Finally after two weeks of avoiding the fact he could possibly become a father Angel managed to find some inner strength to go and find Buffy.
Picking up his phone he began to look for Buffy's number before realising he didn't actually have it, sighing he tossed the phone on to the car seat beside him, it was four a clock in the after noon and he doubted she was still at home.
Taking a moment to think about his options Angel came up with the next best solution, if he was remembering right the night they had met at the night club she had mentioned she worked at the local high school as the councillor, hoping his memory was right Angel reached forward and started his car.
Half an hour later he found himself parked in the school parking lot, most of the students had left for the day and only a hand full was wondering about, sighing Angel forced himself to get out of his car and head towards the entrance, knowing non of the students knew him or Darla so no one would be able to snitch on him for being here.
The hallways were quiet as he made his way down them, his eyes searching for the office he was looking for, still praying he was right about her working here and if so that she hadn't left yet.
Finally after ten minutes he found her, she was sitting at her desk, her eyes focused on the computer screen in front of her, and even though there was nothing special about the way she had her hair or the clothes she was wearing Angel couldn't help but watch her for a moment longer then was necessary, all through the years he had been at school with her, he had always found her attractive but never once had he thought about her in that way, he had at the time been completely smitten with Darla who had been the head cheerleader.
Pushing those thoughts away Angel looked towards the floor before looking back through the window at her, taking a deep breath and making sure no one else was in the office he reached for the door before stopping, not wanting to be rude and just barge in her office he decided to knock.
There was a second of silence before he heard her say come in.
Opening the door he slowly pushed it open, her eyes meeting his once he was in the room, turning away from her he closed the door, not wanting any interruptions or for any nosey person to walk past and hear their conversation...and for a split second he wondered if there was another Cordilia Chase hanging around.
Moving away from the closed door Angel forced himself to move closer to her desk, his eyes looking at hers before flickering away not being able to stare at her as if nothing had happened between them.
Minutes passed by with neither of them knowing what to say at the awkward moment.
Knowing he was here for a reason Angel took a silent breath before forcing himself to look back in her direction, "How are you?" he asked keeping himself from wincing at how lame it sounded even to his own ears.
To say Buffy was surprised to see Angel would be an understatement, it had been three weeks since he had shown up at her flat demanding she tell him the truth, he had said he would be there for her yet he hadn't seen her once in those three weeks.
Blinking she turned to look at her computer, giving her self a minute to think of an answer, "I've been better,"
"That's not hard to believe," he said truthfully feeling the same way about what was going on.
Deciding to cut to the chase Buffy turned her attention back onto him, "What are you doing here Angel?"
Hearing her call him Angel took him by surprise, the night they had met up she had called him Liam, always had ever since they had left school, moving Angel placed his hands into his trouser pockets, "I needed to know how you were doing...plus I don't actually have your number."
"If you want to know what I'm doing about the...baby, I don't have an answer for you." She told him bluntly, having him stood there in front of her only reminded her of their situation and she didn't need that right now.
Sighing Angel walked forward before taking a seat in the chair across from her, "That's not the only reason I'm here Buffy...the past couple of weeks have been hard for me and I know they have to have been for you," he told her truthfully leaning forward so he could rest his arms on the table in front of him and be closer to her even if she was sat across the table.
Leaning back in her chair to give her more space from him Buffy crossed her arms over her chest, feeling angry that he was right, he was the only person apart from her that knew she was pregnant, taking a deep breath she was about to say something to him when something stood out at her in her mind, looking him square in the eye she spoke, "How did you find out I was pregnant, I haven't told anyone?"
The question took Angel by surprise, that was not something he had thought she might have asked, "Uh...I heard Harmony tell some woman that she thought she seen you buy a pregnancy test."
The news took a second to register in Buffy's mind, Harmony one of the biggest gossipers in the world had saw he buy a pregnancy test...by now the news had to be all over the town!
Seeing the look on Buffy's face Angel spoke quickly, "She wasn't sure it was you Buffy, she said your name and then someone else's, and I don't think anyone was listening to her anyway."
Shaking her head Buffy laughed sarcastically, "So I guess that makes it alright then? God why can't people in this town mind their own business!"
Seeing she was getting angry Angel had to stop himself from getting up and running for cover, taking a deep breath he stood from his chair and began walking over to her, "Buffy it's okay, it's been three weeks since she said something, if they knew it was true it would have been all over Sunnydale by now,"
Still feeling all different emotions Buffy turned to look at Angel as he approached, "its not okay god dam it! I'm pregnant with your kid and we aren't even together, how is any of this okay."
"Buffy calm down," Angel pleaded stopping next to her chair, feeling helpless and angry himself, he had come here to try and work things out with her... this was not going at all like he wanted or hoped.
"Don't tell me to calm down," she told him pushing away from her chair, feeling the need to pace, the room was feeling to small, her chest feeling constricted...she couldn't breath.
Seeing she was panicking Angel reached out and placed his hands on her arms stopping her from moving around, "Listen to me, you need to calm down, you aren't doing you or the baby any good."
"What if people figure it out...what if they know I've got something to hide, how will people react when they find out I've gotten pregnant by someone else's boyfriend...oh god their going to think I'm a slut!" she said between deep breath, her eyes darting around the room.
Angel listened to everything she was saying and he couldn't help but wince when she called herself a slut, "Buffy you aren't a slut okay..." he told her lifting a hand to place it on the side of her face using it to turn her face to look at him, "We were both very drunk and things happened, it wasn't your fault...and people aren't going to figure anything out otherwise they would have already," Keeping his eyes locked with hers he made sure his words were having an effect, he didn't like seeing her this upset.
Forcing herself to take breaths she began to calm herself down, "I'm sorry It's just everything is happening to quickly and I don't know what to do."
Nodding his head in understanding Angel pulled her seat closer to her making her sit down, once she was seated he knelt down in front of her, much like he had the night he found out she was pregnant, "To be honest, I don't know what to do either, but what I do know is you have me and I have you and together we can work this out,"
Buffy listened to him, her mind telling her she didn't have him, that he wasn't hers to have, at that thought she asked, "Have you told Darla yet?"
Avoiding her Angel looked towards the floor, his mind was swimming with all the answers he could use, he could lie to her and say Darla was fine with it that he had told her...but he knew he couldn't lie to her, sighing he lifted his head, "No...I almost did but...I" shaking his head Angel took her hand in his before continuing, "I will, she needs to know and I want to be there for you and if that means helping you build a nursery or going to the clinic then I would rather do it without sneaking around."
"Angel, what...what would happen if I was to keep the baby?" Buffy asked him, finally saying to him one of her deepest fears.
Thinking for a minute he replied, "Then I guess I'm going to be a daddy," he smiled at her trying to make her relax, "But honestly Buffy, I will try my hardest to make things work out, if you want me to I will be in this kids life as much as possible...I don't know what this would mean for Darla and me but there is a spare room in my apartment that would have the baby's name on the door, no matter how things played out."
Hearing him say that made Buffy feel like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders, by the sounds of it Angel really was taking this thing seriously and would stand by her, she just hoped their lives wouldn't change that much.
But what she didn't know was that no matter how much she wished that to be true that things were never going to work out that way.
