Angel had taken a hot shower after talking to Simon; the warm water relaxed his muscles and helped to soothe his thoughts temporarily. He dressed in his usual navy sweater and black pants and decided he had to go see Buffy sooner than later. Last he saw her was yesterday morning when she was still suffering from a concussion. He hoped that she was feeling better after her encounter with the Asgardian God, physically and mentally. He knew that such a battle this early in the game wasn’t easy.

He knocked on her door hoping she was there. They were supposed to go out patrolling and talk, but it never happened. Angel wasn’t even sure what they were planning to discuss, but they both knew it was inevitable. There was too much time that had passed since they last saw each other and they both owed it to each other to catch up on their lives. They couldn’t go on with awkward small talk indefinitely.

They had to start somewhere and build up again. He wasn’t even sure if they were friends, old acquaintances, exes or what in Buffy’s perspective. In Angel’s eyes, they were still friends. A complex definition of friends, but friends nonetheless. The past was behind them, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t there. He still cared for Buffy, just not like he used to. He cared for her like he would Wes or Fred, maybe more so admittedly, but he didn’t feel the same pull anymore towards her.