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: Sequel to “Remember
to Breathe.” So same as last time – IWRY, takes place after “Superstar”
and “Eternity.” Yes, you have to read the first story for this one to make
sense, because it picks up right where the last one left off.
Notes: Here’s for everyone
who asked me to write a sequel. Hope you enjoy! Oh, and this could be series
now has a title, “Every Breath You Take.”
Buffy awoke slowly, her mind fuzzy with sleep. For a moment she was confused, waking up someplace other than her dorm room. Then she remembered and smiled contentedly. She was in Angel’s apartment – in Angel’s bed, actually – and Angel was sort of half human.
Angel also wasn’t there. For a moment Buffy’s heart felt like it was in her throat to find herself alone in the bed. Only for a moment, though, for then she heard someone moving around in the kitchen. Buffy smiled, stretched, and climbed out of the bed. She grabbed the nearest piece of clothing – Angel’s shirt – before leaving the bedroom.
Buffy grinned at the sight that greeted her. Angel was standing with his back to her wearing nothing but a pair of pants. She cleared her throat and Angel turned, smiling at her.
“I was hungry and I didn’t want to wake you,” he explained. He gestured at the pan on the stove in front of him. “Eggs?” he asked.
“Sure,” Buffy replied, crossing the kitchen to his side. She wrapped her arm around him, loving his warmer-than-usual skin. “So, hungry?” she asked with a grin.
“Yes, hungry,” Angel replied, serving the eggs onto two plates. He paused to kiss her lightly on the forehead. “You said you’d explain what Willow did to me.”
“Well, I was kind of distracted,” Buffy chuckled.
“I noticed,” Angel replied. He passed her a plate. “How about you explain over breakfast?”
“I can do that.” Buffy did not move from where she stood at Angel’s side.
He looked at her for a moment, then looked at her and chuckled. “I like your outfit,” he said.
“Oh, really?” Buffy held the plate away from herself so she could lean in for a kiss. Angel leaned down to meet her and…
Cordelia screamed from the stairs. “Oh my god!”
Buffy pulled away from Angel a bit sheepishly to see a very wide-eyed Cordelia and Wesley on the stairs. She put her plate down on the table and pulled on the bottom of the shirt she wore. “Well, I’m suddenly feeling a bit underdressed,” she muttered. “Uh, hi guys.” When no one said anything she continued. “I’ll just go put some pants on.”
Angel just smiled. “Stay,” he said loud enough for Cordelia and Wesley to hear him. “Your breakfast will get cold.” Buffy tugged her shirt down as far as she could as she sat, still highly embarrassed. Once she was sitting Angel looked at his two guests once again. They gaped at him from the stairs as he grabbed a plate and sat next to her. “You guys need something?” he asked Cordelia and Wesley.
Wesley gathered his wits first and walked the rest of the way into the kitchen. “Well,” he started a tad uncomfortably. “Cordelia and I went to breakfast…to give you two some time alone…to work things out.”
“Which apparently you did,” Cordelia muttered from behind him.
“Yes, well…when we didn’t hear anything Cordelia thought we should come down and check on you.” Angel nodded and continued to eat his eggs contentedly. Wesley’s eyes went even wider as he took notice and Cordelia gaped openly.
Wesley cleared his throat again. “Angel, I know it’s not our place…”
“Hell yeah, it’s our place!” Cordelia yelled, finally finding her voice again. “Especially after last night… What the hell are you thinking?”
“Calm down, Cordelia,” Angel said tolerantly. “Things have changed…since we spoke this morning.”
“I should hope so,” Cordelia said with her arms crossed firmly. “So, Angel, what exactly has changed?”
Angel smiled. “Why don’t the two of you sit down? Or is this an interrogation?”
Cordelia and Wesley glanced at each other then sat at the two remaining kitchen stairs. They looked at Angel expectantly. Angel turned to look at Buffy. Buffy sank a little lower in her chair under the sudden attention.
“Does this feel awkward to anyone else?” she muttered.
Angel chuckled.
Buffy put her fork down and sighed. Angel clasped her hand warmly in reassurance. “Willow did it,” Buffy said finally.
Cordelia started slightly and Wesley looked surprised. Angel was unfazed; he already knew this much.
“You’ve already figured out that Angel’s soul isn’t going anywhere,” Buffy said a bit sheepishly. “Willow could explain a lot better than I could; I … wasn’t paying much attention to details. What I got… She made Angel live again. He still has his demon, reacts to crosses, but he also has a heartbeat and breathes.” She smiled at him affectionately.
Cordelia made a show of rolling her eyes.
“So…what does this mean, exactly?” Wesley asked.
Buffy shrugged. “Willow didn’t know exactly,” she explained. “She said this spell has never been used like this…on a vampire…before. She’s not even sure what the full results will be, but she thinks it will make him like half-human.”
There was a long moment of silence, but it was merely thoughtful. Most of the discomfort in the room was gone.
“So,” Wesley said calmly, his attention on Angel, “what are you going to do now?”
Angel leaned back in his chair. “I don’t know,” he said. “I need to figure out what this means for me. I need details.” He turned his attention to Buffy. “I need to speak to Willow.”
Buffy grinned. “Sounds like we’re heading to Sunnydale.”
Willow nodded. “Definitely.” She was looking at the crystal they’d used for the spell. It was still glowing, and brighter than before, attesting to the ever-strengthening nature of the spell. “You should have heard Buffy when she called. I haven’t heard her so happy in a while.”
Tara nodded to herself. “Good.”
Willow was about to reply when a knock came at the door. After taking a habitual look at the sunlit windows she called, “Come in!”
The door opened, revealing the sounds of laughter before the faces came in the doorway. “And here we were hoping to test the invitation thing!” Buffy’s voice rang out, followed by a male chuckle from the hall.
“Buffy!” Willow said in surprise, jumping to her feet. “I wasn’t expecting you back so soon! You said you were going to call.”
Buffy was grinning from ear to ear. “I wasn’t expecting to be back so soon, either,” she said. “But Angel wanted to talk to you.”
Willow looked up at the handsome vampire standing behind her roommate. He was smiling as well, an expression Willow wasn’t sure she’d ever seen on his face. He also looked uncomfortable, out of place, standing awkwardly in the bright corridor fiddling with a pair of black sunglasses. She smiled at him warmly. “Angel,” she said in greeting, then on impulse stepped past Buffy to give him a quick hug.
Angel was more than a bit surprised. After a moment he returned her brief hug. “Hi Willow,” he said.
“So are you two just going to hang out in the hall all afternoon or are you going to come in?” Willow asked, teasing.
Both Buffy and Angel followed her into the dorm room. Buffy didn’t move more than a couple of inches from Angel the whole time, clasping his hand firmly until he sat down next to her on the bed.
“Do you want me to go?” Tara asked after a moment.
“No, stay,” Willow said quickly. She moved to introduce her. “Angel, this is Tara. Tara helped me with the spell.” She paused for a second. “Which is what I assume you wanted to talk about?”
Buffy sighed. “Here comes the magic talk that I won’t understand a bit of,” she said wryly. She stood up, kissing Angel lightly as she went. “I’ll be right back.”
“You want us to wait for you?” Willow asked.
Buffy shook her head. “Just knowing that the spell works is enough for me,” she said with a grin, then left the room.
There was a moment of silence when she left. Neither Willow nor Angel was certain where to start talking. Angel had come here for a reason, but now he seemed uncertain as to where to begin. He fiddled with the sunglasses in his hand as he thought, causing Willow to chuckle.
He looked at her with questions in his gaze.
“The sunglasses,” Willow said by way of explanation.
Angel grinned. “I’m not about to go sunbathing,” he explained. “It’s uncomfortable, and it bothers my eyes…but I drove here in the sunlight.” His voice betrayed a hint of wonder, and Willow found herself smiling in response.
“I want to give you something,” Willow said suddenly.
“You don’t…” Angel started to object.
Willow cut him off with a shake of her head. She turned to Tara, who handed her the large, growing crystal with a smile of encouragement. Willow then sat across from Angel again. She held out the stone to him and he took it hesitantly. His eyes betrayed his surprise at its unexpected warmth. “This crystal is the key part of the spell we cast,” she explained. “Your life is sort of connected to Buffy’s through this. The more you’re together, the stronger the spell will be. The stronger the spell is, the brighter the crystal will glow.” She smiled a bit hesitantly. “You should have it.”
Angel looked at the crystal in silence for a moment. He cradled it in his hand very lightly, almost as if he was afraid to break it. “Willow…” he began softly.
“Angel,” Willow said almost sharply, “are you…mad at me?”
“What?” Angel asked in surprise. “Why would I be mad at you?”
“For not asking you. For casting this spell on you without telling you about it first, or even knowing everything about it?”
“No, I’m not mad at you,” Angel said firmly. He looked at the crystal in his hand and smiled. “You’re a good friend and an amazing person. Willow, you’ve restored my soul, and now my life. How in the world could I be mad at you?”
“I guess it’s silly,” Willow acknowledged.
“You cast the curse?” Tara asked in sudden surprise.
“The second time,” Angel answered for her with a grin.
Tara looked slightly confused. “Second time?”
Willow shrugged. “I didn’t tell you the whole story last night.”
“Story time later,” Angel insisted. “Right now, could the two of you explain what spell you cast? I need to know exactly what this will mean … now and in the future.”
Angel. All it had taken was a couple of words, a song, and the memories they’d sparked and she had been running to L.A. once again. Now…they were in a situation that was delightfully new. Returning to Sunnydale only hours later, her normal life seemed surreal.
Actually, that was the way everything felt at the moment. Buffy had lost hope of having a relationship anything near normal with Angel long ago. Then she had resigned herself to never having a relationship with him at all. She never thought she’d have a night like she did last night. It started with a frightening surprise encounter with Angel’s evil, demon side. It had ended stepping into the sunlight with the knowledge that they were truly together.
Were they moving back into a relationship too fast? Buffy barely gave that idea any thought. They had been given a wonderful opportunity that might be too good to last. They would not waste any moment that they could be together. They’d learned that lesson over Thanksgiving.
Buffy smiled remembering the look on his face when they’d stepped out of the office. Never mind that he had gotten to see the sunlight twice since he’d moved to L.A. almost a year before. They’d never expected to be standing like this again. He’d had this adorable look of discomfort and wonder on his face. It made Buffy smile just to think about it.
She was so caught up in her thoughts that it barely registered when she bumped into someone in the hall. “Sorry…” Their eyes caught. “Riley! Oh, I…” she stuttered.
“Buffy!” he said with a surprised smile, and Buffy felt instantly guilty. “I was just coming to see you. You ran off so suddenly yesterday. I was worried.”
Buffy sighed. “We have to talk.”
An odd look crossed Riley’s face. “Okay,” he said, and began walking towards her dorm room.
“No!” Buffy said suddenly, causing Riley to stop in alarm. “Uh…Willow’s got a friend over. Let’s talk in the lobby.”
“Okay,” Riley said, smiling slightly, following her down the stairs.
The silence stretched between them uncomfortably as they walked. Buffy’s stomach was tied up in knots. She cared about Riley, really she did…but she’d never had with him what she’d had – did have – with Angel. She just didn’t know how to tell Riley.
“You said we need to talk,” Riley said. “You’re right, we do. The whole thing with Faith, I…”
Buffy shook her head. “This isn’t about Faith,” she said, “though…that really didn’t help. It’s…I can’t see you anymore, Riley. I want to break up.”
Riley was silent for a moment. “I see,” he said. He paused, looking confused. “You sure this has nothing to do with Faith?”
Buffy nodded. She didn’t know how to tell him this without hurting him more than she would already. In the end, though, she just had to tell him the truth. “I … There was someone else I was involved with in high school, off and on for three years. It…didn’t always work very well. There was a lot in the way between us. There were some very bad times. We finally…decided it would never work…and he left.”
She paused and looked at Riley very seriously. “I always loved him, though. Even through all the bad times. Even when he left me. I still love him.” She met his gaze and did not blink. “That would have always gotten in the way between us, eventually. Even if…”
“Even if what?” he asked softly.
“Even if…I hadn’t gotten back together with him.”
Riley sat very quietly for a moment. Something flashed in his eyes – anger or hurt, she wasn’t sure. “When?” he asked finally.
“This morning. I had something to ask him. I went to see him, and…things happened.”
“Really. Things. What…sort of things?”
Buffy just looked at him pointedly.
“Oh. I see.” Riley looked back at her, his expression gone cold. “You know, Buffy, you can be as mad at me as you want about Faith, but at least I didn’t know I was cheating on my girlfriend.”
“I didn’t plan for this to happen,” Buffy said apologetically.
“Neither did I,” Riley said, obviously angry.
“Oh, come on!” Buffy yelled finally. “How could you have not known that it wasn’t me? I mean, let’s see. Faith dresses in leather and goes all bad girl in my body, and you just think Buffy’s turned kinky?”
“That’s not how it was,” Riley protested weakly. “Can you honestly say your old boyfriend wouldn’t have done the same?”
Buffy stood up, angry as well. “Yes, I can. Angel’s my soulmate – he would know me no matter what body I wore.” She walked a brief bit away before turning to look at him again. “I said I was sorry it happened this way, but you know what? I’m not. I’m tired of being sorry for the things that are right for me. And this – Angel – this is right for me. I’m only sorry that you ended up in the middle.” Buffy turned around then, heading back to Angel, and never looked back.
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