but be too practical and decisive to follow a path she already saw Buffy tread with disastrous results.

See, that's a great already built in conflict for the pairing since so many of the reasons Angel isn't with Buffy had nothing to do with Buffy -- what would make them risk it with the curse, or just their friendship, also the mission, and how would they end up working around the inherent problems? It's great internal conflict from both their perspectives. ..personally I want them too. I think them as a couple would have been a fun, fun ride. Romantic, wild, hilarious.