Chapter Nine
In Love?
Angelus was pacing back and forth his agitation showing in every brisk step that he took. “What are they up too Oz?”
“I don’t know man, but I know this, those two keep more secrets than an old woman keeps cats.”
Angelus snorted his agreement. “Do you think there’s more too the prophecy then what they’ve told everyone?”
“It’s a possibility.” Oz studied his friend with a slight smirk on his face. He noticed right away that Angelus had a different scent on him when he walked in and he knew what it was, it was the smell of a slayer. And to Oz’s knowledge Angelus had no slayers in his household so there was only person that it could be.
“Why the sudden interest in the prophecy?” he asked.
Angelus stopped pacing and spun his head around staring at Oz. He liked Oz in fact he was the only other vampire that he trusted. But did he trust him with this? He decided that he could mostly because he had to talk to someone and Oz was definitely more of a softy when it came to humans and human emotions, and he knew the reason why.
He sat down “What if it is real? What if a vampire can impregnate a slayer?”
Oz shrugged “I don’t know. It’s yet to happen so who’s to say.”
“The Master and Giles think that I am The Champion and that Buffy is the Chosen One.”
Oz watched him keenly “What do you think?”
He tried to play it off cool “Oz you know me I could care less about some stupid prophecy.”
“True.” Oz answered just as coolly.
He sighed “But I have to admit that the idea of Buffy pregnant with my child is not a bad idea at all.” He smiled at his friend.
Oz smiled back “You like her.”
He scowled “I do.”
Oz laughed “There’s no shame in that my friend.”
“Easy for you to say you don’t have all these weird mushy feelings inside that makes you want to either shout it out to the world or kill someone.” He was scowling darkly not liking it one bit.
Oz always the diplomatic one wanted to assure his friend that what he was feeling was not bad regardless of how strange and uncomfortable it was making him. “Angelus, there is nothing wrong with that. She’s a beautiful woman; she intrigues your sense of mysticism. She’s definitely not meek. And the thought that she could be the Chosen One has to be a heady thought, even for you.”
Oz noted that the scowl just kept getting darker and he chuckled to himself. To see the Scourge so out of sorts by a slip of a girl and his own feelings was kind of funny. If he didn’t fear for his life he would probably just laugh right out loud.
Angelus was aware of Oz’s smirk but ignored it. “It is. Then why do I feel like my insides are churning away, why do I want to rip apart any other that comes near her? I’m not used to these feelings and it makes me feel…week.” He growled out, hating to admit even to someone that he considered a friend, his weakness.
He jumped up and started pacing again “Damn it! This is not how my life is supposed to be! I’m the fucking Scourge of Europe! I should be out killing and maiming these lowly humans! I should want to drain her dry and jump with glee over her dead body not buy her roses just to see her smile!” he spun around and pointed his finger at Oz “I swear she’s wielding magic over me. Making me soft, making me her God damn lap dog!”
Oz smiled at his rant and gave him the simplest of answers “Its love my friend.”
He turned his horrified face to Oz “Love?” Shaking his head rapidly “No a demon doesn’t feel love. We can’t feel love!”
“Yes we do, maybe not in the same way a human does but we feel emotions.”
“I don’t want to feel emotions they make you week.”
“Angelus, emotions are what rules a vampires existence. True that not one of them would admit to it, but we are extremely emotional creatures. We feel the need to own, possess, take and have what we want when we want it. Those are all base emotions that control our every day thoughts. Love is just another one of those emotions; of course a demon would never describe it as love. But, it is what it is. Love is what makes us stronger. The bond between two mates is the strongest there is. Nothing can come between that. You feel it for Buffy because there in her time your bond existed. Face it my friend, here, there, anywhere, she’s yours and you are hers.”
It was the most he ever heard his normally stoic friend speak and he made it sound so simple that he began to question himself. Maybe he was overacting about this whole love thing. I mean if it made me stronger and more powerful, why should I be ashamed of that? Shouldn’t’ I embrace it and hold on to for all its worth?
Angelus looked at his friend and wondered if he would ever tell him himself about where all his knowledge on love came from. He figured he probably wouldn’t so he decided to just ask.
“Do you love Willow?”
It was Oz’s turn to be uncomfortable. He got up quickly and walked over to the bar. “What are you talking about man?”
Angelus watched him keenly “I know Oz.”
His shoulders tensed and his body was braced for a confrontation “What do you know?” He was nervous not because he was ashamed but because he didn’t know what Angelus’ reaction would be. Confessing could either be the biggest relieve of his life or signing his death warrant.
Angelus felt his nervousness and took pity on him “Those potions that she takes, they wear off. You should tell her to make it a little stronger.” He nonchalantly said twirling his drink in his hand.
Oz turned around and pierced Angelus with an inquisitive look. He looked so unconcerned about the whole thing that it made him smirk. It would appear his big secret wasn’t that big of a secret. Well no reason to lie now. He looked straight into his friend’s eyes and spoke from the heart “Yes I do, I love Willow.”
Angelus smiled he knew Oz was taking great chances in telling him and he was honored that he trusted him enough to be honest with him.
Oz stood rigid waiting to see what the outcome of his answer would be. Angelus got up walked over to him and slapped him on the back.
“Well I think I’m in the same boat as you. Have no fear my friend your secret is safe with me.”
Oz relaxed and smiled back at him.
There was a knock on the door and a servant walked in “Sire the White Wicca is here to see Tara.”
A smile lit his face and Angelus shook his head at his friend’s glee. “Show her in.” Oz said.
Angelus turned around and walked over to the window to give them some privacy. But as he stood staring out into the daylight he felt a warm sensation in his body that got stronger and stronger as the seconds ticked by.
Buffy and Willow walked inside the library to see Oz standing there awaiting them with a huge smile of warmth on his face. Buffy feeling her Angel-senses kick in looked to the left and smiled, there he was standing so strong and beautiful in the sunlight! Wait the sunlight!
“ANGEL!” She ran full speed toward him and just as he turned to greet her she threw her body at him and they tumbled to the ground.
“Oh my God what are you crazy? Are you hurt?” Her eyes scanned his body as her hands swatted at the imaginary flames that she saw in her mind.
Angelus who was chuckling at her concern and really quite enjoying the attention grabbed her face gently and drew her frantic eyes to his. “Buffy…Buffy its okay, I’m not hurt. The windows are necro-tempered.”
She looked at him disbelieving “Necky what?”
He laughed she was just so adorable. “Necro-tempered. It means the sun can’t hurt us. All vampires have it in their homes.”
Buffy stared blankly at him for a second before embarrassment crept in and she blushed as she quickly scrambled to get off of him.
He held her waist down on him and smiled up at her “But you are more then welcome to paw at me some more.” He wiggled his eyebrows at her but she just scowled at him and stood up. “Well someone could have told me.”
Oz walked up to Willow, he took her hand and kissed the back of it, lingering “Willow, what can I do for you?” Oz asked smoothly.
Willow blushed back at him and she didn’t know why. They had been intimate so many times already and she wasn’t the least bit shy around him. But it was the first time that they greeted each other in close quarters with other people present and she was nervous.
‘I…umm…I came to see how Tara was faring. Dawn said she was ill.” Oz was put off for a minute by her awkwardness until he realized it was because of the other two people in the room. He would explain to her later, so for now he put his most impassive face on.
“Oh great well she’s upstairs.” Willow shyly backed away “Okay I’ll, ah, just go see how she’s feeling.” And she practically ran from the room.
If she had stopped to notice she would have seen that the other two occupants of the room weren’t paying any attention to her or Oz. They were two busy with each other.
As soon as Buffy had stood up Angelus quickly followed and stepped up behind her. Picking up a long golden strand he brought it to his nose and breathed deeply. As his body responded to her clean vanilla scent he stepped closer and pressed his lower half into hers.
He heard the hitch in her breath and smirked. It was good to have power.
Buffy still felt embarrassed by her show of concern for the demon and wasn’t in the mood to play with him. She walked away and sat down on the couch, shooting him daggers as she went and turned her attention to Oz.
“So Oz, I hope you know that I plan to make sure that you in no way hurt Willow. So if you think that you are going to run around with other women while you’re seeing her, then you got another thing coming.” She was dead serious and she meant every word she said.
Oz and Angelus looked at the expression on her face and laughed. “Surely you don’t presume to think that you can tell Oz what he can’t or cannot do.”
Her eyebrow lifted “Ah yeah, that’s what I said wasn’t it, or did I knock your brain to the floor like I did your ass.” Holy shit where the hell did that come from? She wondered.
Angelus’ eyes darkened with anger at her righteousness. He took a menacing step closer ready to punish her for her insolence but Oz stopped him and walked over to her.
He sat down in the chair opposite her and smiled kindly. He really liked her she was friendly, she definitely had a fire roaring inside of her and she was protective of his Willow. There was no doubt in his mind that she was The One and that his friend would be irrevocably connected to this young radiant woman. The offspring that these two would produce would be astounding.
“Buffy I have no intention of ever hurting Willow. If I could I would bring her into my household, but the circumstances as they are, I cannot.”
She nodded at him “I understand that Willow explained it to me. But I want you to know that I don’t see what the big deal is and I think you should step up, be a man and admit it.” She directed her gaze to Angelus with that last comment and it wasn’t lost on him that she was no longer talking about Oz and Willow, and it made him boil inside.
“Buffy I understand your concern and believe me if I could I would, but I just can’t. Don’t get me wrong it’s not myself I’m concerned about its Willow. If other vampires were to find out she would be in mortal danger. It’s against the law for vampires to mate with humans and I’m afraid that where I would get a slap on the wrist it could mean death for her.” He stood up and glared at her very angry “And that is something that I will not permit. Do you understand me?”
His meaning was clear: shut up, keep quite or pay the price. Buffy didn’t cower in the face of his anger, which made Angelus shake his head at her audacity.
He waited for something stupid to come out of her mouth, but instead she got up walked over to Oz and hugged him. When she pulled away there were tears in her eyes as she kissed him on the check, oblivious to the growl coming from behind her.
“That’s so sweet and I’m glad that Willow has someone who is as forthcoming and honest as you.” She peeked out of the corner of her eye and scolded Angelus who watched with angry eyes.
Who did she think she was admonishing me like that? Oh she didn’t do it so blatantly but I know whom she was talking about and that was all that mattered.
“Now you’ll have to excuse me I think I need some air. Tell Willow I’ll see her later.” She hurriedly headed for the door.
“Buffy!” Angelus growled out but she ignored him and fled into the sunlight where he couldn’t follow.
***
Later that night as Buffy entered the house she was thinking about Oz and Willow. She had to admit that she had been a little surprised by Oz’s forthcoming. But she should have known he was always a straightforward no-nonsense guy why should this Oz be any different.
She sat down on the bed and stared into the mirror she smiled. “Back for more?” she asked.
“Have you no respect for anything?” He crawled in through the window standing in front of her he scolded at her. “You don’t walk into a Master Vampire’s home and make demands! He could have killed you and he would’ve been perfectly justified in doing so!” He yelled at her, of course he would never let that happen, but no reason to tell her that.
She looked taken aback by his words “I didn’t mean any disrespect I just wanted him to know that I know what’s going on and that I’m looking out for Willow.”
He turned away from her she was truly exasperating. “Weren’t their rules of do’s and don’ts in your world? Don’t you know how to follow them?”
She leaned back into the bed and scoffed at him “Angelus I lived my entire live following the rules and orders of other people and I find that I’m bored with it. I have a chance at a new beginning here and I won’t be pushed around by anyone, anymore.” She looked at him meaningfully.
And it wasn’t lost on him “Your talking about me. I haven’t pushed you if anything you have been pushing me!”
She smiled “Yes I have.” She answered unabashedly.
She watched him pace until he sat down in the chair by the window. He looked outside like it held all the answers and she felt sympathy for him. It really had to be hard to deal with all of the emotions that he was feeling for her, things that he always believed to be beneath him. But her old insecurities started to creep in and some part of her wondered if his stubbornness ran deeper than that
He turned to look at her and silence filled the room as they stared into each other’s eyes.
“Can I ask you something?” she softly asked
He didn’t answer right away because he was thrown off by the childlike sound in her voice “Yes.”
“Do you feel me?” she inquired softly.
“What do you mean?” He knew what she meant but wasn’t sure if he wanted to answer her.
She sat up Indian style and looked deeply at him “I mean do you feel me…inside? Do you feel like you’ve known me, from before?”
He got up and turned around to look out the window. “Yes.”
“Do you hate that?” she sounded sad.
He heard the emotion in her voice but couldn’t answer her because of all the emotions that he was feeling and was not used too.
“In my dimension you, well you and I, we weren’t really friends you know. I mean once Angel lost his soul, and the demon took control, all he wanted to do was kill me. He hated me and I never really understood why he did so much. After…when Angel got his soul back, he told me it was because I made the demon feel love, and that was what he hated, that he felt love and passion for me, a connection that went against his nature to kill me. So I guess I’m asking you if you feel the same way.” She waited silently to hear his answer. She didn’t know why she even brought it up, but she felt that she had to know if he would turn around one day and crush her heart too.
Angelus could believe that, it was how he had felt when he first saw her in the hall. But now even after only spending a few hours with her he didn’t feel that way. He wasn’t sure what he felt. But he knew he felt that she was his and that he would kill anyone that tried to take her away from him.
“No I don’t hate you.”
She smiled at his back she figured that was a good enough answer and was probably really hard for him to admit.
“Good because I don’t hate you either.” She crawled up the bed and got under the covers. “I’m sorry Angelus I’m really tired I think I’m just going to go to bed.” Before he had a chance to turn around she was already fast asleep.
He walked over to the bed and pulled the covers over her and sat down. It was so unfamiliar the thoughts and feelings that were swirling around him. He was not used to feeling compassion for another. He was not used to smiling so much either, but since he first saw her she seemed to bring that out of him and he had no idea where it was coming from.
For some reason this little slip of a girl was winding her way around him, inside and out, and what he couldn’t figure out was why it didn’t seem to bother him at all. He felt so content and dare he say it, happy, when he was in her presence or even thinking about her, that it filled him with warmth.
He touched her face lovingly then leaned down and gently kissed her lips. She smiled in her sleep, which just made him smile. Even in her sleep she knew his touch. His finger lightly trailed over her collarbone and down her arm. She shifted in her sleep her sexy smile still playing on her lips. Her leg moved and bumped his thigh and he closed his eyes to the pleasure that that simple touch gave him.
He had to get out of here before he did something stupid. He stood up took one last look at his girl and left through the window.
He was going to talk to The Master tomorrow and see about moving up the feast. Prophecies and bullshit aside she was his and he wasn’t going to wait a month to have her.
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