Take Me Walking In the Rain by Elisabeth

THIS TOWN ISN'T BIG ENOUGH FOR MY DREAMS
THIS PLACE IS JUST ABOUT TO BREAK AT THE SEAMS
BABY BABY, YOU AND I
NEED JUST A LITTLE BIGGER PIECE OF THE SKY
BIG HOPES, BIG DREAMS
BABY CAN YOU SET ME FREE

TAKE ME WALKING IN THE RAIN
TAKE ME DANCING IN THE WAVES, BABY
LET 'EM WIPE AWAY THE TEARS
WASH AWAY THE YEARS
TAKE ME WALKING IN THE RAIN

TAKE ME RIGHT HERE WHERE I STAND
LET ME FEEL YOUR HEART ON MINE
LIFE'LL NEVER BE THE SAME
WE'VE GOT EVERYTHING TO GAIN
TAKE ME WALKING IN THE RAIN

THIS LIFE MAY BE GOOD ENOUGH FOR THE REST
BUT THIS HEART IS JUST ABOUT TO BREAK THROUGH MY CHEST
I REMEMBER EVERY RULE I'VE HEARD
AND I'M STRANGLING ON EVERY WORD
I CAN'T SAY THEY'RE WRONG
BUT BABY HOW CAN I GO ON?

TAKE ME WALKING IN THE RAIN
TAKE ME DANCING IN THE WAVES, BABY
LET 'EM WIPE AWAY THE TEARS
WASH AWAY THE YEARS
TAKE ME WALKING IN THE RAIN

TAKE ME RIGHT HERE WHERE I STAND
LET ME FEEL YOUR HEART ON MINE
I DON'T WANT SOMEBODY NEW
I JUST WANT THE REST OF YOU
TAKE ME WALKING IN THE RAIN
(Lyrics by Janis Ian/Jenny Yates)

Willow sat devotedly next to the starch white hospital bed. All she could do as she stroked her girlfriend's uninjured hand was replay the events that had led to Tara lying in a hospital bed with a broken arm and several bruised ribs.

Buffy had stumbled upon a Kranoch demon preparing for a sacrifice during her patrol the night before. After many hours of research late into the night the gang finally figured out what the demon was and how to destroy it. Apparently its thick red skin acted as full body armor, making it extremely difficult to kill with a weapon. Although, as luck would have it, it was susceptible to magickal attacks.

The amount of power that would be needed was great, more than Willow could do alone. Tara reluctantly agreed to join her power with Willow's. As much as she hated fighting demons, she would do anything for the girl she loved.

The girls sat down with Giles and devised a way to send a bolt of magick that would essentially strip the demon of its protective skin, allowing Buffy to kill it with a sword.

Earlier tonight the three girls headed to the cemetery that Buffy had seen the Kranoch in the night before. He was there, adding his newest acquisitions to the body parts already acquired. Buffy rushed in, attacking him with sword, legs and fists while Willow and Tara took their positions in the corner, gathering their magick.

Realizing that the real threat was the girls in the corner, the Kranoch lashed out, knocking Buffy to the ground, stunning her, as he rushed the witches. Buffy recovered quickly and leapt on its back, trying to get it away. It worked, but not before he had lifted Tara effortlessly into the air and thrown her across the room.

"Tara," Willow cried out, dodging the demon in order to rush to her girlfriend's side.

Tara lay in a heap, whimpering, from the impact against the concrete. Her arm was in excruciating pain and it hurt to breathe.

"Tara, baby, are you okay?" Tara shook her head, wishing she hadn't moved. "Where does it hurt?"

"I-I th-think," the pain was making her stutter, "my arm's broken. And it hurts when I breathe, or talk, or move."

"Don't move," Willow insisted, lightly running her hands an inch above Tara's body, afraid to touch her, bringing her more pain. In the background she could vaguely make out the sounds of Buffy fighting the Kranoch demon.

Tara lifted her eyes and saw the demon easily deflect Buffy's blows. "Buffy," she whimpered.

Willow turned to look over her shoulder and saw the sword get knocked out of Buffy's hand, again. She dropped and rolled to retrieve it, missing the blow aimed at her back at the same time. Willow looked back at Tara.

Tara slowly, painfully, moved to a sitting position, leaning against the wall. "No. You can do it. You focus the energy, take what you need."

"Tara," Willow tried to protest again, only to be met with a fairly good impression of her 'resolve' face. "Okay," she agreed with a sigh.

Willow stood and gingerly took Tara's uninjured hand in hers. Looking down at her girlfriend she asked, "You okay, babe?"

Willow returned her attention to the scene before her. Buffy was getting a little sloppy in her frustration at not being able to harm the demon. Willow began to chant softly, gathering the energy to her once again. Her eyes darkened to black as she finished the incantation. Raising her free hand she sent a bolt of energy at the demon, hitting it squarely on its back.

The Kranoch howled in pain as the magick began to eat away at its skin, like acid. The leathery red flesh began to crackle and dissolve, leaving its tender muscle vulnerable. Buffy found her sword, which she had lost again during the fight, and swung in an arc, separating its torso. With a final wail of pain the Kranoch fell to the ground in two halves, both twitching as the life drained out of it.

Buffy let the sword tip drag along the ground as she made her way to the witches. Tara was lying slumped against the wall, unconscious. Willow was murmuring comforting words, begging her girlfriend to wake up, telling her it would be okay, the demon was dead.

Buffy handed Willow the sword and gently lifted Tara in her arms. Quickly the girls headed straight for the hospital, each praying that Tara would make it through this.

She was still unconscious. It had been four hours and eighteen minutes since they had arrived at the hospital and Tara had yet to wake. Buffy had called the gang while Willow waited for the doctor to finish running tests on Tara. Xander and Anya were the first to arrive, with Giles running in a few minutes later.

"Ms. Rosenberg?" a woman in a white doctor's coat asked, placing a stethoscope around her neck as she entered the waiting room.

Willow raised her hand, her legs too weak and nervous to stand. Buffy and Xander each took one of her hands as Giles placed his on her shoulders.

With a sympathetic smile the doctor said, "Tara is going to be just fine." She paused to allow the assembled group of friends sigh with relief. "Her right arm is broken and has been set in a cast. She also had several bruised ribs, which have been taped."

"She's still unconscious," at the despondent look on the redhead's face she added, "but you can sit with her if you'd like."

"Yes, please," Willow responded as she got to her feet. She gave her friends' hands a final squeeze as she followed the doctor to Tara's room.

The gang had finally gone home about an hour ago when they realized that Willow wasn't going to leave Tara's side. They all promised they'd be by the next day and left Willow alone with her girlfriend.

"Tara, baby, please wake up," she pleaded again, a couple of tears trailing down her cheeks. "I'm so sorry this happened. It's all over, you're gonna be okay. You just need to wake up now."

Tara's fingers flinched under hers. Willow's eyes shot back to her face, anxiously looking for signs of awakening. Tara's eyeballs fluttered under her eyelids rapidly before they cracked open.

Willow immediately stood to pour a cup of water. She held the cup to Tara's lips, tipping it back just enough to dribble some water down her parched throat.

Tara winced slightly at the effort it took to swallow. Willow's back was momentarily turned, returning the cup to the table next to the bed, so she missed Tara's pain-filled motion. When she turned back around, Willow placed a soft kiss on Tara's lips.

Tara nodded slightly, trying to restrict the movement and not make her head throb any more than it already was. As Willow left to find a nurse, Tara relaxed against the thin pillow. A tear escaped her left eye when she closed them again. She hated what she was going to do, but she couldn't live like this anymore.

She silently debated her planned actions until Willow returned with a woman dressed in scrubs carrying a clipboard.

"Welcome back, Ms. Maclay," the nurse cheerily greeted her as Willow returned to her chair next to Tara, weaving her fingers with the other girl's. "My name is Caroline Hamilton. You were out for quite a while there, how are you feeling?"

"Yes, dear," Caroline said in that annoying placating tone of medical professionals. "Where does it hurt?"

"That's all perfectly normal. Willow tells me you are going to go back to sleep. Would you like a sedative?"

"You're very lucky to have such a devoted friend," Caroline commented as she prepared the syringe. "Willow hasn't left your side since you were brought to the room." She noted the way Willow was clasping Tara's uninjured hand and wondered if there was more than friendship between the two.

"Yes, lucky," Tara agreed, looking at Willow as the nurse added the sedative to her IV drip. Willow smiled affectionately at her in return.

"Willow," Caroline interrupted the silent exchange. "I'm afraid that visiting hours are almost over."

"That's fine." Caroline picked up her clipboard from the foot of the bed and recorded the medication that Tara had just been given as she left the girls alone.

"I don't know how well I'll be able to sleep tonight without my girl," Willow commented.

Tara felt a stab of guilt that Willow would always be sleeping alone now. She'd wait until the next day to tell her. "I know," she whispered.

Willow gently kissed Tara again before settling into the chair. "I'll wait until you're asleep before leaving. That way we both won't have to fall asleep alone."

Tara woke up the next morning alone in her hospital room. It took her a moment to remember where she was. Then it hit her - hospital, broken arm, bruised ribs, Kranoch demon, Willow. She remembered now. She was in the hospital after being hurt by a demon, again. She hated hospitals, always had; yet she seemed to see quite a few of them since she started dating Willow.

She had been drawn to Willow immediately in that so-called Wicca group. Her power and beauty called to her like a siren. Tara had blossomed under Willow's love. She was no longer so self-conscious and shy. She was also more confident with her magickal abilities. She owed this to Willow. Which is why it was going to break her heart to leave her.

"Ah, good, you're awake," a new nurse commented. "My name is Shirley and I'll be your nurse today. How are you feeling?"

"A little better," Tara admitted. "My head doesn't hurt today, and I'm a little hungry."

"That's a good sign. I'll have an orderly bring you up some breakfast. Are you up for visitors yet? There's a redhead who's been dying to get in here."

"I'll do that," Shirley agreed. She finished taking Tara's vitals before leaving.

"Good morning sleepy head," Willow greeted her girlfriend. She kissed Tara before sitting on the bed and handing her a black stuffed cat.

"It's for you silly. For when I can't be here with you, so you won't have to be alone."

Tara pulled the toy to her chest, ignoring the stab of pain from pressing against her bruised ribs as she choked back a sob.

"Tara, baby, what's wrong?" Willow asked, concern coloring her voice. "Do you need me to get a nurse?"

Willow smiled with relief. "You're welcome. Don't scare me like that, I thought something was wrong."

"Look at me, Will." Tara insisted, gesturing to the hospital room. "I thought I could look past all of the demons and fighting evil, that our love was strong enough for it not to matter. But it does. I know there is evil out there, and someone has to fight it, but I can't do it anymore. And I know you can't stop, you've been fighting for too long to stop now. And I'm not asking you to. So I'm going to leave."

"Tara, no," Willow pleaded. "I love you. We can find a way to stay together. You don't have to help fight monsters anymore. I'll do all the magick when the group needs a witch. Please don't leave."

"What happens the next time a spell requires more magick that you can do alone? You'll ask me for help. You'll say it's just this one time, and I'll do it because I love you. Then you'll ask me again. I don't want to end up resenting you for disregarding my wishes. It's better this way. When they release me I'll go visit my family for the rest of the summer."

The tears were now flowing unchecked down Willow's cheeks. "Please, don't go. I don't have to keep fighting demons. Just don't leave me."

Tara gingerly wiped a tear off Willow cheek, trying to hold back her own tears. "Please don't ask me to stay. I know you; you won't be able to sit by on the sidelines while the rest of your friends are out there saving the lives of the innocent from vampires and other demons. I can't live like that anymore, even for you."

Willow embraced Tara as gently as possible, crying on her girlfriend's shoulder. Tara took a moment to enjoy the feeling of having Willow in her arms one last time before pushing her away.

"There's nothing I can say that will change your mind, is there?" Willow asked in defeat, wiping at her tears.

"I love you. You know where to find me if you change your mind," Willow said as she took one last look at her lover.

"I know," Tara confirmed. Once the door was closed she added, "I love you too," before breaking down into tears of her own.

Angel walked out of the kitchen, wincing at the smell that assaulted his sensitive nose.

Cordelia looked up at her boss, nail polish brush half way to her hand. "What? It is my apartment. Besides, I have an audition later this afternoon and I need to look perfect."

"You couldn't do that before I got here? Or waited until after I left? That smell…"

"Look Mr. I-have-nothing-better-to-do-now-that-my-home/office-blew-up, you're the one who insisted we have our business meetings here."

"All right, all right," Angel acceded, knowing better than to go up against Queen C on an audition day. "Speaking of business… Where's Wesley?"

"Checking out some new occult bookstore," she said dismissively. "How's the apartment search coming anyway?" Cordy asked as she painted her last nail.

"Slowly," Angel said, dropping into a chair. In truth, he hadn't been looking very hard. "It's not easy finding an apartment with only a few windows but enough space to run a business out of."

"Exactly. Don't worry, I'll find something eventually, then you'll have me out of your hair."

"It wasn't that baaaaad…" Cordelia fell back on the couch before sliding to the floor as she was assaulted with a vision.

Cordelia panted for breath as the vision ended, rubbing her temples. "Aspirin." A bottle floated towards the couch along with a glass of water. "Thanks Dennis," she said, popping a couple of pills in her mouth, swallowing them with the water.

"Demon – big and red – in a crypt. Girl… blond… she's unconscious. Willow – Willow is standing over her crying."

"Oh God," Angel breathed, silently adding, 'Not Willow.' Out loud he asked, "Did it happen yet?"

"I'll call Buffy," Angel said. He took the floating phone. "Thanks Dennis." He dialed the memorized number, scowling when the machine picked up. "Buffy, it's Angel. Cordelia had a vision, involving Willow and a blond girl being attacked by a red demon. Please be careful and let me know if I can help."

"Yes!" Cordy said emphatically. "Why else do you think I get these mind-shattering visions?"

"Yeah, but that was just because you kept your presence a secret last time you went for a vision," she pointed out. "Besides, you already called and told her about the vision. This way when you show up it won't be a surprise."

With an exaggerated sigh, Cordy said, "If you must. But I'd go to Willow's house when you get there, since she was the one I saw in the vision, not your precious Buffy."

Willow returned to her parents' house in a daze. She had the passing thought that it was a good thing it was daytime otherwise she would have been easy vampire bait. She made her way up to her bedroom and flopped down on her bed.

Two nights ago she had shared this bed with Tara. She'd felt a little guilty making love to her girlfriend in her parents' house, but they weren't there. They were never there. She pulled Tara's pillow under her head, inhaling the scent of her shampoo. She thought about how she'd never have Tara in her bed again and made no efforts to stop the tears from coming.

She sobbed into the pillow, gut wrenching tears that made her entire body ache with her sense of loss. Alone in her bedroom she let years worth of pain flow out of her. Pain that her parents were never around and ignored her when they were. Pain over Oz's quick departure after cheating on her. And now she had a new pain to add to the list – Tara leaving her.

"Why does everyone I love leave?" she sobbed. When she received no answer from the empty house she curled herself into a fetal position, hugging Tara's pillow close to her chest and fell into an exhausted, uneasy sleep.

Angel pulled up in front of the Rosenberg home two hours after sunset. The house appeared to be mostly dark, but according to Cordelia Willow was living at home for the summer. He only hoped that he wasn't too late.

Angel paced as he waited for Willow to answer the doorbell. After several minutes he thought she might have just left the lights on when she went out. He was about to leave to check at Buffy's when the door opened.

"Oh Willow, I'm too late, aren't I?" he asked, taking in her red, puffy eyes and tear-streaked, pale cheeks.

"Uh huh," she nodded, choking back a sob. "Come on in Angel." She turned and headed back into the house, not waiting to see if Angel followed.

Angel hesitated before entering the girl's home. He hadn't been here since Willow had cast the uninvitation spell when he'd become Angelus. He followed Willow up to her bedroom, where she lay back down on her stomach, burying her face in a pillow, clutching it tightly to her face.

Standing nervously by the bedroom door, Angel said, "I'm so sorry Willow. I hoped that I had called Buffy in time, but I guess it wasn't enough warning."

Willow looked up at the vampire, confusion crinkling her brow. "What are you talking about? What did you warn Buffy about?"

Willow tried to think back, but she didn't think Buffy'd mentioned anything about a call from Angel. She would have mentioned that. She shook her head. "No, we were pretty much in research mode a couple of days ago. Then last night…" Willow got choked up again.

"Last night?" Angel repeated. "Then I was too late. Cordy just had the vision today. That's strange. I wonder why the Powers would send her a vision after the fact." He mused.

"No, she's not dead. Tara's got a broken arm and some bruised ribs, but other than that," she began to softly cry, "she's fine."

Angel sat beside Willow, taking the crying girl into his arms, rubbing her back soothingly. "Then you knew her?"

Angel's eyes went wide at that admission. Girlfriend? Willow's gay? Why hadn't anyone told him that? Along with shock, he found himself surprisingly disappointed that she was no longer interested in men. Then his brain caught up with his ears.

Willow nodded against his chest, tightening her embrace. "She… she dumped me. In the hospital. Said she couldn't fight demons anymore. And she couldn't be with me if I still wanted to fight the good fight and she wouldn't let me stop fighting because it's so much of who I am now."

"But she didn't even ask what I wanted," Willow sobbed. "She just made up her mind that I wouldn't be able to be with her and not include her in Scooby gang stuff. Or maybe I'm tired of fighting demons too and would quit so that I could be with her."

"Do you really think you could do that?" Angel asked, stroking Willow's soft red hair. "You've been fighting demons for four years now. Do you honestly think you could just stop?"

"I don't know." Willow paused and sighed. "No, I guess not." She pulled out of Angel's comforting arms to look into his soft brown eyes. "And Tara knew that."

Angel brushed her hair off her face, stroking her cheek with his thumb. "There's nothing wrong with wanting to 'fight the good fight'. Some of my best friends are deeply involved in that fight," he smiled.

Several moments passed as they lost themselves in the other's eyes. Willow was the first to blink, breaking the spell.

"I don't know," Angel admitted. "I came to see if I could help fight the red demon. How did you defeat him by the way?"

"Oh, I blasted him, with Tara's added energy, with a bolt magick that disintegrated its impenetrable skin so that Buffy could slice it in half. But not before it threw Tara into a concrete wall.

"Angel, what am I going to do? How can I keep fighting demons when every time I think about it, it reminds me of why Tara left? I mean, she left so that I wouldn't have to stop fighting, but now I don't even want to."

"I wish I knew what to tell you, but it's something you're going to have to figure out on your own."

"How can I when everything reminds me of her? We practiced magick together. We met at Giles' and the Bronze. She was even going to live here with me for the summer."

"What if you weren't here, surrounded by all of those reminders?" Angel tentatively asked.

Willow's face lit up with the possibility, making Angel happy to have been the cause of the light now shining from her eyes.

"Of course. I'm looking for a new apartment right now. Since my old one was blown up I've been staying at a cheap motel. Cordelia's been nagging me to finally find a new apartment. I'll just find one with a spare bedroom. It'll be great, we'll be roommates." His enthusiasm paused with a nervous thought. "That is, if you think you could live with a vampire."

Willow threw her arms around Angel. "Of course I'd live with you. You're one of the best people I know."

Angel returned the hug, smiling into her hair. "Wonderful. I'd better get back to LA tonight then. I've got an apartment to find."

After Angel left, Willow called Giles and asked him to call the gang together the following day. He was concerned, of course, and asked why she was calling the meeting. Willow said that everything would be explained when they were all together. After he agreed to call the others, Willow hung up and went about mentally preparing how to tell her friends she was leaving.

Angel sped along the highway towards LA, mentally forming the perfect home for him and Willow.

"A home with Willow," he thought aloud. The idea had him grinning all the way home.

Instead of returning to the dumpy motel he'd been living in, Angel detoured to see if he could track down Gunn. He found the young demon fighter, along with some of his friends, mid-battle with a few vampires. Angel stepped out of his car and leaned against the side, watching the fight, prepared to join the fray if need be.

Gunn dusted the last vamp and turning saw Angel observing him. "Enjoy the show?" he greeted his ally.

"So what's up?" Gunn asked, still smiling. "I doubt you just felt the need to slum it."

"It's not that kind of favor." Gunn looked at him curiously. "Do any of your guys know about real estate?"

"Oh yeah," Gunn said sarcastically. "We know all the prime real estate properties – abandoned warehouses, demon lairs, boarded up buildings. Why you asking?"

"I need to find a new place of operation. My friend's going to come spend the summer in LA and I can't exactly have her living out of the motel with me."

"It's not like that. Willow's just a friend and she needs a change of scenery. Besides, it's about time I got the business going again."

"An old store with an apartment attached would be ideal. The apartment should have two bedrooms, one without a lot of windows, preferably. And near sewer access if possible."

"Chill, man. I can't think of anything off the top of my head, but I'll ask around. I'm guessing you want this in a nice neighborhood too."

Angel hopped back in his car, feeling more hopeful than he had in a long time. When he returned to the motel he grabbed a newspaper out of the lobby and began to look through the realty section in earnest.

Willow woke up early the next morning. In that blessed moment between sleep and wakefulness she had happy thoughts of snuggling up to Tara. She rolled over and opened her eyes, only to be reminded that she was the only woman in her bed. She sighed as she remembered that she'd never wake up next to Tara again. Then she remembered Angel's visit… she'd soon be moving to LA for the summer to share an apartment with him. That thought brought a smile to her face and gave her the energy she needed to roll out of bed and stumble to the shower.

By the time she finished her leisurely shower, she had two messages on her answering machine. One from Buffy and the other from Xander, both wanting to know if she knew what the emergency meeting at Giles' was about. Willow called them back, keeping the calls short and simply saying that they'd all find out what was going on when they got to Giles' apartment.

As she walked over to Giles', Willow gave herself a pep talk. "Okay, so first we tell them that Tara is going to be okay after the fight with the Kranoch. Then we tell them that she dumped you. Try not to cry. Then you tell them that you're going to be okay and you're going to spend the rest of the summer in LA… living with Angel." Willow groaned. "Buffy and Xander are going to go ballistic."

Before she knew it, Willow was descending the steps to the courtyard outside Giles' apartment. She took a deep breath and walked into the apartment.

Giles stepped out of the hallway, "Ah, Willow, you're the first to arrive." He looked around the room. "Tara didn't come with you?"

Willow steeled herself, knowing he'd ask. "No, she not coming," she quietly confirmed.

Giles noted the pained look on her face, but knew better than to comment on it. Instead he offered, "Can I get you anything? Tea, water, soda?"

"I can get it," she offered, needing to keep busy until the others arrived. As she filled a glass with water she heard the door open and Xander's energetic voice announce his presence, along with Anya, who was complaining about being there.

When she returned to the living room Xander was sprawled on the couch with Anya flipping through a magazine next to him.

"Xander," Anya chided him, not looking up from the magazine. "You should never tell a woman she doesn't look good." She looked up at Willow. "But he's right. You look like crap."

"Geez, thanks guys." Willow took a sip of her water, knowing that she must look like she felt. Before she could come up with an appropriate rejoinder, the door opened again to admit Buffy and Riley.

Buffy greeted the gang and led Riley over to a chair, sitting him down and then sat on the arm of the chair herself. Giles took this as his cue to sit in his chair as well.

Cringing at the hated nickname, Giles said, "Actually, Willow called this meeting."

All eyes turned to the nervous redhead. Xander broke the silence. "What's up Wills? Where's Tara?"

"Yes," Willow began, "but that's not why she's not here." At their confused looks she added, "I mean she wouldn't be here even if she wasn't in the hospital. Tara… Tara broke up with me."

"I'm dealing. It happened yesterday." When Buffy was going to interrupt, Willow held up her hand. "Please, let me finish this and if you have any questions you can ask then." Buffy silently settled back against Riley, who'd wrapped an arm around his girlfriend's waist. "When I went to the hospital yesterday morning, Tara told me that she couldn't live this life any more. She was tired of putting her life in danger all of the time fighting demons." Willow's eyes filled with tears as she spoke. "I tried to convince not to do this. I said that we could stay together and just not include her in the demony stuff, but she said no. She's… she's leaving. She's going to go back to her family for the summer."

Before she knew it, she was enveloped in Buffy's strong arms. Unable to hold back any longer, Willow began to weep on Buffy's shoulder. Xander stood and wrapped his arms around the girls, knowing how hard this had to be for Willow.

Annoyed that her boyfriend has his arms around another woman, Anya grumbled, "Oh great, now she's going to be all mopey and depressed again, just like after Oz left her. You better not be planning on doing any more spells."

Shocked at his girlfriend's callous attitude, Xander turned, "Anya, how can you say that?"

"What?" she asked, looking around. "It's true. You remember what happened the last time she was dumped."

Pulling away from her friends and wiping her tear-streaked cheeks, Willow said, "Don't worry, it won't happen again. At least not here."

"I can't stay here with so many reminders of Tara. She said she was leaving so that I wouldn't have to stop fighting the battle against evil. But right now that's the last thing I want to do. So I'm going to go stay in LA… with Angel." Willow scrunched her eyes closed, preparing for her friends' outrage. She wasn't disappointed.

Everyone, except Anya, was instantly on their feet, all yelling reasons for why this was a bad idea, including Riley.

Willow opened her eyes and held up her hands. "One at a time, please." She pointed to Buffy.

"Why Angel?" she simply asked, a hint of pain in her voice. "He doesn't even have an apartment right now."

Without answering her question, Willow asked the slayer, "Why didn't you tell me about Angel's message?"

Buffy blanched, she didn't know Willow knew about that. "How did you…? I-it came too late. I didn't think you'd want to know about Cordelia's vision since it had already happened."

"What are you talking about?" Giles asked. Buffy hadn't mentioned Angel's phone call to him either.

Buffy opened her mouth, but Willow answered for her. "Cordelia had a vision yesterday morning. She saw the Kranoch throw Tara into the wall and me standing over her crying. Angel called Buffy to warn her about the demon attack, but since no one was home he left a message on the machine. Last night Angel came down to check on me, to see if we were able to stop the demon. Of course he was too late. I told him about Tara, and how hard it was going to be to be here with so many reminders of our relationship, so he offered to find an apartment with two bedrooms, since he's still apartment hunting after his place was blown up, so that I could come to LA."

"C'mon Wills, do you really think you could do that? Live with a vampire? And why that one?" Xander asked.

"Do you have another vampire you'd like me to live with?" she teased. As Xander gaped at her, she continued, "I don't see it being too much of a problem. Okay, so I'd have to make sure the windows were covered during the day. But hey, at least he wouldn't eat all my food."

"I'm not planning on giving him a happy, if that's what you're worried about," she countered.

Giles stood in order to look the redhead in the eyes. He spoke softly and without malice, "Willow, do you really think that now is the time to be separated from your friends?"

"I do. I know I'll miss you guys like crazy while I'm gone, but it hurts too much to stay here. I can't even sleep in my bed at my parents' house without thinking about Tara. I need to separate myself from where we were a couple. And LA is the ideal solution. I'll be with people who care about me, and I'll still be able to help fight monsters."

"Knows exactly what I'm going through," Willow interrupted, meeting Buffy's eyes. Buffy was the first to lower her eyes, admitting defeat with a nod.

Looking around at the reluctantly accepting faces, Xander exclaimed, "No. I don't care how much you can commiserate over together. I am not going to send you off to Deadboy!"

"Xander, it's not up to you," Willow informed him sternly. "Look, I know how you feel about Angel, but I trust him. He's not going to hurt me, at least not anymore than I'm already hurting." She took her best and oldest friend's hands in hers. "I'll miss you too, but I need to do this, for me."

Angel was too excited to get much sleep and woke up much earlier than was natural for a vampire. He wanted to get over to Cordelia's to get her help with apartment hunting. She'd also be dying to know what happened in Sunnydale. Taking the sewers he made his way to her apartment.

Cordelia was still asleep when he arrived so Dennis let him in. Angel had brought the real estate section from yesterday's paper and called some of the realtors while he waited for her to make an appearance. By the time she came out of her bedroom he had two appointments to see buildings that might suit his needs.

Cordelia walked out of her bedroom, rubbing her eyes sleepily. "Dennis, why is it so dark in here?" she asked the ghost, expecting him to open the curtains. When he didn't she removed her hands from her eyes and screamed at the sight of a man sitting on the couch with a newspaper open in front of him. Then she realized it was only Angel.

"Angel," she reprimanded him. "Couldn't you make some noise when a person enters a room? And what are you doing here so early?"

"Angel, it's 8 o'clock in the morning! What do you mean you couldn't sleep? And aren't you supposed to be in Sunnydale?" she demanded.

"I did go to Sunnydale. We were too late, by a day. The girl in your vision was Tara, Willow's girlfriend. I guess I should say ex-girlfriend…"

Cordelia interrupted him, "Wait a minute. Did you just say Willow's girlfriend?" Angel nodded. "Willow's gay?"

"Apparently," he shrugged. "I didn't know either. Regardless, Tara just dumped Willow, after she was injured by the demon in your vision."

"Oh, poor Willow… to lose her girlfriend after almost losing her girlfriend. She must not be doing too well."

"No, she's not," Angel agreed, surprised at the sympathy Cordelia was showing for the redhead.

Noting his curious, doubtful look, she questioned, "What? I'm not allowed to feel for the girl? I know we didn't always get along in high school, but that doesn't mean I don't like her."

Angel smiled. "I'm glad to hear you say that, because she's moving here for the summer."

"What!? Willow's coming here? When? Where's she gonna stay? Is Buffy coming with her?"

"Yes, Willow is coming to LA for the summer," he repeated. "She's going to live with me, as soon as I find an apartment. And she's coming alone. She needed to get away from Sunnydale – too many reminders of her relationship with Tara."

"I get that," Cordelia acknowledged. "I'm a little surprised that you're offering to take her in. You kicked me out after being there only one day."

"True, but, no offense, I doubt that Willow will be as high maintenance as you," he said affectionately.

"Who's living with a human?" Wesley asked, having caught the end of Cordelia's question.

"Angel will be," Cordelia answered. "I'll let him fill you in while I go get dressed. I can't wait until you find a place Angel, then I won't have you guys under my feet all hours of the day and night," she said walking off towards her bedroom.

"And who is this human that you will be living with? Cordelia?" he asked with a stern look.

"No," Angel laughed. "Willow is going to come spend the summer in LA and she's going to live with me once I find a new place."

Angel briefly went over the events of the previous day, filling Wesley in on Cordy's vision and what happened when he arrived in Sunnydale.

"So where are you going to live?" Cordelia asked as she reemerged, looking stunning and comfortable at the same time.

"I'm working on that. When I got back last night I asked Gunn to see if any of his contacts knew of a space that I could operate the agency out of that also has a two bedroom apartment. I also called a couple of realtors based on ads in the paper. I've got a couple of appointments for tonight."

Booting up her computer, Cordelia offered, "Let me do some searching and see if I can find anything."

By sundown Angel had three more places to go look at that night. Cordelia insisted on joining him on his appointments, saying that she'd be the judge of what was habitable for a woman. Angel knew better than to argue.

Two of the buildings were dismissed instantly as admitting too much sunlight. Another had so many cockroaches that there was hardly any room to walk. (Cordelia ran screaming from that place and met Angel and the realtor on the corner of the next block.) The next building had a decent apartment space, but the business portion consisted of one large room, not quite what they were looking for. Angel filed it away as a maybe. The last place on the agenda was currently being used as a vampire lair. Angel dispatched the occupants, but didn't want to risk living there for fear that more vampires would be hanging around and would attack Willow.

He and Cordelia were getting discouraged. Aside from that one place, which he didn't really want to take, it had been a complete bust. Even though he was discouraged, he insisted on checking in with Gunn on his way to drop Cordelia at home.

Gunn did his best to hide his smile when Angel's car pulled up. He'd hit paydirt and he knew Angel would just love the place one of his guys had found.

"That's an understatement," Cordelia added. "We saw one place that might be okay; if we were desperate."

"Possibly," Gunn admitted, still trying to control the grin that was threatening to break free. "One of my guys found a place that sounded kinda like what you might need."

"Well, it can't be worse than some of the places we've seen. Lead on," Cordelia gestured.

"Your faith astounds me," Gunn deadpanned as he got in the car with Angel and Cordy, directing him to the address.

They pulled up in front of a building with newspaper-filled windows in a quaint neighborhood. The building in question was sandwiched in between a florist shop and a café. The covered storefront windows didn't give Angel much in the way of hope, but he followed the young man nonetheless.

Gunn led them into the building, commenting that they'd want to replace the broken lock when they moved in. There was a set of stairs in front of them leading up to the apartment and a door to the left leading into the business. First he brought them into the office space.

"This place was some kind of doctor's office I think," Gunn explained as Cordelia checked out the reception desk and waiting room area. Angel headed further back down a hallway. There were three offices in the back, along with a small bathroom and a kitchenette. One of the offices had only one small window up in the corner of the room. The other two were a decent size. Angel could already picture Wesley in one office and using the other one for a library/weapons room.

"That office is amazing," Cordelia whispered to Angel as they went upstairs. "The desk is huge, and there's a bathroom and a kitchen."

"I know," Angel agreed, trying to not get excited. "One of the offices has only a small window, perfect for me. The other offices can be for Wesley and a library."

Gunn opened the apartment door and allowed them to enter ahead of him. Angel and Cordelia headed off in separate directions, after a couple of minutes they met back near the front door.

"First thing tomorrow I'm going to call the building's owner and find out about leasing it. Then we need to get it fixed up so that I can bring Willow up here. I want to get her out of Sunnydale as quickly as possible."

"No problem," Gunn said. "Me and my crew can help with the cleaning and painting just as soon as you make this legal."

"It's a good thing this place is partially furnished. But I'd recommend getting new furniture for Willow's room." Cordelia said.

"Good idea," Angel agreed, heading back down to the car. "You think you could find something she'd like?"

"Absolutely," Cordelia replied, her hands itching to get on Angel's credit cards.

"Just don't decorate it too much," he warned the shopahaulic. "I want her to be able to decorate the room herself, so that it feels like a place she belongs, not just a place she's staying."

"Got it – buy new bed, dresser, desk, etc. but no furnishings. What about your room?" she asked.

"I can take care of that myself," he grunted, afraid of how Cordy would furnish his space.

"Why don't you just let this Willow pick out her own furniture if you want the space to feel like hers?" Gunn asked.

"Hey," Cordy objected. "You can't do that to me! You can't dangle shopping trips in front of me and then just take them away."

"How about this," Angel tried to compromise. "You go out and buy Willow a bed so that she has somewhere to sleep when she arrives. Then you can go shopping together to furnish the rest of the apartment."

"Fine, but we get the gold card, right? And I get to pick up something for myself for the effort."

The next morning Angel tracked down the building's owner who referred him to a realtor, excited about having someone to fill the space. The realtor, also excited to be getting rid of the property, agreed to come to Cordelia's apartment with the paperwork.

Angel hated dipping into what he referred to as "blood money" which Angelus had collected, but since he knew that he'd be able to get into the new space faster with cash, he did so. He had enough cash with him to lease the property for the next six months when the realtor arrived.

The real estate agent, Gretta, was floored by the amount of cash Angel handed over for the building. She had him sign the lease documents and handed over the keys to the office and apartment.

As soon as Gretta left, Angel paged Gunn. Angel told him the building was his. He sent Cordy to meet Gunn and his crew at the building with enough money to cover any supplies they'd need while fixing the apartment up. Cordelia then continued on to find a bed for Willow.

After some creative haggling, Cordy purchased a tasteful bed with a full size mattress that would work well with many styles of furniture. The head and footboards had a simple design of black metal bars curving and interweaving, connected at the wooden posts. The bed was in stock, so they could deliver it the next day.

"I did. You're gonna love it. Now it's not completely furnished. I thought you'd want to help pick out most of the furniture since you'd be living there too."

"That's so considerate," she gushed, still floored that he'd found a place so soon.

"Cordelia went and picked out a bed, which will be delivered tomorrow. I've got some friends making repairs and painting the place today. So if you're ready, I can come and get you tomorrow night."

"I'm ready, believe me, I'm ready." Willow eagerly responded. "I packed up all of the stuff I'll need yesterday, just in case you found something soon."

"That sounds perfect. This way I'll get to say goodbye to the gang during the day and wrap up any loose ends."

"I'll see you tomorrow then," Angel said, wishing it were time to go get her already.

Willow debated the best way to tell her friends she was really leaving. She thought about calling everyone together again, getting it all over with at once, but she'd already done that once. Instead, she opted to visit each friend individually to say goodbye.

Her first order of business that morning was to call her parents' answering service to inform them that instead of staying at their house for the summer, as planned, she'd be staying with a friend in LA. Since she didn't know the number yet, she said she'd call again with the number once she was settled, but she could be reached via email in the meantime. Willow highly doubted that she'd hear from her parents at all during the summer, but it was the courteous thing to do.

After taking her shower and packing up the last of her necessities, Willow headed over to see Giles. It would be difficult saying goodbye to him, if even for only a few months. Giles had been more of a father figure to her than her own father had been.

Normally Willow would simply walk into the apartment, using the key she'd been given, but today she felt the need to be more formal and knocked.

Giles was surprised to see that the person who knocked was Willow. Lately only strangers knocked on his door, the children preferring to barge in.

"Willow, what brings you by so early?" he asked. "And why did you knock? Is there something the matter?"

"No, nothing's the matter," she said, entering the apartment. "I just wanted to let you know that Angel found an apartment and he's coming to pick me up, tonight."

"Already?" Giles sounded surprised. This all seemed to be happening so quickly. Needing reassurance that she didn't feel pressured to leave he asked, "And this is truly what you want? To go live with Angel?"

"Yes, it is." Willow said confidently. "I know you still have problems with him from… from my junior year… but I feel safe with him."

"I didn't mean to insult your judgment," Giles said. "I just want to make sure you're not running away." Seeing as how his charges seemed to have a propensity for it.

"I've thought this through a lot Giles," Willow told him. "I know that it looks like that's what I'm doing, and maybe in a way it is, but it's also not. You must think I'm taking the easy way out. Everywhere I look I am reminded about what I don't have anymore. Sometimes I don't know how you did it," she said, looking up the stairs towards the loft.

Giles knew exactly what she was referring to. "I admit," he quietly confided, following her gaze, "there were times I considered moving, or at least refurnishing my bedroom. But I wanted that reminder, of what could happen when you turn your back on those you love, when you allow yourself to become distracted." Shaking his head, he tried to lighten the mood a little, "Besides, Jenny was taken from me. She didn't leave of her own choosing."

"Is that why you are leaving?" Giles quietly asked. "So that this time you are the one leaving?"

Willow shrugged. "To be honest, I haven't thought about it like that. Angel offered me an escape for a while and I was more than happy to accept."

"Just promise me you'll be careful. Los Angeles may not be on a Hellmouth, but it is still a dangerous place to be. Perhaps more so as it is without a Slayer."

Willow hugged her mentor and he returned her embrace. Willow stepped back, promising that she'd call with the number once she was settled.

"Don't I know it." Willow rolled her eyes at how overprotective her friends could be. "I'll talk to you soon."

"Have a safe trip." Giles closed the door behind the girl he cared for like a daughter, praying that she would be safe with the vampire that haunted his nightmares.

Willow knew that her goodbyes with Buffy and Xander wouldn't go as smoothly as with Giles. She knew that as much as the man didn't like or trust Angel, he did have faith in her ability to make decisions for herself. Her friends were a different story.

"Hello Willow," the older woman greeted the redhead. "Buffy tells me you'll be leaving us for the summer." After a pause she added, "I'm sorry to hear about Tara."

At the mention of Angel's name, Joyce tensed slightly. "Are you sure that's wise?" she asked the girl as she led her to the kitchen. "You… you know he's a vampire, right?"

Willow giggled, "Yes, I know. But his soul is nice and secure. Angel is my friend, and I trust him."

"You have more faith than me I'm afraid. I'm sure you've heard all of the arguments already about why living with him could be a bad idea, so I'll hold my tongue." Joyce smiled to soften the somewhat disapproving words.

"Um, tonight actually," Willow admitted. "That's why I stopped by, to tell Buffy."

"To tell Buffy what?" the blond asked, bounding into the kitchen after hearing her best friend's voice.

"Thanks." Turning, Willow looked at her friend's face. "Buffy, I just stopped by to let you know I'm leaving tonight."

Willow nodded. "One of Angel's friends found what sounds like an amazing place. They already started fixing it up, but are waiting for me to get there to do most of the shopping. Angel said he wants me to feel at home there, so he's going to let me pick out my own furniture and decorate my room myself."

"So you're going to go live in a practically empty apartment with my ex-boyfriend?" Buffy summed up, arms crossed over her chest.

"Yes," Willow answered, choosing to ignore the harsh tone in Buffy's voice. With a sigh Willow asked, "Buffy, do you think you can look past the fact that Angel's your ex and accept that this is what I need to do, for me?"

Buffy paused to take in her friend's pleading eyes and exhausted countenance. Buffy knew her friend well enough to know that Willow would move to LA with or without her blessing, so it was better to give it so that Willow would want to come back once she'd gotten over Tara's betrayal.

A slow smile filled the blonde's face as she said, "You do whatever you need to do. Then hurry home. I don't know what I'm gonna do without my best friend all summer."

"Oh, I'm sure Riley will have a few suggestions," Willow bantered, a twinkle in her eye.

"Yeah, but he's not a girl. Who am I going to talk to about Riley? And who am I going to go shopping with? And who's going to stay up late with me to just veg out and watch bad Indian TV?"

"Well, aside from the whole shopping thing, we can still do all that stuff. You know, the phone is a marvelous invention. We can talk every day if you want, about all of that stuff. I'll even ask Angel if I can have my own phone line so that you don't have to worry about him picking up."

"Well, that sounds okay," Buffy reluctantly agreed. Then her face brightened as she excitedly suggested, "Oh, and hey, if I have to go visit my dad we can hang in LA. I can show you all my old hangouts."

The girls chatted for over an hour over ice cream before Willow realized that she'd have to leave in order to make it to Xander's and home before Angel arrived. The girls hugged and Willow promised to call with her number as soon as she knew it.

Willow was most nervous about saying her temporary goodbyes with Xander. Not only did Xander seem to hate Angel the most, but they'd seen each other almost every day for the last fifteen years.

Deciding to just come right out and say it, Willow said, "I'm leaving for LA tonight."

Willow sat on the couch next her friend. "Now don't get all mopey on me. I've been over this several times already today so I'm going to sum up your arguments." Willow paused to make sure Xander wasn't going to interrupt. "Okay. Yes, Angel is a vampire and Buffy's former boyfriend. Yes, in the past he has gone all evil and wreaked havoc with all of our lives. But that wasn't really him. He has his soul now, and it's not going anywhere."

"What are you saying? It's permanent now?" Xander asked, amazed at that possibility – no more Angelus would be a good thing.

"A little," Xander reluctantly admitted. "I'm just really gonna miss ya. What am I gonna do without my Wills?" Xander threw an arm around Willow, squeezing her against his side.

"You'll survive. I'm not leaving forever, just a few months. And we can still talk and e-mail all the time. Besides, I'm betting Anya will be happy to spend extra time with you."

A slight blush rose on the boy's cheeks. "Yeah, but it's not the same as spending time with you."

"Oh please," Willow chided. "Like one of the first things you thought when you heard Tara left was that now you wouldn't get to watch any girl-on-girl action."

"So why can't you stay here? We'll joke our way out of depression and bad memories," he offered/pleaded.

"You know it's not that simple. It was hard enough after Oz left. I can't be here right now with thoughts of being left twice in less than a year."

"I get it, I really do." Using the arm he already had around her, Xander pulled Willow into a hug.

Smiling, Willow said, "He's leaving LA at sundown. So he'll get here roughly two hours later."

"Oh you know, hanging out in an empty house, making sure I have everything packed, keeping my eye on the clock. Why d'you ask?"

"How about I come hang out in that empty house till Deadboy gets here," he offered. "That way the house won't be so empty when you leave."

"You don't have plans with Anya tonight?" Willow asked, wanting nothing more than to spend her last few hours in Sunnydale with her best friend.

"She'll understand," Xander said. He stood and held a hand out to the redhead, pulling her off the couch.

Willow was having so much fun with Xander that she was startled when she heard a knock on the door. Looking out the window she realized that it was completely dark outside.

"Angel's here," she squealed and jumped up from the couch next to Xander to get the door, missing Xander's disappointed pout.

She opened the door, admitting the vampire. Angel looked over her shoulder, seeing Xander moping near the living room.

"Yep, just need to put my stuff in the car," she said, gesturing towards the bags near the door.

"That's it?" Angel asked, taking in the duffel bag, suitcase and backpack. "Aren't girls supposed to travel with lots of luggage?" He remembered Cordelia dumping half a dozen bags at his feet when she insisted on staying with him.

Willow looked at her luggage and shrugged. "I like to travel light. I mean it's summer, it's not like I'm going to need a lot of bulky clothes."

Angel tried to ignore the image of Willow running around the apartment in skimpy outfits, but was having a difficult time doing so. Instead he moved to pick up her duffel and suitcase.

Willow laughed at the show of testosterone. She took one more long look around the house, turned off the lights and followed the men outside, locking the door behind her. She linked her arm through Xander's who escorted her to the car.

Angel stood by the open driver's side door, waiting for Willow to say her goodbyes, trying not to be jealous of the tight embrace she was sharing with the mortal boy.

"I'll miss you too, Xan," Willow said, blinking back tears. She pulled back, squeezing his hand. "I'll talk to you soon."

Xander stood watching the convertible pull away down the street before turning and heading home.

"Tell me more about the apartment," Willow insisted, turning in her seat to look at Angel. They'd been on the road for over an hour, and Willow had tried several different tactics to learn about the place she'd be living.

Willow stuck out her bottom lip in the most adorable pout Angel had ever seen. "I'm still not telling you," he insisted.

"It's gonna be great," Angel said enthusiastically. "It's like it was made for us. There's a huge desk for Cordelia in the waiting area. My office only has one tiny window, so no risk of direct sunlight. There's an office for Wesley and the other office is going to be a library and for weapons storage – with a computer, for you," he added, noting Willow's disappointed look.

"Thank you, Angel," Willow said, briefly hugging him. "I didn't know how I was going to keep my self busy."

"I'm sure that we'll be able to find lots of things for you to do to keep busy."

"Dark," he answered. "Look, we're almost there, you'll be seeing it for yourself in just a few more minutes."

Willow turned back to look out her window again, figuring that she should pay attention to the area if they were getting near her new home.

Fifteen minutes later Angel pulled the car up in front of a small building. "Here we are," he announced. He stepped out of the car, moving to the trunk to grab Willow's bags.

"What do you think?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. Chuckling he headed up the stairs. He unlocked the door and allowed Willow to precede him into the apartment.

"Let me give you the tour," he offered, setting her bags down by the front door. The room they stood in was the living room. The wall facing the street had a picture window, which had a makeshift curtain covering it so that Angel could move around during the day. There was a closet across from the front entrance, next to the hallway. A counter separated the living from the kitchen. It was a bit on the small side, so far as kitchens go, but the appliances all worked, and Willow would be the main one using it anyway.

Angel led Willow down the hall. There was a room next to the kitchen with only one window in it. "This is my room," Angel confirmed. He'd picked out his bedroom furniture the night before, which had been delivered during the day. The room was sparsely furnished with a cherry wood armoire and a queen size bed. A leather chair sat in the corner with a table and reading lamp. A matching table sat next to the bed, which dominated the room. A heavy velvet curtain hung over the window, blocking out any possible sunlight. The window only looked out onto a narrow alley anyway.

As Angel led her out of his room, Willow couldn't help picturing him sitting comfortably in the chair, reading. Or reclining on the bed. Or better yet, lying under the covers, naked. 'Bad thoughts, Willow,' she mentally chided herself. 'Remember, gay now.'

Next to Angel's room was a good sized bathroom. There was a mirror over the pedestal sink which hid the medicine cabinet. Willow experimentally flushed the toilet, explaining, "To see if it's gonna run." Angel nodded. Willow smiled when the tank stopped when it was supposed to. The shower was attached to the bathtub. The shower curtain looked old, so Willow made a mental note to pick up a new one. She'd also need to get some kind of curtain for the bathroom window, which Angel had tacked a towel over.

At the end of the hallway there was another door. With a flourish, Angel opened the door, saying, "And this is your room."

Willow's bed stood against the wall next to the door. The wall across from the door held two large windows and a door with a window in it. Willow crossed the room to the door. It led out to a small balcony overlooking a small neighborhood park. She turned back around, observing the room from a different angle. There was a closet on one wall. The room was big enough for her to have a reading corner too. A dresser would be needed, and a desk. Willow looked at her bed; she had to admit, it was beautiful and looked very comfortable.

She ran across the room and threw herself on the bed, landing on her stomach. She rolled around, enjoying the feel of the padded mattress. Angel had insisted Cordelia go out and buy a tasteful forest green set of sheets for Willow's bed, knowing she'd look amazing between them.

Angel was still standing by the door, watching as the redhead explored the room and now rolled around on the bed. Feeling his eyes on her, Willow look up at him from her sprawled position on the bed. She rolled onto her stomach and beckoned Angel closer with a finger. He sat on the edge of the bed.

"I'm going to have to give Gunn credit for that." At her questioning look he explained. "Charles Gunn is a street kid who fights vampires. We've helped each other out on occasion. You'll meet him. It was his friends who helped get the apartment ready." Angel reclined on an elbow as he spoke.

"I love it. I can't wait to start decorating. There's so much potential for the place."

"Do whatever you want to, Willow," Angel insisted. "I meant what I said. I want this to be a place you feel comfortable, so decorate this room, the apartment, as you wish. And there's no budget, just don't tell Cordelia that," he winked.

"Got it." Willow leaned forward to give Angel a quick kiss on the cheek. Both of them relished the brief contact of warm lips against cool skin.

"So what would you like to do tonight?" he asked the redhead lying across from him.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm hungry. I'm guessing there isn't any people food here yet, so why don't we go check out that café that's downstairs after you grab a bite to drink."

"If you want to go down and order, I can meet you there," Angel offered, not wanting to feed in front of her.

Sensing his trepidation, Willow said, "It's okay. I've seen Spike drink blood from a cup before. Besides, we're going to be living together, I'm going to have to see you sometime."

"Fair enough," he conceded. Angel stood and Willow bonelessly rolled off the bed and followed him back to the kitchen.

Willow hopped up on the counter between the kitchen and living room, giving both rooms another look. She guessed that she'd probably have to buy some dishes, pots and pans, silverware, glasses, etc. All that Angel had gotten was a microwave and a couple of mugs. The living room would need some work done too. The windows definitely needed new curtains. There was an old couch, but it looked like it had been there forever, so she decided she'd have to get a new one, maybe one that pulled out into a bed. She could already imagine the kind of furniture she'd fill the room with.

By the time she finished her perusal of the living room, Angel had finished drinking his dinner. After rinsing the mug, he asked, "Are you ready?"

"I am. Hopefully they'll have some muffins or bagels or something that I can bring back for breakfast too."

As they headed out the door, Angel handed Willow the extra key, officially making this her home.

Willow instantly fell in love with the small café downstairs. There were only a dozen or so tables with a few comfortable chairs near the front window for those just ordering coffee. She could already foresee herself spending a lot of time there. They served the sort of fare that appealed to her. For dinner there were only a few items to choose from. Tonight's menu consisted of chicken pot pie, meatloaf or a stew. Willow decided to try the homemade chicken pot pie and found it incredibly delicious. The lunch menu included sandwiches, soups and salads. They also served bagels, muffins and other assorted pastries all day, along with coffee and tea.

Angel sipped at a mug of decaffeinated coffee, telling her about the couple of cases they'd worked on so far this summer as Willow practically inhaled her dinner.

In between bites Willow requested, "I don't mean to sound rude or anything, but I was wondering, if it's not too big an expense, and I will help out with the bills once I find myself a part time job. I wonder if they're hiring here…"

Blushing slightly, Willow said, "Oh, yeah. I was wondering if I could have my own phone line." She rushed to add, "Not that I don't mind sharing. But since my friends don't really like you," she smiled sheepishly, "I thought it might be easier for everyone. That way they could call me and not have to worry about you picking up. And you wouldn't have to constantly have them telling you to take care of me and not let me get hurt if you did pick up the phone."

"That makes sense," Angel casually agreed. "I have an even better idea. When you go shopping with Cordelia tomorrow, why don't you sign up for one of those cell phones. Cordy got one for me but I don't like carrying it around. This way your friends can always reach you, and if you ever do get in a situation when I'm not there, you can call for help."

"Now… I thought we already agreed that you're going to come work for me," Angel said.

"Yeah, you said I could help out to keep busy," Willow agreed. "But I'm going to need some kind of income while I'm here. I can't just sponge off you all summer."

"Of course you can," he contradicted. "But if you insist on earning your keep, then I can pay you for helping out at the agency."

Willow blinked in surprise. "Really? You'd pay me to do research and magick and stuff?"

"Why not? I pay Cordelia to sit at a desk and not answer the phone. I pay Wesley for his assistance. I don't see any reason not to pay you for any help you can give."

Willow opened and closed her mouth a couple of times before she was able to answer. "Thank you so much Angel. Giles would never think of paying us for all of the hours we put into doing research and patrolling. Not that he could really afford to. And we don't do it because we expect payment, obviously. I mean we do it because it's the right thing to do. Which I guess is why you do it too. Only you get paid for it."

"It's a yes," Willow confirmed, rushing around the table to give Angel a quick hug before returning to her seat.

"Great, once you're all settled in you can begin helping out in any way you see fit. We're going to have to get the office space cleaned out first."

"Oh, hey," Willow said excitedly. "I could set up the computers for you. I can create a network for all of the computers so that you can share files."

"Would you mind picking out the computers too," Angel requested. "I try to avoid them at all costs, and Cordelia wouldn't really care either way, except for the color maybe."

Under her breath Willow observed, "You and Giles have one thing in common then." Having heard her with his enhanced senses, Angel merely glared. Realizing that he'd heard her, Willow bashfully offered, "Sorry, but it's true. Giles hates computers too." Changing the topic back, she said, "Of course I'll pick out the computers. How many do you need?"

Standing to return to the apartment, Angel said, "Two I think. One for Cordelia to use out front, and another one for the library I think, just in case someone else wants to use it."

"That's easy," Willow said. "And I'll find something inexpensive that will work well."

Standing outside the apartment door now, Angel gestured towards the locked door, "Care to do the honors?"

"Oh, right." She dug the key Angel had given her out of a pocket and opened the door. "I live here too."

Angel picked up the bags that he'd left by the door earlier and carried them into Willow's room for her. She followed.

"If it was for work I'd say between 10 and 11. But since you're going shopping, my guess would be around 9 o'clock."

"Do you have everything you need for tonight?" Angel asked. "I know there isn't much in here yet."

"I'll be fine," she assured him. "I'm gonna get some sleep. It looks like I'm going to be having a pretty busy day tomorrow."

Angel closed the door behind him as he backed out of the room. He listened at the door for a moment as she rummaged around in her suitcases for her pajamas and bathroom things. When it sounded like she was ready to head to the bathroom he rushed into his room, thankful for his vampiric speed, closing the door just as hers opened. He let out an unnecessary sigh of relief.

Angel couldn't believe how happy he was having Willow there. After living alone for so many years he had thought it might be strange sharing his home with someone. Granted, he'd lived with Spike and Drusilla when he had lost his soul in Sunnydale, but that wasn't really him. Even so, this was different. Then he'd been living with his childer, his family.

Now he was living with a human girl. Even when he'd been with Buffy she'd go home after spending the night with him. But Willow would be here all of the time. She would be eating here, sleeping here, showering here – gulp. He heard water running in the bathroom and wondered if she was naked in the shower now. 'No, the water shut off, she's just brushing her teeth,' he thought, unsure if he was relieved or not.

Willow finished her bathroom routine and was turning to go back to her room, but instead found herself outside Angel's door. She quietly knocked.

Willow opened the door and leaned against the frame, hands twisting together behind her back. Angel was sitting in his chair with a sketchpad in his hands.

Looking up at her, Angel ignored the fact that all she was wearing was a tank top and boxer shorts and asked, "Was there something you needed?"

She nibbled on her bottom lip for a moment before quietly saying, "I wanted to thank you again for letting me stay here. I know how much of a loner you usually are. You didn't have to go to all this trouble of finding a place big enough for me too – and all of the money you're going to be spending to fix the place up – it's probably the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me before. So, thanks." By the time she finished Willow had tears in her eyes.

Angel was instantly in front of her. He wrapped the small girl in his arms, assuring her, "Willow, I promise you, it is no imposition. I already needed a new apartment, one which would have to be furnished, regardless of whether or not you were living here. And this way I won't be living in what Cordelia thinks would be a proper vampire lair," he joked.

Pulling back enough to look up at him, Willow teased, "So you think you'll like what I pick out better?"

Angel kissed Willow on the forehead and reluctantly released her from his arms. "Good night Willow."

Willow crawled into her new bed feeling happier than she had in a long time. She still couldn't believe that Angel had opened his home to her. When everyone else in her life seemed to make every effort to get and stay as far away from her as possible, Angel was asking to live with her. She could feel the tears prickling at her eyes again.

Willow rolled onto her side and tried to will her tears away. Unfortunately, now that her thoughts had started down this path, they refused to stray.

'Why would Angel want me to live with him when my parents can't be bothered to be in town when I'm living back under their roof? I mean, I know I was excited about that when Tara was going to be spending the summer with me there, but now she's not. No, Tara couldn't stand my life so she had to leave Sunnydale, and me. Oz couldn't be around me either. Wasn't wolf enough for him.'

Willow's silent tears were no longer so silent. Soft sobs forced their way out of her. Wiping furiously at her eyes she told herself, "I'm not going to do this. I am not going to cry myself to sleep, again."

Willow tried to clear her mind and picture how she was going to furnish her room. Unfortunately this brought her back to Angel's generosity, which rekindled her tears. Eventually she gave into them and cried herself to sleep… just as she had every night since Tara left.

Angel lay in bed awake, cursing the thin walls and his enhanced hearing. He'd thought he'd done a good job of making sure Willow understood that he wanted her there. Yet he knew that a few kind words wouldn't be enough for someone who'd been hurt so often. He'd never understood how her parents could spend so little time with their daughter. Or how she'd managed to become such a wonderful, caring woman without them.

Then there were the more recent reasons for her insecurity: Oz and Tara. To have your lover leave you once is extremely difficult. But to have another one leave after only a few months… Angel couldn't blame Willow for doubting his hospitability.

When he heard her begin to cry, then try to talk herself out of crying, he felt a tug on his soul. He wanted nothing more than to go to her and take her in his arms and promise that everything would be okay. Luckily he knew that such a gesture would not be welcome right now. Willow was in mourning and she needed to be allowed the luxury of doing so in a semblance of privacy.

It didn't take long for Willow to cry herself to sleep. Once he was certain the crying had stopped Angel finally allowed himself to sleep as well.

Willow woke bright and early in the morning. She opened her eyes and saw green. For a moment she didn't know why she had green sheets. Then she remembered… she was in LA, in Angel's apartment. Willow smiled as she stretched and sat up. She looked around her empty bedroom. There was sunshine coming in through the windows, broken by the trees from the park. Willow grabbed a towel out of her duffel and headed for the shower.

Willow was nibbling at the muffin she'd brought home from the café the night before when the doorknob rattled. When the door didn't open there was a sharp knock. Willow unlocked and opened the door to admit Cordelia.

"Did you know your door was locked?" the brunette asked as she entered the apartment.

"Good morning to you too," Willow mumbled. "Of course it was locked, this is LA."

"I know, but you live with a vampire. That's like, built in security." Breaking off a piece of Willow's muffin, Cordelia asked, "So how'd you like your bed?"

"I knew you'd like it. You would have liked any other furniture I would have picked out too, but Angel insisted that you get a say in it."

"Well, I'm glad he did. I've never furnished an apartment before. This is going to be fun," Willow admitted.

"Then lets get the show on the road." Cordelia linked her arm with Willow and started to lead her out the door.

Pulling back, Willow said, "Just a sec. I need to grab my purse." Willow dashed back to her room and picked up her purse. After starting to leave, she turned back to rip a piece of paper out of a notebook in her backpack. She quickly scribbled a note for Angel to let him know she was out shopping. She folded the paper as she returned to the front of the apartment, leaving it in front of the microwave.

When they were almost out the door Willow remembered, "Oh, wait, I need to get Angel's credit card."

Cordelia fished a piece of plastic out of her purse and held it up for Willow's inspection. "Already got it taken care of."

"Of course. He told me to let you buy whatever you want. Now if only I could find a man like that," Cordelia said wistfully.

"Angel is not 'my man'," Willow corrected as she followed the brunette to her car.

"That's right, you're into girls now I hear," Cordelia teased. "Now how come I had to hear about that after you got dumped?"

Shifting uncomfortably in her seat, Willow asked, "Do you mind if we don't talk about this right now? It still hurts too much to talk about Tara."

Cordelia was about to argue, but with a quick look at Willow's pained expression, she relented. "Fine, but eventually I want a full explanation."

Changing the topic back to an area she was very familiar with, Cordy asked, "So what room do you want to start with?"

"The windows." Cordelia raised one perfectly shaped eyebrow. "I know; windows aren't a room. But I need to get new curtains for the living room, my room and the bathroom. So we may as well start by making the apartment safe for my roommate to move around during the day."

Angel woke in the early afternoon to an empty apartment. He stumbled into the kitchen for his breakfast and found Willow's note waiting for him. He couldn't help smiling at her thoughtfulness – that even though he knew she was going shopping with Cordelia today she still felt the need to let him know that's where she went.

As he drank his breakfast, Angel noticed a piece of paper near the front door. Keeping careful to avoid the patches of sunlight escaping the curtain over the living room window, Angel went to retrieve the paper.

Angel shook his head in amusement at Wesley's formality. He would love to get started cleaning up the office space, but the large storefront window prevented him from beginning until after sundown, which was still several hours away.

As he grabbed his towel and headed to the shower Angel idly wondered how Willow was faring with her shopping.

"Are you sure your trunk hasn't been magickally altered," the redhead asked, dropping onto a chair at the restaurant.

"Of course it hasn't." Cordelia insisted. "I just know how to pack a trunk for maximum capacity."

"Well I am in awe," Willow said. She couldn't believe how much they had already done today.

Their first stop had been at Linens 'N Things. Willow found curtains for the apartment and Cordelia picked out something to cover the window in the reception room of the office. They also picked out kitchenware, bathroom accessories, hangers (which Willow had forgotten to bring) and some pictures for the walls.

Willow insisted on stopping to buy a cell phone next. She hoped that by signing up early enough in the day her service would be working by the time she got back to the apartment so that she could call her friends while she got off her by-then tired feet. She picked out a cute little flip phone that would easily fit in a pocket or purse.

Cordelia insisted on going to Crate & Barrel to look at furniture. Willow instantly fell in love with the leather sleeper club sofa. The leather was so comfortable – and she just knew Angel would love it. A coffee table was quickly matched to it, along with a chaise. Willow had always wanted a chaise – they seemed so decadent. They also picked out an entertainment center to match the coffee table. Willow didn't care for the bedroom furniture, so they put in their order for the living room pieces and arranged to have them delivered in a couple of days.

"It's a good thing Angel doesn't have a working heart, otherwise he'd have a heart attack when he sees the credit card bill he's gonna get." Willow commented.

"Nonsense," Cordelia gestured in a dismissive manner. "I happen to know that it is possible for a person to shop for much longer without dropping from exhaustion."

The girls ordered sandwiches and diet sodas when the waiter appeared at their table.

"Oh." Willow let out a long sigh. "I'm doing about as well as could be expected after your lover leaves you because she can't stand living a dangerous life."

"Yep." Willow nodded for emphasis. "It's better being here. I can feel it already."

"Is… Is it okay to talk about this now?" Cordelia delicately asked. "I know you said earlier you wanted to wait, but it will probably be better to talk about this with someone."

Looking around the relatively secluded area they were in, Willow reluctantly agreed, "I suppose we may as well get this over with." She braced herself for a barrage of questions.

"Okay. Where to begin," Cordelia said to herself. To Willow she said, "So how did you two meet?"

Willow groaned – they were going all the way back to the beginning. "In Wicca Group. Tara was the only other real witch in the bunch, the rest were all wanna blessed-be's."

"It was Tara." Willow got a wistful look on her face. "It was like it didn't matter that she was a girl. It wasn't something I was looking for or planned, it just kinda happened. I never expected to fall in love with her, but the more time we spent together, the more it made sense for us to be together."

"You really loved her?" Cordelia questioned, having her doubts. "Even after being in love with Xander for all of those years and then Oz?"

"Is it that hard to believe?" Willow countered. "I mean, I chose her over Oz when he came back. I must have loved her."

"But you stole Xander from me," Cordelia exclaimed a little louder than necessary. Once the other diners returned to the meals she continued quieter, "You were so in love with Xander in high school that even though he was with me and you were with Oz you two still made with the smoochies."

"And you're just devastated to have lost him?" Willow quirked an eyebrow in question.

"Well, no, not any more. He was, and always will be, a complete loser. But you never showed any interest in being with a girl back then."

"Things change," Willow shrugged. "Like I said, falling in love with Tara wasn't something I planned. Kinda like you falling for Xander." Willow pointed out.

Changing the topic a bit, Cordelia leaned forward and asked the question she'd been dying to ask since she found out about Tara. "So what's it like, being with a girl?"

Willow shifted uncomfortably in her seat and began playing with her napkin. She had never been comfortable discussing her sex life. Luckily the food arrived so she was able to delay answering for a few minutes.

After they had taken a few bites Cordelia tried again. "Did the two of you have sex?"

Willow glared at the brunette for a minute before answering her. "We were in love, what do you think."

"But… how?" Cordelia would never admit it out loud, but for all of her dating experience, she really didn't know much about sex, especially with women.

"Did you want me to draw you a diagram?" Willow sarcastically asked. She really didn't want to get into this with Cordelia of all people. Noting the genuinely curious look on the other girl's face, Willow relented. Blushing furiously, she tried to explain. "You know how a guy will sometimes bring you to orgasm before he actually enters you," she paused to see if Cordelia was following her, "it's like that."

"That's a crude way to put it." Willow said defensively. "But there are ways… toys… for if you want more."

"But if a man can do that to you, then why date a woman?" Cordelia asked, afraid to ask about the 'toys' Willow used.

"It's different. Physically, a woman knows exactly the right places to touch you because she has the same type of body – the same erogenous zones. A woman's touch is softer, not so desperate. And emotionally…" Willow paused to think of the best way to phrase this. "You know how every woman's fantasy is to fall in love with her best friend?"

"Exactly, one reason we made with the smoochies even though we knew how wrong it was was because in a way we were fulfilling that fantasy. That's kind of what it's like being in a relationship with a woman. Tara really was my best friend. Yes, I still called Buffy and Xander my best friends, but Tara is the one who knew me best. She knew everything about me – my hobbies, the way my mind worked, the way my body reacted; we could talk about anything. I could be myself with her and not have to put up any kind of front. She would intuitively know what I needed when I needed it and vice versa. When Oz came back she was willing to let me go so that I could be happy with him, which only made me love her more. When Oz found out about us, he went all defensive and wolfy."

"I haven't decided. Dating Tara wasn't a conscious decision. If the next person I'm attracted to is a man, then I'll date a man. The same for if it's a woman. It was Tara's soul that drew me to her, not the package it was housed in."

"Just so we're clear, this soul's beautifully wrapped package is only interested in dating men." Cordelia informed the other girl with a smile.

Several hours and stores later, Willow turned the key in the lock to the apartment. Angel came out of his room as the redhead collapsed on the ancient couch, sending up a cloud of dust. Willow coughed, but was too tired to move.

"Mission accomplished," Willow tiredly said. She lifted her head to look at the bags near the door and the ones still in the hallway that Cordelia had brought up. "I never want to move."

"You might want to get off of the dust magnet," Angel suggested. "Did you pick out a new couch?"

"Yep," Willow said, pushing herself into a sitting position. "New couch, chaise, coffee table and entertainment center for this room. Desk and dresser for my room... Kitchen and bathroom stuff... Curtains for every room but yours, since you already took care of that one... New cell phone for me. I am never setting foot in a store again."

"Later?" Willow hopefully asked. "I think I need a nap and a bath." Then looking down at her dust-covered body she added, "Not necessarily in that order."

"Can you bring in the rest of the bags? And if you really want to help, you could unpack and wash the dishes and stuff for the kitchen. They're in those bags." Willow pointed out the appropriate ones.

Taking Angel's offered hand, Willow stood and trudged her way towards the bags. She rummaged through the Linens 'N Things bags until she found the apple scented bubble bath she had bought. She offered a weak smile to Angel before slowly making her way towards to bathroom to fill the tub.

Angel distracted himself from his impulse to follow Willow into the bathroom and offering to wash her back by doing as she requested. He sifted through the bags, finding the set of dishes, glasses, silverware, pots and pans. He also found sponges and dishwashing liquid in the bags, along with a drying rack and a linen towel.

'She thought of everything,' he thought to himself, only slightly amazed at her thoroughness.

Angel unpacked all of the kitchenware as he waited for the bathwater to shut off, not wanting to interfere with the temperature of Willow's bath. He then began to hand wash all of Willow's new dishes.

Once the bath filled with warm bubbly water, Willow stripped out of her dusty, sweaty clothes and lowered herself into the water. She let out a sigh of contentment, allowing the heat to ease the tension in her aching body.

As she lay there, Willow's mind replayed her conversation with Cordelia during lunch. She had brought up an interesting point, one which Willow had answered with much more thoughtful answer than she had given the subject. Was she strictly gay now?

She had answered Cordy truthfully – she hadn't been attracted to Tara because she was a woman - or for that matter to Oz or Xander because they were male. Although she doubted that she would have had such strong feelings for Xander if he'd been a girl. Willow couldn't help laughing at the idea of a girl with Xander's personality.

Willow heard the water running in the kitchen and smiled at the thought of Angel doing the dishes for her. She pictured him wearing an apron to keep from splashing water on his silk shirt. Or better yet, wearing no shirt, and no apron. Willow let the image take form – she could see the strong muscles of his back gliding underneath his skin as he washed and rinsed the dishes.

Then she imagined those hands washing her... His hands would guide a soapy washcloth over her back. Once it was nice and clean he would pull her back so that she was once again lying in the tub, running the cloth over her shoulders and down her chest, brushing against her nipples, making them hard. (Willow found herself mimicking her fantasy with the washcloth in her hands.) The cloth would travel lower, grazing over her flat belly, then dip between her legs briefly, teasingly, then back over her hip and down one leg. Angel would lift her foot out of the water enough to wash the bottom of her foot before switching feet and then traveling back up her other leg, abandoning the washcloth when he returned to the apex of her thighs…

Willow drained the tub and turned on the shower to rinse the remaining bubbles off her body. She adjusted the spray to a cooler temperature, her body flushed from the involuntary fantasy. With the towel wrapped securely around her, Willow dashed to her room to throw on some clean clothes. Luckily she missed Angel's head poking out of the kitchen to catch her barely covered form running down the hall.

"Well now I know to never throw you a surprise party with human guests," Willow joked.

"It was wonderful," Willow sighed. Glancing at the kitchen, she saw the drying rack was full. "You finished all of them?"

"You were in there a while," he shrugged. Leaning against the counter, Angel asked, "What would you like to do tonight?"

"I thought we could hang the curtains. You know, make the place vampire friendly."

Willow had chosen two sets of curtains for the living room. One set of light weight curtains that would block out the sun's rays while still allowing light into the apartment to fit within the window frame. Then another set of thicker, darker curtains to surround the windows, that when closed blocked out all light.

The bathroom received a new set of room-darkening blinds with a valance at the top to block the bit of light that would naturally poke out.

Finally Willow's windows received white paper blinds with pale green curtains to go over the windows and the window on the door.

They both collapsed on Willow's bed when they finished with her room. Willow turned her head to admire her newly covered windows. Turning her head back to the vampire she said, "We make a good team."

"That we do," he agreed, tucking a stay piece of hair behind her ear. His hand lingered for a moment longer than necessary, enjoying the flush of her skin from the exertion.

A beep ended the moment. Willow looked confused for a minute before she realized what the noise was. She jumped off the bed saying, "My phone."

She grabbed her purse and pulled out the new cell phone. Flipping open the cover she saw she had a new text message announcing that the phone could now be used. "Hey, look, my phone's ready. I have a cell phone." Flopping back on the bed next to Angel she asked, "What's your number. I want to program my new phonebook."

Angel smiled at Willow's excitement and rattled off the number. Willow diligently typed in his name and number, a speed dial number automatically being assigned.

"Well, I should probably let you call your friends to give them the number and let them know you're safe and sound here," he offered, already standing. "Did you want anything for dinner?"

"Yeah, I am kinda hungry. We can go down to the café again. I didn't have time to go grocery shopping today."

"I can go get something to bring back so that you can call Buffy," he offered, not wanting to cut into time with her friends.

Willow glanced at her watch and standing, closed the phone. "Buffy's probably out patrolling by now anyway. Let's go eat."

Willow walked out of the room, leaving a baffled vampire to stare after her. 'Willow just passed up talking to her friends to spend time with me,' he thought as he watched her stop by the door and tap her foot impatiently.

After the large lunch she'd had, Willow opted for a salad for her dinner. Angel waited patiently for her at a table as she placed her order. He still couldn't believe that this vibrant young woman had chosen to spend time with him rather than call her friends.

Willow joined him at the table with a glass of water for herself and a cup of decaf for Angel.

"Decaf," she lightly told him. "To keep up appearances. Don't want people to wonder why you're just sitting there watching me eat."

"How was your day with Cordelia?" Angel asked, an amused undertone to his voice.

"You mean aside from exhausting? I was actually okay. She's not as bad as she was in high school."

"No, she's not," Angel agreed. "Being on her own has mellowed her a bit. So have the visions, I think."

"How did she get those by the way?" the redhead asked as her salad was placed in front of her. "That's definitely something new."

"Do you remember when I came to Sunnydale at Thanksgiving because my friend had a vision?" Willow nodded. "That was my friend Doyle. He sacrificed himself not long after that to save a group of demons from being destroyed. You see; he was half-demon himself." Angel looked up at Willow to gauge her reaction to the news that he associated with demons, or at least a half-demon. Her look was accepting and she gestured for him to get on with the story as she chewed. "Doyle had feelings for Cordelia and she was starting to reciprocate. Just before he died he kissed her, transferring his 'gift' to her."

"You have no idea," Angel laughed. "She kissed every man she met after her first vision, hoping to get rid of them."

"Even me," Angel confirmed. He barely caught the slight frown that passed over Willow's face as he added, "I didn't know why she had kissed me when she did it. I explained to her that I didn't feel that way about her, and then she explained that she was just trying to get rid of the visions."

Willow couldn't explain the flash of jealousy she felt when Angel said that Cordelia had kissed him. Even if it was only to get rid of the visions… she had had her lips against his before she did, just like with Xander. Why did she always beat her to the men she lusted after?

Angel broke into her musings by asking, "So what did you two talk about all day?"

"Well, in the stores we talked about what we were buying. But at lunch we talked about Tara."

"That's what I thought it was going to be," Willow laughed. "Instead I got the third degree about my sex life."

If Angel could have blushed, he would have. Instead he nearly choked on the mouthful of coffee he had just taken.

"Sorry," Willow apologized. "When Cordelia asked if it was okay to talk about Tara I thought she wanted to know how I ended up here. Instead she wanted to know all about how we met, what it's like dating a girl, am I only going to date girls now, that kind of thing."

"And are you?" Angel choked out, figuring he may as well know now if he stood of a chance with Willow.

"Am I what?" Willow innocently asked, knowing perfectly well what he was asking.

"Are you only interested in dating women?" Angel couldn't keep the hopeful look off his face that she would answer in the negative.

"I'll tell you what I told Cordelia." Willow paused to take a steadying breath. "The fact that Tara was a woman was irrelevant. It was her personality, her soul, that attracted me to her. So, I guess my answer is, No. If I am next attracted to a woman, I'll date a woman. If I'm attracted to a man," Willow met Angel's warm brown eyes as she said, "I'll date a man."

Angel felt as if time stood still as he looked into the green depths of her eyes. Her openness and ability to look past gender boundaries and see inside of a person awed him. It gave him hope that maybe, just maybe, she would be able to look past his demon to see the man he was inside. She said that she'd been attracted to Tara's soul… Could she find his soul attractive too?

A clattering from the kitchen startled the two roommates, breaking their eye contact. Angel cleared his throat. "So, um, what's on your plate for tomorrow?"

"Well, I need to go grocery shopping. We can't keep eating here all of the time," Willow pointed out, not noticing that she had said 'we' instead of 'I', but Angel did and smiled.

"Well, I know how to drive. I took driver's ed. I just never got my license." Willow retorted.

"We'll just have to remedy that situation," Angel informed her. "I'm sure Wesley or Cordelia would be happy to go with you to get a license. Although if it's Wesley you'll have to take my car because he only has a motorcycle."

Angel nodded. "Yes, the first time I saw him in LA he was dressed in riding leathers calling himself a Rogue Demon Hunter."

"It was pretty funny," Angel admitted. "He doesn't wear the leather anymore, but he still has the bike."

"Geez," Willow observed as they returned to the apartment. "Everyone grew and changed so much since leaving Sunnydale."

"You've grown and changed too," Angel assured her, letting them into the apartment.

Angel stopped just inside the door, placing his hands on her shoulders after lifting her face to meet his. "That's not true," he insisted. "You've changed a lot from the shy sophomore I met years ago. You've faced and survived more horrors than any human should have to. You're so much stronger now. You've become an adept witch, you're a whiz on the computer, you don't limit your friendship choices based on a person's humanity. You are an amazing, beautiful, young woman. Never doubt that."

Willow involuntarily shuddered under the ferocity and sincerity of Angel's words. She had a hard time believing what he said, but wished that that was how he truly saw her.

Backing up nervously, overwhelmed by the sudden wave of longing she had for this man in front of her, Willow said, "I-I think I'm just… gonna go to bed now… long day you know."

"Yes, I know," he quietly agreed, fighting his own urges to pull Willow back into his arms and kissing her dizzy. "I'd say you've earned it. Good night, Willow."

"Good night, Angel. I'll see you tomorrow. Some of the deliveries might be coming during the day, so I'll ask them to be quiet."

Angel headed into the kitchen to warm up a mug of blood as Willow returned to her bedroom, both wondering how they were going to be able to live together when there seemed to be a growing attraction.

Willow woke to a sunny morning. She rolled over and picked the clock up off the floor, wishing she had remembered to pick up, or even order, a nightstand the day before. She was surprised to find that she had slept until after 10.

After washing her face and brushing her teeth, Willow decided to forego showering until after she cleaned the apartment. She walked around the apartment, looking in closets and cupboards to see what had been left behind by the previous tenants. She was excited to find that one of the closets housed a washer and dryer. That would definitely come in handy after a messy demon fight.

She was also happy to find an old broom and dustpan. She'd have to buy a small vacuum for the living room and hallway, but her room had a wood floor and the kitchen and bathroom were tiled.

Willow took a break to run down to the café to grab a coffee and bagel with cream cheese. She found out that there was a convenience store up a couple of blocks, so after she finished her meal she took a walk up to the store. For the first time she was really able to observe her neighborhood. There was a mixture of small apartments and small businesses.

She easily found the convenience store, picking up some paper towels, bathroom cleaners, Windex, and some more sponges. Wandering around a couple of blocks on her way home, Willow also came across an old bookstore that looked like it had a decent occult section and a small grocery store, where she bought an assortment of fruits and yogurts and chips.

Weighed down with her purchases, Willow arrived back at the apartment just as a Crate & Barrel truck pulled up. She eagerly led the delivery guys into the apartment, depositing her purchases in the kitchen.

The delivery guys took the old, dust-infested couch with them on their way out. Willow quickly used her new dust buster to 'vacuum' the space the couch had covered and pulled open the dark curtains. The movers first brought in the new couch, placing it in front of the window. Next they brought in the chaise, which was placed on the wall next to the door. The entertainment center went on the wall across from the couch. Finally the coffee table was brought in and the cushions placed on the couch.

After tipping the delivery guys, Willow squealed in delight as she collapsed on the chaise.

Angel came rushing out of his room, afraid that Willow was in trouble. "What's… wrong?" he started to ask until he noticed that his roommate lying on the chaise with one arm thrown behind her head and one leg on the floor, a happy smile on her face.

Willow leaped off the chaise and over to Angel, admiring the nearly naked vampire's form as discretely as possible.

Angel took in each piece of furniture, his eyes returning to caress the sofa. Willow's smile grew as Angel walked over and sat on the couch. He sighed in contentment as he sank into the cushions.

"I knew you'd like it," Willow grinned. She practically bounced over to the couch to point out, "Look, there's a pull out bed too."

"This is wonderful," Angel agreed, pulling Willow to sit next to him. "You did a good job."

"Yes, alone. I'm a big girl, Angel. And it's broad daylight, I was perfectly safe." Angel nodded his head in defeat, motioning for Willow to continue. "Anyway, I found a convenience store and bought some cleaning supplies. I also discovered a small grocery store and a nifty old bookstore."

She shrugged one shoulder. "I can always go back. We will be living her for a while. But exploring's more fun when you do it with someone."

"Then I'd love to." Angel shifted, relaxing back even more. He enjoyed the feel of the soft leather against his skin. His skin? Angel nervously looked down and realized for the first time that he was only wearing his boxer shorts.

Angel stood quickly, wishing Willow had picked up some throw pillows he could use to cover himself. "I'm just… going to go… get dressed."

"Okay," Willow laughed, admiring his rapidly retreating form. Angel returned in sweats and a t-shirt and offered to help Willow finish cleaning the apartment. They stood in the kitchen together as Angel drank his breakfast and Willow ate a light lunch. They spent the next several hours cleaning, joking and flirting.

By the time they finished it was late afternoon. Willow hopped in the newly clean shower quickly before calling her friends. Angel took his time showering and dressing while Willow was on the phone. They couldn't go out until it was dark anyways.

Willow decided to test out her balcony while making her phone calls. She called Buffy first, but she was out with Riley. Willow left a message with her new cell phone number. Xander was next, but he couldn't talk long. He was only home to shower and change out of his sweaty construction clothes before going over to see Anya. Giles was home too, but he appeared to be in the middle of some pressing research. He lamented that Willow wasn't there to help and politely inquired after her settling in with Angel. Willow could tell he wasn't really paying attention to what she was saying, so she let him go.

She was leaning against the railing when Angel knocked on her bedroom door, having not heard her voice for a while and assuming that she was finished with her calls. Willow called out for him to come in but made no move to leave her perch.

"Did you reach your friends?" Angel politely asked, staying clear of the open door as the sun began to dip below the horizon.

"Xander and Giles were home, but they couldn't really talk long. I left a message for Buffy with my number." Willow sighed, still not looking at Angel. "I've only been gone a couple of days and they don't even miss me."

"I'm sure that's not true," Angel insisted, willing the sun to finish its decent so that he could join Willow on the balcony. "Like you said, it's only been a couple of days. They haven't had time to miss you yet."

"I guess you're right," Willow reluctantly agreed. "I guess I'm just feeling a little homesick."

"What? No," Willow briskly turned to face the vampire. "I'm thrilled to be here. I am so happy and comfortable here, a part of me feels like I was always meant to live here, ya know."

Angel smiled as he stepped out onto the balcony. Willow turned back to admiring the view as Angel stood behind her, admiring how perfect she looked.

"It's beautiful," Willow observed, watching as the sky faded from purple to black.

Willow turned around, finding herself face-to-chest with Angel. She hadn't realized he was standing so close behind her. She looked up into his face and inhaled sharply at the lust in his eyes. Willow placed a hand on his chest, unsure of what to do. Part of her wanted Angel to lean down and kiss her, but she also knew it was too soon. Her hand could either slide up to his shoulder to bring him closer or she could push him away. She found herself pushing back and stepping around the vampire.

Angel mentally cursed, afraid that he'd scared her. She'd turned too abruptly for him to cover the lust he was feeling. And when she looked at him… he almost thought that she would have welcomed his kiss, until she pushed him away.

Willow was peering across the small balcony. "You know what we need to do?" she lightly asked. Without waiting she answered, "We need to go to Pier 1."

"No, silly. It's a store," Willow informed the vampire. "I just realized that what this balcony needs is a chair… and table. I like it out here and I'd like to be comfortable."

"What about exploring the neighborhood?" Angel asked, having been looking forward to walking around with Willow.

"Well, you need to practice if you're going to get your license." Angel said, heading back inside to get ready to go out.

Willow threw her arms around him from behind, hugging him. "Thank you, Angel. No one ever wanted to take the time to let me practice before."

"I'll always have time for you," Angel told her, turning in her arms so that she could see the sincerity in his eyes.

Willow sat curled up on her new wicker loveseat on her balcony, grateful that the roof extended a couple of feet past the edge of the balcony so that she could remain outdoors during the thunderstorm that was currently raging around her. As she got settled in her mind drifted to the previous evening.

It had amused Willow to have Angel follow her around Pier 1 the night before. He'd patiently stood and watched as she explored the store until she found the loveseat she'd been looking for.

"I thought you wanted a chair," Angel asked when Willow finally stopped roaming the store.

"Chair, bench, loveseat… they're all things to sit on. This way you can sit out there with me," she pointed out.

After picking out cushions, pillows and a blanket to match the greens in her bedroom, Willow moved on to find a small table for the porch. She also found a suitable nightstand for next to her bed.

Willow's greatest amusement came when she began to pick out some candles. No college-aged girl, let alone one who was a witch, should be without a suitable collection of candles.

Angel was baffled that Willow was buying for fun what he had always used out of necessity. He had to wonder when lanterns went from practical to decoration. Willow pointed out that she would be using them for their intended purpose – burning candles. She picked out a couple of lanterns in different sizes and glasses along with some other candle holders for her room and the living room. She also bought an assortment of scented and unscented candles to fill her new candle holders.

By putting the top down on the convertible they were able to take all of their new purchases home right away. After setting up Willow's balcony furniture she dragged him back out to go grocery shopping at a supermarket. Angel had hoped that they'd go for that walk, but he was happy to at least be spending time with Willow.

Willow was now taking a well-deserved rest after having spent the morning helping Cordelia and Wesley clean the office downstairs. Luckily there was a lot of furniture already in there, so they wouldn't have to buy much – just a desk for Wesley, some bookcases for the library, a lockable closet for the weapons, and the computers. Still, they had a lot of dusting, sweeping, and straightening (the place had been left a mess) to do.

Wesley helped Cordelia to hang the lightweight curtains she had bought to cover the front window so that their boss would be able to join them during the day. Cordelia informed Willow that it was her job to ask Angel to paint their business name in the window since he was the resident artist.

Willow had protested the job being delegated to her, but Cordelia assured her that she'd be able to do it, with a wink. Cordelia knew that the reason she had barely seen her boss for the last several days, and it had everything to do with his new redheaded roommate.

One of the things the girls had found while cleaning out Cordelia's new desk were some trashy romance novels left behind by the previous office's receptionist. Not that she would ever admit it aloud, but Willow would occasionally indulge in the guilty pleasure of reading a romance novel. Which she was now about to do.

Willow had discretely pocketed the book about the tragic dark-haired hero who despite the many hardships in his life, some of them at his own hands, opened up his home and his heart to the fair maiden who had also suffered. For some reason it seemed to call to her.

She had made herself some coffee and brought it out to her balcony just as the storm got under way. She lit the two lanterns whose flames remained safe from the occasional gust of wind that made it through the trees, around the building and under the roof to her balcony. She snuggled under the blanket and quickly lost herself in the book. Willow couldn't even remember the last time she had read, not for school or research, but for the pure pleasure and relaxation of it.

This was how Angel found her after his breakfast and 'morning' shower. He had smelled the approaching storm even in his sleep and woken to the sound of thunder. He could tell through the curtains in the living room that it was dark outside, despite the early hour. He listened for the sound of Willow's heartbeat, which led him through her open bedroom door to her balcony.

Willow had pulled her short hair up into a little ponytail in preparation for the possible wind. The wind that had reached her had pulled many strands of fiery hair loose to frame her face. Angel couldn't help but think that this is how her hair might look when she woke, or after being made love to.

Angel cleared his throat after Willow hadn't acknowledged his presence after a couple of minutes. Her only motion had been to turn a page in the book and absently take a sip of coffee from the mug on the table before returning it to its place. However, the sound was lost in the storm.

Not wanting to startle her, Angel slowly closed the distance between him and Willow. She still didn't look up when he was standing beside her, so he lowered himself to a crouching position in order to see what book had her so completely captivated. It was his bark of laughter that finally got through to Willow.

Upon hearing Angel's laugh, Willow jerked her head away from the engrossing words in front of her and into the laughing brown eyes of her roommate.

"Don't do what?" he laughingly asked as Willow tried to hide the book under the blanket.

"I didn't sneak," Angel corrected. "I was standing here for at least five minutes before you noticed me. I cleared my throat and everything."

Reaching under the blanket Angel pulled out Willow's book as he said, "So what do we have here?"

"I-It's just a book I found in a drawer in one of the desks in the office downstairs," Willow babbled. "It's not what I'd usually choose to read, but I'm kinda lacking in the fun reading material department at the moment."

"You should have seen the one Cordelia took," Willow retorted. "It was even cheesier-looking than this one."

"I like it out here. There's enough light… Ohmygod, Angel, you're outside, during the day. What are you doing out here?" Willow worriedly exclaimed.

Placing his hands on Willow's shoulders, he sat next to her on the loveseat. "Willow, calm down, it's okay. Thunderstorm, remember? No direct sunlight. I'm perfectly safe, unless of course the clouds were about to part, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen any time soon."

Willow relaxed with his words and Angel relaxed his grip, but didn't remove his hands. Instead he turned to lean against the back of the couch, pulling Willow to lean against him. She shifted until she was comfortable, pulling the blanket to rest over Angel's lap as well and resting her head on his shoulder.

They remained like this possibly for minutes, possibly for hours, watching nature at work. Angel's hand mindlessly traced patterns on Willow's shoulder until Willow suddenly pulled back, looking at him.

Willow shook her head. "It's just… this is the closest I'm going to get to seeing you in daylight. I don't want to miss it."

Angel wordlessly nodded as Willow studied him. He could almost swear that he felt himself heating up under her gaze, but he knew that it was physically impossible.

Willow noted that his skin seemed paler in natural light. Granted, the light was pale to begin with. She unabashedly traced the lines of his face and chest with her eyes. She could feel Angel watching her look at him, and it made her blood race.

She wanted to touch him, to feel that cool skin against her own. He looked luminous, with a light she wanted to believe was for her. It seemed to radiate from him, pulling her in.

Angel's eyes drifted closed as Willow's left hand moved to his forehead. He sucked in unneeded breath at the first touch of her warm, delicate hand. Her fingertips grazed over his forehead, tracing his hairline down the side of his face and along his jaw. Then her right hand touched the bridge of his nose, trailing down to the tip, his nostrils flaring at the scent of her so close. Those same fingers lightly traced his slightly parted lips as those of her left trailed down his neck. It was taking every ounce of control to remain still under her torturously wonderful caresses.

Angel's eyes darted down to those perfect, pink lips before moving back to her eyes, silently begging for permission. The hand on his neck urged him closer and Angel wasn't about to deny it. He unclenched one of his hands from the blanket and rested it on Willow's hip as he began to lean towards her waiting mouth.

'Soft… cool… gentle… teasing… home…' Willow couldn't think. Words flitted through her brain as Angel kissed her, as she kissed him back. The hand on his neck wound its way into his hair, holding him close, never wanting to be separated from this delicious sensation, as her other hand held onto his bicep for dear life.

'Warm… soft… teasing… demanding… home…' Angel couldn't believe the sensations running through his body. He'd known that kissing Willow would be unlike kissing any other woman, but he hadn't been prepared for how Right it would feel. He never wanted to leave the warmth of her arms, the taste of her lips.

Willow panted, desperately pulling air into her oxygen-deprived lungs, when Angel relinquished her lips to explore her face with his. He made a mental note that as hard as it would be, he'd have to try to shorten the length of the kisses so that Willow could breathe.

Once she felt sufficiently re-oxygenated Willow recaptured Angel's mouth. Now that she'd tasted his lips she never wanted to stop. After one taste she was completely, hopeless, addicted to him. She ran her tongue along the seam of his lips, needing to taste more of him.

Angel eagerly opened for her, as desperate for a more satisfying taste as she was. Her tongue was like fire, heating him from the inside, her warmth rubbing off on him as her tongue caressed his. The heat amplified ten-fold when he returned the favor and explored her mouth as thoroughly as she had his.

It was only the prickling sense of impending death by sunlight that pulled Angel away from Willow.

"Inside," he panted, looking up to see that the storm had in fact passed and the clouds were preparing to break.

Willow looked nervous and apologetic as she said, "Angel, I want to, really I do, but I'm not ready yet."

Briefly recapturing her lips in reassurance, Angel clarified. "No. Storm's over. I need to get inside before you're kissing dust."

Willow looked over her should to see that the rain had indeed stopped. As she stood to lead Angel back into the apartment she joked, "I guess the storm didn't want the competition."

Angel laughed, relieved that was able to find humor in the situation and not condemn him for his shortcomings.

Back inside, Angel captured her face in his hands. "You're amazing," he sincerely told the woman in front of him before kissing her again.

Willow's hands slid around his back, caressing the muscles beneath his shirt. Her fingers itched to pull the material out of his pants and explore his bare flesh, but her mind reminded her that she wasn't ready for that yet. It was too soon.

Willow pulled out of the kiss this time and with a smile led Angel out of her bedroom (and the temptation of her bed) and into the living room.

"We should, uh, probably talk," she explained as they sat on the sofa, fingers entwined.

"We probably should," Angel agreed. "I'm not going to apologize. I've wanted to kiss you since you agreed to move in with me. I don't know what's happening between us, but I'd love to explore it if…"

"I do," Willow confirmed. "But I need to go slowly. It's only been a week since Tara… I want you, I do," she assured him. "I think a part of me has always wanted you, but you were Buffy's…"

"Not anymore. I moved on a while ago, as did she. I'll go at whatever pace you need, Willow." Angel reached out with his free hand to cup her cheek and Willow leaned into the caress. "Besides, this will give us time to find a way around that pesky curse of mine."

Willow nervously bit her bottom lip as the rose in her cheeks. "Okay, now please don't hate me…"

Angel stared at the nervous girl biting her lip next him. He had clearly heard what she had said, but he couldn't wrap his mind around it. The longer he remained silent the more agitated Willow became.

"Your, um, soul is permanent?" Wide green eyes looked up to meet questioning brown ones.

Angel stood and began to pace, running a hand through his hair, mumbling, "That's what I thought you said."

Thoughts were running rampant through the vampire's head. 'It's permanent. I haven't needed to restrain my every reaction and emotion for fear of becoming too happy. Although I suppose that even if I had been "perfectly happy" that nothing would have happened. But since I knew, or thought that I knew, what could cause me to lose my soul I did everything possible to avoid it. Including staying away from Buffy. Even if I'm not in love with her anymore, I was. Or at least I thought I was. Distance certainly didn't make my heart grow fonder… just the opposite. Although if I'd known that I wasn't going to lose the soul again before I left Sunnydale, Buffy and I would probably still be together. But then I wouldn't be with Willow now…'

Willow didn't know if Angel's pacing was a good sign or not. He didn't seem upset with her for not telling him sooner, but he could be working up to that. Just as Willow was about to ask him how he was taking the news, Angel spoke.

"How?" he asked, pausing his pacing to look at the redhead. "When?" He moved to sit next to her again. "How long have you known?"

Willow sighed in relief, there was no accusation in his tone, only curiosity and disbelief. She took one of his hands in hers to keep from fidgeting.

Staring at their joined hands, Willow hesitantly admitted, "I've known all along." She paused to grin sheepishly up at Angel before continuing. "You see, when I gave you back your soul I was able to do it without the 'perfect happiness' clause. I didn't tell anyone I'd done that. And we didn't know for a long time if the curse worked since Buffy had taken off after she sent you to hell. I thought it had worked, I felt it go through me, but since it was my first big spell I couldn't be sure. Then when you came back, it had been so long that it just kinda slipped my mind that the soul couldn't go away…" Willow trailed off, her voice growing quieter at the end.

"Well…when Buffy came back and she knew that your soul had been restored when she sent you to hell she felt so guilty that I didn't want to make her feel worse by telling her the soul was permanent. Then by the time we found out you were back I had forgotten that no one else knew about the permanency of your soul."

"What?" Angel asked in shock. 'Disappointed and frustrated; yes. But angry?' he thought. He kissed her quickly. "No. Willow how could you think I'd be mad about you making my soul permanent?"

"Well, you didn't know. You could have been happy. You could have been with Buffy…"

"Don't feel guilty about that." He insisted. "I think you and I both know that Buffy and I never would have worked out."

When Willow was about to protest again, Angel captured her mouth with his, kissing her deeply. Using his lips, tongue and teeth, he tried to convince her how grateful he was that she had made his soul permanent in the first place. And there was no one else he'd rather share his soul with than her.

When Angel released Willow's mouth, he brought their joined hands to his lips, kissing her fingers. Looking into her glazed eyes, he asked, "Do you believe me now?"

"Uh-huh," Willow absently responded, still dazed from that kiss. She shook her head to try and refocus. Smiling she reiterated, "I really didn't mean to not tell you."

Willow started to lean forward to kiss him again when there was a loud knock at the door. Both of them groaned at the interruption.

Willow spoke briefly with the delivery man who went back down to the truck to get the furniture. Willow turned back to Angel and bounced as she said, "It's the rest of my bedroom furniture."

Angel merely smiled as he leaned back on the couch to watch Willow direct the deliverers to her room with her dresser and desk. He found it adorable that Willow could get so excited about new furniture. He wanted her to feel comfortable in their apartment. Although with the new knowledge he had regarding his soul's permanency he hoped that before long they'd be sharing one bedroom.

Angel was still sitting on the couch with a dreamy look on his face when Willow thanked the delivery guys and closed the door behind them. She crawled onto the couch next to Angel who was still lost in his thoughts. She ran a hand through his hair and behind his ear as she whispered, "What'cha thinking about?"

Angel turned his head and gave her a very Angelus-like smirk, causing her heartbeat to speed up.

Willow nodded; she'd never heard him use such a sexy tone before – at least not with the soul.

"You want to show me your room?" he purred, running a hand along her arm. Willow shook her head, inching closer to him. "No?"

"No." Willow confirmed against his lips. She briefly licked her lips, licking his as well; such little space was between them.

With a growl Angel closed that miniscule distance, wrapping his arms around Willow and pulling her onto his lap. Her hands went around his neck, playing with the hair at the base of his neck. Angel's hands ran over Willow's back, occasionally straying to her hips as they continued to explore each other's mouths as only a new couple could.

Once again it was a pounding on the door that finally broke the couple apart, both panting for breath, whether they needed it or not.

Willow slid off of Angel's lap, trying to compose herself as Angel stood to answer the door, willing his erection away.

"What?" Angel virtually growled when he opened the door to the young demon fighter.

"Don't you growl at me. You were supposed to meet me half an hour ago to go kill that Mevlenore demon."

"Yeah, which was over half an hour ago," Gunn agreed, stepping into the apartment. He saw Willow sitting on the couch, blushing and nervously smoothing her hair and clothing. Grinning he said, "Well, I can see you were otherwise occupied."

Angel held a hand out for Willow to join them. "Gunn, this is Willow Rosenberg. Willow, this is Charles Gunn. He found the building."

Choosing to ignore the implication, Willow said, "Yes. It's so nice to meet you, Gunn. You did a great job. I absolutely love this place."

He waved the complement off. "It was nothing. I'm glad you like it. Angel was very specific with what he wanted in an apartment. You did a good job furnishing the place."

"So what's this about a Mevlenore demon?" Willow asked the men. "They're not nice guys."

"There's one trying to set up shop in my neighborhood. Angel here said he'd help convince it to move on." Gunn said. "You've seen one before?"

"Yeah, there was one hanging around the campus. He was always trying to lure people into the old science building so that he could rip off their toenails. He'd eat them in order to maintain his human appearance." Willow shivered with the memory, leaning into Angel's side and he wrapped an arm around her.

"Yeah, well, that's what this guy's been doing. Only he's using an abandoned house."

"I'm going to go help Gunn get rid of this guy," Angel informed Willow. "Will you wait here?"

Seeing an argument in the making, Gunn decided to give himself a tour of the furnished apartment.

Angel silently thanked Gunn's good sense. He quickly tried to figure out a way out of the hole he had just dropped himself into.

"You could finish unpacking now that your dresser's here," he suggested. He immediately winced at the hard, angry glare in the redhead's eyes.

"You want me to stay here and do housework?" Willow coldly asked, crossing her arms over chest.

"That's not what I meant," Angel hastened to explain. 'How am I going to get out of this?' he asked himself. "It's just… There's not going to be anything for you to do if you come along. You've seen these guys. It's just a quick slice and dice. I'll be back before you know it."

Deciding to take pity on his friend, Gunn answered, "Because Gunn didn't know it would be that easy to kill it."

Willow spun to face Gunn, her face immediately losing its harshness. "Sorry. I didn't mean to insult you or anything."

"Nah, s'okay. All I knew was there was this guy torturing my friends. If it's just a slice and dice I can handle it on my own." Heading to the door he added, "Besides, it looks like you two have some serious talking to do."

The second the door closed Willow was glaring at Angel again. "He was right. We need to talk."

"No, don't Willow me. If we are going to have a relationship then there are a few things you'd better learn, and quick." She poked him in the chest with a finger. "Number one: You DO NOT tell me where I can go. I have been fighting demons and vampires alongside the slayer for four years. I know how to hold my own and I've got magick to defend myself. I am not going to let you go all macho on me and try to protect me like some weak little girl."

"I never meant to imply that you were," Angel calmly said. He had to control his amusement, and arousal, at seeing Willow stand up to him. "I know how strong you are, and how long you've been fighting." Willow began to relax her defensive stance. "I promise that I will do my best to try to not keep you protected. It will be hard though. I don't want anything to happen to you, especially now." Willow took a step closer to him and rested her palm on his chest and Angel wrapped her lightly in his arms. "But you need to understand also that I have been around for a lot longer than you have. There will be times when it isn't safe for you, despite your abilities, and I'll need you to trust me."

"I do trust you," Willow affirmed. "I'm sorry. I'm just so used to everyone thinking they need to protect poor little Willow."

"Well," Angel looked almost ashamed to admit, "Sometimes a little meaningless violence can be fun. Besides, when I agreed to dispatch the Mevlenore you and I weren't a couple." He tapped her nose with a finger. "How was I supposed to know I'd have more important things to do tonight?"

"Oh yes," Angel confirmed as he leaned down to show her just how much more important she was to him.

The next day Angel woke to an empty apartment. His first instinct was to find Willow, having sensed immediately that she wasn't home. A small smile appeared on his face as Angel padded to the kitchen for his morning mug of blood. He loved the way that Willow and home fit together in a sentence.

Angel numbly drank his breakfast as he stared at Willow's signature. Did she have any idea what she had done? 'Yours' to a vampire was not necessarily the same to a human. She could have just been trying to be polite – more intimate than a 'Sincerely' and not so intimate as signing 'Love'. But all Angel could think, or at least his demon, was 'Mine'. Willow had committed to paper that she was his. His to love, his to possess, his to protect.

The demon roared in joy at the simple word. Too long had it suffered under the weight of the soul, unable to claim what was his. And now it would never have control again.

That thought brought both a sense of relief and anxiety to the vampire. For so long now he had worked so hard to repress his inherent vampiric nature. Yes, he drank blood, but not from a human, and only as a matter of survival. Otherwise he surrounded himself with mortals – he worked with them, he protected them, and now he lived with and has fallen in love with one. Yet he is now, and will remain, a vampire.

Last night he and Willow had talked about his soul. They'd talked about Willow's need for time, and the fact that the last person she'd dated had been a woman. But they hadn't discussed the reality of a vampire/human relationship.

In truth, the only human that Angel had dated had been Buffy. Before her, mortal women were for food and sex. Even so, Angel had always felt like he had to hide, repress, a large part of himself when he was with Buffy. Yes, she knew he was a vampire, but she'd never been comfortable with that fact when they weren't fighting other demons. At those times she was grateful for his enhanced speed and fighting abilities. But when they were alone… Angel tried to never let the demon show itself. Sometimes it would take an incredible amount of control to maintain his human visage. Especially the one, and only, time they'd made love.

Buffy had never fully understood how important blood was to a vampire. She knew it was how they fed. That they attacked and most often killed humans in order to feed. But she never wanted to know about the more pleasurable aspects blood could be used for. Even a little blood during foreplay could be extremely erotic… for both parties.

Cordelia was helping Willow unpack one of the bookcases they had bought. It was a put-it-together-yourself kind. They were getting the materials in order while they waited for Wesley to get back from the hardware store with a hammer and screwdriver set.

"Okay, now I've been patient all morning, thinking you were going to break down and share, but obviously you're not. So spill," Cordelia insisted.

Willow refused to meet the brunette's eyes. Her blush made her words an obvious lie. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Willow was momentarily saved by Angel opening the door and walking into the lobby. Her eyes immediately brightened and a smile spread across her face. An identical smile was on Angel's face, Cordelia noticed, when she looked between the two. She could practically hear the silent communication between the two.

Approaching her boss, the ex-cheerleader said, "Well, it's about time you showed your face in here. I haven't even seen you since a certain someone moved in upstairs."

"Sorry, Cordelia," Angel said, never removing his eyes from Willow's. "I've been busy."

All he wanted to do was sweep Willow into his arms and kiss her soundly for being so thoughtful and giving. Plus, she looked adorable sitting on the floor in jeans and a t-shirt surrounded by boards and nails and paper. However, he had a feeling such a gesture wouldn't be appreciated at the moment. He didn't know if Willow wanted to tell everyone they were a couple now.

Feeling the temperature rise between the two roommates, Cordelia definitely wanted answers, now.

"Well, since you haven't been here to help with the clean up, I think you should go fix up your office." Cordelia gave Angel a gentle push in the direction of his office.

Although not pleased with being dismissed, Angel went, knowing that Cordelia was on a mission for information, and he honestly thought that Willow would be able to handle her better than he would.

Once they were alone, Cordelia spun on the redhead. "Okay, now something happened, I know it did." When Willow still didn't say anything, Cordelia asked, "Did you two sleep together?"

"What? No," Willow said. Her blush began to return as she admitted, "We just… kissed."

Leaning closer, Cordelia asked, "So how was he? Is a good kisser? I've always wondered about that?"

"Yeah, but it wasn't because I wanted to kiss him, I was just trying to get rid of these visions. Besides, it's not like he kissed me back. Sorry, nice trick, didn't work, now start talking."

Angel had his ear pressed to the door, waiting for Willow's answer. He knew it was wrong to eavesdrop on his new girlfriend, but he couldn't help himself. Besides, Cordelia had shoved him into a basically empty office where there was nothing for him to do.

Willow's eyes glazed over slightly as she recalled kissing Angel the previous day. "He is an amazing kisser. I swear, I never before felt a need to curse my need to breathe before. I got so lightheaded from some of those kisses," Willow confided.

"Wow," was all Cordelia could say. She had never been kissed to lightheadedness.

Now that she had started on the topic of Angel, Willow couldn't stop. Besides, it was nice to be able to confide in a girl who hadn't dated her new boyfriend. "I mean, these were just kisses and they had me dizzy. Can you imagine what else he could do with that mouth with his whole not needing to breathe thing?"

Both girls, and Angel, took a minute to imagine all of the delicious things he could continuously do with his mouth and not have to stop in order to take a breath. All three had to suppress their groans at the imagery now plaguing them.

Cordelia was still staring off into space when Willow came back to herself. Deciding that instead of just fantasizing about Angel when in fact he was just in the next room, Willow stood and walked down the hall.

Angel was sitting on his desk, having moved to a more stable place once the girls stopped talking. He heard Willow approaching, but made no move to get up.

Willow opened the door, eyes still glazed and darkened with lust. She slowly walked up to the vampire, an extra sway in her hips. She rested her hands on his thighs as she huskily said, "I didn't get to greet you properly today," before she promptly kissed Angel.

Her lips were instantly parted, both already hungry for the other from their mental wanderings. Angel's hands came up to cup her face, holding her close, holding her in place. Willow stepped between his legs, pressing her body against his, her hands sliding up his back, pulling him close, losing herself in the kiss.

He looked around and only saw Cordelia leaning against her desk, eyes slightly glazed.

"Willow?" Cordelia absently asked, pulling herself out of her little fantasy of a faceless man who didn't have to breathe exploring her body with his mouth. She looked around, realizing for the first time that the redhead wasn't with her. "She's probably back in Angel's office."

Wesley started to head back in that direction, but Cordelia placed a hand on his arm to stop him.

"I don't think you want to go back there," she warned. If Willow's mind had been on the same track hers had been, then there would definitely be something happening in that office.

"Let's just say that last night, those two roommates got a lot closer," Cordelia winked.

"I guess not," Cordelia commented. "She told me she wasn't going to limit her options."

"Apparently not," Wesley agreed. He looked around at the materials lying around him on the floor. "Shall we get started then?"

Cordelia looked at him funny before noticing that he was looking at the bookcase parts. "What do I look like? A carpenter? I was just planning on watching and handing Willow what she needed."

"Fine," Wesley sighed, removing his blazer and rolling up his sleeves. "Where are the instructions?"

"Here." Cordelia handed the paper to him. As Wesley began lining up the top, bottom and side boards, Cordelia mused, "You know, I think they'll be good together. They've both been hurt by the people they loved before. They deserve to be happy."

"Just not too happy," Wesley commented, as he glued the little wooden pegs in their holes and fit the boards together.

"Right," Cordelia casually agreed. "They should be happy. Just not perfectly happy."

The two exchanged a look and grabbing the hammer, they both ran down the hallway and into Angel's office. The sight before them caused their eyes to nearly pop out of their heads.

Angel was lying on his desk, his legs hanging off the side, with Willow straddling him. Their mouths were locked together in a passionate kiss as their hands roamed each other's bodies.

Wesley's yelp of shock startled the couple. Willow sat up so quickly she slid off of Angel's body and landed on the floor next to his feet with an "oomph."

"Haven't you heard of knocking," Angel growled, sitting up and reaching down to help Willow stand.

"We were just… concerned… for Ms. Rosenberg's safety," Wesley hesitantly replied.

"You thought she needed to be kept safe from me?" Angel asked, obviously hurt by the idea.

"I take it you didn't tell them either?" Angel asked the blushing girl at his side.

"When? How?" Wesley asked, venturing further into the room, the watcher in him wanting to know Angel managed to secure his soul.

"You mean you've known all this time your soul couldn't go poof and you didn't tell me?" Cordelia demanded.

"I kinda forgot that no one knew about the soul being permanent thing," Willow meekly offered.

"Alright, that's enough," Angel said. "We've answered your questions for now. We'll explain more once you've calmed down a bit. Now out. Go back to whatever you were doing."

Angel ushered his employees out of his office, closing the door behind them. Turning back to Willow he said, "Remind me to buy a lock for that door."

"I should probably go help them. I'm the one who wanted to get the do-it-yourself bookcases." Willow suggested.

"Your body, your brain, your experience, your company," Angel placed a kiss on a different part of her face with each phrase.

"Well in that case…" Willow captured his mouth as it moved to pass hers again. 'I really think I'm gonna like this job,' Willow thought as she lost herself in the kiss.

Half an hour later Cordelia hesitantly knocked on the door to Angel's office. She called out, "If you want to actually be able to use those bookcases you might want to come out here before Wesley destroys them."

A minute later a very flushed and breathless redhead opened the door. "I'll be right out Cordy."

"You better. I swear, I thought men were supposed to know how to do these kinds of things. Then again, when has Wesley ever been considered a real man."

Willow laughed. "I promise, I'll be right there. I've put together lots of these things before."

Willow closed the door, turning to Angel. "I'm sorry. I told you I should be out there helping."

Taking his hand, Willow pulled the vampire back out to the lobby. She surveyed the boards spread all over the place and shook her head. Willow took the hammer from the frustrated man on the floor with an apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry Wesley, I shouldn't have left in the middle of a project." Willow helped Wesley to his feet and away from the workspace.

"That's okay," Cordelia said in a tone that was both comforting and condescending. "It takes a trained monkey to put these things together."

"Hey," Willow and Wesley objected; one because she could do it and the other because he couldn't.

Willow double checked that the sides were properly glued to the top and bottom boards. Satisfied, she found the cardboard back and unfolded it, fake wood side down, over the back. She had Cordelia hold the board in place at one end and the guys on the sides. Willow then moved around the bookcase nailing the cardboard in place. Once finished, the men stood the bookcase up and Willow placed the shelf pegs in their holes, making sure they were evenly spaced apart. The men then carried the bookcase into the library where the girls placed the shelves on their pegs.

"See, that wasn't so hard," Willow commented as she stuffed the padding and plastic back in the box.

"Ah, no, it wasn't," Wesley admitted, still embarrassed that he couldn't do it himself.

Working together they quickly finished the four remaining bookcases. One for Angel's office, one for Wesley's and the last two were for the library.

Next on her list of office chores was for Willow to set up the computers. She had already arranged to have the cable internet for the office connected to the cable in the apartment so that the entire building could have access to one network. The workmen had already been there to install a cable jack under Cordelia's desk, in the library and in the apartment.

Once the computers were unpacked and set up, Willow set about creating a network between the two office computers and her laptop (which was already set up with a wireless network card so she could use it either in the apartment or in the office). This way they could be on all three computers and search through files on any of them.

By the time she had finished, it was nearly dark out. After making sure the bookshelves were sturdy, Wesley had unpacked the books he had brought with him making the library an official library. Once finished he took off, as he was no longer needed.

Cordelia tried prodding more details out of Willow and then Angel about their new relationship, but they were now being extremely tightlipped. On her way out, Cordelia motioned towards the window and then from Willow to Angel. Willow nodded, knowing what Cordelia wanted.

"Oh, Cordy wanted me to ask you to paint the business name on the window," the redhead casually said.

"I don't know, maybe she thought you'd actually do it if I asked you." Willow shrugged.

Smiling as she wrapped her arms around him, Willow said, "I'm sure just a nice lettering of 'Angel Investigations' would be fine."

Angel looked into Willow's smiling face and knew why Cordelia had asked Willow to ask him to paint the sign. "All right," he reluctantly agreed.

"No, I'd just like to take a stroll with my boyfriend and see what else is around here."

"It's an HDTV screen," Willow stated. At Angel's puzzled expression she explained, "High Definition TV. The picture quality is much better and it's the best way to watch widescreen DVDs, which is the only way to watch a movie."

"I don't either," Willow admitted, "But when I do, I want it to be the best quality. Besides, sometimes it's nice to just rent a movie and stay at home, snuggled with your honey."

"And so you shall, but first, you go get rid of your blood breath." Willow gave him a push towards the bathroom.

As Angel swished the mouthwash around his mouth he was reminded of his morning musings. He knew she was teasing him when she sent him to cleanse his breath. But he couldn't really blame her; pigs' blood didn't taste very good, so he could only imagine how it smelled to her. He didn't think she'd be so objective if it was her own blood on his breath.

When Angel returned to the living room Willow was just finishing attaching the DVD player to the TV in the entertainment center.

Willow could tell there was something he wanted to ask as they walked. He kept looking at her like he wanted to say something, but then closed his mouth and continued walking.

"That's what I'm not sure about." Angel took an unnecessary breath. "I'm a vampire."

"Have you thought about what it means to date a vampire? Do you think it's something you'll be comfortable with?"

"Well, I've dated a werewolf and a witch. How different could dating a vampire be? Aside from the whole no going out in the daylight thing, of course. I mean, hey, at least I don't have to lock you up in a cage for three nights every month. That was the main drawback to being with Oz. Well, that, and we had to make sure he didn't bite me."

"That's actually what I wanted to talk about," Angel admitted, not looking at her, hands in pockets.

"Biting?" Willow asked. Her eyes went wide as she realized what Angel was getting at. "You want to, like, feed from me?" she slowly asked.

"What? No, not feed, just… maybe… nip… while… playing," he hesitantly explained, having a hard time voicing his wishes, desires.

Willow was silent as they continued walking, contemplating what he was proposing. She'd read the Watcher Diaries that Giles kept on the top shelf next to the magick books he didn't want her to read. She knew vampires got off on a little blood play during sex. She'd actually had quite a few fantasies about it; especially since she'd had a boyfriend whose teeth she had to be careful with. Still, she couldn't believe they were talking about this.

Angel cupped a cheek, rubbing it with his thumb. "No. Well, maybe a little, but only in the most pleasurable way."

The huskiness in his voice was making Willow melt. She almost asked him to show her, but remembered they were on a public street.

"Promise," he agreed, completely overjoyed at her almost consent, but somehow managing to keep an even voice.

Angel pulled her into a passionate kiss, expressing his excitement, his pleasure, his relief at her agreement. All he wanted to do was run home and show her how good a little biting could be, but he didn't think she was ready for that, yet.

They finally pulled apart when a passer-by mumbled, "Get a room." Arms around each other they continued their walk. Angel felt that a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Willow on the other hand now had butterflies in her belly at the thoughts of what it would be like to feel his fangs on her.

Her butterflies turned to hunger pangs when they began to pass an Italian restaurant. The smells of pasta cooking were incredibly enticing.

After a leisurely dinner, Willow and Angel continued their walk around the neighborhood. They strolled down the streets, arms linked, enjoying the warm summer evening, like any other couple. Willow pointed out the bookshop she had found a few days earlier and they agreed that they'd have to come back and explore it some night.

Their conversation died down the closer they got to their apartment. The silence was comfortable as they allowed their thoughts to take over. Angel felt more at peace than he could remember being in decades.

Willow's thoughts, however, were running rampant with new possibilities. She was still feeling a bit overwhelmed with the turn her life had taken lately. To go from being happy and in love with Tara to being dumped, moving to LA, and then falling in love with Angel… it hardly felt real. She did know that she was happy here. She felt truly alive with Angel, and she knew how strange that sounded – alive with a vampire. And the things he wanted to do with her… her heart raced as she tried not to think about it. It both frightened and excited her. She knew that Angel would never hurt her, she trusted him with her body and her heart. She just needed to move past the teeth-aversion she had developed when dating Oz.

Angel was finding it hard to convince himself to take things slowly with Willow when he was assaulted with the scent of her arousal. He wondered what she was thinking about to make her smell so wonderful. He hoped it was because of their earlier discussion.

As they turned the corner onto the block their apartment was on, Angel unlinked their arms to extend his around her waist. He leaned down to whisper in her ear, "What are you thinking about, Little one?"

Willow shivered at the sound of his voice after their silence. Did she want to tell him the truth? Oh yes. "I was just wondering when you wanted to, um, play?"

Angel ran his hand teasingly over her belly as far as he could reach. "Whenever you are ready. I told you I wouldn't rush you, or pressure you into doing anything too soon."

Willow was silent again as they neared their door. She knew she wasn't ready to make love with him yet, but that didn't mean they couldn't play in the mean time.

Angel held the downstairs door open for her, as a gentleman should. Willow paused in the open doorway to take out her apartment keys. She looked up into Angel's eyes and innocently said, "I don't see why we can't start playing tonight," before running up the stairs.

Angel stood frozen in shock at her statement. A wicked grin spread across his face as he gave a growl of excitement and dashed up the stairs and through the open door. He caught Willow around the waist and she squealed in delight as he carried her to his bedroom.

He set Willow on the bed, laying her down, and sat next to her. He reclined on an elbow to meet her hungry eyes, his free hand again tracing patterns on her belly.

Willow brought a hand up to trace his human features, knowing that it would be a very different face that would soon be giving her pleasure. She didn't want to ruin the playful mood with a serious conversation, so she said with a sultry grin, "I'm not ready to make love, but anything else is fair play."

If she had anything else to say it was soon forgotten under the intensity of Angel's kiss. His mouth descended on hers as soon as the word 'play' had left her lips. It was at first forceful and demanding as he was overcome with emotions. With Willow's hands now fisted in his hair, his lips soon softened and teased with the same intensity as the kiss had originated.

Knowing that he now had free reign over her body, Angel set about learning what secrets Willow has kept hidden. Without breaking the kiss, the hand on Willow's belly began to pull her t-shirt out of her jeans. As soon as it was able, the hand slipped under the material, traveling back up towards her breasts, bringing the rest of the shirt with it.

Angel finally broke the kiss in order to let Willow breathe. He also took the opportunity to pull her t-shirt over her head.

As Angel's eyes roamed over her mostly bare chest, Willow wishes that she had worn sexier lingerie today. When she dressed that morning she had worn her more comfortable cotton bra and panties since she had planned on doing manual labor. The darkening of Angel's eyes assured her that it probably wouldn't have made a difference. She arched her back and slid a hand under her body to release the clasp on the bra, pulling it off as her hand resurfaced.

Angel's eyes were glued to her luminous pale skin. He watched her chest rise and fall as she panted for breath after the kiss. And then she was completely bare to him from the waist up. He growled in appreciation.

Willow tensed slightly when she heard Angel's growl. She wasn't entirely certain how to interpret it. Did he growl in disgust? In appreciation? Hunger?

"You're perfect," he murmured, leaning down to taste her skin. Starting at her neck, Angel teased his way down her body. The silk of his shirt brushed against her hardening nipples as Angel licked and kissed her neck and shoulder. He gently pulled the skin over her racing pulse between blunt teeth, gently tugging, causing her heartbeat to speed up even more.

Angel worked his way down, between her breasts, resisting temptation, to kiss and lick her belly. Finally he returned to lavish attention on her breasts. He took a moment to admire her gentle curves, the darker coral of her puckered nipples. In what felt like slow motion, Angel lowered his head to take her entire breast into his mouth.

Willow couldn't contain her moan of pleasure after all of Angel's teasing. His mouth wasn't nearly as cold as she had expected it to be. And the things he was doing with it… as he suckled her nipple his tongue was bathing the underside of her breast.

Not knowing what else to do with her hands, Willow began to unbutton Angel's shirt. Her fingers fumbled with the buttons as she tried to concentrate on what she was doing and not what Angel was up to. She finally got down to the last button before the shirt dipped into his pants. Willow desperately pulled the material out and freed the last buttons. Now the hard part came… freeing the shirt from Angel's body.

Angel was only slightly aware of Willow's actions. He was completely lost in the taste and feel of her skin. He moved to see if her other breast was as delicious as the one he had been feasting on… and found himself on his back.

He looked up at Willow's proud expression with confused eyes and a pout on his lips at losing his treat.

Seeing the look in the redhead's eyes quickly made Angel change him mind about protesting. He stripped off his shirt and rested his hands behind his head.

Willow admired the way Angel's pectorals flexed and rippled as Angel removed his shirt and made himself comfortable. She licked her lips as she her head lowered to taste him, placing a wet kiss near his bellybutton.

Angel hissed at the touch of her soft, warm, wet lips so near his straining erection.

Willow smiled against his skin, pleased with his reaction. She licked and kissed her way up his firm abs straight up to his neck where she continued to nibble at his flesh above his non-existent pulse. Angel lowered his arms, pulling Willow closer against his body.

Willow licked a trail from Angel's neck to the nipple below it, laving the already pebbled nub with her tongue. Angel's fingers twisted in her hair, encouraging her actions. Not one to refuse such an invitation, Willow took the nub between her lips and began to worry it with her teeth. She didn't spend nearly as long as Angel had with her, and successfully switched her attentions to his other nipple.

When he couldn't take her teasing any longer Angel pulled Willow up to his mouth. The kiss was searing, so much lust and desire having been built up over the evening.

When Willow pulled back, panting, Angel asked her with gold flecked eyes, "Is it my turn to play again?"

Wanting to take no chances with her, Angel confirmed, "You know you don't have to do this."

"I know." Raising a hand to caress his cheek, Willow said, "I trust you. Now go grr."

With eyes locked, Willow gasped as she saw her beloved's brown eyes turn yellow. The hand on his check moved up to trace Angel's ridges. She'd never really paid much attention to Angel's demon before. Usually when she'd seen him like this it was when he was soulless – not happy memories. But now…

Willow could see the concern and nervousness etched across Angel's face. This was Angel, just as much as he was Angel in the face he preferred to show the world. It was like when Willow's eyes turned black when she did magick, only not nearly as pronounced. Willow raised her head to briefly kiss Angel, still a little wary of his fangs.

Angel pulled Willow into a tight embrace, whispering, "Thank you," into her neck. Willow stroked the back of his head, returning the embrace.

Pulling back, Willow said, "This is you, just as much as you're you when you're not all grr." The wicked gleam returned to her eyes as she said, "Now weren't you supposed to be showing me something about how blood can be fun?"

Angel answered with a smirk and leaning down to kiss her again. This time he purposefully nicked her bottom lip with a fang, pulling it into his mouth. He moaned at the first taste of her blood. It was as magnificent as he expected it to be – warm, rich, coppery, with a healthy dose of magick to spice it up.

Releasing her lip when the blood stopped, Angel moved down to the breast he had been pulled away from reaching earlier. He purposefully bypassed her neck, knowing that as accepting as Willow was being that that would be a bit too much for her right now.

He could still feel some tension in her body, so Angel began by lapping at her nipple as his hand gently rolled and pinched the other one. When Angel could once again scent her arousal he grazed a fang against the side of her breast, not enough to break the skin, but in order to acclimate her to the sensation. When she didn't push him away, Angel repeated the action, this time drawing a faint line of blood.

Willow gasped at the sensation of Angel lapping up her blood. She had barely felt the scratch that had drawn blood – the pain had been imperceptible. Then there was his tongue… Before when he had licked her skin it had been short, gentle laps. Now – Willow moans as Angel moved to scratch the other side of her breast – his tongue was firm and insistent, the entire flat of his tongue pressed against her breast, laving her with long, firm strokes.

One of her hands curled into his hair as the other traced patterns on his back as far as she could reach. Willow arched her back in pleasure, accidentally causing Angel to nick her a little deeper than before. He eagerly lapped up the extra blood, the taste of her an aphrodisiac.

Angel moved to switch his attentions to her other breast, wanting to give it equal treatment. By leaning across her body he was now involuntarily rubbing his arousal into her hip. He thought he'd been hard for hours, her blood drawing him ever closer to needing release.

Willow couldn't believe how aroused she was. She never would have believed that she could be so turned on by being repeatedly scratched deep enough to draw blood. Then again, she'd never imagined having a vampire for a lover before either. She could feel Angel's erection rubbing against her hip and twisted her hips so that he'd rub against where she needed the attention.

Angel groaned against her skin, moving again to lavish attention on her belly. He slid a hand down her body to the button of her jeans and deftly unbuttoned and unzipped them. Willow raised her hips for him to take them off, but instead he slid his hand under her panties, through her curls until her reached her clit.

"A-Angel," Willow moaned, thrusting up to meet his hand. She was on edge as it was from his teasing and didn't think she last much longer with the additional attention now being paid to her throbbing nub.

Willow began to mumble her pleasure. "Please… Angel, oh God… please… so close…" Her broken phrases degenerated into a wordless keening and the scent of her arousal became overwhelming to Angel.

Knowing what it would take to push her over the edge, Angel eased his fangs into the breast he was currently teasing and gave a final flick to her clit. Willow's breath caught in her throat as the wave of pleasure shot through her before coming out in a wail of ecstasy, calling out Angel's name.

Just as he knew that biting her would bring Willow release, it also brought his own. At that moment he didn't care that he'd come in his pants. To have his senses filled with the smell and sound of her arousal, plus the taste of so much of her blood… what vamp could resist? Angel eased his fangs out of her breast, lapping at the blood until the wounds closed.

Willow sighed in contentment as Angel lapped at her breast. Her entire body was limp as she came down from her sexual high.

Angel watched Willow as he licked his fingers clean of her release, a great sense of pride that he was the cause of such a look of contentment. His face shifted back to his human features as he leaned down and brushed his lips against Willow's before lying next to her.

When she found her voice again, Willow rolled to her side and looked at Angel. "That was… I mean I never thought… I had no idea…" She finally settled on, "Thank you."

"No, thank you," Angel insisted, pulling Willow down to rest against him. "I haven't enjoyed myself so much in ages."

"Let's just say that I'm going to have to get up soon to change," Angel explained.

"Oh. O-oh." Willow's eyes widened as the truth dawned on her. "But I barely touched you," she whispered.

"Oh, you touched me plenty," Angel countered. "You may not have been initiating the action, but you were definitely touching me. Do you have any idea how intoxicating your blood is?"

"It's like the finest wine, ambrosia, and a powerful aphrodisiac all rolled into one," he grinned.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Angel informed her. Feeling the wetness against his skin, Angel added, "Although first I think I should jump in the shower and, uh, change."

Willow's blush deepened. "Um, yeah, right. You, uh, go do that and I'll just go change into my pj's."

Angel kissed her again before they reluctantly parted to take care of the necessities before bed. Willow grabbed her shirt and bra on her way back to her bedroom.

She tossed them in the laundry and opened the closet door to look in the mirror. She took a deep breath with her eyes closed before opening them to stare at herself. She examined the thin lines covering her breasts and torso in her reflection. Her eyes kept being drawn back to the bite mark on her breast. She lifted a hand and brushed her fingers over the puncture marks. She shivered at the touch.

Willow was a little surprised that she didn't feel shame about having let Angel bite her. Granted he hadn't asked before he did it, but it had been implied when she gave him permission for the other stuff.

Hearing the shower turn off, Willow quickly pulled off her jeans and panties and moved to her dresser to pull out a pair of boxers and a tank top. She slipped them on and waited for Angel to emerge from the bathroom, needing to take care of a few things as well before turning in.

Willow openly admired the vampire as he opened the bathroom door in nothing but a towel. Trailing a hand over his damp chest she said, "I'll be there in a minute."

Angel dumbly nodded as she closed the bathroom door, staring at it for a minute before returning to his room to finish drying off. Normally he preferred to sleep in the nude, but he didn't think Willow would appreciate that tonight, so he pulled on a pair of black silk boxers. While he waited for Willow, he made sure the apartment door was locked and all of the lights were turned off.

Angel was reclining under the covers when Willow approached the door. She gently knocked on the door as she entered. Angel lifted the covers for her to join him. This was all the invitation she needed. Willow closed the bedroom door and jumped onto the bed with Angel, sliding up against his side and resting her head on his chest.

They lay together in silence for several minutes, but Angel could sense that there was something Willow wanted to discuss.

"Shh," he cut her off. "There's going to be time enough for questions and plans. Let's just enjoy being with each other tonight."

Willow let out a sigh of relief – Angel had questions too. "That sounds heavenly." She turned her face up for a kiss, which Angel eagerly bestowed.

Angel chuckled. "That's okay. You've had a busy day today. I'd say you deserve a little sleep."

As she was starting to drift off, Willow mumbled, "I didn't cry last night. It was the first time since… since that day that I didn't cry myself to sleep."

"I know," Angel softly admitted, having agonized over her nightly crying each night since she'd arrived. He ran his fingers through her hair as she snuggled closer to him. "Good night Willow. Sweet dreams."

Willow woke slowly the next morning. She was a little disoriented at first in the dark room and unfamiliar bed. The unfamiliar bed sensation wasn't a new one since she arrived in LA, however this one was not the unusual bed she was used to. The feeling of being unable to extract herself from said unfamiliar bed was also a new one. As she became more alert she realized that the reason she felt pressed into the mattress was because she was.

A goofy grin spread over her face as she turned her head to look at Angel. His face was buried in her neck and he had an arm resting across her torso and a leg thrown over one of hers. Willow could see that his eyes were closed, but since he didn't breathe, she wasn't sure if he was awake or not.

Willow raised her free arm to caress his sleep rumpled hair, which wasn't very different from his regular look. Angel began to purr, tightening his arm around her and nuzzling her neck. As Willow's gentle caresses moved down to his back and arm, Angel began to stir.

He opened his eyes and smiled at the sight of Willow's mouth curved up in contentment. Her smile grew when she realized he was awake. Angel shifted slightly in order to kiss his girlfriend's lips.

"Mmm, now that's how I should wake up every morning," Willow sighed when they parted.

Angel shifted so that he wasn't laying half on top of the slight woman in his arms. Brushing the hair off her face he sincerely offered, "You can, if you want. You can keep your room for your things and when you need some time alone, but I would love it if you'd spend your nights in here, with me."

Willow's eyes began to shine with unshed tears. That was exactly what she wanted. Aside from the fact that she wasn't used to sleeping alone anymore, Willow didn't want to be apart from Angel for longer than necessary.

Willow lifted her head to meet Angel's descending one in a passionate kiss. Just as their first kiss of the morning has been perfectly innocent and loving, this kiss was intense and heated.

As Willow's body refilled itself with air after the kiss broke, it also reminded her of some of her other mortal habits. Namely her bladder began to yell at her and her tummy growled.

Willow blushed at the reminder. Her hand unconsciously moved to cover the breast Angel had bitten.

Following her hand's movements, Angel felt a need to ask, "You're not upset about that, are you?"

Willow looked at him confused for a moment. She noticed the direction his eyes were trained and she quickly moved her hand to turn his face to look at hers.

"No, of course not. I mean I was a little shocked at first, but it, uh, felt surprisingly, um, good."

Unable to resist, Angel lowered Willow's tank top to reveal the mark he'd left on her breast. He swooped down and flicked his tongue over the closed wounds. Willow gasped as she felt a ripple of sensation rush from her breast to her core. She arched her back when Angel repeated the action, this time slowly dragging his tongue over her breast.

Angel's hand began roaming over her torso in long, firm strokes. As he made a pass over her abdomen Willow's bladder loudly complained at the external pressure, causing Willow to regretfully push Angel off of her. He looked at her with eyes full of confusion.

"Sorry," Willow apologized as she moved to stand, "But I kinda need a short break."

"Was it something I did?" Angel reached for her to prevent her from leaving, wanting to know what the matter was.

"No, I just, need to, um, go to the bathroom," Willow whispered in embarrassment.

He immediately released her wrist and motioned for her to leave. "Sorry, by all means…"

Willow smiled her thanks and tried not to run for the bathroom. This was just one more of those human habits Angel was going to have to remember now that he had a human lover.

As soon as the bathroom door closed Angel heard knocking on the front door. Reluctantly he slid out of bed and pulled on a pair of pants to send whoever was there away.

Angel was not prepared to see the person on the other side of the door. He stood open-mouthed, staring at the blond woman taking in his barely-dressed body.

Stepping around the prone vampire, Buffy teased, "Damn, it's a good thing Willow's gay now or else I might have to object to you running around in nothing but a pair of pants."

Buffy luckily didn't see Angel's nervous swallow of guilt as he closed the door. He was about to say something when Willow's voice drifted down the hallway.

When she noticed Angel wasn't still in bed she headed towards the kitchen, calling out, "Angel, who gave you permission to get out of bed? I said I'd be right ba-"

Willow stopped short when she saw the blond slayer standing in the living room next to a very nervous looking vampire.

"Buffy, what are you doing here?" Willow asked, trying to sound happy, but only making her sound guilty.

Buffy took a step back to look between her best friend and her ex-boyfriend. They both radiated guilt.

"Nothing." Willow and Angel both instantly answered. They exchanged a look that screamed that it was a lie.

"I'm not a dentist, quit making me pull teeth." Buffy flopped down on the couch in frustration.

Willow looked over at Angel, a pleading look on her face, knowing she had to tell her friend the truth. Angel nodded in understanding.

"Do you want me to stay?" he mouthed to Willow. She shook her head. Angel smiled weakly and headed back towards his room.

"Where's he going?" Buffy asked, having observed the silent communication between the two.

"Yes, there is," Willow confirmed. The redhead wasn't blushing or trying to hide within herself. She sat next to Buffy on the couch, shoulders squared, resolve face at the ready.

"What?" Willow couldn't have heard her correctly. She'd had no idea anything could possibly happen between her and Angel, so how had Buffy?

Buffy smiled compassionately. "You've got too much in common, Will. You're both the quiet, helpful types. You've been hurt by the people you love and find the strength to go on. I can't imagine Angel asking anyone else to live with him, especially someone who at the time was just a friend. Besides, you're both so easy to love."

"I can see it, Will. You're positively glowing. And Angel isn't all broody. I know you; you wouldn't sleep with someone you didn't love."

"Maybe you haven't had sex, but don't try to tell me there hasn't been any hanky-panky in this apartment," Buffy teased. Willow's blush confirmed her statement. "And knowing you, you're already working on a way around that happiness clause in Angel's curse."

Willow's reddened cheeks immediately paled. "Um, Buffy… about Angel's soul…"

Both girls looked up to see Angel standing at the entrance to the room. Willow smiled her relief to Angel for not having to explain this one alone. Buffy merely stared in surprise.

Feeling more confident now that Angel was here, Willow answered, "When I gave Angel back his soul I did it without the happiness clause."

Angel moved to sit next to Willow, wrapping an arm around her waist to pull her back against his chest. Staring at his ex, Angel warned, "Don't even think about giving Willow grief about not saying anything. You had left town without even bothering to tell anyone I'd been sent to hell, so Willow had no way of telling you that it was permanent."

Willow picked up the narrative. "When you came back you insisted on moving on with your life. And we had no way of knowing if or when Angel would return. And it's not like I knew when he did."

Buffy knew they were trying to remind her of secrets she'd kept so that she wouldn't be angry with theirs. It was working. Looking up at the couple in front of her Buffy couldn't deny how perfect they looked together. She was happy now with Riley and while she may often wonder about Angel, she knew she was no longer in love with him. How could she deny Willow the happiness that she knew Angel could give her?

A very loud and rumbly tummy broke the silence. Willow blushed as Buffy and Angel looked at her.

"I haven't had breakfast yet," Willow admitted to her friend and reminded her boyfriend.

"Okay, fine." Willow stood and looked down at what she was wearing. "But first I'm gonna get dressed."

"I'll wait here," Buffy said before Willow could ask if she wanted to come with. After a cautionary look, Willow shrugged and headed for her room.

"Are you really okay with this?" Angel asked, knowing how hard it would be for Willow to continue a relationship if she thought Buffy had issues.

Buffy smiled. "I am. I'm hoping that now when I say that I am over you, us, that you won't take it so harshly." Angel smiled slightly. "I know you don't like to hear it, but I really am happy with Riley. And I know that you and Willow can make each other happy. You deserve it, both of you."

Willow walked back into the room, fully dressed, and saw the soft expressions on the faces of the former lovers. "Am I interrupting something?" she asked, a light, teasing tone to her voice.

Buffy headed towards the door and Angel took the opportunity to give Willow a quick kiss before she left.

"I'm going to take a shower and head down to the office. Meet me there after Buffy leaves?"

While Willow inhaled her bagel and coffee Buffy caught her up on what had been happening in Sunnydale since she'd left. When those two minutes were up Willow asked, "So what brings you to LA? Why didn't you call first?"

"More than you know," Willow agreed. "You're really not upset about me and Angel?"

"Only in the my-former-lover-doesn't-want-me-anymore way," Buffy assured her. "I'm always gonna care about Angel, ya know? He was my first… everything. Just like a part of you is always gonna love Oz."

"But what I wanna know about is this instance that you were 'gay now'." Buffy teased.

Willow looked abashed. "That was more for Tara's benefit than actual truth. Tara was always a little insecure about the two of us because she knew I'd loved men before her. I knew that I was attracted to both. As I've told everyone else in LA, I'm not making my dating choices based on a person's gender but because of who they are… their soul."

"That it does," Willow agreed. "He's been so great to me. Giving me space when I need it, keeping me company when I'm lonely, letting me buy whatever I want. He even gave me a job for the summer, as in he's gonna pay me to do research and magick."

"Okay, now I'm jealous," Buffy pouted. "Think I can get Giles to pay me for slaying? Nah, he's jobless, I probably shouldn't pressure him for money."

Brightening, Buffy plowed ahead. "So tell me how it happened. How'd you and Angel get together?"

"It was perfect," Willow sighed. Tossing her napkin on her plate Willow stood and pulled Buffy along. "C'mon, I gotta show you something."

Willow led Buffy back up to the apartment, into her room and out onto the balcony.

"I fell in love with this balcony the moment I saw it. I even dragged Angel to Pier 1 to get the loveseat and stuff so I could sit out here."

"Yeah, you should have seen him fretting over the lanterns," Willow giggled. "Now do you want to hear about how we got together or not."

"Shutting up now." Buffy sat on the loveseat and Willow leaned against the balcony railing.

"It was the next day. There was a rainstorm that day. I was out here reading when Angel got up. Before you ask, the roof extends far enough that hardly any rain got under here. Anyway I was reading this really engrossing book and Angel had to come all the way out onto the porch 'cause I didn't notice him in the doorway. I started freaking because, hello, vampire outside during the day. But there was no direct sunlight, so it was okay. I was looking at Angel, really looking at him 'cause how often am I going to see him outside during the day. Everything just seemed to click into place and the next thing I knew we were kissing."

"It was. Until the storm ended and we had to run indoors so Angel wouldn't get all flamey."

"You're life seems so perfect now," Buffy sadly observed. "Are you going to be coming back to Sunnydale?"

"Well, here you've got a spanking new boyfriend, a cozy apartment with a great balcony, a job that pays you do to what you love, and you can easily transfer to UCLA. Why wouldn't you stay?"

"I honestly haven't thought that much about the future. I've only been here a little over a week. It's all so new still. Can we not worry about that yet, please."

Willow and Buffy sat out on the balcony until it was time for Buffy to go meet her father. Surprising Willow had been only part of her reason for the trip. She was spending the weekend with her dad on a guilt-induced bonding weekend.

Willow entered the offices of Angel Investigations, which was still without a sign, after walking Buffy out. It had been a lot of fun to hang out with Buffy and just indulge in some girl talk. Although right now, she'd prefer to spend time with the object of said talk.

"Hi Willow." Cordelia looked up from magazine she was reading. "I hear you had a visit from a certain blond I-think-I'm-better-than-everyone-else slayer."

"She's just going by Buffy these days," Willow countered with a grin. "And yes, she made an announced visit today."

"Just where are you getting your information missy?" Willow crossed her arms over her chest with an expression of mock seriousness.

"Angel was muttering something about ex-girlfriends interrupting perfectly good mornings in bed with new ones. Does this mean you have something to tell me?"

"Apparently not," Willow teased, knowing Cordelia was fishing for details. Willow started to walk towards Angel's office, knowing she wouldn't get far.

"Oh no you don't," Cordelia grabbed her wrist. "What were you doing in bed with Angel this morning?"

"Willow," Cordelia gasped, a smile growing across her face. "You go girl. I see Angel didn't waste any time taking that permanent soul knowledge for a test drive."

"Uh-huh, like I'm gonna believe that with that blush." Cordelia raised an eyebrow.

Willow worried her bottom lip with her teeth and shook her head. She started walking backwards towards Angel's office. "All I'm gonna say is that from now on I'm gonna be sleeping in Angel's room."

Willow turned on her heel and ran the rest of the way to Angel's office, closing the door behind her. She rested her forehead against the cool wood, then turned to lean against the door.

Angel pushed his chair back from his desk and beckoned Willow to him. "Aw, poor baby. Want me to go set her straight? Dock her salary?"

Willow sat on Angel's lap, wrapping her arms around his neck. "No, that's okay. I like you here."

Angel's hands settled on Willow's hips. "You know, I like me here too." He met her lips in a soft, gentle kiss. "So how did it go with Buffy?"

"Better than I expected. She's okay with us, she really is," Willow excitedly said.

"I know." Willow gave him a questioning look. "Buffy and I had a little chat while you were getting dressed this morning. She's moved on and so have I."

Angel kissed her again, showing her how much he was over Buffy. His tongue sought entrance to her mouth and was instantly admitted. Willow moaned as the kiss deepened. Her hands slid up into his hair, tugging on the gelled strands, pulling him closer.

Angel's fingers gripped Willow's hips tighter. His tongue delved into Willow's mouth - exploring, tasting, claiming.

When Willow pulled back for air she panted, "Did you have some work you should be doing?"

Angel was about to say that nothing was more important than her when, as if on cue, there was a loud thump from the lobby accompanied by Cordelia's screams of pain.

"Vision," Angel explained as they rushed to assist the seer. "Willow, can you get the aspirin and some water from the kitchen?"

Angel helped Cordelia back into her chair as Willow fetched the pills. "Cordelia, what did you see?"

"Demons… 3, no 4, of them. They were destroying an occult shop… looking for something… An amulet! It's silver… an oval with a moonstone in the center and symbols carved around it."

Willow handed the pills and water to Cordelia who gratefully downed the tablets. Angel handed Cordelia a notepad and pencil.

"Um, yeah. Give me a second." Cordelia rested her elbows on the desk and her head on her hands, waiting for the pain to pass.

"I'll give Gunn and Wesley a call, get them in here to help research this amulet and then dispatch the demons." Angel announced as he headed back towards his office.

"I'll start looking up ovular amulets with moonstones and engravings on the computer in the library," Willow offered, heading into research mode.

"Wait for Cordelia to give you a drawing of it. It'll save time," Angel said, disappearing into his office.

"Yes, sir," Willow mock-saluted. She turned back to Cordelia, "How you feelin'?"

"A little better," she said. "And just ignore Mr. Order Giver. He gets that way when I get a vision. All business and single-minded."

"Now don't get all mopey on me. You know how these things work as well as I do. A new baddy makes itself known and everything else goes on hold until it's destroyed."

"I know," Willow insisted. "And I'm not all mopey. It's just been so great the last couple of days – you know, just the two of us being able to spend so much time together. I guess I wasn't ready for the real world to intrude on us just yet."

"I get that," Cordy sighed. "I love that encapsulated feeling at the beginning of a relationship."

Angel walked back into the room, taking in the dreamy expressions on the girls' faces. "Any luck with that amulet drawing?" he asked Cordelia.

Angel leaned down to whisper in Willow's ear. "Am I the subject of that wonderful expression on your face?"

"I think we better find out what that amulet is for quickly," Angel huskily replied.

"Uh-um," Cordelia cleared her throat. She held out her drawing of the amulet. "Here you go."

"Sorry, Cordy," Willow apologized, taking the drawing from Angel. "I'll just go get started on this in the library."

"Oh no you don't," Cordelia insisted. "I'm not leaving you two alone in a room. I'll be researching right along side you and I can't believe I'm offering to do research."

"Oh, yes, I think I do." The former cheerleader insisted. "You two need a chaperone and it looks like I just got elected for the job."

"We'll be fine," Willow insisted. "What do you think we are, two hormone driven teenagers who can't keep their hands off each other?"

"Fine, whatever, let's just get started." Angel said, herding everyone into the library.

"Ooh, let me go get my laptop. That way Cordy and I can both surf the net for info," Willow suggested.

"Good idea," Angel agreed. Willow gave him a peck on the cheek and ran up to the apartment to get her laptop.

As soon as she left Cordelia started in on Angel. "Okay, now we're going to have to set some rules for proper office behavior."

"There is to be no hanky-panky in the office. No longing looks, no teasing whispers, no coupley behavior whatsoever."

"My relationship with Willow is not going to affect my work," Angel insisted, knowing how hard it was going to be keeping his hands off of Willow when they were together. "How about this: we'll try to behave ourselves in front of you guys, but you can't expect us not to act 'coupley'. We're a couple! We're going to act all… coupley."

"Darn tootin'," Willow added, entering the library, laptop under her arm. To demonstrate her point Willow gave Angel a quick kiss before sitting next to him at the table.

Wesley arrived a short time later and was filled in on the vision and amulet. He pulled out the books he thought would be useful and he and Angel began searching for any useful information.

Willow got lucky an hour and a half later. She'd done a search of occult shops in the area and crossed it with a description of the amulet. After Cordelia verified that it was one and the same amulet, they both concentrated on identifying the demons in her vision and how to kill them. Wesley gloated another half hour later after having identified the demons in one of his books.

By the time Gunn arrived the sun had set, so the men weaponed up. As Angel was about to suggest that the women wait at the office, Willow beat him to the punch.

"Don't even think about asking me to sit this one out," she insisted. "First off, it's an occult shop, right? Being the resident witch I think I should learn where they are. Secondly, while you guys are fighting the demons I can get a hold of the amulet and deactivate it."

"I will," she promised. She raised herself to her toes to whisper in his ear, "Now that wasn't so hard, was it? It just might earn you a reward tonight."

Angel grabbed her ass, pulling her flush against his side, "It better. And if you get yourself hurt, you may have to be punished."

Willow's eyes momentarily darkened with lust at the possibilities of being punished by Angel. A wicked grin spread across her face.

While the witch and the vampire were… talking… the other members of the AI team were deep in conversation.

"Hey, Cordy, this is the first vision you've had since the one about Red, right?" Gunn pointed out.

"I wonder why that is," Wesley mused aloud. "There usually isn't so much time that passes between visions."

"I was thinking about that," Cordelia admitted. "I think it's because the last vision wasn't finished yet." The men both gave her curious looks. "Here's the way I see it, no pun intended. The Powers sent me the vision of Tara being attacked after it happened so that Angel would be there in time for Willow's break-up. He then brings her to LA, where she is meant to be so that Angel can learn that his soul is permanent, just as he starts to fall for the witch who gave it to him."

"So you're sayin' that Willow and Angel are destined to be together," Gunn summarized.

"The girl who gave him his soul, permanently, is the one he is meant to love. Two souls in pain who find happiness together. It's rather poetic isn't it?"

"We're right behind you," Gunn answered as he and Wesley followed him out the door.

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Take Me Walking In the Rain

by Elisabeth

Copyright © June 2003

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