Chapter 5

"Vodka Tonic." The man at the bar said to Angel. Without a word he went and fixed the drink, helping feed into the mans delusions that everything would be okay once that alcohol got into his system. There was only one reason why people came to this bar out in the middle of no where. To get away. To get away from life and from their families, there jobs and responsibilities. Whatever it was got left at the door while men and women alike drank away their sorrows in a glass of the poison of their choice. And Angel served them seeing his father and his mother in each and every one of them.

"Angel?" Sam called from the back of the room

"Yeah?"

"Phone."

Angel immediately set down the glass he was drying and headed straight for the phone. He hesitated as the piece went up to his ear. No matter what it always seemed like a phone call was nothing but bad news. "Hello?"

"Hey it's me."

He breathed a sigh of relief. "Buffy, hey. What's up?"

"Look, I'm sorry for bothering you at work and all it's just…"

"What?"

"Kathy called. She was at home by herself."

"What?"

"Apparently your mother left her at some point and…"

"Call her and tell her that I'm on my way home."

"Angel wait! She's with me. I'm at your house. Don't worry. The moment she called I drove over. I just wanted you to know what had happened."

Angel looked at the clock nervously. He still had another four hours before he could head home. "How long can you stay?"

"As long as you need. My dad won't really care if I get in late or not. He's busy at the office tonight."

Angel detected the hint of anger in her voice but decided not to proceed any further. "Look, I'll talk to Sam and see if I can get home early."

"Don't worry about it. Just get here when you get here."

"You're sure?"

"Yes already. Now stop slacking off and get back to work." She joked.

"Thanks Buffy. I owe you." He hung up the phone with a smile.

He had been seeing a lot of her lately. Everyday she would pick Kathy up after school and drop her off at her babysitters. And like clockwork she called him to tell him that Kathy was fine. That she made it to the babysitters alright.

They hung out every possible minute they could. Which in actuality wasn't that much. They only had one class together and the rest of the day during lunch Angel usually spent studying or trying to knock out as much homework as possible. She would still sit with him though and give him her quiet company, usually writing in this little green booklet. They were lucky if they even got ten minutes to sit down face to face and actually talk. So any free moments were spent as near to each other as possible.

Angel liked her. He really did. She was the likes of something he had never even seen before. She was beyond gorgeous. So much in fact that he was surprised she didn't have a boyfriend. Sure she had plenty of guys talking about how much they wanted to nail her, but she wasn't in a serious relationship. She had been out on plenty of dates but not one of them had turned into something more. Rumors about her floated around the school though. There were thoughts that she was crazy and depressed everywhere you turned. He generally ignored them though because not a single second he had spent with her had shown any signs of her being anything else but nice. He practically spent every ounce of will power he possessed not to stare at her at times, or ask her out on a date. She hadn't dated guys for a reason and he wasn't about to push. Instead he just settled for being near her as much as possible. And if that's all that ever happened between them, he wouldn't complain.

"Buffy?"

"What sweetie?" Buffy sat in Angel's living room brushing out Kathy's long curly hair.

"Do you like my brother?"

"Of course I do. Why do you ask?"

Kathy frowned and fiddled with her teddy bears ears. "It's just…" she sighed dramatically, causing Buffy to smile at the attitude of the little girl. "He never talks to people."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know. I hear people say things about him though."

She stopped brushing her hair and turned the little girl around to look at her. "Who talks about your brother?"

"The people at school. They all say he's trouble and that nothing good can come with him. I don't get it. They say that he's a bad people…"

"Person." Buffy quietly corrected.

"Sorry. Person, but I never see him talk to anybody for them to know he's a bad person."

Buffy repeated the lines a couple more times in her head to try and get the little girls words straight. She knew she wasn't getting the whole story. Kathy was four. She didn't even understand half of what she heard.

"Your brother is a very good person. He's just is different then other people and that's sometimes hard for them to accept. I promise you though that he's not a bad person. He's one of the few good guys left."

Kathy nodded her head. "So you're not leaving then."

Buffy tilted her head and frowned. "Why do you think I'm leaving?" Kathy stayed silent. "Kathy, is there something that you're not supposed to tell me?"

"I wasn't supposed to hear him."

"Hear who?"

"Sam. He told one of his friends that everyone that Angel has ever cared for has let him down in life. They all left him. I was just wondering if you were going to leave too." She looked down at the ground ashamed at what she had overheard.

"Hey," Buffy tilted Kathy's head up. "I'm not going to leave your brother, or you. Nothing could make me leave you guys."

"Promise?"

"Promise. Now get to bed." Kathy smiled and hugged Buffy goodnight before running up to her room. All Buffy could do was sigh. She loved that little girl to death. Kathy played the part of the sister she never got to have.

Sighing she leaned back into the sofa and surveyed the room she was in. There was nothing special about it. A lone TV sat in the corner while a couple of stuffed chairs were thrown around the room. Several picture frames hung on the wall, containing photos mostly of Kathy as a baby and a few of Angel growing up. Not in a single one of those pictures was there a speck of light in Angel's eyes. He, like her, had grown up well before his time. Which was exactly the type of thing she didn't want to think of.

The things of Angels past that made him the way he was today was something of mixed feelings for her. On one hand she didn't know what had happened to him, she could only imagine. Her childhood played out practically like a nightmare so she had some idea of what kind of pain he had gone through. To hear someone else voice that they also had what is now called a "rough life" would be too much for her. Then on the other hand, she wanted to know what had happened to him. She wanted to help. But his mind was something of a mystery to her. He never voiced what he was feeling, pretending to always be so strong. That's all he knew though. He had to be strong for Kathy. Then there was also the dark feeling down inside that she hated to admit to herself. She was almost happy that his life has sucked. If he grew up normally, if he didn't have to worry about his family and be a part time provider, then he wouldn't' be the man he was today. He would be one of the so called popular kids. The brainiac and the jock. They would have never been friends.

This boy genuinely liked her. He was the first person in this town to actually befriend her. She was considered an outcast to the school and yet here he was talking and hanging out with her. She hadn't had that before. All the other guys in school wanted exactly one thing from her. To use her and then move on. But Angel was different. He was smart. He didn't care how she acted and he wanted to hear her opinion on things. And that was only one of the reasons on why she wouldn't share what was really going on in her life with him.

So they both talked about little things. They both smiled at each other as they walked down the hall. But neither of them knew what was actually going on in each others lives. Both refused to talk about it, the past too painful to open up. And for Buffy…? To tell him that her father wasn't the well loved guy everyone thought he was would just be a sure fire way to push him out of her life. She wouldn't tell him what was going on because all it would do was make him think that she was nothing more then a liar. He would become just like the rest of the town and think that all she was was another teenage statistic, thinking that her life was so much worse then others. Already she was dreading the day he would hear the rumors about her. She knew it would come eventually but it didn't' make that fear lessen.

Curling up on the side of the couch she laid her head down on the arm, trying as hard as she could to forget about her life. Trying to forget what she had become.

"Buffy." A slight shaking of the shoulders woke Buffy up. She hadn't even realized she had fallen asleep. "Buffy." Opening her eyes she saw Angel kneeling next to the sofa, looking like death ran over.

She furrowed her brow. "What happened?"

"What?"

She sat up and gave him a scrutinizing look. "What's wrong?"

"Nothings wrong."

"No, you've got something face. Tell me what happened." She sat up and pulled him up onto the sofa.

"I'm just tired."

"No," She put her hand to his forehead. "You're sick. God, Angel. You're burning up." Both of her cool little hands rested on his cheeks.

"I'm fine." He pulled away from her and got up to walk around a little bit.

"Angel sit down. You're not fine."

"Buffy, I told you. I'm just tired. It's been a long day for me."

She looked at him knowing full well that he wasn't about to admit that he wasn't feeling good. "Angel…"

"How's Kathy." He interrupted.

Buffy looked down at the ground. "She's fine." She didn't dare tell him what the girl had confided in her tonight. "She's upstairs asleep if you wanted to see her."

He nodded. "Did you need a ride home?"

"No," She got up and grabbed her purse. Suddenly the room had gone icy and she could feel him pushing her away. She had touched some sort of nerve in the last two minutes and she had no idea how to even fix it. "I drove my car here."

"You should probably call your dad and let him know that you're on your way home."

"I really don't think he cares." She was about to head out the door when his voice called out to her. He realized that he hadn't acted all the grateful to her. She just bailed him out of a tough situation for the second time this week and then when she showed some sort of concern he pushed her aside. But he just couldn't tell her what was going on. He couldn't look into her face and see the same pity that he used to get in his old town.

"Did you want to stay?"

She stopped, her hand inches from the door handle. "What?"

"It's… I didn't mean it like that. I… Well… It's just that it's three in the morning and I didn't know if… You being tired and all I just thought…." He shrugged his shoulders, trailing off.

"I'll be okay." A small smile danced across her lips. "Thanks for the offer though. Night."

"Buffy," He came up to the door to hold it open for her. "Thank you. You didn't have to come here tonight… I owe you big time. If there's ever anything I can do…"

"I think I'll think of something." She gave a mischievous smile and walked out the door, leaving Angel starring after her dumbfounded.

"Where the hell have you been?"

Buffy walked in the door and starred into her living room at the form of her drunken father. "I…"

"I come home after a long day and find that my only daughter is nowhere to be found."

"It was an emergency. A friend was in trouble. I just…"

"A friend? A friend!" He smashed his empty bear bottle into the fire place. "You're telling me that a friend is more important then your own damn father?" He stood up swaying towards her.

"I didn't know you were going to be home tonight." Buffy started backing up, knowing full well what might come tonight. She also knew that if she tried to run it would only make things worse. But when a man of Damons size walks towards you with the look that he gave her at that moment, your gut reaction will always be to back the hell away.

"It's nice to know that while I'm gone at work providing for this damn family you're out gallivanting around getting yourself into trouble. Haven't you brought me enough shame already?"

"It didn't get into any trouble. A friend was…" She didn't finish her sentence before he backhanded her, pushing her into the wall.

"I don't give a fuck about your friend." He grabbed her by her arm, dragging her up to his height. "You're not allowed out of this damn house anymore. You hear me? If I find you leave here then I swear to God that you won't be able to walk for a week." His voice stayed low, the smell of beer assaulting her nose. "Do you understand?"

"Yes."

Throwing her towards the stairs he smiled, leering down at her. "Good. Now be a good little girl and go upstairs and wait for me. I'll be there in a minute."

Angel sat up in his bed gasping for breath. His heart felt like it was about to jump out of his chest. Taking in gulping amounts of air he rushed downstairs heading straight for his phone.

"Pick up. Pick up." He pleaded with himself. The things he had seen played behind his eyes still while Buffy's screams resounded in his head.

"Hello?"

"Buffy?"

"Angel. What are you…?"

"Are you okay?"

Silence was on the other line. The only noise that seemed to come across either ends of the phone was Angel's panicked breathing. She was holding her breath and trying to figure out if what he had said was just real. He could possibly know.

"Buffy?"

"I'm fine." It came out as a whisper though.

"You're sure?"

"Yeah, look Angel it's late and I'm tired. I'll talk to you Monday." She hung up the phone before he could get another word in. Angel just leaned his head against the wall trying to calm himself. The dream that had awoken him was something he never wanted to see again. Something that he prayed wasn't true. Miles away Buffy hung up her phone and slid down the wall, crying herself to sleep.