He'd asked how she wanted to go about it. This was so new to him and Angel wanted everything to be perfect for Buffy. It had to be an experience she would remember; things had to be on her terms. However she wanted things to go, he would oblige. She wanted it to be in his bed, where she first came to the realization that she was in love with him.

It seemed like forever before he managed to get the door open. He glanced down at the beautiful girl standing next to him with love and complete trust in her green eyes. His whole being -- heart, body and soul -- ached for her touch. And there she stood, offering her very innocence to him. Love poured out of her through that one glance.

Buffy took a step forward to walked through the door, but Angel swept her up in his arms instead. He carried her into the apartment as if she were a bride being carried over the threshold. In both of their minds, they had already pledged their hearts to one another for all eternity, so to Buffy and Angel, this was their honeymoon. The next possible step after the binding of their hearts -- the binding of their bodies.

Angel kicked the door closed with his heel while Buffy draped her arms around his neck, kissing him with a love and passion like she'd never felt for anyone else, reserved only for him. He responded with an equal amount of passion, thrusting his tongue into her open and awaiting mouth. He ran it over her tongue, along the roof of her mouth and over her teeth.

He carried her through the living room, past the kitchen and down the hall to his bedroom. Both were too occupied with kissing each other to bother turning on the light. Not that it mattered, the full moon shone into the room through the open window. Outside, the crickets chirped and owls hooted as the two lovers made love to each other with only their mouths.

Without breaking their loving embrace, Angel gently placed Buffy on her feet again, mere inches from his awaiting bed. His hands became tangled in her long blonde tresses, shining like a halo around her face in the moonlight. Buffy Summers truly was his angel, sent from heaven to show him the true meaning of love.

The kiss lasted until they were dizzy for air. Panting, they stared at each other in silence for a few moments. "Are you sure about this, Buffy? Once we pass this line, there's no going back. I just want to be positive that this is what you really want," Angel asked.

"I've never been more sure of anything. In San Francisco I wasn't ready. But now I am. Make love to me, Angel."

He leaned down to capture her lips again. Her kisses had become an addiction, he was an addict who desperately craved his next taste of the drug her kisses provided. And with the moonlight shining softly into his bedroom, they made love for the first time.

Part Thrity-Two

In the middle of the night, Angel woke up to the sensation of warm lips caressing his neck. Smiling pleasantly, he opened his eyes to find Buffy leaving small kisses over his neck and jaw, her left pointer finger drawing circles on his chest. Noticing that he had awakened, Buffy smiled apologetically.

"I'm sorry. Did I wake you?" she asked.

"I am glad you did, don't apologize," replied Angel. "Are you okay?"

She nodded her head. "Everything's perfect."

"You don't have any regrets?" It was the one thing he feared the most: Buffy regretting her decision. He wouldn't be able to take it if she rejected him. Not after what they had shared.

She placed a kiss on his shoulder. "Not one. Do you?"

"I can't regret it, Buffy. This was something I'd only dreamed about. Never, not even in my most realistic dreams, did I imagine that you'd let me make love to you," he said to her.

"Me neither. After what Kevin said to me, I didn't think I would live long enough to experience it."

Angel brought his lips to her forehead. "I am going to see to it that you experience everything you should experience. Everything from making love to getting married, having children and living to be an old lady surrounded by her family."

"Only if you promise to be there."

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

Buffy's head rested in the crook of his shoulder. "Thank you so much, Angel. Looking back on everything, I don't know why I was so scared. It was amazing. I'm glad you were my first -- my only."

"And I'm glad you were mine."

She raised her head to look at him. "What did you say?"

He gazed at her with utter love and devotion in his chocolate brown eyes. The confusion and questions were apparent in her green ones. "This isn't some kind of line, Buffy. Until a few hours ago, I'd never been with a woman before."

"You've never made love before?" Angel shook his head. "But I thought...with you being twenty-seven...you'd have been with someone before me. Why did you wait?"

Angel took a breath before beginning his story. "For almost the same reason you did. Not because I was scared, but because I wanted to make sure I was with the right person."

"Me?"

"You, Buffy. Had I never met you, I would never have made love to someone."

"That's beautiful."

"No, it's not," he disagreed. "I didn't want what happened to my mother to happen to some other girl because of me. I couldn't do what my biological father did."

Buffy hugged him to her. "What did he do?"

He looked away, ashamed of the story he was about to tell her. His background wasn't something he was proud of. "My mother was fourteen when she was called to be the Slayer. And to say she didn't take the news too well would be an understatement. It was just before her fifteenth birthday when she was called, and she was distraught. She met up with one of my grandfather's employees. One thing led to another and they had sex. I won't call it making love because no love existed between them. It was a one night stand and I was the result of it. When she found out that she was pregnant, my mother told him about it, but he didn't care, didn't want anything to do with her or me. See, he was young and on his way up the corporate ladder, not to mention married with another baby on the way. Impregnating the boss' daughter certainly wouldn't have helped his status any.

"I didn't learn of this until much later, maybe in my mid-teens. But I decided right then and there that I would never put some poor girl through the same hell my mother endured. I made a conscious decision not to have sex until I met the girl I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. Someone I loved with my heart and soul. And I've kept that promise, Buffy. I waited until I found you."

Buffy kissed him on the cheek. "We waited for each other."

********

She reached her arm across the other side of the bed. It was empty. Buffy squinted in the bright sunlight of the early morning. Her body was exhausted from the night before; muscles she never knew existed ached. But it was a good ache, stemming from the satisfaction of having been one with her soulmate. Groaning, she sat up, looking around the bedroom for Angel.

The realization that she was naked came quickly. Buffy covered herself with the white bed sheet, still feeling modest. She wasn't used to sitting naked in a man's bed, it had never happened, but she was still nervous even after what she and Angel did.

"Angel?" she called.

"Just a minute!" his voice came from the other side of the apartment.

Buffy wondered what he was doing, but didn't have to wonder for too long. He walked in a minute later, wearing his boxer shorts, carrying a tray full of food.

"What did you do?" asked Buffy.

He smiled. "I'm bringing you breakfast in bed."

She laughed. He was so sweet and thoughtful -- everything she had ever wanted in a man. And there he was, standing next to the bed, the morning after making love to her, bringing her a home-cooked breakfast in bed. She knew she was lucky, most girls never got this kind of treatment after giving up their virginity to an older man. But Angel was different from other men. He loved and worshipped her, and wasn't ashamed or afraid to show it.

"You didn't have to do that," Buffy said.

"I wanted to. You must be hungry."

"I am. Food's only part of what I'm hungry for, though," she told him in a seductive tone.

He placed the tray in front of her. "Well, you're going to eat now."

"What did you make?"

"French toast, eggs and bacon. All of which I know you love," he informed her.

She picked up a fork and took a bite out of her french toast. "It's delicious, thank you."

Angel followed in suit. They sat on the bed devouring the breakfast he made for them. Buffy tricked him into leaning over for a kiss and when he did, she shoved a piece of bacon into his mouth. He chuckled, then stuffed a whole piece of french toast into hers. They did this until all the food was gone. Then Buffy allowed him to kiss her for real.

It held the taste of sweetness, not only from the love their shared, but from the syrup they'd poured on the french toast. They licked the remainder of it off each others' lips. It turned passionate the moment their lips touched, her hands around his back, her one hand moving up to brush across his cheek, stubby from the fact he hadn't shaved in twenty-four hours. His hands gripped her waist, which was covered by the thin white sheet.

Buffy ended the kiss by pushing him away. "I think we better get this tray out of the way before it falls and the plates and glasses break," she said.

Angel threw the tray off the bed, shattering the breakfast plates on the hardwood floor. "I'll buy new ones," he told him, forcing his lips on hers.

Part Thirty-Three

At noon, Buffy decided she'd better get home before her mother started wondering where she was. Crawling out of Angel's embrace, she climbed out of bed. Standing on the floor, careful of the broken dishes that lay there, Buffy surveyed her sleeping lover, the sheets tangled about his waist from their lovemaking. She grinned at the image. He seemed so helpless and so handsome sleeping there with his head resting on one of his fluffy white pillows.

He's no longer just my boyfriend, she thought happily. He's my lover. I like the way that sounds. She bent down to pick up her clothes, which were wrinkled from being haphazardly thrown on the floor fourteen hours earlier. Buffy didn't care, she'd learn to live with wrinkled clothes if she could have another night like that with Angel. Dressing herself, she didn't hear Angel wake up.

"You weren't going to leave without saying goodbye, were you?" he asked, sitting up.

She turned around. "Of course not. I didn't want to wake you right away. You looked like you could use a couple more hours of sleep."

"Well, you did wear me out. But I've lived on less sleep," Angel told her. "Do you really have to go?"

"Yeah. If I don't get home soon, Mom is going to go nuts." She pulled her tank top down, covering her bra-clad chest.

Angel stood up, unashamed of his nakedness. "Let me drive you. I don't want to leave you yet."

She watched as he walked over to her. He's so perfect. And he's as in love with me as I am with him. "I don't think that's such a good idea. If Mom sees you, she'll know something happened. I don't think I'm ready to fill her in on all the details. I got the mother of all lectures when I told her I almost slept with you in San Francisco, I can only imagine what she'll say when I tell her we finally did it," Buffy explained.

He nodded, understanding her decision. "Alright." They walked to the front door, and once they reached it, Buffy faced him. She kissed him, her arms around his shoulders.

"I should go before we get sidetracked," she told Angel. She opened the door.

Angel shut it again. "Don't leave. Don't ever leave."

"Angel, I have to. Believe me, if I could stay, I would. And besides," she said, opening the door once again, "it's not like you won't see me in three hours for my training session."

"It seems like a lifetime."

She laughed at him. He looked cute when he scrunched up his nose in defeat. "Read a book or watch some TV. I hear the History Channel's doing a special on the Titanic."

"You're real funny, Buffy."

She gave him one last kiss. "That's why you love me. I'll see you in a little while." Buffy left the apartment before Angel could stop her.

********

She opened the door to her house and closed it silently behind her. Buffy intended to make it up the stairs to her bedroom before her mother saw her. Looking around the kitchen she saw no one. Mrs. Summers was nowhere in sight. Sighing in relief, Buffy walked up to her bedroom.

Stepping inside, she found her mother sitting on her bed with a scowl on her face. Buffy made note of the fact that she didn't look too happy.

"Mom. Hi," she said cautiously. "What are you doing in here?"

Mrs. Summer tapped her foot on the floor impatiently. "Waiting for you, Buffy. Where were you all night?"

"I told you yesterday that I was going to Willow's house after the fireworks. She had a bunch of us over and I spent the night."

"Is that the truth?"

Buffy nodded. "Yeah. Why are you acting like this, Mom? I said I might not be home until late. You didn't wait up, did you?"

"Buffy Anne Summers, I don't appreciate being lied to," her mother said in a harsh tone.

"I'm not lying to you."

Mrs. Summers glared at her daughter. "Is that so? Then explain to me why, when I called Willow this morning, she told me you'd never been to her house yesterday."

"You were checking up on me?" Buffy shouted.

"I was worried. You never came home last night, Buffy. And you never called to let me know. I thought something had happened to you."

"I'm here. I'm standing in front of you, alive, thank you very much. You don't need to worry."

"Oh, I think I do. Tell me where you were." Buffy never got a chance to answer. "No, wait. How about I guess? Let's see, I called Willow, who said you weren't at her house. Mr. Giles hadn't seen you all day, and when I spoke to Xander, he said he'd seen you leave the fireworks display with Angel last night. So, I'm going to wager a guess that you were with Angel all night. Did I guess correctly?" demanded Mrs. Summers.

Buffy nodded slowly. "Yes."

"Why didn't you tell me the truth?"

"Because I knew you'd wig out like you just did," Buffy told her.

"I'm upset because you didn't have the decency to tell me the truth about where you were. What was so urgent, so time-consuming that you didn't have the time to pick up a telephone and call me?" she asked.

She lifted her eyes, making eye contact with her mother. "Nothing."

"Why can't you tell me the truth? Why didn't you call?"

"I--It slipped my mind. I'm sorry," Buffy apologized.

"It slipped your mind? What could you possibly have been doing that you'd forget to call me?" When Buffy wouldn't meet her gaze, and the guilty expression on her face, Mrs. Summers knew the real reason. "You had sex with Angel, didn't you, Buffy?" Once again, she didn't give Buffy a chance to answer. "Tell me the truth!"

Buffy raised her head. "Yes, Mom. I had sex with him."

"How could you? Buffy, you're still so young."

"What?" Buffy exclaimed. "Mom, don't ask questions if you can't handle the answers. And what do you mean, 'how could you?'?"

"Just that you're a young girl and --"

"I'm eighteen! Old enough to make my own decisions."

"Did he force you?"

That was the last straw for Buffy. "Why are you turning Angel into the bad guy here? He's not. It was my decision. Did you hear that? Mine! Never in any way has Angel pushed me."

"Honey, I know what you told me two weeks ago. You said you weren't ready for sex. And now you're telling me that last night you decided you're ready?"

"Yes! I wasn't ready then because I wasn't sure if I loved Angel enough to make love to him. But I woke up yesterday morning and knew that I did, and that I was ready. You've always trusted my judgement before, why can't you trust it now?"

"Because before, sex was simply an idea. Now it's a reality. A reality I don't think either of us was prepared for."

"Mom, I'm a big girl. I fight demons and vampires on a nightly basis."

"I'm very aware of that. But can you handle what you're getting yourself into with Angel?" Mrs. Summers wanted to know.

Buffy nodded. "I think so."

"Did he hurt you in any way? Did he do anything that you weren't ready for? Anything that made you feel weird?"

"No, Mom. It was nice."

"I don't think I need to tell you that Angel's older than you and more experienced. He might do something that some other girl liked but you may not."

"Not likely."

"Excuse me?"

Buffy sat down on the bed next to her mother. "We were each others' firsts. Neither of us had ever had sex before."

"Buffy --"

"Don't say it. Angel has never lied to me. He told me why he waited. His mother had a one-night stand and she got pregnant because of it. Angel's father didn't want anything to do with them. When Angel found out, he decided to wait until he found the right girl. Me, Mom, he waited for me. He doesn't want to do what his father did," Buffy explained.

Mrs. Summers sighed. "Okay. There's no reason for Angel to lie to you if he loves you. As for his reasons for waiting, I find them very noble. I like him, honey, you know that. If I didn't trust him, I wouldn't have allowed him to bring you to San Francisco. I honestly hope you are prepared to handle this new...level in your relationship with him."

"I am. Very prepared. All the bases are covered, Mom."

She smiled and hugged her daughter. "I'm happy for you, then. If Angel makes you happy, then I'm happy. And I'm glad that I can take comfort in knowing you two are being careful when you are together."

Buffy's smile faded when she realized what her mother was talking about. "Yeah. We're being careful."

********

Angel stood in front of the weapons cabinet, pulling out the different weapons Buffy would need to train with him and Giles that afternoon. He smiled to himself, remembering last night and that morning. Being so intimate with her made him come alive. Before her, he walked around as if he were a mere shell of a man with nothing and no one to bring him the kind of love he wanted. Then when he met Buffy, he slowly came alive. And making love to her was like a rebirth. Angel's life had begun.

He placed the weapons on the table, looking up when the door opened and Buffy stormed in. He noticed that she looked upset. "Buffy, what's wrong? You look like you've been crying."

She launched herself into his embrace. "Angel, we have a big problem."