Title: Awake My Soul
Author: Elisabeth
Email: dragonydreams @ yahoo.com
Rating: NC-17
Characters/Pairing: Angel/Willow/Oz
Word Count: 5,289
Summary: Angel left more than just Buffy behind in Sunnydale.
Timeline: AtS between Lonely Hearts and In the Dark
Disclaimer: I claim no ownership over these characters. I am merely borrowing them from Joss et al.
Distribution: My site, the usual lists, anyone with previous permission. Anyone else - just ask.
Feedback: Yes please! It makes me happy and keeps me writing.
Betas: Angel's Kuuipo
Author's Note: For the lovely Gabrielle, who wanted Angel/Willow/Oz fic. Sorry it took me so long to finish this.
Author's Note 2: Title is from the song of the same name by Mumford & Sons.
See Awards this story has won.
Awake My Soul
Angel reluctantly followed Cordelia and Doyle into the club. After the incident at D'oblique, Angel was even more reluctant to enter such an establishment than usual. But it was either this or listen to them harp at him on end about not putting himself out there.
It wasn't that he didn't appreciate their efforts, but he just wasn't ready to start dating. Before Buffy, he hadn't been on a proper date in decades. A few months was just too soon for him to be looking for someone new. Especially now that he knew he could never fall in love. Not that that was likely to happen anyway.
The music was loud and vaguely familiar. Maybe it was something he'd heard on the radio that Cordelia sometimes left on. He was about to head to the bar to get a drink when Cordelia grabbed his arm.
"Oh my god," she squealed.
Without realizing exactly what was happening, Angel found himself being dragged away from the bar, and more importantly, the alcohol. He tried to look around to see what had Cordelia so excited, but there were just too many people around. It wasn't until they were nearly at the table that Angel realized who was there and why the music was so familiar.
"Willow!" Cordelia shouted to be heard above the music. "What are you doing here?"
Angel watched, amused, as Willow's eyes widened upon seeing their familiar faces. "Cordy? Angel? What are you guys doing here?"
"We live here. Not together, but we do work together. When I'm not acting, of course. But what are you doing here?"
Willow gestured towards the stage where Oz was playing. "Dingoes had a gig. Oz and I are making a weekend of it."
"You're with the band?" Doyle asked, making his presence known.
"My boyfriend's the guitarist," Willow beamed. "And you are?"
"This is Doyle. He works with us, too," Angel said, speaking for the first time. "It's good to see you, Willow."
That statement was truer than he realized. Part of that hole that had consumed him since he left Sunnydale seemed to fill at the sight of Willow.
"May we join you?" Angel asked.
"Of course," Willow said. Once they were all settled and Angel had flagged down a waitress, she asked, "So you guys all work together? How'd that happen?"
"Oh, you know," Cordy started. "Doyle had a vision, sent Angel out to help some girl at a party I just happened to be at. He saved my life and we opened a detective agency. We help the hopeless."
"You're a detective now?" Willow asked, turning to Angel.
"Uh, yeah. The kind that fights demons," he clarified.
"And makes money for doing so," Cordelia added. "Unlike some so-called Chosen Ones."
"How does that work? Do you, like, have an ad out?"
"Well, sometimes I get these visions of people that Angel needs to save," Doyle said.
"We don't usually get money for those cases," Cordelia added.
"Because they didn't come to us for help," Angel pointed out. Again.
Cordelia rolled her eyes and waved him off. "But also by word of mouth. And we have these," she said, presenting Willow with one of their calling cards.
"Oh, it's an angel. Neat," Willow said, slipping the card into a pocket.
"See!" Cordelia beamed; glad someone recognized the symbol for what it was.
"How is college life?" Angel asked, desperate for a change of subject. He was rewarded with a bright smile lighting up Willow's face.
"College is amazing. There's just so much to learn, and people who want to teach it to you. It's nothing like high school."
"So no demons, vampires or Hellmouths?" Cordy asked.
"Oh, no, we still have those. Well, the Hellmouth has been pretty quiet since we blew up the high school, but there are still plenty of vamps and demons. Buffy's roommate was a demon who was sucking her soul at night. But she got sent back to whatever place she came from and now we're roomies."
Angel could feel Cordelia's glare as he hesitantly asked, "So, she's doing well? Adapting to college life?"
"Like a duck to water," Willow confirmed. "She's, um, not dating anyone. In case you were wondering."
Angel breathed an internal sigh of relief. He really didn't want to hear that Buffy had moved on. He wanted her to have a happy, normal life; and it sounded like that's what she was getting.
"Tell us more about your life with Buffy," Doyle requested, earning him a slap on the arm from Cordelia. "Hey! What was that for?"
"We don't want to be talking about her," Cordelia hissed, nodding towards Angel.
"It's all right, Cordelia," Angel assured her.
"What I meant was that I didn't want to hear it." Pulling Doyle off his stool as she stood she started dragging him towards the dance floor. "Come on, I feel like dancing."
Angel watched them go, noticing that Doyle wasn't resisting as much as he could have been.
"So, Cordelia is working for you... Who'd you piss off?" Willow asked, grinning.
Angel allowed himself a small smile. "She's really not that bad to work with."
"Can she actually do anything?"
"You'd be surprised. She can't make coffee, but she answers the phones, and tries to get our name out there."
"Wow, you defending Cordelia Chase. I never would have thought I'd see the day."
"Everyone has to grow up sometime," Angel pointed out.
"And how are you doing?" Willow asked, resting her hand on top of Angel's.
Angel tried to ignore the spark that rushed through his entire body at her touch. Granted, people didn't often touch him, but this was definitely something more than a hunger for casual touching. Glancing up, Angel saw Willow's breath hitch and knew she'd felt the same spark.
He watched, curious, as she looked over at the stage and caught Oz's eye; then she very deliberately brought her other hand up so that she held his hand between both of hers. Oz nodded, slightly out of sync with the song. Something was definitely going on that Angel wasn't privy to; yet.
Looking back and forth between Willow and Oz one more time, he asked, "What was that?"
Trying to look innocent, and failing miserably, Willow countered, "What was what? There was nothing."
Angel stared at her for a long moment before exaggeratedly placing his other hand on top of Willow's. Squeezing them gently, he said, "You just gave Oz some kind of signal. Something that involves me. I want to know what it was for."
"I, um, I..." Willow nervously glanced up at Oz, who nodded again. He leaned over to say something to Devon and when the song ended he left the stage. Moments later he appeared at the table.
"Angel," he said by way of greeting.
"Oz," Angel acknowledged. "Care to explain what all the meaningful looks and gestures are about? Willow here seems a bit tongue-tied. Why do I get the feeling this wasn't such a chance encounter as it seemed."
Willow slid one hand free and reached for Oz.
"Oh, this is entirely by chance," Oz said. "Which isn't to say that we hadn't planned on getting in touch with you later, while we were in town."
"Now I'm really intrigued," Angel commented.
"Not now," Willow said, pulling free of Angel's hands. He hadn't even realized he was still holding hers and suddenly mourned the loss of her touch.
He didn't have long to think about it because Cordelia and Doyle were returning to the table. "Oz, what are you doing here?" Cordelia asked.
"Gig."
"Well, duh! No, why are you here when the band is up there?" she clarified.
"Missed my girl," Oz said, bringing Willow's hand to his lips.
"You know, I'm actually kind of glad you were able to work things out," she said. Before Angel could chastise her for bringing up the past, Doyle cleared his throat next to her so she added, "Oh, this is Doyle. Doyle, Oz."
"Pleasure," Doyle said. Oz simply nodded in return.
"I see you're as talkative as ever," Cordy commented.
Before Angel could think of an excuse to get rid of Cordelia and Doyle so he could find out what Willow was up to, she did it for him.
"As great as it was running into you, I'm kinda not feeling so good. Just before you got back, Angel offered to take me back to his place while Oz finishes the set."
Angel was reasonably sure that he managed to keep a straight face. He carefully looked at Willow, but she was studiously avoiding him.
"Really?" Cordy asked in disbelief. "Did Angel put you up to this?"
"What? No! I really think I'm gonna yak."
Cordelia stared at Willow for a long moment, and then relaxed. "You do look a little pale." Turning to Angel, she held out a hand. "Since you're our ride and you're ditching us, the least you can do is give us money for a taxi."
"That's only fair," he agreed, taking out his wallet and placing a twenty in her hand. When she didn't remove it, Angel sighed and gave her another ten. "Enjoy the rest of your evening."
Willow handed Angel a small notebook and a pencil. "What's this for?"
"Oz needs an address and directions for your place," she reminded him.
"Right," Angel muttered, almost having forgotten Willow's story. He quickly jotted the information down and ripped out the page to hand to Oz.
Oz glanced at the paper, nodded, and slipped it into a pocket. "Should be there in about an hour," he said, leaning over to kiss Willow. "Good seeing you," he told Cordelia and Doyle as he headed back to the stage.
"If you're ready to go..." Angel stood and helped Willow up.
"Bye," she said with a little wave.
Angel kept a hand at the small of Willow's back as they worked their way through the crowd. He told himself that it was just so that he wouldn't lose her among the throng of dancers and not at all because of the pleasurable tingle he felt when touching her.
When they reached his car, Angel opened the passenger side door for Willow before slipping into the driver's seat. With a quick glance at the woman beside him, Angel headed for home.~~*~~
Willow stared blankly out the windscreen of Angel's car, hardly believing where she was and what she was doing. Granted, Angel was half the reason she was even in Los Angeles, but she wasn't expecting this to happen tonight.
It was Oz who first noticed what was going on, of course. It was also him who suggested this little trip. He'd even arranged for the gig as a cover story.
She had to agree with Cordelia about one thing, she was very glad that she and Oz had managed to work everything out between them. Their relationship was stronger now than it had ever been, and not just because they were having sex on a regular basis ever since graduation.
If it wasn't so strong, she didn't know if she'd be able to go through with this weekend. Even if it was Oz's idea. The fact that he was going to be there too made it both more comforting and a bit scarier.
That is, of course, if Angel agreed to it at all. Although, given his reaction to touching just her hands, Willow didn't think that Angel would not do it.
Before she knew it, Angel had stopped his car in front of an office building.
"Where are we? I thought we were going to your apartment."
"We're here. My living quarters are beneath the agency," he informed her, getting out of the car.
Once she was outside too, Willow commented, "Oh, that's awfully convenient. I guess you never have to worry about being late for work."
"It's not really the kind of job that has regular office hours," Angel said, leading the way inside. "Although, Cordelia usually expects me to be in the office at certain times."
"She must be quite the taskmaster." Willow grinned.
"You have no idea," Angel agreed.
"Wow, you have your name on the door and everything," Willow observed as they approached the office.
"This isn't high school anymore." Angel unlocked the door and ushered Willow inside. He took her as far as his office, turning on lights as he went. "May as well wait in here for Oz to arrive."
"Oh, okay. Yeah, I guess that makes sense."
Willow slowly wandered around the room, taking note of the surprising number of books Angel had. She knew that Giles would be jealous if he knew that Angel had a few of them. She made a mental note to ask if she could scan them at some point. Maybe that could be the excuse for her next visit to Angel.
She shook her head. Here she was planning a next visit when she hadn't even really had this one yet.
"What is it?" Angel asked, having seen her self-recriminations.
"Just getting ahead of myself in my thoughts," she admitted.
"Does this have something to do with why you and Oz are really in town?" Angel asked, sitting behind his desk.
"Kinda, yeah."
She tried not to fidget as Angel just looked at her. He was obviously waiting for her to explain. She glanced towards the door they'd entered through, but there was no hope that Oz would just show up and explain for her. It was too soon for him to be here, for one thing.
With a sigh she sat in one of the chairs in front of Angel's desk. Where to begin?
"I'm not even sure where to begin."
"Why don't you try at the beginning," he suggested.
"How did you feel when you saw me tonight?" Willow asked instead.
Angel blinked. "I, uh, I was happy. Really happy, actually."
"Anything else?" she pressed.
"I felt..." he shook his head. "It's stupid."
"Not stupid. It's actually pretty important."
"I felt like a part of me that had been missing suddenly wasn't anymore." He looked down for a moment before meeting her eyes. "I told you it was stupid."
"No, it wasn't. Because I felt the same way."
Time seemed to stop for a minute or two while Angel digested her words. Luckily, anger was one of the reactions Willow had anticipated.
"Did you do something to me? Have you been playing with magics you shouldn't be?" he demanded.
"Just hear me out, okay," Willow said, coming around to stand next to him. When Angel grudgingly nodded, she continued, "Yes, I did a spell, but it wasn't a new one."
Tentatively, she reached out and brushed her fingers against his chest, over his unbeating heart.
"My soul," he whispered, pressing her hand fully against his chest. His eyes closed with pleasure at her touch.
Willow bit her lip and nodded. She took a deep breath, luxuriating in how good it felt to be touching him.
"Even though we weren't that close in Sunnydale, we were still around each other enough to not notice. There would even be an occasional touch, but it would have felt like touching anyone else back then."
Angel was staring at her now.
"Haven't you felt lonely since you left?" Willow asked.
Angel shrugged. "I've always been lonely...since the soul."
"But the person who cursed you the first time was killed shortly after, right?"
"Yes. Darla, Spike and Dru slaughtered the clan out of revenge. Darla tried to make them remove it, but they refused."
Willow nodded, her suspicions being confirmed. "So you never would have spent any time around them."
"It's a curse, Willow," Angel pointed out. "Even if they hadn't been killed, they wouldn't have had anything to do with me."
"And that leads me to believe that because I wasn't doing it out of revenge, but to save you, it changed the curse on a fundamental level. It linked us in a way that you wouldn't have experienced before."
Angel looked at where he still held Willow's hand to his chest and didn't argue with her. When he looked up again, he asked, "But I was sent to hell right after you gave me back my soul. Wouldn't that have severed any link between us?"
Willow reached out with her other hand and ran it through Angel's hair. He all but purred at the touch. "I guess not."
"So you're saying that the emptiness that I've been feeling since I left Sunnydale wasn't from leaving Buffy, but from leaving you?"
Willow hated how pained that question made him look.
"Does that mean that you feel like this too?" he asked.
Willow nodded. "I wasn't sure what it was for a long time. At first I just thought it was some kind of growing pain. We'd not only graduated from high school but blown it up, and you know how I feel about school. Xander left on this big road trip soon after graduation and we've never been apart for so long; I thought that I was just missing him. I also was no longer a virgin, which meant that I truly wasn't a child anymore." Angel raised an eyebrow, but she knew that he could smell that she and Oz were having sex. "I guess what I'm getting at is that so many things were changing in my life over the summer that I couldn't pinpoint what was off."
"So how did you figure it out?"
"Oz," she said, as if that explained everything.
"He always was fairly intuitive, even before becoming a werewolf," Angel commented.
"I don't think the wolf had anything to do with this. Well, maybe a bit, because he certainly has enhanced senses now; and it was one of his senses that helped it all come together."
"Go on," Angel encouraged her.
"A few weeks ago, Buffy was, um, wearing a shirt of yours. Later, when we were alone, Oz commented that Buffy kinda smelled like me that day. It wasn't until after I said she was wearing your shirt, and then convinced him that I hadn't been anywhere near you in months that we started to think that maybe it had something to do with the curse."
Willow gave him a moment to process that. Finally, he said, "When you cursed me, my soul passed through you, leaving a small trace with you, and carrying on a small piece of you to me."
"Yeah," Willow quietly acknowledged. "Since normally the person who performs a curse like this doesn't want to have anything to do with the cursed person after it's done, those pieces would dissipate. But we were different. We were still in each other's lives, so those pieces we carried around of the other didn't fade away. In fact, they probably grew a bit."
"And then I left." Angel stood and began to pace. "I'm still not sure why you're here. What is it that you came here to do?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Oz asked from the open doorway.
"Oz, you made it," Willow squealed, rushing to his side.
"Angel gave good directions."
"What's supposed to be obvious?" Angel asked.
Wrapping an arm around Willow, Oz calmly said, "You and Willow need to have sex."~~*~~
Angel stood, agog; sure he must have heard Oz wrong. "I beg your pardon?"
"I think you heard me just fine. It's okay, it was my suggestion," Oz assured him.
Despite the honesty of the words, Angel wasn't sure that he believed the werewolf, given the proprietary hold he had on Willow, and how she clung to him.
"You want me to have sex with your girlfriend?" he repeated; Oz nodded. "Willow, is that something you want to do?"
"Um, look, now that Oz is here, can we go down to your apartment to finish talking about this?" she asked, instead.
"Not until you answer my question. Do you want to have sex with me?" Angel asked again.
"Yes," Willow confidently answered.
"Well, alright then." Angel turned and opened the gate to the elevator. "In here."
The ride in the creaky elevator was made in silence. Angel took note of Willow holding tightly to Oz's hand. Once they were in the apartment proper, Angel gestured the couple to sit on the couch while he pulled a chair over to face them.
"Okay, now explain to me why you think we should have sex, despite all of the complications like Buffy and the happiness clause in my curse. Not to mention the fact that you're sitting here with your boyfriend."
Willow squirmed a bit, but her voice was even when she spoke. "I think the only thing we need to worry about is Buffy. Assuming we tell her, which I suppose we have to. She really isn't going to like it."
"No, she won't," Angel agreed. "Isn't there some unwritten rule about not sleeping with your best friend's ex?"
"I think that's for dating, which we won't be doing. We're just going to have sex."
"And that's not worse? Especially after what happened when Buffy and I..." He couldn't even bring himself to say the words. "Aren't you worried about the curse?"
Willow shook her head. "I honestly don't think it'll be an issue. You can't tell me that in the hundred years after you got your soul back that you never once had sex before Buffy."
"Well, no, of course I had sex."
"You weren't in love with them," Oz interjected. "Just like you aren't in love with Willow."
"No, I'm still in love with Buffy. But what about this...connection we supposedly have? That won't alter things? Make me more content than I should be?" Angel desperately asked. While he wasn't opposed to the idea of taking Willow to bed, he didn't want to do anything to risk losing his soul.
"I'm fairly confident that the fact that you know your soul could be at risk should be enough to keep you from getting too emotionally invested," Willow said. "That's also one reason why Oz will be there with us."
Angel looked over at Oz and saw the determined expression on his face.
"I love Willow," he simply stated. "She needs this. I know that she'd never approach you on her own, not after what happened last year. She'd never do that to me. Once we realized that you two sleeping together was the only thing that would make this better for her, and I guess for you, I gave her my blessing. Provided that I was there. It's not cheating if I'm involved, after all."
Angel clasped his hands in an effort to not reach out and touch Willow. With a nod, he asked, "So how do we go about doing this?"
Willow seemed to relax and tense up at the same time, which amused Angel. "Really? You want to do this?" With a blush she added, "You want to be with me?"
"Right now, I can't think of anyone else that I would rather be with," he sincerely told her. Giving in to temptation, he reached across the short distance and rested a hand on her knee.
Taking his hand, Willow tugged on Angel's arm, encouraging him to sit beside her. As he settled, Angel lifted his free hand to her face, drawing her in for a gentle kiss.
What began as gentle quickly turned passionate. Hands began to tug at shirts, mouths only separating long enough to remove the offending clothing and Willow found herself bare-breasted, straddling Angel. He took advantage of their separation to explore her bare neck and shoulders with his mouth, fighting against the urge to vamp out and truly taste her.
Having removed his own shirt, Oz suggested that they move the party to the bedroom. Without comment, Angel stood and Willow wrapped her legs around his waist for the short journey to Angel's bed. She held her hand out for Oz, pulling him along.
Angel set Willow on her feet when they reached his bed, enjoying the feeling of her sliding down his body. He barely managed to resist shuddering when her hands began to open is pants. Her movements were shaky, but a quick glance up showed that it was not because of nerves. Rather, Oz was pressed against her back, laying kisses against her neck as his hands cupped her breasts.
Deciding to give them this moment, Angel brushed Willow's hands aside and removed his pants himself before divesting her of the rest of her clothing. When they were both fully naked, Angel gently drew Willow away from Oz and onto the bed.
"Go on," Oz said with an encouraging wave of his hand when Willow glanced back at him. "I'll just watch from over here." He dragged a chair away from the wall and settled himself near the bed.
"Are you okay?" Angel asked, stretching out beside Willow's body, running teasing fingers along her side.
"Honestly? I'm a little nervous, but I'm okay." She darted a glance at Oz. "It's just, Oz is the only guy I've ever been with."
"I'll go slowly, I promise."
Willow nodded and reached up to pull Angel into a kiss. He went willingly; eagerly. Fire danced along his skin everywhere he and Willow touched. He couldn't wait to be inside her, but he'd promised to go slow.
Trailing kisses down her neck, Angel licked and nibbled his way down her chest, teasingly avoiding the breast Willow tried to entice him with. Ignoring Willow's whimper of protest, he smiled against her skin as he continued down her body. When Willow's fingers slid into his hair to guide him towards her cunt, he went without protest. It was where he'd been headed after all.
The full body arch and Willow's deep moan at the first touch of Angel's tongue to her clit had him impossibly hard. Angel had to pull back and bite his lip for a moment to keep himself from coming then and there.
He looked up Willow's body and saw the same manic hunger in Willow's eyes. Unconsciously, he moved back up until he could take Willow's mouth in a ravishing kiss.
"I know I said I'd go slowly..." he started to say, but Willow cut him off. "I know. I can't wait any longer either." She grabbed his ass and pulled him down against her. Willow's legs lifted over his hips as Angel reached down to guide himself inside her.
Willow's eyes widened and her mouth was frozen in a silent gasp as they were fully joined. Angel knew he must have a similar expression on his face because for the first time since that wonderful-awful night with Buffy, he felt whole. That thought had him pulling away from Willow and moving across the bed.
"No, not again," he muttered to himself.
"Angel, what's wrong?" Willow asked, carefully approaching him.
"I can't lose my soul again," Angel desperately told her.
"You're not going to lose your soul," Willow assured him. She looked back at Oz, who came to sit beside her on the bed.
"You don't understand," Angel pleaded. "It was starting to feel like it did before. For a second there, I felt whole."
"That was just our missing pieces of soul touching," Willow said. "I felt it too."
"Why aren't you scared?" Angel demanded. "I'm terrified that if we keep going..."
"Trust us," Oz said. "We're pretty sure we know what we're doing here."
"Pretty sure," Angel repeated, doubtfully.
"We're sure," Willow said. "Let's try this a little differently. Come here." She had Angel lie down on the bed. The barest touch of her hand to his cock had him back to full hardness.
Oz started to retreat to his chair, but Willow stopped him. "No, you need to be here. You need to be part of this. I think that's what went wrong before. Angel needs you here as a distraction."
"I'm happy to distract," Oz said. "How do you want me?"
"First, pants off." While Oz shed his remaining clothing, Willow straddled Angel's legs. "Now, come kiss me." Oz happily obliged as Willow slid down Angel's length.
Angel's hands came up to grasp her hips, but he otherwise seemed in control. He wasn't tossing her away, which was a definite improvement.
"Better?" Willow panted when she broke her kiss with Oz.
"Much," Angel agreed.
Willow rested one hand against Angel's chest, while the other slid down Oz's body to grasp his neglected cock. She stroked her boyfriend in time with her movements with Angel.
As heightened as their senses were, it didn't take long for Willow and Angel to reach the point of no return.
Knowing he'd need a bit more of a distraction than just having Oz next to them on the bed, Angel mumbled, "Sorry, need to borrow your boyfriend," before pulling Oz down into a kiss. To his surprise, Oz kissed him back, and that was all the encouragement Angel needed to come. His release triggered Willow's, who cried out as her climax crashed over her. With the other two lying in a sated heap beside him, Oz quickly brought himself off.
Oz slid back so that Willow could collapse between him and Angel.
Willow rested her head on Angel's chest and tapped him over the heart. "Hey there, Mr. Soul, you in there?"
Angel chuckled. "Yeah, it's still here. You were right."
"Don't you ever doubt it." She grinned up at him.
"Thank you," Angel said, sincerely, leaning up to look at Oz.
Oz shrugged. "Caught me by surprise, but I'm not gonna complain."
"I didn't just mean kissing me."
"Oh. Yeah...like I said, Willow needed this." He brushed a hand along her arm. "How you feeling?"
"Whole, like Angel said. Thank you." She rolled over to give Oz a proper kiss. Then she turned to give Angel a similar kiss. Finally, Oz leaned across Willow to kiss Angel.
"Since when do you go around kissing guys?" Angel asked. He looked down at Willow. "Is this something you know about?"
"It's not something I seek out, but I've been known to kiss a few guys before. Not since Willow, of course."
"And yeah, I knew. He told me he and the guys in the band used to fool around sometimes."
"Musician; right."
Angel lay back, feeling more content than he had in a long time. Not perfectly content, but content enough.
Experimentally he lifted one of Willow's hands in his and stared at it. He brushed his thumb against the palm of her hand. He felt a bit of a warm thrill from the touch, but not the spark from before.
"That tickles," Willow giggled.
"Just testing," Angel explained. "It seems to have worked."
"Yeah," Willow dreamily agreed. "No more raging fires, just pleasant simmering."
"So, what happens now?" Angel asked.
Willow disentangled their hands. "Tomorrow Oz and I will go back to Sunnydale. You go back to work. When it starts to get overwhelming again, we make plans to come back to LA."
"And maybe next time I'll participate a bit more," Oz suggested, meeting Angel's eyes.
"I think I like this plan," Angel said.
"Good. Now can we get under the covers? I'm getting chilly," Willow pouted.
"We mustn't let that happen," Angel said, laughing. He rolled off the bed and encouraged Willow and Oz to do the same so they all could slide under the covers. Willow once again rested her head on Angel's chest, and Oz spooned behind her.
As he drifted off to sleep, Angel thought that this was an arrangement he was really going to enjoy.The End
Copyright© April 2011