Lindsey woke early the next morning, well before sunrise. As it usually was, it had been one hell of a weekend in the Dale. Peeking in their room as he exited the bathroom fresh from the shower, he took in the sight of them sleeping peacefully in one another's arms. Raking a hand through his long tendrils of hair, he briefly wondered when he'd grown so fucking soft as he quietly clicked the door back in place and tip toed down the stairs.
Shoving his dirty clothes into his duffel bag, he quickly finished dressing, before making his way into the kitchen to scribble a note. He hadn't wanted to wake them after yesterday, well that was a lie. He couldn't care less if he woke Angel up, but Buffy needed her rest, all this stress couldn't be easy on her right now. He didn't want to imagine the state his best friend would be left in if something happened to her or the baby. Hell, he'd barely survived losing her once, there was no doubt in his mind, it would destroy him to go through it again.
Briefly he considered really hunting the bitch down to shoot her, but he quickly nixed that idea, he looked terrible in orange. One thing was for certain, he had to convince them to get out of this hell hole. Grabbing his phone, he put an order in for doughnuts to be delivered a while later. Couldn't very well have Angel thinking he'd left because of a bruised ego...he just couldn't fathom a single minute longer in this god forsaken place.
OoOoO
Angel woke before Buffy, but remained motionless, simply enjoying the feel of her body pressed next to his, as he ignored all of the things he knew they would eventually have to deal with later.
He smiled slightly at the sight before him, he always loved how she looked when she slept, completely at peace, not a worry in the world. Her smooth thigh was slung between his own, her hands curled under her chin, the smallest amount of drool seeped from her mouth, as he relished in the feel of the tiny movements he could feel from her stomach pressed firmly against his side.
He unconsciously tightened his hold on her when she began to stir not wanting her to wake just yet.
"Mmm, good morning," she grumbled, burying her head further into him. One thing she was not was a morning person, "Morning beautiful,".
She stretched her body along the length of his, before finally blinking her eyes open to sneak a peek of him. Shocked at the image before her, she shot up at her first glance of him, "Oh my god," he looked terrible. Along with his busted lip, he now sported a nasty looking bruise on one of his cheek bones, and she could definitely make out some fainter ones around his neck.
"Did he fucking choke you!?" Oh she was going to kick his ass.
Angel winced, maybe he should have snuck out of bed before she woke up. He knew that it had to be bad to garner this reaction from her, this wasn't the first time they had woken up after a brawl.
"Shhh, I'm fine. It's nothing," he told her, scooting up against the headboard, as he tried to calm her.
"It is not fine! And it is not nothing, Angel! I am looking right at you!"
"I'm sure that it looks much worse than it feels, Buffy," he offered. He was feeling it, though, that was for sure. He was feeling his age right about now, he and Lindsey weren't exactly the spring chickens they once were. And Lindsey did know how to throw a fucking punch.
It did make him smile a little thinking of how awful Linds must look right about now and couldn't wait to rub that in his smug, broken face.
Buffy huffed out a breath of air. "You two belong in my preschool class," she muttered. She still had that to worry about when school got back in session. Thank goodness they had a long weekend so she could hold off on that meeting a couple more days. Her hand came down to cup his busted up face. "You should have let me at least do something to try and help last night. Maybe you wouldn't be so swollen and purple."
He shrugged, leaning more into her touch. "You could help me now..." Her lips twisted a little. "I bet you could find some way or another to help me feel better."
Angel could tell she was having an internal debate about giving into him or poking him in all his bruised and beaten parts but finally she laid back down in bed and snuggled back up to him, kissing those wounds instead. "Stop fighting with Lindsey," she said and he groaned a little. That was much, much easier said than done. "We have enough problems without you two reliving your glory days."
That was true and the weight of that statement held in the air around them for a long pause. Angel's hands lowered absentmindedly as his hands played around her growing belly, trying to see is he could get any response from the little one. There was nothing in this world he wouldn't do for his family but he hated feeling like he didn't know what exactly the what he needed to do was. He just hoped they'd get it figured out sooner than later so they could breathe again.
He needed Buffy to be safe, and more so, he needed their little one to be kept safe against all of this.
Buffy's lips were what distracted him from those worries, her soft lips pressing hard into his and making everything else slowly begin to fade away around them.
Angel grabbed her fingers that had begun dancing along his chest and slid it down his body, under the waistband of his boxers and used his hand to help wrap hers around his awaiting erection. Buffy squeezed him and he groaned as she began giving him the attention his body craved, her hand squeezing him lightly, stroking him base to tip in a lazy rhythm.
Angel's hand left hers in search of wanting to drive her just as crazy as she made him. He slipped a hand inside her little lace underwear she had on along with one of his old tee shirts finding her drenching wet already. One finger, then two slipped inside her heat easily and he used his sore wrist to slowly pump in and out of her. He matched her slow pace and increased his speed only as she did and he ate up the feeling of her hips beginning to rock against him and the moans falling from her lips.
Angel nearly ripped the teeny tiny underwear she had on off of her before pulling her on top of him. She pushed his boxers down out of the way and he quickly rid her of that old black tee shirt so that she was completely bare in front of him. Angel stroked himself once with the wetness of her still on his fingers before guiding his way to her entrance. Buffy adjusted her knees and he grabbed onto her thickening hips as she began pushing down on him. They both trembled as she moved, taking him in slowly, inch by inch.
Once he was fully seated inside of her, his hands reached out, grabbing her by the hair and pulling her to him. He put everything he had into that kiss, the stress of yesterday, his worries for today, his love for her for his entire life. Buffy let him tangle tongues with her until she needed to breathe and pulled away, her hips beginning to move again, pulling away from him until he was almost ready to fall out before slowly pushing back down again.
"You're killing me," he moaned, closing his eyes as she continued her slow ride.
Buffy chuckled. "Not yet."
OoOoO
Buffy laughed and yelped as she was flipped over, Angel unable to take anymore. His fingers stroked between her legs a couple of times before he entered her once more. Buffy felt her heart thundering in her chest as he began thrusting in and out of her, all toying and playfulness aside now.
His hands held her, almost hard enough to bruise, and she felt like the pressure building inside of her was going to drive her mad. She pleaded for it to break, to find release. Angel's hand slipped from her hip to brush and tease at her aching clit but not enough to give proper friction she desired. She pushed against him, her hips moving to try and create it but it wasn't working so she pleaded more with him.
Buffy felt him begin to probe her as she wished, his fingers circling her, massaging her into oblivion. Buffy screamed his name as she felt her arms and knees give out from under her and barely registered the laugh that came from behind her, the hands that just barely caught her and held her in place as he found his own release.
OoOoO
After sharing a very long, much needed shower, and getting dressed Angel walked toward Lindsey's room. His eyebrows furrowed as he looked around the room not seeing any sign of Lindsey. Some that he had in fact been here but none that he was still here that was.
He eyed the spots of blood on the couch as he walked past it and just met up with Buffy as she'd finished reading a little note left for them and held it out for him. "Motherfucker," he breathed out. He didn't like the sinking feeling in his stomach. He didn't like when Linds left on bad terms, even if shit hit the fan while they were together he always liked to have things back to normal before they parted. He didn't blame his ass for wanting to get out of Sunnydale but it stung all the same.
He made a joke about it but Buffy knew him too well and could see right through it. "Call him later," she said softly. "Make sure you two are alright."
Angel nodded. He still didn't like this, though. He was sure it wouldn't have been that different had Lindsey stayed as long as he'd intended, but in person was better than brushing past it over the phone. He'd have to deal though it seemed.
OoOoO
Angel felt slightly better after they got a surprise delivery of doughnuts and kolaches, with a note that read "I hope your fucking face hurts asshole…" and that it did.
Buffy had been right, he'd taken more of a beating than he thought, he still wished Lindsey hadn't run off before he could get a look at him though. He had tried calling earlier, but it went straight to his voicemail as he thought it would. He'd try again later, once he was sure he'd had time to get home from the airport.
They had spent the majority of the day running errands, they made a stop at Best Buy, investing in a set of security cameras, as well as one of those Ring doorbell things. He'd nearly purchased cameras for the inside of their home too, but Buffy had talked him out of it… for now anyways.
He put in a call to some local alarm company after they left the electronics store, they were going to be sending out a technician tomorrow to install a system, complete with both door and window alarms. At this point, there wasn't an expense he wasn't willing to spare to give them some sort of peace of mind.
He'd even debated suggesting to Buffy that she should quit the preschool again, for a little while at least, until things calmed down. But again he knew it wasn't fair to ask that of her, he couldn't expect her to completely shut down her life, even if it would calm his nerves to have her by his side twenty-four seven.
OoOoO
Buffy held her breath as she watched Angel climb back up the ladder, attempting to install the cameras himself. Too proud to just call Xander, though if he wobbled on that ladder one more time she was going to call him her damn self. She had tried to convince him that it could wait until tomorrow, that he should take some time to heal, but as usual he wasn't trying to hear it.
All day he'd been downplaying everything, but she saw the way he would wince when he thought she wasn't paying attention. The way he was attempting to use his left hand to lift things, instead of his dominant right. His voice was hoarse from the beating his neck had taken, she still couldn't believe fucking Lindsey stooped to that. He was lucky he tore ass out of here before she woke up, didn't mean he wasn't going to get an earful later, doughnuts didn't make up for fighting dirty.
Feeling guilty, Angel continued to try downplaying the fight. He kept trying to shoulder all of the blame to deter her anger from Lindsey, but she was smarter than that. Lindsey had definitely looked as if he'd been on the receiving end of a few more blows than Angel, but regardless that was no reason to fucking choke her husband. Not to the extent that bruises were left, he could have passed out, hit his head, anything could have happened. They were all too old for this shit, especially when they had very real enemies out there.
She had spent a great deal of time on the phone with a Detective from the police station earlier. Unfortunately, they told her that as of this moment she simply lacked the proper evidence to file a restraining order. There was no phone trail, no emails, no text messages. In the eyes of the law, it was still her word against Darla's.
The alleged attack hadn't occurred at their home, it had been on public property. Technically according to the officer the only guilty party in all of this was Lindsey, he even had the audacity to say that if anyone should be granted a restraining order it was Darla, against him!
The only thing they could do at this time was offer for a patrol car to make extra patrols through their neighborhood for the next week. She couldn't believe after everything the police weren't willing to help them at all. The only silver lining was that there was now a report tying
Darla to them, if she was stupid enough to try anything further, she'd definitely be able to get her legally for something, at least that's what she kept telling herself.
Watching Angel sway, then grasp the side of the house, she rushed over to grab the bottom of the ladder in an attempt to steady it.
"Damnit Buffy. Get away from the ladder," he snapped from above her.
"Oh I'm sorry," she shouted, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Next time, I'll just let you break your neck," she popped off, stomping back into the house.
Without thinking Angel slammed his fist into the side wall of the house, pain immediately shot through his bruised and beaten knuckles, radiating up his arm. He hadn't meant to snap at Buffy, tossing the stupid drill down to the ground, he carefully stepped off the ladder to go after her.
As soon as he walked in the door he rolled his eyes, hearing her on the phone, knowing she had fucking called Xander after he told her he had it.
"Can you just come over here, he's going to kill himself."
Crossing his arms across his chest, he huffed, staring at her as he leaned against the open doorway. Snatching the phone from her hands when she stepped within his reach, he quickly told Xander that he had things covered, and not to worry about coming over.
What a jackass. "You know, I'm starting to understand why your best friend tried choking you to death last night."
Ignoring her, he ended the phone call, tossing the device back onto the counter. "I told you I had it handled, Xander doesn't need to come to your rescue everytime a damn nail needs to be hung."
Hands on her hips, she made an over exaggeration of rolling her eyes. "You're being ridiculous."
"I'm your husband… ME," he used his thumbs to point at his chest, emphasizing his words. "I don't need Xander or Lindsey or anyone else swooping in to save the fucking day."
"Jealous much?"
"I. Am. Not. Jealous," he gritted out between clenched teeth.
"What, you think just because I'm pregnant there's nothing to be jealous of?"
Gripping the ends of his hair, he groaned in frustration. " What the hell are you talking about Buffy, is there something I should know?"
"Oh my god, you are fucking unbelievable," she began to shout as tears filled her eyes, "You know what? I'm done. I'm done with this conversation, I'm done with you! Go play fucking handy manny, but don't come crying to me when your ass falls off a two story ladder."
Grabbing her phone, she swatted at the salty tears that fell from the corner of her eye as she turned to run up the stairs. Hearing him shout something about her calling Lindsey, she chunked her phone back down the stairs. Hearing it shatter as it bounced down the wooden steps, she slammed the door to their bedroom with such force the walls shook throughout her room.
Buffy barely made her way to the foot of the bed before her legs all but gave out from under her, her entire body feeling as if it were on edge. She sniffled back some more of those tears threatening to overtake her as she put her hand on her stomach, feeling Baby Girl in there moving more than she'd felt thus far. "Sorry, I got you all worked up, too," she whispered. She loved the fluttering feeling from her moving around in there but she didn't like feeling it was because she was on the verge of a breakdown and stressed out like this. "It's going to be okay," she told the both of them. "Daddy and I don't always handle our stress very well. We're a work in progress, too, you know," she continued softly.
She wasn't even entirely sure what had even just happened. Her lid just finally exploded and he was already so on edge that it didn't take much for him to blow over again his own self.
They'd not had a single fight since they had gotten back together. Argued, yes, but none of this shit. And it had come in full force today.
OoOoO
Angel's head pounded, his hand throbbed, his heart slammed in his chest as he stared aimlessly in front of him, his vision blurry. He wasn't paying attention to where he was or the present anyway, his mind replaying several fights he and Buffy had gone through when they were at their worst with one another. His hands fisted at his sides, his throat closing up on him..
The phone now in pieces, some key words she'd said about her being done with him setting off alarms inside of him, triggering him more than he had expected. A panic he thought he'd never have to deal with again seized every inch of him and he felt like he couldn't breathe. He wasn't Buffy's husband having his first fight with her since they'd gotten back together in his mind right now, he was the version of himself when he realized there was nothing he could do to fix them, who'd lost everything and the only way he could survive day to day was by making himself hollow.
He didn't know why, some part of him knew this was not the proper response, but the rest of him couldn't help it. It was like he shut down on instinct.
He didn't know how long he'd just been standing there zoned out but the knock on the door brought him out of it enough to go answer the door. Xander's eyes widened as he opened the door. Angel didn't meet his eyes, he didn't bother with the small talk Xander tried doing and half explaining why he was there and half apologizing because he didn't know if he should actually come. On autopilot, Angel just told him it was alright, tried explaining where everything for the security system was, and made sure Xander knew to make sure Buffy wasn't alone, that if he needed to leave to please have someone else they knew they could trust with her. At least for now.
He could feel Xander's eyes on him as he grabbed his keys and started for the door. "No offense, Angel... but you don't look like you should be driving..." Angel just shrugged, walking a few more steps. "Where are you going?"
"I don't know," he answered, his eyes downcast. He sat in the car for several minutes before he even put the key in.
OoOoO
Once she'd been able to, Buffy had gone to the bathroom, drawn a hot bath, playing music as loud as she could stand it to try and drown everything else out. She took her time with trying to relax, drying off,and with getting redressed. With a deep breath she finally started back downstairs and was surprised to find a very nervous Xander sitting on the edge of their coffee table, his leg bouncing a mile a minute. "Hey, Xan."
"Buf," he greeted. "Angel was looking pretty messed up."
She rolled her eyes. "You know him and Lindsey."
"Yeah. But beyond that. It wasn't hard to pick up on tension in the air when you called and all that-"
"Which I'm sorry for. He's being an ass and I just wanted to make sure he didn't kill himself. But, you can probably find him outside somewhere with his head bleeding all over the place." Obviously the bath hadn't helped that much she found.
"Actually, uh, no... he left."
"Oh."
"I don't know what's going on and honestly it's probably not any of my business. I just... I love you guys and you know that. And I don't like you two fighting anymore than I'm sure either of you do. And... I don't know, Buf. He looked... rough. Like, the shell of himself again rough. Standing in the courtroom while you guys got divorced rough, him visiting you at the hospital... that whole 'nobody's home' thing he did."
OoOoO
Not wanting to give Darla any insight into the current shit storm of his life, Angel bypassed Sunnydale. He couldn't be sure she wasn't somehow or another knowing what he was doing but he just drove until he didn't care anymore. Then he found the first bar that was already opened and went inside to find a seat.
He got a number of looks due to his current state as he made his way up, and as he ordered his first drink. Swallowing, he looked at the wooden counter and played along. "Should see the other guy." That seemed to ease the tension from others a bit and he sighed. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his phone to once more try and reach said "other guy."
After several more drinks, ignoring any and all phone calls and voicemails being left for him from anyone who wasn't named Lindsey, and many times of trying to call the asshole... he sighed, dialing the familiar number once more. When Lindsey still didn't answer he sighed, waiting for the message this time before speaking.
"Lindsey," he sighed, his voice tired. "Would you please answer your goddamn phone?" he swallowed, silence lingering. "She's going to win again," he finally spoke, his throat growing tighter as he said his worries out loud into the phone. "And this is how. I'm losing everything all over again. I see it... I don't know how to stop it. And I'm... I'm kind of losing it. At you, at Buffy..." he swallowed again. "Right now I'm having a hard time seeing how she's not better off without me. I know my side. I know I'll.. I'll not be okay. I wasn't okay. Maybe she was better off and I'm just really... really selfish..." he trailed off and the automated female voice started going off in his ear about what numbers to push for whatever options.
Angel ended the call and put his phone back in his pocket.
With everything, and the alcohol, he felt like he was just all over the place. One minute wanting to fight with all he had and the next wondering if she would be better off without him. He had been going insane the last couple of days trying to think of every possible way that he could keep them safe. Right now, leaving her, making sure he stayed away, seemed like his only sure fire option. Darla would have no reason to go after her if he was no longer in the picture.
Reaching into his slacks pocket, he threw enough bills on the bar to cover his tab. Luckily the bartender had informed him that there was a motel, albeit a little seedy, just across the street. He stumbled getting up from the bar stool he'd been occupying for the past several hours, as he waved a silent goodbye to the bar's other inhabitants.
Thankfully, the motel had a few vacancies, there was no way he could drive in this state. Using the key card to enter his room, he'd barely kicked his shoes off before he collapsed on the cheap motel bed. Digging his ringing phone out of his pocket, he said a silent prayer Lindsey had finally decided to call him back. Holding one eye open in an attempt to focus on the name flashing across the screen, he groaned seeing it was Cordelia… he most definitely wasn't answering that shit.
ButImBroken:
Cowritten with Scribes1015!