Disclaimer: I don't own any of the BTVS characters or ideas, they all belong to Joss Whedon, the WB, Mutant Enemy...

This story has nothing to do with my other story, Waiting For You. Vikki is currently working on it right now so I'm kinda bored, that's why I'm writing this one. It's definitely not as long as Waiting For You and it has a realistic viewpoint. I'm using that whole orb of thesala thing from the show (I think that's how you spell it) to start off my story. Hope you like it. =)

I don't care who you are
Where you're from
What you did
As long as you love me
--As Long As You Love Me, The Backstreet Boys

"Giles!! Hurry up!" Buffy yelled as she fought Angelus. She was breathing heavily and sweating and was really tired. She didn't know how long she could keep up the fight.

They (Buffy, Giles and Angelus) were all at the school library. Buffy had lured Angelus there for one simple reason, she was going to set her Angel free tonight, one way or another.

"Giles! Get the lead out!" Distracted, Buffy was knocked onto the floor with a roundhouse from Angelus. She quickly picked herself up with a jump and returned his gesture with a series of punches to his jaw and stomach. He attempted to knock her out with a chair but Buffy stopped it in mid-air and redirected it's course towards Angelus, smashing it on his head.

Giles was desperately putting the spell in order. The orb of thesala was in his hand and the words to the spell were in front of him. Here goes something.

From the corner of her eye, Buffy saw Giles hold up the orb and then heard him chant in a language she couldn't understand. She was weakening in her fight with Angelus, but she still forced herself to keep going. This is for Angel, she reminded herself.

Angelus also saw Giles begin the spell. "No!," he growled. He made a dash towards the Watcher to try and stop him, but the slayer wasn't done with him yet.

"I don't think so," she said smugly.

He growled again in anger, he knew he wouldn't be able to stop the spell in time. He glared into the Slayer's determined eyes as a plot slowly formed in his mind for his revenge. "I'm not going to go out like that."

He lunged at her and she realized what he had meant. She attempted to make a run for it before he could catch her but he already had grasped her wrist and pulled him towards him.

"Let's see how your Angel will feel about this." He bared his fangs and sunk them into her neck and Buffy gasped in pain.

Five seconds later, five seconds too late, Giles finished the spell. The orb glowed and pulsed with life and Angelus suddenly felt a surge of pain rip through him. He screamed in agony and then fell back.

Giles watched him from his perch on the second level of the library, not sure if it had worked.

Angel slowly sat up again and blinked a few times. He then looked down into his arms and saw an almost dying Buffy in his arms.

"No..." he whispered quietly at first. "No... NO!!! BUFFY!" His cries dropped to a whisper again. "What have I done?" He caressed her face, and then stopped himself in disgust. "What have I done?" he repeated. He looked up to see Giles watching him intently from the second level.

He suddenly stood up and ran from the room, faster than Giles could stop him or call for him.

* * * * *

Buffy left her house and went for a walk in the cool air, much against her mother's wishes. Joyce was still worried about her daughter. She was, after all, just released from the hospital that morning. Joyce didn't understand Buffy's and the librarian's entire explanation of how Buffy had lost so much blood, but she didn't pry.

The sun was just beginning to set, leaving streams of color across the sky as it dipped below the horizon.

Buffy had only one destination in mind for her.

She arrived at Angel's loft and heard rustling inside. Inviting herself in, she tried the doorknob and found it unlocked. She stepped inside to see Angel stuffing his few treasured belongings in an old duffel bag.

"Buffy..."

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"I was..."

"Packing, yes I can see that. Why? Don't tell me you're going to leave."

He refused to look at her in the eye. He was afraid of what he might see. "I have to."

"You don't have to, maybe it's more like you want to."

"Maybe it's both."

Buffy stayed silent, she wasn't prepared for that answer.

"It's better this way," he continued. "Face it, us getting anywhere near each other is just not a good idea, you've already seen that." Because he was avoiding her eyes and staring at the ground, he didn't know that Buffy's eyes were filled with tears and that her face was contorted in a sad and confused look, which slowly morphed into anger.

"FINE!" she yelled, finally making Angel look at her. "Fine! Go and leave. You're right, it will be better this way." She lifted her chin up defiantly. "I never loved you anyway."

Her words stung him deeply and he looked at his feet again. He heard Buffy begin to cry.

"I-I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't mean that. I love you, Angel, I love you more than anything in the world and I'm also scared of you too."

"I love you, too, Buffy," he said as he looked at her sweet and innocent face. It hurt him to hurt her like this, but he knew he had too.

Buffy leaned against a wall and slid to ground, tears still streaming down the face. He simply stood there and watched, her wanting to look at her beautiful face one last time. Angel's next questioned scared her.

"Could you ever really forgive me?"

It scared her because she didn't know the answer. She looked up at him and her reached out a hand to help her up off the ground. She stood a few paces away from him and looked him in the eye.

"I don't know," was her answer. "I don't know if I could." She knew her words hurt him too. His eyes were filled with sadness and guilt.

"I want too. But you have hurt me, a lot." Her voice squeaked with quiet sobs that she tried to hide. "I mean, I know it wasn't you, it was him. He was the one who killed everyone and who hurt me. He was the one who killed Miss Calendar and Willow. He was the one who had made Xander a vampire and then forced me to kill him. It was him the whole time and I know that." It was becoming harder for her to control her crying. "But everytime I close my eyes and think about him, I see your face. I'll always connect your face with all those horrible memories." Her sobs were out of control now. "I know it wasn't you... but it was."

Buffy collapsed to ground and couldn't stop herself from crying. Angel was crying as well. He knew all these things and to hear them from the mouth of the woman he loved, it made him feel even more guilt.

"That is why I have to leave."

"No..." she said between sobs, pleading. "You can't leave me again." She looked up at him with her tear-filled eyes. "It hurts when you leave. Please... I-I need you."

"What else can I do?" he asked her dejectedly.

Her voice was barely above a whisper.

"Can you just... just hold me? For now?" It was a simple request, and he couldn't deny it to her.

He sat down next to her and wrapped his arms around her protectively. They spent the entire night in each other's arms, crying together. There were tears of sadness mixed with tears of happiness.

Well, whaddya think? I don't think that this was my best piece of work, but hey, I wrote this in fifteen minutes. Sigh... when is Vikki going to give me back the rough draft so I can write some stuff...

Oh, yeah, don't forget... FEEDBACK!!!!!!