It had been two days and there had been no call from Angel. Buffy tried to control herself from constantly asking Gloria if she had any messages. It was her own fault anyway, she had wanted space and he was giving it to her. But now that she hadn't seen him for two days, she missed him, not that she would admit it to herself even if the thought was nagging in the back of her mind.

“You're brooding”, a familiar voice said from the door. Buffy lifted her gaze in surprise and found Faith lazily leaning to the doorframe. She sent a smile to the brunette, glad of the interruption that hopefully would get her mind off of work and Angel.

“Hey Faith. Not that I'm not happy to see you but what are you doing here? And I'm not brooding.”

“Sure you are”, Faith stated and walked farther into the office, sitting lazily into the chair in front of the desk. “I'm here to see my best friend of course. And to get that delicious coffee Gloria makes. One day I'm going to convince her to leave that husband of hers and marry me.”

Buffy chuckled and shook her head, looking at her friend in amusement. “I'm sorry to break it to you, but I doubt Gloria will leave her husband of thirty-one years, even for you. You should see her and Ed, they're still like newlyweds”, Buffy said and gave her a mock sympathetic look.

“Darn”, Faith sighed with mock seriousness, swinging her fist through the air, but unable to keep a straight face, she laughed. “Guess that's just as well. I just have to come here to get my coffee fix. But why were you brooding when I got here?” she changed the subject, sharply looking at Buffy.

“I wasn't brooding”, Buffy protested.

“You know you can't lie for shit, B”, Faith stated and patiently waited for Buffy to confess. Buffy looked at her friend across the desk and sighed deeply.

“I haven't heard anything from Angel for two days. He hasn't sent even a smoke signal”, she finally answered and quickly continued as she noticed the 'why I'm not surprised'-look on Faith's face, “We were moving way too fast and I asked him to give me some time. And he did.”

“And you want him to give you less time?” Faith asked with a raised eyebrow, she had a feeling it wasn't just that.

“I freaked”, Buffy sighed in frustration and jumped to her feet, starting to pace the office. “He was so wonderful and I got scared I might fall in love with him. When I saw him looking at this five dollar ho, I knew it would be bad. You know what happened with Riley”, she said getting more anxious by the minute till she suddenly just stopped and turned to look at Faith who was still sitting on the chair.

“Yeah, I know how that turned out. He was a bastard, forget him. But I still don't understand why you haven't dragged that stud of yours to the bedroom. He's obviously willing and what I've heard he knows what he's doing.”

“Oh he knows what he's doing”, Buffy said under her breath, then blushed as she realized she had said it out loud. Faith burst into laughter at her friends plunder. Buffy tried to glare at the brunette but finally a smile started to tuck at her lips.

“So what's the problem? I remember the conversation we had the next morning. It can be just sex, it's not like you two haven't done it before.”

Buffy sighed deeply and sat down with her shoulders slumping. “Because I don't want to fall in love with him and you know sex is not just sex to me. It's hard enough now but if I give into it, I'm gonna get my heart broken again.”

Faith sighed and got off the chair, circling the desk and laying a comforting hand on Buffy's shoulder. In her opinion Buffy had always taken things too seriously, even in high school.

“You need to relax, get your mind off of work and Angelus. I know just the trick, we'll hit the club. Some dancing and drinking, virgin drinks for the momma of course.”

“I don't know”, Buffy sighed uncertainly looking up at Faith.

“Well, I do know. We're going to that club and that's final. We'll dance our asses off cause soon you'll be too big to dance”, Faith stated in her no negotiation voice and Buffy glared at her. As usual, she wasn't affected by it since she knew Buffy would forgive anything.

Angel summoned his secretary to his office and handed her the files. Once she was gone, he sunk to the chair and groaned. He had already solved two cases, all he had to do was to show up in court, but the down side of it was that now he had no means to keep his mind off of Buffy. For once he actually wanted to work and the cases were too easy, just great.

Angel jumped up from the chair and started pacing the office, restraining himself from going near the phone. He had promised to give her space and for two days his fingers had been itching to grab the phone and call her. He actually missed her company and that was something he couldn't believe, he was after her just to keep his money, or at least that was what he kept repeating to himself.

He stopped pacing and looked at the desk before dashing to the phone. He dialed the familiar number and waited for an answer.

Angel was standing by the bar with his friends, he figured all he needed was a night out with his friends and a good lay to get his mind off of Buffy. He leaned against the counter and took a long drink off his whiskey. Actually just the taste of it made him remember Buffy, it was the same brand as he had been drinking the night he met her. 'I really must be loosing it', he thought to himself.

“I actually heard a rumor that you cracked both Johanson and Wilson cases just in two days”, Wesley said, not sure if he should believe it or not, he never had been one to listen office gossip.

“They were open-and-shut cases”, Angel stated dismissively, taking another drink from his glass.

“So have been every case you've worked so far. But are you actually starting to work for that obscene paycheck you get every month?” Wesley questioned with raised eyebrows, he still couldn't believe it because he was very well aware of Angel's work habits, if he even bothered to show up. All these changes in Angel were making him suspicious.

“Will you two stop talking about work, the night is young, booze is flowing and the women are looking beautiful, who in his right mind would think about work”, Doyle commented, downed his drink and ordered another one. Truly Angel's mind wasn't on work, he had pretty much ignored Wesley since his eyes had found a beautiful, petite blond in tight leather pants. He couldn't help but compare her to Buffy but that wasn't going to stop him from finding release in her tonight. He locked eyes with her, giving her a seductive grin that was known to make women swoon over him.

But his mission was interrupted when Gunn's voice pierced through. “I love this place. Will you look at that. Oh man!”

Angel turned his eyes to Gunn who was staring into the dance floor, practically drooling. He noticed that he wasn't the only one, Doyle had stopped in the middle of taking a drink and even Wesley was looking longingly at the sight. Angel follow their gaze and suddenly his mouth went dry.

There she was, the very creature he was trying to get mind off, dancing her heart out with a saucy brunette, the very same he had seen her with the night they met. He growled in anger. It wasn't for the fact that she was dancing with another woman, actually it was turning him on, but that there was a flock of men around them, some staring with hungry eyes as others tried to dance with them.

Wesley pried his eyes off the women and turned to look at his friend that was looking more and more intimidating by the second. He was about to say his name in question as Angel pulled away from the bar counter and made his way to the dance floor. He wrapped his arms around Buffy, for a moment she stopped but soon continued dancing, feeling the familiar body behind her.

“What are you doing here?” he whispered to her ear, his breath against her neck sending shivers running through her body. She closed her eyes and unconsciously rubbed her behind against his jean clad crotch.

“Faith dragged me with her”, she finally answered breathily. Her hands covered his arms and she leaned against him more as she moved to the beat, tantalizing him with the friction. He groaned against her neck, feeling himself rapidly hardening. She turned around in his arms and he pulled her flush against him, moving with her and not caring that his friends would see him try to dance. She opened her eyes and gazed into his heated orbs. She knew she was playing with fire but right then she didn't care.

But somehow she managed to get a grip of her passion and push it down, a hard task considering she could feel his straining cock against her stomach. She swallowed hard, suddenly feeling nervous. “Angel”, she breathed out his name and it was enough to break his restraint. He pulled her into a passionate kiss, ravaging her lips, claiming her as his. Immediately she surrendered into the kiss, raising up to her tiptoes and tightly wrapping her arms around his neck. The world seemed to melt around them, all they could feel was each other.

Buffy jumped as she felt a tapping on her shoulder and quickly she pulled away from Angel, seeing Faith standing beside them with a wide grin. “You know what I feel about sex in public places but even I haven't done it on the dance floor”, she said and Buffy blushed with embarrassment. The whole plan of forgetting Angel for the night had backfired.

“Umm... Faith, this is Angel”, Buffy introduced them awkwardly. Faith looked at him up and down, noticing the impressive tent in his pants, then let her eyes wander back to his face. He didn't seem embarrassed at all.

“I was sure hoping he was”, she smirked at Buffy, of course she had already known who Buffy was dancing with since she had seen them the night they met, a person didn't forget a specimen like Angelus O'Reilly that easily.

“So you're Faith”, Angel stated, he was annoyed that his heated moment with Buffy had been interrupted but he didn't let it show in his voice. It was painfully obvious that the moment had been broken and Buffy would be again backing down. 'My cock is gonna get fucking frost bites from this', he griped to himself, how many cold showers could a man take.

“The one and only”, Faith answered with a smile that could be described as dangerous.

“I'm kinda thirsty”, Buffy stated, it was awkward just be standing on the dance floor. Angel took a hold of her arm and guided her to the bar, as far from his friends as he could. He ordered her a mineral water and turned to look at her, knowing full well that she was again letting the rational part of her brain rule.

“Angel, I'm sorry about what happened right now. Well, not sorry-sorry cause it was a great kiss. But I don't want to be a tease”, she said not sure how to get the words out, she didn't want to lead him on knowing she couldn't go through with it yet. 'No, not yet, never, he'll break your heart worse than anyone before', she tried to convince herself.

Angel reached out to her, running his hand over her arm calmingly but it did little to calm her and just the simple touch caused shivers of need running through her. Slowly she lifted her gaze to his eyes, to her surprise, finding them as gentle as his touch, not flamed with desire.

“I understand. I might get frost bites but I understand”, he said and Buffy blushed furiously, looking away. He chuckled and ran his hand up to his chin, lifting her eyes back to him. “You're cute when you blush. But it's no secret I find you desirable, I think you felt it just minutes ago”, he stated with amusement in his voice.

“Angel!” she chastised him with a laugh, she definitely had felt him. “But really, we do need to talk about us. Tomorrow?” she continued more seriously.

“I'll take you to lunch”, he stated matter a factly, the two days without any contact to her had been pure torture but the way she had just responded to him, told him her conviction was wavering.

Her cellphone started ringing and quickly she fished it out of her purse. She looked at the caller ID with a frown. “Sorry, I have to answer this”, she said and hurried to a more quiet spot of the club. Angel looked after her till he noticed he wasn't alone. He turned and found Faith staring at him, leaning lazily against the bar.

“I collect knives. And I'm not talking about tableware”, she stated and he just looked at her puzzled, not understanding the sudden declaration.

“That's... an interesting hobby”, he said uncertainly.

“If you hurt Buffy, just keep that in mind”, Faith said and then gave him a sweet smile like they had been just talking about the weather. And something about the way she said it made Angel believe she wasn't kidding.

“I'm not going to hurt Buffy”, he stated, he truly didn't want to hurt her even though he knew it would be inevitable with him, but hopefully it would be after they were married. Faith looked at him with scrutinizing eyes, then nodded.

“I sure hope you're not.”

After finishing her phone call, Buffy returned to the two, looking at them suspiciously, she was well aware of how protective Faith could be of her and she still remembered the Scott-incident back in high school.

“Bad news?” Angel asked seeing the unhappy look on Buffy's face. “Not really. It was Mrs Farnsworth-Smith”, she answered.

“What did that old hag want?” Faith asked and Buffy sent a chastising look her way.

“I have to go show her some paintings, she saw one she liked and now she wants to see it again”, Buffy sighed, she was in no mood to see the old woman but maybe it would give her a chance to cool down her feelings towards Angel.

“Why don't you tell that old crow to shove...” Faith started to say but was quickly interrupted by Buffy, “You know I can't do that.”

She sighed deeply, rubbing her forehead. “Can you get a ride home?” she asked turning her eyes back to Faith.

“Yeah, I can. Now go kiss some wrinkled butt and sell one of those obnoxiously expensive, ugly paintings to her.”

Buffy smiled at her, then turned her eyes to Angel. “I'll see you tomorrow”, she said to him, cursing at how breathy her voice sounded, why did the man have to have such an affect on her. Quickly she fled the club before she would surrender to the temptation.

Angel looked as she practically ran from the place and after she had disappeared to the crowd, he returned to his friends despite knowing they would never let him live down what they had witnessed.

“And he returns”, Doyle stated raising his glass in salute and drank it down. Angel didn't even bother to glare at him, he just ordered a whiskey and hoped the liquid would help him get his mind off of Buffy.

“Yeah, man, I thought you two were going to get it on right there on the floor. Though I wouldn't have been surprised”, Gunn added with a laugh. Angel tried to control his temper and settled into swallowing the glass of whiskey and ordering another one.

“Wasn't that miss Summers?” Wesley questioned thoughtfully and Angel groaned, this was not something he needed.

Buffy was about to go to bed when there was a loud banging on the door. She went to the window and looked down to the driveway, finding Angel's car parked crookedly across the road. The banging didn't stop and with a sigh, she grabbed her robe to cover the top and boxers she usually slept on and hurried to the door. She pulled it open, finding a wobbling Angel leaning to the doorframe with one arm.

“Angel. What are you doing here and did you drive here yourself?” she questioned but soon she was silenced as his lips came crashing down on hers. She could taste whiskey on his lips and tongue but it didn't stop her from responding into the kiss. He kicked the door close behind him and pushed her against it, pressing his body against hers. She could feel his hard member against her belly as his hands wandered down her sides, opening the robe and slipping under her top. His lips abandoned hers, traveling down her neck, his teeth nipping at the sensitive skin at the junction and she couldn't stop the whimper escaping her lips.

“Buffy”, he whispered her name in a velvety voice. Her eyes closed at the sound and she had to stop herself from moaning out loud. “You drive me crazy, you know that”, he drunkenly said against her skin.

“Yeah, you've said that few times already”, she answered, cursing how easily her body responded to him.

“It's true. You make me feel things I don't want to feel, things that no other woman has ever made me feel. And I've had a lot of women. I try to fight it, maybe it's just the booze talking but you drive me nuts, I've never had to take so many cold showers as with you. And it's not just that I want to fuck you senseless, it's the fucking emotional roller coaster too”, he slurred against her skin, pressing an occasional kiss to the base of her neck. She opened her eyes and pulled his head up to face her.

“Angel”, she started and he smiled goofily. “I love it when you say my name”, he said and leaned into a kiss but she kept him away. He was too drunk and she felt it would be using him if she gave into the desires he was provoking.

“Angel. You're drunk and you need sleep”, she said but he shook his head furiously.

“No, I need you”, he stated and kissed her passionately. Again her eyes closed and she moaned into the kiss, but somehow she managed to find strength to pull back. Steadying her rapid breathing she looked at him and she would have laughed at the pouty look on his face if the situation had been another.

“Angel, you're drunk”, she said and he took a step closer to her, wrapping his arm on her waist and pulling her flush against him.

“Only a little”, he stated and let his hand wander down her side, settling down to her ass.

“Angel, no. You need to sleep it off”, she said and pulled away. She glanced around herself, her eyes landing on the couch, then going back to Angel who was having trouble standing on solid feet. She couldn't let him drive home and the couch was not an option, it was good for a nap but not to sleep in for the night, especially not by someone as tall as Angel. She sighed in resignation.

“Come on, you're staying here for the night but you have to behave yourself, okay”, she said sternly but only got a crooked grin from him. She rolled her eyes, then grabbed his hand and started leading him upstairs. He trailed behind her but couldn't help himself and he pressed a soft kiss to the back of her neck. She squirmed to the side and gave him a chastising look, not saying anything.

In the bedroom she let go of his hand and turned to look at him. “You can sleep with me tonight”, she stated, then realized how it sounded. “And I mean just sleep”, she added pointedly.

“Come on, baby, I would make it good for you”, he cooed but it didn't sound very seductive with the drunken lilt.

“No. I'm not going to take advantage of someone who is drunk and can barely stand”, she stated.

“It wouldn't be...” he started to protest but she interrupted him. “To me it would be. Now get into the bed.”

He gave her another pouty look but started to remove his clothes, a task that seemed to be getting the better of him. She giggled at the sight as he struggled with his shirt, desperately trying to get it off. She went to him and easily removed it, folding it to a chair before she turned to help him out of his trousers. After he was down to his boxers, she went to the bed with him following.

After turning off the light she felt his hand settling on her waist and moving under her top. “Angel, I mean it, if you don't behave I will put you on the couch for the night”, she threatened and the hand stopped moving but didn't pull away from under her shirt. He shifted closer to her, pulling her against his chest and pressed a soft kiss to the back of her neck but that was all. She let herself relax against him and closed her eyes, letting the sleep claim her.