Title: Devastating Past
Author: Valerie
E-mail: funbreath@msn.com
Disclaimer: they don't belong to me
Summary: AU Angel is new at Sunnydale High. He meets Buffy and the gang. They think he's just a regular kid. Not likely.
Timeline: during season 2 of BTVS...sorta. Let's just say that Buffy and the gang are in their Junior year in Sunnydale High.
Spoilers: as far as alternate universe goes...almost nothing. References on demons from BTVS and Angel from time to time, but that's about it
Rating: R
Distribution: You can take it but ask me first please.
Feedback: That's a big big big yes!!!!! It's my first fic, so please?
*********
36.
Crawford Street was only a couple blocks away from Angel's apartment, next to Delancey Cemetery. As the group neared the mansion, they could hear louder and louder the chanting, signaling that the vampires were still in the middle of the preparation for the ritual of that night. They watched silently in the main hall from the garden, and after a minute, Angel indicated to everyone what they should do. Clutching tightly a crossbow in his right hand and a stake in the other, the 18 year old warrior finally entered the mansion alone. Not willing to wait for pleasantries, he aimed his crossbow at the first vampires he could see, dusting two of them before anyone noticed his presence.
"Angel!" Morfran growled at the sight of the boy and shifted into game face instantly.
"Hey guys, ready to party?" Angel replied coolly, although he wasn't feeling that confident inside. He didn't expect THAT many vampires.
"Kill him!" Morfran ordered, and a group of vampires rushed towards Angel, who threw his crossbow behind him and grabbed his gun loaded with wooden bullets. He dusted three more, but soon they were too close, so he put the gun back into his pocket and blocked their punches. A tall blonde vampire tried to kick Angel in the back of his legs, but Angel's instincts were fully working, and he performed a back flip before the vamp could make him fall. In a smooth movement he landed on his feet and elbowed another vampire in the guts, then grabbed his neck and threw him against the other minions, knocking them on their asses. The blonde vamp attacked again and this time Angel didn't have time to dodge, and he received a hard punch in the jaw. But he ignored the pain, knowing that if he ever took time to check his wounds, the vamps would get him.
While Angel was fighting and the vamps busy trying to kill him, his friends had entered the mansion, spotting three humans chained to the wall. They silently went to them, dusting the two vamps who came on their way. More vampires came across Angel, as the young warrior tried to reach his main enemy. The vamps were overwhelming but it wasn't the first time he had to fight a mass of demons, so he handled himself fine, although he couldn't help but curse himself for not being able to get it over with in a minute.
"You are pathetic boy, I hope you realize that." Morfran laughed from his spot across the room as he watched Angel fight.
"Are you're a bloody coward!" Spike, who had decided to stay and help Angel, yelled angrily. *Oh bloody hell...* The peroxide blonde was clutching nervously at his stake while his friends were running out with the victims. *Pissing off a master vampire? NOT a smart move you wanker!* Spike cursed himself as Morfran growled his threat and lunged at him. After a miserably short fight with the vampire, Spike was unconscious, knocked out by a punch to his face, and Morfran was about to sink his fangs in his throat. Only to be violently thrown away by a petite pissed off blonde slayer.
"Slayer!" The disfigured vamp growled angrily.
"Nice to see ya again baby." Buffy smiled innocently. Without wasting any second, the two started fighting. Buffy chained up karate kicks and gymnastic jumps, roundhouses and somersaults, each time hitting her opponent in the chest, face or legs. She was angry at Angel and herself because of their fights, and her anger only gave her an advantage on the vampire. Still, he fought back with insistence and managed to kick her in the guts, throwing her across the room. She cried out in pain and surprise when she hit a strong body, making them both fall on the floor.
"You ok?" Angel asked her from under her body. The slayer nodded and rolled off her boyfriend, letting him stand up. He jumped above the sofa and attacked Morfran.
Buffy made a quick job of the few remaining vampires and sat on the floor, catching her breath, when the last was dusted. However, she wasn't offered a long moment of peace, because suddenly she heard her boyfriend cry out in pain. She was back on her feet in a second, grabbing a stake. Angel was being held against the wall by Morfran, his arm twisted around his back in what seemed like a VERY uncomfortable and probably VERY painful position. She could hear someone growling and assumed it was the vampire, but from her spot in the great hall she couldn't see Angel's face. The pain in his arm, chest and back, as Morfran repeatedly shoved him against the wall all the while pulling on his arm, was becoming unbearable, and his face had slipped into his vampiric features.
Without a second thought, Buffy slipped quietly behind Morfran, and eventually buried her stake in his back, piercing his heart. With a surprised gasp, the demon turned to dust and released Angel, who fell on the floor on his knees, his hurt legs unable to keep him standing up.
"Oh God, Angel, you ok?" Buffy kneeled behind him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Lemme help you stand up." She offered him, grabbing gently his arms. She was taken aback and hurt when he flinched at her touch, crawling away from her, without turning around. "Angel?"
"Don't touch me" Her boyfriend answered weakly, slightly shaking and holding his injured arm with his other one.
"What?" Buffy couldn't move, she wasn't able to pronounce anything else as she stared at Angel's back in distress. He couldn't even bear her touch? *What did I do?*
"Please, just go." From his tone, you could tell it was painful for him to say that, but Buffy couldn't think straight at that moment. She had tears in her eyes and her hands were shaking as well.
"I-I don't...why did...w-what?" The blonde stuttered helplessly, silently begging him to turn around and explain himself. But he remained a few feet away from her, sitting on the floor, holding his face with both hands.
Her scared voice broke his heart. He couldn't control his emotions right now, which meant that he couldn't shift back into his human features. He was afraid to speak too much, because sometimes his voice came out in a growl between his fangs. He couldn't deal with her finding out of his nature at that moment, so he didn't have any choice. She had to go. "Go." He told her one more time, and heard her stand up. He tried to focus on the noise she was making to figure out whether or not she was leaving. But suddenly he felt her small hand on his shoulder, and he flinched from her, turning around and burying his face deeper in his hands. "Stay AWAY from me!" He cried out, his voice coming out distorted like a growl. The slayer jumped away in fear and ran away, tears falling down her cheeks.
"God, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry" Angel fell helplessly on the ground, his throbbing heart making him forget the pain of his arm.
*****
After leading the hurt persons to the hospital, Fred, Carrie, Penn and Gunn had gone back to the mansion to find Spike, who had a big bruise on the head, and Angel talking quietly in the living room. Seeing the all too familiar brooding face of Angel, they hadn't asked any questions and directly drove him back to his apartment as he had instructed them. Then they had driven to Kristin's and called the library there. Jenny and Willow had performed the ritual with no mistake, which explained why Angel and Buffy had been able to fight the vamps with not too much trouble. After running away from the mansion, Buffy had walked to the library, quickly explaining the situation to her watcher, and then went back home with Willow and a surprisingly attentive Cordelia, where the three girls talked about Angel, their fight and his harsh words. On the other side of town, Angel was alone in his bed, ignoring the phone calls from his friends. He didn't want to hear whatever his sister or Faith had to say about his behavior. Talking to Spike was one thing. Confronting all of his friends at once, he couldn't. So he stayed in the dark, brooding all night, and feeling miserable. He stayed home all day on Sunday, not even going out to say goodbye to his friends who were going back to LA in the morning.
Around 2 in the afternoon, Angel was still in bed when a persistent knock on his door was heard. "You bloody ponce, take your bloody fucking ass to the door and let us in!" A loud British voice exclaimed, and then the knocking resumed harder than before. Reluctantly, Angel slipped out of bed and dragged his feet from the bedroom to the living room. Kristin, Faith and Spike were standing in the hallway and all three of them almost gasped at the sight before them. Angel was standing in front of them in boxers, his body was covered by bruises and cuts, he had dark circles under his eyes, which were both red and his gaze was pained.
"Wow, you look like shit!" Faith exclaimed after a minute, breaking the silence, and they all entered the apartment.
"Angel, you-"
Angel immediately interrupted his sister as he walked towards his bedroom. "I don't wanna hear it."
"Come on Angel, you need help!" Kristin persisted and exchanged a glance with Spike and Faith when Angel slammed the door of his bedroom behind him. They of course followed and entered the bedroom. Angel was crawling under the covers, seeking the warmth that would erase the cold world the fight with his girlfriend had dipped him in.
"Didn't she ever call?" Spike asked and sat on the chair at the desk, facing the bed where Faith and Kristin were sitting on both sides of Angel. The dark-haired boy simply shook his head.
"Did YOU call her?" Kristin then asked, soothingly stroking Angel's arm. He shook his head again.
"Jesus WILLIAM! You're PATHETIC!" Faith exclaimed suddenly, making her three friends jump in surprise. Angel's friends used rarely called him by his real name, and whenever Faith did it, it meant she was seriously pissed off.
Angel shrugged and glared at her. "What do you know? You don't even know her, you don't know how I'm feeling right now!"
"HOW are you feeling? If you told us instead of shying away and brooding like there's no tomorrow, maybe we could help you. Come on Peaches, try and share a little, will ya?" Spike suggested before his girlfriend could show how big her mouth was. His little chat with his best friend at the mansion had managed to calm him down and let him lose his vampiric features, but Angel had refused to share anything about whatever happened with Buffy.
"I love her." Angel stated after a moment of silence. "That's the problem. I'm in fucking LOVE with her!"
"Calm down Angel, there's no need to get angry." Kristin could see anger rising in her brother's eyes, and it made her wonder how she hadn't seen before just how deep his feelings for Buffy went. Sure, she knew he liked her at first and that he fell in love with her eventually, but seeing him so hurt and devastated, she suspected she had underestimated his feelings.
"I just...I just...I love her so much, I can't stand being away from her." Angel murmured sadly, clutching the covers closer to his face.
"Then what are you doing here instead of screwing her into oblivion in her bed?" Faith exclaimed bluntly, receiving a glare from Kristin and Spike. "What?" She whispered innocently at her friends, before turning to Angel again.
"We got into a fight yesterday afternoon. Then all that mess with Morfran happened and when it was over I...I..." He had replayed his words in his mind all night, and he hated himself for being so mean to her. He could feel tears forming in his eyes, but right now he was feeling so low that he didn't give a shit if his friends saw him crying. "Morfran was chocking me, and I couldn't help morphing...and I freaked out that she'd see my face so I yelled at her to go away. She was just looking at me and...I yelled and, god I made her cry!" Angel sobbed into his pillow, cursing himself for hurting her.
"Sweetie, you need to talk to her. Tell her the whole thing." Faith advised him while she rubbed his back.
"She'll hate me." Angel shook his head firmly, and Faith tried not to hit him on the head for being so stubborn. How did he expect this relationship to work out if he lied about his very self?
Kristin sighed deeply in annoyance. "First of all, she won't hate you. And then...you have to try something. Call her, touch her, kiss her, whatever but DO SOMETHING instead of being your pathetic self and brood 24-7!"
*****
"Feeling better?" Xander asked with his eyebrows raised as Buffy dusted off the last vamp. The both of them were patrolling on Sunday night, but Xander suspected that Buffy was mainly looking for punching balls.
"A lot better." The slayer nodded with a grin and sat back next to her best friend. "Do you think I should tell him?" She went back to their previous subject, before they got interrupted by the group of vampires.
"That you love him? Sure, it wouldn't hurt to be truthful from time to time."
Buffy turned around to face Xander with an amused smile. "Are you saying that so that we'd talk about you and Cordy?"
"Noooooo!" Xander shook his head nonchalantly then met Buffy's gaze and frowned. "Yes, please."
"You're still trying to ask her if she's ready to have sex?" Buffy guessed, remembering their conversation a few weeks before.
"Yeah, but I don't wanna make her think that I don't have feelings for her. I'm not just here for sex, but...ya know...we got pretty close lately, and..."
"I understand" Buffy patted him on the arm friendlily. "Believe me, I do."
"Did you get there with Angel, yet?"
"That's the main reason we're fighting these days. He thinks I don't trust him and that I think he'll cheat on me or something."
"Do you?"
"No, of course not. I trust him, but I want him to feel comfortable around me until I'm ready to sleep with him. I feel like I'm frustrating him. I don't want that." Buffy admitted with a sigh.
"Tell him you trust him and you love him." Xander suggested, making Buffy nod thoughtfully. "Simple but direct. There shouldn't be any misunderstandings."
*****
It was Monday morning, and Angel was woken up by a knock at the door. *What NOW? Can't a guy fucking stay in bed on a school day?* He hadn't planned to show up at school all day, since it would mean seeing Buffy, and he still hadn't figured out what he could tell her. He went to the door grumpily, opened the door and swore. "Oh you've gotta be fucking kidding me!"
*********
Author: Valerie
E-mail: funbreath@msn.com
Disclaimer: they don't belong to me
Summary: AU Angel is new at Sunnydale High. He meets Buffy and the gang. They think he's just a regular kid. Not likely.
Timeline: during season 2 of BTVS...sorta. Let's just say that Buffy and the gang are in their Junior year in Sunnydale High.
Spoilers: as far as alternate universe goes...almost nothing. References on demons from BTVS and Angel from time to time, but that's about it
Rating: R
Distribution: You can take it but ask me first please.
Feedback: That's a big big big yes!!!!! It's my first fic, so please?
*********
36.
Crawford Street was only a couple blocks away from Angel's apartment, next to Delancey Cemetery. As the group neared the mansion, they could hear louder and louder the chanting, signaling that the vampires were still in the middle of the preparation for the ritual of that night. They watched silently in the main hall from the garden, and after a minute, Angel indicated to everyone what they should do. Clutching tightly a crossbow in his right hand and a stake in the other, the 18 year old warrior finally entered the mansion alone. Not willing to wait for pleasantries, he aimed his crossbow at the first vampires he could see, dusting two of them before anyone noticed his presence.
"Angel!" Morfran growled at the sight of the boy and shifted into game face instantly.
"Hey guys, ready to party?" Angel replied coolly, although he wasn't feeling that confident inside. He didn't expect THAT many vampires.
"Kill him!" Morfran ordered, and a group of vampires rushed towards Angel, who threw his crossbow behind him and grabbed his gun loaded with wooden bullets. He dusted three more, but soon they were too close, so he put the gun back into his pocket and blocked their punches. A tall blonde vampire tried to kick Angel in the back of his legs, but Angel's instincts were fully working, and he performed a back flip before the vamp could make him fall. In a smooth movement he landed on his feet and elbowed another vampire in the guts, then grabbed his neck and threw him against the other minions, knocking them on their asses. The blonde vamp attacked again and this time Angel didn't have time to dodge, and he received a hard punch in the jaw. But he ignored the pain, knowing that if he ever took time to check his wounds, the vamps would get him.
While Angel was fighting and the vamps busy trying to kill him, his friends had entered the mansion, spotting three humans chained to the wall. They silently went to them, dusting the two vamps who came on their way. More vampires came across Angel, as the young warrior tried to reach his main enemy. The vamps were overwhelming but it wasn't the first time he had to fight a mass of demons, so he handled himself fine, although he couldn't help but curse himself for not being able to get it over with in a minute.
"You are pathetic boy, I hope you realize that." Morfran laughed from his spot across the room as he watched Angel fight.
"Are you're a bloody coward!" Spike, who had decided to stay and help Angel, yelled angrily. *Oh bloody hell...* The peroxide blonde was clutching nervously at his stake while his friends were running out with the victims. *Pissing off a master vampire? NOT a smart move you wanker!* Spike cursed himself as Morfran growled his threat and lunged at him. After a miserably short fight with the vampire, Spike was unconscious, knocked out by a punch to his face, and Morfran was about to sink his fangs in his throat. Only to be violently thrown away by a petite pissed off blonde slayer.
"Slayer!" The disfigured vamp growled angrily.
"Nice to see ya again baby." Buffy smiled innocently. Without wasting any second, the two started fighting. Buffy chained up karate kicks and gymnastic jumps, roundhouses and somersaults, each time hitting her opponent in the chest, face or legs. She was angry at Angel and herself because of their fights, and her anger only gave her an advantage on the vampire. Still, he fought back with insistence and managed to kick her in the guts, throwing her across the room. She cried out in pain and surprise when she hit a strong body, making them both fall on the floor.
"You ok?" Angel asked her from under her body. The slayer nodded and rolled off her boyfriend, letting him stand up. He jumped above the sofa and attacked Morfran.
Buffy made a quick job of the few remaining vampires and sat on the floor, catching her breath, when the last was dusted. However, she wasn't offered a long moment of peace, because suddenly she heard her boyfriend cry out in pain. She was back on her feet in a second, grabbing a stake. Angel was being held against the wall by Morfran, his arm twisted around his back in what seemed like a VERY uncomfortable and probably VERY painful position. She could hear someone growling and assumed it was the vampire, but from her spot in the great hall she couldn't see Angel's face. The pain in his arm, chest and back, as Morfran repeatedly shoved him against the wall all the while pulling on his arm, was becoming unbearable, and his face had slipped into his vampiric features.
Without a second thought, Buffy slipped quietly behind Morfran, and eventually buried her stake in his back, piercing his heart. With a surprised gasp, the demon turned to dust and released Angel, who fell on the floor on his knees, his hurt legs unable to keep him standing up.
"Oh God, Angel, you ok?" Buffy kneeled behind him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Lemme help you stand up." She offered him, grabbing gently his arms. She was taken aback and hurt when he flinched at her touch, crawling away from her, without turning around. "Angel?"
"Don't touch me" Her boyfriend answered weakly, slightly shaking and holding his injured arm with his other one.
"What?" Buffy couldn't move, she wasn't able to pronounce anything else as she stared at Angel's back in distress. He couldn't even bear her touch? *What did I do?*
"Please, just go." From his tone, you could tell it was painful for him to say that, but Buffy couldn't think straight at that moment. She had tears in her eyes and her hands were shaking as well.
"I-I don't...why did...w-what?" The blonde stuttered helplessly, silently begging him to turn around and explain himself. But he remained a few feet away from her, sitting on the floor, holding his face with both hands.
Her scared voice broke his heart. He couldn't control his emotions right now, which meant that he couldn't shift back into his human features. He was afraid to speak too much, because sometimes his voice came out in a growl between his fangs. He couldn't deal with her finding out of his nature at that moment, so he didn't have any choice. She had to go. "Go." He told her one more time, and heard her stand up. He tried to focus on the noise she was making to figure out whether or not she was leaving. But suddenly he felt her small hand on his shoulder, and he flinched from her, turning around and burying his face deeper in his hands. "Stay AWAY from me!" He cried out, his voice coming out distorted like a growl. The slayer jumped away in fear and ran away, tears falling down her cheeks.
"God, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry" Angel fell helplessly on the ground, his throbbing heart making him forget the pain of his arm.
*****
After leading the hurt persons to the hospital, Fred, Carrie, Penn and Gunn had gone back to the mansion to find Spike, who had a big bruise on the head, and Angel talking quietly in the living room. Seeing the all too familiar brooding face of Angel, they hadn't asked any questions and directly drove him back to his apartment as he had instructed them. Then they had driven to Kristin's and called the library there. Jenny and Willow had performed the ritual with no mistake, which explained why Angel and Buffy had been able to fight the vamps with not too much trouble. After running away from the mansion, Buffy had walked to the library, quickly explaining the situation to her watcher, and then went back home with Willow and a surprisingly attentive Cordelia, where the three girls talked about Angel, their fight and his harsh words. On the other side of town, Angel was alone in his bed, ignoring the phone calls from his friends. He didn't want to hear whatever his sister or Faith had to say about his behavior. Talking to Spike was one thing. Confronting all of his friends at once, he couldn't. So he stayed in the dark, brooding all night, and feeling miserable. He stayed home all day on Sunday, not even going out to say goodbye to his friends who were going back to LA in the morning.
Around 2 in the afternoon, Angel was still in bed when a persistent knock on his door was heard. "You bloody ponce, take your bloody fucking ass to the door and let us in!" A loud British voice exclaimed, and then the knocking resumed harder than before. Reluctantly, Angel slipped out of bed and dragged his feet from the bedroom to the living room. Kristin, Faith and Spike were standing in the hallway and all three of them almost gasped at the sight before them. Angel was standing in front of them in boxers, his body was covered by bruises and cuts, he had dark circles under his eyes, which were both red and his gaze was pained.
"Wow, you look like shit!" Faith exclaimed after a minute, breaking the silence, and they all entered the apartment.
"Angel, you-"
Angel immediately interrupted his sister as he walked towards his bedroom. "I don't wanna hear it."
"Come on Angel, you need help!" Kristin persisted and exchanged a glance with Spike and Faith when Angel slammed the door of his bedroom behind him. They of course followed and entered the bedroom. Angel was crawling under the covers, seeking the warmth that would erase the cold world the fight with his girlfriend had dipped him in.
"Didn't she ever call?" Spike asked and sat on the chair at the desk, facing the bed where Faith and Kristin were sitting on both sides of Angel. The dark-haired boy simply shook his head.
"Did YOU call her?" Kristin then asked, soothingly stroking Angel's arm. He shook his head again.
"Jesus WILLIAM! You're PATHETIC!" Faith exclaimed suddenly, making her three friends jump in surprise. Angel's friends used rarely called him by his real name, and whenever Faith did it, it meant she was seriously pissed off.
Angel shrugged and glared at her. "What do you know? You don't even know her, you don't know how I'm feeling right now!"
"HOW are you feeling? If you told us instead of shying away and brooding like there's no tomorrow, maybe we could help you. Come on Peaches, try and share a little, will ya?" Spike suggested before his girlfriend could show how big her mouth was. His little chat with his best friend at the mansion had managed to calm him down and let him lose his vampiric features, but Angel had refused to share anything about whatever happened with Buffy.
"I love her." Angel stated after a moment of silence. "That's the problem. I'm in fucking LOVE with her!"
"Calm down Angel, there's no need to get angry." Kristin could see anger rising in her brother's eyes, and it made her wonder how she hadn't seen before just how deep his feelings for Buffy went. Sure, she knew he liked her at first and that he fell in love with her eventually, but seeing him so hurt and devastated, she suspected she had underestimated his feelings.
"I just...I just...I love her so much, I can't stand being away from her." Angel murmured sadly, clutching the covers closer to his face.
"Then what are you doing here instead of screwing her into oblivion in her bed?" Faith exclaimed bluntly, receiving a glare from Kristin and Spike. "What?" She whispered innocently at her friends, before turning to Angel again.
"We got into a fight yesterday afternoon. Then all that mess with Morfran happened and when it was over I...I..." He had replayed his words in his mind all night, and he hated himself for being so mean to her. He could feel tears forming in his eyes, but right now he was feeling so low that he didn't give a shit if his friends saw him crying. "Morfran was chocking me, and I couldn't help morphing...and I freaked out that she'd see my face so I yelled at her to go away. She was just looking at me and...I yelled and, god I made her cry!" Angel sobbed into his pillow, cursing himself for hurting her.
"Sweetie, you need to talk to her. Tell her the whole thing." Faith advised him while she rubbed his back.
"She'll hate me." Angel shook his head firmly, and Faith tried not to hit him on the head for being so stubborn. How did he expect this relationship to work out if he lied about his very self?
Kristin sighed deeply in annoyance. "First of all, she won't hate you. And then...you have to try something. Call her, touch her, kiss her, whatever but DO SOMETHING instead of being your pathetic self and brood 24-7!"
*****
"Feeling better?" Xander asked with his eyebrows raised as Buffy dusted off the last vamp. The both of them were patrolling on Sunday night, but Xander suspected that Buffy was mainly looking for punching balls.
"A lot better." The slayer nodded with a grin and sat back next to her best friend. "Do you think I should tell him?" She went back to their previous subject, before they got interrupted by the group of vampires.
"That you love him? Sure, it wouldn't hurt to be truthful from time to time."
Buffy turned around to face Xander with an amused smile. "Are you saying that so that we'd talk about you and Cordy?"
"Noooooo!" Xander shook his head nonchalantly then met Buffy's gaze and frowned. "Yes, please."
"You're still trying to ask her if she's ready to have sex?" Buffy guessed, remembering their conversation a few weeks before.
"Yeah, but I don't wanna make her think that I don't have feelings for her. I'm not just here for sex, but...ya know...we got pretty close lately, and..."
"I understand" Buffy patted him on the arm friendlily. "Believe me, I do."
"Did you get there with Angel, yet?"
"That's the main reason we're fighting these days. He thinks I don't trust him and that I think he'll cheat on me or something."
"Do you?"
"No, of course not. I trust him, but I want him to feel comfortable around me until I'm ready to sleep with him. I feel like I'm frustrating him. I don't want that." Buffy admitted with a sigh.
"Tell him you trust him and you love him." Xander suggested, making Buffy nod thoughtfully. "Simple but direct. There shouldn't be any misunderstandings."
*****
It was Monday morning, and Angel was woken up by a knock at the door. *What NOW? Can't a guy fucking stay in bed on a school day?* He hadn't planned to show up at school all day, since it would mean seeing Buffy, and he still hadn't figured out what he could tell her. He went to the door grumpily, opened the door and swore. "Oh you've gotta be fucking kidding me!"
*********