Epilogue

Buffy was tired, she'd just spent the entire day training with Gunn's kids and she was wiped out. She'd no idea how good they really were. Dragging herself through the back door she had to smile. Well, it was a mixture between a grimace and a smile. At the sink doing dishes, was Angel. The radio was on and he was singing along with what was probably the worst singing voice she had ever heard.

When a man loves a woman
Can't keep his mind on nothing else
He'll trade the world
For the good thing he's found
If she's bad he can't see it
She can do no wrong
Turn his back on his best friend
If he put her down

She watched as his hips swayed to the sedate rhythm of the ballad. She'd always assumed that Angel was clueless about anything relating to pop culture, but much to her own surprise, she found that he'd actually followed it up until around the mid 70's. He couldn't tell Duran Duran from Spandow Ballets, or Britney Spears from Christina Aguilera. But he could hum (badly) the tune to any song by Smokey Robinson, and knew Manilow inside out.

When a man loves a woman
Spend his very last dime
Tryin' to hold on to what he needs
He'd give up all his comfort
Sleep out in the rain
If she said that's the way it ought to be

His taste in Music hadn't been the only thing she'd unearthed about him over the last couple of weeks. It was like walls she'd never known existed had finally been breached, and she was seeing the real Angel for the very first time. She'd had no clue how truly shy he could be, or how easy it was to make him blush. She saw previously suppressed glimpses of the man he'd been before meeting Darla, his eyes occasionally coming alive with mischief.

Well, this man loves a woman
I gave you everything I had
Tryin' to hold on to your precious love
Baby, please don't treat me bad

Here was a man with many loves. The depth and all encompassing nature of his affection was unbelievable. She had always known that it took a tremendous amount to gain his trust and friendship, but she'd never known how deeply he cared for those he called friends. His stoic and uncompromising outward façade masking the depth of emotion he carried inside. She'd always seen the passion behind those dark eyes, but now she realised how much had been caged in an effort to cage the demon. His friends, his faith and his mission all sparking a fire in him that was almost overwhelming. He renewed his role as book guy with new vigour, delving deep into the Watcher's diaries and pushing them in training like never before. He socialised with the others laughing and chatting in a way that she'd never really experienced, but could see Gunn was almost used to. He went to church, she and Faith walking him there before they patrolled and walking him back after the service ended, before heading out again in a new direction. But behind that she'd seen his desperate need for reassurance and comfort as he mourned his lost loved ones. She knew from experience that true mourning took time, and he'd only just started along that road to moving on.

When a man loves a woman
Down deep in his soul
She can bring him such misery
If she plays him for a fool
He's the last one to know
Lovin' eyes can't ever see

So while during the day, in front of the others, he remained strong, at night he would curl up in her arms and let her be the strong one. They talked for hours, sometimes about the issues between them, and sometimes about nothing really important at all. These talks had been revelatory on both sides. They had trust issues to deal with, there was pain on both sides, but they both knew this. They were getting there, slowly but surely they were returning to the kind of connection they once shared. Angel had even, somewhat hesitantly, admitted that he thought he could feel her again, and not long after, Buffy had felt the same tingle in her spine that heralded his closeness on her way home from patrol. It was a consensus between them, that they'd never been as close as they were now. Amazing how much talking could do for a relationship. The only thing now standing between them and their fondest desire, to become as physically close as they were emotionally, was his heart.

When a man loves a woman
He can do no wrong
He can never own some other girl
Yes when a man loves a woman

I know exactly how he feels
'Cause baby, baby, baby, you're my world

When a man loves…

As the song came to a close, Buffy began to clap and whistle, alerting Angel to her presence. Angel jumped and turned, shooting a glare in Buffy's direction. He knew he couldn't sing, she didn't have to mock him about it.

"You're funny."

"No really, that was quite impressive, I never knew you could sing," Buffy said with mock seriousness, but couldn't keep a straight face and started to giggle. Angel just rolled his eyes and threw the dish cloth he was holding in the sink, before moving to pull her into his arms. Bending down he placed a light kiss on her lips.

"Good day?"

"Oh yeah… I managed to come out of there with my slayer pride intact… just. Those kids are tougher than you think… was Gunn like that?" Buffy question, but Angel had other things on his mind as he started to nibble on her earlobe.

"Hmmmm."

"Oohhhhmmmmm," Buffy moaned as he drifted from her ear and started to place kisses on the column of her throat. "Angel, Honey, you need to stop before you end up with an extremely worked up horny slayer on your hands."

"Promise?" Angel said as continued his assault.

"ANGEL! What's got into you?" Buffy said pulling out of his grip and scowling at him. "Its not fair to tease!"

"Who said I was teasing?" Angel shot back with a mischievous glint in his eye. Giving her a smirk he turned round went back to the sink. "But if you're not interested…."

"OK… interested, you know I'm interested, but the doctors…"

"Cleared me for light to medium exercise at my appointment this morning." Angel cut her off.

Buffy blinked then felt like slapping herself, she'd completely forgotten he'd gone to the doctor's that morning. 'light to medium?' A slow smirk crept across her face just as she crept up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist from behind.

"So.. light to medium huh? Well I'm a demanding kinda girl, slayer an all…"

"Oh I have no plans to exert myself, I'm gonna let you do all the work"

"That so?" Buffy whispered huskily, running her hands down the front of his pants and stroking him through the denim.

"Oh yeah…" Angel sighed, pressing his hips forward.

Buffy snuck her hand out and grabbed a dishtowel from the side, then stepped away from him. Taking a couple of steps back she grinned and took aim.

Angel yelped as the towel flicked his backside, and spun round to face her. Buffy ran the towel through her ands like silk scarf and crooked her finger at him Slowly backing out of the room.

Angel played along and stalked after her until she reached the bottom of the stairs. Stopping Buffy dropped the towel.

"Catch me if you can!" Buffy winked and sprinted up the stairs, Angel laughed out loud, and then followed. The laughter soon turned to moans of pleasure. All the while the radio continued to play in the kitchen.

Lyrics from 'When a Man Loves a Woman' By Percy Sledge

The End.

Heart Sick Series will continue in...

EXODUS - Coming soon.