Disclaimers:
NutMeg says I can claim Angel, but I don’t think Joss Whedon would agree
with her. So no, I don’t own them.
Spoilers:
Third story of “Every Breath You Take,” following “Breathless.” So same
as last time – IWRY, takes place the Sunday after “Superstar” and “Eternity.”
Wedding proposals aren’t usually a spectator sport. Nothing about this relationship was usual, though. Even this random spectator could tell that much. For one thing, the proposal had been completely spur of the moment, the girl proposing to the guy.
It was the staff of Sunnydale hospital that got to watch the newest chapter of this saga unfold. They knew nothing of the complicated past, of the terrors and tears, of everything that had stood in their way. They didn’t know that this young couple had only just gotten back together this weekend after months apart.
They saw a girl, not yet twenty, and her older boyfriend; they had no clue how much older he was. They saw a couple made for each other, beautiful in their contrasting looks, dark for light. They didn’t know how deep those contrasts ran. They saw two young people so in love they didn’t want to wait until they were older. They didn’t know how the forces of darkness might make ‘when you’re older’ never happen.
One lucky doctor had a front row seat as the drama continued. Her patient, a young blond woman by the name of Buffy Summers, had been caught in a cave-in near the beach and had a broken leg plus a nasty gash as a result. Under other circumstances she was probably a hell of a patient to deal with, fidgety and none too patient. At the moment, though, she was happily engrossed in staring at her boyfriend. Plus, she was under a heavy dose of painkillers.
Suddenly Buffy started to chuckle.
Her boyfriend – Angel – blinked at her for a moment. “What?”
Buffy gasped in mock surprise. “He speaks! Why, I thought you’d lost the power of speech completely!”
Angel smiled and chuckled weakly. “Sorry. I’m…”
“In shock?” Buffy asked brightly.
“It’s…been a hell of a weekend,” Angel said by way of explanation.
Buffy smiled dreamily. “Has it only been a weekend?”
“Only a weekend.” Angel confirmed with a grin.
Buffy nodded to herself for a moment, completely ignoring the doctor stitching up the cut on her leg. “So, now that you seem to have found your vocabulary again, you still haven’t answered my question.”
“Question? There was a question?” Angel asked, but his eyes said he was teasing.
“Angel!” Buffy said in exasperation.
Angel grinned wildly. “Of course, Buffy! There is no one else in the world I’ve ever wanted to marry. But…are you sure you want this?”
“I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t, Angel. Forever, with you.” She grasped his hand and smiled.
An odd look crossed Angel’s face. “We still don’t know…”
Buffy knew where he was going with that, even though he couldn’t say everything in front of the doctor. The usual issues…ageing, children… “Angel, we know enough. We can be together now, and I’m not going to let this chance pass. Anything else we can figure out later.”
Still Angel had reservations. “But…so soon…are you sure…?”
“What did I just say about not letting this chance pass?” Buffy mock scolded.
Angel smiled. “You’re right. I’m sorry.” He leaned forward then and kissed her. She returned it happily. Finally he pulled away just enough to talk. “I want to spend forever with you,” he whispered.
Buffy’s eyes shown with delight. She pulled him close for another kiss, longer and more passionate than the last. They could have stayed there forever.
The doctor cleared her throat noisily to get their attention. Slightly embarrassed, Buffy and Angel separated and Angel leaned back in the chair next to her bed. The doctor just looked amused.
“We’re almost done here,” she said with a smile, “and once we’re through you two can leave and get back to…whatever.”
Buffy smiled back in relief. “Thanks,” she said softly. She clearly could not wait to leave the hospital.
The doctor nodded. “Because you had to get stitches and your break isn’t too severe, I’m going to put you in a soft cast,” she explained. “I don’t want you putting any weight on it for a bit, though.”
Buffy looked uncertain, so Angel spoke up. “I’ll make sure she doesn’t.”
Though secretly delighted to think of Angel taking care of her for the short time it would take her to recover, Buffy was still indignant at the thought that she had to be taken care of. “And how are you going to do that, mister?”
“I’ll carry you if I have to,” Angel replied.
The image suddenly came to Buffy of slaying while wearing a huge cast and Angel carrying her, and she fought back a chuckle.
The doctor smiled but shook her head. “That won’t be necessary. The hospital can provide you with a pair of crutches.”
Buffy looked disgusted at the thought.
Angel smiled reassuringly, his eyes showing amusement at the expression on her face.
“I’m going to get a cast for you,” the doctor explained after a moment. “I’ll be right back.”
Buffy and Angel sat for a moment in silence in the hospital room. Buffy looked at her leg – cleaned up now, bone set, stitches and all – and sighed to herself. Angel squeezed her hand slightly and smiled. When Buffy replied with a smile of her own, Angel’s whole face seemed to brighten as a genuine smile reached his eyes.
It was enough to warm Buffy’s heart and soul to know she made him happy…and that she was allowed to, now. “This is a dream,” she said softly. “I can’t believe we’re actually doing this.”
Angel ducked his head slightly, an odd look on his face, and Buffy felt her breath catch in her throat. “I’m sorry,” she said suddenly, the joy disappearing from her face. “I shouldn’t have asked…. We just got back together, and I’m rushing things, aren’t I?” she said very softly. “If you’re not… If you don’t want….”
“Buffy,” he interrupted quickly. He took both of her hands in his own cool ones, moving to sit beside her on the bed. “I do want. More than anything I’ve ever wanted. It’s just…”
“What?” Buffy asked, still concerned.
“I never…realistically entertained the possibility of being married someday. When I was young – when I was human – I never was with anyone long enough for it to be called a relationship, let alone a serious one. Just…a disgraceful night after night series of one night stands and a lot of alcohol.”
“Sounds like a number of college students I know,” Buffy replied lightly.
Angel smiled faintly in response. “I guess so,” he replied. Then he sighed slightly, hanging his head again, lost in thought. “I don’t like to think about the relationships I had before the curse. Vampires…don’t love, not really. I was with Darla the longest, and I can’t really explain what our relationship was.”
It wasn’t like Angel to talk about his past like this, so Buffy said nothing. She wasn’t sure if he’d ever be willing to speak of the past again, so she listened attentively. He continued.
“Then came the curse.” Angel was silent for a moment, collecting his thoughts. “I spent 90 years completely alone.” Buffy squeezed his hand slightly and he smiled. “So, when I said I’ve loved only one person, I meant it. There has never been anyone else like you. You are the only one I’ve ever seen in my dreams in a wedding dress. Of all the time I’ve spent on this earth, the only pleasant memories are since I met you. You are everything to me.
“So, you see…. I don’t deserve you. That’s why I hesitate. You could have someone so much better. Yes, Buffy, I want to. I want to marry you.” He took a deep breath and met her gaze, his eyes shining. “I would be honored to be your husband.”
Buffy grinned giddily. She pulled him closer and kissed him hungrily for a moment. They separated slightly a second later, breathless. “Don’t ever say you don’t deserve me,” Buffy whispered. “I’d be dead without you. This is meant to be, Angel. You and me, forever.”
“Forever,” Angel whispered in acknowledgement, and then they were kissing again.
When the doctor came in a second later, they were still kissing (though thankfully not doing anything else.) She chuckled slightly, and Buffy and Angel pulled apart, smiling a bit sheepishly. The doctor had seen way more of the two of them kissing than they ever meant for her to see.
She just smiled, though. “So, when’s the wedding?” she asked, having gotten that much of the conversation between the two of them.
The reunited lovers looked at each other again for a moment. “Soon,” Buffy said firmly, and then raised her eyes to the doctor again.
Instead she saw someone unexpected, standing in the doorway, frozen in shock.
Buffy’s breath caught.
“Mom?”
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