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Sinking
Part 2
Angel felt as someone had thrown him through the doorway, and he heard the sound of cracking stone behind him. He somehow managed to hit the ground rolling, stopping only when he rolled into a wall. As he lay on the ground waiting for the world to stop spinning, he noticed that the pain in his stomach was gone. He bent his head to examine the wound, and discovered that although his shirt was torn and bloody, the skin underneath was smooth and unbroken. < What the hell... oh well, time to worry about that later. Now I have to get to Buffy > He stood up and immediately recognized the mansion that he, Spike, and Dru had been holed up in. He glanced around quickly. The demon lay in a pile of rubble on the floor. For a moment he stood in shock, trying to understand what had happened. Then he took off, running towards his apartment as fast as he could.
Buffy stared at the drawing for a long time. It had been months, and she could still remember the feeling of those hands in hers, the touch of those lips. The love in his eyes whenever he looked at her. His trust in her, as he closed his eyes without a question when she told him to. She let herself drown in memories of him. They couldn’t hurt her now. She hadn’t let herself before because she had been afraid that it would make her weak. There was nothing to defend herself against anymore. < It will be over soon. No more pain. Just nothingness > The drawing fluttered to the ground. She picked up the knife, holding it with both hands in front of her eyes. Silently, she said goodbye. To her friends, her Watcher, her mother. To the sun and moon. To Angel.
Buffy raised the blade to her throat and prepared to draw it across.
Angel skidded to a stop in front of the door to his apartment. He grabbed the doorknob, threw the door open, and raced across the room towards his bed. He stopped as soon as he could see around the corner. Buffy was sitting there, the knife near her throat, but her eyes were turned towards the door. When she saw him, they widened, first in disbelief, then in astonishment. Angel stood as still as he could, afraid that he would startle her if he moved, afraid of what would happen if the knife moved even an inch. “Don’t,” he whispered. “Please, Buffy.”
For a moment, Buffy just sat and stared. Angel was standing in front of her, his eyes filled with fear and worry. He wasn’t in the depths of hell, he was *here*. She leapt to her feet, dropping the knife as she started towards him. She was halfway across the room when a wave of dizziness hit her. She stumbled and almost fell, but Angel was next to her, holding her up. They clung to one another, each afraid to let go. “I love you,” Angel said fiercely. It suddenly seemed very important that she know that. “I love you more than anything in the world......”
All of Buffy’s problems and fears felt far away. Wave after wave of
exhaustion, happiness, and relief washed over her. Her last thought before
she passed out was that she was were she’d been longing to be for months. In
Angel’s arms.