Hidden
Feelings
By Samantha
Gold
Disclaimer: I wish I owned them all, I really do. But sadly,
they are the product of Joss Whedon’s evil genius, not mine.
"I love you."
"Excuse me?!"
"I said, ‘I love you’."
"I thought that’s what you said…What are you playing at?"
She took a step towards him. "No games," she told him softly. "Just you and me."
"But you love Riley."
She shook her head, blond tendrils falling in her face. She brushed them aside absent-mindedly. "No, I don’t. It’s you…It’s always been you."
"I don’t understand," he admitted.
"There’s nothing to understand! Riley doesn’t know me the way you do. He can’t love me the way you can. And I don’t care for him as I care for you." She took another step towards him. "You said you loved me and I believed you. Even now you’ve been willing to offer me friendship while I’ve pursued other relationships…I know Riley and I can never have what we have and I know he and I won’t remain friends when I leave him."
"When?" He echoed.
She took a final step towards him. Now they were only inches apart.
"When," she affirmed. "I can’t stay in this empty relationship any longer or I’ll die! I want to be with you."
He looked down into her eyes and opened his mouth to protest.
"But – "
She pressed a finger to his lips, shushing him. "I love you," she repeated yet again. "Love you and only you."
Finally he smiled, accepting her words as truth and allowing her to see how much they meant to him. "I love you," he replied.
She lifted her head up then, crushing her lips to his passionately. His hands encircled her back, drawing her closer against him. She twined her arms around his neck, then snaked one hand into his dark hair, running the soft tresses through her fingers. He nibbled on her bottom lip gently and she sighed, darting her tongue out to run it over his lip. And they continued to kiss intimately until they were both at a loss for breath.
They broke apart, gasping for air. After catching her breath sufficiently to speak, she asked, "What are we going to do about Anya, Xand?"
He grinned lopsidedly at her. "I’ll break up with her. I love you too much to let you go, Buffy."
She smiled, her first real smile in almost a year. "Good, because I don’t think I could go without you."
And then they embraced again, losing themselves in their passions.
THE END!