A/N Eep! Sorry, sorry, sorry! I didnt mean for this to get out so late, but I was away from a computer for four days, and my brain shut down on this story. Thats kind of what historical stuff does to you.... Thank you to Tariq, Lozzi1403, melluvben, kittten ish, sandy-eco, ashy123, BAshipper101, and Katie for reviewing the last chapter.
Disclaimer: ALL Buffy characters are copyrighted to Joss Whedon, and all others who created the show.
Summary: Buffy's just a normal girl who's lost her way in the world, but what happens when another lost soul captures her heart, and refuses to give it back?
But It Feels So Right
The sun was warm on her face; the sound of waves had done a lot to clam her nerves, and the fact that she was out with her friends made Buffy feel happier than she had in a while.
She and Angel had picked up Willow and Xander at Willow's house, and driven down to the beach. They had been there for about an hour, and Buffy was beginning to wonder if the two of them were even going to question her about her absence from school.
Opening her eyes, she sat up and looked around, squinting at the ocean. Xander appeared to be trying to it on the surfboard, and when he finally seemed to gain his balance, Willow pushed him off, back into the water.
Buffy laughed, and smiled at her friends, who weren't aware she was watching them, then crossed her legs under herself, wondering if she should go join them. But before she could make up her mind whether to go or not, two large, soft hands quickly covered her eyes.
She jumped, frightened by the fact she that she didn't know whom it was, and the fact it had been so random.
"Guess who?"
The voice was deep, comforting, and Buffy immediately recognized it.
"Angel." She said, not even having to guess.
His hands left her eyes, and he moved to sit next to her, "Yep, how'd you guess?" he asked with fake disappointment.
"I was lucky." She replied.
He chuckled, and grabbed her around the waist, pulling her into his lap. She didn't protest against his actions, and laid her head back on is shoulder. He kissed her neck, the nibbled on her earlobe.
She giggled, and closed her eyes, enjoying the moment, before a splash of extremely cold water washed her out of her content state.
Buffy's eyes snapped open, and she screamed, jumping up in surprised. She looked around quickly trying to figure out who had done it, and saw that Angel was completely drenched and standing too. Willow and Xander standing behind where the two of them had been sitting with two buckets, laughing hysterically.
She scowled at them, "That wasn't funny guys!" she said shaking her head to get some of the water off.
Willow stopped laughing and looked at Buffy, "Yes it was." She said.
"Yeah, you should've seen you guy's faces." Xander chimed in as he stopped laughing.
"Yeah, but now I'm all wet and cold." Buffy said, pouting.
Angel put a towel over her shoulders, and wrapped his arms around her. "Better?"
She smiled and kissed him, "Yeah, but that doesn't do much for my cause."
Xander blinked and cleared his throat, "Ok guys, let's keep this PG while I'm around, ok."
She rolled her eyes at him, and Angel sat back down on the blanket they had set up. Buffy was just still a bit annoyed at the Willow and Xander from interrupting her moment with Angel, but she would get over it, after all, she had invited them.
"So Buffy, what have you been up to for the last week?" Willow asked, trying to start a conversation and to get Buffy to explain what had been going on like she had said she would over the phone.
"Nothing much." She lied, partially because she wanted to discuss what had happened to her with Willow alone, and so that Xander wouldn't freak out.
"Well, you skipped school for a while, tell me that wasn't fun." Xander said, smiling at her, not understanding that she hadn't been skipping, she had been hiding.
"It wasn't." she said monotonously, and Xander looked confused.
"You mean to tell me that you skipped out of school, and didn't have fun while doing so?" He asked, and then answered himself. "That is not something I would expect from a high school student.
"Sorry to disappoint you Xand, but I didn't skip to have fun, I needed some time to figure some stuff out, girl stuff."
Xander still looked clueless, and Buffy looked over at Angel hoping to get him to help her, but he stayed silent.
"Wait. You mean you skipped out of school to do girl stuff.... Like shopping?"
Buffy sighed, "No Xander, I was having trouble with my family, got confused and decided staying away from the school would be better for a while."
"What kind of family trouble?"
Buffy hesitated in answering him, then took a deep breath, "Well, that's kind of why I invited you guys here. You're my closest friends and I know I should have told you earlier."
Xander and Willow both looked confused and Buffy babbled about what she should've done, until Willow spoke up.
"What is it Buffy? You know you can tell us anything." She said.
Buffy sat down on the blanket next to Angel, Willow and Xander did the same, across from them.
"My father.... Well, he's not the greatest person in the world, and he sometimes gets mad at his job, or at me for stuff." she looked down, "So he can get violent. That's why I've been out of school."
Willow blinked, but didn't speak, making sure she had this right. She just couldn't believe that Buffy had gone through something like that and didn't tell her. A part of her was angry with her friend for not trusting her enough to tell her, but that feeling didn't overwhelm the feeling of guilt that this had happened.
Xander on the other hand was clearing upset, and angry, but it wasn't at Buffy, it was at her father, he couldn't believe someone would do that her. He also, like Willow, couldn't believe that Buffy hadn't told him about this.
"You weren't with your father that whole week, were you?" Xander asked, obviously concerned about Buffy's predicament.
"N-no. I've been staying with Angel for the last four or five days." She told him, looking back up at her friends, "I was kind of scared to go home."
That was the first time she had admitted her fears aloud, to Angel, or anyone else, and she was a little surprised that it didn't make her feel ashamed to say. Even though she did feel a little bit ashamed that she couldn't return to her own home and feel safe.
"And you had reason to be Buffy." Willow said, looking at Buffy and frowning, wondering how long this had been going on. But instead of asking questions, Willow left her comment as it was, and waited for her friend to continue, then Xander sighed as if some kind of bad realization hit him.
"Buffy?" He asked, and she nodded at him, "What are you going to do when your parents say that you have to go home? I mean, you are 'under-aged', so don't you have to live with them?"
She shook her head, "No, the police found out and my father's in jail.... For now at least, they're holding him there until the appeal."
"Appeal?"
"Yeah, I'm taking my father to court as recommended by the police. If I win the case, I can stay with Angel instead of my parents, and my father will most likely be sent to prison." She told them. "But I'm not really sure what will happen to my mother. I know they said she wouldn't be allowed to be my guardian because she witnessed the abuse and didn't do anything to prevent it, but I'm not sure what's going to happen to her."
Angel took Buffy's hand in his own, and looked at her, "Nothing bad's going to happen to your mom Buffy, but she might be in trouble for not doing anything."
Buffy glanced at him, "But she didn't do anything-"
"And that's exactly why she's going to be in trouble." He explained.
"It's not fair to her, it wasn't her fault." Buffy said, not knowing exactly why she was defending her mother, but it felt right to her.
Angel sighed, "Buffy, your mother let this happen all that time, and did nothing to stop it."
"I know. It's just, I don't want anything to happen to her."
Buffy leaned against Angel, and he wrapped his arms around her, both temporally forgetting that Willow and Xander were still there.
"Buffy?" Willow asked timidly.
Buffy looked at her, "Yeah Will?"
"I hope you win." She said, and Buffy knew she was referring to the case.
"Yeah Buff, put that guy where he belongs." Xander said.
It felt good to know that her friends were behind her in this, and that they weren't going to disown her because of it. She had always though people wouldn't like her because of what had happened to her, and that they would look down upon her.
Faith and Pike, and a couple of the other people in her 'old gang' understood, and had still been her friends, but that was mostly because they had had parents like that at one point, or had been in situations that had made them feel like she did. Buffy reminded herself to thank Faith for the advice she had given her on Monday, and maybe even spend some time with her old friends, that was, if Angel would let her out of the house.
Her old friends weren't exactly who he wanted her hanging around with, but she could probably win him over and spend a day or two with Faith after this whole thing with her father was over.
"Thanks guys." She said, half smiling at her friends.
Angel looked up at the sky where there now were some dark clouds blocking the sun. He glanced at the others.
"Maybe we should get out of here. That is, if we want to stay dry we should." He told them, and they then noticed the how dark it had gotten.
Buffy stood up, and the others quickly followed suit, "Angel's right, it looks like rain."
"Yeah, that would be a great idea." Willow said, and then added, "Unless you guys want to get soaked."
"Nah, c'mon, let's get going." Xander said.
He grabbed his surfboard, and Buffy wondered if he even knew how to surf. She shook off her thoughts when raindrops began to fall. Grabbing the blanket just as it began to pour, they all headed for Angel's car.
Angel was relieved that he had put the top up on his car, and that the convertible wasn't completely soaked on the inside as they all got in. As was everybody else, they were wet as it was and didn't really want to be sitting in a puddle.
Buffy looked at him and smiled, sure they were soaked, but she was happier. Her friends knew what was going on, and they didn't hate her for it, nor did they hate her for not telling them sooner. And on top of it all, she had pretty much had a good day. Spending almost the entire afternoon with Xander, Willow and Angel had been a great time for her, even if they had gotten rained out.
When he smiled back, she felt something warm inside her, despite the fact that she was shivering from the cold, and she liked it. It was the feeling she always got when she was with Angel. Warm, content, and happy, the way she wanted to feel all the time.
A/N Ok, a little better mood, I think, anyway, this story may take a trip back down that miserable road were everyone's angry and crying. Yeah, so, how am I doing? Do you guys hate me for updating so late? Did I mention I was sorry? Please Review!
Bloody SunSet
Disclaimer: ALL Buffy characters are copyrighted to Joss Whedon, and all others who created the show.
Summary: Buffy's just a normal girl who's lost her way in the world, but what happens when another lost soul captures her heart, and refuses to give it back?
But It Feels So Right
The sun was warm on her face; the sound of waves had done a lot to clam her nerves, and the fact that she was out with her friends made Buffy feel happier than she had in a while.
She and Angel had picked up Willow and Xander at Willow's house, and driven down to the beach. They had been there for about an hour, and Buffy was beginning to wonder if the two of them were even going to question her about her absence from school.
Opening her eyes, she sat up and looked around, squinting at the ocean. Xander appeared to be trying to it on the surfboard, and when he finally seemed to gain his balance, Willow pushed him off, back into the water.
Buffy laughed, and smiled at her friends, who weren't aware she was watching them, then crossed her legs under herself, wondering if she should go join them. But before she could make up her mind whether to go or not, two large, soft hands quickly covered her eyes.
She jumped, frightened by the fact she that she didn't know whom it was, and the fact it had been so random.
"Guess who?"
The voice was deep, comforting, and Buffy immediately recognized it.
"Angel." She said, not even having to guess.
His hands left her eyes, and he moved to sit next to her, "Yep, how'd you guess?" he asked with fake disappointment.
"I was lucky." She replied.
He chuckled, and grabbed her around the waist, pulling her into his lap. She didn't protest against his actions, and laid her head back on is shoulder. He kissed her neck, the nibbled on her earlobe.
She giggled, and closed her eyes, enjoying the moment, before a splash of extremely cold water washed her out of her content state.
Buffy's eyes snapped open, and she screamed, jumping up in surprised. She looked around quickly trying to figure out who had done it, and saw that Angel was completely drenched and standing too. Willow and Xander standing behind where the two of them had been sitting with two buckets, laughing hysterically.
She scowled at them, "That wasn't funny guys!" she said shaking her head to get some of the water off.
Willow stopped laughing and looked at Buffy, "Yes it was." She said.
"Yeah, you should've seen you guy's faces." Xander chimed in as he stopped laughing.
"Yeah, but now I'm all wet and cold." Buffy said, pouting.
Angel put a towel over her shoulders, and wrapped his arms around her. "Better?"
She smiled and kissed him, "Yeah, but that doesn't do much for my cause."
Xander blinked and cleared his throat, "Ok guys, let's keep this PG while I'm around, ok."
She rolled her eyes at him, and Angel sat back down on the blanket they had set up. Buffy was just still a bit annoyed at the Willow and Xander from interrupting her moment with Angel, but she would get over it, after all, she had invited them.
"So Buffy, what have you been up to for the last week?" Willow asked, trying to start a conversation and to get Buffy to explain what had been going on like she had said she would over the phone.
"Nothing much." She lied, partially because she wanted to discuss what had happened to her with Willow alone, and so that Xander wouldn't freak out.
"Well, you skipped school for a while, tell me that wasn't fun." Xander said, smiling at her, not understanding that she hadn't been skipping, she had been hiding.
"It wasn't." she said monotonously, and Xander looked confused.
"You mean to tell me that you skipped out of school, and didn't have fun while doing so?" He asked, and then answered himself. "That is not something I would expect from a high school student.
"Sorry to disappoint you Xand, but I didn't skip to have fun, I needed some time to figure some stuff out, girl stuff."
Xander still looked clueless, and Buffy looked over at Angel hoping to get him to help her, but he stayed silent.
"Wait. You mean you skipped out of school to do girl stuff.... Like shopping?"
Buffy sighed, "No Xander, I was having trouble with my family, got confused and decided staying away from the school would be better for a while."
"What kind of family trouble?"
Buffy hesitated in answering him, then took a deep breath, "Well, that's kind of why I invited you guys here. You're my closest friends and I know I should have told you earlier."
Xander and Willow both looked confused and Buffy babbled about what she should've done, until Willow spoke up.
"What is it Buffy? You know you can tell us anything." She said.
Buffy sat down on the blanket next to Angel, Willow and Xander did the same, across from them.
"My father.... Well, he's not the greatest person in the world, and he sometimes gets mad at his job, or at me for stuff." she looked down, "So he can get violent. That's why I've been out of school."
Willow blinked, but didn't speak, making sure she had this right. She just couldn't believe that Buffy had gone through something like that and didn't tell her. A part of her was angry with her friend for not trusting her enough to tell her, but that feeling didn't overwhelm the feeling of guilt that this had happened.
Xander on the other hand was clearing upset, and angry, but it wasn't at Buffy, it was at her father, he couldn't believe someone would do that her. He also, like Willow, couldn't believe that Buffy hadn't told him about this.
"You weren't with your father that whole week, were you?" Xander asked, obviously concerned about Buffy's predicament.
"N-no. I've been staying with Angel for the last four or five days." She told him, looking back up at her friends, "I was kind of scared to go home."
That was the first time she had admitted her fears aloud, to Angel, or anyone else, and she was a little surprised that it didn't make her feel ashamed to say. Even though she did feel a little bit ashamed that she couldn't return to her own home and feel safe.
"And you had reason to be Buffy." Willow said, looking at Buffy and frowning, wondering how long this had been going on. But instead of asking questions, Willow left her comment as it was, and waited for her friend to continue, then Xander sighed as if some kind of bad realization hit him.
"Buffy?" He asked, and she nodded at him, "What are you going to do when your parents say that you have to go home? I mean, you are 'under-aged', so don't you have to live with them?"
She shook her head, "No, the police found out and my father's in jail.... For now at least, they're holding him there until the appeal."
"Appeal?"
"Yeah, I'm taking my father to court as recommended by the police. If I win the case, I can stay with Angel instead of my parents, and my father will most likely be sent to prison." She told them. "But I'm not really sure what will happen to my mother. I know they said she wouldn't be allowed to be my guardian because she witnessed the abuse and didn't do anything to prevent it, but I'm not sure what's going to happen to her."
Angel took Buffy's hand in his own, and looked at her, "Nothing bad's going to happen to your mom Buffy, but she might be in trouble for not doing anything."
Buffy glanced at him, "But she didn't do anything-"
"And that's exactly why she's going to be in trouble." He explained.
"It's not fair to her, it wasn't her fault." Buffy said, not knowing exactly why she was defending her mother, but it felt right to her.
Angel sighed, "Buffy, your mother let this happen all that time, and did nothing to stop it."
"I know. It's just, I don't want anything to happen to her."
Buffy leaned against Angel, and he wrapped his arms around her, both temporally forgetting that Willow and Xander were still there.
"Buffy?" Willow asked timidly.
Buffy looked at her, "Yeah Will?"
"I hope you win." She said, and Buffy knew she was referring to the case.
"Yeah Buff, put that guy where he belongs." Xander said.
It felt good to know that her friends were behind her in this, and that they weren't going to disown her because of it. She had always though people wouldn't like her because of what had happened to her, and that they would look down upon her.
Faith and Pike, and a couple of the other people in her 'old gang' understood, and had still been her friends, but that was mostly because they had had parents like that at one point, or had been in situations that had made them feel like she did. Buffy reminded herself to thank Faith for the advice she had given her on Monday, and maybe even spend some time with her old friends, that was, if Angel would let her out of the house.
Her old friends weren't exactly who he wanted her hanging around with, but she could probably win him over and spend a day or two with Faith after this whole thing with her father was over.
"Thanks guys." She said, half smiling at her friends.
Angel looked up at the sky where there now were some dark clouds blocking the sun. He glanced at the others.
"Maybe we should get out of here. That is, if we want to stay dry we should." He told them, and they then noticed the how dark it had gotten.
Buffy stood up, and the others quickly followed suit, "Angel's right, it looks like rain."
"Yeah, that would be a great idea." Willow said, and then added, "Unless you guys want to get soaked."
"Nah, c'mon, let's get going." Xander said.
He grabbed his surfboard, and Buffy wondered if he even knew how to surf. She shook off her thoughts when raindrops began to fall. Grabbing the blanket just as it began to pour, they all headed for Angel's car.
Angel was relieved that he had put the top up on his car, and that the convertible wasn't completely soaked on the inside as they all got in. As was everybody else, they were wet as it was and didn't really want to be sitting in a puddle.
Buffy looked at him and smiled, sure they were soaked, but she was happier. Her friends knew what was going on, and they didn't hate her for it, nor did they hate her for not telling them sooner. And on top of it all, she had pretty much had a good day. Spending almost the entire afternoon with Xander, Willow and Angel had been a great time for her, even if they had gotten rained out.
When he smiled back, she felt something warm inside her, despite the fact that she was shivering from the cold, and she liked it. It was the feeling she always got when she was with Angel. Warm, content, and happy, the way she wanted to feel all the time.
A/N Ok, a little better mood, I think, anyway, this story may take a trip back down that miserable road were everyone's angry and crying. Yeah, so, how am I doing? Do you guys hate me for updating so late? Did I mention I was sorry? Please Review!
Bloody SunSet