Disclaimer on part one.

Willow thought back to how the book reading had got out of hand or tried to. Angel's passionate kisses made it hard for her to concentrate. They had been taking turns reading passages from Chretian de Troyes,'Knight of the Cart,' Angel reading the part of Lancelot and She, Guinevere. They had reached the naked scene and Willow had been stammering her way through her lines, flushed with embarrassment. And because she was embarrassed in front of Angel, she became even more flustered, then Angel abruptly had pulled the book from her and said " That book was another Gallehaut..."

Automatically, she had finished the quote: "And that day we read no more." And then they were kissing, or Angel was kissing her and she was just along for the ride. Two hundred years of kissing practice, she thought absently to herself, have certainly paid off. She could vaguely remember trying to tell Angel that they shouldn't be doing this,especially since he was Buffy's boyfriend and she was Buffy's best friend, but every time she began to speak, Angel silenced her with another kiss. Finally, she 'abandoned hope' and surrendered to him wholeheartedly.

A pounding interrupted Willow's reverie, Angel was on his feet and heading cautiously to the front door of his apartment. Willow stood up and quickly smoothed the wrinkles from her clothing and ran her fingers through her hair. Angel opened the door and Buffy burst in.

"Xander told me what you two were up to," she said darkly. Angel and Willow exchanged stricken glances; Willow found herself unable to speak coherently. Buffy continued, "I just want to know, is it alright if I join in next week?"

"Join in?" asked Angel incredulously and Willow turned pale.

"Yeah. I mean, I know I'm, like, not that great at this sort of thing, not like you two," Buffy continued quickly, "but I'm willing to learn. Just tell me what's on the agenda for next time and I'll prepare for it, practice all week or however long I have until you're getting together next."

"What are we talking about?" Angel asked.

"Your literary group. I was thinking Giles was right, he usually is, you know. I just don't give him enough credit,I could take a day off, once a week. There haven't been any vamps in a long time."

Angel didn't miss a beat. "Absolutely, we'd love to have you. Wouldn't we, Willow?" She nodded mutely. "We're reading... um... 'Crime and Punishment' for next Tuesday."

"Great! I'll start reading it tonight, if I can find a copy in the library. Gotta go, if I leave Xander by himself too long in the graveyard, his imagination starts to go ballistic." Buffy chattered. She headed for the door, but stopped just as she reached it. "One more thing..." Willow's heart jumped as Buffy turned to her and asked with the utmost gravity, "Should I bring the munchies?"

"Uh...ummm...-yeah...-okay..." she stammered weakly.

"See you next week! Oh, and thanks guys!"

As the door closed, Angel turned to Willow,"Where were we?" he asked her, moving closer and attempting to encircle her in his arms.

Willow slipped from his grasp and backed toward the door. She began to babble nervously,"I-I think I better go, Angel. Buffy is my best friend, she's your girlfriend and both of those things mean we shouldn't be kissing on the couch while she's off saving the world and I already feel so guilty, 'cause this is really bad, I mean, what was I thinking..." Angel caught her again and subjected her to another passionate embrace, "Oh yeah," Willow said softly, "now I remember...but, Angel, what are we going to do about this, this...whatever it is?"

Buffy and I have barely spoken in over a month,and we certainly haven't been doing any of this," he demonstrated with another kiss, "We've been growing apart since I lost my soul; it was only a matter of time before we split up." He brushed a stray strand of her auburn hair from her face.

"B-but you're not split up, I mean, currently you're un-split, right?" she looked up into Angel's eyes. 'Bad idea,' she thought, 'don't look into the eyes of a vampire, especially a handsome, sexy, Angel vampire...' but it was too late; she was lost as soon as she met his gaze.

" 'Crime and Punishment," that was really mean," Willow told Angel,"Poor Buffy! I've seen her carrying that book with to her classes..." Angel cut her off with a kiss. "Angel," she disentangled herself, "it's almost 7, Buffy will be here any minute."

"Has Buffy ever been punctual as long as you've known her?" he kissed her again. A knock interrupted them. Angel answered the door. "You're early," he said, letting Buffy in.

Buffy bounded into the room, books under one arm and a grocery bag under the other. "I didn't want to late for the first meeting," she said enthusiastically, "You know, all my life I've avoided reading; cliff notes and movies instead of reading the assigned books in my classes. This was such a good book, I never thought I'd say that, that I can see now how I wasted time, although I had some trouble with all those Russian names."

"You finished it?" asked Willow.

"Yeah. Hey, what was with the ending, that "I used to be a psychopathic murderer but now I'm Christian guy?"

"I think it has something to do with forgiveness, penance and redemption," suggested Willow, "But let's get to the important stuff first,what's in the bag?"

"Iced cappuccino, frosted animal cookies... oh, and some fat-free potato chips , in case we decide to eat healthy. And this is for you, Angel," Buffy handed him a thermos.

"What's this?"

"Blood. I heated it up in the microwave before pouring it into the thermos, my mom totally freaked when she saw what I was doing."

"Uh, thanks, that was... thoughtful, Buffy."

"And I brought the Russian version of 'Crime and Punishment';Giles found it for me, in case we need to look up the original , something lost in the translation and all that," Buffy continued. Angel sat down at one end of the couch and Willow slumped down at the other.

"None of us understand Russian," Angel pointed out, "Unless you've suddenly become a linguist..."

"No problem," the slayer responded as she sat down between the two of them, "Russian-English dictionary," she said proudly as she produced a small book. "Should we get started? I want to do a quick patrol around ten."

"That was weird,"Angel remarked. Buffy had just left, leaving him and Willow alone in his apartment. Angel had chivalrously volunteered to walk Willow home.

"Yes," Willow agreed solemnly. They looked at each other, then, unable to contain their laughter any longer, collapsed into giggles. When Willow had sufficiently recovered, she exclaimed, "I can't believe she read the whole book!"

"What I can't believe is that she misinterpreted everything that happened in it!"

"At least she tried, I mean, Dostoyevsky isn't exactly an easy read," Willow said seriously. Angel was suddenly serious as well and he leaned toward her. "I've gotta get home!" Willow said as she bounded up and almost ran to the exit. Angel followed her, moving with supernatural speed and placing his hand on the door, preventing her from opening it. He trapped her between himself and the door.

"My mother is expecting me home," she said quickly,"and I have homework; Calculus, Physics..." Angel kissed her."French..." And again."English..." She was finding it increasingly difficult to remember why she wanted to leave as Angel's kisses continued. "And... oh...and... did I mention... Calculus?"

"I can really identify with Orestes," Buffy was saying. This was the third literary meeting she had attended. "I mean, he had this obligation to avenge his father just as I have this slayer thing." She flipped through her copy of 'The Flies' while Angel and Willow exchanged knowing glances."And the whole guilt thing? I've been feeling guilty about everything bad that's ever happened to anyone in Sunnydale, I know part of that is the curse, but I felt it even in the pre-curse days. At the same time I've been trying to deny responsibility, just like the people of Argos. Instead of feeling sorry for myself, I should wear my guilt like a badge of distinction ,I-I think that's what this Sartre guy is saying, It's what makes me alive. Before I became the slayer, I led the kind of meaningless existence that Orestes had; now I have a purpose, a duty. I don't need anyone to tell me that the mistakes I've made aren't my fault, or to forgive me for the suffering I've caused to people I've neglected to help or failed to save. And Orestes was betrayed by Electra at the end of the story; he had to face the furies alone, I have my friends to help me out when I lose faith in myself. I know I haven't appreciated you guys enough. The weight of my sins, sins that are the result of choices I am solely responsible for, makes me a stronger person." She looked up at Willow and Angel. They were both speechless. Buffy blushed and dropped her eyes,"Oh god, I-I totally misinterpreted the whole story again, didn't I?"

"No, or I don't think so," Willow replied,"The story is about taking responsibility and accepting the consequences or refusing to accept it and suffering from guilt. But I don't think you have anything to feel guilty about, Buffy. Sunnydale would be way worse off without you , I'd be a vampire, for instance."

"Sartre is hard to understand," Angel added. "I still don't understand why Orestes' tutor could see the furies when they were supposed to be all in Orestes' mind."

"And I don't know why Orestes would hide in the temple of Apollo when the gods where after him, or why Apollo would protect him," Willow said."I think the differences between this book and the original version must contain the answers."

"Original? This isn't the original?" Buffy asked.

"It's Sartre's remake of an old Greek myth," Angel explained, "I thought you knew that."

"You and Willow have read so many of the same books," Buffy said, looking down,"that I sometimes think it's you two that should be together." She looked at Angel,"I mean, what did we ever have in common, Angel? Just the physical stuff and lately there hasn't even been that. You and Willow, though, you're so alike in so many ways: quiet, kinda lonely, smart..."

"I kissed Angel!" Willow confessed, unable to contain her secret any longer.

I kissed her, Buffy. Willow had nothing to do with it. If you're angry, it should be with me. You know Willow wouldn't have initiated..."

"Hey!" Buffy interrupted, "I don't care who started it. We're all...grownups." She glared at Angel, then dropped her eyes. "I-I should have known , I thought it was just the curse, messing with my mind, and then there were all those hints from Xander and Cordelia. But, Angel, why didn't you just tell me you wanted to break up instead of sneaking around like this, feeling guilty?"

"I thought you might not be in the proper frame of mind , because of the curse..."

"Oh, so you didn't want me to slash my wrists? How sweet," she said in a clipped tone. "Really. Deception is so much better. In fact, I feel just really, really wonderful. Thanks. Both of you." She hushed Willow with a peremptory gesture, "I'm sorry. You guys are my friends. I-it just caught me by surprise, I guess. The 'magic' in mine and Angel's relationship vanished that night he lost his soul and never really returned,I just never wanted to admit it, so we've been going along as if nothing ever happened, making each other miserable. I-I'm glad you and Angel have each other, Willow , or, at least I'm trying to be. But I've got to go, now." She got up and almost ran to the door. She stopped with the hand on the doorknob and, without turning around, said in a breaking voice, "I-I really am okay about this, Willow. You're my best friend and I don't want anything , especially my wounded pride, to change that. And you two do belong together." She left swiftly, closing the door quietly behind her.

Angel closed his arms around a sobbing Willow,"Hey, don't cry. It's better that it's all out in the open." He tried to kiss her, but she pulled away.

"No it's not," she sobbed,"we've totally betrayed her."

"Cordelia and I found a transference spell," Giles explained to Willow, who had arrived late. Angel, Xander and Cordelia were already seated when she slunk into the library. She had steadfastly avoided everyone, living like a hermit, since the confrontation with Buffy three weeks earlier. Buffy had talked to her twice during that time, reassuring Willow that she harbored no ill will toward her, but Willow almost wished Buffy were angry. The guilt continued to eat away at her.

"I thought we were removing the curse," Xander said.

Giles sighed and rubbed his forehead. He had known that Xander hadn't been paying attention earlier. "We have been unable to discover a spell to remove the curse. We have found a spell that will allow us to transfer the curse to a willing recipient, namely, Angel."

"It's the least I could do," Angel said,"and, after all, I wanted the curse to begin with."

"So when Buffy arrives, I want you two," Giles said as he motioned to Angel and Xander, "to restrain her. Willow and I will cast the spell to effect the transfer and Cordelia will help where she's needed.

"Why do we need to restrain her?" Willow asked. Angel got up and moved silently to the door.

"I-I've already spoken to Buffy about removing the curse and she has told me in no uncertain terms that she does not wish it," Giles replied. The doors to the library burst open and Buffy walked in.

No sooner had she entered, than Angel grabbed her, pinning her arms behind her back. "Quick!" he shouted as Buffy struggled to free herself,"begin the spell!"

"No!"Buffy yelled in horror as she realized what her friends intended. "Please don't do this to me!"

"It's the curse talking," Giles said to Willow, "Let's begin the incantation."

"No, no, no!" Buffy howled, "This is me now. I don't want to go back to being the person I was. I finally feel alive, not like I'm just sleepwalking through life, I don't want to go back to the old me, I don't want to be in love with Angel again, and I don't want to hate Willow...please..."

As Buffy's rant deteriorated into incoherent sobs and she ceased her struggles, Willow realized what Buffy was saying. In her cursed state, she had come to terms with Willow and Angel's betrayal, if she were uncursed, she would remember. Giles prompted her to begin her chant once more, but Willow fainted dead away.

"Cordelia!" Giles exclaimed, "Pick up the book; read Willow's part."

"No."

"Now, Cordelia, do as he says," Angel commanded.

"I want no part of this," Cordelia stated."Buffy is right, this is her now. I've never been close to her, thank God , but if she doesn't want this we have no right to do it to her." She walked toward the door, pausing and bending down to talk to Buffy. "I'm sorry. I can't do anything to stop this." She turned to the others and announced, "But I won't be part of it." She marched through the doors.

"Pick up the book, Xander," Angel said as his face took on his demonic visage.