TITLE: Home Truths
AUTHOR: Sunny D
RATING: PG
DISCLAIMER: It's a Joss world
SPOILERS: BtVS S6 up to 'Flooded' and ANGEL S3 around 'Offspring'
SUMMARY: Buffy points out some painful truths to Angel following her resurrection
FEEDBACK: Makes me smile and can be sent to: shade_78@hotmail.com
DISTRIBUTION: Just let me know where to visit it.
Buffy and Angel sat quietly in the Hyperion office. He had spoken, asked her about college and since she was starring openly at him it was disconcerting that she hadn't heard.
"Buffy…?"
It was like a light flicked on behind her eyes and she came back to him.
"Mmmm?"
She was still starring; it was strange the way she did this now, like she didn't realise.
"What were you thinking?"
She looked away, pausing to think before speaking, in another way that was new to her.
"Life's so weird." She smiled a little, but there was pain in her eyes as she looked around the office. "You make decisions and you think they're going to come out a certain way and they just come out the way they want to…"
He waited patiently for her to continue. Since her return she'd been a closed book, he couldn't read her expressions the way he used to be able to and it was rare to get more than a sentence out of her.
"All you had in Sunnydale was me, and you left so that I could move on, have a better life. You came to L.A. and created a life for yourself, while mine fell apart, and now all I have is you. But I don't really have you either. Isn't that strange?"
"Buffy, I'm always here for you", he was quick to interject.
"No you're not", and here she looked at him, tears creeping into her voice, "I'm not trying to guilt-trip you or make you feel bad, but this is the hardest thing I've ever faced in my life and you're not there for me, you're here."
Angel swallowed painfully unable to think of anything to say in his defence, his mind tripping on the unexpected and ever-so-softly levelled accusation.
Buffy smiled awkwardly and rose.
"Remember in high school when we were just dizzy about each other and we were always going to be there for each other no matter what?"
Angel starred at the desk guiltily.
"It's okay, my mother was always going to be there to make everything better, Giles was always going to watch over me and my best friends were always going to be my best friends. Maybe they're just fairytales we make up. See you around Angel."
And she left.
No anger, no accusations, just gentle acceptance. Everybody she loved had let her down and she had come to him expecting him to be the rock she could lean on and he wasn't, because he'd built a new life for himself and it was easy to give up everything you had for the woman you loved when you had nothing.
"See you around Angel."
He felt a desperate need to go after her, say something, anything, because in the past, no matter what the crazy was, they'd always known the other person cared, and he longed to make it better again. But what could he say? What was going on with him? Demon babies, ex-lovers, old enemies and Cordelia..? How had he let all that cloud his mind? How could he think she didn't need him? How could he not want to spend every moment with her after nearly losing her forever? Had the love that burned so hot and bright in his silent heart burnt itself out?
Or maybe the jokers who dictated his actions and feelings had finally lost the plot and that's why his personality and behaviour were an inexplicable mess.
He turned to stare into the mechanical glass eye that followed his every move ignoring the surprise of the camera operator, shook his fist at it and yelled, "that's it Greenwalt, damn your scripts, I'm going after her," then ran for the door to find and reclaim the love of his un-dead life.
The End
AUTHOR: Sunny D
RATING: PG
DISCLAIMER: It's a Joss world
SPOILERS: BtVS S6 up to 'Flooded' and ANGEL S3 around 'Offspring'
SUMMARY: Buffy points out some painful truths to Angel following her resurrection
FEEDBACK: Makes me smile and can be sent to: shade_78@hotmail.com
DISTRIBUTION: Just let me know where to visit it.
Buffy and Angel sat quietly in the Hyperion office. He had spoken, asked her about college and since she was starring openly at him it was disconcerting that she hadn't heard.
"Buffy…?"
It was like a light flicked on behind her eyes and she came back to him.
"Mmmm?"
She was still starring; it was strange the way she did this now, like she didn't realise.
"What were you thinking?"
She looked away, pausing to think before speaking, in another way that was new to her.
"Life's so weird." She smiled a little, but there was pain in her eyes as she looked around the office. "You make decisions and you think they're going to come out a certain way and they just come out the way they want to…"
He waited patiently for her to continue. Since her return she'd been a closed book, he couldn't read her expressions the way he used to be able to and it was rare to get more than a sentence out of her.
"All you had in Sunnydale was me, and you left so that I could move on, have a better life. You came to L.A. and created a life for yourself, while mine fell apart, and now all I have is you. But I don't really have you either. Isn't that strange?"
"Buffy, I'm always here for you", he was quick to interject.
"No you're not", and here she looked at him, tears creeping into her voice, "I'm not trying to guilt-trip you or make you feel bad, but this is the hardest thing I've ever faced in my life and you're not there for me, you're here."
Angel swallowed painfully unable to think of anything to say in his defence, his mind tripping on the unexpected and ever-so-softly levelled accusation.
Buffy smiled awkwardly and rose.
"Remember in high school when we were just dizzy about each other and we were always going to be there for each other no matter what?"
Angel starred at the desk guiltily.
"It's okay, my mother was always going to be there to make everything better, Giles was always going to watch over me and my best friends were always going to be my best friends. Maybe they're just fairytales we make up. See you around Angel."
And she left.
No anger, no accusations, just gentle acceptance. Everybody she loved had let her down and she had come to him expecting him to be the rock she could lean on and he wasn't, because he'd built a new life for himself and it was easy to give up everything you had for the woman you loved when you had nothing.
"See you around Angel."
He felt a desperate need to go after her, say something, anything, because in the past, no matter what the crazy was, they'd always known the other person cared, and he longed to make it better again. But what could he say? What was going on with him? Demon babies, ex-lovers, old enemies and Cordelia..? How had he let all that cloud his mind? How could he think she didn't need him? How could he not want to spend every moment with her after nearly losing her forever? Had the love that burned so hot and bright in his silent heart burnt itself out?
Or maybe the jokers who dictated his actions and feelings had finally lost the plot and that's why his personality and behaviour were an inexplicable mess.
He turned to stare into the mechanical glass eye that followed his every move ignoring the surprise of the camera operator, shook his fist at it and yelled, "that's it Greenwalt, damn your scripts, I'm going after her," then ran for the door to find and reclaim the love of his un-dead life.
The End