I just wanted to say thank you to all those that supported me about the nasty review. You guys really put me in a better mood. It's people like that who make it hard to write, but like I said before I'm not gonna let some bad review get me down. I'm moving on. I really appreciated all of your comments. Don't worry; things will be okay with Buffy and Spike. I like to try and avoid conflict as much as I can. Things are finally gonna start happening in this chapter though. Sorry for what I did, but I needed that for what I had planned. Don't worry again, everything usually works out. Thanks again for the reviews. You guys are the best!
Chapter 20
Buffy and Spike walked into her house later that night to be greeted by Hank who was in the living room. "Where's mom?" Buffy asked.
"She had to go into the gallery and she took your sisters with her. I was hoping that we could talk." Buffy rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, well that's not gonna happen." She said as she started to head for the stairs when Spike cleared his throat. She sighed as she looked back at him and remembered that she would at least try talking to her father. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked at Hank. "Fine, what do you wanna talk about?" She asked and Hank walked over to her.
"I know you probably hate me right now, sweetheart. I know I haven't been a very good father and if I could go back and change things I would, but I want you to know that I never once stopped loving you. I never stopped thinking about you or your sisters. You girls still mean everything to me and I really want to come back here for real. If your mother would accept me back I promise that I will be a good father. I know I can never make up for walking out on you, but I would at least like to try." Buffy had tears in her eyes again and she didn't care if he saw it. She wanted him to know how much his leaving hurt her.
"I think it's a little too late for that. You can't just come back into our lives like nothing has happened and expect for us to just forgive you. I'm not the same naïve little girl anymore. My sisters are still young and they don't really remember you, so they might be forgiving, but I won't be as easy. Mom might even forgive you because I know she still loves you and she's tired of being alone. I just don't know if I will ever be able to trust you again." She said as the tears streamed down her face and noticed Hank shed a few tears of his own. Spike just stood there in silence because he knew Buffy had to get this off of her chest. "You were my hero. I used to tell all of my friends how great my father was. Imagine how I felt when I came home from school one day to find my mother in tears telling me that you took off leaving nothing but a note behind. Do you know that for all these years I blamed myself? I kept asking myself if it was my fault that you left. I believed that I was a terrible daughter and you left because of me, that maybe if I was better you would have stayed. Mom kept telling me it wasn't my fault, but I never listened. Seven years later and I'm still blaming myself. I now realize that it wasn't my fault. I was only 10-years-old, I didn't know any better. You on the other hand knew exactly what you were doing. You knew that you had a wife and three kids, one that was only a year old and you still left. It wasn't my fault and it wasn't their fault. It was yours and I see that now. You left because you had issues. You couldn't deal with all the responsibility of being a father, you needed to get out there and find yourself or whatever you wanna call it. Well, I hope you found what you're looking for because you lost one daughter in the process. I hope it was worth it." She finished as the tears continued to fall and Hank couldn't hold his tears in any longer as he walked closer to his daughter.
"I am so sorry, Buffy. I know that's not enough, but I would give anything to have my little girl back. I love you, honey. I plan on being here from now on, no matter what. I just hope that one day you can find it in your heart to forgive me, even though I know I don't deserve it." Buffy kept crying when Hank then walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her in a hug. She started to hug him back until she realized what was happening. She pushed him away and wiped at her tears angrily.
"No, you can't just do that. You can't just hug me and expect everything to be okay. I'm not that little girl anymore and no matter how hard you try, you can't get her back." Buffy looked at Spike and saw the sad expression on his face. "I'm sorry, I tried. I just can't do this." She said as she ran out of the house. Hank wasn't letting her go this time. He ran after her and Spike sighed. He waited a few seconds and then decided to go after them. Buffy ran into the street with Hank close behind her. Spike noticed that Buffy wasn't paying attention and saw the car that was headed for her.
"Buffy, look out!" He yelled to her and noticed that she stopped to stare at the car. She was in shock and couldn't seem to move. Spike tried to get to her as fast as he could, but Hank got there first. He suddenly grabbed Buffy and pushed her out of the way only to get hit by the car himself. He smashed into the windshield and fell on the ground. Buffy came out of her shock when she saw what happened and noticed that Hank wasn't moving.
"Daddy!" She yelled as she ran to his side. She had more tears falling down her face when she saw how badly he was hurt. Spike finally got to her and didn't know what to do. She looked up at him. "He's not moving, Spike." The driver came out of his car and ran over to them.
"God, I'm sorry. I didn't see him." Spike glared at the man.
"Make yourself useful and call 911." He told him and the man then ran back to his car to grab his cell phone. Spike turned his attention back to Buffy and wrapped his arms around her. "He'll be fine, love." He said trying to comfort her and she continued to cry as she rested her head on her father's chest. He kept hearing her whisper that she was sorry and Spike's heart broke for her. He really hoped that Hank would be okay as they waited for the ambulance to arrive.
