****

Willow pounced the moment the door shut behind her. "Buffy, where have you been? I was getting ready to call the others! You left the Bronze THREE hours ago!! Three hours! You said you were coming home, and when I get here, no Buffy! I've been worried!"

Buffy took the moment that Willow took a breath to jump in, knowing from experience that if you missed your chance, she could keep going. "Chill Mom. Give me a chance and I'll talk!"

Willow seemed to run out of her steam, her emotions rapidly changing from anger to curiosity as she fell back on her bed, taking a pillow and wrapping her arms around it. "`K, but you better start talking."

Buffy toed off her sandals, peeling off her clothes and changing into sleep shorts and a tank. "Well, first of all, what happened with Riley?"

Willow seemed about to kill her, but she answered the question anyway. "He came over to the table about forty-five minutes afterwards when we were getting ready to go. He didn't seem too upset and went back to his buddies. Which means that you weren't with him all this time. So where were you?"

"You remember that guy that I told you about earlier?"

"Tall, dark and gorgeous grad? Yea, what about ..you were with him!" The last part was half question, half screech.

"Yea, we bumped into each other again when I was leaving, and he asked to walk me home," she said, flopping onto her bed on her stomach, pushing a pillow into a comfortable spot. "We stopped to get coffee, and ended up sitting on swings in a park, just talking."

"You mean you've just been talking to him, a perfect stranger, for the past 2 and a half hours or so?" Buffy nodded. "Wow."

"Wow is right." Her hazel eyes took on a dreamlike quality. "We talked about everything, Wills. I felt like I could tell him anything."

"Did you guys touch again? Did you get that weird rush, or do you think it was just from standing up?"

"We held hands walking back, but I didn't get a rush, just a feeling."

"A feeling."

"Like it was right." Buffy shook her head, denying her feelings. "But it has to just be me, I mean, what could he see in me? Plus, I still have this whole thing with Riley. I really have to figure out what's going on in that department."

"Well does this mystery guy have a name?"

"Angel." The word spoke volumes, telling Willow more than Buffy could put into words.

"That's an odd name."

"No more than ours are."

"True."

The two girls crawled under their blankets, facing each other in the darkness after shutting the lights off. Willow broke the quiet first that night. "We decided to rent some videos and invade Giles' place tomorrow night seeing that Cordy has to leave Sunday morning. You in?"

"Definitely. Torturing Giles with our pop culture? Always. `Nite Wills."

"`Nite Buffy."

****

The two best friends were walking back from breakfast, a rare occurrence, especially on a Saturday morning, when Buffy grabbed Willow's arm and stopped, pulling the redhead closer. "Look, there he is."

"There who is? And where?"

"Angel, and over there! No, don't look, he's headed over here!"

Willow giggled at her friend, amused, seeing as she barely saw Buffy this excited over a guy.

"Buffy!" his strong, smooth voice called to them, and the two girls turned to him as if surprised.

As he covered the distance between them, Buffy took the time to appreciate the view. She wasn't blind, she'd known he was handsome from the moment that she'd bumped into him, but he was good to look at. He was tall, shorter than Riley who just about towered over her, but with his broad shoulders and sculpted build, he gave off a picture of power and mystery. He moved with the ease of someone who was comfortable in their body. The khakis he was wearing and his white tee shirt fit him almost too well, setting off his tan skin.

A second flashed in which she remembered the dreams she'd had of him the night before. They hadn't been steamy, though there had been heat, just the two of them, comfortable together.

"Hi Angel," she said as he got closer. "This is Willow. Willow, Angel."

Angel grinned. "Its nice to put a face to the name."

"Same to you."

Angel gave her a quick wink before focusing his entire being on Buffy. "So what are you up to today?"

"Its Saturday, so I should be doing laundry, but its probably going to be crowded now. Where are you headed off to?"

"Just for a walk. I wanted to get a feel for the area. Hopefully find a quiet spot to sketch," he said, patting the backpack he had slung over one shoulder.

"You up for some company? I mean, you being new to the area and all, wouldn't want you getting lost."

"Not that there's much town to get lost in," piped in Willow, giving Buffy an innocent look as her friend tossed a glare her way.

"I'd love some. Do you want to come too Willow?"

Willow shook her head. "No thanks. I'm meeting Oz in a few anyway," she said as she backed away. "I'll see ya later Buffy."

****

The television screen turned from fuzz to the bright blue that comes on when your tape runs out. Buffy yawned, opening her eyes to peer into the darkness that surrounded the friendly group. A strong arm tightened slightly around her waist for a moment, and she tilted her head up to look at its owner without her cheek leaving its position against his shoulder.

Angel gave her a sleepy smile, his dark eyes hooded by dark lashes. Buffy smiled in response, making no effort to get up and turn the television off, instead, she opted to snuggle deeper into the warm embrace that was enveloping her.

The day had been perfect. She'd gone with Angel on a walk around town, ending up in Weatherly Park underneath a huge tree, as Angel had taken out his sketch-pad and drawn. In contrast to the night before, they hadn't talked that much; instead, they had just existed together, no words needed to understand the other.

Then, when darkness had begun to fall, he'd offered to walk her to her friend's house. When they'd gotten there, with the approval of her friends, she'd invited Angel to spend the night with them, watching the videos that had been rented.

At first it had been somewhat awkward; they hadn't been around anyone else in all the time they'd spent together in the past days. But as the gang had scattered around Giles' living room, Giles' in the corner of the couch closest to the kitchen light so he'd be able to read if uninterested in the movie, Willow and Oz curled up on the floor, Xander and Anya squeezed into one chair, Cordelia into the other, and her and Angel on the couch; the eight of them had fallen into companionable chatter during the previews. The group had lost both Giles and Cordy near the end of the first, and the other two couples had fallen asleep halfway through the second. For a lack of anything else to do, Buffy and Angel had watched the third, and as Buffy's lids had become heavy, she'd leaned against Angel.

The more time she spent with him, the more Buffy started to become afraid. Not of him so much as what was happening between them. They'd only met less that 48 hours ago, and the feelings that she was beginning to have for the gorgeous guy were becoming strong. The feeling of things being right weren't fading with the luster of a new relationship. If anything, they were just becoming stronger.

She shifted with the sudden thought of `what if he didn't feel the same way?'. She stilled at his whisper, the words slicing through the dark. "Are you comfortable?"

Buffy nodded, her cheek rubbing against the muscle of his arm. "Sorry if I just kinda fell asleep against you."

"Its all right," he said, one of his hands reaching up to brush her hair out of her face. He didn't withdraw it immediately though, instead, he traced the line of her jaw, the tips of his fingers stopping at her chin, and gently tipped up. "You look so peaceful when you sleep."

Her breath hitched as his head tilted toward her, anticipating his kiss. What it would be like to be kissed by those lips, she was going to find out. Her eyelids fluttered closed, and she breathed in the clean scent of his skin as he drew closer to her.

Damning herself even as she did so, she turned away at the last minute, pulling out of his arms, and looked down at her lap. "A, Angel, I'm soo sorry."

"Hey, its okay. I read things wrong. Totally not your fault."

She turned a sharp gaze in his direction. "You read nothing wrong!" she whispered loudly, conscious of the others around them. "It was totally right. Its just."

"Too fast? If you want time.it's just I feel something with you that I've never felt with anyone."

"Will you stop interrupting?" she asked, exasperated. "Everything feels right between us, but I have a boyfriend, Angel. One I've been with for a while now, and I don't want to ruin his trust. So I just need time to think about whatever it is between us."

Angel nodded. "I understand. You deserve whoever makes you happy."

"Thanks Angel."

"I better go now. Do you want me to walk you home?"

Buffy declined. "I think I'll just crash here."

"All right."

"I'll call you soon Angel."

He gave her a terse nod before disappearing out the door into the shadows. With a deep sigh, Buffy leaned her back against the arm of the couch. She deserved who made her happy. The only problem was, she had to figure it out, looking past instinctive feelings and recent annoyances.

****

"He didn't push the issue or anything like that?" asked Willow, the next afternoon in the two's dorm room.

"He was really gracious about it. He told me I deserve whoever makes me happy." Buffy sighed, and threw her pink highlighter down onto her book. She wasn't going to get any studying done until she figured this guy issue out. "It's just that I know things aren't going well with me and Riley, and when I'm with Angel, I'm not happy or sad, I'm just complete."

"Well then go for Angel."

"Don't you think it's strange that I've only known him for a few days? I've been with Riley for 5 months. Things aren't always "the hills are alive" perfect, but we have a good time together, when he's not boring me with tales of Iowa, or we're with his friends."

"It sounds as if you've already made your mind up," pointed out Willow.

"Maybe I have. When I'm with Angel, I can't get over how right it feels."

"What do you think of when you think of Owen?"

"Bookish."

"Matt?"

"Grabby."

"Scott?"

"Sweet, but clingy."

"Parker."

"Poophead."

"Riley?"

"Boring, annoying. Hair cut."

"And Angel?"

"Caring, sweet, honest, my soul." Buffy broke off, surprised by her last words. "Did I just say that?"

Willow nodded. "I think you've just solved your problem."

****

Buffy paced around her empty dorm room, nervously moving items, or straightening her bed. There was a sudden knock on the door, and she swung around to face it, her eyes wide. Taking a deep breath, she moved toward the door, and swinging it open. "Riley. I'm glad you came. Come in." She stepped aside to allow his tall frame into the room, shying away from him as he bent to give her a kiss.

"So what's going on that you wanted to see me?" he asked, sitting on Willow's bed.

"Well, Riley, I've been doing a lot of thinking."

"Where's Willow?"

"Huh? Oh, she's out with some friends. Now as to what I was saying," she started again, looking down. "Riley! What the hell do you think you're doing!"

Riley looked startled, his hands freezing on the button to his jeans. "What? I thought you'd decided."

Buffy tried hard, well not that hard, to disguise the disgust that came over her. "You thought I'd decided to sleep with you? Why would I do that? We've only been going out for 5 months, the past couple of which haven't been much fun for me."

"Well I thought you were just traumatized by the Parker incident and didn't want to rush things again," he tried to explain, conveniently ignoring her last words.

"Parker incident? Nothing happened! Sure he tried to.but his plane left without clearance." Buffy growled, glaring at her increasingly annoying boyfriend. "Now will you shut up so I can be nice and dump you?"

"Huh?"

"Whatever we had between us is over Riley. It was fun at first, like the first 2 dates, and I have no idea why I've stayed with you this long. Goodbye Riley." Buffy opened her door, expectantly waiting for him to leave.

"But I love you!"

"You love me? You don't even know me. And I sure as hell don't love you. I'd appreciate it if you'd leave now."

"You'll regret this. I'll be waiting for you to come to your senses."

Buffy just looked at him blanking, shutting the door in his face. Leaning her back against it, a broad smile crossed her features. No more Riley.

****

The sun was just beginning to sink into the sky when Buffy came across Angel on the campus's main quad, sitting with his back to a tree, a sketch pad in his lap. Suppressing the urge to skip, she made her way over to him, moving silently till she stood at his feet. Her shadow fell across the paper, and he looked up, startled. "Hey."

"Buffy. Hi."

Buffy shifted uneasily, her fingers playing with the rings on her hands. "Can I sit down?" Angel just nodded, his deep chocolate eyes not leaving her face as she sat on her knees beside him. All preconceived speeches flew from her mind. "I dumped Riley."

Angel's eyes flickered with hope before he caught himself. "Oh? Why?"

Buffy's hazel orbs didn't leave his darker ones, looking into his soul as she spoke. "Because he's a farm hick, with no idea of a working relationship. Because he isn't the person that could make me feel like I'm complete just by being near me. Because his touch doesn't make me melt. Because he's not you.

"I was scared the other night Angel. Everything happened so fast, and when I'm with you, I feel things I've never imagined possible, without even doing anything. I think I short-circuited for a moment there. But what I want, what makes me happy, is right here, if you still want me." Her breath caught in her throat; she'd put herself out there, opened herself up to rejection.

His hands cupped her face, the fingers sliding back to tangle with her hair. "That's all I want," he whispered, the words a caress against her lips as he drew near her. Giving a small tug, her pulled her toward him, making her lose her balance and fall into his lap. Then their lips touched, and an explosion of sensations and emotions flooded their systems. And with that first touch of lips, their souls joined, and they both knew it was right.

Go to the sequel, Ordinary Life

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