Angel sat alone in his dark office for the second time that week. LA was giving him a heck of a time, corporate vampires, parasitic demons... and loneliness. His thoughts drifted back to happier times, times before Angelus had taken over his body. Back to Buffy.

Love, I see forever in your eyes

I can see Heaven in your smile

And when I hold you close

I don't want to let go

Because deep in my soul I know girl

You are the only light I see

Your love means everything to me

I promise that we'll never part

'Cause you'll always be here, in my heart

He had once said he'd never leave, that he'd never let her down. He had lied. He felt awful for lying to her, knowing inside that it would never work out. It hurt him inside more than the demon ever could.

When he had left without saying goodbye, that was the hardest. But the knowledge that if goodbyes were said, that the would mean a real goodbye, never seeing her again... That could never happen.

Angel loved the Slayer with all his heart, even if it no longer beat. He did it for her own good, she was a Slayer, their lives were short, so why spend it with him? He didn't believe a bit of his own reasoning. He tried to listen to the rational part of his brain, but that was the part that was unbelieving.

"Just check up on her, see if she's okay," his mind told him. "You didn't even bother the last time, you chickened out."

He jerked out of his trance and reached for the phone. As the receiver came off the cradle he whispered a prayer for strength to Heaven. Hoping someone up there got his message, he dialed the number.

************

Buffy sat down on her bed. She felt crappy, like someone had dropped a ten-ton weight on her, not just a hundred-pound vampire.

She glanced slightly over at Willows' things across the room. A picture of Oz on the wiccans' dresser.

Now, why didn't she ever take a picture of Angel?

Suddenly catching herself and throwing the thought away, she laid down on the bed.

Just like some boomerang, the thought came back, full force. Angel... Angel, the brooding vampire who stole her heart, the one in the world she'd do anything for. The one who left without so much as a second glance.

There was hate there, but there was also love.

Hate for the demon, for Angels' stubbornness, for how he hurt her so. Love for his devotion, for his trust, for every aspect of his being.

If the sun, should refuse to rise

And the moon, doesn't shine in the night

The tides won't change, seasons rearrange

When the world is through

I will still love you

She silently wished she could hear his voice, just once to hear if he was okay.

That's when the phone rang.

************

"Hello?" Buffy. His mind swam. It was Buffy. She sounded mad, annoyed, maybe it wasn't such a good idea after all. "Hello?" He didn't answer. "Look, if this is whoever called me last-"

"B-buffy?" His voice sounded strange, even to his own ears.

"-time... Angel?" He didn't answer again.

"Angel?" Buffys' voice was filled with hope, hope that he might come back.

"Hello, Buffy," his throat was dry, he couldn't help it. She was okay, he supposed. Probably a little mad at him for calling, but okay.

"Angel," her voice was icy. "What do you want?"

"I-I just wanted to see if... if you were alright."

"If I was alright," she repeated, "If I was alright?! You left me, Angel! You left me alone, with no one to turn to, and you ask me if I'm alright?!"

"This was a bad idea," Angel went to set the phone down, but was interrupted by his name being called on the other end.

"Angel, please don't go, I'm sorry."

"I'm here."

"Look, I... I just didn't expect you to call and-and I've had a really, really bad day..."

"Shh, it's okay. And I'm the one that should be sorry. I'm sorry, I didn't know it would hurt you this much."

"Then you're coming back?" Hope shone through, Angel felt so bad for having to shatter it.

"Buffy, you know I can't. We can never-"

"Oh, stop it! Don't you go into that Slayer-life-span-vampire-never-gonna-work crap! You left because you said that you wanted me to have a normal life. Well, get it through your thick dead skull, I'll never have a normal life! I'm a Slayer!"

Angel winced at her words, but inside he knew she was right.

"I can't be happy with anyone but you, Angel. You know just as well as I do that I won't ever get over you. You've changed my life for the better, I can't love anyone else like I do you. Please, try to understand that for once."

"Buffy, I love you with all my heart and soul, but... we both need time apart."

"You weren't planning on staying in LA, were you?"

"Truthfully, I don't know. I figured that if you were happy I'd stay away, but-"

"Angel, I'm not happy. I can't be happy anywhere that you're not around."

"Nor can I. But we both need time apart to work things out. I-I'm helping people here, doing some good, right now, I'm here. But in the future, in a few years, I will come back."

"Promise?" Buffy sounded like a little girl on Christmas morning.

"Yes, I promise."

Girl, you're like an angel from above

Sent here to shower me in your love

Hold me beneath your wings

Tell me all of the things

All the hopes and the dreams we can share

'Cause I'll be your shelter from the storm

I'll be the fire that keeps you warm

I'll be your light in the dark

'Cause you'll always be here in my heart, oh girl

************

He was coming back. Maybe not now, maybe not tomorrow, but he was coming back. Buffy forgot all the hate she felt twords him for leaving and replaced it with a sliver of hope. As long as that hope stayed there, as long as that candle burned, there was hope for them.

************

Angel felt as if a great weight had been lifted. She still loved him. After he had walked out of her life, she still loved him.

He couldn't bare to lie again, he would go back. He had to, for her. For her he would walk into the sun, he would wait all eternity just to see her smile at the end.

There was still hope.

If anything could last forever

It's what I feel for you

Oh, baby, you touch my heart in ways

That words could never say

That's why I'll always love you

If the sun *if the sun*, should refuse to rise

If the moon *and the moon*, doesn't shine in the night

The tides won't change, seasons rearrange

When the world is through

I will still love you

Yes I will, love you still baby *I will still love you*

Girl, believe, you're all I need

I will still love you

*END*