I grumbled when the phone started ringing. I opened my eyes and glanced at the clock. It was 7:36 in the morning. I picked up the phone. "What?" I asked angrily.

"Buffy, it's Giles. There are problems."

I sat up, running fingers through my hair. "At 7:36 in the morning?" I asked.

"Buffy! Willow and Xander are not here!"

"What?" I asked, frowning. "What do you mean?" That woke me up. Something was wrong with my best friends.

"They are gone. Just come to the house. We will explain everything."

"Ok, see you in a few," I said. I hung the phone up and turned to Riley. "Riley, baby, wake up. Xander and Willow are gone!"

He turned over. "Gone?" he asked. "Where to?"

"I don't know, but Giles called. We have to go to his house." I got up and started getting dressed. Within moments, Riley was dressing too.

It didn't take us very long to get to Giles' house. I ran in, Riley on my heels. I skidded to a stop, groaning when I saw Blondie sitting on the couch. "Hey, Spike," I grumbled. He was *so* not the person I wanted to see this early in the morning.

"Hey, Slayer," he said, glancing down.

I frowned. He looked worried about something. I couldn't figure out what it was. Maybe he was worried about Willow. They seemed to be friends. . . "Where are they?"

Spike looked up, frowning. "England, I think," he answered.

"*WHAT*?" I cried. "What the hell are they doing there?"

"Morning, Buffy, Riley."

I turned slowly. Angel was walking out of the kitchen. "Angel," I said softly, my heart jumping into my throat. What the hell was he doing there? "What. . .what are you doing here?"

"Angel?" he asked me curiously. "Who is Angel?"

I opened my mouth, then closed it. What did he mean, 'Who is Angel'?

"Angelus," Riley grinned. He slapped Angel on the back. The same vampire I had once given my heart to. Why the hell was he calling Angel Angelus? And why the hell were they being friendly?

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?" I cried.

Angel. . .Angelus, whatever he went by now, looked at me. "Willow is gone, as is Xander. They are in 1886 England."

"How do you know that?" I asked, baffled.

"Because," Spike spoke up, "That's the first *real* time I shagged my Xander." He grinned at what I supposed was the memory.

My mouth fell open. "Shagged Xander? *Your* Xander?" I turned back to Angel. "And you are Angelus? When did you lose the soul again?"

Angelus frowned. "I never got the soul, Buffy. You know that. Xander told me about the gypsy, and so I never ate her." He shrugged. "Spike and I waited around for Xander and Willow, and now they are gone, back to then, where we first met them."

"You waited for *Willow*?" I asked. "What do you mean?"

Angelus frowned. "I'm in love with her, Buffy. You know that."

I blinked. "No!" I cried. "Me! You are in love with me!" My heart hurt. He can't be in love with her! He's in love with me. He has to be in love with me. I'm his one true love! Not Willow. . . "You. . .we dated, you slept with me, and lost the soul. Went crazy, tried to kill us, and then Willow gave you the soul back, and you went to hell. . ." I was going crazy. I knew I was. That's what was happening. "You came back, and then you moved to LA."

Angelus frowned. "Buffy. . .none of that ever happened. I still live in Sunnydale, with Willow. We've been together for four years now. Spike's been with Xander for four years. We help you fight, although we aren't real thrilled about it. . .but it's important to Willow and Xander."

I turned to Giles. He frowned. "Where are these memories you've got coming from?" he asked. "They aren't right, Buffy."

"They never happened?" I asked, tears filling my eyes. My whole life hadn't happened! I dropped to my knees, sobs overtaking my body. I couldn't breath, I was crying so hard. Everything I ever knew was gone.

I dimly heard Angelus speaking. "Oh, no," he said. "Xander and Willow did tell us, back in 1886, about how I had the soul, and fell in love with the Slayer. . .then lost the soul. . .Buffy has the memories of their past."