1. Don\'t Walk Away

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AN: I REFUSE TO BELIEVE THAT Buffy WOULD HAVE JUST LET ANGEL WALK AWAY AT THE END OF GRADUATION DAY PART TWO. I THINK SHE WOULD HAVE MADE HIM STAY. THIS IS STRAIGHT FROM THE LAND OF DENIAL, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS EGYPT. JUST A ONE-SHOT, BUT WITH POTENTIAL TO BECOME A SERIES IF I AM ASKED TO.

DISCLAIMER: I AM NOT JOSS WHEDON, I OWN NOTHING AND MAKE NO PROFIT FROM THESE ACTIVITIES.

RATING: PG-13 FOR LANGUAGE AND INNUENDO

Don't Walk Away

Buffy turned slowly. She knew before she saw him that Angel was standing behind her. The hairs on the back of her neck were standing on end and there was a heavy tightness in her stomach. The raised scar on her neck was twitching uncomfortably.

She saw him there. The smoke from the explosion was swirling around him. He was dressed just as he always did, in all black. For a time she could only stare at him, the ache in her chest too painful for her to move. She knew that it wasn't pain from her wounds from the fight with the mayor. She healed too quickly for it to be that.

The ache was an older pain. It had been there since the night in the sewer when Angel had said he was leaving her and Sunnydale. But the pain was stronger now. She had ignored it all evening, knowing that it was more important to defeat the mayor. But she couldn't disregard it now. She felt like half of her soul was being ripped away.

She could not remember feeling so empty, not even after the master had killed her. The pain had only gotten stronger since she had forced Angel to drink from her. She had thought that he would have understood now, understood that she didn't want any normal like without him.

Angel turned away from her and Buffy knew he was going to leave her. She knew, somehow, that if Angel walked away, everything would go wrong. He had to stay, not just for her, but for all of them. She ran towards him and grabbed hold of his arm. He would not walk away from her this time.

Angel tried to pull his arm out of her grip, but not even the additional strength he had gained from drinking the blood of a slayer was enough to overcome the power of a real slayer. He turned back to look at her and she saw he was glaring at her through a veil of blood tears. Angel once again tried to pull himself free of her grasp, but she refused to let him go. He sighed and then spoke,

"Buffy, let. me. go."

Buffy scowled and shook her head. Angel's voice was more of a snarl than anything. He tried to pull himself free but she doggedly refused to loosen her grip. She stared up at him and saw the blood tears around his eyes. She felt the tears in her own eyes and said,

"I'm not letting you leave me. Not now, not after last night."

Angel stared at her in astonishment,

"Buffy, I could have killed you."

Buffy scowled at him,

"But you didn't. Anyway, don't think you can have me bound to you and then just fucking walk away from me like this."

Angel gasped slightly at her,

"How did you? When did you?"

Buffy rolled her eyes,

"Angel, give me some credit. I'm the slayer, I'm supposed to know these sorts of things. I know just as well as you that if a vampire drinks from a willing supplicant and lets them live, then that person is bound to them for eternity."

Angel sighed,

"It's more complicated than that, Buffy."

Buffy glared at him,

"Explain."

Angel sighed and then said,

"What you said is true, but if a vampire drinks from their human lover than they become mated for eternity. The tradition is… was, that the mated female would then drink from the vampire to complete the bond."

Buffy stared at him,

"And you were just going to walk away?"

Angel winced,

"Buffy…"

Buffy scowled.

"Oh, no you don't. Don't 'Buffy' me. How could you walk away from me? I love you and that's meant to be forever."

Angel sighed,

"Buffy, you deserve someone normal…"

Buffy glared at him fiercely,

"And what are the chances of that? Angel, I'm the slayer. The one girl in all the world to fight the demons, vampires and other uglies in the world. I'm never going to have normal. I'm going to die and, as the slayer, it will be sooner rather than later. I'm never going to have normal because I'm never going to be normal."

Angel looked as if he were going to interrupt her and she scowled and continued,

"Angel, I think about fighting techniques, knives, demons and what I have to do to stay alive for another night. I don't have time or space for a normal boyfriend. And it wouldn't be fair on me or him. I could never love another person like I love you. I would spend all my life wondering what it would have been like if you'd stayed. I'd wake up every morning hoping I would find you next to me. I'd go to sleep and I'd dream of you. I could find the most perfect guy in the world, but I would still wish he was you."

Angel winced,

"But, your mother…"

Buffy growled slightly,

"My mother has never really accepted that I'm the slayer. She's very happily ensconced in Denial Land. She thinks that if I behave well for long enough then I'll get let off being the slayer. She doesn't understand that I can never go back. I can never be the person I was before the slaying. I can never forget what I've seen and what I've done. She thinks the slaying is some kind of punishment for something and that if I do what I'm told for long enough, it will all stop and we can go and play happy families."

Buffy sighed and let go of Angel's arm. She pulled her arm back into her and waited for him to walk away from her and break her heart. He didn't move away from her, he reached out his arms and wrapped them around her. She felt herself collapse slightly, the energy that had been keeping her going throughout the attack on the mayor going out of her entirely. She leant her head against his chest and shook with her suppressed sobs.

"I don't know what I'd do if you leave. I can't live without you. Nothing makes sense. I need you Angel. When you said you were leaving I thought I was going to die. I'm not real without you. I feel empty. You said once that you were destined to help me, that I was your destiny. I'm only half alive when you're not here."

Buffy's slender frame shook with her sobs, each one shattering Angel's heart just a little bit more. He pulled her close to him and wrapped his arms tight around her slender waist. He felt the blood tears coursing down his cheeks. Buffy's slim arms came around from her sides and hooked round Angel's neck.

She bent her teary face up to look at him and then stood on her tiptoes. She kissed the terrible blood tears away from his skin, savouring their feeling on her tongue. He tried to turn his head away from her, but she would not let him. In the end they were standing there, wrapped around each other, sobbing softly as all the pain and frustration that had built up over the last year finally flooded out.

They weren't vampire and slayer now. They were just two suffering lovers in mutual pain. Everyone near-by could feel the pain they both shared with each other.

And no one came near.

It was obvious the shared pain of these two lovers. Everyone stood back in awe of the bond binding the two together, though few had any idea of what they were seeing. All they knew was that they were bearing witness to something amazing, something so powerful as to be physically present to them all.

Buffy wiped her eyes dry and looked up at Angel. Her eyes were rimmed-red and puffy with tears, but Angel looked at her like she was the most beautiful woman in the world. His eyes were lined with the blood tears he had shed.

Buffy sniffed softly and whispered,

"So, you are going to stay?"

Angel closed his eyes briefly and Buffy choked on another sob. Then Angel spoke,

"Yes, I'm going to stay."

Buffy smiled and her face was wreathed in joy. Angel felt his un-needed breath catch in his chest. Buffy looked even more radiant than ever when she smiled like that. That smile smote a blow straight to his un-beating, cold, dead heart. He knew that if Buffy had smiled at him like that even before this, then he would have been hard-pressed to leave.

As it was, he could not leave her now. Not now that he had bound her to him. He had thought he could continue without her, but he knew that he could not. Whistler had been right when he had said that Buffy was his destiny.

As he looked down onto her smiling face, he could not help himself. He leant down and kissed her. It started off as a fairly innocent kiss, but all the frustration that had been building up between them ever since he had told her he was leaving poured out into that kiss.

They separated after a while, both panting. Buffy's face was slightly flushed. She smiled up at Angel and said softly,

"So, I've finally made it through high-school."

Angel smiled down at her softly and wrapped one arm around her waist.

"Yes, I do believe that you have survived high-school."

Buffy laughed softly and snuggled against his chest.

"And Principal Snyder got eaten by the giant snake thing."

Angel nodded,

"Didn't your last principal get eaten as well?"

Buffy smiled,

"Yeah, when Xander and some others got possessed by the hyenas at the zoo."

Angel blinked at her,

"Xander ate your last Principal?"

Buffy laughed and shook her head,

"No he was too busy attempting to follow some other animal instincts."

Angel growled when he realised just what those animal instincts must have been. Buffy laughed,

"Don't worry, I hit him over the head with a chair and locked him up in the library."

Angel stared at her,

"Has anyone told you how amazing you are?"

Buffy smiled wryly,

"Well, Giles may have been trying to say that, but he was being very English. I didn't catch half of what he said to me. So, not recently."

Angel laughed softly, a sound that made Buffy's chest tighten with pleasure. He bent down and kissed the top of her head, letting his lips rest for a while in her hair,

"You're amazing."

Angel whispered it so softly into her hair that she barely heard the words that he said. She giggled softly when she heard it. They saw Willow, Oz, Xander and Cordelia sitting off to one side and walked over to them, arms wrapped around each other as the moved.

Buffy was reluctant to let Angel go, as if she were certain that he would disappear if she weren't holding onto him. Xander scowled when he saw Angel, still not happy with the vampire for drinking from Buffy. Willow, however, smiled at the vampire. Her happiness could have had something to do with her proximity to Oz.

Buffy sat down on the bench next to Willow and Angel stood behind her. Xander scowled at the vampire and spoke to Buffy, ignoring Angel,

"What's Dead-boy still doing here?"

Buffy scowled at him,

"Don't call Angel, Dead-boy."

Xander scowled,

"Yeah, whatever. Anyway, I thought he was leaving?"

Angel scowled,

"I decided to stay."

Xander scowled right back at the vampire,

"Yeah, shame. You gonna' stick around to do Buffy in?"

Buffy stared at Xander,

"How dare you say that?"

Xander shrugged,

"He's willing to drink from you to save his own hide, what does that say about him?"

Buffy formed her right hand into a fist and punched Xander in the face, at full Slayer strength. There was an audible crack as Xander's nose was broken. Blood poured down over his mouth and chin. Buffy scowled and made to hit Xander again, but Angel caught her fist before it could connect with Xander's abdomen,

"Don't, he's right."

Buffy scowled at Angel as well and then turned back to the retching Xander,

"How dare you? You have no idea what you are talking about. I forced Angel to drink from me. He wouldn't risk me, knowing that he was certain to die if he did not. I forced him to drink. You have no right to judge him."

Xander looked embarrassed now, they all did. He flushed and turned to Angel,

"I… didn't know. I guess I'm sorry for what I said earlier."

Angel shook his head,

"You had every right to say what you did."

Xander shrugged slightly,

"Still, it was wrong for me to say what I did earlier."

Buffy smiled,

"Thanks, Xander. I'm sorry for hitting you like I did. I've just been rather on edge recently."

Xander shrugged,

"It's been a long day. Don't worry about it, I'll heal in a few days."

Buffy smiled and then said,

"This place is really smoky and the sun'll be up soon. I managed to persuade my mom to go out of town, so we could go back to my house to crash."

The others smiled and nodded, but Angel said,

"There's more room at the mansion for everyone and I don't think your mom would appreciate me being in your house."

Buffy stiffened,

"Was she the one, Angel? Is she the one who persuaded you that I would be better off without you? Is she the one who told you to leave me?"

Angel's silence was more of an answer than a hundred words. Buffy scowled up at her lover,

"And you listened to her? This is the woman who told me to never come back if I left the house. She's convinced that the Slaying is just another stage of teenage rebellion. She thinks that I'll stop being the Slayer if she takes me away from all unnatural elements. She's always wanted one future for me and can't understand that that's not my life. For a woman with a fully grown teenage daughter, she's disturbingly naïve about some things."

Angel wrapped his arms around the now shaking Slayer. He pressed soft, gentle kisses into her hair. She smiled shakily up at him, reminding him of just how young she really was.

"Sometimes," he said softly, "I forget just how young you are, ionuin. You're amazing. You know more about the world than most adults I've met do. You're one of the most grown-up people I know, in some ways. But you've never had the opportunity to grow up in your own time."

Buffy smiled at him, less shaky now,

"We can't change who we are, even if we want to. My mom has to opposite problem to you, she thinks I'm still fifteen years old. And she tries to treat me like I haven't seen the things I've seen, like I haven't done all the things I've done. I can never be the person she wants me to be, and I don't want to."

This surprised Angel somewhat,

"You don't? You don't sometimes wish you had never known about the slayer and all the things you have to fight?"

Buffy shook her head,

"No. This is the one thing I can do better than anyone else. And I like doing it. I like helping people. I like saving lives. It made graduation special, because of the prom. This year had the lowest mortality rate of any year in Sunnydale history and I think that was partly to do with me. And, even if I'd never known about this, I would have missed so much. If I weren't the slayer, then I'd never have met you. Being the slayer has messed some things up, but it's given me so much. I would have never known you and I'd have never made friends with Will' and Xander. Christ, I'd still be making Harmony look like mother Teresa."

Cordelia smirked at that,

"Now, that I can't imagine."

Buffy scowled,

"Hey, I was really popular at Hemery. I even had my groupies. I was queen of Hemery High. My parents were really rich and had a Jag. Then there was the small matter of burning down the gym and getting expelled, I kinda lost a lot of friends after that."

The others shrugged, then Xander commented,

"Have you noticed a disturbing pattern, Buff?"

Buffy stared at him and he elucidated his comment to her,

"You know, you burnt down the gym at your last high school and you ended up blowing this one up. God knows what you're going to do to the College Campus."

They laughed, then Willow turned to Cordelia and asked,

"So, Cordy, where are you going now? I mean, Oz, Buffy and I are off to UC Sunnydale and Xander's going on his road trip. Where are you headed?"

Cordelia flushed,

"Well, I'm not going to College…"

Willow stared,

"What? But you got into some of the best Colleges around."

Cordelia scowled.

"Yeah, well Daddy's unfortunate tax errors for the last twelve years meant that all the money, clothes, houses etc were repossessed. I can't go to any of the colleges that accepted me."

The others stared at her, all accept for Xander who already knew. Willow didn't quite know what to say. She had always thought that Cordelia had everything, yet now it appeared as if she had nothing and nowhere to go. Buffy, sensing an ugly scene, interrupted before anything could happen,

"So, we're all crashing at the mansion. Xander, you and Cordelia take your car to pick up anything the two of need for the night. I don't think any vampires will attack you after today, but you can't be sure. Oz, you and Willow do the same. Angel and I will meet you at the mansion."

The others agreed to this plan, and the group split up. Buffy smiled as she watched Cordelia and Xander walk off together. She had been more than a little shocked when she had discovered Cordelia was dating Xander, but it had been right in a way, and she had been upset when they had split up. It was obvious that Xander still cared for her deeply, and that Cordelia felt for him as well, even though she tried to hide it.

She wouldn't say that Cordelia was one of her favourite people, but Buffy liked her a lot more than she liked Anya the man hating ex-demon. Buffy and Angel were walking towards her house now and then Buffy thought of something. It was obvious that Anya felt something for Xander as well. She wouldn't like to be there if Cordelia and Anya ever confronted each other. Then she laughed softly; Angel turned to look down at her and said,

"Share the joke."

Buffy smiled up at him,

"You remember Valentines Day last year? When Dru' and everyone else but Cordelia was mooning over Xander? Well, that was because of a spell of Amy's that messed up. And now Anya and Cordy both like Xander and no magic's involved at all."

Angel chuckled softly,

"That was what happened? I didn't know. I laughed myself silly over it at the time though. Spike was not so impressed. Dru' was still quite taken with Harris even after the magic wore off. He sulked for days."

They both laughed as they continued towards Buffy's house.

Xander and Cordelia were the last one's to arrive at the mansion on Crawford Street. When they entered the main room, they saw that the table that normally sat in front of the fireplace was gone. No one was in the room when they entered, but Buffy and Willow soon entered with their respective males.

Cordelia dumped her bag on the floor with a thud and looked around,

"Well, that's everything I own in the world."

It was late and the sun had already finished setting in a glow of fire. It was as if nature itself was matching the portentous events of that afternoon. The sunset was a particularly fine one, compensating for the earlier supernaturally inspired eclipse. Xander found himself to be somewhat tired. They had all had a long day.

He turned to Angel and asked,

"Dea… Angel, is there anywhere in this place where I can put on my pjs and change this gathering into a slumber party?"

The others nodded, even Buffy, with her enhanced Slayer strength and endurance, was exhausted. Though that may have had more to do with being almost drained of blood and putting someone in a coma than the fight of that afternoon. Angel smiled slightly,

"There's loads of unused rooms, feel free to chose any of them. I'll get changed myself and then arrange beds for everyone."

Buffy shook her head slightly,

"I think I want to stay with everyone tonight, how about we all crash down in here. I'll change myself and help you."

Angel nodded and the others all left the room to change.

Cordelia was the last one to re-enter the main room. She looked around at the others and smiled at the obviousness of the pyjamas each of them was wearing. Buffy and Angel both looked very sophisticated in black satin and silk, respectively. Willow was wearing a set of short Snoopy pyjamas, while Oz looked just as cooky in a Dingoes t-shirt and a pair of sweat pants. Xander, of course, had dressed for the occasion of a gang get together in his Scooby-Doo pyjamas.

She felt somewhat uncomfortable in what she was wearing, faded black sweat-pants and a t-shirt that Xander had got her as a gag gift. She had laughed when he had given it to her, and it had been one of the few things related to him that she hadn't destroyed after their break-up. It read, 'Only a bitch like me could put up with a bastard like him'.

The others had obviously just finished preparing for a slumber party. There were two double duvets and some red silk sheets laid out on the floor, as well as a comforter that Buffy had wrapped around herself, with many cushions and pillows arranged near them. Xander and Oz had obviously managed to bring or find copious quantities of food with them, which were also placed out on the floor.

When Cordy entered the room, the others smiled at her and Willow and Oz curled up under one of the duvets. Cordy mentally raised her eyebrows, the relationship between the witch and werewolf had obviously proceed to its logical next stage over the last couple of days. Xander offered her the other duvet and Buffy and Angel curled up together under the crimson silk sheets that were obviously Angel's. Xander made to fetch the comforter, but Cordelia smiled and gestured to him to join her under the duvet.

When she lay down she realised that Angel had placed mattresses on the floor first. She practically sunk into the soft pillows and luxuriant duvet. There was one thing to be said for Angel, he definitely had very good taste. She was pleased to note that Xander was keeping a polite distance from her. She still felt something for him, but she wasn't quite ready to tell him yet.

Oz whispered something in Willow's ear and the red-haired Wiccan squealed in delight and jumped up from her position beside her boyfriend/lover. She ran over to her bag and pulled it open. She quickly searched through the contents and pulled out a bundle of paper. She ran over to where Buffy and Angel lay and handed the papers to the vampire.

Angel read the first page and stared at Willow. She squeaked in delight and said,

"It's your curse. I've been trying to translate it all year. I finally finished it last night, but there hasn't been time to tell you yet. Read it."

Buffy and Angel bent over the pile of papers and read through them. When they looked up, the expressions of disbelief on their faces were clear. Angel seemed unable to speak, so Buffy was the one who asked the question they were both wondering,

"Willow, are you certain this is correct?"

Willow nodded excitedly,

"Yes, the first curse is the original one, but the second one is the one Miss Calendar wrote and the one I cast last year."

The two lovers stared at the Wiccan,

"Willow, this second version… There's no break clause. In fact, it specifically states that there is no way for the soul to be removed…"

Angel was unable to continue speaking, Willow smiled radiantly,

"I know, there was an encrypted message left on the disk as well. I gave the pertinent parts to Giles once I'd decrypted it, which also took a long time, but it basically said that the curse the Kalderash used was meant as a punishment, but the one Jenny created was a gift for you two."

The sound that came from Angel could only be described as a sob. This made Xander glance at the vampire again. Although he didn't know the vampire as well as Buffy or even Willow, he felt that he knew the vampire well enough to peg him as not the crying type. He didn't know if he was pleased by this development, as it made there almost no chance that the vampire would ever leave Sunnydale. But Angel made Buffy happy, so he guessed that he would have to learn to live with the vampire. He knew from past experience that any insult or attack on Angel was an attack on Buffy. Xander wasn't going to risk one of his best friends for a petty jealousy.

Xander also recognised that Angel could defend Buffy better than any of them could. When there was a fight, there was no question of the dark vampire's loyalty to Buffy, as well as fighting skills second only to Buffy's. The vampire would die for Buffy and any of them, so that was enough for Xander.

He smiled at the vampire and said,

"I'm guessing this is an occasion for congratulations, Dead-boy."

Angel was so overjoyed with the development that he forgot to scowl at Xander for using the appellation that he so detested. Buffy scowled at her friend, but then smiled,

"Thanks, Xander. It means a lot to me."

Everyone knew that she was not referring to the curse. Only a few things came before Slaying to Buffy. One of them was Angel, another was her friends. For Xander to give explicit approval of Buffy and Angel being together was very important to Buffy. If there was one thing that Buffy hated, it was the important things in her life not getting on together.

Buffy and Angel were lying very close together; Buffy snuggled against Angel's broad chest. His arms were firmly wrapped around her waist, holding her to him. The crimson silk sheets were wrapped around the two of them. Buffy's hair lay spread in an aureole over Angel's chest. Then Cordelia spoke,

"Aren't we supposed to be having some kind of post-graduation celebration going on? Cos we just killed an ascended demon during an ascension. Isn't some kind of big thing worthy of alcohol?"

Xander stared at her,

"I hate to point this out, but none of us are twenty-one."

Angel coughed slightly,

"I have some left over that you could use."

Xander stared at the vampire,

"I don't think I'm going to ask."

Angel shrugged and rose gracefully to his feet. He walked smoothly over to a cabinet and opened it. He pulled out several bottles and shot glasses. The mattresses were arranged in a circle, so Angel placed one shot glass in front of each person and placed the bottles in the centre of the circle. Xander stared at the bottles,

"Vodka, Rum, Gin, Tequila, Whisky… Where do you get all this stuff, Angel?"

Angel shrugged,

"Liquor store. I am well over twenty-one."

Xander stared at him,

"You just go into a store and buy it."

Angel nodded,

"Well, vampires don't steal everything. Sometimes it's easier to acquire things legally. I have extensive funds, both collected over the years and my inheritance."

Everyone was staring at the vampire now. He seemed slightly uncomfortable and shrugged slightly,

"My family was very wealthy, I inherited everything. This has been collecting interest for two hundred and fifty years. I also amassed a sizeable fortune over the years. Many of my possessions would also be considered valuable antiques. Angelus always had a taste for art, and I commissioned several Renaissance painters over the years, as well as Impressionists, more recently. I also have an extensive collection of first edition and signed books from the last three hundred years. Technically, I would have access to everything belonging to my clan, but I don't run in those circles anymore."

Willow stared at the vampire,

"Your clan?"

Angel nodded and Buffy lifted her head from his chest to explain,

"Vampires belong to different clans. Each clan has a different importance. The eldest vampire in the clan is the Master of that clan and normally rules in the court. They would also have a place in the council of Elders. Angel comes from the Clan Aurelius. The Master was the ruler of the clan for so many years that there was sizeable disruption after he was killed. The Master made Darla and Angel is the eldest vampire of the Master's line. Technically, Angel rules Clan Aurelius."

Angel nodded,

"Yes, I would, but undoubtedly, some younger vampire has taken my place, perhaps Spike, as Dru is not capable of ruling a Clan. It might be Penn, but he was always busy doing other things. I never saw him that much."

Willow blurted,

"Who's Penn?"

Angel flinched slightly,

"Penn was a vampire I made not long after I was turned. I was fighting with Darla at the time and turned him for no other reason than I was trying to make her jealous. We lost touch about sixty years before my soul was returned."

Cordelia sighed and said,

"Are we ever going to stop angsting and start celebrating, because there are loads of other parties I could be at right now?"

Angel sighed and poured vodka into each shot glass. Cordelia smiled,

"I never."

Those born within the last century, who therefore knew what I never was, groaned and threw pretzels, which Xander had found and opened. However, Willow decided that Cordelia's suggestion was as good as any, and started,

"I never kissed someone of the same sex."

Willow proudly knocked her shot back, choking slightly as the alcohol burnt down her throat. The others exchanged glances, then Buffy, Angel and Cordelia knocked their own shots back. Oz refilled the glasses as the others stared at the four. Xander turned to Willow and asked,

"When?"

Willow blushed the same colour as her hair and muttered,

"Tenth grade."

Xander shook his head and turned to his ex-girlfriend,

"You too?"

Cordelia shrugged,

"Spin the Bottle."

Xander now turned to Buffy and Angel and said,

"You two have definitely got some explaining to do."

Angel looked like he might be blushing if it weren't for the fact that he had no blood circulation.

"Well, there's the sire-childe bond and…"

Xander looked slightly green and turned to Buffy, who was giggling at her mate's distress. Then she realised that she was going to have to answer now.

"Well, I fooled around a bit at Hemery, and there were loads of Spin the Bottle escapades. And I made out with Faith once."

This last bit came out in a rush, and Buffy flushed crimson and buried her head in her arms. The others stared at her, then Xander shrugged,

"I'd say something now, but, when it comes to Faith and sex, I'm not a person to talk. And did I just say that out loud?"

The others nodded, desperately trying not to laugh. Xander flushed and tried to distract some of the attention from him by continuing the game.

"I never cheated on a test."

It was the first thing he could come up with and he flushed as he said it. Everyone but Oz and Willow knocked back their shots then. They all turned to stare at Angel. The vampire would have flushed, but there was the issue of no blood circulation. Instead, he shrugged,

"I went to school, of course. It was the seventeen hundreds, not the dark ages. I had to go to boarding school. It was a prestige thing, and my father wanted nothing more than to get me out of the house for a while. Eton was hell. I cheated loads and did no work, I got found out once."

The others still stared at him,

"You went to Eton?"

Angel shrugged,

"My family may have been Catholics, but they were very rich and powerful Catholics. I went to Eton and then to Cambridge. I was supposed to be going into a career in politics."

The others seemed to accept this and nodded. Cordelia decided to take her turn next. She picked up her shot glass and said,

"I never dreamed about Wesley or Giles naked."

She tossed back the shot and smirked at Xander. Everyone knew just how jealous the boy was of Cordelia's attraction to the Watcher. Buffy groaned and knocked back her own shot. The others all stared at her. She blushed scarlet.

"It was Giles and not in a bad eewy way. I was late for school and turned up wearing a Powerpuff girls outfit. Then I discovered it was the English day of nudity. Giles chased me around the school with a blueberry scone."

The others shook their heads at the randomness that was Buffy. Angel wrapped his arms around his lover and pressed a kiss in her hair (because the author decided to add just a little bit more fluff to make up for the evil that was Joss Whedon in splitting Buffy and Angel up).

It was Buffy's turn to call the shots, (pun unintended). She then realised that Oz had not taken a single shot, whereas she had drunk in every round. She smiled at the werewolf and said,

"I never retook a grade just to be with my significant other."

Oz raised an eyebrow, a large expression on his part, and knocked back a shot. The others had no need to ask about this and it was now Angel's turn. The vampire stared around the circle for a moment, then he vampire smirked and spoke,

"I never stole military property."

Cordelia and Xander both groaned before knocking their shots back. Oz just quirked an eyebrow before drinking. Willow flushed scarlet and knocked back her own shot, choking on the harsh alcohol. Oz smirked slightly and continued the game.

"I never slayed a vampire."

The others groaned and random bits of food were chucked at the chuckling werewolf. He ducked them all, but missed the pillows that were beaten down on his head. Angel quickly moved the food and glass to one side as the drinking game degenerated into a pillow fight. He watched as Buffy smiled and laughed as she beat on her friends with a pillow. Then he picked up a pillow of his own and went in to assist his mate, ignoring Xander's groan about people with enhanced strength ganging up on them.

It was dark when Cordelia awoke.

Of course, as she was sleeping in a vampire's mansion, it was always dark. She rolled over and almost started when she saw Xander sleeping beside her. Then she looked around and recognised the sleeping forms of Willow and Oz, as well as rumpled silk sheets where she remembered Buffy and Angel being the previous night.

Cordelia glanced down at Xander's wrist and checked the time on his Tweety-bird watch. 9:40am. She groaned and stretched. She reluctantly left the warmth of the cocoon of blankets where she currently lay. She then dragged her tired body into the nearest bathroom and had a long, luxurious shower.

For a guy with no reflection, Angel sure had a lot of hair products. Cordelia smiled at this and did her hair as best she could with the complete absence of any mirrors. Finally satisfied, she slipped into a pair of black jeans and a mulberry sweater. The sweater was old and slightly too small, but it was comfortable.

She then slipped on a pair of warm socks and padded around the mansion until she found the kitchen. It was surprisingly large, yet cosy. She opened several cupboards and found coffee, obviously meant for Buffy. A bit more searching revealed the location of the kettle and some milk. She put the kettle on to boil and set out to search for some food.

She found a strange selection of items in Angel's kitchen. There was popcorn and butter, as well as some bagels and pretzels. Then she smiled as she found an enormous box of doughnuts, with 'For emergencies and meetings' written on the top in Buffy's bold curling handwriting. She opened the box and extracted a jelly doughnut. She placed the doughnut on a plate and poured herself a cup of coffee.

She was still nursing her coffee when Angel entered the room. The vampire had obviously been up for quiet some time and had showered and dressed in his usual black. He started when he saw her, then he smiled slightly and joined her at the table. He poured himself a cup of coffee and held it in his hands. Cordelia blurted out,

"You drink, I mean, stuff other than blood and alcohol?"

Angel nodded; doing that half-smile thing that made Buffy go all gooey.

"I don't need to really, but I do in company. It's like social smoking, without the risk of cancer. Anyway, I like the smell."

Cordelia laughed,

"I guess. But I thought vampires couldn't get cancer?"

Angel nodded,

"They can't."

The conversation lulled for a while, then Angel spoke,

"You said you can't go to college. What are you going to do?"

Cordelia shook her head,

"I don't know really. I had thought about moving to L.A, maybe starting acting or modelling."

Angel frowned,

"You got accepted to U.C. Sunnydale as well as all the other places?"

Cordelia nodded, unsure as to where Angel was going with his questions. The vampire looked up at her from his coffee,

"I told you all last night I was very rich. I am, but I don't like to use that money. If you want, though, I could pay your college tuition for you at U.C. Sunnydale. If you don't want to live on campus, then you could move in here."

Cordelia stared at the vampire in shock. She couldn't believe that he was offering to pay her way through college. She felt almost numb and vaguely heard herself say something about wanting to live on campus. Then it truly hit her what was being offered. She shrieked with happiness and threw her arms around Angel's neck. She then proceeded to sob into the velvet of his shirt.

Angel seemed rather uncomfortable at first, but it was obvious that he had had experience with females weeping into his shirts. He rubbed gentle circles on Cordelia's back until her sobs had subsided slightly. Cordelia flushed and extracted herself. She wiped her eyes and sniffed, then turned her attention back to her coffee.

The others gradually awoke and entered the kitchen. There was something rather surreal about the situation. The entire Scooby-gang, except for Buffy and Giles, were sitting in Angel's kitchen having breakfast. However, maybe it wasn't that strange, the vampire was a friend and obviously more than a friend to a certain Slayer.

Buffy entered the kitchen at around half past ten. She did something of a double take when she saw Xander and Angel arguing over coffee and doughnuts. She slid into the seat next to Angel and rested her head on his shoulder. The others stopped their conversations when they saw her and Angel asked,

"How's Giles?"

Buffy smiled at him and answered,

"He's fine. So's Wesley. Only three students were reported dead or missing, so that's of the good. We're having graduation again this afternoon in the sports field. Giles was moaning about where he was going to keep his books, so I didn't find out much else. He's decided not to continue as librarian when they build the new high school though, something about wanting to live out his life as a gentleman of leisure. That's English for unemployed by choice."

Angel smiled slightly at her and wrapped his arms around her waist. Xander made a face and spoke,

"Well, I'm off. I'll see you all at graduation, hopefully, there will be fewer giant snakes at this particular one."

Buffy smiled,

"Yeah, well, we can always dream."

Xander walked out of the room. Soon after, Willow and Oz made their own good-byes, followed shortly by Cordelia. Angel and Buffy were alone at last.

(The author will leave it up to the discerning reader to guess what happens next, even vampires and vampire slayers deserve a little privacy on occasion.)

Angel and Buffy lay in his bed a few hours later. Angel's arms were wrapped firmly around Buffy and their naked legs were twined together. Buffy's hair lay spread in a golden aureole over Angel's broad chest and her chin rested softly at the base of his neck. A trail of clothes lay on the floor, starting outside of the open door and ending at the foot of Angel's huge bed.

Buffy looked up at Angel and whispered softly,

"If this is a dream, I never want to wake up."

Angel smiled at her, making Buffy's heart turn to jelly,

"This isn't a dream. No dream was ever this real."

Buffy smiled at him and kissed him. It was a soft, gentle kiss. Their passions had been slaked for now. All the tension of the last nine months was released. Then Buffy glanced at the clock face on Angel's table. She groaned and gently extracted herself from her lover's arms.

Angel was highly reluctant to let her go. He pulled her naked body down again, sighing as she sat up and stood from the bed.

"Where are you going?"

Buffy sighed and turned back to him, seemingly ignorant of the fact that she was wearing nothing,

"I have to go now. It's graduation, mach two. I'd invite you to come, but it's kind of sunny at the moment. I need to go and take a shower."

Angel smiled at her,

"Would you like me to come and help?"

Buffy laughed softly,

"That would be very nice, but I was planning on going to graduation today, not next year."

Angel groaned as she left the room. Then he realised that his mate was walking through his house wearing nothing. He sighed and flopped back into the warmth of his bed. He heard the sound of the shower being turned on and groaned as he imagined Buffy naked under running water.

She returned to the room half an hour later, now wrapped in a towel that left far too much to the imagination. Once she had dried herself off, Buffy dropped the towel to the floor, eliciting another groan from her vampire lover. Smiling far too demurely for a woman standing naked in front of her lover, she dressed quickly.

Buffy had dressed in a way that Angel remembered far too well. Darla had taunted him about going for schoolgirls, but Buffy knew just how to make the perfect combination of innocent and seductive. Her innocence was part of what made more beautiful than any of the many women whom he had known over the years.

For graduation, she wore a pair of black satin trousers, a black bardot jumper made of cashmere, a black leather duster and black, laced-back, leather ankle boots. She did a little twirl and asked,

"How do I look?"

Angel groaned and said,

"You look lovely and you know it."

Buffy smirked,

"But that's only until I put on my gown. Maroon does nothing for my complexion."

Angel smiled at her,

"I think you look lovely in maroon."

Buffy smiled at him,

"That's 'cos you're my boyfriend. It is your job to tell me how lovely I look in everything. You'd say I look good in lime-green spandex."

Angel was somewhat confused,

"Then why did you ask me what I thought?"

Buffy smiled playfully at him,

"Hey, a woman likes to listen to a man tell her how beautiful she is."

Angel smiled at her,

"I really don't understand you sometimes, beloved."

Buffy smiled at him,

"I'm a woman, you're not supposed to understand me."

She picked up the bag that held her gown and started towards the door. Angel rose from the bed and stopped her. He pulled a small jewellery box out of the top drawer of his dresser and turned to her.

"I found this, when I came back. I was hoping you'd want it back."

He opened the box to reveal the elegant silver claddagh that Buffy had thought she would never see again. She lifted it lovingly from its soft casings and kissed it. She slipped it back onto her finger, the heart pointing towards her.

"Where did you find it?"

Angel smiled at her, wrapping his arms around her waist,

"I landed on it."

Buffy laughed softly at the image and gently kissed Angel. He then continued to speak,

"In my time, a man would give a woman a claddagh ring when they made it their intention to marry. If they then consummated their relationship, they were married in the eyes of society. I, was wondering… if you would… do me the honour?"

Buffy stared at him,

"You're asking me to marry you?"

Angel smiled at her and went down on one knee. He pulled out another jewellery box and opened it. He spoke,

"Buffy Summers, would you do me the honour of marrying me?"

The ring was truly beautiful. A single solitaire diamond was set in a loop of pure gold. Buffy could not imagine how much the ring would be worth. Buffy was not able to say anything. She could only nod and wrap her arms around Angel's neck. The souled-vampire gently slid the ring onto her finger.

Angel then stood and kissed his fiancée softly. He whispered in her ear,

"You look beautiful in gold. I want to shower you in it."

Buffy flushed with joy and embarrassment. She kissed her fiancée with all her passion and love, winding her arms up from around his waist to play in his soft dark hair. She rested her head against his chest and placed delicate kisses along the smooth, pale flesh. Angel reluctantly pulled out of his fiancée's loving grasp. Buffy pouted and looked up at him,

"What?"

Angel smiled down at her, unable to resist placing a kiss on those pouting lips,

"You have to go to graduation, ionuin. I'll be here this evening."

Buffy scowled playfully, but smiled at him and left the room.

Willow watched her friend run to find her place in the stands for graduation. The deputy principal was just about to make his speech when the slayer arrived for graduation. Willow had saved Buffy a seat, which the slayer gratefully slid into. The last strains of Pomp and Circumstance faded away as Buffy seated herself.

The vice-principal gave Buffy a chastising look, which the slayer entirely ignored. Buffy's hair looked recently washed and her gown had obviously been put on in a hurry. The look on the slayer's face could only be described as jubilant. She smiled at Willow, Xander, Cordelia and Oz as she sat next to them, and she sent a stunning smile at Giles.

Willow didn't have to guess at what was making the slayer glow with such light. There was only one person in the world who could make Buffy glow with such happiness and that was Angel. Willow doubted that this happiness was all related to the fact that Angel was staying. There was obviously more to it than that.

Willow felt a shiver of happiness that she had been able to translate the curse for them. All the tension and frustration was gone from Buffy's stance, even as she was seated. Buffy was deliberately keeping her hands hidden from them and Willow wondered whether the slayer was hiding more than chipped nails.

She knew, however, that Buffy was not going to tell her, no matter how much she asked. So she settled down to listen to the vice-principal make a speech about achievement in the face of adversity and entertained herself by trying to guess what excuse had been used this time.

She felt very pleased when she received her diploma. There was something different to this than defeating monsters and demons. Buffy had done spectacularly over the years at juggling her slaying and having a life, but it still amazed Willow to watch her friend receive her diploma. They had all wondered at one time whether Buffy would ever have a life separate from the slaying, and this was proof of all that she had achieved to do so.

Willow knew that that was part of the reason why Buffy's mom didn't want her seeing Angel. But Buffy's mom just didn't want her being the slayer. It was tough on Buffy to know that no matter what, her mom would always wish she was something different. Willow knew now that Buffy and Angel were far stronger together than they were apart. She would not try and separate the couple and would defend against all that did.

After graduation was over, Willow watched Buffy run over to Giles and throw her arms around her watcher. Buffy then said something to Giles. The watcher looked like a truck had just hit him, but he smiled and nodded at Buffy. Buffy then turned and gestured for them to come and join her and Giles. Willow managed to excuse herself from her parents, grandparents, cousins, etc. and ran over with the others.

When she joined the slayer, Willow felt her breath burst out of her as the slayer flung her arms around her neck and hugged her. Once Buffy had released her, the slayer lifted her right hand for all of them to inspect. Buffy wore only two rings. One was a small silver band that Willow recognised as the claddagh ring Angel had given Buffy on her fateful seventeenth birthday. The other. Willow shrieked in delight as she saw the stunning solitaire diamond that decorated her friend's hand.

Xander stared at her and asked,

"We've graduated. What's the what?"

Willow giggled in an entirely un-Willow fashion and Buffy answered,

"Angel and I are getting married."

Xander did an excellent impression of a fish for a moment, then he said,

"Ooh, do I get to be in charge of the bachelor party?"

Buffy giggled,

"That's the best man's job?"

Xander looked mock offended,

"Who else is it gonna' be? G-man here's gotta' give you away."

Buffy nodded at that.

"Still, Oz could do best man duty. I might want you to be a flower girl."

Xander blushed and then Giles interrupted,

"It's normally the job of the father of the bride to give the bride away, Xander."

Buffy smiled at him,

"That's why I want you to do it."

Giles flushed a very un-Giles like shade of magenta and hemmed and herred. Then he smiled at his slayer and said,

"I would be honoured."

Buffy smiled jubilantly at her watcher and then turned to Willow and Cordelia,

"You two will be my bridesmaids, won't you?"

Willow and Cordelia both nodded. Then Buffy turned to Willow specifically and said,

"Will', you're my best friend in the entire world. Would you be my maid of honour?"

Willow flushed scarlet and flung her arms around Buffy's neck,

"I'd love to."

Buffy smiled at her,

"Well then, that's definitely of the good."

With that, they turned and walked away from the field. This had been a better graduation than any of them could have imagined.

Fin.

****

AN: I'LL PROBABLY WRITE AT LEAST ONE MORE STORY IN THIS CONTINUITY. I WILL DEFINITELY DO THE WEDDING AND MAYBE GO INTO MY VERSION OF SEASON FOUR A BIT. JUST A QUESTION. SHOULD I DO CORDELIA/Xander, OR Xander/ANYA AND CORDELIA/DOYLE? REVIEWS WILL MEAN I WILL WRITE MORE. PRESS THE LITTLE PURPLE BUTTON ON THE BOTTOM LEFT, YOU KNOW THAT YOU WANT TO REALLY.


	2. We Can Explain

**AN: VACATION! I'M ON HOLIDAY AND HAPPY ABOUT IT, CAN YOU TELL? PEOPLE KEEP EMAILING ME, ASKING IF I'M STILL ALIVE, SO I THOUGHT I'D BETTER START UPDATING AND WRITING MORE OFTEN. THIS IS THE SECOND IN MY AU SERIES THAT STARTED WITH MY ALTERNATIVE ENDING TO SEASON THREE, DON'T WALK AWAY.**

**RATING: PG-13 FOR INNUENDO, LANGUAGE AND GRATUITOUS CUDDLING**

**DISCLAIMERS: I DON'T OWN IT, IT ALL BELONGS TO WHEDON-SAMA**

We can explain, really

"I can't believe that this is actually happening."

Buffy murmured this from her comfortable resting point on Angel's broad bare chest. The two of them were curled up together in Angel's luxurious bed. The black silk sheets were pooled over both of them and some had fallen from the bed. Buffy's lithe slender from was almost completely surrounded by Angel's taller, muscular body. The slayer's delicate head rested on Angel's broad chest, coming up to barely his chin. Her golden hair lay pillowed beneath her head and Angel had been playing idly with a couple of the strands when Buffy had spoken.

"Do you require more convincing?"

He spoke quietly, his voice almost a purr and Buffy laughed, a seductive chiming laugh that made Angel's unbeating heart ache. She then kissed the nearest part of him, the base of his neck, and sat up slightly so that she could look at him. She spoke softly, not wanting to spoil a perfect moment,

"I mean, everything's so right. We survived graduation, the mayor and Faith are out of the picture. Everyone I love is still alive. You're still here and we're together again, more than we've been since my seventeenth. Anya has finally left Sunnydale and Xander and Cordelia were exchanging glances all evening."

Angel decided it was best not to ask about the Xander and Cordelia point, he understood many things, but the workings of the mind of an eighteen-year old girl was not one of those things. Instead, he merely bent his head slightly and kissed his lover's temptingly upturned lips. As he did this, he caught sight of his watch on the bedside table. He did not know how it had managed to survive the whirlwind they had caused as they had undressed so quickly earlier, but it had.

He swore silently. He hadn't known it was that late. But the watch sat there, it's luminescent hands mocking him as they burnt the time out. He gently tapped Buffy on her shoulder. His lover… HIS lover, rolled over so she was facing him. Her lips were pressed together in the most tempting pout. Resisting the urge to kiss that smug pout off her lips, he said,

"Buffy, love, it's time for you to be going home."

Completely oblivious to the effects her actions had on him, Buffy frowned and curled up closer to him. She muttered softly and sleepily,

"No, it's not. I am home."

Desperately trying to ignore the burst of joy in his chest at Buffy's words, he persisted gently at trying to get his lover to wake up,

"Love, it's three o'clock in the morning, your mother will be wondering where you are."

Buffy shook her head idly, slightly more awake now than she had been before, but still not at the height of consciousness.

"No, she won't, she'll be fast asleep in bed in a hotel in Los Angeles, not getting back until tomorrow afternoon, this afternoon, whatever. Now, kiss me again."

Angel sat up straight,

"Your mother left town during your graduation?"

Buffy frowned sleepily, upset that her request had not been granted,

"Yes, I made her leave. I didn't want her getting killed by the mayor, 'cos she would have been if she'd come to graduation. Are you going to stop worrying and kiss me now?"

She pouted up at him again, it was more temptation than one vampire should ever have to resist. Growling, he pounced on her and kissed her thoroughly. Buffy laughed and wrapped her arms around him.

It was seven hours later when they emerged again. This time it was Buffy who lifted her head from her lover's chest and glanced at the watch face. She groaned softly and sat up. Slipping out of her lover's grasp and bed, she padded naked over to the trail of clothes left on the floor. She managed to find all of her clothes and slipped them on.

She turned back around to the bed to find her lover gazing sleepily at her. She did a little turn, pouted at him and asked,

"How do I look?"

Angel growled and said in a far too satisfied voice,

"Thoroughly debauched. Do you want a shower?"

Buffy groaned,

"If I do that, I'll never get home. I'll get washed up at home and hope my mom's kept to the schedule and not come home early, for once."

Angel frowned but didn't try and stop Buffy as she slipped on her jacket, his old jacket actually. Buffy walked over to the bed and kissed him then. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pressed her to him.

The passion in the kiss increased, but eventually Buffy reluctantly pulled away from him. Angel growled slightly as she stood, but he didn't stop her as she walked towards the door of the room.

When Buffy reached the door out of Angel's bedroom, she turned back and spoke, fixing Angel with a loving glare as she did so,

"I'll be back this afternoon. Don't leave."

Angel smiled at her,

"Wouldn't dream of it."

Buffy smiled and sighed,

"Good. I love you."

"I love you too."

Buffy blew him a kiss and slipped out of the door, closing it softly behind her.

Joyce Summers sat it her kitchen, drinking coffee. She had returned from Los Angeles, where she had been hiding from whatever had been going on at graduation. She knew that she had told Buffy that she would not be back until the afternoon, but she had been desperate to get back as soon as possible to make sure her daughter was alright.

She had of course checked in with Mr Giles on her way back, as well as keeping her eyes on the news, so she had heard about the 'gas explosion' at the High School, as well as learning of her daughter's continued well-being. Mr Giles had been unusually close-mouthed about how Buffy was, but had assured her that she was safe.

Of course, the other reason she had come back early was to make sure that unnatural vampire had left the town. Joyce detested the vampire with a passion, to her he signified everything that was wrong with Buffy's life. No matter how attractive the vampire might be, he was still nothing but a walking corpse who had apparently run a bloody path across the world for one hundred and fifty years until he had claimed to be ensouled. Having a soul did not make Angel any less of a walking talking corpse, nor undo a hundred and fifty years of evil, and it also did not make the vampire any less old.

Joyce lifted her coffee to her mouth and sipped through pursed lips. She almost spat out her coffee as she heard the door swing open. She placed her cup down on the table and stood up, hoping that one of the freakish denizens of Sunnydale hadn't decided to come and make more trouble.

She peered into the halls and shrieked when she saw, instead of one of the demons she had feared to be there, her little girl, looking utterly debauched and exhausted. She was dressed all in leather, but was wearing a leather jacket that Joyce remembered seeing Buffy wearing a lot, but had never remembered buying her.

Buffy was wearing no make-up and her hair was pulled up into a loose bunch at the nape of her neck, revealing an all too telling scar at the point where her neck joined her shoulder. There was a small but joyous smile playing at the corners of Buffy's mouth, which had been sunken with sadness ever since the prom.

Joyce had suspected that the foul vampire had finally done the right thing for once and had broken up with Buffy just before the prom. Buffy had obviously overreacted and sulked about the break-up. It wasn't that Buffy was stupid or selfish, it was just that she was far too naïve and didn't know what was the best for her. But Buffy would eventually see that it was the right thing to end that destructive relationship with a monster that wasn't even human.

However, with what she was now seeing, it was obvious that the selfish monster had gone against the sensible idea she suggested and had stayed in Sunnydale, risking everything out of his own selfishness. Joyce then made up her mind that she would have to take the more direct route this time and appeal not to the slight vestiges of conscience she had thought the monster might possess, but instead to her daughter's common sense.

Surely, after hearing Joyce's reasoned rational arguments, Buffy would recognise the futility of attempting to continue the perversion of a relationship that she currently persisted at with the monster.

Buffy froze at seeing her mother in the kitchen, but quickly regained her composure and said,

"Mom, you're home early."

Joyce smiled saccharinely at her daughter and said,

"I know, I though that I'd come home early to surprise you. But imagine my surprise when I got home and found out that you weren't. I was terrified, Buffy. I thought you'd died. I had to call Mr Giles to check that you were okay. How could you be so selfish, Buffy? All I ask of you is that you at least leave a note if you're going out. And Mr Giles said he didn't know where you were, just that you were safe. Do you have any idea how foolish you've been?"

Buffy rolled her eyes,

"Mom, I'm eighteen. That means I'm old enough to make my own decisions when it comes to love. Besides, I told Giles where I was going to be. He knew I was fine and he trusts me to make my own decisions concerning my life."

Joyce sighed at Buffy's naïveté,

"Buffy, darling. You're still a child, no matter what that monster may think. You're not old enough to be throwing your life away like this."

Buffy frowned,

"And when you say monster I suppose you're referring to my husband? Don't bother to answer that. And I'm not throwing my life away. I'm the Slayer and I want to have some happiness in my life, so I'm going to be with Angel and my friends and my Watcher."

Joyce scowled,

"I don't see why you insist on continuing with this Slayer nonsense. Why don't you let Faith do the slaying and actually do something worthwhile with your life?"

Buffy's patience broke,

"There is nothing more worthwhile that I could be doing with my life. And as for letting Faith slay, she went evil so I stabbed her in the gut and pitched her off her apartment building, she's in a coma and there's very little chance she'll ever wake up."

Joyce flinched,

"Buffy you're being quite childish, if you insist on continuing with this ridiculous behaviour, I will be forced to ban you from going slaying ever again."

Buffy rolled her eyes once again,

"Don't be ridiculous. I'm moving in with Angel anyway, then we're getting married, I just came to pick up my stuff. Talk to Giles if you're ever going to accept what I am. I won't wait up."

With that, Buffy went up to her room to pack her bags, leaving her mom in shock, finally realising just how much she had thrown away in her blindness.

TBC.


End file.
