Shippy Moment of the Day: "Let Me Worry About the Neediness" (Buffy)

Angel Visits Buffy at Her Mother's Grave
"Forever" from Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 5

Recap: Buffy's mom has just died and been buried. She's inconsolable.

Note: This got really pic-spam-y, but I couldn't help it. I love them so much!

The Moment:

Angst Face! She's all alone.

And then...

He's always there for her.

Angel: I'm sorry I couldn't come sooner.

...Time Passes...

They're just so natural with each other. No inhibitions.

Buffy: The funeral was...It was brutal. But what I'm really worried about is tomorrow.
Angel: What's tomorrow?
Buffy: That's what I don't know. Up 'til now I've had a road map--things to do, every minute, that had to do with Mom.
Angel: And tomorrow the stuff of everyday living resumes.
Buffy: Which everybody expects me to know how to do because I'm so "strong."

Usually, I'm not a fan of Buffy!Angst. But in this moment, in these
episodes following Joyce's death, you just can't help but feel for Buffy.
She's 20 years old and has a teenage sister to take care of, not to mention
her day job of saving the world.

Angel: Not right away. I'm sure everybody understands that you need time.
Buffy: Time's not the issue. I can stick wood in vampires, but Mom was the strong one in real life. She always knew how to make things better, just what to say.
Angel: You'll find your way. I mean, not all at once but...

Buffy: I don't know. I keep thinking about it, Angel. When I found her. If I'd gotten there ten minutes earlier--
Angel: You said they told you it wouldn't have made a difference.

And then she shares with him what she can't share with anyone else.

Buffy: No. Probably wouldn't have made a difference. The exact thing they said was probably. I haven't told anyone that--
Angel: That doesn't make it your fault. You couldn't have done anything different.
Buffy: I didn't even start CPR until they told me to. I fell apart. That's how good I am at being a grown up.
Angel: Buffy--
Buffy: I would be okay if it was just me that I had to worry about. But Dawn...

Angel always knows what to say.

Angel: It's okay. It's okay. You don't feel like it now, but you are strong, Buffy. You're going to figure it out. And you have people to help you. You don't have to do this alone.
Buffy: It's going to be light soon.
Angel: I can stay in town as long as you want me.
Buffy: How's forever? Is forever good for you?

She makes an offer and, before she can take it off the table, he accepts it.

Buffy: That's a bad idea. I'm seriously needy right now.
Angel: Let me worry about the neediness. I can handle it.

And then...

And THEN...

Kiss!

Scratch that. Smoking hot making out!

And like every Bangel moment, it gets too hot too fast and they
have to pull back. It's crazy. They know how strong their feelings
are and they try to resist, but whenever they reunite, there is
almost always a kiss.

Buffy: Told you. You'd better go.
Angel: I'm sorry.

Buffy: Don't be. I'm so grateful you came, Angel. I didn't think I was going to make it through the night.
Angel: We have a few more minutes until I have to go.
Buffy: Good. Good.

And for the first time in the past two episodes, Buffy looks content.
Or, at least, she finally lets it all go, even for a moment.

LOVE THEM.

Thoughts:

I love this scene because it perfectly encapsulates the Buffy/Angel relationship. There's the support system, where Angel comes to Buffy in her time of need as soon as he can. There's the trust, where Buffy can tell Angel things she can't tell anyone else (I'm still pissed that we never got to see their scene together after she came back from the dead the second time). There's the slight delusion, where they think they're stronger than their feelings. There's the passion. And, finally, there's the love, where they don't even have to talk or be passionate. They can just be together and, in doing so, leave the outside world.

I love that this scene exists. I think it would have been easy to have Buffy never refer to Angel again once he left for his spin-off. But, instead, we get a great sense of continuity where the writers honor the characters and what they would do, logistics be damned.

Also, this is further proof that we don't need MOMENTS! We just need two characters who care deeply about each other, left to their own devices. And beautiful, heart-wrenching shippy-ness happens.