Title: Wolf Pack
Chapter Title: The Life
Author: Baby Blues
E-mail: purely_blissful@hotmail.com
Rated: NC-17
Disclaimer: Not mine, but the story is.
Summary: Buffy and Angel have a deep conversation about love and life.
Dedication: To my French teacher, for being the craziest man in school and for putting up with my continuous chats with both Lindsey and Emily . . . as well as my endless flirting with Jacob. ^__^
Excerpt:
~Buffy: Was it worth it?
~Angelus: You’re here in my arms . . . of course it was worth it.
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"What are you gonna name him?" Angelus asked, caressing her arm as they stared at the small town that laid before them in the darkness.
Buffy stared down at the dog who slept peacefully on her lap and smiled at the adorable picture he made. "Tiger," she answered simply, gently running a finger from the dog’s forehead to his neck.
Angelus quirked up an eyebrow and held her tighter against him. "Tiger?" he asked doubtfully. Sometimes, this girl surprised him too much. "Well . . . you can’t be anymore creative than that, now can you?" he said, sliding a warm hand inside her shirt so he could caress the smooth flesh of her flat stomach.
Buffy laughed and looked up at him, placing a hand over his roaming one before it went even deeper within her shirt. He pouted and she made it up to him by placing a sweet kiss on his stubbly chin before turning back to watch the twinkling lights of Sunnydale below them.
After the revelation up in her room, the two of them had silently walked out into the dark woods and towards the bare hills that overlooked the entire town they had made their home in.
It had already been three hours since they first sat there, holding hands . . . kissing, and talking about nothing . . . but everything.
A sense of understanding had built up between them. Trust and acceptance had just been added to their bond, strengthening it even more than ever.
"It’s a good name," Buffy insisted. "It defies his dog breeding. It‘s a good contrast, an even balance between feline and canine," she explained happily.
"Whatever you say, lover," Angelus said, kissing her crown with a smile.
Buffy sighed and snuggled even deeper in Angelus’ embrace. "This is the life," she shared out loud.
"Are you sure?" Angelus asked jokingly.
"Yup," Buffy said with a perky nod, "Sitting with the love your life in a cool night with a new puppy." She nodded a bit more eagerly this time, "Yup. This is definitely the life."
"Good," Angelus whispered in her ear before nibbling on her lobe and saying, "Same goes for me."
Buffy smiled up at him, biting her lip at his sweet and tender manners. She leaned back against him as the two of them stared up at the night sky, the twinkling stars the only light shining down upon them.
"I can steal all the stars in the sky . . . yet the brightness won’t compare to yours," he said softly, causing her to close her eyes and shiver from his voice and his proclamation.
He was a charmer, a man after her own heart. She couldn’t have asked for more . . . And obviously . . . neither could he. Angelus never knew he would be able to touch anything so pure and good. It was luck, to have her here at this moment, with her stating her love for him. And it was perfect. All perfect.
"I can’t believe this is happening," Buffy said softly. "This has got to be a dream."
"No," Angelus said, shaking his head, "This is reality . . . and reality is, I’m with you," he told her self-confidently, "And I’m always going to love you. Nothing will ever change that . . . Nothing."
And nothing would, he realized. Just being there, with her, was enough to make him comprehend that nothing could ever to compare to the feeling of completeness and utter bliss he felt with her by his side.
Buffy smiled and closed her eyes once again before asking, "What drove you here?"
"The promise of leading a pack," he answered truthfully, stroking her hand with the pad of his thumb in a comforting pattern, "And the rumor of a beautiful werewolf who was protected within."
She turned to look at him, searching his eyes for something she didn’t even know. "Was it worth it?"
He kissed her lips. "You’re here in my arms . . . of course it was worth it," he countered with a goofy smile.
Buffy smiled and snuggled deeper within his warm hold. "So . . . what’s gonna happen now?"
Angelus frowned. "Well . . . I was thinking of getting married . . . Then maybe have a butt-load of children after that. But then . . . maybe we should wait a little while . . . cause . . . well . . . you know, being on our own for some time would be nice and . . . "
"Well . . . that answered my question about that," Buffy laughed.
Angelus smiled sheepishly and nestled her against him even more. "I’ve never been in love before," he whispered in her ear, "I’m sorry if I’m not reacting in a way you want me to."
Buffy placed a hand on his cheek as she stared up at him with her soft blue eyes. "I’ve never been in love either." Buffy grinned, "So . . . let’s not worry about that now. Let’s talk about something else."
"Like what?"
"Amm . . . the future of the pack?"
Angelus shrugged, nervousness ceasing a hold on him as it made him tense, yet not enough for her to notice. "I don’t know. What do YOU want to happen?"
"Just . . . to live here for the rest of our existence," she sighed, "Just quiet and peaceful. Like the life we lead back in Pennsylvania."
"Isn’t that a bit boring?" Angelus asked carefully, not knowing if she’d be a little offended.
But Buffy only shook her head, knowing how Angelus’ life was before he became leader. She had to understand where he was coming from. After all, he never had a stable and permanent home before, nothing that had particularly kept him in place.
"No. It wasn’t boring," she chuckled, mocking his tone, "It was just the kind of life fit enough for werewolves," she explained. "I mean . . . I know it may sound boring and monotonous but . . . we were free."
"I can give you that same life here," he promised.
"I know," Buffy smiled. "I’ve always believed that life would always be the same. A year ago, if anyone asked me where I would be now, I would’ve answered ‘In Pennsylvania . . . and with my father,’ " she said a bit sadly as she stared at his large hands that held her own and kept it warm.
"Life is full of surprises," Angelus commented.
"Don’t I know it," Buffy grinned. She toyed with his fingers, admiring the long fingers that had worked so hard to get her and the rest of the pack where they were now. "And what happened . . . with my father, no matter how horrible it was . . . it taught me something."
"And what‘s that?"
Buffy chuckled sadly. "That life is more than just living . . . It’s love . . . and it’s pain. Without the obstacles we go through, we wouldn’t be able to survive to see another day." Buffy sighed. "Maybe life back in Pennsylvania wasn’t all hearts and roses," she said with a slight shrug, "I mean, we went through our own troubles, I won’t deny that. But in the end . . . it made us stronger than before," Buffy said thoughtfully.
Angelus was silent.
"How would you feel if werewolves took over once again . . . if werewolves became the strongest species once more?" he asked, wanting to know her opinion about it.
"I never really thought about it."
"But . . . if it was possible."
She shook her head. "I don’t think it would be the best thing to happen."
Angelus frowned. "Why not?" he asked, feeling a bit conscious of his own morals and values. If his clashed against Buffy’s . . . he didn’t know how that would effect the two of them.
"The Moon Goddess and the Shadow King killed off most of our kind for a purpose," Buffy began.
"What purpose?"
"When werewolves ran free on this planet, they took everything that was given to them for granted," Buffy began, "Our kind killed off brother and sister species for pleasure instead of survival." Buffy paused and looked at him. "And then we started killing humans . . . a species that’s part of us . . . And then we began killing each other." Buffy sighed, "The Moon and the Shadow gave us this gift . . . . and we turned it into something evil and carnal."
Angelus gulped.
"If this is the life that they wanted us to have, then we should be happy with it," she said wisely. "At least we were lucky enough to have gone on this long."
Angelus just rested his chin on her shoulder, his thoughts elsewhere.
The two of them had learned something tonight, as they held each other in the safety and confines of each other’s souls and embrace: love overcomes the darkness and pain . . . that in the end, love would be their savior . . . or maybe . . . their down fall.
Continue to Chapter 21: The Promise
Back to Chapter 19: The Apology