Buffy was happy in a way. Well, at least a little less stressed with the whole Angel and her relationship thing when it came to Hank. She no longer had to hide whatever it was that she and Angel were sharing from her father. But she still had to deal with one more person, in order to completly focus on the task at hand, to reclaim people's rightful destinies.

Riley was scheduled to go out with Buffy. To the park. Nothing big, nothing that needed something paid for. A nice place to have a meaningful conversation at. A perfect place to break up with your boyfriend at...Buffy was nervous as hell. She figited with her hands and the sleves of the blouse she was wearing since the hem just barely extended to the start of her thumbs. Her hair was in a tight pony tail. Hoping to squeeze in some patrol time after their expected long argument was finished. She knew for a fact that Riley wasn't going to take this well. Riley was in love with her. But she didn't reflect that same amount of love for him. If Angel was out of the picture, yes, she would certainly be with Riley. Not concerning other circumstances. But Angel was there. Angel did hold more deed to her heart than Riley. And she and Angel were meant for eachother.

She found a perfect place to sit and "chat, on a bench near a moseleum. The moon was full and showned all over the green grass, even through the trees, which bounced off of the concrete arts and statues which created a lovely tone to the picturesque place she was in.

Riley was right on time and couldn't help but rush to her and hold her. He had had missed her mother's funeral due to "work," which Buffy didn't really mind, since Angel was there. He felt so sorry and guilty that he had missed something so important to her. He wasn't there to suport her and assure her like he should have as the duty of a respectful boyfriend. Plus, he had not seen her in for a few days straight. He was aching inside himself from not seeing her and not being with her.

Finally, letting go, "How are you?" He asked her, looking her over. Annalizing her features and stance.

"I'm doing ok." She gave a hard nod to add to her response. "I've been better, but I'm dealing." She stepped back from him a little. Giving her space to think. And to, hopefully, give him a better opening idea of what she was there to do.

"Whats up? You sounded pretty weary on the telephone." He peered into her eyes which were cast down at missing patch of grass. "Buffy?"

"Hmm?" She realised what she was missing...."Oh, umm..." She looked at him, gulping the fear and bitting it in the ass. "Riley, we need to talk. And its pretty serious....And...." He looked at her with a little terror in his eyes, waiting for the rest of that sentence. At once it came, "painful." She gave him a "I'm sorry, but I have to do this" kind of look.

"Just tell me what it is Buffy. I can handle it." Buffy knew that that part was a lie. She knew that this would hit him like a rock. On the head non the less.

"Well..." She looked away from him and just starred out at nothing. "Gods, there's no easy way to do this so I'm just going to say it." She rambled rather quickly and snapped her head back up to him. "Riley. Riley, I can't, we, can't be together anymore. I love-I love someone else."

Buffy was right. Riley couldn't handle this one. His eyes gave her the most hurtful stare that she had ever recieved. "I don't understand. I thought...But...I thought that you loved me...I thought-" His mind had stopped on a particular thought. "Angel. Its him isn't it? Isn't it!? You've been doing things behind my back, haven't you? You were going to string me along like some idiot until I got a clue, huh?" His eyes were briming with tears, but he was reluctant to their escape.

He was scaring her with his tone of voice and accusations. Yes, she had been doing things that a girlfriend should not have done. But they weren't entirely something that she had sat down and thought about. They were on impulse. They were based on love. True love. Souls' love. She wasn't going out on dates with Riley as she was sleeping with Angel. She would never do that. She had promised herself and to Riley, well, in her head at least, that she would tell him the next time he saw her. But it was only until now, when she had already slept with her significant other twice and kissed him in more ways than once repeatedly, that she was able to see Riley. And to tell him straight out. "Thats not how it happened. Not really. Not how you are thinking it did...I wouldn't do that. Not on purpose." Buffy was trying to defend herself as well as trying to make him feel better.

"Sure. Just like you don't purposely put people in danger?" He knew it was a low blow, but since he had already started the battle, he thought that he might as well go ahead and fisish it. "You say that all the people around you are "doomed" to die or get hurt when they are around you. If you knew this for a fact then you wouldn't be here. You wouldn't let your friends fight with you or for you. You wouldn't put them in constant danger. Its-"

"Stop!" Buffy put her hands up in surrender. "Stop...Please....I don't need this. Please..." She was upset, not only mad at him, but mad at herself for thinking that he might be right. She knew that it wasn't her fault that people close to her got hurt due to the things that went on in her dangerous life, but she still had that rotting feeling that made her heart sink each time she thought about it.

Riley didn't take it back. He just let it go. He knew that it was an aweful thing to say, even with the defense of being dumped, he knew that what he had said hit home. A bullseye in fact.

He watched as Buffy took a deep breath, thinking of what to say or do next. Basically, she had said all that she needed to say, apparently, where they stood, it was Riley's call on whether or not to take the conversation further in explinations or debates. Buffy knew her side of opinion. She couldn't give Riley a second chance, there was no chance that it would be fairly given. If Angel was in the picture of her life, she would never be able to completly focus on Riley. If they were to go dancing, Buffy's mind would be elsewhere rather than on Riley's "buldging mucles." Perhaps, even, on someone else's "'buldging muscles.'"

A long drawn out pause between them as each thought things through. Buffy; discussing with herself the answers and possibilities to Riley's expected questions. Riley; thinking over what to say next. Should he let it be at that, not expecting her to give him a second chance, or to give it the benifit of the doubt and to ask for one? He knew exactly what the answers would be. Buffy's mind was usually a settle and rational worker. In her own ways that is. She wouldn't have came clean like that, in a sense, and broken up with him declairing her love for someone else if she didn't feel that what she was doing what what she wanted. Still, Riley had a feeling that she was letting her emotions of her mother's death get to her. Crowding her judgement, disabling her to focus on who she could really trust. Me, she can trust me. But, then again, she wouldn't be doing this to him for someone else if she didn't feel that she could trust them too.

It was settled, in a rather reluctant way, in Riley's mind that he was not going to push or frighten Buffy away with lame and not well thought out actions and to just give her what he can at the moment. Friendship. A hard friendship it would be between the two, but better than nothing in Riley's opinion.

"Ok...I get it." He ran his hands through his hair. "I don't like it. But I get it."

"Thank you." Buffy's tension seemed to ease. A little.

"Friends?" He gave her a peering look.

Running the thought in her head she finally smiled the best smile she could muster and said, "Friends." And with a quick nod she stood on her tippy toes and gave him a polite and friendly hug.

Buffy walked home by herself after a long patroll. There wasn't anything hard about the patroll except for the begining conversation with her now and current Ex boyfriend. But Buffy was feeling a littel "under the weather," you might say. Our bodies seem to be dramatically connected to the moon's atmosphere and its chorse and changes. Especially that of our hormones and a woman's bodyily functions. Simply put, Buffy was on her period, And for some reason, possbily from all the stress of her resent loss, she was in much more pain than usual and was having a much heavier flow than usual as well. But, and thank the gods for this, she wasn't experiencing the typical period side effect of being bitchy as usual. Buffy didn't like the idea of being so thrown off balance by her menstrural cycle that she would have erges to snap and yell at people for the tiniest things. She kinda felt sorry for all the other girls in her family of whom would lash out do to this nasty side effect at their own family members and kids and scare them almost.

But this time, Buffy was in pain. So much pain from, cramps and a wicked headache that she was stumbling home. Her hands were wrapped tightly around her stomach, hoping to absorb some of the twishing, nausiating cramps. Buffy took deep breaths to keep her dinner in, closing her eyes as she walked in attempt to ease the throbing in her ears and head.

Stepping onto the porch she realized she didn't want to take any chances. She didn't want to have to explain to anyone...Even if they didn't ask her how her break up with Riley went she still didn't feel like talking. Even the usual small talk before people go to bed sounded appauling. She turned on her heals and climbed the tree to her open bed room window.

Plucking some loose boxers and the gag gift her cousin gave her, a "Playboy" tee shirt and some clean langerie she made her way to the restroom for a shower. The hot water seemed to relax her stomach muscles. With the lights off, she was hoping that the tension in her head would release itself so that she could actually get some sleep later on.

Buffy was now leaning against the tiled wall of the bath as she let the water beam down on her head, some what massaging her skin. She was too occupied to realize that someone had entered the small, extremly private room. They locked the door behind them and striped just to their boxers. Taking the glass from the sink he filled it up with cool water and opened the medicine cabinet, retracting the Tylenol. With two capsuals in his hand and the glass of water in the other he slowly opened the shower curtain, keeping his eyes on her face only. Her eyes were losely closed. As if she wasn't able to keep them open and yet not tired enough to close them. She saw him enter her space bubble. But didn't recognize anything out of the ordinary. Yes, she was naked, and vulnerable to his touch and vision but she didn't seem to mind, nor would she have the strength to fend him off. She seemed to not give a rat's ass.

"Buffy, take these." He cupped his hand so that the pills gently entered her mouth onto her tongue. Slowly pouring the cool water down her throat for her she swallowed the medicine. Angel turned her around so that her back was against his chest and his hands were lightly pressing against her tight belly. He softly rubbed her abdomen where she was most in pain. Willing her pain gone. She was completly relaxed now. If only the pain would go away she would have been able to fall asleep right there and then in his arms.

Holding her, made Angel feel that he could help in with something even as uncontrollable as her period. Most guys would have just let her take care of it. Feeling a littel grossed out with the whole ordeal. But Angel found it completly normal and painful at the moment for his lover.

"How did you know?" Buffy knew that he was very good at reading her body language. But he didn't even see her when she had returned home. How could he have known about the pain she was in and the cause of that pain?

"Its kind of hard to explain, and I'm not sure you want me to explain it." He moved his hands from her stomach to her temples and began to massage her headache away.

"Yes, I do." She held on to his forearms to keep her posture. Standing up.

"I can smell you. The blood...When you're....." He didn't know any other way to put it. And she wanted to hear it...."in heat."

She didn't say anything.

"See, I told you. I'm sorry." He practically ripped himself from her, in fear that she was thinking that he was a sicko of some sort after hearing what he had just told her. Buffy whimpered at the relocation of her comfort zone, Angel. And winced from the pain in her head and body from the sudden movement. She kept as much of a firm hold as she could muster at the moment on his arms as he tried to clear back from her.

"Angel-" She cringed as she took a deep breath and relaxed her stomach muscles. "Angel...I don't. I understand. I-" She began to pull the reluctant man back to her. "I just want you to continue what you were doing." She replaces his hands on her body. One on her side the other craddling her head.

Part Six

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