A Life to Remember

PART 4


Willow woke up a bit disoriented and wondered where she was. Then she remembered the night before. She remembered the demon and getting knocked out, then waking up at Angel's, the kiss and confessing their love to one another. Willow smiled to herself and rolled over. She jumped slightly as she felt Angels' arm tighten around her, pulling her closer. Lying in bed with a man, well vampire, but man nonetheless was definitely new for her. In the light of day, figuratively speaking of course, things seemed so different. She lost her newfound confidence, blaming the slight bump on her head for her bluntness with Angel. The new day seemed to make her reconsider her rash decisions. What was she thinking, telling Angel she loved him? Of course it was true but to open her heart to him like that so soon. What if he felt sorry for her and didn't really love her? What if he was still in love with Buffy?!

"Will?" Angel's tired voice broke threw the spell.

"Yea?"

"Is everything ok?" Angel asked leaning against the headboard and taking her hand in his.

"Sure, fine, great, why wouldn't it be?"

"You tell me? You zoned out for a good five minutes."

"What? Really?" Willow asked.

Angel nodded and searched her eyes for anything that would tell him what was wrong with her. He was sure they had cleared up any remaining worries she might have had. He'd professed his love to her numerous times since the night before. She must know by now how he felt about her. Unless...

"Have you changed your mind?"

"Changed my mind?"

"About us."

"No!! I was worried you had."

"No, I haven't. Willow I promise my feelings are genuine. There isn't anything in this world that could make me stop loving you." Angel said, tucking a stray hair behind her ear.

"I'm sorry. I know I'm getting repetitive with this but I've never had a boyfriend before and I'm not the most confident person in the world. I'll get better I promise, once I get used to this."

"I understand, trust me I do. I wouldn't expect you to be any other way."

Willow smiled and reached up to kiss him lightly on the lips. "I think I'm getting the hang of it though."

"I think so too." Angel said with a smile.

He pulled her up slightly so as to better reach her lips. As they kissed, their hands roamed over one another's bodies, learning how to please. They broke away from each other, looking into one another's eyes. The shrill ringing of the phone caused them to break their trance. Angel reached across Willow for the phone, which sat on the end table beside her.

"Hello?"

"Angel, its Giles."

"Giles, is anything wrong?" Angel asked, looking down at Willow while stroking her face.

"Well, I'm not entirely sure yet. You see we haven't been able to reach Willow today. Buffy called her house late last night after patrol and there was no answer, the same thing this morning. We've been trying to reach her all day. I'm afraid something may have happened to her."

"No, she's fine Giles. She was attacked last night on her way home from the library but I was around and helped her. She did hurt her head so I brought her back to my new apartment and she stayed here last night."

"Oh, I see. Well, ah if you could please have her come round the library some time, tonight maybe, it would be greatly appreciated. Oh and uhh let her know we were worried?"

"Of course." Angel answered. After saying their good-byes Angel hung the phone up and looked back down at Willow.

"We should probably get up now. Buffy and Xander will be here in about 20 minutes I'm sure."

Willow laughed, knowing it was true. They would rush over partly due to their concern but also because she was at Angel's. They still didn't understand her friendship with the vampire. Buffy most days couldn't bring herself to be in the same room as he was without either breaking into tears or beating the daylights out of Giles while they sparred. It was just too hard on her to try and get past what had happened. She felt guilty for everything involving Angel. No matter what Willow and Angel, the one time he managed to get a few words in to her, said.

Xander on the other hand wanted nothing to do with the vampire. Saying it was a trick and he was still evil. Willow tried to explain that there was no way it could be a trick. She had performed the spell herself. She knew it had worked. She knew before she rescued him from hell that he had his soul and it was permanent. Xander just didn't understand it. He had practically forbidden her to see him, telling her not to be around him. Of course that had only led to them having a big fight which ended with Willow in tears and Xander apologizing, hoping to make it all better. They had agreed to disagree after that and nothing was said again about her spending time with Angel.

Snapping back to reality, Willow threw back the covers and got out of bed. It wasn't the first time she had stayed over Angel's of course they had never slept in the same bed before. He always slept on the couch. In any case she was happy to have a toothbrush and clean change of clothes. Walking over to the bathroom she quickly did her business and stepped back into the living room. Feeling refreshed and a little cleaner she followed the smells and sounds of cooking into the kitchen. Finding Angel at the stove fixing her eggs was just about the sweetest thing ever.

"Make sure there's…"

"Lots of cheese I know." Angel said smiling as he turned around.

Willow sat at the table and watched as he finished cooking her eggs. He had already poured her some orange juice and sat the plate in front of her. Angel made a great show of leaning over for a quick peck on the lips before returning to the stove. Willow thanked him as she dug into her food, knowing anything he made would be delicious.

"Mmmm. This is great Angel." Willow gushed as she swallowed her first bite.

Angel laughed and began washing the pan out. "Glad you like it."

"Of course. I wouldn't mind you cooking for me all the time! You're a great cook!"

"Thanks."

Willow nodded and continued eating.

After finishing the pan, Angel sat down on the opposite side of Willow, watching her eat. Feeling his eyes on her, she looked up.

"Have you fed yet?"

"Ugh no, not yet."

"Well, go ahead. You must be starving, I mean you didn't feed last night and it's almost sunset now."

"I can wait unt…"

Willow put her fork down and looked at him carefully. He was embarrassed. Well, that was new. He'd never had a problem feeding in front of her before. She sighed softly and stood up, taking her plate to the sink. After rinsing it she walked up to the cabinet and pulled out a mug. Humming softly she opened the fridge and pulled out a bag of blood. Throwing it into the microwave she set the time and waited for it to heat up.

Angel watched all this in confusion. What was she doing? He knew he was being a bit ridiculous; he'd fed in front of her before. In fact, she'd had a meal waiting for him when he woke up a few times for him as a surprise. Maybe he thought he was doing her a favor? Sparing her the sight of his feeding. It must be appalling to think of him drinking blood one minute and them kissing the next. The thought didn't appeal to him so he couldn't imagine that it was a great thought for her.

At the beep Willow opened the door and emptied the bag into the mug, stirred it a little and then placed it in front of him.

"Enjoy."

Angel watched as she sat in front of him and stared at him.

"Uh Willow…"

"Hmm?"

"You're staring."

"Yea…"

"Why?"

"Because you're going to drink all of that blood and your not going to move until you do."

"Excuse me?" Angel asked in shock. Had she lost her mind? Fixing his blood was one thing but ordering him to drink it? Where had that come from?

"You heard me Mr. I'm too embarrassed to feed in front of my girlfriend now so I'm going to starve myself." Willow said, sitting back in her chair.

"Girlfriend?!?!" A voice yelled from the doorway to the kitchen.