morning by Willow, who bounced into the room a little too bubbly for someone who had just spent all night writing a paper in the library. Buffy's eyes fluttered and she cracked one open, groaning when bright sunlight hit. She snuggled back into Angel's chest and the mattress, bringing the covers up over her head to effectively block the sun out. Angel, who had been awakened by his girlfriend's wiggling, let out a chuckle and tightened his arms around her waist, pulling her against him.
"I know you're up, Buffy," Willow laughed. The two under the blankets groaned simultaneously. "And Angel. I can see you moving. Get up, it's already 10:15!"
"It's a Saturday, Willow, leave us alone. We want to sleep until noon," Buffy said, her voice muffled in the covers. Willow giggled.
"But Buffy, it's gorgeous outside! Come on, we can all go out and...and play Frisbee or something!" she exclaimed. Buffy popped her blond head out from under the comforter and squinted at Willow.
"Will? Did you have caffeine again? You know how you get..." Angel peaked out from the blanket, too, and smiled at Willow.
"I had to!" she said, bouncing over to her closet. "I had to get that paper done last night."
"How many cappuccinos did you have?" Buffy demanded, clutching her sheet to her chest.
Willow scratched her head. "I don't remember, I lost count after about five..." Buffy shook her head disapprovingly.
"Will, we've talked about this before," she scolded. "She can't have more than two without me around." The last comment was directed at Angel, whom Buffy had turned to face. "Good morning, lover."
Angel kissed her gently, but Buffy turned her head away after a moment. At his confused look, she laughed and rubbed his arm in reassurance. "Morning breath."
His response was to pull her closer and kiss her hard. Buffy giggled into his mouth and returned it eagerly.
"Is this about to get X-rated? 'Cause I can leave..." Willow asked, pulling a long-sleeved shirt out of her dresser and adding it to the pile of clothes on her bed. Angel pulled back and kissed her forehead before letting Buffy turn back around. The blond propped herself up on her right elbow, making sure she was completely covered.
"No, stay," she said, then paused. "Wait. You'd better leave. Lying in bed naked tends to make us do naughty things..." Buffy smirked as Angel rested his chin on her shoulder, smiling innocently at Willow.
"I have no idea what she's talking about," he said sweetly. Buffy chose to run a hand up his bare thigh in reply, and Angel quickly slapped it away before her ministrations created a big problem.
"See?" Buffy laughed. Willow grinned at the happy couple and gathered up her clothing and shower bucket.
"I'll leave you two alone, but I'll be back in fifteen minutes," she warned as she crossed to the door. "I don't want to walk in on you two *again*." That had happened when Angel had first come to visit Buffy, Willow had entered while they had been making love. Buffy had never seen Willow so red, her face had matched her hair color.
Buffy laughed at the memory. "Yes, mother."
"Be glad I'm *not* your mother, you'd be grounded if I was," Willow shot back playfully, closing the door as she left. Buffy giggled and dropped her head back onto the soft pillow of Angel's arm, placing a kiss on it before rolling over to face him.
They lay in content silence for several moments before Buffy spoke. "So, what do you want to do today?"
"Stay in bed and make up for the three weeks I haven't seen you," he replied with a devilish grin. Buffy's eye sparkled.
"Sounds like a plan to me," she said, leaning forward for a quick kiss. "But I doubt Will will approve."
Angel sighed. "Yeah, I know," he said, dropping his head into the pillow and staring deep into Buffy's eyes. She found herself drowning in his chocolate pools, warmly wrapped in the security of his love. Angel reached out to brush a lock of her golden hair off her face and she traced the movement with her eyes, watching him move the hair aside.
Buffy took a deep breath and sighed happily, leaning over to rest her forehead against Angel's. Their noses brushed in an Eskimo kiss. The lovers lay that way for a short time, fingers trailing over bare skin in the process.
Angel suddenly grinned mischievously and brought the covers over their head, pouncing on his unsuspecting girlfriend. He tickled her, his fingers dancing across her skin, and Buffy squealed in shock and wiggled to get away. Angel was laughing and Buffy soon joined him, throwing her head back against the pillow and giving up trying to get him off of her.
"Angel!" she rasped, her breathing heavy. "Ooh, you know, that actually feels kinda good..."
The door banged open at that moment and Willow charged into the room, stopping dead when she saw the moving bodies under the sheets and heard the squeals. Her face turned cherry-red and she stammered to say a complete sentence.
"Bu-Ang-I...wha-but-no...sorry..." she stuttered. Buffy and Angel peaked out from under the covers, panting with their hair mussed and their faces red. They looked from Willow to each other and then back to Willow before laughing hysterically.
"Will, it's not what you think," Buffy said, peering around Angel's shoulder. He had buried his head in the hollow of her neck, and she looked down at him quickly before gazing at her best friend again.
"How do you know what I'm thinking?" she countered. "I could be thinking a lot of things, none of them having to do with thoughts of you and Angel doing the naughty-lusty-bad thing."
"Where does she come up with this stuff?" Angel muttered against Buffy's throat. She giggled softly.
"He was tickling me," Buffy explained. Willow looked at her doubtfully.
"Uh huh. Sure. That face is *almost* believable," she said with a sly grin. Angel began idly sucking on Buffy's neck, his tongue darting out to caress her sensitive flesh while she talked to Willow. Buffy gasped and looked down at him sharply, arching up to him in a silent plea for more. Willow noticed that and blushed even harder.
"We were," Buffy said breathlessly. Willow backed up to the door, grabbing her bag from the handle.
"Right. I'm just gonna..." she trailed off when she saw Buffy and Angel start to passionately kiss. "Go. Now. As in the present tense. Umm...later."
She turned and rushed from the room, leaving Buffy and Angel to their own devices.
"We should go over to my place," Angel said softly as he pulled on a red t-shirt. Buffy nodded as she walked over to her closet in her underwear, looking for her favorite pair of old jeans.
"I'll shower there, then," she told him as she found what she was looking for and pulled the jeans off their hanger, quickly pulling them on. Buffy began her search for a suitable tank top, pulling a blood-red one out of her dresser and yanking it on.
"So did you max out my credit card getting stuff for the apartment?" Angel asked as he finished buckling his belt. Buffy smirked and turned to the mirror.
"I was good, I promise..." She stared at her reflection, her eyes narrowing. Her hand flew to her neck to brush away from her throat, her fingers grazing the huge hickey she sported. "Angel!"
"What?" her boyfriend asked innocently, a gleam in his eyes. He walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her tiny waist, dropping his chin to rest on her shoulder as his eyes met hers in the mirror.
"I have a *huge* hickey. You could have at least warned me!" she scolded playfully. Angel leaned down to kiss her discolored flesh tenderly.
"Sorry," he mumbled.
"It's okay, I forgive you," she replied with a sweet smile. Before he could reply, they were once again interrupted by Willow.
"Well, at least you have clothes on again, it's an improvement," she joked as she entered and flopped down on her bed. Buffy wriggled out of Angel's arms and ran a brush through her disheveled hair, opting to put it up in a ponytail until she could wash it.
"God, my hair is Grease-City," she moaned. Angel laughed as he pulled on his shoes and zipped up his bag. "Will, I'm going to show Angel the apartment and we'll probably hang there for a while."
"Ooh, you haven't seen it yet, have you?" Willow asked Angel. He shook his head. "You're gonna love it, Buffy did a great job. She put all these--"
"Will!" Buffy hissed. "Don't tell him, I wanna make him squirm a little more."
"Don't you usually do something else to make him squirm?" Willow asked with a giggle. Buffy's lips curled up in a secretive smile as Angel looked back and forth between the two. Suddenly his eyes came to a stop on Buffy's chest and he quirked an eyebrow as he read the writing on the tank top out loud.
"Sex kitten?" he read. Buffy nodded and smiled proudly, looking down at the kitten with a naughty expression on her face that graced the front of her tank top. "Who's sex kitten?"
Buffy smiled seductively as she glided across the floor. Placing her hands on Angel's chest, she looked up at him playfully from under her lashes. "Yours, lover. Only yours."
Angel's eyes shone with male satisfaction as he leaned down and kissed her. Willow cleared her throat loudly and they pulled away, sharing a secret smile. They parted completely and Buffy grabbed the bag she had thrown together for the next few days, slinging it over her shoulder and putting on her sunglasses as Angel did the same.
"You two are really into the whole matching thing, aren't you?" Willow asked, indicating the fact that they were both wearing red shirts, jeans, and sunglasses. Buffy and Angel exchanged glances and laced fingers.
"We try," Angel replied with a grin as they walked over to the door.
"You're meeting us at the game tonight, right?" Willow called. Buffy smiled over her shoulder and nodded.
"We'll meet you guys there at seven thirty," she told her as they left. "Later, Wills."
"Game?" Angel echoed as they ambled down the hallway. Buffy nodded.
"There's a huge basketball game tonight and I told Will we'd go. Anya and Xander are coming, and they might be bringing Spike," she said as they stepped outside. Buffy noticed that the sky had darkened considerably in the last few minutes and it looked as though it would begin pouring at any given moment. Angel tugged her in the direction of his car.
"I have to put up with Spike?" he groaned. Buffy laughed and nodded as Angel graciously opened the car door for her and waited as she slid in before closing it and walking around to his side.
"Do you think this will be weird?" Buffy asked softly as they pulled out of the parking lot. Angel glanced over at her quickly, wondering what she meant. She quickly elaborated. "I mean, we haven't been together in that apartment since..." she trailed off and swallowed. "Since the night we first made love."
Angel reached over and gently took her hand in his. "If you don't want to, I can find another place," he told her, "I just thought--"
"No, I love the apartment," she said quickly. Buffy sighed and looked over at her love. "I just don't want *you* to feel like you have to keep it for my sake. If you'd feel more comfortable somewhere else--"
"Buffy, it's okay," he assured her with a sweet smile. "It'll be okay. That's all behind us. I want to make new memories in it with you."
She smiled, satisfied with his answer, as they pulled up to the building. The couple quickly got out of the car and headed inside, Angel searching for the key on his key ring as they stopped at the white door. He located it and fit it into the lock, and with a flick of his wrist it was unlocked. He opened the door and held it ajar so she could enter before him, following Buffy inside and pulling it shut. She had switched on the light and was standing in the middle of the room biting her nails, waiting for his reaction.
Angel dropped his bag at his feet, gazing around intently. He immediately noticed the touches she had added, a new leather couch, an entertainment center in the corner. Buffy had also gotten a few new lamps and, keeping with the artistic style of the apartment, a few Chinese fans that now graced the wall. She had added her own touches of color all over the place as well and pictures of the two of them hung on the walls and sat on his desk and the entertainment cabinet.
He turned to her as his face broke out in a huge grin. Angel wrapped his arms around Buffy as she burrowed her head into his chest. He kissed her hair softly and closed his eyes, memories of all the times she had been here before with him flooding his brain and overloading his senses.
"So, you like?" she asked, her voice muffled in his shirt. Angel nodded and pulled back to look down at her.
"It's perfect," he said as he leaned down to kiss her. A crack of thunder made them both jump and lightning danced across the sky as Buffy let out a breath.
"God, that scared me," she said, bringing a hand up to her chest and pressing it against her racing heart. Angel gently took it in his and brought it up to his lips, placing a gently kiss on her palm and then her wrist. Buffy's body trembled as she basked in the glow of his love and she drew in a shaky breath. She knew without a doubt that she would always feel this way when he touched her, no matter how many times he did it.
Angel led her by the hand to the bedroom, noticing that she had changed the sheets to a burgundy silk. Buffy was silent as he gently sat her on the edge of the bed and kneeled before her, as though in worship.
"Angel..." she whispered breathlessly, her heart fluttering rapidly in her chest. He looked up at her. "It's just like my birthday," she said softly, unexpected tears filling her eyes. He nodded, bringing a hand up to wipe away the stray tear that trickled down her cheek.
"Our perfect night," he agreed, his finger gently tracing her lower lip.
"The rain was our music, Angel, do you remember?"
"I remember, love. But we made our own music that night," he whispered, leaning forward to rest his forehead against hers. She nodded in agreement. "Let's do it again."
"Do what?" she asked, her brow furrowing. She nuzzled his cheek with hers and inhaled slowly before pulling back and locking eyes with him.
"Make love, here, with the rain outside to remind us of all the things we had to sacrifice to be together today," he said.
"Sacrifice?"
"You sacrificed me to save the world, I left you to give you a normal life. I gave up humanity for you, and I'd give up my life for you," he told her honestly. She lost herself in his dark eyes.
"I'd do the same for you in a heartbeat," she whispered, her hand coming to rest on his chest. She marveled at the steady rise and fall of his chest for a moment. She always would, she knew.
"I love you," he said, brushing his lips across hers.
"I love you too," she replied softly, gazing at him with tears in her eyes. "Will you make love to me, Angel? Just like you did that night?"
"Do you have to ask?"