TITLE: Early?
NAME: Erynn
RATING: PG-13
SUMMARY: Angel arrives early, for once.
SPOILERS: Up to Season Three. Then it kind of goes A/U
NOTES: Guess What? I did it! Yes! This is a sequel to
Late! It is also weird. Sorry about the mush, btw, it
sneaked in when I wasn't looking.
DISTRIBUTION: If you want it. Just ask. Jen can have
it, for Fever of Fate, if she wants it.
DISCLAIMER: They don't belong to me, thank Joss.
FEEDBACK: Please. I love it. Besides you asked for
this, now tell me if you liked it.
____________________________________________________


"Willow? Willow, darling,-" There was an anguished
female scream, "please let me in?" Angel's voice
carried through the thin curtains of her balcony doors

Willow turned from her closet in a panic. He was here!
And she hadn't even decided what to wear yet! 'What is
he doing here so early?', she wondered as she hastily
re-donned her bathrobe, and opened the curtains of her
balcony.

Angel stood there, his back pressed to the glass as
Buffy climbed onto the balcony, her eyes red and her
face tear-streaked, a stake in her hand.

Willow hurriedly opened the doors, standing aside as
Angel fell back into the room. Buffy advanced toward
them, and Willow threw up her hand, chanting under her
breath.

Suddenly, Buffy stopped as she encountered a barrier.
She growled, and drew back, only to launch herself,
with full Slayer-force, at the invisible barrier.

"Willow? What did you do?" Angel asked as he watched
as Buffy hit it, hard, and flew backwards, to land on
the ground the floor below. Undeterred, she got up,
and started to climb back up to the window.

"It's kind of an all-purpose version of the vampire
un-invitation spell," Willow explained as she hastily
shut the doors, and led Angel downstairs. "I made it
up, but I haven't had the chance to test it yet. Works
on angry Slayers, by the looks of things. Angel, why
is she angry?" The redhead turned to face the vampire,
who hung his head.

"Stop that! Don't hang, just talk," Willow demanded,
impatiently. "why is Buffy trying to kill you... oh
wait, let me guess. You told her, about us?"

Angel nodded. "You made me! Remember? So I went to see
her tonight, I thought I'd be finished in time for our
date. I explained it to her, and she went psycho!" He
whined.

"Just like that?" Willow asked, in a dangerously
reasonable voice. "No other provocation?"

Angel's head shot up at her tone. He would have had to
decency to blush, but as he couldn't, he got by with
looking slightly guilty. "We-ell," he stammered, "it
might have been the crack I made about her hair, to
break the ice, I mean."

"I see. Or it might have been...?" She trailed off and
waited for him to finish.

"I suppose it could have been the part where I
mentioned that soul loss thing. You know she gets very
touchy about that." He nodded earnestly at Willow's
unbelieving face. "Oh come on, Will, hon, it doesn't
really matter does it? She knows now, and that's the
important thing, right?"

Just then there was a wild war cry as Buffy tried to
kick in the front door, having discovered that the
bedroom was unoccupied. Luckily, the spell held.

"Willow Rosenburg! Let me in right now! We were
*friends*, you bitca!" Buffy spat through the closed
door, and Willow winced.

She walked to the door and opened it, but didn't let
the Slayer enter. "Yeah, we were. And you and Angel
*had* broken up."

"So what? Since when did that matter? He's mine! We
love each other! Or at least I thought we did," She
added, before the wild look returned to her eyes, and
she again tried to leap at Angel, who had joined
Willow at the door.

Understanding dawned on Willow, and she turned to
Angel. "You told her you didn't love her," she
accused.

"Well, I thought it would be best. Besides, I don't."
Willow glared at him, "Well I do, but I love you too,
and you're the one that's right. Buffy's not right."

Buffy stopped her attack on the air as she heard
Angel's words. She stood panting in the doorway as
Willow jumped into Angel's arms with a squeal of
delight.

"You love me?"

"You love HER? How can you love her? She's just
Willow. I'm BUFFY, you know, blonde, great body,
bubbly personality, Buffy! She's just Willow, and
she's the right one? You're insane, deadboy." With
that, the Slayer walked off into the night.

"Well," remarked Angel dryly, "So much for true,
everlasting, love." He gathered Willow closer to him,
and dropped a kiss on her forehead.

"She's right, though, I'm just plain old Willow. Why
me?"

Angel growled, and Willow glared at him again. "No
growling. It doesn't tell me anything."

Angel started to carry her up the stairs, muttering
angrily, "Plain old Willow? Where the hell did that
come from? Plain old Willow. Buffy's nothing. Willow
is perfect. I'll give you plain old Willow." He
finished, entering her bedroom. He deposited her
firmly on the ground in front of the mirror.

"Tell me what you see?" he demanded.

Willow frowned. "Me. And lack of you," she said, "What
am I supposed to see?"

Angel exhaled sharply, as if it were obvious, "I'll
tell you what I see. I see the most beautiful,
intelligent woman in the world. The one who cared
enough about me to actually do something about my
being in hell, and losing my soul. The one who cared
so much about Buffy," he spat the name as if it were
venom, "That she never said anything about how she
felt about me, until we had broken up. The one who
cares about everyone and everything before herself.
That's what I see. I wish you cared more about
yourself, Willow. You deserve it, you know." He turned
her to face him. "I don't deserve you."

"You know how I feel about that phrase, Angel." She
said quietly, choosing to forget the rest, for now. It
was too much to deal with. She stroked his arm. "It's
not true."

"Okay, then," he said, a smile beginning to form. "A
deal. I promise I won't ever say it again, If you
promise me that you will never call yourself Plain Old
Willow again. That's not true either. I love you,
Willow," he added softly, "and I won't have you
putting yourself down."

"It's a deal," The redhead answered. "Now go home,
Angel."

"What? But we had a date!" The vampire protested.

"Yeah. In two *hours*." Willow said. "I'm not ready
yet."

Angel turned to leave. However, before he reached the
window he was back, and lifting her into his arms.

"On the contrary, my darling. I think you're perfectly
ready."

As he lay her onto the bed, Willow managed between
kisses "Oh- Angel? I forgot to tell you something."

"What is it?"

"I love you, too"

Angel's whoop of utter joy could be heard throughout
Sunnydale.

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

Yeah, okay, that last line was stupid. But Angel
wouldn't let me take it out. You know how he is.He's
got this whole macho thing going, and I'm not gonna
cross an in love vampire with an inferiority complex.
Would YOU?