"Buffy!"
Riley called as he jogged to catch up with me. I was in gym class, the only other class besides English that I had with a few seniors. Riley, Angel, Dawn, and Scott happened to be in it as well. I glanced back at Riley and he smiled at me.
"Hi!" He exclaimed, rather enthusiastically. I continued walking without returning any pleasantries.
"Listen, I had a great time the other night and I wanted to know how you felt about doing it one on one, just you and me." He shocked me. He had a great time? He barely said ten words to me and he acted as though I were insane when he did.
"I don't know." I came up to a group that held Angel and Dawn.
"C'mon." Was he seriously whining? I blinked at him.
"There's a party tonight – an actual party. You should come with me." Riley suggests and the group turns to look at us. Dawn was grinning and nearly bouncing. I scratched my wrist and stared at Riley.
"Okay." I say. Not because I wanted to go or because I was trying to get a rise out of Angel. I just physically couldn't say no. He grinned and then he kissed my cheek. I flinched and walked away. Not really understanding why in the hell he just touched me. Dawn jogged and caught up with me.
"Hey, listen, I have something I gotta tell you." She says, biting her bottom lip and I hum.
"Really? Did you pay him with cash or credit?" I ask and she rolls her eyes.
"He really likes you, but no that's not what I want to talk about. Angel broke up with me." She says and I froze, before mechanically turning to face her with a blank, emotionless stare. This was actually good. I was a bit pissed that Angel might have hurt my sister, but if he wasn't around as much, maybe I had the chance to finally get over him.
"I'm sorry, are you okay?" I ask and she nods, waving her hand.
"Yeah." Her eyebrows were furrowed in confusion.
"I really am. You know, I don't even really think he ever loved me. I mean, he didn't really like showing affection or any other type of romance." She shrugs and I bit my tongue. My stomach was churning and I wanted to go crawl under a rock, because while these things were actually a bit relieving to me – I didn't want to hear them.
"Did you love him?" I asked and she met my gaze, before running a hand through her hair.
"Maybe. I don't know. To be completely honest, at times it didn't even feel like dating. Just a titled friendship and even then we had our own lives." Her eyes were glued on mine and she looked nearly inquisitive. She looked away and chewed on her bottom lip.
"Can I ask you a question?" She asks while cracking her knuckles and I shrugged.
"Sure." I allow, because anyone can do anything. Whether or not I would answer this question is still meant to be seen.
"Did I? . . . goddammit, okay." She laughed, slightly.
"Did I ever . . . hurt you, with my relationship with Angel?" She asks and I don't bother to even blink.
"No." My voice cracks. Shit! Why?! What the fuck is the matter with me?! I've lied, my entire life! Damn you, Angel! Her shoulders slumped and she grips my biceps.
"Fuck, Buffy, I'm not in love with him. If you would have asked me not to go out with him, I wouldn't have. I swear it." She says and I move away from her and shrug.
"It doesn't matter. God, we're literally one year in age difference. If he wanted me, he could have just asked." I shrug.
"It doesn't matter." I repeat and she was clutching her chest. She looked so fucking guilty.
"Please, don't. God, Dawn, I was never . . . I'm fine. It's fine." I assure her and she swallows, thickly. The whistle was blown and I glance behind me.
"I have to go, I'll see you at home, okay?" I don't wait for an answer before I turn and sprint toward the locker room.
()()()
Dawn watched her sister run off and felt guilt claw at her stomach. Buffy tried so hard to always hide everything and anything. From her emotions, to the abuse she suffered at the hands of their father. What Buffy didn't know, was that Dawn was fully aware of what she went through as a kid.
Her mother had told her when she turned sixteen after her continuous complaining of how antisocial Buffy was. Dawn hadn't done it to be mean. Shame filled her whenever she remembered her bitching. Dawn had known that Buffy and Angel were friends, but Buffy was so good at hiding whatever she was feeling that Dawn didn't think much of it.
A primal protectiveness overcame her as she stormed over to Angel. She shoved him, "Fuck off!" She yelled at his group of friends and their eyes widened, but they immediately scurried away.
"When did you fall for her?" She growled, feeling tears fill her eyes. Angel stared at her with his typical emotionless eyes. God, how could she have been so blind? She would have married this guy. A guy that didn't love her. A guy that didn't even want her. A guy that was completely and irrevocably in love with her sister. She slapped him, but she wanted to feel the sting.
"Fuck you." She said and Angel looked down at her, sucking his teeth.
"Why didn't you just go out with Buffy? Fucking hell, Angel, she would have said yes. You two would have been happy and I wouldn't have become the fucking obstacle bitch that you both grew to hate!" She yelled.
"We don't hate you, Dawn and I didn't go out with Buffy because she's been fucked over enough in her life – that last thing she needed was me. I destroy everythin' I touch, just look at the both of us." He snapped and Dawn stared at him, her head slightly cocked.
"Angel, you can't destroy something that's already broken. Although, I suppose seeing someone you're in love with pretending to love your sister isn't exactly good for a non-existent ego." She hissed and went to storm away from him, but he stopped her.
"I went out with you to be close to her. At first, I didn't except anything of it. I just wanted to get to know her more. I mean, she's already my best friend, but I wanted more, because I'm selfish. It was only supposed to last until I could get up the courage to ask her out, but then you said you loved me. I felt like an asshole. So, I stayed. I've fucked up more times in the past three years than my father has in the past eighteen." Angel murmurs the last part almost to himself.
"Your father?" Dawn was confused. She supposed she should be pissed or at least a little hurt at his scheming, she was neither. Angel never spoke of his family, so she had no idea what he meant by that last part.
"Okay, so you did a kid thing. You made a mistake. That's okay, I'm not hurt, but Buffy doesn't think you can like her like that; let alone that you do. Now, we've set her up with Riley. God, you motherfucker." She snaps at him.
"Nice going. She doesn't even like him and you do this because you what? Wanted her to become completely inaccessible to you? So you wouldn't hurt me?" She demanded and he shrugged, not meeting her gaze.
"Well, yeah. I knew that if I hurt you, she would never forgive me." He says and she flicks him off.
"I'm feeling a bit hurt, now. So, just stop talking so I can think." She says and Angel leans against the wall.
"I got it." She grins and he gives her a look.
"Got what?" He asks.
"A way for you to finally confess your undying love to Buffy without both of you ending in a Romeo + Juliet kind of way." She shrugs and Angel blinks.
"Romeo and Juliet confessed their undying love." Angel comments and Dawn glared.
"Do you want my help or not?" She snapped and he bit the inside of his cheek.
"I do."
()()()
I stared at Dawn as she bounced around me like a butterfly. Then I looked back into the mirror. I wore a pair of white skinny jeans that were so tight, it took me ten minutes just to put them on. Luckily they were a solid white and my panties weren't on display. Although, I'm sure Dawn would have preferred it with the way she was acting.
My shirt was a tight, black tank top which cinched at my waist and hugged my breasts. I fidget my hands before biting my nail. Dawn did my hair and even forced me to put on some mascara. I looked . . . nice. My hair fell in soft waves to my collarbones and it shone like silk against the light.
"Dawn, I really don't want to make an impression like this to Riley. I don't like him like that." I say, shaking my head at her. She waves her hand.
"Don't worry, I got your back and so does Angel, if Riley tries something you even remotely don't like, we'll be on him like gum on a shoe." She assures and I glance to the side.
"Is that a saying?" I ask.
"Get your shoes on and let's go!" She cheers, ignoring my question. I sigh and slip into the black and brown sandals before following her out. Mom gives us a lenient curfew and I say my goodbyes. By the time we get to the house, I was already ready to leave. This place was crawling with people. There wasn't a spot around that wasn't filled with drunken or buzzed teenagers.
"Dawn, I don't like this." I say, hesitantly and she wraps her arms around my bicep and leads me inside.
"Don't worry, I'll be by your side all night long." She assures me, seriously and I frown, but don't object when she yanks me around. I was greeted by nameless faces and cheery, drunk smiles until finally we ended up in the living room. The music wasn't as loud here and there were less people.
"Hey, just in time." Riley smiled at me and then brought me into a hug. To which I immediately backed away from, only to collide into a wall. I turn and see a man standing there. He was holding two bottles of beer in each hand and smiling carefully down at me. He walked around me and I turned again, only to come face to face with Riley.
"That's Reed, my brother." He shrugs and I swallow, but nod. I sit in the group next to Dawn and Riley, across from Angel who was in a conversation with a pretty brunette. When I sat down, his eyes landed on me and he smiled. Crooked and real. I watched his lips fall back into that emotionless line as he looked back at the brunette.
"Alright, everyone knows the game of truth or dare, but let's shake it up a bit." Reed grinned and everyone held onto his words, especially the girls. Some I recognized from the cheerleading squad, others were just the extroverts of high school. Making a name for themselves along with hundreds of friends.
"For every truth you don't do, you have to take a shot. For every dare you don't do, you have to remove a piece of clothing." Reed grinned and whistles erupted. I went to stand, but Dawn held onto my hand and gave me a pleading look. I settled back down, but the tension didn't leave my body.