Buffy was utterly confused about her feelings for Angel, they hadn't known each other for long but she had felt a connection to him even when all she knew was his first name and occupation. She had even promised to go to a doctor for him, a thing she avoided doing even for her own sake. For two days she had dreaded the doctor's appointment and he had done his best to keep her mind out of it. Just the other day he had actually brought her homemade lunch, a gesture she hadn't been expecting from him, then again, he was constantly surprising her.

With a sigh, she looked at the clock, soon he would come to pick her up and take her to see his doctor. She turned her gaze back to the papers in front of her and tried to get her mind back to work, Angel had occupied too much of her thoughts already.

Angel was on his way to the front door when the phone started ringing. For a moment he contemplated if he should answer it but considering it might be Buffy, he made his way to the phone. Seeing a familiar number blinking on the screen, he knew it wasn't Buffy but Doyle. For a moment he weighted his options but then grabbed the keys and left the apartment.

He was half way to the gallery when his cellphone started ringing and after glancing at the screen, he saw it was Doyle. Again he considered not answering but knowing Doyle wouldn't give up till he did, he decided to take the bull by the horns and answer it.

“Hello... I'm in the car... yeah, yeah... Can't, I'm busy... Just busy... Yeah, it's a woman... Nobody you know... No, I'm not gonna tell you.. No... I have to go, I'll call you later... You know I'm always careful. Bye”, Angel said to the phone and hung up before Doyle could say anything further. Doyle had reminded him to use condoms, it did strike him funny that he was on his way to a doctor's appointment because he had forgot to use one.

He parked the car and walked into the gallery, greeting Gloria as he made his way to Buffy's office. She didn't notice him when he walked in, she was too busy concentrating on the papers in front of her and he had to smile at the sight. Her face was in a deep frown as if she was trying to concentrate real hard and her hair was out of place after running her hand through the locks too many times.

He leaned to the doorframe and watched as she wrote something to the paper, then messed it in frustration. He couldn't help but chuckle at the sight. Surprised she lifted her gaze and met Angel's eyes. Somewhat embarrassed, she tried to smooth her hair and got up from the desk.

“Oh, you're here. How long have you been here?” she questioned, going from surprised to almost accusing. She again tried to smooth her hair, hoping she didn't look like a scarecrow.

“Just got here. Work giving you trouble?” he answered with a smirk, he thought she looked cute, not something he ever had thought about a woman. He closed the door and walked farther into the room, stopping right in front of her.

Slowly she lifted her gaze to his and what she saw in his eyes made her swallow hard. His dark eyes were drilling into her and the heat was making her legs feel like mush. He had an urge to kiss her, then throw her on the desk and make her scream his name. But he resisted and just removed a stray strand of hair from her face, tucking it behind her ear. The move made her remember her messy hair and she stepped back, quickly disappearing to her small private bathroom. She groaned out loud when she looked in the mirror.

“Why didn't you tell me I look like I have a bird's nest on my head?” she called out accusingly. Angel chuckled and shook his head in amusement.

“It's no where near bird's nest. Just run a brush through it so we can go see Dr. Doolittle”, he said back and only few moments later she poked her head out the door, amused smile playing on her lips.

“Doctor Doolittle?”

“Don't let the name fool ya”, Angel answered with a smirk and again she disappeared back into the bathroom. Quickly she straightened her clothes and fixed her hair and make up, although there wasn't much need for either. Once more she looked into the mirror and sighed, it had to do.

“There's nothing wrong with your appearance”, Angel said from the door, startling her. She glared at him as she tried to catch her breath.

“Are you always this sneaky?” she asked accusingly, making him chuckle and walk farther into the room. He leaned closer to her, his warm breath hitting her neck and causing shivers to run through her body. She didn't dare to look at him.

“You bet”, he whispered to her ear and her eyes shot to the mirror where she met his eyes. “Angel”, she breathed out and closed her eyes, trying to collect her thoughts and get her hormones in check. He was too close. Angel watched her intently in the mirror and he could see she was struggling for control, but so was he.

It took everything in him to step back and not pull her into his arms and kiss her breathless. He couldn't wait for the time she was so pregnant that he would loose his interest in her, he had never found anything attractive in a pregnant woman and his fixation on her now was getting disturbing. His eyes traveled up and down her body and he felt the fear that he might not think of her as unattractive even when she was heavy with his child. Actually now that he imagined it, just the thought made him feel some kind of male pride he had never experienced before.

“Maybe we should get going”, he broke the silence, he didn't want to continue the path his thoughts were going, this was simply a business action, nothing more.

She turned to look at her and nodded distractedly. “Yeah, we should go”, she mumbled and fled the bathroom, maybe some distance from him would ease her nerves. Well that was highly unlikely since she was going to be stuck in a car next to him. 'And why does he have to look so kissable!' she thought angrily.

They left the office and Buffy stopped to tell Gloria she was leaving before they went to the car. In the car she managed to keep her thoughts away from Angel only because she was too nervous about going to see a doctor, sure it wasn't a hospital, or so Angel said, but doctor was close enough. She was so deep in her thoughts that she didn't even notice that Angel had parked the car. He turned to look at her and almost laughed out loud at the expression on her face, it was a mix of a deep frown and a pout. For a long moment he just settled into watching as her face went through a series of emotions, her pout only growing.

“Buffy, maybe we should go in”, he interrupted her line of thought. She spun around to look at him, almost surprised to find him there. She glanced around herself, stating the had stopped, and a slight blush of embarrassment rose to her cheeks. “Yeah. Sorry”, she said and quickly got off the car.

“You really don't like doctor either, do you?” he questioned as they walked to the entrance. “Not particularly, no”, she answered.

To her great relief the place didn't look clinical even though it still had a professional flare. “We're here to see Dr. Doolittle. Buffy Summers and Angelus O'Reilly”, Angel told the receptionist who immediately grabbed the phone to inform the doctor. Angel went back to Buffy, thanking his luck that Ginny wasn't on the reception desk, for some reason he didn't want Buffy to come face to face with his former bed partner. He noticed that Buffy seemed a little nervous, he grabbed her hand and gave it a soft squeeze, drawing her eyes to his.

“Don't worry, it's gonna be completely painless”, he whispered to her, leaning closer to her than was necessary. Her breath caught in her throat at the closeness of him and immediately all fears of hospitals flew out the window. She couldn't understand how he could affect her so strongly, no other man had succeeded in it before and they had only really known each other for a short period of time.

A welcomed interruption came when a man in his late forties, wearing a doctor's coat walked to them and greeted them both warmly, informing Buffy he was doctor Doolittle. He led them to his office and advised them to sit down as he grabbed Buffy's medical records that her own doctor had sent him. He looked them through quickly before instructing Buffy to get on the examining table. He took her blood pressure and did the pelvic exam while asking her the usual questions.

“Is this your first pregnancy?” he asked as he prepared her for the ultrasound.

“Yes”, she answered nodding. She was trying to do her best at keeping her thoughts away from where she was. Noticing her discomfort, Angel stepped forward and took her hand into his. She turned to face him and gave him a small grateful smile.

“There's the baby”, doctor Doolittle stated and pointed at the screen. Buffy turned to look at it but couldn't find what he meant. “I can't see it”, she said with a frown.

“I was thinking the same thing”, Angel stated, leaning over Buffy to look at the screen more closely. The doctor smiled.

“That's not unusual, the pregnancy isn't very far along”, he assured and ran his finger along the spot where the baby was. Buffy felt Angel squeezing her hand and she turned to look at him, smiling at the completely stunned expression on his face. Looking at the screen, knowing it was his baby, it hit him like a ton of bricks, he was going to be a father.

Buffy let out a sigh of relief when the examination was over and she could leave. They said their goodbyes to doctor Doolittle and headed out. Buffy rolled her eyes as a redhead in a barely there skirt and even less of a blouse walked past them. She was about to make a comment that the woman had dressed up for Halloween early but then she noticed that Angel was discreetly checking her out. It was like cold water to her lust for him and she willed herself to not feel hurt. So what if he was looking after other women, it wasn't like they were dating or anything.

Angel was starting to wonder if something was wrong when the car ride back to the gallery was completely silent till she stated that she wanted to go home first for a quick shower. He turned the car around and took her home. He walked her to the door, expecting an invite inside but she just stopped at the door and turned to look at him. She was about to say something when Angel pressed a finger to her lips, silencing her before he leaned down into a kiss. She didn't mean to give into it, and he wasn't going to kiss her in the first place but she was too tempting and he had been denied for too many days.

He deepened the kiss and she got up to her tiptoes, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. He tightened his hold on her and backed her against the door, pressing his body against hers while his hand traveled down her side to the hem of her skirt. She could feel his erection pressing against her center and her desire for him flamed once more. But somehow through her passion clouded mind she could remember the look he had given to the woman and she became afraid for the safety of her heart, she couldn't fall in love with him. And that was bound to happen if things went too far. Her heart had been broken too many times already.

She used all her willpower to push him away and quickly she turned away from him, steadying her breath and trying to control her emotions. “Angel. We need to slow down”, she said, her voice was still breathless.

“Why?” he asked with a soft voice that sent shivers of desire running through her body. He took a step closer and ran his fingers down her neck, lingering more than necessary on the junction that he knew was more sensitive. Again she had to will herself to take a step back.

“I mean it. We've known each other such a short time, we're moving too fast”, she said with a frown, trying to get the courage to look at him, but she was afraid if she saw his beautiful eyes, she would loose her conviction.

“Okay, you need space, I'll give you space”, Angel said nodding, keeping his anger in check. He was so hard that it hurt and apparently he wasn't getting release.

“I'm sorry”, she whispered, finally turning to look at him. She could feel that he wasn't happy with her.

“Don't be”, he shushed her, immediately noticing that the situation had taken a bad turn, he had pushed too far and now she was slipping through his fingers. “Buffy”, he said soothingly and she raised her gaze to him. He reached out and cupped her cheek, smoothing her bottom lip with his thumb.

“You want more time, I understand. There's nothing to be sorry about”, he said as convincingly as he could. Truthfully he was frustrated and having the worst case of blue balls in his life. But he couldn't loose her, she was the key to keeping his money and the lifestyle he had had his whole life, and he was determined to not make the same mistakes as his parents had done with him. He had never wanted children but now that he had one on the way, he wanted the baby to know him as a father, not as someone who just helped in the conception. But that didn't mean he was going to be the father of the year.

Buffy looked into his eyes, trying to see what he was thinking, but the closeness of him was making it very hard to concentrate. He gave her a small smile.

“I'll give you time. But it's just...” he said softly, then chuckled shaking his head. “...you drive me crazy. You make me feel things that no woman has ever made me feel.” Well, it was true.

Buffy didn't know what to say but then she didn't have to. Angel stepped back and started walking backwards to his car. “I'll see you later”, he said and stepped into the car before driving off. He was still feeling the reminder of what else Buffy had made him feel and it made him wish Darla wasn't out of town.