Buffy watched as her father's car pulled out of the driveway, jumping up and down with a huge smile on her face as he disappeared from sight.
She looked over at the clock then went rushing up the stairs, throwing herself together in record speed then rushing her mother and Dawn out the door.
It looked like she was getting to go to the Halloween dance after all.
Angel had asked her, surprisingly without being teased into it by her since she never brought it up figuring she wasn't going to be able to attend, but plans had sure changed now.
It was the best and only good news she'd had in the past week.
OoOoO
The previous week had started off with the cops hassling her and Angel and everyone around them. It wasn't a good way to kick off. And it hadn't really gotten any better since.
After Tuesday, Angel was no longer spending the night over. They both were unhappy with this. But on Wednesday, as predicted, her father had returned late in the night.
She didn't see it to be a good plan anymore.
He'd fought with her ever since about it. With them, it was now always a battle between fighting or pretending that everything was normal.
She wondered what was worse.
It didn't help that things got worse at home in the few days he had stuck around.
It hadn't taken long to learn about all the events that had been going on, the rumors, the stories... all of it. It took even less time for him to go into a blinding rage about it, making sure the three others under his roof remembered their place.
The new traces of abuse sure hadn't helped any. She supposed that was besides the point.
After seeing her condition worsen, at the first sign of it, Giles had reported to Child Services. She knew this the day after when he confronted her about it, told her everything, tried to get her to open up as he tried to explain... She wasn't really hearing him though. Her mind was too focused on the future, images of what she knew was probably going to happen to her.
She hadn't been surprise about the call though. It wasn't like she hadn't expected it. It wasn't like she hadn't dealt with this happening before. Buffy knew that he had a duty to report it. She figured Jenny probably had as well, she figured. No matter what she knew about her past, her history with this and what she meant to their family.
She knew that the librarian was worried about her. She knew he was trying to help, trying to do the right thing, trying to protect her.
She knew that he had no idea that he was only making it worse.
She was glad he told her though. She kept it to herself, not wanting to upset her sister and mother, not wanting him to find out. Really not wanting Angel to find out. But she was glad she at least knew.
She did her best to hurry and get caught up on her school work. It wasn't going as well as she'd hoped but it was something.
She'd found out about her mother's miscarriage after a phone call from the hospital and a little bit of snooping. She'd tried to get angry, tried to let sadness wash over her... but neither really worked. All she felt was guilt.
She never brought it up either.
And then there was Faith.
Ever since learning of Connor and Angel's visit to her old school and everything, she'd been having old feelings and memories rushing back to her. And apparently, she wasn't the only one.
Lindsay had called her, asking her how she felt about talking with, maybe even seeing, Faith again. She honestly had no idea. She just sort of expected that she never would again. That the two of them would just always have the past, a very terrible and painful one at that. And that they would just live with the guilty they both had from that night and move on.
Now... she didn't know.
He called every day to ask her. She wished she had an answer for him.
OoOoO
Buffy didn't know nor did she care why her father was leaving again. She was just glad he was gone.
She wasn't the only one.
It was like they all were breathing again.
OoOoO
Buffy stood waiting rather impatiently in front of Angel's locker, staring around trying to stop him as a few kids started to pile in.
Everything from the past week was forgotten about, at least for a few moments, as she let herself get excited about something again. And that she was. So much so that she almost knocked Angel down as she finally spotted him and went running over to him, jumping into his arms, which barely reacted in time to catch her.
"Ah shit," he started, stumbling around but smiling once he gathered himself back together. "Uh, hi?"
Buffy hugged him tighter then drew back, a large smile on her face. "Hi."
Angel chuckled. "Did I miss something?"
"I wanna go to the dance with you," she said then added shyly, "if you still want me to."
"I thought you couldn't go because of..."
"He's gone," she was glad to say. "I think for a week or two or something. I didn't care," she shrugged.
Angel smiled down at her, his head leaning in to drop a soft kiss on her lips. "Does this mean I can sneak into your room again?"
She laughed. "Only if you take me to the dance."
"I'm not dressing up in some dumb costume," he mumbled.
"Oh, yes you are and so am... I... oh, God, I have nothing to wear!"
Angel rolled his eyes and slowly lowered her feet back down to the ground before him.
OoOoO
Angel let out a huge sigh of relief as Buffy went running after Willow to discuss plans for the weekend.
There were no words to describe how glad he was to know Buffy's dad was gone again. To know she was safe again. It took everything in his power not to rush over there, find the son of a bitch, and... do something terribly stupid.
He still had no idea how he'd managed not to. He'd came close a few too many times.
He hadn't slept hardly any since the return.
He knew that Buffy didn't want him sneaking in during that time, afraid he'd get caught, afraid he'd do something but he'd protested and fought with her. This had only made her start pushing him away again so he stopped bringing it up. Instead, he started spending the night watching her house from his car. He made sure not to bring that up either.
OoOoO
Of all the things they could be doing, searching for Halloween costumes after school was not at the top of Angel's list.
Buffy and Willow were enjoying it though so he couldn't complain all that much he supposed. Plus, seeing some of the outfits Buffy was trying on wasn't all so bad either.
He still wanted to get out of here as soon as possible though.
"Thank God," Angel muttered almost three hours later as he paid for the two girls' outfits. If they would have taken any longer he was sure he would have left them here.
"We still haven't got anything for you," Buffy pointed out.
"I'll take care of it."
"You have to dress up."
"Yeah, yeah. I will," he grumbled.
"Will tights be involved?" she asked with a grin.
Angel turned to glare at her. "No."
"Can they be?" she asked hopeful, receiving another glare in return. "Pretty please?"