Disclaimer: BtVS is Property of Joss, and the song is from Meatloaf's album "The Very Best of Meatloaf."

Spoilers: "Angel."

Notes: After the kiss at the end of "Angel" B&A did walk away from each other. This is set about a couple of months later.

***

"The Loneliest Words You'll Ever Know."

By the Little Soap Dish.

***

*Buffy, where are you?* Angel thought as he dodged a punch. Grabbing the vampire's arm, Angel managed to pull him forward and stake him in the back with a stick he'd snatched from a nearby tree.

Leaning back against a mausoleum, he sighed. Why did he always expect Buffy to be there? Why should she have even known about this fledgling? It wasn't anyone who would have been missed... But he so wanted to see her again - if only to make sure she was all right.

-----

Buffy walked into the cemetery and saw him. She suddenly regretted coming here; she still wanted him so much... She turned to leave before he saw her.

"Buffy!"

<If you listen to the night
You can hear the darkness call>

-----

Angel watched Buffy turn as he called her name, and begin to walk over to him.

<I can barely stand to wait
I can barely stand at all>

Buffy stopped before she reached him.

"All clear here, Angel, I need to patrol somewhere else." He nodded slightly and looked away. She sighed and walked closer to him.

<C'mon closer to me now
Like we're sharing the same skin>

"Angel?" He looked at her, sadness clear on his face. "Angel, we agreed. This can't happen."

<We gotta get out of this jail
We gotta let the future in>

Angel tilted his head back to look at the sky, so she wouldn't see the tears in his eyes. "I know."

<So many things in your life
That you're bound to regret
Why didn't I do that?
Why didn't I do this?>

"And that's what we're going to stick to, right? You and me, together - it would be too complicated." She was giving him a chance to contradict her, to tell her how much he wanted her anyway. Should he take it?

<So many chances you lost
That you'll never forget
Why didn't I make it?
Why didn't I take it right there?>

"It would be. I'm a vampire," he looked back down at her, "It could never work."

<The loneliest words you'll ever know
"If only - if only it was so">

"Right. And anyway... I already have a boyfriend." Angel felt his heart clench.

"You do?"

<The emptiest words that they'll ever be:
"It could have been me"
"It could have been me!">

She nodded. "I have to go." She paused before kissing him lightly on the lips. "Goodbye, Angel." She turned and he watched her walk away.

<You'll have to pay for it later
If you don't get it when it's going for free
Believe me -!
Believe me -!
A kiss is a terrible thing to waste
A kiss is a terrible thing to waste
It's something that's always been so
A kiss is a terrible thing to waste
A kiss is a terrible thing to waste>