He carried her home.  She had protested that she could walk, but he had ignored her.  She had to admit it felt kind of nice to be carried around, even if it was by a soulless demon.  He was just so strong... he held her like she weighed nothing at all.  She snuggled deeper into his arms, forgetting for a moment just who and what he was.  He had let her sleep almost all day, waking her up only when he decided it was absolutely necessary for her to eat and drink.  The other vampires had had strict orders to stay out of Angelus’ quarters, and he had stayed with her and kept watch over her the entire day.  He hadn’t even left to get her food; he’d had it brought to the door.  It was strange to feel safe with a killer, but she did.

“We’re here.”  The words, whispered softly against her ear, made her shiver.

Willow opened her eyes, not at all surprised to discover that her house was dark.  Her parents were in New York and probably didn’t even know that she was missing and presumed dead.  Angelus shifted her to one arm when he reached her French doors, then opened them and carried her inside.  The redhead’s eyes widened as she realized that Angelus had Angel’s invitation into her home.  The main source of her shock was the fact that it had been a month since he’d turned, and he’d never done a thing to her.

Angelus set her down on the bed and saw the shocked disbelief in her eyes.  He smirked slightly.  “You forgot I could come inside, didn’t you?” he asked silkily.

Willow nodded slowly, then said what was weighing heavily on her mind.  “You’ve been in here before.  After you changed, I mean.”

His smirk grew, and the aura of confidence that had been gone much of the day was back.  “Of course I have.  You didn’t know?”

“You would make a pretty lousy predator if people knew when you were around.”  The vampire laughed at Willow’s comment, and he almost missed her next question.  “Why?”

“It’s you.  Don’t you know how amazing you are?  How wonderful, how beautiful?  Even Soulboy saw it; he just didn’t know what the hell to do about it.”

Willow’s already large eyes widened considerably.  Angel had thought she was beautiful?  Angelus thought she was amazing?  Of course, being considered amazing by a demon wasn’t exactly her first choice, but, hey, it was a start.

Angelus watched the play of emotions on her face.  He loved to just sit and watch the little redhead.  In deference to the girl’s right to privacy, his souled self had tended to keep his spying relegated to the Bronze and making sure she got home safely each night.  He, on the other hand, had spent hour upon hour spying on her wherever she went, following her home, watching her
sleep, all without her knowing it.  And today he had watched her sleep, and she had known he was there.  For some reason, that realization sent a little thrill through him.

The vampire looked at the clock, noting the time.  It was only nine; he could stay for hours if he wanted to.  But he didn’t want to frighten her, and he knew that she wanted to talk to the others.  He was still disgusted by the fact that Willow was friends with the Slayer and all her little followers, but his opinion of Xander had been raised slightly because of the events of the night before.  The young man had frantically searched for the hacker, only stopping when the Slayer and the Watcher literally dragged him away from the water.  Maybe he’d have to alter his plan a bit.  Kill the others, but change Xander.  As a gift to Willow.  With a mental sigh, he turned back to the redhead.

“I have to go.  Demons to see, people to kill.  But I’ll be back.”  And with that, he leaned down, kissed her, and left.

Willow touched her fingertips to her mouth, shocked to the core by the vampire’s gentle kiss.  The jolt that had gone through her at the simple contact scared and surprised her, but she could dwell on that later.

Right now, she had to call the others.

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