Sorry for such a long wait for an update. Here it is. I hope you enjoy it. Please review I appreciate it.
In the morning Buffy woke up to the sound of the front door closing. She sat up and looked at the clock. Dawn had gone to school and Joyce would be at work already. Buffy stretched and moved the duvet off her. Putting her feet on the floor she sighed and rubbed her eyes.
Tia should be in school. I'm letting her down once again. Buffy thinks to herself, beating herself up again about how many times she let Tia down. Feeling the bed move behind her she looks over her shoulder and smiles at Angel rolling onto his side and looking up at her.
"You okay?" He asked quietly. While he waits for her reply he looks at Tia still asleep next to him. He never understood how she managed to get in between Buffy and Angel in the night but she always managed too. He smiled and rested his head next to her. Buffy smiles at the image in front of her.
"I'll be okay." Buffy replies and stands up, leaves the room and goes into the bathroom. Angel watches her goes and sighs as well.
In the bathroom Buffy looks at herself in the mirror. The bruising had gone from her neck and she didn't look as worn out but she still felt it. Moving her hand to her head she winces at the pain still coming from the bang on the head Kevin had given her. She then tries to move the bandaged wrist and groans in pain as she moves it slightly. She sighs once more and decides to leave the bathroom and get breakfast for her and Tia if she was awake.
Buffy looks in her room to see Tia sitting on the edge of the bed.
"Morning baby." Buffy says.
Tia smiled and runs to Buffy. "Is your arm better now?"
"Not yet."
"But Willow will fix it soon right?" Tia asked hopeful.
"Maybe."
Tia nods then moves to the bathroom to use the toilet. Buffy gives Angel a quick look before turning and going downstairs. She really didn't feel like talking to anyone today. She felt too much guilt.
Buffy gets to the kitchen and hears Tia running down the stairs and into the kitchen as well.
"What do you want sweet-pea?" Buffy says helping her onto a stool.
"Toast please."
Buffy puts a few slices of bread in the toaster as Angel walks in. He moves behind Buffy and kisses her gently on the cheek, rather then snuggling into the kiss like normal Buffy moves away to the fridge.
Angel felt her move and frowned a bit.
"Want some milk baby girl?" Buffy asks Tia ignoring Angel.
Tia looks at Angel then towards her mom, clearly seeing the tension Buffy just put in the room. "Yes please." She then answers.
"Tia why don't you go watch the T.V. while we make your toast." Angel says and Tia jumps down from her seat and moves to the living room.
Buffy sighs and doesn't look at Angel. He moves to her and wraps his arms around her. She tries to shrug out of his embrace but he holds tighter. She then uses her strength in one arm to push him off her. She turns to look at him, hurt clearly showing in his eyes.
"Don't touch me!" She snaps. "Don't be nice to me. I don't deserve it." Buffy now says tears filling her eyes.
Angel stands shocked. "Why shouldn't I be nice to you?" He questions.
"I'm no good. I let you down, Tia and Giles. I shouldn't have your help. I deserve all the crap that's happening to me."
Buffy's eyes break away from his as she talks. She looks at the floor .
Unsure whether he should approach her or not Angel took a slow step towards her.
"You deserve nothing but kindness and love Buffy. Everything that happened you didn't deserve it. Not one bit and you have let no one down."
"Really?! How can you say that?" Buffy almost shouts. "I can see how disappointed you are with me when it comes to Tia. I know Giles thinks I'm weak for letting a human hurt me. Mom's mad at me about all the choice's I've made. I can't even face the gang now that they know a human can beat me."
Angel puts his arms around her again and this time she let him, he felt her good arm wrap around him and her head rested on his chest.
"I can't do it. I can't do what people need me to do." She cries into him.
"Stop. Stop thinking all of that. No one is disappointed. We are just worried. Nothing gets you down Buffy. You're so strong. Don't let him beat you. He won't beat you. We all need you more then you could ever know. Especially Tia."
"I've ruined her life." Buffy says quietly.
"She's not even 6 yet Buffy. You couldn't ruin her life even if you tried. She has the strongest and most amazing mom in the world."
"I'm stopping her from going to school, from going out the house. I'm terrible."
"You're scared. You're trying to keep her safe. It's not terrible. If it continues then that's different but I know you Buffy. You bounce back and you'll think of a way to sort everything out and this time I'll be helping."
Buffy looks up at Angel. "What do I do?"
"Finish Tia's toast. She's hungry." Angel replies.
Buffy laughs and knows that in time Angel will help her through everything.
"But seriously for now rest. Recover and wait for Willow to find a spell for you're arm. When that's fixed we can work on other things. With Tia I'm sure we can do some reading with her. She's smart. She will be able to catch with a few days of missed school."
Buffy smiles and nods.
It got to midday and Buffy felt a lot better. She sat with Tia at the table looking at a book, Tia trying to read it when there was a knock at the door.
"Got to get that pumpkin." Buffy gets up and opens the door. "Hey."
"Hi, I found a spell for your arm. I can do it whenever you're ready." Willow says.
"Oh great. Erm... come in." Buffy smiles weakly and steps aside to let Willow in. Buffy shuts the door after she has a quick look outside.
"Hey Tia. What you reading?" Willow asks, moving to the little girl. Willow runs her hand over Tia's hear as she talks about her book and shows Willow the pictures.
Angel comes downstairs when he heard Willows voice hoping for good new on the spell.
Angel walks up to Buffy and wraps his arms around her waist and rests his chin on Buffy shoulder.
"How you feeling?" Angel whispers into Buffy's ear.
She smiles and turns her head to look at him. "Better. Willow has a spell to fix my arm."
"That's good." Angel smiles and leans in and gives Buffy a kiss on the lips.
At this point Willow looks over to her friend and sees Angel's arms around her, resting on her stomach and them sharing a kiss. Buffy had a small smile on which Willow was just able to see. She smiles at the happiness these two shared.
Buffy quickly pulls away from the kiss and Angel steps back. The happiness they so badly want was forced away once again and Willow's happiness from seeing them together went as well.
This is the way Buffy and Angel had to live. Being in love but not being allowed to express it. Willow couldn't think of how she would cope if she was unable to be with Tara.
"Ready for this?" Willow asked Buffy and she nods not making eye contact.
"I'll watch Tia." Angel says and moves to the little girl who was still reading her book.
Willow follows Buffy upstairs away from Tia. "Just so you know this might hurt a little." Willow warns.
Angel keeps Tia entertained while Buffy is upstairs.
"Angel can we go watch a movie?" Tia asked.
"Sure we can watch one after dinner." Angel replies.
"No in the cinema with sweeties." Tia smiled.
"Oh, I'm not sure. It will depend on your Mommy. Willow is helping her arm at the moment and she might not feel up to going out tonight." Angel tells the young girl. He knew Buffy wouldn't want to go out to the cinema when it was hard enough to get her out the house to the shops.
At that moment both Angel and Tia heard a muffled scream from upstairs.
"Is Mommy okay?" Tia asked concerned over the scream.
"It's her arm. She'll be okay." Angel says. He was itching to get upstairs.
"I'm sorry Buffy." Willow says trying to help Buffy but was completely unaware as to how she could help now.
Buffy lays on her back holding a pillow over her face with her good hand.
Willow has performed the spell and was waiting to see if it had worked when she heard a cracking sound and Buffy screamed into the pillow. She sat still waiting for Buffy to talk.
"Owww!" Buffy whined, moving the pillow away from her face and looks at her bad arm.
"I don't know what happened, it was meant to fix it." Willow panics.
"It's okay. It is better. Just didn't expect that much pain."
"I'm sorry."
"Will, don't be. It was annoying not being able to use it. The pains gone now." Buffy smiles.
"Can you move it?" Willow asks.
Buffy took a deep breathe and moved her fingers to make a fist, only a slight discomfort. Buffy then moved her arm up and bent it. It was nowhere near as painful as it had been.
Willow holds onto Buffy's hand and feels up the arm. She pushes on the bone and feels that it is now in a straight line again.
"It feels okay. Does it still hurt?" Willow asked.
"No, thank you." Buffy smiles.
"Buffy?" Willow asks and waits for Buffy to look at her after she sits up. "How are you? With everything? Angel?" she then asks.
Buffy looks down and fiddles with the hem of her top. "I'm okay." She then looks at Willow and knew Willow wasn't buying it.
"You and Angel seemed to get a little lost in that kiss downstairs. It must be tough having him here."
"It is. But it's better then not seeing him for months at a time. And don't worry, it hasn't gone any further then kissing. You don't need to worry we know the risks."
"What about when Tia has her own room?" Willow waits for a reply.
"Angel wouldn't come near me I bet. When he remembers what's happened to me, he seems to want to stay away from me." Buffy says sadly.
"It's not that Buffy. You were hurt. He hates the fact he couldn't protect you." Willow tries to make her feel better but it doesn't work.
Buffy smile and she stands up and makes her way downstairs to continue Tia's reading with her.
"Is it done?" Angel asks seeing Buffy, looking slightly pale.
"Yeah, all fixed." Buffy walks passed him and sits with Tia.
"We heard you scream." Tia states.
"Sorry baby. I'm okay. Willow fixed my arm. It's all good again"
While Buffy talks to Tia, Angel pulls Willow to the side. "What happened? Is she okay? She looks pale."
"She said it hurt, I didn't think it would hurt that much but the bones do feel like they are in line and she is able to move it now. It might just be the shock, she's still really stressed." Willow replies concerned for her friend.
"She's beating herself up over Tia. Says she's a bad mom. I don't know how to help her. With Kevin still out there she is shutting herself and Tia in here. I think she needs to report the incident."
"She won't though." Willow whispers back.
"Not unless we make her." Angel states.
Willow watches him and is confused. A moment later she understands Angels meaning. "She will never forgive you for making her report it."
"But she needs to feel safe, I can't protect her in the day. I can't protect Tia when she goes to school. And even if I did come face to face with him, Buffy wouldn't let me kill him. She won't admit it but she can't kill him. She can't take a humans life, no matter how scared she is. You've seen it in the past. The time she thought she killed Ted, she broke down. She wasn't the same. Willow, if she reports him the police can arrest him if he goes near Buffy. The school can be made aware that he is out to hurt Buffy and Tia, they can make sure he stays off the school grounds."
Willow looks concerned. She knew Buffy and if she wasn't ready to do something she would fight it. If Angel did call the police and made Buffy report it she would be so mad at Angel. But willow knew Angel was right. Buffy was stressed and she needed help. Help none of the Scoobies or Angel could give her. They were dealing with a human, they had to follow the law this time. "Make the call, I'll keep her in here so she doesn't hear you." Willow says and Angel smiles.
Willow walked to the table and sat next to Tia and listened to her read a few words. She looked at Buffy and saw the colour hadn't returned to her cheeks yet.
"Are you okay Buffy?" Willow says.
"Feels a big tingly." Buffy replies. Tia watches Buffy. Willow gave her the resolve face. "I'll be okay. Just..." She looks at Tia and smiles and then to Willow, her eyes glazed with ushered tears. "You know." Buffy then replies, knowing Willow knew her fears. Willow was now glad Angel was calling the police, hopefully Buffy would see the benefits of reporting Kevin when she starts to feel better.
Angel moved away from the girls and walked into the kitchen, he got the phone and called the police, he asked if an officer could come and gets a statement of an attack that has happened. He got the response that an officer would be with them as soon as possible. Angel hung up the phone and went to join the girls.
Willow stayed and made lunch for everyone then they played games together on the living room floor. It was an hour since Angel has called the police that the door finally went. Buffy got up and opened the door, her heart started to pound faster as she sees the police officer on her doorstep
"May I help you?" Buffy asks.
"I'm officer Rogers, I was asked to come here to take a statement from-" He looks at notepad. "Buffy Summers. Are you Miss Summers?"
"Yes but I didn't call anyone." Buffy replies. Then feels Angel behind her and she turns to look at him. "Did you call?"
"Yes, it will help." Angel says and opens the door a little further. "Come in officer." Angel says, avoding the sunlight.
"Thank you." Officer Rogers walks in through the door and smiles at Buffy.
"Please come sit down." Angel says showing Officer Rogers to the dining room. As he sits Buffy stares a hole into Angel.
He moves to her and says "Report Kevin and protection can be put into place at the school for Tia."
Buffy doesn't reply to Angel's words but looks back at Tia as Willow starts to move her upstairs.
"Willow knew too?" Buffy asks.
"Yeah." Angel says, hoping Buffy didn't feel violent today.
She sighed and looked again at Tia and Willow who had reached the top of the stairs and disappeared. She looks at Angel, trying to show him how hurt and angry she was about this choice being made for her, but she moved to the dining room and sat with Officer Rogers.
She sat in silence as the Officer got a pen and a sheet of paper out of his bag.
"Miss Summer are you able to tell me about the attack I am here to take a statement about?" he waited for a response.
Angel had sat next to Buffy and tried to take hand but she pulled it away. Buffy then looks at Rogers and sighs.
"It happened a few nights ago... ermm two nights ago. I was walking home when a guy grabbed me." says looking at her hands.
"Do you know who grabbed you?" Officer Rogers asks.
Buffy takes a moment then says, "Kevin J. Philli." she then waits,
"Who do you know him?" Rogers asks now.
"She raped me when I was 14." Officer Rogers looks at her with sorrow in his eyes. "He got me pregnant. He went to jail and got out some time last month." Buffy explains.
"I'm sorry to hear that. Do you know of the Officer that dealt with your case?"
Buffy shakes her head. "No, it was dealt with in L.A. We left after the court stuff had finished."
"Okay I will look into your case when I get back to my desk. Can you tell me about the attack?"
Buffy takes a deep breath and tries to keep her voice stead as she tells the officer everything that happened.
"Thank you Miss Summer. I will put in a restraining order and if he comes near you after that he will be arrested."
"What about my daughter?" Buffy asks more concerned for Tia's safety then her own. "He wants to hurt her I know he does."
"There will be a restraining order for her as well."
"If he turns up at her school the police will arrest him right away right? If the teachers see him they can keep him out of the school until police get there?" Buffy asks more panicked.
"Yes Miss Summers. I will make sure the school have a photo of him for easy identification and I will set strict guidelines to protect your daughter." Officer Rogers watches as Buffy nods her head. "I will make sure the law keeps her safe, what happened to you is terrible and should not have happened. I will work closely with you to keep you both safe."
Buffy nods and tries to smile but is fighting to keep her tears in.
"Thank you Officer." Angel says standing and walking to Officer Rogers to shake his hand.
Buffy stands and wipes her face of the few tears that fell. "Yes thank you."
"Miss Summer I would suggest keeping your daughter away from the school until I have contacted you to make sure that all procedures are put into place."
"Okay, thank you." Buffy says and looks at the Officer.
"If he comes near you get to a safe place and call 911 or me. Here is my number." He passes Buffy a card. "And someone will arrest him."
"What happens if I can't get away?" Buffy now asks knowing how close she came to being raped again she knew it might happen again.
"Don't think that way. Keep to public areas. As soon as he knows about this restraining order I'm sure he will leave town. Breaking it will put him back in jail and he will have to finish his previous sentence that he didn't do. But I will leave you to your day and be in contact soon."
"Thank you." Buffy says.
"Thanks Officer." Angel also says and walks him to the door. Officer Rogers leaves and Angel turns around to see Buffy no where insight.
Taking a deep unneeded breath Angel walks to the kitchen and sees Buffy sipping at a glass of water, he knew she was about to yell at him. He was ready for the fight. He did what he needed to do to protect his lover and her daughter.
What he wasn't ready for was the big hug Buffy gave him. She had put down he drink, walked to him and wrapped her arms around his waist, snuggling into his embrace.
"Thank you." She whispers.
"I love you. I always have and always will. I need and want to protect you." Angel replies kissing her head.