Angel put the last of the boxes in his car. "There. I'm done." He walked back into the mansion and grabbed his coat of the sofa. He wasn't taking any of the furniture with him. Only his clothes and the few books that he owned. Sighing, he draped his coat over his arm and locked the door to the mansion behind him. He walked to the car he had rented, an old fixer-uper Honda Prelude, tossed the coast through the passenger side window, walked around to the drivers side. He was about to get in when the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. That meant only one thing. Buffy was near.

Buffy fought back tears as she watched Angel pack his car. She wanted so much to run to him and beg him not to go, but she knew that it wouldn't work on him so she stayed where she was. She watched as Angel tossed his coat into the car and walk around to the drivers side. Then he stopped and looked around. She knew he could sense her. She wanted him to sense her. She wanted him to remember the feeling he got whenever she was around. Because for all she knew, he might never come back.

Angel looked around, trying to pinpoint her location. But she seemed to be everywhere at once. He shook his head and got in the car. When he reached the top of the hill leading to the highway, he stopped. There, in his path, were three butch vamps. One held a bloodied club in his hand, the other two were holding onto something else. As far as he could tell, it was human. Then his senses went haywire when the headlights fell on the form. Blood covered the form from head to toe, staining the skirt and blouse. He recognized the form immediately. It was Buffy. She lifted her head weakly to look up at the car. "A-a-ngel?" She whispered.

That was when the car started to roll forward. He pressed his foot to the breaks, and to his horror, the car kept going, picking up speed as it went. He tried to open the door, but it was locked from the outside. Trying to break a window was fruitless. It was one hour glass. Meaning it would take him an hour to get through it. He didn't have an hour. He had less then two seconds.

Just before the car hit her, they made eye contact. Her eyes didn't hold any anger towards him, only love, devotion, and acceptance of her fate. The car hit her going 50mph, sending her over the hood, breaking the windshield, and sending her flying through the crisp night air behind the car. Angel, though he was wearing a seatbelt, was sent through the windshield and to the ground in front of the car.

Angel woke, covered in sweat. He had been having the same dream every day ever since he moved to LA. He rubbed his hands over his face, trying to clear his head of the visions of a bloodied Buffy laying on the ground behind the car that he was driving. Not bothering to put on a shirt with his sweatpants, Angel walked to his balcony that overlooked the city.

He looked at the phone. Maybe he should call her, just to see if she was all right. His hand reached for the phone just as his mind realized what he was doing. "No." He thought. "She's all right. She can take care of herself." But after a few seconds, he wasn't so sure. "What if those dreams mean something's happened to her? What if she's dead and I wasn't there to protect her?"

His heart made the decision for him. Picking up the phone, he quickly dialed her personal line. "Hello?" Came the soft voice on the other end. He had thought of a million things to say if he ever talked to her again, but the sound of her voice made him go speechless. "Hello?" Buffy said again. "Xander if this is another one of your prank calls, I swear you will rue the day you decided to confide in me that you still wore Superman underwear." Angel couldn't help but chuckle at the comment. Buffy obviously heard him cause her voice all of a sudden got softer. "This isn't Xander, is it?" Angel finally got the courage to talk. "Hey." He heard the gasp on the other end. "Angel?" Her voice was barely above a whisper. "I just wanted to see if you were all right."

Buffy looked up as Willow walked into the room. She motioned for her to sit down and Willow mouthed, "Who is it?" Buffy mouthed back. "Angel." Willow's eyes got large and she barley contained a shriek of delight. Buffy turned her attention back to the phone. "I-I'm doing fine. Why do you ask?" "I've been having dreams lately. I just wanted to see if you were okay."

"What kind of dreams?" Buffy asked, trying to keep up the conversation. "It doesn't matter. All that matters is that you're okay." "Thank you for still caring about me, Angel." "I will never stop caring about you, Buffy. I should get going. It's starting to get dark, almost time to start my patrol." Buffy looked out the window. It was a few minutes until sundown. She sighed. "I miss you" She whispered. "I miss you, too." "I'll talk to you later?" Buffy asked hopefully. "I don't know. Oh and Buffy?" "Yes?" "You're still my girl." Buffy smiled. "Always."

After the line disconnected with Buffy, Angel remained where he was standing, staring blankly out across the city. His thoughts were interupted by a song playing on the radio alarm clock he had gotten.

There's something out there left for you,
But it's not me. We reached the point of
no return it's only right, I set you free

Buffy and Willow sat in silence, both lost in their own thoughts. Willow, deciding to try and cheer Buffy up, turned on Buffy's stereo. But the song that was on was not what she wanted. Willow started to change it, but Buffy stopped her. "Leave it. Please." Willow sat back down and listened to the song with Buffy.

I know I'll have to turn away, but there's
nowhere for my love to go. And there won't
come a day, when I won't honor what we vowed.

In both places, both people sat silently and listened to the song, realizing how much the song sounded like their relationship. In LA, Angel silently watched the rain that had just started to fall. In Sunnydale, Buffy and Willow curled up together and just sat on her bed, letting the song coming from the radio fill the room.

But I'll go on with my life, we can even say
goodbye for now if, if that's what we have to
do. But here in my heart, even when my arms
are empty, darlin, I'm still holdin on to you.

We can't deny that this one's out of our control.
Stronger than the both of us. And bound to take
its toll. I can stand the test of time, and as far as
I can see there are no walls that we can't climb,
standing between you and me.

But I'll go on with my life. We can even say
goodbye for now if, if that's what we have to do
But here in my heart, even when my arms are
empty darlin, I'm still holdin on to you.

Tears were streaking down both of their faces. Angel's was red from the blood in his tears and Buffy's was red from just crying.Angel sat down in his leather chair and put his hands to his lips in a mock prayer fashion. He stared blankly at the wall as his tears kept falling and the song kept playing.

And there's a place you'll always be, not matter
where you are you're here with me. When the world
is turning upside down, together we can stand our
ground.

We can even say goodbye for now if, if that's what we
have to do. But here in my heart, even when my arms
are empty, darlin', I'm still holdin on to you. I'm still holdin
on to you. When I'm gone, when I'm gone, I'm holdin on.

Both were sobbing uncontrolably when the song ended. But Buffy had someone to turn to. Angel didn't. For the rest of the night, while Buffy was crying in Willow's arms, Angel was alone, wallowing in misery.

But he brightened up when he looked down at his hand and saw his ring. Buffy still loved him. And she would wait for him, he knew, no matter how long it took him, she would wait. Buffy looked down at her hand the same time Angel did. Her face broke out into a smile when she looked at the ring. He still loved her. The ring was just one of the things he had done to show her he loved her.

FINIS!!!!

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