Later that Night
"So what are you going to do then Buffy?" Willow asked.
"I don't know. If I go after him as I wish, his buddies could make all our lives very hard… but if I don't then… well he could do it to some other girl and that I couldn't live with."
"I think you should go after this jerk Buffy." Cordelia said.
"Cordy but you guys… I don't want to drag you guys into this."
"Buffy we're the ones who set you up with him in the first place. If it weren't for us you wouldn't be in this predicament anyway." Willow told her friend.
"Willow please…guys I don't blame you. You guys were trying to help and you didn't know."
"No matter what, we'll always feel responsible." Oz said giving his sister a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
"You don't need to." She said snuggling into his hug.
"So what are you going to do Buffy?" Angel asked her.
"I don't know. What do you guys think I should do?" She said pulling away from her brothers' embrace and looking at her friends.
"I think you should go on with this. I mean…do you really want to let him get away with this?" Cordelia asked her.
"I just don't want there to be trouble for you guys." She told him.
"I eat trouble for breakfast." Said Willow with a smile.
"But, oddly enough she panics in the face of breakfast foods." Xander said to everyone else in the room causing everyone to laugh and Willows face to turn a bright red.
Oz wrapped an arm around his blushing girlfriend and looked back at his sister. "I think you should do it. We can handle whatever they throw at us."
Buffy only nodded.
The Next Afternoon
"So…what do you want to do tonight?" Spike asked Buffy as he leaned on the door of her room.
"The samething we do every night Pinky…"
"Try to take over the world." Spike finished with a laugh.
"I don't know." She said closing the magazine she was reading.
"How about we go to the Bronze?"
"What happened with Faith?" She asked raising an eyebrow.
"Nothing happened with Faith. Why you ask?"
"She just hasn't been around for a while."
"Well…" Spike said coming into her room and sitting on her desk chair. "Faith doesn't feel comfortable around you right now."
"Why not?"
"Faith was rapped by her father when she was eleven years old." He told her, his head bowed down. Just thinking about the look on Faiths face when she told him the story made his heart hurt.
"Oh my god. I can't… wait she said she never met her father."
"She hadn't. One day he came by the house drunk trying to get back together with her mum. Her mum wasn't home, and when Faith told him that he grabbed her and shoved her against the wall and took her right there. He slapped her up, calling her a bitch and calling out her mums name."
"No one heard her yelling?"
"They lived in a rough neighborhood in Boston. No one would have cared had they even heard her."
"Oh my gosh that is horrible."
"Yeah…after wards when her mum came home, high as hell, she told her what happened. Her mum laughed at her and told her that was her daddy."
"Oh…poor Faith."
"She told me she wouldn't be around much. Just listening to you tell your story and seeing you go through all of this was making her remember and that wasn't something she wanted to do."
"I can't blame her." Buffy said thoughtfully.
"Anyways…want to get something to eat?"
"Did you notice that that is the only thing we ever do?"
"I know but food is good." He said standing up and extending a hand to her. "So my fair maiden will you join me?" He asked in his best English elite voice.
"Oh course kind sr." She replied laughing and letting him help her up.
Later that Evening
Buffy was lying on her bed thinking about all that had happened. She still wasn't sure if this was something she wanted to pursue but her friends told her to go for it if she wished and not to worry about them.
"Knock Knock." Angel said from the doorway.
"Hey." She replied sitting up in her bed. "Come in."
"Thanks. Um… I just wanted to see how you were doing."
"Okay I guess. I mean this is kind of a hard decision you know?"
"Yeah I can imagine." He answered as he sat down at the edge of her bed.
"So what's up?"
"Nothing…just wanted to see how you were. I know I haven't seen you much in the past few days. It's just been really crazy at work."
"It's okay, your life shouldn't have to stop just because of me."
Angel just nodded his head.
"Angel…what's wrong?" She asked placing her hand on his shoulder.
Angel just shook his head.
"Angel please tell me."
"I just…" He said looking up, tears in his eyes. "I'm so sorry Buffy. I…I…" He said turning away.
"Sorry for what Angel? You didn't do anything."
"That's the point. I didn't do anything. Riley rapped you and I did nothing to stop it."
"Angel you couldn't have known. You weren't even there."
"But I knew… I knew what he was like Buffy."
"How?"
"Riley… he's done it before. To my sister."