His hands cradled her as he carried his love to his bed. After the kitchen table had broken they decided to relocate. Angel was so happy to be able to feel her body against his. It had been too many months since he was permitted to do so. To touch her skin. To look into her eyes without the constant stress of being worried that he might lose his soul in her. He was human now, and all that was on his mind was her. His love. His soulmate. His girl. His Buffy.

Passionate love was all they were thinking about. Sweet and gentle caresses became a constant thing between the two during that day. The feel of his heart beating under her ear after each time they made love was amazing. Unreal in fact. She had no other desire than to see him in the sun. As was his the same. To see her in the sun was his dream. The sight that he reveled in was that of her sleeping self beneath the sun's rays. Promises were made to each other. One of which was to make another day like the one they were saying good-bye to. Another was the devastating issue of never forgetting what they had the very next morning. Leaving everything they were given in a heartbeat. That, of the topic, being his heartbeat. Time was being taken back, along with it, his humanity. Their future tied with it.

Waking with tears in her eyes, Buffy strained to read the time on her clock radio. The glowing, green numbers were blurred and smudged in her vision. After concentrating on them for a few seconds she was able to make out 4:30 AM. She slipped out of bed and padded down the hallway to the restroom. She looked at herself in the mirror once she had finished her reason for the visit. Her face looked stressed. Possibly from the amount of crying she had assumed she was doing. She wasn't sure how long exactly she was crying only that the one fest included much of the salted water. Buffy splashed water onto her face with cupped hands and picked up the container of Neutragena and pumped a dime sized drop in her palm and began to lather the soap with her hands. Once there was a good amount of white suds she began to wash her face, careful not to get it in her eyes and mouth, she closed them tightly. Once she felt that her entire face was clean and covered with the soap she rinsed the solution off, reexamining herself once again. Her features were much better looking. Except for the slight redness in her eyes she felt that she looked exceptional. Exiting the bathroom she walked down stairs and found her backpack at the base of the stairs. Picking it up she walked to the couch and sat, leaning into it with a wonderful comfy feeling. She began to dig through her pack and finally came across an old magazine of hers; TEEN PEOPLE.

Flipping through the pages she found a story of a nineteen year old's story on how she got through pregnancy and single parenting while still in high school. The story was touching to Buffy's sympathetic heart. She felt sorry for the girl, Shannon Brizet, who had to go through something so significant and emotional without the support of her boyfriend and most of her friends. Buffy felt that no woman deserved such a thing. Such abandonment

Buffy looked around the room once she had finished the article and a crossword puzzle in the magazine and noticed the necessities of Christmas missing. There was no tree, presents, mistletoe and lights and it was a mere three days until Christmas Eve. Buffy walked into the kitchen and started dialing a familiar number.

"Hello?" Riley's upbeat voice rang on the other end of the phone after the first ring.

"Riley, hi!"

"Buffy? How are you? Feeling any better?" He seemed rushed when he asked her of her current condition but continued to keep his cool.

"I'm better. *Much* better, thanks. I...um...well, what are you doing for the next couple of days? Are you leaving for Iowa like you planned?" She sat down on a stool at the island.

"No, they're all snowed in for a week. No planes are permitted to land there until next Saturday. So I'm going to stay at the house til then. Why, what are you doing?" He had a smile and a giggle in his tone as he heard a soft "yes!" from the opposite side.

"Oh, nothing really. I was just thinking that we, the three of us, could drive down to The Tree Lot and get a Christmas tree for the house. And then do a little Christmas shopping afterwards. But if you're stuck on hanging out at the frat house all by yourself for the day then forget it. I wouldn't want to inter-"

"Whoa, whoa. I'm in. Just give me about an hour to get ready and I'll pick you and Willow up. How's that?"

"Great!" Her voice was hyped and now very happy that her day was all planned out. She had it stuck in her head that she was going to spend another Christmas brooding, since her mother wasn't there, but now she was going to replace all that negative thinking with positive. "See you then."

"Okay. Bye." Riley heard the phone hang up just after he had said his parting and realized that she was really looking forward to this. With a small shake of the head and a chuckle to himself he turned to grab some clothes and take a shower.

"Will." Buffy whispered into the guest room where Willow was sleeping and opened the door wider to let herself in. "Willow." A little louder this time as she approached the sleeping red head. Willow turned over in the bed and moaned in protest and continued her dream. "Willow!" Buffy now used a semi loud voice, just enough to wake up who ever was nearby, including Willow Rosenburg.

"Huh? What is it, Buffy?" She turned back over and slit her eyes open to see her friend hovering over her.

"Riley's going to pick us up to go Christmas tree and present shopping in an hour." She sat down on an empty patch on the bed and watched as Willow rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

"Okay. I'll be ready." She saw her friend nod with a large smile on her face and walk out of the room to leave the girl to her mission; get ready for traditional Christmas fun.

Next Part

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