Chapter 3

"Hey Sam." Angel called as he walked in the front door of the local bar.

"You're late." Sam said, scratching is bulging stomach through his stained cotton shirt.

"I had detention." Angel replied, dropping his bag in the back room.

"Detention? What the hell you do now?"

"Yelled at a teacher."

"That doesn't seem so bad."

"It is when you threaten to kill them right along with it."

"You did what?" Sam yelled. The overweight man had known Angel for years. Angel's father used to come in here with him all the time when he was just a child. Sam remembered his father very well. Despite the fact that his version of taking care of his kids was bringing them into the bar with him while he got piss drunk, Sam knew that that man loved his kids more then anything in the world. That's why he left. Ever since the day that Jack had walked out of this bar, leaving his drunken wife screaming inside, Sam had taken up the job as father. Watching over Angel and Kathy since there mother never did. A few years back, after one of the many nights of his mother's drunken rage, Angel had come in here searching for a job. And despite all the rules and regulations, Sam had given him one. Without the meager salary that he paid the kid, him and his family would be evicted from their house with not much more then a blink of the eye.

"I don't want to talk about it." Angel responded, immediately picking up a glass to dry. In about another hour the people would start pouring in, trying to forget all about the lives they lead every day.

"If you get kicked out of school..."

"I'm not going to get kicked out. I just have to meet with the counselor every day after school so she can determine if I'm 'a danger to others'. Or at least that's what they tell me."

"What'd ya say?"

Angel shrugged his shoulders. "Something to the affect that I hope he gets what's coming to him."

"And that's considered a death threat?"

"I might have said something about a knife or a gun somewhere in there." He added quietly.

"Damn it boy. Do you realize how serious this is? If they think that you're a danger your ass will be thrown in juvy in a second. Do you want that to happen?"

"No." He mumbled. "It's not fair though Sam. I'm smarter then all those kids in that damn school, and yet I'm flunking seventy five percent of my classes."

"Try doing the work kid. I hear that helps."

"You try doing the work when you have a job and a baby sister and a drunken lay about for a mother." He seethed.

"She come home last night?" Sam asked, trying not to let the hint of worry creep into his voice.

"She came home. Although a part of me wishes she didn't."

"Don't talk about your mother that way. Without her you and Kathy would be out on the streets."

Angel laughed bitterly. "Believe me Sam, Kathy and I would be much better off without her around."

"That may be so. But I can tell you right now that without your mother, you and Kathy would be wasting away in an orphanage some where. Is that what you want?"

Angel was quiet. He knew that this would happen if anything ever did happen to his mother. But he couldn't decide which the lesser evil here was. "I better go get some more vodka from the back room; I have a feeling it's going to be busy tonight." He said, disappearing into the dank storage area.

By ten o'clock the bar was at its fullest. Every single booth was filled with men and women drinking away their pains. Trying to forget for even a second that they lived in a world like this. Angel was filling and refilling drinks as quick as he could while keeping one eye out for the start of any type of bar fight. He was surprised that one hadn't broken out yet. It wasn't uncommon on nights like this to have six or seven fights in the matter of a couple hours. The night was still early though and Angel knew he should just be enjoying the peace while it lasted.

"Rum and coke." A man who looked about in his early twenties ordered as he approached the bar. Without even looking Angel made the drink in record time and handed it over. "Start a tab, will ya?"

"Yeah. What's you're name?" He pulled out a pencil and paper and began to fill it out.

"Sadie."

Angel briefly glanced up when he answered, then went back to filling out the form. But something stuck with him. Slowly he lifted his head and there she was. Sadie's arm was flung around her shoulder, keeping an almost painful clasp on her. Her green eyes stared back at him as she realized that she was probably busted. "She twenty one?" He asked Sadie, the whole time though keeping his eyes on Buffy.

"Of course she is."

"I'll need to see some ID."

"Fine. Show him you ID baby." Sadie said, still keeping her close to his side. Buffy fumbled to get her wallet, her hands shaking badly. Slowly she pulled out the fake card and handed it over to Angel.

He examined it for a moment, debating weather of not he should call her on this. But there was no way he could prove that she wasn't twenty one, and to tell the truth, he didn't have enough energy in him to even try.

"Alright," he said, sliding the card back towards her. "What can I get for you Ms. Garner?" He asked, using the fake name that showed up on her card.

"Just a beer. Please." She added as an after thought.

Angel just nodded and got her drink, watching as the two of them went to sit down at one of the only open seats in the back.

"She old enough?" Sam asked him.

Angel just looked at her for a moment before sighing and going back to work. "Yeah, she's old enough." He lied straight through his teeth.

By two in the morning only a few people remained. These were the regulars. People that came in every day at the same time, and left at the same time. If it wasn't for the bar having to close, Angel figured they would never leave. They'd just sit in one of the stools for the rest of their life, letting the world pass them by.

"If only I was that lucky." He muttered to himself as he finished drying the last of the shot glasses.

"Angel!" Sam yelled from across the room. "You've got a call."

Angel looked at him strangely as he picked up the phone. "Yeah?"

"Angel? This is Stacy, Emma's mom."

"Oh, hi Mrs. Morgan." He closed his eyes hoping for all the world that everything was okay. "What can I do for you?"

"Well, you're mother was supposed to pick Kathy up five hours ago, but she never showed up. I called your house several times but it says the phone lines disconnected."

"Yeah, we a… we're a little behind on our phone payments. Sorry. Look," he rubbed his eyes wearily, trying to hold back the stinging that seemed to come with tiredness. "I'll be getting off work in an hour; I'll pick her up on the way home."

"No, there's no need. Kathy's already fast asleep. I just wanted to let you know where she was. I'll take her to school tomorrow for you." She said, her voice softening as she heard the weariness that was creeping into Angel's voice.

"Really Mrs. Morgan, it's no problem…"

"Don't be silly Angel. I live twenty minutes out of your way. Just go home and get some sleep alright?"

"You sure?"

"Positive. Goodnight."

"Night," he hung up the phone while leaning heavily on the counter.

"What's up?" Sam came over as soon as he saw the phone conversation end.

"Mom didn't pick up Kathy again." He sighed and looked at the clock. "Look, do you think I can skip the rest of my work tonight, I need to go and see if mom's okay."

"Yeah, no problem. I'll see you tomorrow night." He gave Angel a pat on the shoulder and watched him walk out of the bar while struggling to stay awake.

Once outside Angel pulled his coat closer to him as the night air bit into him. He felt like just lying down right there and sleeping for eternity. But he knew that he needed to get home, make sure everything was okay with his mother, make sure she had even made it home.

"Damn it." He heard a voice say as he was about to open his car door. Turning slowly he saw Buffy standing on the other side of the parking lot searching her surroundings.

"Everything okay?" He called out to her. She nearly jumped as she heard his voice. Talking to him at the moment was the last thing she wanted to do.

"I'm fine."

"You don't look fine." She ignored him and continued to search the lot. "You're friend left about ten minutes ago."

Buffy turned her eyes to the ground and shook her head. "Figures." Without another word she started walking towards the road.

"Do you need a lift?" He didn't know why he was doing this. Maybe it was because he felt sorry for her. Or maybe it was just the simple little fact that he didn't want to go home.

"No, I'm fine. I'll just walk the rest of the way home."

"The nearest town is over ten miles away." He stated. The bar that they were currently at was out in the middle of nowhere. It was supposed to keep the drunks from disturbing the rest of the neighborhood during the night.

"I need the exercise." She said as she continued on.

"Look, it's really no big deal or anything. I'm headed that way anyways." She still continued to walk. "I'm not letting you walk home by yourself."

"I've done it before." She said as she turned to him. Buffy was surprised to see genuine concern etched on his face.

"You could get hurt."

She laughed bitterly. "I think I can take it."

"Look, please let me drive you home. I promise I won't try anything."

She looked at him for a beat, debating whether or not this was a smart thing to do. Shaking her head slightly she walked back towards him. "I'm going to regret this." She mumbled to herself as he opened the passenger door for her.

An awkward silence filled the car when they were both comfortably seated. The heater was blasting, trying desperately to ward off the chill that clung to the interior of the car. Buffy just sat though biting her lower lip, trying to think of something to say.

"Thanks for not busting me."

Angel just nodded.

"Not many people would do that." She went on, trying to get some sort of response out of him. "So why did you?"

He was silent for a long time, silent to the point where she thought that he wasn't going to answer her. Finally his words broke the surface though. "You looked like you were having a bad day. And I know how it feels to have one of those."

She studied him out of the corner of her eye. Who was this boy who she had seemingly just met? He was so different from the others. Thoughtful in a way that most high schoolers didn't even have the maturity level to maintain. He looked as if he had seen too much of life already, and for that reason alone, Buffy was drawn to him.

Neither on of them spoke for the rest of the ride except for when Buffy had to give him directions to her house. He was shocked when he realized that she was the daughter of the most loved man in town, but he refused to show it.

Biding her goodbye she climbed out of the car, smiling when she realized that Angel wasn't going to take off until she had safely reached her house. She couldn't even remember one incident where a guy thought of her safety first. Grinning for the first time in a long time she slipped inside the door leaving Angel in the night.

When the door closed Angel slowly pulled out of her driveway and made his way home. It wasn't until about halfway there that he realized that she was the girl hiding her scars in his dream.