Title: Supposed To Be

Author: Aimee

Rating: PG

Spoilers: Tomorrow

Pairing: Angel/Cordelia

Summary: The men of Pylea offer a truth to Angel and Cordelia.

Disclaimer: If you recognize them, they belong to Joss Whedon and David Greenwalt. Otherwise, they're mine.

Cordelia Chase entered her apartment carrying a paper bag, having just stopped at the grocery store.

"Hi, honey. It's me. And I got your favorites. Tuna and ice cream. How about tonight you try not mixing it together?" She put the bag on the table and pulled her bag up over her head, placing it on the table. She turned to see Groo standing in the bedroom wearing a brown leather jacket. "Oh, there you are. Wow. You look nice."

Groo slowly raised his head to look at her.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"I am. Wrong. For you," Groo told her.

"What?"

"I am not the one you love. He is."

"He is? Who he?"

"Angel," Groo told her.

"I love Angel? What are you talking about? I love--you know--us."

Groo looked at her for a moment before continuing. "You two are so obviously connected," he told her, pausing before going on. "You finish each other's sentences. You laugh at the same jests. When he grieves, when he is hurting, your heart breaks for him."

Groo paused. "In my heart, I have known the truth for some time. I have just been--struggling--to find the courage to do what is right."

"I don't know what to say, Groo," she told him.

"Tell me I am wrong. That I should stay. That you love only me."

Cordy stood there with tears in her eyes, but didn't say anything. She may be a lot of things, but a liar was not one of them. Groo picked up his bags, walked to the door and left the woman he loved behind.

An hour later, Cordy held a framed photograph of herself with Angel and Wes on either side of her. She stared at Angel's handsome face. "I don't feel any different," she said. Then the truth dawned on her."I don't feel any different because I've been in love with Angel for a long time," she whispered, gently brushing her fingers across his face.

***

A knock sounded on Angel's door. "Yo," he called out, walking in the direction of the door. "Hey! Lorne. Come on in," he told the green demon.

"Well, you're in a good mood," Lorne told him.

"Yeah. I'm taking the kid to the movies. He's gonna love it," he said, putting on his watch.

"Oh. No subtitles or dreary Leitmotive, all bloody action?" Lorne asked.

"You bet," Angel smiled.

"Oh, he'll love you for it. Well, I thought I'd stop by and say arrivederci, Angelhair."

Angel looked at his friend for a moment. "You're really going."

"I'm really going," Lorne confirmed.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Lorne told him. He held out a CD. "Here, I got you a little something to remember me by."

Angel took the CD from him. The cover showed a picture of Lorne, smiling and holding a microphone. "Songs for the love--Lorne," Angel said, reading the title. "Oh, I get it. Lovelorn because your name is Lorne."

"Yeah, my publicist's idea," Lorne told him. "Her name is mud now, but the tunes are good. And uh, that's not my real gift. This is: it's mutual."

Angel looked up at him then.

"The way you feel about Cordelia is pretty much exactly how she feels about you," Lorne told him. "You two are so obviously connected. You finish each other's sentences. You laugh at the same jests." He paused for a moment. "When you grieve, when you are hurting, her heart breaks for you," he finished softly.

Angel heard the truth in his words and smiled a half little smile. He sat down on the bed.

"Bubela, all I'm saying is stay open. Connor's back. Your whole life is coming together. Sometimes things do work out." He paused. "I got to skiddoo."

"Take good care of yourself," Angel told him. "And keep in touch."

"I'll drop you a line, let you know where to send the gift basket," Lorne told him, waving over his shoulder as he walked towards the door.

***

The phone in the lobby was ringing when Angel, Fred, Gunn and Connor walked into the Hyperion three hours later. "I got it," Angel said, running across the lobby, whistling.

"He's whistling. I've never heard him whistle," Gunn said.

"He's happy," Fred said as Connor closed the door behind them.

Angel picked up the phone. "Angel Investigations. We can help you. I know we can!"

"Hi, it's me," Cordy told him.

"Hi! Cor. How are you?" he asked.

"I"m good. You?"

Angel glanced at Connor. "I'm pretty good."

"Um, Angel, I sorta need to talk to you in person."

"Is it something--bad?" he asked.

"No! No, it's something good. I think. Well, it sorta depends on how you feel," she said.

"About what?"

"Well--about me," she told him.

"Oh."

"Could you meet me tonight?" she asked him.

"Tonight? Sure. Okay. Where?"

"Could you come to my apartment?"

"Sure. About an hour?" he asked.

"Yes," Cordy said.

"Okay," he told her.

"Good. Okay then, we'll do that," she told him.

Angel slowly hung up the phone and took a breath he didn't need. He turned around to find everyone looking at him. "I've got to go out for a while, son."

"With Cordelia?" Connor asked.

"Yeah. Will you be all right?"

"She's beautiful. And she cares about you. I like her," Connor said.

Gunn and Fred exchanged a knowing look.

"I'm glad," Angel told his son.

"It's good to see you happy, Dad." Angel turned away with a smile, humming a little tune.

"Now he's humming," Gunn said.

"He's really happy," Fred said.

Fred, still holding her jumbo tub of popcorn, got up from the sofa. She grabbed the stake lying on the coffee table and walked over to Angel, poking him in the side with it. "But not perfectly happy, I hope!"

"No! Ow!" Angel told her.

"Just checking," Fred told him, holding up the stake.

***

An hour later, Angel arrived at Cordelia's apartment, more nervous than he'd ever been in all his 248 years. He took a deep breath and got out of the car.

Angel walked up to her apartment door. He paused for a moment and knocked. Only seconds later, the door swung open. There stood Cordelia, a nervous smile on her face. "Hey, Angel. Come on in," she told him.

"Thanks," he told her, following her inside.

"Do you want something to drink? Coffee, blood, wine?" she asked.

He smiled. She was the only one who had ever kept blood around just for him. It meant more to him than he could ever say. "Coffee sounds great," he told her.

She nodded and headed to the kitchen. He removed his leather jacket and had just sat down when she returned with two steaming cups. "Thanks."

She sat down beside him on the sofa, feeling extremely nervous. So nervous in fact that her hand was shaking as she took a sip of the hot liquid. This didn't go unnoticed by Angel. "Are you okay?" he asked.

She smiled and took his hand in hers. "Angel, I'm in love with you. I think I have been for a long time. I mean, I always loved you, but I didn't realize I was in love with you until now. You are the first thing I think of in the morning and the last thing I picture before I close my eyes at night. When I dream of the future, you are always standing next to me."

"And I always will," he smiled. "Cordy, you are the light in my otherwise dark world. You are the one person I can always turn to no matter what. Even when I do something so terrible I don't deserve forgiveness, you're there with open arms and a smile. When I lost Connor, you were the only one who could take even a little of the pain away. I love you so much, Cordy."

"What did I do to deserve you?" she asked him softly.

He looked at her then--really looked at her. Her eyes shone with something that she'd only let him glimpse over the years. His heart told him it was love. Pure unadulterated love. He slowly lifted her face to his and kissed the woman he had fallen in love with. It wasn't a kiss filled with passion. That would come later. This kiss was filled with love--it was gentle, tender and felt so very right. "I love you so much," he whispered.

"And I love you."

He slid back against the cushions, pulling Cordy into his arms. He'd dreamed of holding her this way. She'd dreamed of being held like this by him.

"How was the movie?" she asked a short time later.

"It was good. Until Wolfram & Hart attacked us," he told her.

"What?"

"We were watching the movie, minding our own business when a helicopter comes from out of nowhere. After it was over, I noticed a van. I pull it open and find Gavin Park and his boss."

"What did you do?"

"I wanted to kill him," he told her. "That idiot told Connor that he could help him, that he wasn't his enemy."

She smirked. "I'm sure they just want to be his new best friend."

He laughed. "Yeah. Anyway, Connor threw him back into the van and told him to stay away from me." He paused for a moment. "He also told him that his name is Connor."

She smiled. "Angel, that's wonderful."

He nodded. "Yeah. All in all, it's been a very good night."

So lost in each other, they didn't notice when the lights were turned down or when soft music began playing. They didn't notice when the sky outside turned from dark to light as the sun began to rise. The curtains were quietly drawn shut so the vampire didn't burst into flames. As the day broke, Angel and Cordy lay wrapped in each other's arms, fast asleep.

The sound of the ringing telephone woke them both with a start. "Who is calling this early?" Cordy wondered, reaching for the receiver of her cordless telephone.

"Hello."

She listened for a moment. "Yeah, he's still here. Do you want to talk to him?"

She handed Angel the phone. "It's Gunn."

"Hello."

He listened as Gunn talked on the other end. "Sorry, I didn't call. We lost track of time," he told him, looking at the beautiful brunette in his arms. "I'm going to spend the day here. We'll be in when the sun sets. Maybe you and Fred could take Connor out for the day, do something fun."

He hung up the phone and smiled at Cordy. "We have the day to ourselves."

"What do you want to do?" she asked.

"Hmm," he said. "Kiss you, hold you--and oh yeah, never let you forget how much I adore you," he told her, smiling.

She smiled into his eyes. "How about we start with a nap?" she asked, yawning.

He kissed her softly. "Sounds like a plan," he told her, stifling a yawn.

She took his hand and led him to her bedroom, closing the door softly behind them. In the darkened room, the vampire and his lover, slipped between the blankets and fell asleep in each other's arms. In the darkness, his hand sought hers. Even in sleep, he showed her how much he loved her. They slept on, content with their lives for perhaps the first time ever. Things were finally the way they were supposed to be.