RATING: PG for.... I dunno, but I'm bound to do something.
SUMMARY: B/A-ness set pre-"Never Kill a Boy on the First Date". Oh, also some X/W mixed in there.
DISTRIBUTION: LMK where it's going.
DISCLAIMER: OBJ - Owned By Joss. Song by Jeff Buckley.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: More songfic. Most of my series will be put on hold as work has barged in and decided to kill all forms of creative juices (most importantly, free time).

Angel lurked the darkest corners of the Bronze, circling the young blonde and her friend seated at the brightly lit table.

Twenty nine pearls in your kiss, a singing smile,
Coffee smell and lilac skin; your flame in me.
I'm only here for this moment//

"Guys!" Buffy exclaimed, throwing her hands into the air.

"Who needs them!" Willow replied.

"I mean seriously, they're so....... aargh! I can't even think of an appropriate word for them!"

"I know, I mean, mine? How many anvils do I need to drop on him to make him even respond? And yours? Well, he's just never there to throw anvils at!"

Angel's ears perked at this.

"And you know what's more annoying? I can't stop feeling this way about him, even though I know absolutely nothing about him. Where does he live? Does he go to college? Does he have a job? Why does he keep hanging about? How the hell does he know so much?" Buffy rambled.

I know everybody here wants you.
I know everybody here thinks he needs you.
I'll be waiting right here to show you.
How our love will blow it all away.//

"Wow. I never knew you felt so strongly about him. W-What about Owen?"

"Owen?" Buffy asked, distracted by the strange sense of being watched, "Oh! Owen..... well, yes, I admit that Owen has a certain... tall, broody quality about him...."

"Oh!" Willow exclaimed as if light bulbs were being lit above her head, "The source of all Angel-goodness."

"Well," Buffy smiled coyly, "That's not *all* the Angel-goodness."

"Heya gals."

Xander abruptly broke into the conversation as Buffy and Willow jumped.

"What's the what?" he asked jovially.

"We were just, uh, talking..."

"About nothing....."

"Well, sounds like a mad fun-house down here. Boy am I glad I didn't miss it. Hey, Buff, whatsay....."

Xander's voice trailed in her mind as the Slayer scanned the club once more, unable to shake the feeling that the shadows were deeper than they seemed.

Buffy finished her visual sweep by coming face to face with two expectant Slayerettes, waiting for her reply.

"What? Oh, uh, sorry, Xander, guess I kinda tuned out. Hey, how 'bout I get us some drinks?" Buffy asked quickly, trying to find a way to suss out the scene.

Xander shrugged, dejected once more, "Yeah, whatever."

Willow offered a supportive smile, "I'm fine."

Buffy walked away from the table, the varied lights in the club creating strange patterns on her skin, each one seemingly etched into Angel's mind.

She surveyed her surroundings carefully, quickly turning her head before she felt a hand-shaped coldness claim the bare midriff under her jacket.

Oh such a thing of wonder in this crowd
I'm a stranger in this town you're free with me//

"Hi. Heard you were looking for me."

Buffy gasped as she recognised the voice, and finally that deep unsettled feeling was put to rest.

"You could say that."

She still couldn't see him, her back pressed firmly against his chest, she felt on edge with the mysteriousness of the feelings he created when around her. What made it more dangerous was the imminent threat of being caught. They were on the very border of the shadows, she in complete sight and he immersed in darkness. His hands were hidden, underneath his leather jacket that she wore.

"So, what's the- uh, what's the latest danger?" her voice struggled to maintain a steady tone.

"No danger."

Angel felt her shiver through the layers of their clothing at the apparent contradiction.

She swallowed. "You're, um, you're cold."

"You're warming me up."

She delighted at the connotations, straining further and further at the end of the tether he unconsciously kept her on.

"Do you trust me?" he whispered in her ear, the words and his mouth tickling her senses.

"Do you want me to?" she returned in a hushed tone.

He let out a sigh, "I'm not who you think I am."

"How do you know who I think you are?"

She felt the smile on the back of her neck.

"Somehow I don't think my story's that easy to guess."

She smiled in turn. "Try me."

"I'm older than you..... by about two hundred years."

He braced himself for the reaction, the backlash. He could practically hear the mechanics of her mind working to the stimulus.

"I thought so."

Definitely not what he was expecting.

"You're a vamp aren't you?"

Full of surprises, she was.

"How did yo-"

"Spider-senses. But.... you still don't feel the same as the others."

"How so?" he asked, trying desperately not to tighten the grip he had around her waist, afraid it would scare her, break the tenuous understanding that was forged.

"I get flooded with emotions when the senses kick in. I mostly get fear, anger, malice..... But with you.... there's pain, there's a strongly rooted sense of longing that I can't put my finger on."

"I... I was cursed by Gypsies a little less than a century ago. They gave me back my soul..."

"And your deep sense of remorse."

He began to withdraw, "I'm sorry I didn't tel-"

Her hands planted his retreating ones against her stomach, "Don't."

He brushed his cheek against her hair, "You're not afraid?"

She turned around in the circle of his arms, gently tilting his chin from his chest.

And our eyes locked in downcast love I sit here proud.
Even now you're undressed in your dreams with me.
I'm only here for this moment.//

"I think you're the one who's afraid."

She looked up at him through her lashes with large, doe eyes, so opaque he could see through them to her soul.

"Is that so?"

She nodded like an innocent who so desperately needed to believe, "Come out of the shadows, Angel." she walked backwards and offered an outstretched hand, "Let me lead you."

I know everybody here wants you.
I know everybody here thinks he needs you.
I'll be waiting right here to show you.
How our love will blow it all away.//

"Where the hell is she?"

"I dunno. Maybe she's occupied with a vamp."

Xander mumbled, "Maybe."

And though the tears we cried
Have dried on yesterday
The sea of fools has parted for us there's nothing in our way, my love.//

They swayed slowly in the midst of frenzied movement on the dance- floor, Buffy completely ignoring potential looks of hope from the surrounding male population, as both became closer on all levels in each passing second.

"See?" she asked, eyes still locked on his, "This isn't so bad."

Don't you see? Don't you see
You're just the torch to put the flame to all our guilt and shame
And I'll rise like an ember in your name.//

"Do you really think this will work? I mean, I've done so many-"

"Sssh." she whispered, placing a finger on his lips. "Watch me make it work."

He smiled, satisfied, "No. Let me."

I know everybody here wants you.
I know everybody here thinks he needs you.
I'll be waiting right here to show you.
How our love will blow it all away.//

"There she is! She's on the dancefloor with some guy!" Xander outburst with barely restrained outrage.

"No! It's Angel!" Willow savoured his name in her mouth in awe.

"What?! Wait...... No! He's kissing her!"

Love can taste like the wine of the age.//

The two stood stock-still as their lips tentatively met at the centre ground, gently making initial contact, familiarising themselves with the new territory.

Their moves became bolder as their fingers crept along each other's bodies, hers clutching his shoulders as his came to rest within the blonde tresses of her hair.

Angel had never felt this free, this alive. He felt his emotions running ahead of him.

And I know, they all look so good from the distance,
But I'll tell you I'm the one.//

"Good! They've stopped."

Willow had been having a hard time restraining him and took a well deserved deep breath.

I know everybody here thinks he needs you, thinks he needs you//

"I'm sorry," he broke away, panting, hiding his eyes from hers, "when things get a bit too much, the demon likes to come out and play."

"Hey," she softly reprimanded, cupping his cheek so she was looking into his now-golden eyes, "I want to get to know all of you."

Angel blinked, digesting the information, "But he's not going anywhere."

"And neither am I. Let's finish this elsewhere."

He looked curiously at her once more outstretched hand. That tiny, little hand that could come to hold so much.

He took it.

"Ok."

I'll be waiting right by just to show you//

"Hey! They're leaving!" Xander jumped up, indignant. "Willow, they're-"

The rest of his sentence was lost in Willow's mouth.

"Xander, let it go."

"Ok."

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