Full Summary: Buffy Summers, physically abused by her father, runs away to LA with her two best friends, Willow Rosenberg and Cordelia Chase. Nearly destitute with only their packed duffel bags to call their own, they meet three brothers, Spike, Oz, and Xander Giles, in the local Waffle House who just happen to have an extra room in their house to rent out for cheap. Buffy gives in, feeling comfortable with the trio, and the girls accept. Almost immediately Willow, Oz, Cordy, and Xander find romance, while Buffy and Spike constantly fight. But when a nightmare from Sunnydale makes a guest appearance in Buffy's new life, who will Buffy ultimately turn to for comfort?
Rating: R for mild cursing, adult situations, parental abuse, attempted rape and rape issues, sexual content and anything else that's not PG-13 :) [some of what is mentioned comes into play in later chapters]
Spoilers: None! Completely AU (and All Human). However, there are a few quotes taken from the show and placed in appropriate places throughout the fic. Maybe you'll even recognize them!
Any Remaining Notes: Not everything about this fic coincides with BtVS, such as the birthdays of the girls, and obviously character personalities (Hank, Angel, etc...) Oh, and this story is loosely based on an idea I found in the "Idea Factory" at SpuffyFantasy.com Blood on Your Hands by Esperanza Sanchos
Prologue: We'll Make it Together
(Current Date -- September 28, the day of Buffy's Eighteenth Birthday)
"Buffy! I thought I told you to make me dinner!" Hank screamed from the couch in front of the TV.
"I'm almost finished," she replied quietly, yet loud enough for Hank to hear. She scraped the last of the rice out of the frying pan onto the white plastic plate. Picking up his tray of rice, fried chicken, and a can of beer, she hauled over to the den where Hank was waiting impatiently.
"I said I wanted grilled chicken, not fried! You bitch!" Hank screamed at Buffy.
She could feel tears falling down her cheeks as she quietly told him, "There wasn't any grilled chicken at the supermarket. There was only fried chicken. I'm sorry."
He stood up and walked over to her, slapping her across the face. "You mother fucker!" he bellowed. "You should have gone to another supermarket then! Don't you have any damn common sense!?"
She didn't know whether or not to answer the question, unsure if it was rhetorical. When she didn't answer, he screamed more. Threw her around the room. Just like all the other times. But this time was different. This time -- Buffy wasn't going to take it. This time Buffy was going to make it end. This time was the last.
Buffy looked around the room trying to find something to use in her defense. She grabbed the first thing she saw, a cheap lamp. Clutching this lamp, she struck Hank upside his head with such force that he immediately fell to the floor unconscious.
Joyce, Buffy's mother, on hearing the crash and smash, came running in to see what the commotion was about. She saw Buffy holding a crumbled lamp in her right hand, Hank slumped over the coffee table, and she immediately pulled the lamp out of Buffy's hand, wrapping her arms around her daughter. "I'm so sorry baby, this should never happen to you. Never. I love you. I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry." Then Joyce almost inaudibly mumbled incoherent phrases in her young daughter's ear.
Buffy held onto her mother, knowing that Joyce needed this embrace more than Buffy did. "Shhh… Mommy it's going to be okay. I love you, too. And I don't blame you, I don't blame you." She ushered her mother. "Mommy. I'm leaving. It's not because of you. I love you. I just can't be here anymore. I have to get away." She felt her mother nod against her shoulder weakly.
"I'll come back to see you when I can." And then Buffy was gone.
(Three months earlier, Mid July)
Hank had been his usual self. But he was out now, sleeping like a baby on the couch. Buffy opened the front door and walked down her front stairs. She walked to the sidewalk, where the tears began to fall. She walked for blocks, not caring that it was midnight. Not caring how insane she looked.
She knew her mother tried to keep Hank from hurting her, but she just wasn't strong enough anymore. Each year Hank got stronger, even if it was just in theory. He hurt her more, he used harsher words. He became more easily provoked. Whatever it was, it was worse.
She sat down on a bench. She pulled her legs up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them. Her head dropped to her knees. She wasn't sure how long she had been crying when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up into the face of an angel. He sat down next to her.
"Are you alright, miss?" he asked cautiously.
She haphazardly wiped the tear stains off of her cheeks. She brushed her hair back a little, nodding at the same time. And she immediately began crying again.
"My name's Angel." How ironic, she thought.
"Buffy."
"What a beautiful name for a beautiful girl." This made her cry harder.
She looked into his eyes, and for some reason she told him everything. She told him about her father, about her two best friends, Willow Rosenberg and Cordelia Chase, who had tried to make him stop, about her dog that Hank had accidentally killed in one of his moods, about everything. He sat there silently and listened as she converted her life into words.
And before she knew what was happening she was following him home. He had offered her to spend the night, take a shower, and get a full night's sleep before she went back home.
She watched him unlock the door to his apartment. 274. She watched as he led her inside. She sat down on his couch. He poured her a Heineken. She told him she didn't drink. He seemed to become upset for a minute, until he suddenly calmed.
Then he attacked her. It was so unexpected, so startling.
She struggled as he captured her lips and shoved her on the floor. She fell, him falling on top of her. He held her arms down to the floor while his lips perused her unwilling body. He let up on one arm as he ripped her top off her T-shirt. She was wearing a tank top on underneath. This annoyed him.
While he was cursing over the strength of the tank top, she searched her options. Finding the Heineken bottle had fallen in her struggle to the floor, she grabbed it, knocking him over the head. This stunned him and pissed him off.
As he drew away from her in pain, she ran for the door. Struggling with the lock, she became scared. She heard him scream behind her.
She scrambled out the door as soon as the lock gave way. She was running to the stairs when she heard a door open. One of his neighbor's had awakened in the rustle. Angel stood in the hallway as the neighbor looked at him.
"I'm calling the police, Mr. O'Connor! I heard you hurting that girl! You're going to go to jail!" Angel growled, changing his target, but the neighbor had already slammed the door and locked it, most likely calling the police at the same time.
Buffy didn't care. She just kept running. She ran until she reached Willow's house. She knocked on her window. Again. And again. Until finally, Willow woke up and groggily stumbled over to it. She opened it, letting Buffy inside.
"What happened?" Window asked, dazed, watching Buffy pace mindlessly across the floor of her room.
"I can't stay here. I've decided it. I just can't stay here anymore."
Willow could tell that this was serious, which almost immediately sobered her up from her deep sleep. "Hold on," she told Buffy. She picked up her cordless phone on her bedside table and dialed Cordelia's cell number.
And Willow, Cordy, and Buffy sat. And they planned. Their birthdays were in three months. Cordelia's was ten days before Willow's, and Willow's was eight days before Buffy's. On Buffy's birthday, they would run away to Los Angeles. They would save up all of their money from working at the Double Meat Palace, and they would use that to get by until they got a job in LA.
Buffy never told either Willow or Cordelia about what had happened earlier that night. They just held each other until they fell asleep.
Author's Note: Sorry for the depressive nature of the first chapter, but it will get better! I mean, Spike's in the next chapter, so I must be better! :) please review!
Update Notice: I was looking over these chapters and I decided to fix the few evident errors that I had made, and then repost them. So, if you've already read these first few chapters, they're a little different now. However, not much is pivotal (except in the next chapter where I previously had her former boyfriend as "Riley", it is now going to be "Scott" based on Scott from Season 3 -- this part of the notice will be repeated in Ch. 4). Just thought I'd make note of this. I also added the information about the story at the beginning of this chapter. :)
Rating: R for mild cursing, adult situations, parental abuse, attempted rape and rape issues, sexual content and anything else that's not PG-13 :) [some of what is mentioned comes into play in later chapters]
Spoilers: None! Completely AU (and All Human). However, there are a few quotes taken from the show and placed in appropriate places throughout the fic. Maybe you'll even recognize them!
Any Remaining Notes: Not everything about this fic coincides with BtVS, such as the birthdays of the girls, and obviously character personalities (Hank, Angel, etc...) Oh, and this story is loosely based on an idea I found in the "Idea Factory" at SpuffyFantasy.com Blood on Your Hands by Esperanza Sanchos
Prologue: We'll Make it Together
"Buffy! I thought I told you to make me dinner!" Hank screamed from the couch in front of the TV.
"I'm almost finished," she replied quietly, yet loud enough for Hank to hear. She scraped the last of the rice out of the frying pan onto the white plastic plate. Picking up his tray of rice, fried chicken, and a can of beer, she hauled over to the den where Hank was waiting impatiently.
"I said I wanted grilled chicken, not fried! You bitch!" Hank screamed at Buffy.
She could feel tears falling down her cheeks as she quietly told him, "There wasn't any grilled chicken at the supermarket. There was only fried chicken. I'm sorry."
He stood up and walked over to her, slapping her across the face. "You mother fucker!" he bellowed. "You should have gone to another supermarket then! Don't you have any damn common sense!?"
She didn't know whether or not to answer the question, unsure if it was rhetorical. When she didn't answer, he screamed more. Threw her around the room. Just like all the other times. But this time was different. This time -- Buffy wasn't going to take it. This time Buffy was going to make it end. This time was the last.
Buffy looked around the room trying to find something to use in her defense. She grabbed the first thing she saw, a cheap lamp. Clutching this lamp, she struck Hank upside his head with such force that he immediately fell to the floor unconscious.
Joyce, Buffy's mother, on hearing the crash and smash, came running in to see what the commotion was about. She saw Buffy holding a crumbled lamp in her right hand, Hank slumped over the coffee table, and she immediately pulled the lamp out of Buffy's hand, wrapping her arms around her daughter. "I'm so sorry baby, this should never happen to you. Never. I love you. I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry." Then Joyce almost inaudibly mumbled incoherent phrases in her young daughter's ear.
Buffy held onto her mother, knowing that Joyce needed this embrace more than Buffy did. "Shhh… Mommy it's going to be okay. I love you, too. And I don't blame you, I don't blame you." She ushered her mother. "Mommy. I'm leaving. It's not because of you. I love you. I just can't be here anymore. I have to get away." She felt her mother nod against her shoulder weakly.
"I'll come back to see you when I can." And then Buffy was gone.
Hank had been his usual self. But he was out now, sleeping like a baby on the couch. Buffy opened the front door and walked down her front stairs. She walked to the sidewalk, where the tears began to fall. She walked for blocks, not caring that it was midnight. Not caring how insane she looked.
She knew her mother tried to keep Hank from hurting her, but she just wasn't strong enough anymore. Each year Hank got stronger, even if it was just in theory. He hurt her more, he used harsher words. He became more easily provoked. Whatever it was, it was worse.
She sat down on a bench. She pulled her legs up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them. Her head dropped to her knees. She wasn't sure how long she had been crying when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up into the face of an angel. He sat down next to her.
"Are you alright, miss?" he asked cautiously.
She haphazardly wiped the tear stains off of her cheeks. She brushed her hair back a little, nodding at the same time. And she immediately began crying again.
"My name's Angel." How ironic, she thought.
"Buffy."
"What a beautiful name for a beautiful girl." This made her cry harder.
She looked into his eyes, and for some reason she told him everything. She told him about her father, about her two best friends, Willow Rosenberg and Cordelia Chase, who had tried to make him stop, about her dog that Hank had accidentally killed in one of his moods, about everything. He sat there silently and listened as she converted her life into words.
And before she knew what was happening she was following him home. He had offered her to spend the night, take a shower, and get a full night's sleep before she went back home.
She watched him unlock the door to his apartment. 274. She watched as he led her inside. She sat down on his couch. He poured her a Heineken. She told him she didn't drink. He seemed to become upset for a minute, until he suddenly calmed.
Then he attacked her. It was so unexpected, so startling.
She struggled as he captured her lips and shoved her on the floor. She fell, him falling on top of her. He held her arms down to the floor while his lips perused her unwilling body. He let up on one arm as he ripped her top off her T-shirt. She was wearing a tank top on underneath. This annoyed him.
While he was cursing over the strength of the tank top, she searched her options. Finding the Heineken bottle had fallen in her struggle to the floor, she grabbed it, knocking him over the head. This stunned him and pissed him off.
As he drew away from her in pain, she ran for the door. Struggling with the lock, she became scared. She heard him scream behind her.
She scrambled out the door as soon as the lock gave way. She was running to the stairs when she heard a door open. One of his neighbor's had awakened in the rustle. Angel stood in the hallway as the neighbor looked at him.
"I'm calling the police, Mr. O'Connor! I heard you hurting that girl! You're going to go to jail!" Angel growled, changing his target, but the neighbor had already slammed the door and locked it, most likely calling the police at the same time.
Buffy didn't care. She just kept running. She ran until she reached Willow's house. She knocked on her window. Again. And again. Until finally, Willow woke up and groggily stumbled over to it. She opened it, letting Buffy inside.
"What happened?" Window asked, dazed, watching Buffy pace mindlessly across the floor of her room.
"I can't stay here. I've decided it. I just can't stay here anymore."
Willow could tell that this was serious, which almost immediately sobered her up from her deep sleep. "Hold on," she told Buffy. She picked up her cordless phone on her bedside table and dialed Cordelia's cell number.
And Willow, Cordy, and Buffy sat. And they planned. Their birthdays were in three months. Cordelia's was ten days before Willow's, and Willow's was eight days before Buffy's. On Buffy's birthday, they would run away to Los Angeles. They would save up all of their money from working at the Double Meat Palace, and they would use that to get by until they got a job in LA.
Buffy never told either Willow or Cordelia about what had happened earlier that night. They just held each other until they fell asleep.
Author's Note: Sorry for the depressive nature of the first chapter, but it will get better! I mean, Spike's in the next chapter, so I must be better! :) please review!
Update Notice: I was looking over these chapters and I decided to fix the few evident errors that I had made, and then repost them. So, if you've already read these first few chapters, they're a little different now. However, not much is pivotal (except in the next chapter where I previously had her former boyfriend as "Riley", it is now going to be "Scott" based on Scott from Season 3 -- this part of the notice will be repeated in Ch. 4). Just thought I'd make note of this. I also added the information about the story at the beginning of this chapter. :)