As the evening turned chilly they went into the house. Angel decided Chinese was the order of the day and arranged to have it delivered.

After they had eaten and Angel had spoon fed Buffy, they decided to turn in for the evening. Angel carried Buffy to bed and showed Lorne and Kathy to their room.

Angel went back to Buffy’s room to see she wasn’t wear he had left her. She was sitting up in bed, looking in the mirror.

“Buffy?” she turned to face him. “What is it?”

“I don’t know. Where am I?”

Angel couldn’t believe it, she was talking. “You’re at my home Buffy.”

“But you left, you went to New York.”

“I came back.” He went to sit next to her on the bed.

“Buffy, do you remember what happened after I left?”

Buffy’s brow creased as she tried to think. “I remember a hospital.”

Fearful of pushing her too fast Angel decided not to ask any more. “That’s good. Why don’t you get some sleep now, we can talk more in the morning.”

Buffy nodded. Her expression was no longer blank but she still wasn’t quite all there. Angel laid her back on the bed and pulled the covers over her. He then lay in the other side and took her hand.

Buffy stared at him, then reached out and touched his cheek. “Are you real?”

“Yes Buffy. I’m as real as you.”

“I’m not real.”

“You are Buffy. You are real, and you’re with me.”

Buffy nodded and closed her eyes.


As soon as Buffy was asleep Angel left her to see Lorne. He told her Buffy had spoken.

“Can’t say I’m surprised. I was hoping for something like this once she came off the medication. Poor girl was drugged up to her eyeballs. What’s she doing now?”

“She’s sleeping.”

“Probably best. By the morning the drugs should be almost completely gone from her system.”

“So it’s the drugs doing this to her.”

“Possibly, but not completely.”

Angel nodded. There would be no easy resolution here, he had known that. Still he couldn’t help but hope.

He said his goodnights to Lorne and Kathy and returned to Buffy.