Chapter Five : Taste February 19, 1998 The Library Xander sat down in a chair and sighed. "She didn't answer the phone last night?" he asked. Willow shook her head in response. "There was no answer. I thought about going over there, but I decided against it." "Yeah. You wouldn't want to catch 'em getting pelvic." "Xander!" Cordelia said sternly. Willow laughed at the two of them. She wondered if what she had said the day before even registered in Xander's pea - sized brain. Did he even know that she had loved him all those years? Did he realize that that is why she knew to a certain degree what Buffy was going through? "Xander... I didn't go over because I think she needs some time alone. She's going through a lot," she explained. "When are you people going to learn that she's not going through a lot?!" Xander screamed. "She's having sex with Angelus! The only thing she's going through is insanity!" "Gee, thanks, Xander." Everyone turned to see Buffy walk into the library. She was wearing a black spaghetti strapped dress, heels, and her leather jacket. Xander stood up and swallowed hard. "Buffy," he said with a nervous laugh. "Didn't even hear you come in. How are you?" Buffy smiled and placed her hands on her hips. "Xander, Xander, Xander. Why are you all of a sudden afraid of me? You scared that I'm gonna kick your ass?" Cordelia stiffled a laugh while everybody stared at her in amazement. They had never seen Buffy like this before. She was so confident. So determined to show Xander that she didn't care what he thought about her. Buffy felt her smile grow across her face. She wasn't going to be intimidated by Xander. She was stronger now. Angelus had made her that way. "So, Buff," Xander started, preparing to get angry,"did you have fun sleeping with a demon the other night?" Buffy folded her arms and looked up as if she was in deep thought. "Now, let's see," she said mumbling to herself. "That was four nights ago, which makes that three nights ago - I'm sorry, Xander," she said with a laugh. "You're going to have to be a little more specific. Are you talking about before or after you found out because, to be honest, I'm a little confused on which night you're talking about." Cordelia's mouth fell open, Willow stiffled a laugh, and Giles said,"Good Lord." 'You slept with him again?!" Xander exclaimed. "It's not really any of your business what my sex life is like, but if you must know, I did. He came the night after you guys found our clothes." "Buffy, how could you do such a thing?" Giles asked. Buffy turned her head to look at him. "I don't feel I have to explain myself to you guys." "Well, you better start explaining!" Xander yelled. Anger was all over him. She had slept with Angelus! Again! "Why, Xander?" Buffy asked through gritted teeth. "So, you can yell at me and tell me how stupid I was?! So, you can tell me how I sould live my life and ignore my feelings?! If that's the case, I'm not telling you shit!" Willow stood up, walked over, and placed a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Just calm down." Buffy moved away swiftly from her touch. "I am not going to calm down! I am tired of him telling me how to live my life or how stupid I am!" "So, stop acting like you are an incompetent fool and he might just stop, Buffy!" Giles exclaimed. Buffy looked over at him in surprise, but the shock soon faded. She knew he'd never except it either. No big deal. Buffy scoffed. "I should have known you wouldn't be able to handle it," she mumbled as she walked out of the library. Willow stared at Giles and Xander with her mouth hanging open. Weren't they going to run after her? Weren't they going to try and talk to her? She decided to and followed Buffy. Buffy was standing at her locker when she saw Willow running towards her. Oh, God, please, don't let her hate me, too, she begged silently. "Buffy!" Willow called. "Where are you going?" Buffy saw a look in Willow's eyes. It was the same look that Giles and Xander's eyes held. Willow was mad. Buffy turned around and began to walk away. "Buffy!" Willow called. "I'm skipping!" she answered, walking out of the school. The Factory Angelus sighed as he tossed and turned in his bed. He could not sleep. He was thinking about Buffy. No, correction. He was worried about Buffy. She seemed pretty sick the night before and he had to leave before she could even wake up. He didn't want to leave her like that. Not that he ever wanted to leave in any situation. He wanted to stay with her his every minute. This wasn't how it was supposed to have been. His original plan from three nights ago had been to sleep with her and make her feel used - wasted. Instead, he had gone to her every night since then, feeling a way he never thought he could feel. And every morning before sunrise, he'd leave feeling as guilty as a human could feel. Angelus stared up at the ceiling as he wondered things. He was in love with Buffy. He knew that now. He wondered if he always had. Or maybe his feelings weren't his at all. Maybe they were just those of his soul. But he didn't have his soul, so how could those feelings be Angel's and not his? Could it be that he and Angel were the same person? It seemed logical enough. Angelus had been there on Buffy's seventeenth birthday. He remembered clearly how he had kissed her, how he had touched her, and how he had held her and kissed her tears away as her gift of innocence became his to own. More than anything, he wanted to hold her like that again. But did she feel the same for him. Something deep inside told him that she did, but something else told him that she was just using him as a replacement for the man she had lost that fateful night. Angelus stood up from his bed and paced the floor. There were too many questions and thoughts racking his head. He didn't like it. How do I tell her? he thought. How was he to tell her that he loved her? He couldn't just very well go up to her and say it. If she didn't feel the same way, she'd end up being convinced that all he wanted her for was sex. That was in no way all he wanted her for. There was more to it. He wanted to be there for her when things weren't going so good. He wanted to be able to help her get well when she was sick like he had the night before. He wanted to be able to walk up to her and kiss her without it leading to sex. But how was he going to get those feelings out into words. Suddenly, Angelus had an idea. It was the nineteenth. That night would mean that one month ago, Angel and Buffy had made love. He wanted to tell her that he loved her and it seemed like the right time. But would she get scared and tell im to go away or would she kiss him deeply and passionately and beg him to never to leave her. You've gotta take your chances, man, his mind said. It was settled. He was going to tell her tonight. It might come out as a whole big jumble of words she would never be able to understand at first, but he'd get what he wanted to say out somehow. Angelus stopped pacing the floor as he felt his thoughts subside. The nervousness overtook him. He let out a groan and plopped back onto his bed. With a glance at his clock, he saw that it was five thirty. The sun had already set. "Thank God," he said aloud as he stood back up and grabbed his shirt. As he buttoned it, he heard someone enter his room. "Where are you going?" Angelus nearly rolled his eyes in the back of his head as he heard Drusilla's voice. He wasn't interested in dealing with her. She'd already been giving him the third degree ever since he started disappearing every single night. "I'm going out," he answered as he walked past her to grab his duster. Drusilla threw her hand to her forehead as if she were in a great deal of unbearable pain. "She... The slayer... She's taken you... She's taken..." Angelus sighed, realizing that she was having one of her premonitions. In that very moment, he decided that he must have been going through some temporary insanity when he made her like him. She was annoying as hell - Insane or not. "Dru -" "Kill her for me, Daddy. The slayer is to die. You said you'd kill her." Angelus didn't say anything. He was never going to agree to killing Buffy. He never ever wanted to see her hurt. He'd give up his own life if it meant saving hers. "Dru, do me a favor," he started in a taunting voice,"Go call 1 - 800 - CHARTER." "She's taken you away from me," Drusilla said thriugh gritted teeth. "If you can't get help at Charter, please. Get help somewhere." Drusilla walked up to Angelus and looked into his eyes. Angelus knew what this meant. She was going to try and hypnotize him. No way. Nada. "Sorry, Dru. I don't feel like playing," he said. He quickly slipped on his shoes and ran out of the factory. The Graveyard "C'mon, that can't be all you got!" Buffy quipped as she watched the vampire she was fighting fall to the ground. He looked up and growled at her. "You're gonna die for that," he hissed. "Oooh, I'm really scared. I'm shaking in my heels." She reached through the sleeve of her leather jacket and pulled out her stake, twirling it in her hands. "I'm ready for some fun." The vampire growled deeply and attacked. He sent a punch to Buffy's face, but she blocked it. He tried to kick her, but she grabbed his leg and threw him on the ground. A deafening crack erupted through the air as the demon landed on is back. Buffy smiled and wakled over beside him. He tried to stand back up, but she slammed her heel down on his chest. He turned to dust and she sighed. "I'm good." "Yeah, you are," a voice said from behind. Buffy felt her smile grow as big as it could and turned around to see him. As usual, he was wearing his leather pants and silk shirt, complete with duster. But that night, he seemed different. Buffy couldn't very well figure it out, but she knew something wasn't the same. "Hey," she greeted, walking up to him and kissing him lightly on the lips. It was the first time she had done that without it leading to sex. "Hey," he said back softly. "Are you feeling better?" Buffy laughed at how worried he was. "Yes, I'm fine. Will you walk me home? I'm kinda tired of slaying." She laughed. "Hell. I'm kind of tired from everything." "What happened?" Angelus asked, the two beginning to walk out of the graveyard. "Angelus, I really don't think -" "You don't have to call me that anymore," he interrupted. Buffy placed her hand on his arm, urging him to stop, and stared at him in confusion. "I thought you didn't like for me to call you Angel." He shrugged. "It doesn't matter. I like Angel better. It doesn't take that long to say. See : Angel. Angelus." He formed the words in syllables and Buffy couldn't help but laugh. He smiled and the two began to walk again. "So, what happened that's got you so tired?" Angelus asked again. "Today... I went to school and we all got into a screaming match. Xander, I'm pretty sure, thinks I'm a slut." "Do you think that you're a slut?" Buffy shook her head. "No. I don't." She grabbed his hand into her own. "I'm just a girl... with a guy. It's simple." Angelus smiled as the two made their way to Buffy's house. Nothing was said as they moved. You could barely tell, but there was tension between the two. They both desperately had to get something out of their systems. They couldn't keep their feelings locked up inside. It might result in disaster if they did. Buffy looked at her lover. He was looking down at the ground as they walked slowly. Something was on his mind and she could sense it. She couldn't sense what it was, however. Did he sense the thoughts that were weighing heavy on her mind? She had to tell him. 'I love you,' she thought, gazing up at him. After a few more seconds, she laughed softly and looked down at the ground. Angelus smiled and turned his head to her. "What's so funny?" "Nothing," she said, shaking her head. "I was just thinking about things." "What kinds of things?" "I'll tell you soon enough." "Okay," Angelus replied. He wasn't going to push her into something she didn't want to do or say. It was her choice to tell him something - not his own. Within moments, the two were walking up to her door. But as they did, Buffy tightened her grip on Angelus' arm. He placed his arm around her waist to hold her up. "Buffy, what's wrong?" he asked worriedly. Buffy shook her head. When she tried to open her eyes, black dots appeared in front of her. "I - I don't know... I just feel so dizzy... Angel -" Bu she didn't finish her sentence as she collapsed into his arms. He picked her up gently and carried her to the door. He set her down for a second, just to open the door, only to pick her up again and carry her into the house, kicking the door shut. Buffy wrapped her arms around his neck and placed her head on his shoulder. He was going to take care of her. She had nothing to worry about. Nothing was wrong. So, why did she feel like her world was about to crash? Angelus carried her up to her room and set her down on the bed. She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply. She felt as if her body were floating away. She knew what this meant. She was fixing to pass out. Angelus caressed her forehead as she held onto his hand. "Do you want me to take you to the doctor?" "No," she said, shaking her head. "No doctors. I'm fine... This just happens sometimes." Angelus wasn't convinced. She was supposed to be over her virus. Was it coming back or did she have something much worse? "I think I'm gonna pass out," Buffy managed to say. Tears began to blur her eyes. This hadn't been the first time something like this had happened. She had passed out three times within the past month. The only reason she was crying was because she didn't want to pass out again. Angelus pulled her body up to his and held her as she cried. "Shh," he whispered, stroking her back lovingly. "If you have to, go ahead. I'm going to stay with you. You'll be okay." Buffy wiped tears from her eyes and let out a small laugh as she heard him say this. Weeks before, she never ever would have wanted to be alone with him. He would have killed her. But now, it's all she wanted to do. She trusted him completely. He would never hurt her. Angelus rocked her gently and he felt her go limp in his arms. He didn't have to look at her face to know. She had gone unconsciousness. Part of him wanted to run and take her to the hospital, but he didn't. He wouldn't go against her wishes. If she didn't want to go, he wasn't going to face her. He told himself that everything was okay and layed her light body back down. Then, he walked down the stairs, to let her rest. Angelus took his duster and his shoes off and sat down on the couch in Buffy's living room. She had been out for nearly five minutes. The only reason he knew this was because he had been running up and down the stairs checking on her. He didn't like this. He didn't like this one bit. Something was seriously wrong with her. He didn't know what, but he was determined to find out. As Angelus began to close his eyes and pray silently for his love, he felt something snuggle up against him. He opened his eyes and there was Buffy in her black dress, taking comfort beside him. Angelus immediately pulled her face to his. "Are you okay?" Buffy laughed. "Yes, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" Angelus kissed her and held her. "You had me worried." Buffy looked up at him in surprise. "You were worried about me?" Angelus didn't answer. He was prepared to tell her. He had to tell her. It was the only way he was going to know peace with himself and happiness with her. Buffy wasn't surprised at his silence. He had always been like that. She was admitting it fully now. Angelus and Angel were the same person. Just because one acted differently didn't mean anything. Humans do it. They act like something one day and then another the next. Buffy knew it was just a natural quality everyone possessed. Angel's life just took it to the extreme. They were the same person. This was the same man that had made love to her exactly one month before. She knew now why the touches and the kisses and the smiles he had given to her were familiar. They were the same ones she had seen on his face the first time they made love. She was ready to tell him. She had to tell him. Neither one said a thing as Buffy pushed herself closer to kiss him passionately on the lips. Angelus wrapped his arms around her waist and returned the kiss deeply. Within moments, the two were in Buffy's room. Angelus had her up against the wall and they were kissing uncontrollably. Buffy began to unbutton his shirt and felt his hand slide up and down the side of her leg. She moaned and he kissed her neck. Angelus tried to stop himself. He couldn't do this. He didn't want her to think that all he wanted her for was sex. It was not true. He loved her. Finally, he pulled away from her. Buffy stared at him in surprise as she tired to control his breathing. What was he doing? Was he tired of her already? She shook her head and laughed. "I should have known." "Should have known what?" Tears sprang up in her eyes. All that she felt, all that she thought was true, felt like a lie to her now. How could she tell him she loved him when he didn't feel the same way? "I should have known... that the day would come... when you wouldn't want me anymore," she answered softly. Angelus shook his head. "No, Buffy. Don't think that." He pulled her to him and they sat on her bed together. "Listen," he began,"I have something to tell you. I don't know how I'm going to get this out, but -" He was interrupted as Buffy pulled his lips to hers. She was going to do anything to keep him - anything at all. "Just tell me." "I love you," he whispered. Buffy had to control herself from not gasping aloud. Had she heard him right? Had he just said that he loved her? Had she been dreaming? Was she dreaming now? A thousand thoughts and questions were running through her head, but she didn't pay them no mind. All she cared about was that now she knew how he felt. Angelus felt as if a weight had been lifted off of his chest. He had told her. Now, all he had to do, was see if she felt the same way. Buffy kissed him softly and slowly before whispering those same three words. "I love you so much it hurts," she added through tears. "And I never wanted to tell you because I thought that you wouldn't want me anymore and more than anything I wanted you and I just -" "Shh. It's okay." Angelus stroked her face and she felt something cold and metal against her cheek. She grabbed his hand and looked down at the claddagh ring on his hand. It was no longer with the heart pointing away from him. It was facing him. He belonged to somebody. He belonged to her. This was proof of how he felt. "I turned it around before I came to see you tonight," he said as if picking up on the questions in her mind. Buffy felt the tears stream down her face. She wiped them away and reached over to her table by her bed. Angelus watched as she grabbed her own claddagh ring and slipped it on her finger. Buffy smiled through her tears and grabbed his face with her hands. "I love you," she whispered again. Angelus tried his hardest not to let the tears in his eyes fall down his face, but they did. Buffy just wiped them away as he did the same to hers. Then they kissed passionately. Buffy wrapped her arms around his neck and he wrapped his around her waist. They slowly fell back onto the bed and their hearts knew peace. I'm gonna taste your love Taste your skin Taste the feeling of me within Your soul, oh, I'm gonna taste your caress Taste your kiss Taste a feeling that's just like this Love that I found in you, oh I'm gonna taste you "Xander, we really shouldn't be here," Willow said as she hurried to catch up with her friend. Xander ignored her. How could she be so stupid to believe that Buffy was not with Angelus?! It was the anniversary of her birthday, for crying out loud! Angelus was probably going to try and kill her after he slept with her! Xander knew he was alone in his idea, but that was okay. He was a man who stood for what he believed and right then, he believed that Buffy was gettin' her some. "Xander, please!" Willow pleaded, grabbing his arm and twisting him around. "What?!" Willow took a moment to catch her breath. She had been running after Xander ever since they had left the library twenty minutes ago. "Just... leave them alone," she said between heavy pants. Xander's mouth fell open. "How can you say that?! Don't you know he's gonna kill her?!" Willow shook her head. "He won't kill her. I know Buffy. She - She wouldn't be doing this if... if she didn't believe that he was Angel." "So, what? You're just saying that he has his soul back? How, Will? In case you haven't noticed, Giles has cut off all contact with Ms. Calender and the last time they spoke, she said she couldn't find a way to bring Angel back! There is no way that he could have his soul back unless he never lost it at all!" "Maybe he didn't." Xander shook his head and began to walk away. "I'm not hearing this. I'm not hearing this." "Just listen to me, damn it!" Willow exclaimed. Xander stopped dead in his tracks and turned back to her. He knew when Willow meant business and this was one of those times. "You and I both know that something happened on Buffy's birthday -" "Yeah, she slept with a corpse. Continue." Willow rolled her eyes. "But you know that something happened to Angel that night. He changed. He wasn't the same man that Buffy had fallen in love with. He hated her after that." "Hated? No, no. You're using the past tense. I think the word you're searching for is hates. Not hated. Present tense." "I can't use the present tense when I knew that he doesn't hate her. I've thought about this a lot today. Maybe... I dunno. Angelus could have fallen in love with her. Maybe he always had been in love with Buffy. He was in the same body as Angel was. It could be possible that they share the same feelings. They don't share the same personalities, but everybody's personalities change every once in a while. You can be happy and peppy one mintue and then downright angry the next!" "Are you saying that Angel and Angelus are the same person?" Willow nodded her head. That was exactly what she was saying. She knew how Buffy felt for Angel, but she knew how she felt for Angelus. She would never have stood up to Xander like she had that morning if she didn't care for her lover. Anyone would have to be blind to not see that. And she knew Xander chose to be. Xander laughed. "You're full of it." He began to walk away and in the direction of Buffy's house. Willow could only follow. Angelus held her body against his as he kissed her softly on her neck. Buffy moaned and held his head there as he moved slowly inside of her. This time was different and they both knew it. They were expressing how they felt for each other. The times before it had just been meaningless sex. But there was something about this time. Something more gentle in the both of them. "Angel..." Buffy moaned. Angelus kissed the side of her face. "I love you," he whispered into her ear. Buffy felt tears spring up into her eyes as she held onto tightly to him. "I love you, too." Angelus smiled and kissed her on the lips as the two made gentle, passionate love just like they had been wanting to for the longest time. "Xander!" Willow hissed as she followed him into Buffy's house. Her voice was just above a whisper. If anything was going on upstairs, she didn't want them to know they were there. "What?!" Xander exclaimed, his tone the same. "Please. Let's just go." "No!" "Xander, just leave them alone! If they are together, let them be that way! Can't you see that Buffy is in love with him?!" "Can't you see how stupid you are being?!" Willow sighed and threw her hands up in the air. "I give up! If you want to go in there and see the girl that you were in love with for a year and a half, sleeping with somebody that's not you, then go ahead! Be my guest!" "Fine!" Xander stormed up the stairs. He was careful not to stomp up the stairs. A part of him really didn't want to catch his best friend in the act with the man he hated - the man she was sworn to hate. He came up to the door of her room. As he reached for the knob, he felt wonderment wash over him. Did he really want to know? Did he really want to find out? What would he do if they were in there having sex? Would he storm in right in the middle of it? Would he try and kill Angelus? What would he do? Xander shook the wuestions away as he carefully opened the door just a little. It was enough for him to see, but enough for them to see him. He had been right. They had slept together. But... somehow... they looked different. Buffy was cuddled up against him and she had her arm around his chest. He had his arm around her back and was stroking it as the two were falling asleep. Barely - just barely - Xander heard Buffy whisper,"I love you." Xander thought anger would be there, but it wasn't. Sadness was. He had finally faced reality in that one moment. Buffy wasn't his and she was never going to be. The next thing he heard was enough to make him want to kill every single thing of the demon and human race. Angelus kissed Buffy's forehead and whispered those same three words to her. Xander shut the door softly as soon as he heard Angelus. Against his will, he fell to the floor in shock. Buffy was with him. They told each other that they loved one another. He loves her, he thought. She loves him... HOW DEEPLY SCARY IS THAT?! He didn't want to stay another minute. He quickly walked down the stairs and returned to his redheaded friend. She was still standing at the door, her arms crossed, and she was tapping her foot. "I told you so," she said. "Save it," Xander said, walking out of the house. Willow followed him as he started down the street. "I told you! You're still in love with her, aren't you?!" "Shut up, Will!" Xander screamed back. Willow wasn't going to listen to him. She was going to get what she had to say out. Swiftly, she grabbed his arm and turned him around. "Admit it! You are still in love with Buffy! You are jealous as hell that that's not you in bed with her!" she yelled, pointing to her friend's house. Xander jerked his arm away. "I don't love Buffy! You have no right to say that I still feel something for her!" "And you have no right to want and ruin her happiness! I know you too well, Xander Harris! You're planning something! I know you! If you haven't planned something yet, you will! You aren't happy until you get what you want and you want Buffy and not me!" Xander stared at her in confusion. How did their conversation jump from Buffy to Willow? "What are you talking about?!" "I loved you!" Willow burst out. "Not in a best friend way, either! I loved you like she loves him! I loved you more than anything in this world! But you didn't love me back! You're just a coward, Xander!" The redhead turned around and began to walk off, but a stunned Xander followed her. He wasn't thinking about what he had just seen in Buffy's home. Well, he was thinking about it, but now he had something to else to wonder about. "What do you mean you loved me?!" "I loved you!" Willow answered as she felt tears spring up in her eyes. She couldn't keep this a secret any longer. Buffy was right. She had to tell him how she felt. "Do you not love me anymore?!" Willow scoffed. "Oh, I'm sure you'd feel flattered if I did!" Xander grabbed her by her arm and whipped her around much like she had done to him minutes before. "Answer me, Will!" Willow shook her head. "No! I don't love you anymore! I've got Oz! At least, he noticed me while you were off in the broom closet with Cordelia or checking out and complaining about not being with Buffy!" Xander just stared at her in amazement. Willow had loved him. He never knew it. He never even noticed it. How could he have been so stupid?! He thought back to all the times she had given him subtle hints. How could he have not known?! Willow shook her arm as if to get it away from him. Tears were streaming down her face. "Please, Xander," she pleaded in a whisper. "Just let me go." "No!" "Xander, dammit, you're hurting me!" she screamed, yanking her arm away from him. "Why didn't you ever tell me?!" "Because you're an idiot! That's why!" "You wanna be like that, fine! I don't care! But I am not going to watch Buffy be with him!" Willow shrugged. "Fine!" "Fine!" "... Good!" "Good!" The next thing they knew, they were kissing. It was everything Willow had ever wanted. She was still in love with him and it killed her to be feeling this way. She was with Oz. He was with Cordelia and there were more important things that they had to worry about than kissing. Xander jumped away along with Willow. They were both gasping for breath and Xander suddenly began to wonder why he was always in a fight with a girl before he kissed them. "What just happened?" Willow asked, regaining her composure. "I don't know." "That was wrong!" "Very wrong!" Willow shook her finger at him. "Shame on you!" "Me?!" Xander asked baffled. "Just... leave me alone, Xander!" With that, Willow took off. Xander sighed as he turned around and began to walk to his house. He had just kissed Willow. Willow Rosenberg! She had been his friend since kindergarten! What was up with that?! She had loved him?! How could she have loved him?! Xander might have thought of himself as hot stuff, but that was only to build self - esteem or to make his friends laugh when they were feeling down. But Xander's thoughts were interrupted as two hands grabbed him from behind. "Holy -" Spike brought his hands over Xander's mouth. "You scream, so help me, I'll snap your bloody neck!" Xander didn't even so much as squeak as Spike slowly pulled his hand away. The boy was in pure amazement. Spike was supposed to be in a wheelchair. He wasn't supposed to be walking around Sunnydale and quite possibly killing people. "You... How -" "Quit babbling like the idiot that you are and listen very closley to me," Spike said. "I -" "No way! You're not gonna trick me and then go slurp, slurp, slurp! That's not the way it goes!" Xander swiftly grabbed a stick off of the ground and Spike held his hands up in the air. "Whoa, mate! I just wanna talk!" "About what?" Xander asked. Spike gulped. "About Angelus. Just... Wait a second, what I am saying?" He grabbed the stick, threw it, and turned back to Xander. "Don't ask me why I was afraid of a pipsqueak like you. Must be that wheelchair thing. It whips ya." Xander's mouth fell open. "I got one question," he said. Spike sighed. He was wasting his time with this boy. For a minute there, he thought about eating him, but decided against it. Xander was the only one that hated Angelus just as much as he did. Xander was Spike's one way ticket to making Drusilla happy. "Why are you talking to me and not killing me?" "Because I need to discuss something with you." "What could you possibly want to discuss with me?" "I need your help." Xander began to laugh out loud, causing Spike to raise an eyebrow and become angry. "And what in the hell do you find so funny?" "Nothing," Xander answered between laughs. "I just... I thought you said that you needed my help. I just find that funny." He continued laughing. "I did say that." Xander immediately stopped laughing. "And the funny keeps coming." "My Dru is unhappy -" "And I care because?" "You shut your hole! She's unhappy because Angelus has been with the slayer doing God knows what kind of orgies!" Xander felt his anger from earlier rise again. "Don't even talk about it." "So, I'm assuming you saw them together tonight?" "Basically." "Be glad you didn't walk in right when the both of them got happy as you people put it." Spike shuddered as he remembered looking in Buffy's window from a tree he was in. To a vampire, it had to be the one thing that could make him want to stake himself. Xander ignored what Spike said and continued. "So, Dru's unhappy because Angel is with Buffy?" "Yes! As much as it kills me to say this, I need him to be with my Dru! I'd do anything to make her happy! She hasn't been the same these past five days! She doesn't coo. She doesn't name the stars. She doesn't even change her bloody Ms. Edith!" Xander gave him a questioning look. "It's her doll," Spike explained. "Oh." "Look, I need you to help me. I don't want you to kill Angelus, as much as I want him dead. I just need for you to talk to him. Get him away from the slayer." "She has a name, you know. It's Buffy." Spike rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Angelus has changed. He's in love with the girl. He's back to being the same whipped man he used to be only this time, without a soul. If you talk to him and tell him how bad he is for the slayer, he'll most likely leave her alone." "Why is that?" "He'd do anything for her. He's in love with her." "First of all, Angelus is not in love with Buffy, Buffy is not in love with Angelus, and this relationship that they have is just so that they can get pelvic every once in a while and not feel guilty about doing it!" "You're a very strange man," Spike said to the boy. "Now, are you going to help me or do I have to leave you on the slayer's bloody steps with your neck snapped?" Xander just felt like this was his chance. He could get rid of Angel... Continue 