Buffy walked toward the exit of the school when something slammed into her. She heard a squeak and saw a flash of red before she landed on her ass. She blinked a couple times before looking up at the girl from this morning. "I am so-." She stilled mid-apology as she stared at Buffy, mouth agape and flushing like a tomato.
She started sputtering, in what Buffy thought was English, but couldn't be sure. "Um, it's okay, dude, calm down." Buffy said, feeling a very strange worry for this freaking out girl in front of her. The girl quieted and inquired Buffy in a way a scared animal would inquire a hunter. O-kay.
Buffy glanced to the side before standing, "I'm Willow!" She yelled causing Buffy to jump out of her skin. Why was she yelling? She obviously didn't mean to if the near purple blush had anything to say about it.
"Ahem, I'm Willow." She said, with a normal voice, Buffy was contemplating giving the poor girl a medal.
"Buffy, nice to meet you Willow." She said positioning the bag more over her shoulder.
"You were at my house this morning." Buffy concluded, suddenly feeling a little embarrassed herself. She'd called the poor innocent girl out and made herself look like a total bitch, nice job, Buff. The girl nodded, seeming scared. God, Buffy was so going to help this girl grow a pair. Not literally, though, because that would be weird.
"Yes, yes I was. Along with Angel, Riley, Xander, and Connor." Yes, Buffy knew that. She didn't say anything though, just nodded.
"Awesome, is Ethan driving you, too?" Buffy asked, although she was sure she already knew the answer. Willow looked at the ground, but nodded. Well then.
"I mean I-I can call my m-mom he doesn't have to, if that's not okay with you." She added quickly and Buffy blinked, before chuckling softly.
"It's okay, c'mon, he might leave us." She laughed and walked out of the school with Willow in tow. Buffy placed on her sunglasses and bounced down the stairs. She noticed one of the guys that was either Xander or Connor on a skateboard with Angel watching in amusement.
"Oh c'mon Xander, you can do better than that!" Angel exclaimed with a laugh as the guy nearly fell off the skateboard. Buffy stilled as Willow laughed joining them. Suddenly arms went around her and her body tensed as her skin started to crawl.
"Well hello there, She-Ra, I'm Connor, pleasure to meet you." He said and Buffy couldn't breathe, but she nodded and he chuckled.
"What are you doing?" Angel called, trying to keep his voice light, Connor must not have noticed, he just shrugged.
"Keeping my girl warm!" He called back with a laugh. They went back and forth, but Buffy couldn't hear. She knew this was such an overreaction, but she was four seconds away from having a full blown panic attack right here in front of everyone.
"Please let me go." She thought she'd said, but it must not have been loud enough, because his grip didn't loosen and they didn't stop their bickering. Buffy shoved away from him and jogged over to Ethan's car, slamming the door shut behind her.
She inhaled as her hands ran over her hair. "Hey." Ethan said as he opened his door. The others piled into the back.
"Your principle is an asshole." Ethan states, getting hollers of agreement from everyone in the back. Buffy pulled her hair into a high pony-tail and reached behind her, slipping on socks as she grabbed the tennis shoes by her feet.
Ethan was in a conversation with everyone, checking his stupid mirrors, but it was all static to Buffy's ears. She placed her bag down and got out of the car, causing Ethan to still, "What are you-." The door slamming shut cut him off as she took off through the courtyard. Her body was numb and she couldn't hear anything. She was just running down the street at full speed, everything blurring around her, the kids walking home, the cars driving or honking in frustration. All was lost on her as she continued to push at a speed one uses to run from hell.
She was thrust back into that night like a bad dream.
Fourteen year old Buffy stood at her counter, silently cutting the tomatoes for the salad with shaking hands. Her father was home early. He wanted to have a family dinner and had ordered Spike and Buffy to cook it. Spike had gone to take the trash out. He was so quiet that Buffy hadn't heard him over the sound of her knife against the cutting board. Strong arms wrapped around her from behind and her body went into frozen horror. His thick, beer smelling breath fanned across her cheek.
"Buffy." He growled and her lips quivered as her eyes crinkled. She inhaled to calm herself.
"Yes, father?" She asked still trying to cut the tomatoes, but he pushed closer to her. A foreign hardness pressing into her from behind. She was trembling in fear as she swallowed hard.
"You know I love you, right Buffy?" He asked still holding her too tightly and too intimately, in a way a father should never hold or touch their daughter. Bile had risen in Buffy's throat.
"Y-yes." She had stuttered out, wishing for this nightmare she called her life to end.
"Really? You love me?" He taunted and she nodded, trembling, not knowing what else to do.
"How much are you willing to prove it?" He had purred disgustingly by her ear. A tear had fallen as his grip tightened.
Buffy came to a stop in front of her house, panting and heaving as she choked on tears. Connor had terrified her. His breath, his close proximity, no one and nothing had ever been that close to her in three years. She tried to shake that fear, that feeling out of her bones, but she couldn't. There was a car honk and she glanced behind her, noticing Ethan wanting to pull into the driveway. A part of her couldn't believe she'd actually beat him here, another part of her couldn't believe she was still standing.
Beatrice came out. "Buffy?" She asked confused, wiping her hands on a cloth. A woman came out with a man. Beatrice walked in front of her, pulling her out of the driveway and into the grass.
"Why are you so sweaty?" She asked blinking at her neck and face.
"I-I ran here." She whispered.
"You-you ran here? Why?!" Beatrice asked, trying to keep her emotions in check, but Buffy could see the worry.
"I had a flashback." Buffy said, releasing a wet sob. The tears fell and Beatrice gripped her arms, glancing over her head to give a tense smile at Ethan and their guests.
"Just a moment, please." She says pulling Buffy close to her and up the stairs into the house, before up another flight of stairs and into Buffy's room.
"What happened?" Beatrice asked and Buffy sniffed.
"I can't go back down there." She said, dodging the question and Beatrice nods slowly.
"Okay, I can ask them to leave-." She started, but Buffy cut her off.
"Oh please, you probably invited them to dinner, don't worry about it. Don't send them away on the account of me Tris, I'm okay." Buffy said, trying to convince the both of them.
"Okay, but what happened?" Beatrice tried again and Buffy stared at her with damp eyes.
"I want to make my visits to Kate every Saturday." She said, ignoring the question and Beatrice was getting a tad impatient, but said nothing.
"Okay, you call her. Buffy please tell me, what do I tell Ethan?" Beatrice pleaded and Buffy just stared.
"I have to make a phone call." She said and Beatrice sighed, before nodding and hugging Buffy.
"If you want to talk." She offered, before leaving.
Buffy grabbed her phone with shaking hands and dialed the number, her lips quivering as she closed her eyes.
"Hello?" Kate's voice came in.
"Hi, it's Buffy. I um, was wondering if I could change these meetings to every Saturday instead of just every other one." She asked, her voice thick. There was silence.
"Yes, Buffy, of course. This is why you have them." She said and Buffy could practically see her pulling out a notepad to write something down.
"Do you wish to speak right now?" Kate asked and tears filled Buffy's eyes at the sound of her hopeful voice.
"No." She said, before inhaling silently.
"See you Saturday." Buffy finished, hanging up the phone before she got a response.