PART 1

Masquerade

Angel watched as Buffy rewound the video and pressed the play button for the fifth time in succession. As they sat silently on the sofa, so close and yet so far, he didn't once interrupt, understanding her need to continually relive their wedding day. He could see from the tears shimmering in her beautiful eyes that the memories repeating on the screen gave her comfort, some small flicker of light to cling on to in her new dark world.

With every smile, giggle, laugh or sigh one of her friends or family made, Buffy seemed to grow more confident, drawing strength and determination from each memory that battled its way through the amnesia. Every now and again she would gasp out loud as a new piece of the jigsaw puzzle slotted into place.

From the excited expression on her face, Angel could see that his wife now believed there really was a chance that she would one day reclaim her life from the vortex it had fallen into.

**And when that day comes, I will finally be able to reclaim mine**

Although it had become his dearest wish over the last three months to discover the truth, Angel found the prospect now gave him little joy. He understood only too well that when Buffy did finally remember her past, their life together would change forever.

Meanwhile, as Buffy sat quietly mesmerised by the faces from her past, she had absolutely no idea what those same visions were doing to Angel. If she had, she would have seen that the memories coming from the video tore into him so fiercely that he almost cried out in pain.

It wasn't Buffy's fault. She wasn't to know that seeing her younger self, smiling at him with eyes so full of love, was ripping his heart to shreds. She was blissfully ignorant of the fact that every time their lips met on the screen, the quiet man sitting so patiently by her side, longed desperately to pull her into his arms and kiss her until they were both senseless.

Looking away from the screen, as they became man and wife for the fifth time, Angel knew he had to get away. He had to get out of the house and put as much distance between him and the past as was possible.

"Will you be okay for a few hours? I have a few things I need to do" Angel asked quietly as the picture on the screen changed. Now the bride and groom were kissing again and he knew that if you listened very carefully you could hear the younger Buffy moan passionately as his mouth covered hers.

For his broken heart, it was just one memory too many.

Hearing Angel's soft words, Buffy tore her eyes away from the kiss and stared into his eyes. For a moment the fear she felt at being left on her own reflected in her hazel orbs but she quickly shut it out. She was home, there was nothing here to be frightened of she quickly reassured herself.

"Sure. I'll just watch this video again. " Buffy smiled knowing that her earlier thought had been foolish. Now that her memories had started to return she hoped it wouldn't be much longer before the house she was staying in stopped being just a strange house and became her home again.

**And maybe then I'll remember you ** The little voice in her head added almost wistfully.

"I really should check in at the office and let them know I'm back" Without looking at her Angel stood up and silently crossed the room. Slipping a black leather jacket over his broad shoulders he reached for his car keys and as the video started to rewind for the umpteenth time, he walked out of the room. Although she didn't move from her seat, Buffy stared at the empty doorway for a long time after he was gone. It surprised her how much his absence left her feeling empty. She still might not have clear memories of living with this man, but her feelings towards him were growing stronger by the second. With nothing better to do, Buffy pressed the remote control and started the video one more time.


*****

Angel was gone longer than he expected and it was dark when he finally walked through the front door. As he moved into the hallway, his arms were once again loaded with expensive looking shopping bags, which he dropped happily into the corner before removing his jacket. It was only after he closed and locked the door that the silence greeted him. Angel stood still and fought down the unexpected wave of panic that rose in his throat and burned the back of his mouth. This was how the house had felt for the last three months. Lonely, empty and bare.

**And when she leaves you again, It will feel like this forever** his heart whispered into the stillness that surrounded him.

**Unless you take this second chance**

Walking into the kitchen he pulled open the refrigerator door and stood in the shaft of cool light it reflected across the kitchen floor. Removing a carton of juice, Angel poured himself a glass and swallowed the cool liquid quickly.

**A second chance**

All night long he had considered the possibility. The wedding video had affected him more than he thought possible and although he'd walked for hours trying to get the anger back into his heart. He couldn't. Lying was no longer an option, he couldn't lie, not to Buffy and - more importantly - not to himself.

Whatever had driven her away from him that night, there had to be a way they could make it right.

**You don't just wake up one morning and stop loving somebody** Angel rationalised with his conscience. **Not the way they had loved each other**

As soon as Buffy remembered what had caused her to write that letter, he was determined they would work it out. They had to work it out because life without Buffy, as the last three months had shown, was unbearable.

Finishing the juice, Angel walked into the sitting room. He was just about to leave and head for his bed when he came to an abrupt halt. On the far side of the room, Buffy lay curled up on the sofa fast asleep.

Hesitating for a moment in the doorway he stopped and let out a deep sigh of regret.

She looked so utterly adorable that his heart constricted and he was swamped with a rush of emotions he could no longer control. Without conscious thought Angel stood totally still as he continued to watch her sleep.

Within seconds his hungry eyes raked over her small curled body, taking in how her cheek rested peacefully on the palm of her hand and the way her full lips parted slightly with each new breath she inhaled. Unable to stop himself, Angel moved closer. Dropping on to his knees, he knelt by her sleeping head and, raising his hand, he started to sweep a stray lock of hair away from her face.

After a few seconds, Buffy murmured softly and opened her sleepy hazel eyes.

"Liam?"

Angel almost moaned out loud. She had no idea how delectable she looked at that moment, all soft and warm with sleep. Not wanting to startle her, he kept all trace of the emotion he was feeling out of his voice.

"That's not the most comfortable place to spend the night" He teased lightly.

"I must have fallen asleep. What time is it?" Buffy yawned and raised her hand to cover her mouth.

Angel smiled softly.

Struggling to sit up, Buffy ran a hand through her hair, pushing it away from her face.

"It's late. I ran into Lindsey and we went for a drink" Angel replied quietly and reaching over to the small table on his right, he switched on the table lamp. At once a gentle glow filled the room, falling softly across Buffy's face.

"Lindsey?" Buffy thought hard for a moment but she failed to recognise the name. Shaking her head after a few seconds, she gave up in defeat.

Angel understood the look of confusion; he had seen it on her face continually over the last few days.

"Lindsey Macdonald and I used to work for Wolfram and Hart in LA. When I left, after the case with your father, Lindsey came with me and we set up a law practice together here in Sunnydale" As he repeated the story, Angel smiled softly and Buffy couldn't fail to notice the change in his features. The anger and bitterness that she'd often sensed in him since waking up in hospital seemed to have faded from his face. For the time being anyway.

"I remember you telling me about Wolfram and Hart, but I don't think you mentioned Lindsey.

What's he like?"

"He's a bit of a roughneck but he's a good man to have on your side in a fight"

Angel laughed, remembering his encounter with his best friend.

Lindsey had found him, earlier that evening, sitting in Willie's bar nursing a small untouched glass of whiskey and a large heavy heart. Dropping his briefcase on the floor next to the bar stool, the good looking young lawyer, exhausted from a long day in court, sat down quietly beside his friend at the bar.

"So, you decided to come back after all " The soft familiar drawl of Lindsey Macdonald's voice caused Angel to look up from his drink and realise that he was no longer sitting on his own.

"Yeah, I flew in last night" Angel quietly replied without giving any more details away than was necessary. Lindsey was his best friend as well as his partner in the law firm they shared, but after the week Angel had just had, he wasn't in the mood to share his feelings, not with anybody.

If Lindsey was offended he didn't show it.

As Angel turned his head, Lindsey immediately noticed the dark circles surrounding his friend's eyes and knew that the trip to New York had really taken it's toll. Months with hardly any sleep and continual worry had finally caught up and Liam's once, lively dark eyes now looked haunted as they stared back at him.

When Willie approached placing a second glass next to Angel's, Lindsey indicated for him to leave the bottle he was holding and give them some privacy.

"From the look on your face I'm taking it was bad news. Wrong girl?" He asked pouring a small measure of golden liquid into the empty glass in front of him. Angel continued to stare at his own untouched glass without making any attempt to lift it.

"No, it was Buffy alright. She was slightly hurt in the accident but considering most of the other passengers on the coach were killed, she was extremely lucky" Angel spoke quietly with a hint of sadness in his voice.

"I'm sensing a large *but* here" Lindsey knew his friend too well. After working together for over four years he understood when Liam Angelus was holding back.

"She has amnesia" Angel sighed wearily.

"No shit!.. That's convenient" Lindsey laughed but there was no humour in his voice. He had witnessed his friend's agony these last few months and knew how desperately Liam needed to find Buffy and discover what had driven her away. "So how much memory has she lost"

Angel looked back down at the bar, noticing how the liquid in his glass changed colour when the light hit it.

"About 90%, although earlier she showed signs of recovering some of it." Angel look a deep breath before he found the strength to continue.

" She just doesn't remember me" This time there was a touch of real bitterness about the words.

"Is she faking it?" Lindsey asked suspiciously.

With a sigh, Angel shook his head. "No, I wish she were but no. It's too real, her eyes wouldn't be able to lie that well.." His voice trailed off, as he visualised the look of panic and grief that had covered Buffy's face from the second she had opened her eyes in that hospital bed.

An awkward silence fell over the two men as they both took in the enormity of the problem.

In the end it was Lindsey that asked the question haunting both their minds

"Now you have her back, what are you going to do?"

Angel wrapped his long fingers around the small glass that had sat in front of him for the last two hours and, finally, raising it to his lips he swallowed the warm liquid down in one smooth gulp.

**What was he going to do** That really was the million dollar question, and suddenly he no longer had an answer to it.

Closing his eyes and shutting out the noise of the bar, Angel's thoughts drifted to Buffy. He found himself thinking of her hair, her smile, the way she laughed when she was happy and the way her small face creased up and trembled when she cried. He remembered with a heavy heart the way her soft mouth tasted when they kissed and how her perfect body melted into his when they made love.

It all felt like a lifetime ago.

As his friend struggled for an answer, Lindsey didn't press. He knew he had to let Liam find the solution to this problem on his own.

Toying with his empty glass, the young lawyer sat quietly on the barstool as Angel's tormented mind covered every possibility.

In the end he gave the only answer he knew.

" I honestly don't know" Angel crumbled and the pain he had been hiding from Buffy saturated his deep voice. In the company of his best friend he was finally able to show his real feelings.

"Cordy said I should kick her out once and for all. Even Darla thinks the relationship is over"

" Darla?" Lindsey didn't even bother to hide his dislike of the small blonde woman who was supposedly Buffy's friend but spent most of her time chasing after her husband. It was no secret that he'd never trusted her.

On the other hand, he had always liked Buffy Angelus; he liked her fighting spirit and envied the way she adored his best friend. Their marriage had looked so solid that it had shocked everyone who knew them when it all fell apart.

**Except maybe Darla**

"Are you sure Darla doesn't have an ulterior motive?" Lindsey asked carefully, not sure how close Liam and this woman had become, especially after the last few months. To an outsider, she seemed to be there every time he turned around.

Angel ran his hand over his chin as he listened to the question.

"Ulterior motive, like what?" He asked not quite understanding what the other man was asking.

Lindsey sighed, and when he looked up, his face was deadly serious.

"Like jumping your bones" He replied as plainly as he could.

Angel looked horrified.

"That's ridiculous! Darla is Buffy's best friend and she's been a great support these last few months.. But that's all. There has never been anything between us" Angel's eyes darkened over dangerously at the insinuation.

" I didn't say you wanted to jump hers" Lindsey responded defensively. The last thing he wanted was a fight but the look in Liam's eyes was frighteningly too serious at that moment.

For a tense few seconds neither spoke.

" Darla knows how much I love Buffy, you couldn't be more wrong if you tried"

Angel shook his head and backed down. He had enough problems in his life at the moment without punching out his best friend.

Reading the anger and desperation in Liam's face Lindsey knew it was time to change the subject. From the way he had reacted it was obvious that he didn't have any romantic feelings for Darla, but Lindsey still wasn't convinced that Darla was so innocent.

"So, what do you want to do?" He didn't so much change the subject as bring it full circle.

"I *need* closure" Angel replied slowly, but he couldn't stop the pain flashing across his face.

Lindsey didn't believe him for a second. His words said one thing but his body language told a completely different story. Realising that a helping hand was needed, he cautiously considered his next move.

"Fine, then leave her. Kick the bitch out of your life and forget her." Lindsey said casually as he refilled both their glasses. He purposely let the words sink in knowing that they were having the desired effect.

Angel raked his hand through his hair as he struggled to come to a decision. He had spent so long hating Buffy for leaving him that he hadn't really thought about what would happen if she ever came back.

"What would you do?" He quietly asked his friend for advice.

Knocking back his drink, the lawyer considered the question very carefully. As far as he was concerned, this whole situation stunk and it had done from the second Buffy had fled into the night leaving just a few short words and a wedding ring.

"Well..."

Taking a deep breath he spoke straight from the heart.

"If Buffy was my wife, and I loved her as much as you obviously do, I'd fight for her. I don't care what her reason was for leaving. I'd use this second chance to remind her of why she fell in love with me in the first place and I'd make sure she never wanted to leave me again. "

Lindsey's eyes shone brightly as he finished his speech. It wasn't until the words had left his mouth, that he realise how much he believed in them.

**If Liam let this girl go again he was a damn fool**

Lifting the whisky bottle from the bar, he went to refill Angel's glass for a third time but Angel placed his hand over the top to stop him.

" Thank you, but I need to go home" Angel's tired eyes reflected his gratitude. Finally somebody had told him something he needed to hear.

Slowly standing from the barstool he reached down and picked up the shopping he'd earlier purchased and slowly made his way home.

**Lindsey and I used to work for a law firm in LA, when I left he came with me and we set up a practice together here in Sunnydale**

Turning his attention back to Buffy Angel smiled again.

"He sends you his love"

"Do I like him?"

"Yes " Angel couldn't help but smile again.

"We got talking about a case he's been working on and I guess I lost track of the time." It was only a small white lie "Oh, I almost forgot, I brought you a few things"

"Things?"

"A change of clothes. I also dropped in on Darla, as you were so worried about going shopping, she's agreed to take you. I thought you'd rather go with her than me"

Buffy frowned.

"Darla? The woman in the video?" She sounded a little vague, but after watching their wedding seven times now, she knew exactly who Darla Penn was.

Angel laughed at her troubled expression.

"You really don't remember her at all?"

Buffy shook her head.

"No" She didn't remember her but she had a feeling she wouldn't forget her again in a hurry.

"She's been a good friend" Angel offered and tried to forget Lindsey's ridiculous words of warning.

Buffy was still frowning.

"To you or to me?" She asked quietly, her face suddenly appeared very serious.

Angel opened his eyes in surprise. He could have sworn he heard jealousy in her voice and the thought sent a warm shiver through his lonely body.

Leaning forward, he gazed deeply into her eyes.

"We have both been really worried Buffy. But you're back now and that's all that matters"

Buffy didn't speak, her eyes locked on his, searching and finding a certain comfort in the warm chocolate pools.

An air of anticipation buzzed around them as their faces moved closer together, but before anything could happen; Buffy yawned again, the exhaustion of the last few months finally catching up with her tired body.

"Come on, let me help you upstairs" Angel offered gently, as he rose from the floor.

"Liam, I need to phone Dawn and I want to visit my mother's grave as soon as possible"

Angel nodded, he knew once she remembered that Buffy would need to do both those things.

" Dawn doesn't know about the accident, she's been so busy with college that I didn't tell her. She doesn't even know you were away." He told her quietly.

"I'll ring her in the morning" Buffy went to stand but when she transferred her weight on to her swollen ankle she winced in pain.

"Come on, let's get you upstairs, we can talk more in the morning, when we've both had a good night's sleep"

Buffy smiled in thanks and when she reached out her hand, he took it and pulled her to her feet.

Pulling her close, Buffy shivered as his large arm slipped around her waist and she leaned into him for support as they slowly made their way up the stairs.

On reaching Buffy's bedroom door, Angel reached for the handle and pushed it open.

For a moment an awkward silence fell over both of them as each waited for the other to move away.

Without conscious thought Angel reacted first, he lent forward and softly brushed his lips across her forehead.

"Sweet dreams" His hot breath burned against her skin and sent a shiver of pleasure right down her spine.

Buffy sighed as the scent of his masculinity flooded over her senses. Their earlier kiss had left her feeling frustrated and confused and the wedding video had only added to those feelings tenfold. Looking up, their eyes met and her turmoil shone like a lantern on a dark night.

As his blood thundered through his veins, Angel went to move back but before he had the chance, Buffy stepped forward this time. Raising her hand to the side of his face she reached up and gently drew his head down to her lips.

The kiss was soft and innocent and over in a heartbeat. Gently pulling away, Angel smiled and the expression in his deep brown eyes was so warm it melted her heart.

Although his heart was screaming to kiss her back, Angel didn't take advantage of the situation. He knew kissing Buffy now would be dangerous. For the moment he had to hold back. Buffy was still in pain and still confused and the last thing he wanted to do was ruin the relationship before it had even restarted.

**If Buffy was my wife and I loved her as much as you obviously do, I'd fight for her. I don't care what her reason for leaving was, I'd use this second chance to remind her of why she loved me in the first place.**

Angel smiled again, after his talk with Lindsey he now knew exactly what he was going to do and it was a relief after all the uncertainty and heartache.

"Something's different. What's changed? " Buffy asked as a sense of bewilderment spread through her whole body. She had only seen that look in his eyes once before, in their wedding video.

Reaching out his hand, Angel softly brushed her cheek. He then leaned closer so that his lips were almost brushing her ear.

"Goodnight Buffy" Before she could speak again, he was gone.

*****

The fire returned.

Like an unwelcome guest at a party, it gatecrashed through her peaceful slumber and set about its cruel, evil destruction. Buffy could only watch in horror as the skin on her arms turned from a soft golden brown to a crisp, black ash, and then slowly melted away from the bones. She tried to scream, but the severe pain she felt in every cell of her body clenched the muscles of her throat closed, and her cry of desperation was lost.

She was trapped. There was nowhere left to run nowhere safe to hide and no one she could trust.

Or was there?

As the fierce, red blanket moved ever closer, engulfing her in its heat and anger, Buffy screamed again, and this time the noise of her terror exploded from her throat.

"Buffy! Buffy! Wake up!" The hand on her shoulder shook gently.

Buffy sat upright in bed, shaking and clearly terrified. As her eyes focused, she saw that Angel was sitting on the side of her bed, his face wide-awake with concern.

"It was a dream. Just a dream" His rich, velvety voice tried its' best to reassure her.

Buffy just stared at him, eyes wide, panting for breath as she struggled through her disorientation.

"You were dreaming" Angel tried once again to comfort her.

"D..dr.. Dreaming?" Buffy stuttered as she realised that the fire was no longer burning her body.

Although his kind words meant well, they did little to soothe the panic that was screaming through her blood. Seeing the fear continue to grow behind her frantic eyes, Angel lent forward and wrapping his arm around her trembling body, he cradled her up against bare chest.

Turning her head, Buffy pressed her face into the curve of his shoulder and as she clung to him, her fingers dug deep into the flesh of his back.

"Shh.. You're safe now" Angel tried again to soothe away the terror that had possessed her petite body. When he felt the first hot tear fall against his chest, his arms tightened and rocking her gently, he kissed the crown of her head.

Pressed so closed against his skin, Angel couldn't fail to notice how her heartbeat had doubled, as a rush of adrenaline raced through her veins.

"It was so real. It wants to burn me alive" Buffy whispered, fearful that if she spoke too loud, the flames from her dream would return and finish the job.

As the visions of her dream became clearer, she remembered that this nightmare was identical to the one she had dreamt on the plane trip home. Buffy couldn't explain why, but something evil was haunting her. Something wanted her dead.

**It was so real. It wants to burn me alive**

Her pitiful remark made Angel's heart lurch, he had never seen anybody look so terrified in his whole life.

At her alarmed state, he considered his next words carefully.

"Was it memories from the accident?" He asked gently, as he continued to rock her in the circle of his strong arms.

Buffy was almost too frightened to think.

"I don't know. Maybe. I just don't remember. All I can see is the fire, it's hot and bright and burning everything in its path. It's unbearable" Squeezing back more tears, Buffy leaned in closer and ran her hands down his naked back. She wouldn't cry, she couldn't, because if she did, Buffy bit into her lip, because if she did she feared she would never be able to stop.

This time Angel was the one to tremble. As her small hand absentmindedly caressed the sinewy muscles in his back, he couldn't stop his own body from reacting.

Pulled from his sleep by her frantic cries, Angel had run almost naked to her room. Now, perched on the side of what was once *their* bed, he ignored his state of undress and concentrated fully on Buffy's pain.

"I won't let anybody hurt you, not ever again" Angel murmured as he ran his hand down the length of her back. Slowly, he felt her began to relax, as her breathing returned to normal.

Although she was beginning to feel slightly calmer, Buffy was nowhere near ready to let go of the man holding her. Her fingers lessened their death grip on his flesh but they made no attempt to move away.

Sensing her reluctance and mistaking it for fear, Angel moved his mouth to the top of her head.

"There's no need to be afraid. I've got you " He whispered, softly brushing his lips against her temple.

"Angel"

Buffy's small sigh was barely above a whisper, as she felt her skin burn beneath his lips. This time the feeling of being burned wasn't fearful, but exciting.

As she ran her fingers lightly across his bare arm, Angel silently groaned. She had no idea what it did to him when she called him by that name. No idea of the memories that one simple word could provoke.

Pulling her face from the safety of his shoulder, Buffy looked directly into Angel's dark eyes and tried not to react to his nearness.. Or his nakedness.

"I know this must be just as confusing for you as it is for me. You can remember so much more than I can and.." Buffy stopped; at that second the pain and loneliness reflected in his eyes told her without words how desperately he had missed her.

Reaching up with her hand, she turned his face and softly kissed his lips.

At the unexpected show of affection, Angel drew in a sharp breath. The kiss started softly but as each heartbeat passed, it intensified. Then, with more strength then he knew he possessed Angel broke off the kiss and pulled away.

"You should try and get some sleep now, it's late" He looked deep into her confused eyes, struggling to keep his voice even.

Suddenly the room felt cold and sitting there in just his black boxer shorts he feared he would soon be trembling himself. But it wouldn't be just from the cold. His body ached to continue the kiss, longed to hold her and press her soft body into *their* mattress, claiming her once more as his own.. But not tonight. When they finally did make love Angel wanted it to be because she *wanted* him with her heart, body and soul and not just because she was scared of the dark.

When Buffy felt him start to move away, the fear she had pushed aside a few moments earlier raised its ugly head again.

"I... I..." She hesitated, shaking her head, unsure if she should continue but knowing that she no longer had a choice.

"Please, don't go. I don't want to be on my own. I really need you tonight" Her nervous voice was small and shaky.

Angel knew, no matter how hard the temptation would be, he couldn't refuse her. Resting his forehead against hers, he fought to control the race of his own heartbeat.

"Okay, I'll stay, but just until you fall asleep" Overcome by tenderness, he smiled softly, as her face relaxed with relief.

Pulling back the sheets, he slipped his long body beneath the covers and wrapping a protective arm around her, he hugged her small back into his hard chest.

For a few minutes they lay quietly together not moving but, as she felt his long legs rubbing against her, Buffy turned in his arms.

Their eyes locked and needing to break the tension, Angel smiled again and brushed a feather-light kiss to the end of her nose. Feeling safe and secure for the first time that night, Buffy returned the smile with one that was so grateful, it almost melted his heart. Then, with a contented sigh, she rested her head against his chest and with the steady beat of his heart drumming against her ear; she gave in to her exhaustion and let the sleep that she needed, reclaim her.

Angel smiled softly as he watched her sleep, his hand lightly stroking her back for the rest of the night.

When she woke the next morning, he was gone.

*****

Walking into the bathroom, Buffy moved towards the shower but at the last moment she changed her mind. She reached over the bathtub and turned on the taps, releasing a fast flow of steaming water.

Slipping her new robe off her shoulders, she waited until the water level had risen to a level of luxury and after testing the temperature with her fingers, she sunk gratefully into its depths. As her body adjusted to the heat, Buffy's tense muscles began to soothe. She had no idea how long she lay there, silently reliving the night before, but it must have been for a while because the water had turned tepid before she reluctantly climbed out.

Leaving the bathroom, she hurried along the corridor and walked straight into Angel coming out of his room.

" Hey!" Angel was the first to break the awkward silence.

"Hey" Buffy tensed when he started to speak but as her eyes flicked over his friendly face, she let out the breath she didn't even know she was holding.

"No more bad dreams?"

Buffy shook her head in relief.

"No, thank you" She whispered shyly, and resisted telling him that the rest of the night her dreams had taken a completely different direction. This time she had dreamt of twisting bodies not crying out in pain, but in passion.

"That's good" Angel replied again with a small grin.

For a few minutes the uncomfortable small talk continued.

"You look very nice this morning" Buffy cursed as she felt her cheeks blush. She couldn't fail to miss the dark, designer suit he was wearing.

Ignoring the colour rising in her cheeks Angel just continued to grin.

"I promised Lindsey that I'd go into the office today. As you'll be busy shopping with Darla I thought it would be all right. You are still okay about going with Darla and not me?" Angel asked quietly. He wanted her to say no, he wanted to be the one to help her buy her new clothes but he quickly shut those selfish thoughts out of his head. Buffy needed her friends just as much as she needed him.

He couldn't have been more wrong.

Buffy was having her own doubts about her planned afternoon with her so called *best* friend.

"Sure. Can't wait" Her false smile was frighteningly convincing and on accepting it, Angel started to walk away. As he passed her, Buffy reached out her hand and rested it lightly on his hand.

"Liam.. Just one thing. If you have the time, there's somewhere I have to go first"

*****

"Are you sure you're ready for this?" Angel asked softly as Buffy lowered herself into the passenger's seat of the shiny black convertible. He had felt the trepidation radiating from her body all morning and it left him frustrated knowing there was nothing he could do but offer her support.

Dropping into his own seat, he watched from the corner of his eye as Buffy slowly pulled the taut seatbelt across her small chest and clicked it securely into place. With the slightest nod of her head she looked across and when their eyes met and held, her large hazel orbs reflected not only the deep sadness she carried but also an unexpected flash of determination.

"I have to face this. Until I see it for myself it will never be real"

Although she tried to sound strong, her small voice failed to hide the pain she was really feeling.

Reaching over, Angel squeezed Buffy's hand wanting to offer some measure of comfort and felt her fingers tremble. This time it wasn't passion that caused the reaction, this time it was grief.

Feeling utterly helpless and unable to bear the suffering he saw in her eyes, Angel started the car without another word and slowly pulled away from the driveway.

*****

Buffy knelt down in the soft, green grass and lovingly laid the bouquet of fresh yellow roses, she had clutched tightly in her hand ever since leaving the flower shop, down in the centre of the grave. For days now the smell of yellow roses had unexplainably haunted her senses. Every time she had turned around the delicate fragrance had awoken a thought deep inside her head, and now she finally understood why. Running her finger gently over the cold marble headstone, Buffy traced out the small letters of her mother's name and a new wave of pain she didn't know was possible crashed over heart.

Of all the memories she longed to remember, her mother's death was not one of them. And yet here she was, surrounded by gravestones on a beautiful Tuesday morning, and suddenly the pain returned as if it had only been a day since she buried the woman who had blessed her with life.

Buffy closed her eyes as flashes of her past broke into the darkness and pounded her head with the grief.

She could now remember the police officer knocking on the door and telling her that her mother had been killed, she saw Dawnie's young face hysterically screaming that it wasn't true. Buffy remembered every second of the funeral and how the rain had fallen that day as if the Gods in heaven shared her sorrow and in sending the rain, they cried the same tears.

As she plucked out a few stray tuffs of grass from the otherwise immaculate grave, Buffy felt tears burn in the back of her eyes. Focusing on the pale yellow flowers that her mother had loved so dearly, her vision blurred until she could no longer see anything. She could now only feel and what she felt broke her heart.

"Mommy" Her shaking fingers reached out and clenched the grass covering her beloved parent.

**Until I see it for myself it will never be real** Her earlier words returned and the sad truth was, it was real, the grave in front of her bearing witness to the fact. Buffy had no choice but to accept that even when her memories finally returned, she would never see her mother again.

Angel stood back from the graveside, not wishing to intrude on his wife's grief, but when he saw her shoulders buckle under the weight of her pain he moved quickly to her side..

"I miss her so much.. " Buffy's voice cracked, a sob catching in her throat, and the anguish that she felt was clearly evident on her face. She glanced desperately round the graveyard, looking everywhere but in his direction.

When she did finally turn towards Angel, her large hazel eyes were brimming with tears. This time there was no holding back. This time the tears had to fall.

In a heartbeat, Angel reached down and pulling her up from the grassy graveside, he wrapped her tightly in his arms. As the pain, loneliness and grief finally became too great to hold in, Buffy buried her head against his hard chest and cried.

Knowing there was nothing he could possibly say that would make a difference, Angel just held her, whispering meaningless words and rocking her gently in his arms.

**This is becoming a habit** He thought as the memory of their night together played over in his head

**But is holding the woman you adore in your arms and comforting her a habit you ever want to break?** He already knew the answer to that question. Although he hated seeing his wife so upset. He knew he would be happy to hold her in his arms for the rest of their lives.

As Buffy's petite body shook from the force of her sobs, Angel tightened his arms around her and encouraged her to cry all the pent up grief out of her heart once and for all.

For a while time seemed to stand still.

Finally, reluctantly, Buffy raised her head and when she looked Angel in the face, his dark eyes blazed with his concern for her.

Looking into her heartbroken eyes, Angel longed to kiss away her pain but he knew once again, that this was not the time or the place. Without saying a word, he reached out, grasping her hand gently in his and lead her away from the cemetery and back to the car.

******

"Come on I'll take you home" Angel spoke quietly as he opened the passenger door of their car.

"No, not home. I'm supposed to be meeting Darla this afternoon" Buffy took a deep breath and tried to pull herself back together.

Waiting until his wife was safely seated, Angel ran around the other side of the car and dropped down into his own seat.

"Buffy, maybe you should go shopping another day" He asked as he placed the car key in the ignition and fired the engine. Without looking up, Buffy shook her head.

"No, I'll be fine. Really. Besides, you said yesterday that Darla is taking time off work today to take me shopping, so I can't cancel on her now"

Not that Buffy wanted to cancel. After re-watching her wedding video more times then she could remember, she was quite looking forward to meeting Darla Penn. No matter how hard she tried Buffy couldn't shake the thought from her head that they were not the close friends that Angel had led her to believe. She didn't understand where this feeling of doubt was coming from, but she knew that she would only be able to get over it once she met the woman for herself.

Raising her arm, Buffy checked her watch and tried to swap the frown she was wearing into a smile. It was a good job Angel was driving and concentrating on the road, because she failed miserably.

" I have a few hours yet before I'm due to meet her, can you drop me off at my mother's - I mean, my Gallery, I'd really like to take a look around the place. Maybe if I can see where my mother worked all those years it might help trigger more of my memory"

Angel wasn't sure if it would work but he agreed just the same.

*****

Buffy gripped Angel's hand tighter as they walked towards the Joyce Summers art gallery on Main Street.

It was a small building and as she approached the front door, she hesitated.

"You don't have to go inside" Angel said and softly squeezed her fingers.

Buffy took a deep breath and nodded her head.

"Yes I do. If I want to find the past I have to look where it happened.

Seeing her determination, and knowing there was no changing her mind, Angel withdrew a small bunch of keys from his pocket and after turning the largest key in the lock, he pushed open the door. Walking inside the gallery, the small old-fashioned bell hanging over the doorway rang announcing their arrival. Once inside, Buffy turned her face up to see where the sound had come from and on noticing the small antique over the door, she smiled.

"I remember that bell" Her whole face came alive as another memory fell into place.

"You've been saying for years that you wanted to take it down and replace it, but you never did" Angel laughed.

Moving away from the door Buffy walked slowly around the displays.

"Has the gallery been closed for a long time" She asked running her finger down the small glass counter and watching a faint line appear in the thin layer of dust

"Anya kept it open for a few weeks but...."

"Anya?" Buffy interrupted. For a second the name seemed to register in her mind but just as quickly, it was gone.

"Anya Chase was the young woman that worked for you. You used to say she had a great head for business, although her public relations skills left a lot to be desired..." Angel laughed again as he remembered the small assistant and her aptitude for making a quick buck.

"So where is she now?" Buffy's eyes returned to the dust covering the galley and knew nobody had cleaned in weeks.

"I'm afraid she no longer works here, she quit, not long after..."Angel's voice trailed off unsure of how to continue. The day had been hard enough on Buffy as it was, it wasn't the time or the place to bring up the small fact that she'd run out on him three months earlier and to this day he still had no idea why. Closing the gallery hadn't been done out of spite, after his wife had disappeared, he was simply too worried and upset to care.

Walking across the room Buffy studied the many works of art hoping that something would jump out on her. It didn't. Turning around she caught Angel glancing at his watch.

"You promised Lindsey that you'd drop in at the office today, didn't you?"

Angel nodded

"I should really, it's only a couple of blocks away. Why don't you come with me, I could show you around..."

Noticing a small door that had the word office clearly written across it, Buffy shook her head.

"I think I'd like to stay here for a while," She said as she moved closer towards the office door. Something invisible almost pulling her.

Seeing her need to be alone, Angel reluctantly agreed.

"Why don't I call Darla from the office and tell her to pick you up from here?" He offered.

"Yeah, that would be better"

Without looking back Buffy nodded. As she opened the office door and walked slowly inside, she didn't even notice Angel leave the gallery.



****



Deeply engrossed with the gallery invoices, Buffy almost missed the small bell ring as the front door opened. Thinking that Liam had returned, or maybe the dreaded Darla was early, she placed the book she had been studying down on the desk and walked into the main room.

On seeing that it was neither Liam or Darla, she frowned, realising that she should have locked the door. The last thing she needed was for a customer to come in asking questions about a subject she was yet to remember.

"I'm sorry, I'm afraid the galley is closed today" Buffy apologised as she walked from the office. On reaching the front desk she stopped.

He was tall, fair and incredibly good-looking. That was the first thing she noticed. Tight faded jeans sheathed his lean hips and a white T-shirt hugged his well-developed chest.

His eyes were bright blue, sparkling, with just a hint of mischief and when he looked directly at her, Buffy almost swore they devoured her every movement.

"I. Um...." She didn't get a chance to continue. With three long strides he had passed the counter and had swept her clean off her feet.

"Bloody hell.. I thought I was seeing a ghost for a minute" His hoarse voice brushed against her ear.

Buffy could no longer breathe as she was then crushed into his hard embrace.

"Dammit Buffy, I've been worried sick. Where the hell have you been for the last three months?"

"Please!.. Please put me down!" Buffy gasped, finding herself gripped so tightly against a strong masculine chest, that she could hardly find the air to breathe. For a second, her whole body froze as a wave of panic crashed over her and almost scared her rigid.

When unknown fingers started brushing against places they had no right to touch, Buffy frantically searched for a name, a memory, anything that would explain why she was being molested and nearly crushed to death by a complete stranger. But no matter how hard she searched the black void that had temporarily replaced her memory, she found nothing about this man that would help.

"Please! Put... Me... Down." Buffy gasped again, her eyes widening in horror as warm lips slipped across her earlobe.

At this second urgent plea, his large hands slowly released their grip and gently lowered her feet back to the ground. Backing away, Buffy reached out her trembling fingers and gripped the edge of the desk for support.

Struggling to restart her breathing, she tilted her head and stared hard at the handsome face grinning excitedly in front of her.

He didn't look like your average psychopath.

Her would be molester was strikingly handsome. With short bleached blonde hair, exquisite cheekbones and boyish good looks, he definitely had the word *honey* stamped all over him. But it was his eyes that Buffy was drawn to.

Staring deeply, she noticed that his eyes were now more green than blue and, when the sunlight danced lightly across them, they twinkled with mischief and just the tiniest hint of danger. The small jagged scar that crossed his left eyebrow only added to the mystery.

"God! I've missed you, Summers" He chuckled and the colour of his eyes changed yet again.

**Summers?**

Buffy opened her mouth but suddenly found herself speechless.

Raising his hand, her good looking stranger ran his fingers lightly across her cheek, his happy grin turning slightly into a frown as he noticed the almost faded bruising.

"Are you all right, pet? You've gone a bit white"

When he spoke his voice was a mixture of laughter and concern, and something else. Buffy thought hard for a moment and then it came to her. His accent wasn't American like hers, it was English.

Looking deeply into her dubious eyes, he smiled and took a step forward and she in return, took one back.

As she apprehensively stepped away, Buffy's back bumped into the corner of the glass counter and she froze again as her withdrawal came to an abrupt end.

"I heard about the accident " He took a another small step forward, his eyes twinkling as they took in the changes in her appearance.

Buffy flinched as her back pressed harder into the cool glass display cabinet.

Under this stranger's hungry gaze, she suddenly started to feel uncomfortable. Growing slightly nervous at the closeness of his lean, tanned body, she silently cursed herself for sending Liam to his office and leaving her alone and vulnerable.

The visitor took a final step forward and his gaze bore directly into Buffy's eyes.

Buffy felt her heartbeat increase and she tensed as he started to speak.

"Why didn't you call me? Are you okay?" His soft voice asked tenderly.

When he tried to reach for her again, Buffy quickly side stepped him and moved away.

"Buffy? What the f..."

"I'm sorry... I... do I know you?" She blurted out her reply before he had a chance to finish his curse.

"Know me" The man blinked, then laughed at the absurdity of the question.

Buffy looked at him curiously.

" I was hurt in the crash and it affected my memory" She explained as simply as she could. The last thing she wanted to do at that moment was go into personal details with a complete stranger.
But even as the thought entered her head, Buffy could tell from the look in his eyes that he knew her even if she had no memory of him.

She was right.

"You don't remember me?" A tiny flicker of confusion wrinkled his brow.

Buffy shook her head.

"It's Will, Buffy. William Pennington " He waited patiently for a few seconds for her to make the connection.

Buffy ran the name inside her head but it still came up blank.

At his expectant look, she felt the absurd impulse to say. 'How do you do' but realising that it would sound like a slap in the face, she just shook her head again in polite regret.

"I don't believe this, are you playing games with me?"

"I'm not playing games, I'm not playing anything" she argued thinly "I have amnesia"

"Amnesia? " The small word almost choked him with disbelief.

Buffy nodded and sighed.

" I've lost almost 90% of my memory. I'm sorry, but like I said before, I have absolutely no idea who you are"

He didn't speak, his intense eyes studying her face for signs that she was joking, or worse still, lying.

Feeling even more uncomfortable, Buffy cleared her throat.

"I guess we must be friends then, it's just..?" She paused, not knowing what to say next.

"Friends! I think that's got to be the understatement of the year, luv"

This time when he laughed it was cold and humourless and the sound made Buffy shiver from her head right down to her toes.

At her bewildered expression he snorted, and then continued.

" No, I wouldn't really call us friends, pet. I'm not sure what you'd call us these days, but we have been sleeping together for over a year"

Buffy watched his lips move and heard the words form but, for all the sense they made, he might as well have been speaking a foreign language.

"That's not true" She instinctively denied the allegation. The thought that she could have cheated on her husband was so alien to her that it was almost impossible to conceive.

**If she had ever made love to this man she would have remembered** Buffy silently argued, desperate for his words to be a lie.

**But you didn't remember Liam when you first saw him** A small voice in her head argued back

**But my heart remembers Liam, my body remembers Liam**

A vision of her husband's face then came to her mind and her heart sank.

Ignoring her pain, William leaned against the counter and reaching into the back pocket of his tight jeans, he removed a packet of cigarettes. Realising that they were empty, he screwed up the wrapper and angrily tossed it to the wastepaper bin at his feet.

"I can't be sleeping with you... I'm married" Buffy spoke quietly.
She suddenly remembered her wedding video and the way her eyes had looked adoringly towards her new husband. There was no way a few short months later she would have taken a lover.

**Would I? **

As she studied the cocky expression on his face Buffy feared that William Pennington looked far too sure of himself.

"Yeah, I know you're married, but it never worried you before. Your old man was such an arsehole you couldn't wait to jump between my sheets. For your information, *you* chased *me* Summers, not that I'm complaining." He smirked and his eyes narrowed slightly.

"It's not possible." Buffy denied the allegation again in total disbelief as all the colour drained from her face. She couldn't believe that something this important had been so seriously overlooked.

William just stared at her with stormy eyes.

"You're serious, aren't you" He said at last "You really don't remember me?"

Buffy moistened her lips

"My memory before the accident is almost blank, we're hoping..."

"We? Not that bastard husband of yours. Did you remember him?" William's voice rose and his eyes changed from stormy to almost deadly.

Buffy shivered, realising there was obviously no love lost between the two men.

**And yet if Liam knew, why hadn't he said anything** The thought bothered her.

"Liam, well..." Buffy started to explain but before she could complete the sentence her words were lost in an angry outburst.

"So! You can remember him, but not me?" William's handsome face grew pale, his eyes darkened and for an instant, Buffy felt a small tremor of fear.

Then, in less than a heartbeat, he reached out, and taking Buffy's face firmly between his hands, William brought his mouth crashing down on her lips. Startled, Buffy struggled as his long arms wrapped themselves around her body and pulled her closer into his arms. As his tongue slipped into her mouth Buffy pulled violently away.

**This is wrong** A thousand tiny voices cried into her head. She didn't have one memory of ever kissing this man before.

Although his kiss was warm and passionate Buffy knew she couldn't respond. She knew deep in her heart that kissing this man wasn't right. There wasn't any logic in her thinking, just a strong gut reaction and that reaction told her that something about this man just didn't add up.

"Don't touch me" Buffy struggled to reclaim her composure as her large hazel eyes flashed her distrust.

She needed to think.

Stepping back, William let out a deep sigh of frustration and ran his hands through his short blonde hair.

"Buffy, I think that knock to your head did more than just wipe out a few memory cells. What on earth's gotten into you? I've already told you that we're lovers, I've had you on that office floor more times than I can count and now suddenly you can't bear to even kiss me " He shouted angrily.

Although he sounded genuine Buffy still couldn't find it in her heart to believe him.

"I need time to think about this, I want you to leave."

"What is there to think about? I love you and you love me" William shrugged his shoulders. In his eyes it was as simple as that.

"No!" Buffy shook her head violently "How can I love you when I can't even remember you"

"But you remember that bastard, Angelus" William spat out in fury. His fists curled and he had a strong urge to smash them through the glass counter in temper.

Buffy glared back.

"Don't call him that" She defended her husband without a second thought..

"I don't bloody believe this". William closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm the raging fire that burned through his body. As he opened his eyes again, he looked into Buffy's face and hardly recognised her frightened features.

"So now what, you're suddenly in love with him all over again? " He demanded furiously. He didn't give her time to answer. "The next thing you'll be telling me is you let the sod back in your bed"

At the slight rise in the colour of her cheeks, William's last thread of control snapped.

"You already have, haven't you. Dammit Buffy, you're sleeping with the bastard again?" His voice exploded.

"That's none of your business"

Buffy's eyes flickered around the room looking for an escape route. She didn't really believe that he was dangerous but she doubted she had ever seen anybody that angry and frustrated before.

"None of my bloody business???..... The hell it is. How much of your life do you remember with him? You left him once and now you're right back where you started"

"I asked you to leave. Please, if you care about me you'll give me time to sort this mess out, once and for all" Buffy closed her eyes and took a deep breath, as if searching for some inner strength to continue.

William sighed, but then reluctantly nodded his head.

"Okay, I'll give you the space you need. But, like it or not, I'm in your life, you can't just shut me out."

"I'm not shutting you out, I simply need time to remember"

"Yeah, right. Okay, you win, I'll give you what you want but, I'm warning you, don't trust him, not for a second, luv. He'll rip your bleeding heart out " William finished and when he looked back up, Buffy watched as the anger drained from his face, leaving his eyes full of pain.

Shaking his head sadly, he turned away from her so that she wouldn't see his heart shatter into a million pieces, and slowly walked away.

When William reached the front door he stopped and leaned his forehead against the cold glass, keeping his face forward, not wanting to see the confusion on her face as he delivered his final words.

"Hopefully, when you finally come to your senses, you'll remember that I love you much more than he *ever* did, and when he breaks your heart again..." William swallowed hard and his voice lowered down into a painful whisper.

"I'll still be here waiting, and Buffy, I'll still love you" With those last words the unhappy young man, flung open the door and disappeared down the street.

Buffy stood very still as the door swung closed, the small bell, over head, ringing its heart out.
In the space of a few minutes, her complicated life had once again been thrust into the dark. As she fought to come to terms with the new information, two very different voices replayed over and over inside her head.

** No. We're not friends, Buffy. You're my wife**

**No, I wouldn't really call us friends, pet. I'm not sure what you'd call us these days, but we have been sleeping together for over a year**

Buffy gripped the counter until her knuckles turned white, as more and more memories from the recent week replayed before her eyes. Two men, so different in appearance and yet both claiming to know her better than she knew herself, fought each other inside her head.

**I've had you on that office floor more times than I can count and suddenly you can't bear to kiss me**

William's arrogant boast was quickly replaced with her husband's gentle words of reassurance.

**There's no need to be afraid. I've got you**

He had been right, in Angel's arms she wasn't afraid.

Buffy sighed, desperately needing those arms around her at that moment.

**When you come to your senses, hopefully you'll remember that I love you much more that he ever did, and when he breaks your heart again...I'll still be here and Buffy, I'll still love you**

**I won't let anybody hurt you, not ever again**

Buffy closed her eyes as a solitary tear trickled down her cheek. Just when the light was beginning to break through her nightmarish life, William Pennington breezes in and extinguishes it. Standing there, still clinging to the counter for support, her heart raced uncomfortably fast and her throat started to close in, suffocating her.

**Was it really possible that she had cheated on Liam?**

Every instinct rejected the idea. Liam had been kind, considerate and loving, nowhere near the monster that William had painted. But why would William lie? He had seemed genuinely shocked to hear about the amnesia.

**What could he possibly gain by lying?** Buffy asked herself as more words returned to haunt her mind.

** How much of your life do you remember with him? You left him once and now you're right back where you started**

"Left him?" Buffy gasped out loud, anguish and pain laced her voice as she relived her so-called lover's words. It was only now, when she had time to reflect, that the true meaning of the statement sunk in to her head.

**It feels as if I've not been here for years.. Liam, just how long was I away?**

**A little over three months**

**What happened to my clothes? I mean all the hangers in my room are empty**

"Oh God" Buffy gasped as the pieces of her life started to fall into place. Bending over, she clutching her stomach with one hand while the other flew to cover her mouth, but she was too late, as her insides violently clenched, most of her breakfast decorated the floor...



William needed air. No, correction, he needed a cigarette, a drink and then he seriously needed to hit somebody. Hard. It didn't matter who. No, actually it did matter who, in fact it mattered a lot. As his long legs moved angrily down Main Street, William's troubled mind filled with visions of his fists punching Liam Angelus' head right through the nearest wall.

**How can I love you when I can't even remember you** Buffy's frightened voice echoed deep inside his head as he moved away from the gallery as fast as the muscles in his legs would allow

**But you remember that bastard, Angelus?**

**So now what, you're suddenly in love with him all over again? The next thing you'll be telling me is you let the sod back in your bed**

**You already have, haven't you. Dammit Buffy, you're sleeping with the bastard again**

**That's none of your business**

As William's thoughts turned to Liam worming his way back into Buffy's bed, his heart raced, frantically pumping the bitterness he felt into every cell of his body.

"Bloody bastard" William cursed in frustration. As he continued down the street, his foot struck out at an empty coke can lying in his path and sent it spinning across the pavement with the full force of his anger.

For Will, it didn't matter how much distance he put between him and Buffy, her painful words continued to crush his broken heart with every new step he took.

**I can't be sleeping with you... I'm married.... **

"Yeah, don't I know it" He mumbled to himself and stepping off the pavement, he quickly crossed the road.

As he headed in the direction of Willie's bar, the other pedestrians on the street quickly moved out of the troubled young man's path.

"Hey! Wait! Where do you think you're going?" A female voice called and although William heard the question clearly, he made no attempt to slow down.

"William!" Her voice called again and the cold sharp tone left little doubt in his mind that there would be real trouble if he didn't answer her.

**Tough luck. Bitch**

Without slowing, William threw his reply over his shoulder.

"I'm really not in the mood to play happy families right this minute. So just Piss off and leave me alone" He muttered harshly and intending to put as much distance between them as possible, he increased his stride.

The blonde woman following him was small but she moved swiftly and within a few seconds she had caught up and moved along side.

"For a poet you really use the most charming language." She purred sarcastically, and from her vantagepoint she couldn't fail to notice the anguish radiating from his lean body.

As the neon sigh advertising Willie's bar caught his eye, William ignored his unwanted companion and turned sharply towards the entrance.

"Dammit, William! Will you slow down?" she finally snapped, as her small heels struggled to keep up the hurried pace.

"Okay, you want charming, how's this for charming" Finally losing his temper, Will spun a U-turn and glared dangerously into the woman's pale blue eyes " I'm having a really bad day, so please, do us both a favour, and...." He sighed deeply and decided not to finish the insult. From the determined look on her face it would have been a complete waste of time anyway.

As he started to turn away again, a small, well-manicured hand reached out and came to rest lightly on his arm.

"Stop acting so damn pathetic and just tell me where you're going?"

At the fleeting look of pain that flickered in his eyes, the woman's voice softened slightly.

"Honey! It couldn't have gone that badly" She cooed as her long fingers slid softly across his bare arm.

The fair-haired man, with thunder in his dangerous eyes glared for a few more seconds and then shook off her unwanted hand.

"After what I've just done, I think I deserve a bloody stiff drink. Nah, make that the whole fucking bottle." William turned his head towards the neon sign and could almost taste the cool beer he desperately needed.

"There will be plenty of time for that later. Just tell me what happened at the gallery?" The female snapped back, impatient for an answer to her question.

With a sigh, William shook his head. Suddenly needing a cigarette, he reached into the back pocket of his jeans only to remember the empty packet he had earlier tossed away at the gallery.

**Don't touch me**

The moment he thought of the gallery, the memories of Buffy pushing him away returned and once again his fragile mood turned black.

As if reading his mind, his companion pulled an unopened carton of cigarettes from her jacket pocket and carelessly threw them at him.
Without a word, William caught the packet, ripped off the top and after lighting up; he drew the thick smoke deep into his lungs. As the nicotine entered his blood stream, and set to work at soothing his nerves, Will let out a deep sigh of relief.

"I take it you saw her?"

The woman's cool words cut through the calm haze that had formed inside his head and immediately returned the tension to his body.

"You know damn well that I saw her, you cunning bitch. After all, you were the one who told me where she was going to be" William shot the reply back and returned the cigarette to his mouth.

"And did she believe you?" The female asked coldly, but she couldn't stop the delighted smirk on her face shinning through her cool show of indifference.
Everything was going better than she had dreamed possible. Buffy being left alone at the gallery so soon had been a godsend.

At the question William's eyes narrowed.

"And why wouldn't she believe me, Darla?" He took a step forward but the much smaller woman just blocked his path and refused to move.

William tilted his face closer; and a small muscle twitched in the side of his jaw as dared his companion to argue with him.

"You told her everything we agreed and she believed you?" Darla's eyes lit up in delight.

" I told her the truth" As he replied to the question, William exhaled a mouthful of smoke right in the woman's smirking face.

The insult was ignored.

"The truth?" Darla laughed cruelly, as she ran the two words over her tongue.

" Well, I guess it's the truth as your twisted mind sees it. My dear boy, before her accident, Liam's little cheerleader never gave you so much as a second glance, and we both know it."

The second she saw William flinch she knew she had struck a raw nerve.

"My relationship with Buffy is none of your God damn business" William growled through clenched teeth.

The female smiled.

"So you keep telling me."

The disbelief in her voice wasn't lost on either of them. Darla drew in a deep breath and when she met his blue eyes again her expression was deadly serious.

"Honey, I really don't care whether you were screwing the bitch or not, just make sure you convince *her* that you were."

Dropping what was left of his cigarette to the floor, William ground it out with the toe of his boot.

This time it was his turn to smirk.

"Don't worry about me, I'll have Buffy eating out of the palm of my hand before you know it"

**And then I'll really screw her on that office floor ** He added as a silently afterthought.

At the prospect, William smiled for the very first time since leaving the gallery.

Darla watched as the light returned to his cool eyes and with a sigh of disbelief, she shook her head. It still amazed her that he could possibly love the skinny blonde girl who had made her life hell for so many years. But it didn't matter; in fact it actually helped with her plan.

"You're sick, Will, and you're welcome to the little bitch. As long as she stays away from Liam, I really don't care what happens to her. But I promise you this; I'm not losing Liam Angelus again, not for anyone. If Buffy Summers gets in my way this time, amnesia will be the least of her problems "

Darla smiled, but her eyes were so hard William almost shivered. When she spoke again she left him with little doubt how deadly serious she was.

"If she crosses me one more time, I'll crush her like a bug"

Inside the Joyce Summer's Gallery it was so quiet you could have heard a pin drop.

Nothing moved for what felt like an eternity.

Eventually, the first sound that broke through the eerie stillness was the rapid beating of a heart. It pounded so hard behind the ribcage of the small woman's chest that there was serious danger of physical pain.

Then, somewhere in the distance, a new sound joined the equation.

The muffled ticking of a small clock was the only sign that time hadn't completely come to a stand still, although for the life of her, Buffy found that fact hard to deal with. From the second William Pennington's tall frame had disappeared through the front door of the gallery, reality had turned into a nightmare.

Although the antique bell over the front door had long stopped ringing, Buffy almost swore the sound still reverberated right into her very soul. Even when she closed her eyes, she could still feel the vibrations echoing through her body. As she wrapped her arms around her chest to stop her trembling, she knew it wasn't only the ringing of the bell that had left an echo. Buffy was now filled with so much confusion she feared her head would explode.

She had thought not remembering her past was hard enough, but learning the things William Pennington had just told her was a million times worse.

**Friends! I think that's got to be the understatement of the year, luv**

Even though she was now totally alone, Buffy still felt William's presence all around the room. His clear-cut voice remained and taunted her from every direction.

** No, I wouldn't really call us friends, pet. I'm not sure what you'd call us these days, but we have been sleeping together for over a year**

"Oh God. What have I done?" Buffy whispered out loud as she felt her knees begin to shake again.

Alone and vulnerable, Buffy was beginning to get really frightened. She was suddenly terrified that the past life she had searched so hard to find wasn't the happy secure place she had believed it to be. In the blink of an eye, her safety blanket of the perfect past had been totally stripped away and the small fragments of her new life were now spinning totally out of control. Not only was she not the person she had believed she was, but Buffy Angelus was now somebody she didn't even know if she even liked.

Once again the frightened young woman was plagued with questions she couldn't begin to answer.

"So, if I wasn't the happy loving wife in the video, who the hell was I?"

This new question haunted her more than any of the others.

**Had she really been the kind of woman that would take a lover so easily and cheat behind her husband's back? ** Buffy shook her head, the idea was just too horrid, but sadly there were worse thoughts to follow.

**If William Pennington was telling the truth, and that was exactly the woman she had been, why had she run off and left her husband *and * her lover behind. Was it possible she had run out on both of them? **

Buffy couldn't think straight as another wave of nausea rose over her and sent her small frame doubling over with the force of its anger. For ten minutes her fragile stomach continued to wrench but after the second time of decorating the gallery floor, there was simply nothing left for the wrenching to bring up.

Finally, wiping the back of her hand across her mouth and tucking her loose hair behind her ears, Buffy straightened up. With all the effort she could muster she turned and, walking back into the small office at the rear of the gallery, silently closed the door behind her.

The change of environment brought little comfort.

**I've had you on that office floor more times than I can count. **

At the memory of William's crude words, Buffy shuddered.

**How could she have done something so intimate with a man she had absolutely no memory of. If their bodies had really made love on the office floor more times then he could count; surely there should be something in the back of her mind that would prove he was telling the truth. But there wasn't. There wasn't any memory inside her shattered head of William at all **

Of course, she hadn't remembered marrying Liam at first. Buffy tried to make sense of the situation but her argument was quickly shot to pieces. She might not have remembered Liam Angelus as her mate but she had always known his face and his name. Her subconscious might have misplaced him as being her husband, but her heart and soul hadn't wiped him out. When he touched her skin, her whole body had responded with a will of its own.

William was a completely different story.


It didn't matter how hard she tried; Buffy couldn't find any feelings for William at all. Not in her memories, not in her heart and not in her soul. He said they were lovers and she had no reason to think he would lie, but the plain truth was, William Pennington meant nothing to her at all.

Feeling incredibly light-headed, Buffy threw open the office window and resting her head lightly against the security bars, she filled her lungs with a rush of cool air.

Outside, the world went about its business as normal but on the other side of the window, Buffy Summers Angelus felt as if her life was crashing down all around her. For a woman who, only a few hours earlier, had no past, present or future, she suddenly found herself in a very difficult position.

On one hand there was Liam, not only a husband, but also a man she knew she could love very easily. He had pulled her out of the darkness and had held her through the pain and the confusion that had followed. The very last thing she wanted to do was hurt him, especially if he hadn't know about her affair.

**Her affair**

That thought returned Buffy to the other man in the equation.

William. The good-looking blonde lover that had come out of nowhere and genuinely seemed to care about her, even when she had pushed him away. He had promised her that Liam would break her heart again.

**Was it really possible that he had broken her heart once before. Was that why she had left him?** Too many questions and nowhere near enough answers made Buffy's head throb with uncertainty.

**Was Liam still wearing a mask? Or maybe the mask belonged to William. Someone was lying**

As Buffy closed her eyes she could see Liam and William so clearly. Both men were incredibly good looking in totally different ways. Sexy, passionate, charming and kind. She could easily see why she would have been attracted to either of them, but Buffy also knew in her heart that when she had kissed them, only one of the two had made her heart yearn for the kiss to continue. Only one of them had made her blood course through her veins at a thousand miles an hour.

In her right mind she wouldn't have looked at another man so soon after marrying Liam.

**But had she been in her right mind? Or had Liam somehow driven her into the arms of another man? **

Leaning over the small sink in the women's rest room, Buffy splashed her face with cool water and took a deep breath to calm her shaking body. Tilting her head slightly, she hesitantly looked at her reflection in the mirror hanging just above the sink and shuddered. Her eyes, not to mention her nose, were both flushed bright red, while her cheeks were now a ghostly shade of white.

Raising her trembling fingers she slowly traced the contours of the face staring out at her from behind the glass.

"Who the hell are you?" Buffy asked as she tried desperately to see past the reflection and into the person who wore her face.

**What sort of woman had she *really* been? A loving wife as the wedding video portrayed, or a adulterous bitch who had cheated on her husband and then ran out on him without a second thought**

As small droplets of water dripped from the edge of her hair and rolled slowly down her face, Buffy carefully studied the information she had collected over the last few days.

**Had she really been having a torrid affair behind Liam's back?**

Every cell in her body rejected the idea, but in all honesty, Buffy had no idea what kind of relationship her marriage had been. When she had first woken in the hospital, Liam had been cold, almost untouchable. It was only once they had been home for a few days, that he had dropped the mask he wore so carefully over his expressions and a kind, patient and loving man had emerged. Then just as she was beginning to fall back in love with him, William Pennington enters her life and it all gets thrown back into confusion.

"No wonder you ran away" The first bitter sting of tears was already burning behind her eyes as self-pity rose up from its hiding place and threatened to drown her.

But this time Buffy wouldn't allow herself the luxury of crying.


**She needed to pull herself together and sort this mess out once and for all and then she needed...**

So lost in her thoughts, Buffy missed the small bell ringing again over the door, announcing that a new visitor had entered the building.

Splashing her face one last time, she reached out her hand and finding a paper towel in the dispenser, she dried off the remaining moisture. As her thoughts turned to finding her bag and repairing the damage to her makeup, Buffy also missed the creak of the office door slowly being pushed open.

"Hello Buffy"

Startled, Buffy turned.

"Liam told me to meet you here. God, you look dreadful, what on earth happened?"

Buffy didn't need introductions. The face of the woman smiling at her was now imprinted firmly on her brain. Not in the form of a memory. Buffy knew this was the face from her wedding video.

Standing in an immaculate white designer suit, with matching shoes and perfect makeup was her so called *best friend*. A best friend Buffy had a sneaky feeling she'd be a real fool to trust. Especially where her husband was concerned.

As Buffy's eyes caught sight of her own dishevelled reflection in the mirror; she fought off the wave of panic that threatened to strike and instead forced a small smile to her lips.

"Hello, Darla. It's good to see you again" Her voice was remarkably calm.

Buffy walked forward, but as the two women embraced she heard a small warning voice deep inside her head.

**So this woman is your best friend?**

** Not in a million years**


"After spending all of your husband's money, I really think we deserve a rest."

Darla threw back her head and laughed as they descended the escalator at the mall. As she giggled her long blonde hair bobbed perfectly around her slim shoulders and her shapely figure attracted lustful glances from every passing male within a twenty-foot radius.

Darla knew she looked good. After spending countless years, and thousands of dollars, to get the right look, she knew she wore it well. For Darla, attracting men had never been a problem; they flocked around her like moths to an open flame.

All but one.

Only one man had ever rejected her advances and that, of course, had to be the only man on earth she had ever really wanted. But it hadn't stopped her. Rejection had never been a problem before and as Darla stepped off the escalator and caught sight of her and Buffy's reflections in the large store window to her left, she knew without a doubt that it wouldn't be a problem now. Buffy's pale face and skinny body looked almost childish next to her stunning appearance. The fact that she had already tricked the bitch out of Liam's life once only added to her twisted confidence.

"Come on, I know this great pasta house. You'll love it." Without another word, Darla placed her small shoe back on solid ground, turned to the right and, swinging her hips, swiftly moved away.

Lost for words, Buffy stared at her silently for a few seconds and watched in wonder as her so called *friend* slinked almost catlike across the floor of the mall. Struggling to keep up, she rolled her eyes and let out a deep sigh of relief that the shopping nightmare was finally coming to an end.

By now both her small hands were filled with carrier bags and Darla's poor joke about spending all of Liam's money wasn't that far from the truth. She had tried purchasing just the basics but even doing that had left a large dent in her husband's credit card.

That was the trouble with owning nothing but the clothing she stood up in.

As much as Buffy hated shopping with Darla she knew it as an evil necessity. Until her fragile memory returned, she had no choice but to rely on the generosity of others. She hated feeling so useless and made a strong mental point to memorise every shop she was likely to need in the future.

But not everything she saw was unknown.

Shops that were vaguely familiar caused little sparks to flare in her memory but the flashes were blurred and fleeting. Family days out at the mall, with her mom and Dawn, occasionally rose up from the darkness of her shattered past and taunted her with half promises of remembering. For a few tantalising seconds they danced close to the surface of her memory but, as Buffy fought through the confusion to join the pieces of the puzzle together, they quickly faded from her reach.

As Buffy watched Darla move further away from her, she reflected on the short amount of time they had spent together and as much as she hated to admit it, she still knew absolutely nothing about this woman at all. Although the shopping trip had proved a success, Buffy was increasingly frustrated that she hadn't learned more about her past.

Darla had been quiet for most of the afternoon. Apart from the odd comment about a certain style of dress or the colour of a pair of leather pants, Darla had been content to just study Buffy from a safe distance and watch for any signs that her amnesia claim was nothing but a annoying sham.

Darla Penn was convinced that Buffy's memory loss was all part of an elaborate trick to worm her way back into Liam's affections, but she had no intention of ever allowing that happen again.

From the moment Liam had told her about the accident and the convenient amnesia that had followed, Darla had been filled with doubts about its authenticity. Darla was convinced she would see through it in a heartbeat, she had known Buffy nearly all of their lives and there was no way on earth her rival would be able to pretend forever.

But back at the gallery, when Darla had first stared into her troubled eyes, the confidant, strong, woman Buffy Summers had always portrayed now seemed lost behind a dark wall of confusion. She didn't seem to be pretending at all and it frustrated Darla all afternoon that she couldn't find a way to break through the masquerade and expose her rival as a fraud.

But she wasn't about to give up.

With a smile planted firmly on her face, she watched and waited patiently for the girl she hated with a vengeance to trip up and show herself for the liar Darla believed she was.

But it didn't happen. Darla's cunning eyes followed Buffy's every move but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't catch Buffy out with a single lie

By the end of the afternoon she had no choice but to accept that the little ex-cheerleader was indeed telling the truth. It was a set back and a bitter pill to swallow, but if the amnesia was true and she really had lost all of her past memory, there was always plan B. **William**

As the two women worked their way out of the shopping area and on to the main street, Buffy sighed deeply and wished with all her heart that she had stayed in bed that morning.

**Stayed in bed with Liam**

The unexpected thought of her husband brought a smile to her lips for the first time that afternoon. But, just as the warm feeling washed over her heart, a cold dread replaced it with the memory of Will Pennington's devastating revaluation.

**Was he really her lover?**

**No no no no no no no no**

Buffy fought to shut out of the handsome young man's face but no matter how hard she tried, the word *guilty* wouldn't release its sharp claws from her soul.

"If it's all the same to you I'd much rather go home and put my feet up for a few hours" She tried to refuse the offer of a meal but she was quickly dismissed.

Darla spun around.

"Oh no, that won't do at all" Her bright blue eyes sparkled and although Buffy was looking straight at her, she failed miserably to read the expression the other woman wore so carefully over her gaze.

Darla Penn, like Liam, was a master at hiding her feelings and as the day wore on Buffy was beginning to feel more and more uncomfortable in her presence. The thought that they had once been close, even best friends was becoming more alien with every passing minute. There was simply nothing about this strange young woman that Buffy could relate too.

It had nothing to do with her lack of memory, Buffy's female intuition told her that Darla Penn was simply too good to be true.

"Honey, I've been dying to talk to you properly ever since Liam told me you were home. Come on, I insist we at least grab a cup of coffee, it's my treat" Darla steered Buffy through the door of the most expensive restaurant in Sunnydale and made a large fuss about getting the best table in the house.

After leaving her breakfast all over the gallery floor, the last thing Buffy wanted at that moment in time was food. Darla, on the other hand, had no intention of taking no for an answer and at the determined look on her face, Buffy felt too tired to put up any real form of resistance.

**Liam, where the hell are you when I need you?** For the second time that day, Buffy found herself asking that question.

Needing a few minutes alone to collect her thoughts, she escaped to the ladies restroom, but when she finally returned to the table, Buffy found to her horror that Darla had not only ordered coffee she had also ordered the house special for both of them.

"There you are, Buffy. I thought for a moment you had *forgotten* where we were sitting" Looking up from the table, Darla teased and grinned a row of perfect white teeth.

For some unknown reason Buffy suddenly understood how a fly would feel caught in a spider's web.

She was trapped into spending more time with a person she really didn't like very much and in such a small environment, the walls felt as if they were slowly closing in. Looking toward the exit Buffy surrendered gracefully, knowing that there was simply no way of getting out without making a real fool of herself.

"I just left a message for Liam. I told him not to worry about you; we were still catching up. I don't know about you Buffy, but after spending all that money I'm suddenly ravenous" Darla laughed again and her smile grew even larger.

**Come into my parlour said the spider to the fly**

**Stop it**

**Don't trust her**

**STOP IT! **

While the voices deep inside her head battled with each other, Buffy cringed and realised that a long tiring day was just about to get a hell of a lot longer... and a whole lot more tiring.

Slowly, she pulled out the wooden chair opposite her companion and reluctantly sat down.

"Now you can ask me all those questions I know you're just dying to ask" Darla picked up a bottle of house wine and, ignoring Buffy's refusal, she filled the two tall glasses on the table with the clear cool liquid.

"I was hoping you could fill in a few of the blanks" Buffy asked and totally ignored the glass of white wine the other woman placed in front of her.

"Sure honey" Darla purred softly, and raising her own glass to her lips, she sipped gratefully at her drink. " After all, that's what best friends are for. But let's eat first and then you can ask what ever you want to know"

"Eat? But I'm really not..."Buffy started to refuse again but was quickly interrupted.

"Sorry, I've already ordered for you. I wasn't sure if your tastes were still the same so i just took a chance" Darla explained as their food arrived.

With a frown Buffy looked up and on seeing the overflowing plates of food being brought to their table, she felt her stomach strongly protest.

"I'm sorry Darla but I'm really not hungry."

Buffy bit back the wave of nausea she felt bubble in her throat and raised her hand to stop the waitress lowering the plate of pasta and salad in front of her.

Confused by Buffy's unusual reaction, the young waitress hesitated for a moment unsure of what to do next. She hadn't been working at the restaurant very long and this was the first time a meal had been sent back before the customer had even seen it.

"Would you like something else?" She asked as she hovered with the food but Buffy firmly shook her head.

"Just a glass of water, please"

Seeing the waitress start to turn away, Darla motioned for her to lower the plate anyway.

"Just leave it" She snapped and then realising her perfect image had slipped, she tilted her head towards the young girl and smiled sweetly

"Thank you, dear"

As the food was once again placed in front of her, Buffy felt her stomach turn over for the fourth time in as many minutes. She found herself wishing with all her heart that she could just get up from the table and run as far away from this overpowering woman as she possibly could.

"Please, I really..." She raised her hand again but her refusal was quickly brushed aside.

"It doesn't matter if you're not hungry, Buffy, you look anorexic."

Lowering her glass, Darla raised her hand and pointed her finger across the table.

" Look! I really didn't want to have to say this but you look dreadful, honey. I can see the bones in your throat sticking right through your skin."

Much to Buffy's embarrassment, Darla's voice seemed to carry across the whole restaurant. For a few seconds the noise level dropped considerably and heads at nearly every table turned in their direction. Buffy felt as if a dozen pairs of eyes were suddenly scrutinising her less than perfect appearance.

Unconsciously, she raised her hand to her throat and although she hated to admit that the damn woman was right, the small bones in question were easily felt beneath her fingertips. Before she had a chance to defend herself, Darla's loud voice was booming across the table once again.

"Whether you want the food or not, you need to eat. I promised Liam that I'd look after you and I never beak a promise" At that point Darla turned on her most concerned smile and almost sounded sincere.

With a tiny apologetic grin, the young waitress finally placed the plate of hot pasta back in front of the anorexic looking woman and silently slipped away.

With a sigh of defeat Buffy stared down at the food on her plate and while she really couldn't face eating anything, she didn't want to argue either.

Lifting up a fork she proceeded to move a small amount of the food around her plate and hoped that Darla was too busy with her own meal to realise what she was doing.

"Liam told me we've known each other for a long time"

The first question came easily. Now they were sitting only a few feet apart Buffy knew Darla could no longer avoid giving her the answers she so desperately needed to know.

Darla laughed as she split open a bread roll and lifted the butter knife.

"You could say that... We were five and you stole my boyfriend"

Buffy lifted a skeptical brow.

"I thought you broke my Barbie doll and I beat the crap out of you in the school yard" The spontaneous reply brought an unexpected glow of warmth and Buffy couldn't resist a tiny smile.
Just knocking that smug look from the other woman's face felt surprisingly good.

"You remembered that?"

Darla raised her eyes suspiciously and studied Buffy's face for fresh signs of deceit.

Leaning forward she demanded an answer of her own.
" You're not faking this, are you?" Her blue eyes flashed a quizzical look.

Suddenly fresh hope sprung up that Buffy was playing a scam after all, but when Darla looked deeply into the hazel orbs directly opposite her she knew with a pang of disappointment that they only shone back with the truth.

Buffy took serious offence at the accusation.

"No, I'm not faking it, and I'm not playing games. Dammit, Why does every one keep asking me that." She snapped. Buffy was sick to death of that question. First Liam had been suspicious and then William and now Darla.

The question was not only an insult it was extremely cruel.

"Why the hell would anybody want to fake amnesia? " Buffy demanded angrily. Her eyes flashed and she only cooled her temper when she realised that her voice had risen and the occupants of both surrounding tables had stopped eating again and were now looking across with renewed curiosity.

Leaning back in her seat, Darla dropped the suspicion she was showing and replaced her expression with laughter.

"Honey, calm down, I believe you. You're right. Why would anybody want to fake amnesia?" In the blink of an eye Darla's* I really am your best friend* voice was firmly back in place.

The last thing she wanted was for Buffy not to trust her. Everything she had planned rested with the foolish girl believing and trusting her completely. Just as she had done the last time their paths had crossed. On that small thought Darla knew the amnesia story had to be on the level. There was no way Buffy could have faked not remembering that little encounter.

That time everything had ran so smoothly that Darla could hardly believe her luck. It had played out just as she had planned. By the end of the evening she had tricked Buffy into believing her marriage was over and the stupid girl had fled into the night never to been seen again. It was perfect. Or it would have been if she had just stayed lost.

**Bloody accident** Darla silently cursed the event that had brought Buffy home.

Although she was now ninety-nine percent convinced that the amnesia was true, Darla still needed to delve a little deeper.

" So, how much do you remember?"

Buffy sighed, letting out a long, deep breath.

"When I first woke up after the accident, my mind was almost a blank. I could remember a few ordinary, everyday things but almost nothing about my personal life." The frustration she felt returned to her voice as Buffy recalled the first few hours after waking in hospital.

It had been such a difficult time. When asked she had recited the name of the president with ease but for the life of her she hadn't been able to remember her own name.

"Liam said you hit your head?" Still needing her own answers, Darla continued to prod.

Buffy chewed down on her lower lip and considered the question.

"That's what the doctor told me. I guess it must be true because I've still got the lump to prove it." She raised her hand slightly and let her fingertips slide across the slight swelling that was still on the side of her head. After a week it was much smaller now but there was still enough of a bump left to prove the accident hadn't been a complete figment of her imagination.

As her fingertips touched a nerve, Buffy winced slightly in pain and for the first time since coming face to face, Darla felt a small jolt of pity.

"The crash must have been pretty horrific"

She didn't really need to ask; Darla already knew the answer. The New York coach crash had been so dreadful that footage of the accident was even covered on the Sunnydale evening news. The irony was, Darla remembered watching the pictures on her TV screen without even knowing that the girl she had tried to destroy a few months earlier was now amongst the victims.

Not that it really mattered. If Buffy Angelus had died that day all of Darla's problems would have died along with her.

Buffy's death meant only one thing. Liam would be free. Free for her.

If Buffy could have read her thoughts she would have been horrified to learn just how much this woman, who pretended to be her friend, really hated her. Sadly mind reading wasn't one of her talents and in her state of ignorance, Buffy let her guard down and the two women started chatting like they really could have once been friends.

Without noticing it, Buffy's anger slipped away.

"At first I was terrified that I'd never recover any of my past, but the last few days have brought back a few memories. Feelings more than anything else but there was also a few family faces." Buffy smile sadly as she remembered her mother and Dawnie's happy faces grinning across the breakfast table each morning. When she started talking again her voice was much softer, almost distant.

"The hardest thing is not knowing who I am, or who I was. It feels like I have this huge shadow hanging over me and it's suffocating me with frustration." Buffy opened her heart and revealed the true extent of her pain.

That was just how she felt. There were so many blank pages of her lost life she needed to fill in before she could even hope to reclaim her past. Until that past was returned, the shadow of not knowing would remain, and haunt her every waking moment.

As she continued to push the food around her plate with the back of her fork, Darla reached out across the table and unexpectedly gripped her hand.

"That must be so creepy" she sympathised with all the skill of an award winning actress.

At the act of concern Buffy started to forget her earlier fears that this woman could not be trusted and felt her body relax. She was so in need of somebody to talk to that common sense was pushed to one side.

"It is, it's like I'm living in limbo. All my dreams for the future have disappeared into a deep black hole "

Darla didn't have time to smirk, because Buffy's next words sent a bolt of cold fear straight to her heart.

"But luckily Liam's been wonderful"

As Buffy proceeded to explain everything that had happened since returning to Sunnydale, Darla fought with all her might to keep her seething face expressionless.

Outside her body language portrayed the very vision of concern but inside, Darla was frantic to destroy the newfound feelings Buffy was confessing she had discovered.

"But what about poor William, I bet he didn't take being forgotten too well."

"William?" Buffy choked slightly as the pasta she had attempted to swallow got stuck in her throat.

"Why would William be upset?" She asked, nervously hoping the question sounded innocent.

Inside her chest, her heart was beating so fast Buffy swore the word *guilty* shone brightly in her terrified eyes.

Raising her glass of wine once again to her lips, Darla stopped and repeated Buffy's question.

"Why?" She laughed.

"Because the guy's madly in love with you. He has been for nearly two years"

Buffy felt sick. She had hoped with all her heart that William had been lying, but suddenly with Darla mentioning his name, the forgotten affair started to feel terrifyingly real again.

For reasons she wasn't quite sure of Buffy wasn't about to admit anything.

"Who told you that?"

Darla rolled her eyes.

"Duh! Buffy, William Pennington's my brother. He tells me *everything*" When she look up, her cool blue eyes were now positively twinkling with mischief.

"Penn. P.Pennington?" Buffy stuttered as the name fell into place.

" Half brother actually. Same father. William lived in England until two years ago, which is why he speaks with that silly accent. But he's my darling brother all right. He changed his name slightly because he thinks in his line of work it sounds more romantic." Darla laughed and her smile grew as she noticed how uncomfortable Buffy appeared.

"Brother" Buffy couldn't think straight as she ran her eyes over the small blonde woman facing her and took in the family resemblance.

It suddenly hit her like a bolt out of the blue.

The hair colour was slightly different but there was definitely something around the eyes.

Buffy went cold. The affair was no longer a dirty secret. She knew, William knew and now Darla.

Although the facts were staring her plainly in the face Buffy still wasn't about to confess.
Especially to an affair she couldn't remember.

"What did he tell you about us?"

Darla laughed again.

"Please, do you really want me to go into all the sordid details while we're eating"

"Tell me" Buffy repeated as calmly as possible. She didn't care if Darla was eating, she needed to know the truth and she needed to know it now.

Darla placed her fork down on the table with a loud sigh.

"He told me that you were lovers, that you had been for awhile" She kept her face expressionless and prayed Buffy couldn't hear the rapid beating of her excited heart.

She needn't have worried; Buffy was too troubled to hear anything.

The tiny speck of hope she had held in her heart that the affair was all in William's mind was being completely blown apart.

"But did *I* ever tell you we were having an affair?" Buffy pleaded, still clinging to the belief that Will had been lying about their relationship. He might have boasted to his sister that they were lovers but unless she had told Darla herself, Buffy still refused to believe it.

"Not directly, but the two of you were hardly discreet"

"What are you saying?"

Darla rolled her eyes. She could see that Buffy was already falling for William's lies and it warmed her heart. She wanted to come right out and tell her every word her brother had told her was true but that was too easy. Darla wanted Buffy to suffer with the knowledge that she had cheated on her husband. She knew Buffy would never be able to hide that kind of secret and the pressure to tell Liam would rip them apart.

**But let her suffer for a while before that happens. Let her beat herself up with the fear of the affair becoming public**

"What are you saying?" Buffy repeated her question.

"I'm saying that William was at your gallery nearly every afternoon Buffy. I'm sure if you ask the staff they will confirm this?"

"But that doesn't mean.." Buffy started to protest but Darla cut her off with a wave of her hand.

"Oh sure. Do you expect me to believe you were only having tea and crackers when you locked yourselves in that little office for all hours" she smirked with satisfaction

At Buffy's pained look Darla knew she had hit the mark. Buffy was well and truly suckered.

**I've had you on that office floor more times than I can count **

Buffy looked down at the food on her plate. She didn't have any appetite to start with but now the smell of the food was making her sick again. Despite the warm day she felt cold. Forcing herself to look up Buffy asked the question that had burned in her mind from the second William had first dropped his bombshell.

"Do you think Liam knew?" Buffy shuddered at the idea. **Was that where the underlying anger she sensed in him came from**

"Liam?... To be honest Buffy, if he knew about you two he never said anything to me. Of course he might have covered it up after you left him. After all, Liam is a proud man"

**You left him once and now you're right back where you started**

"So I did leave him?" Buffy asked quietly, although William's earlier words had already confirmed that suspicion.

Her companion frowned for a second before carefully hiding the expression.

"He never told you?"

Buffy shook her head.

Darla chewed her lip; she hadn't been counting on that. She had expected Liam to throw that little detail right in her face.

"I really walked out on him?" Buffy found that piece of information the hardest to deal with. She hope against hope that the statement was wrong but when Darla finally nodded her head, the last fragment that a mistake had been made was lost.

Darla waited for a moment, giving Buffy just enough time to get used to the lie. From the ghostly colour of her face she knew it wouldn't be too long before Buffy's shattered life imploded

"What now? Will you leave him again?"

Buffy shrugged her small shoulders and her face crumbled into a mask of confusion. The only thoughts that danced in the dark corners of her mind were **Did she want to lose Liam again so soon after rediscovering him ** and **Would her life be better without him?**

Both questions brought more pain than she wanted to admit. At the hesitation Darla started to get nervous.

"Buffy?" She spoke just loud enough to break through the lost woman's reverie.

Buffy looked up and her eyes flickered.

"I don't know, I wish I did" She finally replied and even as the words left her mouth she started to feel her heart ache.

**Maybe she would be better off running away from all this madness and starting a new life. What did the past really matter, she could reinvent herself and start all over again. No ties, no problems.. No strong arms to hold you in the dark. No sweet lips to kiss away your tears.. No Liam.**

Without even trying, the questions answered themselves. Buffy didn't want a new life and she didn't want a forgotten lover. She wanted the man that made her heart race with just a single glance. She wanted the man she had fallen in lust with at first sight.. Twice, if she was being honest. From the moment she had opened her eyes in that hospital room, Liam Angelus was all she had been able to see.

Darla felt real panic now as she watched the play of emotions cover Buffy's face. She knew precisely what her rival was thinking, she was losing her battle to send the girl running and it scared her to death.

"Buffy, my brother loves you and inside your mind, underneath all that confusion, you feel the same way about him." She argued, vainly trying to recover some lost ground.

"But that's the trouble, I don't. I'm sorry but don't feel anything for your brother at all. I might have forgotten nearly all my life but my feelings are returning faster than my memories and one thing I'm very sure about, when William kissed me I felt nothing."

"And Liam..?" Darla struggled to keep the bitterness she felt from her voice but inside her veins, her blood was beginning to freeze.

The smile that flickered at the corner of Buffy's lips was all the conformation she needed to fear the worse.

"When Liam's around... it's like the lights dim everywhere else. I don't remember him yet but I already know I still love him." With the words came the relief.

**She loved him. There were no longer any doubts in her mind. She loved Liam. She wanted only Liam**

"But you left him. You couldn't have loved him if you ran away" Darla started to lose control as all her well thought out plans started to crumble around her. Buffy wasn't supposed to fall in love with Liam, she was supposed to run off with William leaving her to pick up the pieces of his broken heart all over again.

Of all the scenarios that had played out in her head, this was the last one she had considered.
After successfully destroying their marriage the last time, Darla had almost convinced the heartbroken man that Buffy was the worse mistake of his life. But just as Liam was beginning to respond to her, the accident had sent him running back to New York and weeks of turning him against Buffy had collapsed.

The smile that was growing on Buffy's face was starting to make her feel ill. Snatching up the wine bottle, Darla refilled her glass and swallowed the contents as if she was drinking water on a hot day.

In her ignorance, Buffy was still too caught up in her own new plans to notice the change in her companion.

As Darla finished her drink, the wine rushed straight to her head but it did little to help her mood. For her, the conversation was about to go from bad to worse.

"I was thinking, If Liam came all the way to New York to bring me home, then maybe he still loves me too. Darla, I want to make it up to him, whatever pain I caused him I want to make it right. If there's anyway to save my marriage I'm determined to find it." As she finished the rush of words Buffy sighed with relief. She now knew exactly what she wanted to do. She wanted to make a life with Liam and she wanted to tell him how she felt as soon as possible.

Not sure of how to proceed Darla played the last card she could think of.

"And you really think that William is going to let you?" She asked sympathetically but inside she was seething with rage.

**William really did love the little bitch so it wouldn't be too hard convincing him to make as much trouble for Buffy and Liam as was possible**

With that thought, Darla started to feel a tiny ray of hope. If Buffy wouldn't leave her husband then maybe she and William would help Liam leave Buffy.

**Why would he want to stay with her when she was screwing another man?**

The ray of hope started to grow.

**As long as Buffy couldn't remember the truth she couldn't deny the affair.** Darla realised. Suddenly the amnesia she so wanted to be a lie was becoming her best ally. Liam was far too proud to stand by a cheating wife. **The ink on the divorce paper was almost dry and Buffy would never see it coming**

With the new plan taking shape Darla felt better but she wasn't home and dry yet.

"William seemed like a fair person. I hope he understands" Buffy spoke wishfully, hoping she had read William Pennington's character as well as she thought.

Darla looked across the table and reached out her hands to clasp Buffy's fingers.

" Don't worry about Will, Buffy. I'll talk to him and explain everything. I'm sure I can make him see things from our perspective" The happy woman was purring again as her confidence returned.

"Thanks, Darla. What would I do without you" Buffy replied and for the first time she felt as if a large weight had been removed from her small shoulders.

**If William really cared about her surely he would want her to be happy? **

Buffy suddenly felt very tired. It had been a long day and all she wanted to do was head for her home and try and put the mess that had over taken her life into some sort of order. She and Liam needed to have a long talk and maybe then they could decide where their future lay.

When their bill was settled, the two blonde women walked to the door of the restaurant. Before leaving Darla turned and smiled as she hugged Buffy close.

"Try not to worry, Buffy. Everything will work itself out for the best. Believe me" She whispered her reassurances with almost believable sincerity.

With the nod of her head, Buffy smiled her thanks again and pulled way.

"When you see William, please tell him that I'm sorry, but whatever we had is over. It has to be" Buffy turned and before Darla had a chance to reply she climbed into the back of a waiting cab and was gone.

As the taillights disappeared around the corner taking Buffy back to her husband, Darla started to laugh.

**When you see William, please tell him that I'm sorry, but whatever we had is over. It has to be**

**Yeah, right**

Standing in the doorway of the restaurant, the real hatred Darla was feeling broke free and flashed dangerously across her face.

" If you think for one second that I'm going to stand back and let you and *my* Liam live happily ever after, you couldn't be more wrong. I'm going to rip you two so far apart that you'll never become a problem again. That *my dear girl* is a real promise."

**And I never break a promise**



To her surprise, the house was dark and empty when Buffy returned from her depressing encounter with Darla. Walking up to the front door with her arms filled with parcels, the peaceful stillness that greeted the exhausted girl caused a shudder of disappointment to slide the full length of her tired body.

After spending almost every second of the last two weeks in Liam's company, his unexpected absence felt strangely unsettling.

**Admit it, Summers. When he's not around you really miss him.**

The explanation made a lot of sense, but it didn't quite hit the mark. After the events of the last twenty-four hours, Buffy knew the feelings she had for Liam went a lot deeper than just missing him. She might not remember falling in love with the man the first time around, but this time; it was an entirely different story.

**When Liam's around... it's like the lights dim everywhere else. I don't remember him yet but I already know I still love him**

A warm smile started to spread across her face but before she had the chance to enjoy it, a new voice entered Buffy's head and the smile that had started so readily died on her lips.

**It's Will, Buffy. William Pennington...**

** When he breaks your heart again...I'll still be here and Buffy, I'll still love you**

Reaching in her purse, Buffy sighed as she struggled to find her keys.

After spending days looking for answers she realised, for the first time since the accident, that maybe something's in life really were better left forgotten. If not handled carefully, the new knowledge she now possessed could possibly destroy any chance she might have of ever being happy with Liam again.

**You left him once and now you're right back where you started**

As she closed the door behind her with a deep sigh of regret, Buffy still couldn't remember being the person who had lived in this house just four months earlier.

** Buffy Angelus.**

**A liar? **

**A cheat?**

With a shudder Buffy shook the unpleasant words from her head. From the feelings she was receiving from her heart, both thoughts seemed impossible to accept.

**Was she really the sort of woman who could run out on a husband who had obviously loved her and yet leave no explanation for her actions? **

**The sort of woman who took a lover after less than two years of marriage?**

The reply to her questions brought a small amount of comfort.

**You might have run out on a husband but you didn't run away with a lover**

Ever since William had dropped his little bombshell, no matter how hard she tried, one thought wouldn't leave her alone.

**If William loved her as much as he said he did, why hadn't he been with her in New York? Why was she travelling on that bus all on her own, three months after leaving Sunnydale?**

**Maybe because it's all Bullshit**

Deep in her heart Buffy knew that there was something very wrong with the picture in front of her, but, try as she might, she couldn't put her finger on what part of the equation was troubling her the most.

**William's a liar? **

She shook her head. It couldn't be William because Darla had backed up his story.

**Darla's a liar as well? **

Again Buffy shook the thought from her mind.

**Why would they both lie to her? What could they possibly gain that would make their deception worth all their trouble? **

In her right mind, the shattered young woman might have had some chance of seeing through the masquerade that was being cleverly played out in front of her. But with her past temporarily wiped out and her future uncertain, Buffy had no idea which direction the deceit was coming from.

Liam obviously trusted Darla and Darla, in turn, trusted her brother.

For the time being Buffy knew she had no choice but to trust all three of them... .. However, no matter what anyone told her, she still smelt a rat.

***

Walking through the empty rooms of her childhood home, Buffy felt the loneliness close in all around her. It was strange how the house only felt like a home when Liam was around.

Without his presence, the empty rooms just felt like any other bricks and mortar.

**If Liam finds out about William he'll be the one leaving this time**

Buffy stood at the kitchen sink and filled the kettle. She didn't really want a drink but she needed to do something, anything to take her mind off the events of the day. Those thoughts refused to stay silent.

**Maybe she could tell Liam the truth?**

**And lose him**

**Or she could hope that William left her in peace.**

**But then there was always the chance that if Liam found out later she would still lose him**

"Let's face it. I'm dammed if I tell him and I'm dammed if I don't"

With a heavy heart Buffy climbed the stairs to her bedroom.

*****

After the day she had just gone through, Buffy was so exhausted all she wanted to do was stand under a blistering hot shower for a few hours and then crawl into bed.

Walking into her bedroom, she dropped all of her shopping bags on the left side of her bed and, with a sigh of relief, kicked off her shoes and sat down. The softness, which Buffy sank into, felt so comfortable and welcoming that every weary bone in her body pleaded for her to just swing her legs over the side of the bed and disappear into the warmth of the covers.

As the long day and all its complications finally caught up with her, Buffy felt as if she could easily sleep for a week.

**But you need to talk to Liam and you need to do it tonight**

With a deep sigh of regret Buffy reluctantly struggled back up on her feet, she knew a scented bubble bath was out of the question, far too relaxing, but a shower would be all right. A long hot shower was possibly the only thing likely to chase away the slumber that had serious designs on her body.

Dropping the clothes she had worn that day in a tidy pile on her bed, Buffy walked naked to the bathroom and setting the water for blisteringly hot she stepped in to the shower and closed the door behind her.

Within seconds she was standing under a hot spray of steamy water, her taut muscles slowly starting to relax as the stinging needles hit every inch of her aching body. When a tidal wave of exhaustion crept up and rolled over her, Buffy leant forward and rested her two small hands flat against the shower wall for support.

As the steam started to fill the shower, Buffy closed her eyes and in trying to clear her head of all thoughts, she let the full force of the spray pound against her flesh washing away all the pain of the last twelve hours. The liquid therapy cascaded down over her bowed head and worked its magic on her shoulders, spine and buttocks before pooling at her feet and finally draining away.

For a few blissful seconds, Buffy felt as if she was flying high above the clouds without a care in the world. But bliss never lasts for long. When the water temperature changed, and cooled, reality returned and sent her crashing back to earth with a shiver.

Mourning the warmth leaving her skin, Buffy quickly shampooed her hair in the last of the tepid waters and stepped out of the shower before being blasted with an icy spray.

Feeling relaxed for the first time that day, she dried herself with a large, fluffy towel and returned to her bedroom feeling a lot brighter.

Dressed in just her bra and panties Buffy sat in front of her bedroom mirror and combed the tangles from her blonde hair. Whether it was the effects of the relaxing shower she wasn't sure, but the woman staring back at her looked a lot better than she had a few days earlier. She still looked very tired and far too thin for her liking but Buffy noticed, thankfully, that only a ghostly outline of her bruising remained and the thin pink line where her face had been stitched back together was quickly fading from sight.

A light touch of makeup was all it took to hide the last remaining evidence that she had ever been in an accident at all.

"Now, if only I could remove the scars on my mind that easily" Buffy sighed wishfully as she brushed just a hint of colour to her cheeks.

The sudden sound of movement downstairs caused her to turn her head and, when her name was called, Buffy jumped to her feet with a wide grin across her face.

**Liam**

In her excitement, Buffy was almost out of the bedroom door before she realised to her horror that she was still in her underwear.

*****

Angel was pouring himself a drink when his wife entered the room. He wouldn't have admitted it, but he had just spent the whole afternoon missing her, wondering how her shopping trip with Darla had gone.

Seeing his friend could hardly concentrate for more than a few seconds at a time, Lindsey had offered to stand in for him at their afternoon meeting, but when Darla left a message saying they were still catching up, Angel had disappointedly carried on with his work.

Arriving home, he had been more than a little surprised to discover Buffy was already home.
On hearing the water running in the shower above, it took all of Angel's restraint not to pull open the bathroom door and join her. He and Buffy had made love in that shower more times than he could count and the thought that they would never do it again brought a sharp sting of regret to his heart.

So lost in his memories of wet bodies and loud moaning, Angel almost missed when the object of his daydream started to speak.

"So. What do you think?" Buffy asked shyly and moved her hands over the soft material of her new dress.

Putting down his now empty glass, Angel looked over and smiled.

"Breath-taking" He replied, fighting to keep his tone level but it was a waste of effort. The sight before him made it impossible to speak calmly.

At the compliment Buffy smiled.

"Thank you. I wasn't sure about the colour at first" She replied quietly, as she continued to erase a non-existent crease from the dress.

Angel watched her for a moment, noting the tension that seemed to radiate from her body.

"I wasn't talking about the dress" He lifted his dark hungry eyes and the heated gaze that devoured her body caused Buffy to blush almost to the roots of her hair.

"R. Really? " She stuttered nervously and felt a rush of blood surge to her head.

"Yes. Really" Angel chuckled softly and without taking his eyes from her face he moved a silent step forward.

Buffy sighed, wanting desperately to believe in his words, but knowing they couldn't be true. Admittedly she looked better than she had a few days earlier, but she was a shell of the woman she used to be.

"You're sweet. A terrible liar, but sweet" Her voice started with a small smile but Darla's cruel words were never more than a breath away.

**Look! I really didn't want to have to say this but you look dreadful, honey. I can see the bones in your throat sticking right through your skin. **

At the painful memory, Buffy's confidence started to tumble.

" I know I'm only a shadow of the girl you married, I've seen the wedding video, remember" The smile that kissed the corners of her mouth was already fading.

At the pain he heard in her voice, Angel shook his head.

"You're wrong, Buffy. You're exactly the girl I married" He replied truthfully.

" But I look..."

**You look dreadful**

Darla's voice continued its torment.

Buffy swallowed the lump of self-pity that had risen in her throat and her fingers ran lightly across her collarbone. But, before she had a chance to blink Angel was in front of her, covering her small hand with his and lowering it away from her throat.

"That's not important... Not to me, Buffy... Look "

Without another word he picked up her trembling hand and brought it to rest lightly over his chest.

Buffy hesitated for a moment, unsure of his meaning, but just as she was about to ask him to explain, she felt the rapid beat of Liam's heart pounding beneath her fingertips.
Raising her head, their eyes met in understanding.

"You do that to me every time you walk into a room." He licked his lips nervously, before continuing.

" You have from the very first moment you marched into my office at Wolfram and Hart and threatened to kick my ass if I even tried to take Dawn away from you." Angel smiled softly into her eyes as he related the memory of their first meeting.

She had been so angry that day, full of fire and spirit and when Angel had finally caught his breath after her attack, he knew in a heartbeat that she was the most beautiful creature he had ever laid eyes on.

"You constantly take my breath away, Buffy" He admitted truthfully and knew he was leaving himself wide open.

Buffy looked doubtful for a moment, as if the words were so unbelievable they couldn't possibly be real. Women like Darla took men's breath away, not skinny little things like her. But from the look on his face, her husband was strongly disagreeing with her.

"You're the only woman who has ever done that to me" Angel's hands slipped over her shoulders, his heart aching as he saw the need for reassurance in her troubled eyes.

"I really do that?" Buffy asked in amazement. She took a deep breath, which made her breasts swell up against the soft material of her new dress.

Angel nodded his head and almost groaned out loud.

Deciding that actions would be better than words, he slowly drew her closer until their bodies were locked together, her small breasts pushing against the hard wall of his chest, and her hips pressing against him so tightly that there was no mistaking how much he wanted her.

Buffy gasped, but made no attempt to move, as her breath caught deep in her throat. It seemed to her that the breathlessness now worked both ways.

As he watched her come to terms with the revelation, Angel knew at that moment that they were both incredibly vulnerable, but he didn't care. He wanted her so much; he ached in places he had almost forgotten existed these last four months.

When he looked up, the unexpected passion in Buffy's shining hazel eyes sent a shiver right down his spine.

Their bodies were pressing so closely together that Angel could feel the heat radiating from her skin.

"I missed you so much" His voice was husky and raw, ringing with a conviction that tore at her soul.

Tilting his head slightly, Angel's dark gaze bore directly into Buffy's eyes and he waited for her response. He didn't need to wait long.

Touching the side of his face tenderly, she smiled and looked into his chocolate eyes, now dark with passion. When Buffy finally spoke, the word came not from her lost memory, but straight from her heart

"Angel"

The name was less than a sigh, it was almost a silent caress that brushed softly over his skin and soaked deep into his lonely soul.

Angel wasn't sure who moved first, but suddenly their lips were touching, melting together so urgently that the spark they created almost set his blood on fire. With a gasp, Buffy reached up and slipped her arms tightly around his neck.

**How on earth could I have forgotten this** Every particle of her being cried out as her body ached for his touch.

Closing his own eyes and deepening their kiss, Angel moaned as his tongue slipped into her warm mouth and a million memories of kissing Buffy swam painfully around his head.

**Kissing her, holding her, making love to her...**

Every memory they had ever shared. Only they didn't share them any more. The memories were now only his.

**She's kissing you but she still doesn't really know you**

"I can't do this" Panting for breath, Angel reluctantly broke the kiss and gently pushed away. As he stood back his heartbeat thundered so loud in his ears that he thought it was in serious danger of exploding

Immediately missing the intimacy of his body pressing against hers, Buffy looked up with confusion.

"Liam?"

When Angel stepped back even further her large troubled eyes filled with pain and rejection.

"Did I do something wrong?" Buffy whispered again as a small frown marred her beautiful face.

Squeezing his eyes shut for a moment to cut out the pain he saw Angel shook his head.

"No" His voice was barely a whisper. " I shouldn't be taking advantage of you, not while you still can't remember"

"You don't want me?" Buffy hated the tremor that appeared in her voice as she spoke, but no matter how hard she tried, she simply couldn't prevent it.

**She had been ready to give herself to Liam, heart, body and soul but he had simply rejected her**

"Not want you?" Angel laughed, but the sound that fell from his lips held no amusement. The cool chuckle rattled through the room with deep felt bitterness.

"Buffy I want you so much I'm physically in pain." Angel replied, running his hand through his hair with sheer frustration. He watched as Buffy struggled to accept his words and knew that she was finding the situation even harder to understand then he was.

Taking a deep breath, he continued in a much softer tone.

" Buffy, me wanting you was never the problem.... I always wanted you"

"But I don't understand?"

Angel sighed and held out his hand.

"Then maybe it's time I told you the truth."

Slowly, he led her towards his study and on reaching his desk, Angel pulled open the top drawer.

Buffy felt her heart lurch in sudden panic. The look on Liam's face was the same unreadable mask he had worn at the hospital. For a second she swore she caught a fleeting look of anger but, as quickly as it had appeared, it was hidden

Standing in silence she watched and waited as the contents of a long envelope were then poured onto the table.

Two rings and a folded sheet of paper.

The two small golden rings danced as they hit the hard wooden desktop, each reverberating in a spiralling circle before coming to rest in the silent room.

Gripping the now empty envelope tightly in his hand, Angel stood quietly by his desk. He knew this was a pivotal moment and his dark enigmatic eyes swept eagerly over his wife's face, searching for any sign of recognition that the two rings had triggered a memory.

From the second he had taken Buffy's small hand and led her into the study, Angel knew that there was no turning back. This was the moment he had waited for, dreamed about for weeks and yet, no matter how hard he tried to convince himself that Buffy knowing was for the best, a tiny voice deep inside his head protested that this was possibly the biggest mistake of his life.

If the information Buffy was about to learn upset her and she ran away again, he would never forgive himself.

**But how could they continue to live in the dark**

Angel already knew the answer.

**They couldn't**

If he and Buffy were ever to have any kind of a future together, they had no choice but to confront the past. No matter how painful.

As uncomfortable seconds slipped into eternity, Angel's heartbeat thundered in his ears and a thin sheen of sweat coated his palms.

Taking a deep breath that did little to ease the tension knotting his insides, Angel nervously licked his lips.

The truth was so close now he could almost taste it.

Confronted with the sight before her, Buffy found she could no longer breath. When a surge of fear and anticipation swept over her shocked body and threatened to send her spinning towards a black, silent abyss, she reached out a trembling hand and gripped the edge of the desk to prevent herself from toppling in.

Struggling to stay in the land of reality, her horrified eyes froze, mesmerised by the two tiny bands of gold that now lay glistening on the dark wooden desk.

Next to the folded sheet of writing paper, the simple wedding band and a diamond solitaire engagement ring called out to her tormented mind to remember.

For a moment, flickers of something resembling pain danced behind Buffy's eyelids as her memory taunted and teased her. Emotions she didn't understand rose to the surface of her consciousness only to submerge and leave her feeling confused and bereft.

The rings called out to her, tiny whispers floated inside her head like a lost dream, but no matter how far Buffy reached, the memories slipped through her fingers like the early morning mist.

Looking for something to cling to, Buffy thought back to the day she had woken up in the hospital. She had questioned her lack of rings then but at the time there had been so much confusion following the accident that nobody could confirm ever seeing them. Not wanting to make a fuss about a little bit of jewellery when so many of the other passengers had died, Buffy accepted the loss without question. Once she had returned home the subject hadn't rose again.

Until now.

Almost too afraid to hope, Angel's heart leap as Buffy moved her right thumb over the naked third finger on her left hand.

As he stood watching the turmoil play across her features, he relived that last fateful day over and over in his own memory, The day when his once perfect world had cracked and splintered all around him.

~*~*~* Four months earlier~*~*~

6. 45am

Slinging out a long muscular arm, Angel cut off the annoying buzz of the alarm clock that had not only jolted him awake from his slumber, but had also ripped him from the most wonderfully erotic dream. Laying back against the soft fluffy pillows, a large satisfying grin crept across his handsome features as the last fragments of his night time fantasy lingered on the edge of his memory.

**He and Buffy would definitely have to put that little dream into practice sometime in the very near future**

As his thoughts turned to the sleeping woman by his side, Angel turned his head and the smug expression was quickly replaced with a tender smile. Softly reaching over, he swept a stray lock of silky blonde hair away from Buffy's cheek and thrilled at the smoothness beneath his fingertips.

Even after almost two years of marriage, Angel still marvelled at how fortunate his life had become. Meeting Buffy Summers and making her his wife was his greatest blessing.

Although he had an early breakfast meeting planned with Lindsey, before a full day in court, some things in life really were more important. For a few blissful minutes, Angel was content just to watch his wife sleep. Stirring slightly, Buffy looked so utterly adorable that he felt his heart constrict as he was swamped by a whole range of emotions.

Love, loyalty, passion and pride. She touched him in ways he couldn't even begin to explain. From the first moment the petite blonde girl had breezed into his life, she had changed it forever.

And that was the blessing Angel thanked God for every morning he woke up.

As the digital seconds on the bedside clock, flashed by far too quickly, and unable to put off their inevitable parting any longer, Angel leant forward and brushed his lips softly across Buffy's rosebud mouth.

Still happily in the land of dreams, Buffy sighed softly in recognition of her mate and parted her lips, inviting his tongue deeper into her mouth. For Buffy, this really was the greatest way to wake up.

Smiling at her response, Angel dropped a feather light kiss on the tip of her nose.

"Wake up sleepy head, its time to get up"

Keeping her eyes firmly closed, Buffy snuggled in to his side and pretended not to have heard the wakeup call. She adored the warmth of his hard body pressing against her skin and always made waking up last as long as possible.

"I know you're awake" Angel's soft voice teased. It was the same game every morning. Both were putting off the separation for as long as they could.

Buffy snuggled closer.

"Just a few more minutes" Her warm breath brushed against his shoulder.

With a groan of disappointment, Angel started to sit up.

"As much as I'd love to spend the whole day in bed with you, It's almost 7am "

When Buffy felt his warm body moving away from her, she finally opened her sleepy hazel eyes.

"You could always ring in sick" She smiled seductively.

Angel quirked an eyebrow

"Then we could stay in bed all day" Buffy was teasing him and her eyes sparkled, because she knew for a split second that he was actually considering the idea.

**Maybe they could try that dream?... No.. ** Angel silently groaned again.

As work commitments returned to his mind, he knew as tempting as a day in bed with Buffy sounded, this time he would have to regretfully pass up the offer.

"I'm sure you have a hundred things to do today. You haven't forget that Cordy is flying in this weekend?"

Buffy rolled her eyes.

"How could I possibly forget a visit from your dear sister" She sighed but her voice was full of mischief.

Buffy didn't really resent Angel's sister paying a visit; she just hated having to share him with anybody. With Dawnie away at school now, their weekends together had become a time they both cherished. They would lock the door to the outside world and just focus on making each other as perfectly happy as was humanly possible.

"She's only in town for a few days"

Angel smiled; he then slipped his hand beneath the sheets and ran his fingertips across the naked flesh of his wife's tight stomach.

"I guess we could pretend to be out when she calls" Buffy grinned this time and Angel started to chuckle.

"You are so evil " His fingers continued to caress her skin with feather-light circles.

Buffy gave a little moan as her blood started to flow faster along her veins.

She loved it when he flirted with her.

"I know, but that's why you love me" Buffy flirted right back.

"Oh, really. And there I was thinking I loved you because you were smart and sexy and funny and beautiful and ..." Angel's fingertips moved slowly up her ribcage, brushing against the skin in away he knew would drive her crazy.

When he purposely missed touching her breasts, Buffy gasped.

"Okay. Stop crawling. Your sister can stay "

With a chuckle, Angel levered up on one elbow, leaning forward; he used a slow, deliberately sensual smile that he knew always melted Buffy's heart

"Well.. " His soft velvety voice started with a purr that sent shivers through his wife's blood. She knew immediately that he wasn't playing fair.

" Because Cordelia's going to be here all weekend, how about I spoil you tonight instead. A romantic dinner for two, followed by a night at the bronze. What do you think?" Bringing his hand from beneath the sheets, he reached up and softly stroked her cheek

Buffy lifted her eyelashes and her eyes sparkled with mischief.

"Throw in a night of red hot sex and you have a deal"

"You're insatiable "

"What can I say, I love your body." Buffy snaked out a slender arm and running it over the firm abs of Angel's muscular chest, she felt her lover shiver in anticipation. " Especially when it's inside of mine" The smoky passion reflected in her eyes was too much for her husband's restraint.

Angel groaned and rolled her over on to her back.

"God, you're going to make me *so* late this morning"

As their lips met in a deep searing kiss all thoughts of court cases, sisters and the outside world were temporally forgotten.

For the young lovers, their time together was far too short and making love far too much fun.

"You're so beautiful" Angel murmured softly as his large hands gently cupped his wife's warm breasts. Buffy giggled, but within one beat of her heart, a cool shiver of need flooded her body as Angel's expert thumbs teased her sensitive nipples. Sliding closer, he kissed her eyelids, her nose, her cheeks, before moving to claim her warm willing lips again.

Letting out a low breathy moan, Buffy dug her fingers deep into Angel's shoulders as a tide of pleasure flooded her whole body.

After ravishing her mouth with long cool strokes of his tongue, Angel broke away from Buffy's lips and moved swiftly to her breast.

His tongue tickled and swirled around her sensitive nipple, causing Buffy to arch up and thread her fingers though his hair, pressing him closer. Sliding her hands down over his broad shoulders, she reached the tight muscles of his butt and set up a gentle kneading motion. As his body surged against her, she felt the strength of his desire and insistently twined her legs about his body.

The small bedroom was then filled with gentle moans and soft sighs as the lovers satisfied their need for each other to the full.

Thirty minutes later Angel laid back against his pillow and letting out a deep sigh of contentment, closed his eyes

"I love you" Buffy softly kissed his shoulder.

"I love you too"

For a moment the two lovers lay silent, content just to hold each other as the world passed them by.

When Angel finally turned his head towards the alarm clock, reality kicked back in, and he laughed.

"I'm going to be so late"

***

Later that night

Closing the door of his car, Angel muttered a silent curse as his eyes caught sight of the time. He had promised Buffy a night out and he was already two hours late.

**Bloody Darla Penn** Angel cursed again as he struggled with the most enormous bunch of yellow roses.

The damn woman always called at the most inconvenient times. Instead of having a romantic meal with his wife, Angel had spent the last two hours calming a nearly hysterical client, who swore her ex-lover, was trying to break into her house. If it had been any other client, he would have handed the whole matter over to the police and let them deal with it, But Darla Penn was an old school friend of Buffy's and she and her brother William, were both valued clients. The small Law practice he and Lindsey ran was just beginning to make a profit and, as much as Angel hated spending the best part of the evening with Darla, he knew they couldn't afford to lose her as a client.

"Buffy! I'm home" Angel called out as he walked through the front door but much to his surprise and disappointment, there was no reply.

After searching the kitchen and lounge, he walked into his study. That was where Buffy would have left a message if she needed to go out in a hurry. Angel noticed the envelope immediately but as he approached the desk, his concerned eyes focused on two small gold bands, shining in the fading evening light. Reaching out, he ripped open the envelope and five seconds later, Liam Angelus' whole world fell apart.

~*~*~* End of flash back *~*~*~

While Angel relived the last day of their marriage, Buffy's eyes were still mesmerised by the folded sheet of paper and two golden rings. As she took in the painful evidence, fear - as cold as winter - wrapped its icy claws around her heart, and squeezed with all its might.

The first time she tried to respond she couldn't, her voice was paralysed by the nightmares her brain was trying to deny.

**She really had left him** It was no longer just a possibility, it was a fact.

Everything William and Darla had told her was true. In the space of a heartbeat she had become the woman she despised.

**A cheat and a liar**

"So, it's really true. I did leave you" Buffy's hand reached out towards the contents of the envelope. Her small fingers trembling in both anticipation and fear.

Angel stared down at her, his chocolate eyes almost changing to black. For a second Buffy saw a flicker of despair in his gaze, but it was quickly hidden.

"You remember?"

The air seemed to crackle between them.

After what felt like a small lifetime, Buffy finally shook her head sadly as her fingers slipped over the first gold band, a beautiful solitaire engagement ring. Although she felt a flutter deep inside her head she failed to place ever wearing the ring, let alone removing it and leaving it behind.

As Angel watched the confusion build in his wife's eyes he shuddered as his own memories kicked in and his tormented mind flashed back to the night he proposed. Buffy had been so happy when he slipped the ring on her finger that she cried.

**Yes! Yes! I love you, Angel. I want to spend the rest of my life with you..**

As the words echoed around his mind, Angel felt as if somebody had pushed a stake through his heart. Within two years, his wife had thrown the ring back and walked out on their marriage without a word of explanation.

Bringing his mind back to the present Angel repeated his question.

"Buffy... Do you remember? "

Buffy nervously moistened her lips.

"No, I wish I could tell you that I did, but I just can't.. I don't "

As the disappointing words slowly sank into Angel's head, the glimmer of hope in his chocolate eyes died.

**It was too soon.** Angel silently cursed and knew matters would now go seriously downhill.

Buffy's fingers moved away from the rings and lifting the folded sheet of paper, she opened it. She immediately recognised her handwriting.

**It's over. Don't even think of looking for me because I'm never coming back. I never want to see you again, not as long as I live. I'll never forgive you for this... Buffy**

As the contents finally sunk in, her bewildered eyes shot open in amazement.

"What the..." Buffy swallowed. This was the last thing in the world she had expected to read. As she struggled to control her trembling fingers her mind surged with confusion. The letter almost burned with anger, each tiny word was written with such bitterness. It simply didn't make sense.

From the gist of her words Buffy realised that she certainly hadn't left Liam because of William. The bitterness screaming from the letter was completely out of context.

"I don't understand what this means. I thought.. I thought I was... " She stuttered slightly

Without warning, Angel laughed and the sound sent a sliver of fear down her spine. " You don't understand? "He snorted, his voice tinged with months of suppressed anger

There was no justification for Buffy's actions that night. All he had ever done was love her.

"You just left, Buffy.. You didn't give me a chance to understand"

But William said.."

"Pennington" Angel's dark eyes flashed dangerously and Buffy stepped back.

Consumed by a wave of guilt, and afraid of what Liam might see in her eyes, she lowered her lashes.

Angel was too incensed to notice

"You've seen Pennington?"

At the high level of anger in his voice, a peal of warning bells rang loudly inside Buffy's head. This was certainly not the time for a confession

"William called in at the gallery when I was waiting for Darla" She took a deep breath before continuing with her explanation, but she never got the chance.

"So he came back here after all?" Angel demanded. His voice was so cold it sent a chill through the whole room.

Buffy blinked.

"Back?.. I don't understand "

**William hadn't been with her, he hadn't said anything about being away.**

When she looked up at her husband again she hardly recognised the man in front of her.

"Don't worry about it, Buffy.. This time I'll kill him"

"Liam" Buffy gasped.

She looked horrified. Shock had stolen every vestige of colour from her skin, making her eyes even more brilliant.

"I promised that bastard if he ever went near you again it would be the sorriest day of his life"

**So much for him not knowing ** Buffy started to realised her greatest fear but Liam's next words contradicted everything she had started to believe.

"Did he hurt you?"

"Hurt me?" Buffy gasped in confusion. This conversation wasn't going anywhere near the direction she had expected.

She could no longer read the emotions blazing from Liam's face.

"No! He was just worried about me, that's all. He said we were close friends"

Buffy hated lying, but from the hatred she felt emanating from her husband, she truly feared for William's safely if Liam knew the truth.

" *Friends* That's a laugh." Angel spat the words in disgust. " Buffy, William Pennington is nothing but a stalker. He made your life hell for weeks and I promised him that the next time I saw him, I'd send him all the way back to the Mother country in a wooden box"

Without another word Angel snatched up his jacket and marched from the room.

As the front door slammed, Buffy stood motionless in the middle of the study. All around her, the walls of the small room started to close in. Everywhere she looked there were contradictions. So many lies. One minute she was led to believe she was the one having an affair and the next..... Blinking back a sudden rush of tears, Buffy picked up the sheet of writing paper once more and carefully re-read every word.

As a single tear escaped and slipped down her cheek, she curled her fingers around the note and crushed it into a ball

With the slamming of the front door still echoing loudly in her ears, Buffy stood trembling in the now deserted study. Standing alone with just her troubled thoughts for company, hot tears pressed behind her eyelids and her throat grew tight with frustration as the nightmare that had become her life since the accident, grew even darker.

Once again, the fragile world that she had awoken to just a few weeks earlier had crumbled into total confusion, suffocating her with new deceptions.

For a short period, Buffy had really tried to believe that the worst part of losing her memory was finally behind her, that her life couldn't possibly get any more surreal. What a mistake that had been. In a single second, a blink in time, her troubled world had once again been turned on its head.

**You just left, Buffy. You didn't give me the chance to understand. You. Just. Left. **

As Buffy stood listening to the sound of her own heartbeat, Angel's sad words echoed through the room and reverberated right into her soul.

**From the pain reflected in his dark, lonely eyes, Buffy was shocked to learn that her husband really didn't have any idea why she had abandoned him three months earlier. Liam Angelus seemed as much in the dark about her reasons for leaving him as she was**

As the frightened young woman struggled to come to terms with the new turn of events, Liam's small study seemed to close in all around her, mocking her with its familiarity.

A familiarity that, try as she might, she still couldn't place ever being apart of. At that moment in time, all Buffy could feel was an awful emptiness, as if her brain was hollowed out and that this was as good as it ever gets. Once again, the fear that she would stay like this for the rest of her life returned and immediately all the colour drained from her face, leaving only a ghost of the beautiful young woman she had once been in its place.

Apart from her dreams of burning alive, this was the nightmare that haunted Buffy's sleep night after night. The real terror that if her memory never returned, the rest of her life would be lived in limbo.

Buffy trembled; just the realisation that part of her life could be forever shrouded in darkness, sent a cold shiver down the length of her spine.

Desperately trying to shake the icy visions from her head, Buffy fought to pull herself together, but the small study surrounding her had other ideas. Slowly, from every corner of the room, subtle images of the happy life she and Liam had built together over the last two years silently called out to be remembered. Photographs and mementos from a lost past did their best to jerk a reaction from the frightened girl, but no matter how many smiling faces called out from their frames, each failed miserably to bring a response.

**The nightmare was indeed coming true, she was going to stay lost in this darkness forever**

Standing all alone in the now empty room, Buffy suddenly understood what it felt like to be abandoned.

**What if this time it was Angel who didn't come back? What if William told him the same story he had told her?**

With the idea of losing her husband, Buffy found a deep ache form in the centre of her chest. Liam had only been gone for a few minutes but already she was missing him. As her eyes once again drifted to the two golden rings lying abandoned on the wooden desktop, Buffy swore a light of recognition fought its way through the darkness.

Deep inside her head the sound of trapped memories, lost in a distant corner of her mind rattled angrily against their prison walls, desperate to be free.

While struggling to hold on to her sanity, tiny whispers from Buffy's past teased her tired eyes with flashes of colour. Without any warning, feelings of anger and bitterness shot to the surface of her subconscious and her slight body shook with the force of their escape.

**I'll never forgive you for this**

With a gasp of disbelief, the blackness that had filled her mind since the accident momentarily lifted and Buffy actually tasted the hatred she had felt writing those very words. Gripping the edge of Liam's desk for support, she watched her shattered mind replay the events of a few months earlier. Buffy witnessed despair as she ripped the gold wedding band from her third finger, she felt both anger and betrayal flow though her veins like iced water, as she had turned on her heel and walked out of the front door for the very last time. With a flash of pain, her heart was flooded with a terrible sense of loneliness as she then watched herself sitting on a greyhound bus heading for a new life in New York.

As the vision before her faded Buffy realised she had been very alone on that bus. She fought to hold onto the picture for as long as possible, but just as suddenly as it had started the memory was over.

On reflection it had only been the briefest flicker into her past, but Buffy staggered as she realised the memory was real. It wasn't wishful thinking any longer; she really had started to remember.

**For a split second It was all there in black and white, She really had left him, but...** Buffy shook her head trying to break through the fog that had returned to cover her mind. From the words she had written in her note, the reasons for her leaving were still not explained. All Buffy knew for sure was the pain she had felt in her heart that day had been unbearable.

Dropping her eyes, Buffy looked down again at the crumpled note lying abandoned on the study floor. At last the first tiny piece of the puzzle had started to fall into place and with that realisation, a shudder of fear ripped right through her heart.

**It wasn't love that had chased her away that day, it was pain.**

Struggling to come to terms with this new information, one thought refused to leave Buffy's head ** Someone had to be lying to her**

**Only three people had entered her life since returning to Sunnydale, and for whatever the reason, Buffy knew one of them had to be lying**

Liam, William Pennington or Darla Penn

One of those was an outright liar, but which one? And more importantly, why?

Buffy closed her eyes as the question she couldn't even begin to answer pounded at her exhausted brain.

Her husband was the first person to slip into her mind.

**No. We're not friends, Buffy... You're my wife...**

Liam was the most complicated of the three to understand. One moment he was so cold and the next...

**Buffy I want you so much I'm physically in pain.**

Buffy had felt the emotion of their past radiating from his body like heat on a warm summer's day. At times, when he spoke, there was real passion in his dark eyes, both passion and tenderness. When Liam touched her skin, her mind might not remember him but her body did. His kisses were remembered, not in her memory but deep in her heart.

Buffy sighed; she still couldn't remember falling in love with this man the first time he had entered her life, but she certainly knew the second time it had happened. Looking back, she realised with a shudder that it started the instant she had opened her eyes in that hospital room. Whatever fate had in store for her, it seemed Buffy was destined to love Liam Angelus whether she wanted to or not.

But Liam wasn't the only man in this equation, there was also William Pennington and no matter how much she wished she could deny it, Buffy knew that the sweet looking guy, with the shock of bleached hair and mischievous blue eyes, seriously cared about her. The hurt look on his face when she failed to recognise him was genuine enough, Buffy was positive about that, if nothing else.

The thing that scared Buffy most about William was, if she believed the story he had told her, not only was she an adulteress, it also proved that Liam Angelus was certainly no Angel. **Buffy, I think that knock to your head did more than just wipe out a few memory cells. What on earth's gotten into you? I've already told you that we're lovers, I've had you on that office floor more times than I can count and now suddenly you can't bear to even kiss me.....

**When you come to your senses, hopefully you'll remember that I love you much more that he ever did, and when he breaks your heart again. I'll still be here and Buffy, I'll still love you.** As Buffy shook her head to clear William's declaration of love, her thoughts then turned to her so-called best friend.

**Darla**

Buffy still didn't trust the blonde female; who Liam swore was her best friend, as far as she could throw her. But sadly, whether she trusted her or not, Darla Penn backed up William's story to perfection and William's story destroyed any future she might have with Liam.

**Buffy, my brother loves you and inside your mind, underneath all that confusion, you feel the same way about him**

Buffy shook her head again and ran her fingers through her silky blonde hair in frustration.

"But that's the trouble, I don't. I don't love William, I love Liam." A soft sigh slipped into her voice as she picked up the rings again from the desk and held them in the palm of her hand. As Buffy started to slip the gold wedding band back over her finger, her words from her past came back with an icy blast.

** It's over. Don't even think of looking for me because I'm never coming back. I never want to see you again, not as long as I live. I'll never forgive you for this... **

Buffy's heart sank as the rings once again fell to the desk.

"Or at least I thought I did..." As she regretfully accepted that Liam was the one most likely misleading her, Buffy remembered where her husband was heading.

**Buffy, William Pennington is nothing but a stalker. He made your life hell for weeks.

This time I'll kill him. I promised that bastard if he ever went near you again that it would be the sorriest day of his life**

"Oh God!"

Finally realising the seriousness of the situation, Buffy pulled open the top desk drawer and removed a large address book. As her slim fingers quickly skimmed through the pages, she didn't even question how she had found the book so quickly. Turning to the page marked with a large dark P, Buffy knew in her heart that the name Pennington would not be there, but as her fingers slid down the long list of names, the second name on her lips was..

Penn.

Darla Penn.

Snatching up the receiver, Buffy pushed the numbers and waited with panic building as the phone continued to ring unanswered. Then, just as she lost all hope of preventing a bloodbath the sound of an annoyed female screeched into her ear.

"This better be important, I was in the shower"

Buffy sighed as she recognised Darla's voice.

"Darla, Thank God you answered, I didn't know who else I could ask"

"Buffy? Honey, I'm soaking wet here. Ring me back in an hour will you?"

"I need to find William, like yesterday" Buffy demanded, ignoring the other woman's request

At the other end of the phone line, the dripping wet female smiled as she clutched her towel closer to her body. The panic in the Buffy's annoying voice wasn't missed and a warm glow of satisfaction started to spread slowly through her cool veins.

Although Darla had planned for Liam to eventually find out about her brother's *affair* it seemed the news had broken much quicker than even she had thought possible. After her lunch date with Buffy, Darla had been worried that all her scheming had been for nothing, but now, much to her delight, it seemed the stupid little bitch hadn't keep her mouth shut after all.

Studying her reflection in the bathroom mirror and taking a deep satisfying breath, Darla transformed herself into Buffy's sympathetic best friend

"So, you finally came to your senses and realised where your heart really belonged " She started softly, her voice laced with fake concern.

Buffy was too worried to notice the treachery in the other woman's voice. All she could see was Liam and William coming to blows and she was terrified of the outcome.

Real fear started to twist knots in her stomach as her patience ran out.

"Darla, I haven't got time to go into the full story, I need to find William immediately. Liam knows I've seen him and he wants blood"

At the increased panic coming from Buffy's end of the line Darla grinned and played the part of a worried sister to perfection

"Buffy, what the hell have you done. Will's no match for Liam. Why on earth did you tell him, why couldn't you have just disappeared again?" Slowly, Darla's voice started to rise as she acted out her concern for her brother's safety. Not that William needed her concern. William Pennington had a strong reputation of being able to look after himself, not that Buffy remembered. If anything, Liam was likely to end up on the wrong end of a real beating.

Darla grinned. **And I'll be the one to kiss him better**

As the evil smile on her face widened, on the other end of the line, Buffy's beautiful features creased into a worried frown.

**This was all her fault. If either man was seriously hurt she was the only one to blame**

"I.." Buffy started.

But Darla didn't give her victim time to think about an answer, she continued her attack, wearing the already guilt ridden girl to the bone.

" William would've happily given up his life here in Sunnydale to have gone away with you.
When are you going to accept that you don't belong here, Buffy? You should never have returned"

Running her fingers through her hair with frustration, Buffy shook her head. Darla was right, she really should never have come back to Sunnydale.. It was a mistake, and now blood was going to be spilt.

As the consequences pounded her head Buffy finally snapped.

" Dammit, I haven't got time for this now. Look, I still can't remember where William lives and Liam is already on his way. Just give me the goddamn address"

Darla paused for a moment for effect and then reluctantly answered

"Crawford Street. William owns the large mansion on Crawford Street...." She didn't have time to finish her sentence before the phone was slammed down in her ear. Buffy had all the information she needed and didn't have time to waste on long *good-byes*

The blonde, wrapped only in a towel, replaced the receiver while a large satisfied grin covered her smug face. Everything was going better than she'd ever dreamt possible. This time the little cheerleader's marriage was well and truly history.

Meanwhile

Back at Ravello Drive, Buffy was out of the front door and half way down the road before she'd even released that she didn't have the slightest idea where Crawford Street was.

PART 3

| Fiction Search | Home Page | Back |