(This story was written before the second season started so some things that are assumed may have changed.)

SPOILER WARNING: There are some spoilers for my story The Sighing Game since this is a sequel. Also I've sort of departed from canon..this is two weeks and two days after the Angel episode. Up until Angel it's canon...after Angel it departs although the Master IS dead, Buffy killed him, and Colin has taken over. Confused? me too
RATING: PG-13 (maybe R in parts 6 and 10)
CONTENT WARNING: Buffy/Angel romance, a little cursing, kissing, VIOLENCE..and talk of sex.
SUMMARY: This is a sequel to my previous story The Sighing Game. You don't really have to read it to get this story. You just have to know that in it Buffy and Angel decided that their love was too strong to be ignored. Despite the difficulties, they would try to make it work...well this is the difficulties and the making it work part.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of the characters from the buffyverse. Sometimes I steal them like I am doing now but I always return them as good as new. And I never make any money off them. (That would make me a pimp if I did wouldn't it?) They belong to the nice people at Fox, the WB and of course to Joss Whedon.
Also thanks to my fabulous beta reader: Dare the Great :)

The vampire rushed toward Buffy, mouth agape, fangs glinting in the moonlight. As it leapt through the air, it growled menacingly. It knocked Buffy to the ground and pulled her head to the side exposing her neck for a bite. Buffy calmly tucked her legs up and kicked with all her strength, sending the vampire flying backwards. Before the vampire had time to react, Buffy was on top of him. She pulled a stake from the small sheath strapped inside her sleeve and plunged it into his heart. Then she dusted off her hands and turned towards Giles, who was watching from behind a large memorial statue.

"That's four, Giles. I think I've fulfilled my quota for the night," Buffy said, picking up her bag of vampire slaying supplies. A girl should never leave home without a few stakes and some holy water.

"Right," said Giles. "Why are you in such a hurry?" Buffy smiled into the darkness. She was meeting Angel tonight. She wanted to sing it from the rooftops, but the sleeping residents of Sunnydale would most likely not appreciate a midnight serenade.

"I'm meeting someone at the Bronze," Buffy answered.

"Oh, is this another one of your dates?" asked Giles.

"Giles, I am not in the mood for another one of your...you are the Slayer, you can't have a life lectures."

"I..I suppose not," Giles stuttered, wondering how she had known he was planning on giving her that lecture. Not that it ever did any good.

"Besides, Angel knows all about me being the Slayer, and he can take care of himself." She swung her purse full of vampire deterrents onto her shoulder and turned to walk away. Giles grabbed her arm and swung her around to face him.

"Angel?" he asked. "You're dating Angel?"

"Yeah, so?" Buffy asked belligerently.

"So?" Giles asked, raising an eyebrow in disbelief. "He's vampire," the Watcher said, his tone clearly implying that this was something Buffy should have considered herself.

"Thanks for the newsflash, Giles. I can take care of myself too you know."

"Buffy, you can't become personally involved with a vampire." Giles cautioned. "It's against all the rules. What if he loses control? Will you be able to kill him?" Giles was beginning to work himself into an agitated state of Watcher worry, and Buffy was getting angrier by the second.

"Giles, don't treat me like a little girl! I am in love. Do you even know what that feels like? Angel understands me and he loves me too." She jerked her arm out of his grasp. "I am going to meet him now, and there is nothing you can do to stop me." She walked away, refusing to look back.

"She's sixteen," muttered Giles. "She doesn't even know what love is."

"I do too," Buffy shouted resisting the urge to stick out her tongue. Giles sighed, sometimes that excellent Slayer hearing was a difficult thing to deal with. Actually, sometimes the Slayer herself was a difficult thing to deal with. Well there was nothing he could really do about it, besides give her another lecture tomorrow.

Buffy was determined not to let an old party pooper like Giles ruin her night. The farther she got from the graveyard the more her spirits rose. She was going to see him tonight. Laughter bubbled up inside her, and the world seemed perfect. Once she got to the Bronze, Buffy waited anxiously for Angel. It had been two days since that magical night on the hill when they had decided that love couldn't be denied. Thinking of that night still sent shivers up and down her spine. She closed her eyes letting herself remember the moment, the kisses. Her blissful thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Hey Buffy, asleep on your feet?" the voice asked. It was Xander. Suddenly Buffy was glad that Angel wasn't there yet. She still felt a little guilty when Xander saw her with Angel. She didn't want to hurt him, but sometimes he was such a moron. Willow was right there pining away for him, and he was too dense to notice her. Why couldn't he see that he would never have Buffy? Why couldn't he see that she loved Angel more than she could even understand? She opened her eyes to look directly into Xander's face.

"Not sleeping, I was just thinking."

"About what?" he asked.  Buffy considered telling him the truth, but she wasn't that cruel.

"About Willow...where is she?"

"Ahh the Willster. Don't know. Haven't seen her since I tried to cheat off her in bio." Buffy slapped Xander lightly.

"Bad, Xander, bad. Did she let you?"

"This is Willow we're talking about. She does not cheat, ever, not even for me." They both looked up as Willow approached.

"Hi, Will," Buffy greeted her friend. "We were just talking about you behind your back. Xander was saying the most terrible things." She smiled.

"Yes, I was" Xander admitted solemnly. "I was practicing for my career as a tabloid reporter."

"Your mother will be so proud" Willow said laughingly. "So are we going in?" Buffy shook her head.

"You two go on ahead, I'm waiting for someone."

"That someone wouldn't happen to be a particularly gorgeous vampire with a soul would he?" Willow asked teasingly. Buffy blushed a little, thankful for the dark lighting.

"Maybe," she finally answered. "I mean yes I'm meeting Angel here, or I'm supposed to; he's a little late."

"Maybe he stood you up," Xander suggested. Willow elbowed him hard in the ribs.

"He just probably got caught up in something and forgot the time. Anyway Xander and I are going to go in now. Aren't we Xander?" Xander didn't answer, so Willow grabbed him by the arm and dragged him away. Buffy watched them enter the Bronze. It was starting to get a little chilly. She huddled deeper in her leather jacket and wished she was inside too. What if he had stood her up? They hadn't talked since the night on the hill. What if he had changed his mind about the whole thing, and he just didn't want to tell her? What if...she quashed the thoughts. *Buffy,* she ordered herself, *have a little faith.* The guy was a couple minutes late and she had him practically skipping town. Sometimes too much imagination could be curse. She stood alone in the streetlight with her doubts. They crowded her mind, until she wanted to scream. That would definitely not be a good idea. Her reputation as a total weirdo did not need new fodder. She decided to give it five more minutes and then go in. He could always find her there if he ever came.

Five minutes came and went so she decided to go join her friends. As she turned towards the door, Angel appeared suddenly in front of her. She rushed to him, jumping into his arms. Their lips met in a passionate kiss. When they finally parted. Buffy pulled away from him. *I'm angry because he was late,* she reminded herself. But just seeing his face was almost enough to send her flying into his arms again.

"You were late" she said accusingly.

"I know" he admitted.

"Why?" she asked.

"I had a little distraction to take care of. I was on my way over here when I was jumped by a couple of ugly monsters. So I had to take care of them." All Buffy's anger melted away in a rush of worry.

"Are you hurt?" she asked.

"Nothing permanent."

"Don't give me that macho crap. Are you hurt and how badly, Mr. Cryptic Man?" She stared into his eyes. "I care about you, okay? Did you kill them?"

"It's not bad really. They were pretty young and stupid. I killed them, it was messy though."

"Show me." Angel sighed as he stripped off his jacket. Buffy examined the bite and scratch marks on his neck and arms. She kissed the nasty scratch on his neck and smiled mischievously up at him. "Does that make it all better?"

"It's a start," he answered lifting her easily into the air until her eyes were level with his. She laughed as she wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing his nose and mouth.

"So what do you want to do?" she asked. "Dancing, or something else. Since you're injured and all."

"How would you like to take a stroll in the park?"

"Just as long as it's not a stroll in the graveyard, I'm up for it. I only have two stakes on me so I'd rather not do any more heavy-duty slaying tonight." Angel nodded, in approval for her carrying stakes. Or maybe just agreeing that any more slaying tonight would be a pain and a half. "I'm gonna go in and tell Willow and Xander that I'm outta here. You wanna come."

"I don't think Xander would be too thrilled to see me."

"Xander? Xander loves you." Angel did not look fooled. "Well okay, so maybe he doesn't love you. But he wouldn't try to stake you or anything." she amended. Angel still looked a little skeptical. "Never mind, you stay here." She ran inside and said her good-byes. Then came running back to where Angel stood. "So where are we walking?" she asked.

"Right now we are walking along what is commonly know as a sidewalk" Angel answered.

"Oh, wow. Why don't they teach us useful stuff like that in school instead of all that stupid biology? But where is this sidewalk taking us?"

"You'll see."

"Oh goodie, you've gone cryptic on me again. I thought we were past that stage." Angel just smiled. Buffy couldn't help but smile back. Her insides felt all melty when he smiled at her. Angel reached out and took her hand. They walked slowly side by side staring at the stars and each other.

Finally they reached a small lake glittering with moonlight. It sat hidden in a small glade, surrounded by trees and the fresh smell of green grass.

"It's so beautiful," Buffy breathed, staring at the captured moonlight that lay on the lake's surface.

"Like you," Angel said quietly. He stared at her face as intently as she stared at the lake. "It's my special place,' he explained. "That sounds stupid. It's where I come when things get too hard. When I need to be alone." He paused then slowly added. "When the temptation becomes too great." Buffy looked into his eyes.

"The temptation to feed on a live human?" He nodded.

"You have no idea how hard it is to control. If I ever let down my guard. If I ever give in and let myself feed on a live human, I'm afraid I'll never be able to control it again. The urges would become too strong. When I'm in a crowd, I can feel the heat...of the blood, the life around me." He glanced at Buffy trying to judge her reaction. *Would she recoil in horror?* "I'm telling you this because I need you to know. I know I'm a danger to you, and I need you to realize what you're getting into."

Buffy smiled weakly but encouragingly. "It's better we talk about it. You feel so human, you look so human." Buffy shrugged. "It's easy to forget the vampire side of you." She nodded, trying to reassure herself. "It's better that we talk about it." But she wasn’t sure she wanted to. It would be so easy to ignore his demon half. She looked up at his gorgeous face. He had the face of an angel; it was too easy to forget he was a vampire.

"Does it disgust you to hear about the bloodlust?" Angel asked uncertainly. Buffy thought about it for a moment.

"A little," she admitted. His face fell. She had hurt his feelings. Guilt filled her mind, but she had one more awful question she had to ask. She took a deep breath and asked. "Do you ever want to feed on me?" Angel looked away, staring at the water. He dropped his gaze to his hands and answered softly, refusing to meet her gaze.

"Sometimes." It was not the answer Buffy had wanted to hear. Angel glanced at her, trying to judge her reaction. He must have seen some of her doubts in her face for he quickly added. "I can control it."

"I know." Buffy answered. She softly stroked his face with the back of her hand. "I trust you." Angel trapped the hand in his own and kissed it lightly. "I love you." Buffy added softly. The light that blossomed in Angel's eyes was answer enough, he reached for her face and whispered into her ear.

"I love you too."


continues