Hearing the sound of rain lightly pelting against the window was not helping her mood any, ever since she had even agreed to go out tonight she'd been filled with dread and just wanted to call and cancel. Sitting on the edge of the bed in just her towel, Buffy sighed, continuing to brush her hair as she stared into the open closet, debating what she should wear this evening.
Getting all dressed up and going out used to be some of her favorite things but lately it'd felt more similar to a chore than a good time. She had been completely unprepared for how hard the past year of her life was going to turn out to be, the past several months especially where it seemed everything got flipped upside down and shaken into oblivion. Sometimes she still had the worst time trying to understand how she even got here in the first place.
Buffy truly tried not to get stuck in some poor me mentality but that had moments of being easier said than done. She wasn't surprised when her parents sat her down to break the news of their impending divorce, if anything it was more surprising they had tried sticking it out together as long as they had, but the fallout had been what blindsided her.
Everything had been going relatively normal, as you would expect in these situations anyway, then without warning everything just changed. Basically overnight it felt like she'd lost her father, the man parading around now she didn't even recognize, and he sure as shit didn't want anything to do with her. He was vindictive and ruthless and plain awful and in the end her mother simply agreed to a mountain of things she never should have simply to get it over with.
And so now here they were, more often than not struggling just to have ends meet.
Never before had she been left to want for anything, she'd always had a roof over her head, food on the table, access to basically anything she desired without a second thought, so it was a real eye opener when the months continued on and any savings quickly started to dwindle down to next to nothing.
Her mother was a proud woman and did everything she could to not let anyone see how different their lives had become, and quite honestly as far as Buffy'd been concerned she was embarrassed more than anything else. Some part of her knew they were both being ridiculous but as long as they could fake it, that seemed to be the plan.
Slowly they started selling off random items from all over the house that they'd been left with in the first place until they were down to almost all the basics at this point, they'd recently started going through their clothes, shoes, any jewelry and accessories as well. Joyce hadn't really cared too much about cutting her wardrobe in half but for Buffy you might as well have stuck a dagger in her chest and gave it a big ol' twist. It was materialist as hell but she didn't care, she loved her clothes, she loved dressing up and the whole situation just freaking sucked. Hell, it'd hurt more being told to start going through her belongings than it did thinking about having to downgrade her car for crying out loud.
Joyce had gotten a new job, a better paying one but it still didn't match what Hank had been bringing in. She also was left nearly working herself to the bone, taking on any extra hours or projects made available just to try and bring a little extra in. Recently, Buffy had also started working part time around school but she was sure she'd be better off starving than having to put up with that place another second.
Standing, she walked over and sat her brush down at her vanity then started swiping through her hangers, pulling out a few items to throw together an outfit. In theory going out with some friends was supposed to be a nice break from the madness but it wasn't giving off those types of vibes tonight. Thankfully it wasn't some drunken rager or anything, not in any mood to deal with any of that mess tonight. It still had people though, and doing something other than laying in bed, wallowing in self pity, and therein lies the problem.
OoOoO
By the time she got there the rain had picked up enough to be pouring down so hard you could hardly see even a couple inches in front of you. Doing her best to pull into what she hoped was a parking spot, she cursed the sky, herself, and everyone else. Reaching into the back for her bag, she felt around for the umbrella she swore she had stashed in the floorboard only to come up empty.
"Of fucking course," she muttered out loud to herself. Eyeing the lights leading to the doorway, she wondered exactly how far she could make it before becoming completely drenched.
She was just about to tell herself to just stay in the car until it cleared up a little and head home when her phone buzzed at her side. Rolling her eyes, she checked the message that just came in and cursed some more. It was like Willow could read her damn mind sometimes, somehow knowing she was about bail and saying exactly the right thing to keep her from going through with it.
Squinting at the door again, she thought if she was going through with this she'd better make a run for it.
OoOoO
"Are you having a good time yet?"
Angel glanced over at his best friend as he took the newest bottle being offered from Lindsey's hand. "Nope," he answered simply enough, making Lindsey chuckle.
Walking back to his seat, Lindsey took a long drink and told Angel, not for the first time, how living a little wasn't going to kill him. Adding as he looked over his shoulder, "You seem mighty interested in the blonde over there."
Angel's fingers slightly tightened around the cold bottle, he'd been hoping no one, especially not Lindsey of all people knowing how he could be, a damn dog with a bone when he wanted to be, would have noticed that. Angel shrugged his shoulders, "Just people watchin', taking things in."
"Uh huh," Lindsey drawled, giving her another look. "Well, if you think you'll be alright for a minute, I'm going to go figure out where in the hell my date ran off to. I know it didn't take her no fifteen minutes to pee."
"Could've been a line," he lamely answered, but Lindsey wasn't even paying attention at that point. As always, he did find it funny though how Linds always seemed concerned about him being left on his own in social gatherings like this, like he was going to go get lost or who the fuck knew. But no, his ass was going to do what he always did, find somewhere to hole up at, sit there, and stay out of the damn way while wishing his ass would've stayed home.
OoOoO
"Someone has an admirer."
Buffy watched as Willow pointed behind her, "Oh my god, don't point him out."
She had met Willow last semester, a brainiac. She was a far cry from the type of girls she ran with in high school, but she was the best friend she had ever had. Stealing a glance over her shoulder, she tried to figure out who Willow was talking about, no one seemed to be looking at her, though there was one guy sitting alone at a table in the corner. Buffy couldn't quite place his face, but there was something familiar about him.
Her head shook, "I think I went to high school with him."
Since her father left she had tried to avoid anyone from her past life. She hadn't been the same girl then, and she wasn't exactly looking to invite anyone from the time in her life back in. It wasn't that she didn't miss any of her old friends, but sometimes it was easier to avoid rather than explaining what was going on with her and be forced to face it herself. Not to mention her old friends weren't the most understanding bunch, she had no doubt that if they were to catch wind of her situation she would instantly become the talk of the town.
"Why don't you go talk to him, it doesn't seem like he has a date."
Ever since Willow got with her boyfriend Oz she had been trying to set her up with someone. She got it, double dates weren't nearly as fun when there was no one for her to date. But her life was too much of a mess to even think about boys or dating. Not to mention dating someone meant getting close to them, and that definitely wasn't something she was ready for. She kept telling herself that she would start dating again once she had saved enough to get her own apartment, or at least be able to afford one of the dorms. Just the thought of taking someone back to her house, letting them see what her life had become, admitting how badly her and her mom were struggling was not something she wanted any part of.
OoOoO
"Jesus Christ, if you don't go fucking talk to her then I'm going to."
Angel took another sip from the beer he'd been nursing. "You have a date."
Angel looked on in horror as a look he knew all too well crossed his friends face. Lindsey didn't exactly have the reputation of a saint, the man was definitely the fan of a good chase. "Her name's Buffy, she was a cheerleader at Sunnydale."
"Ah," Lindsey nodded, suddenly understanding his hesitance. "So why don't you go talk to her? You never know, people change after high school, you have."
The thought was comical, Buffy was one of the most popular girls at Sunnydale High. Even though she had never treated him like Cordelia had, they still ran in the same circle and that was definitely a group he would rather avoid. His parents were a piece of work, they had him when they were still in high school themselves. His entire life they had treated him like nothing more than a burden, and then when he was older a means to an extra income. Poor didn't even begin to describe his childhood, and the whole town had known. That on top of the friends he ran with hadn't led him to the best of reputations. Certainly not the kind of guy Buffy Summers would ever give the time of day to.
"Girls like her don't change Linds, and I would rather not humiliate myself anymore than I already have by being here."
"Well fuck you too."
Angel just shrugged, it was the truth. He could think of about a million other ways he would rather be spending his night off. Throughout high school he had worked alongside a mechanic just outside of town, there he had learned everything he could, and when he graduated they had given him a promotion to lead. Giles, the owner, had unknowingly saved his life. He had been able to save up enough money over the summer to get a small apartment, it wasn't much, but it was his and it was a step above his trailer park roots.
OoOoO
As if she didn't have enough to worry about, Parker had shown up not longer after the party really got going. They had briefly dated during her first semester, she had thought he was a nice guy… until one night after she had a couple drinks and decided to crash at his place. The next day rumors were swirling that they had slept together, which was ridiculous since she had done little more than kiss his slimy ass. She didn't have any confirmation, she had never heard the words for herself, but there had plenty of jokes made at her expense, and they all circled back to him. Then to top it all off he had utterly humiliated her by basically dumping in front of a large group of their so-called friends. That had been her final straw, and what made her swear of dating all together. It was bad enough she was dealing with all of her mom's financial issues, she didn't need the extra stress of his crap too.
"Get off of me."
Parker cornered her when she came out of the bathroom, normally it didn't take much to get him to back off, but clearly he had been drinking, and was being a bit more rough than usual. Pushing on his chest, she tried to shove him off her, but the act only seemed to infuriate him. In the blink of an eye his finger latched onto her wrist, tight enough that she wouldn't be surprised if the move left bruises come morning. She was about a second away from using her knee to send him to the floor when a voice she didn't recognize intervened.
"She said to leave her alone."
She watched Parker's face turn, but his grip around her arms stayed firm, pinning them above her head. Her eyes darted to the man in question, it was the guy that Willow had pointed out from earlier. Now that she had a better look at him, she was sure that she recognized him. She didn't know him well, hell she didn't even remember his name, but she knew that he wasn't someone that anyone messed with in high school. She could recall more than a few times where he had been involved in some fight or another.
The last person he expected to be standing in front of him when exited the bathroom was Buffy, after losing sight of her earlier he had just assumed that she cut out to go to whatever after party was jumping on campus. At first he hadn't paid her too much attention, assuming that she was like every other girl around her, sneaking off into the corner with her boyfriend. But as he stepped closer, he heard the way the guy was talking to her, saw how rough he was being to her.
"I'm going to give you one chance to just walk away and we leave it at that," the dark haired stranger said, his voice had remained calm but left no room for questioning if he was threatening Parker or not.
Surprising no one, Parker didn't heed the warning and before she even knew it she was free of his grasp and Parker was left in a pool of his own blood. You couldn't have paid her to even attempt to explain what exactly had happened or how he'd moved that fast, everything seemed like it'd both moved in slow motion and happened all in one blink of the eye.
Shooting Parker one more annoyed look, her hero of the night casually just stepped around the heap Parker had become, ignoring his yelling, and started walking off.
Buffy looked at Parker, the faces of people staring, then hurried after him, her hands alternating rubbing at her arms. "Hey," she called softly, coming up closer to him. "Thank you. I don't know what his damn deal was nor do I even want to."
When he turned around, Buffy inhaled a sharp breath, forcing herself not to gain a nice shade of red or wobbly knees. "You okay?" he asked, reaching for what looked like a fresh bottle.
Her shoulders shrugged. "I guess, I mean more shaken up than anything. I'll probably have bruises tomorrow, lucky me. Are you okay? That looked like it hurt."
"I'll live. Is he your boyfriend?" the guy suddenly asked. "I mean it's not my place to judge anybody but if so, you might really want to rethink-"
"No," she quickly cut him off then awkwardly explained how she had once upon a time gone on a couple dates with the moron but that was it, how he'd pop up randomly and seemed to love harassing her, that was their relationship these days. He sat down at his table, processing what she'd said but didn't say anything. Starting to feel like she was wearing out her welcome here, she glanced around trying to spot where Willow had run off to, then tried again, "Thank you though, seriously..." she said, trailing off. "I'm sorry, I don't remember your name. I know that I know you, well not really, but I know who-"
"Angel," he cut her off.
"Angel," she repeated, testing the name out on her tongue. As soon as he'd said it it was like a lightbulb went off in her head, remembering him a bit more. They hadn't exactly run in the same circles but the name brought forth all the memories she did have, and all the chatter around town more than anything that he'd caused. "Thank you, Angel," she rectified from earlier. He still didn't answer so she took a step back but then, "I'm-I'm Buffy, by the way."
He took a long drink then sat the bottle back on the table. "I know who you are."
Something in the way he'd said that made her heart skip a beat or two, unsure if it'd been in a good way or not at this point. "Right," she said softly, feeling uncomfortable again. "Well, um, if there's anything I can do to thank you please let me know. Otherwise, I will jus.t.. I'll let you enjoy the rest of your evening, okay?"
OoOoO
"You remember earlier about the whole anything you can do to thank me bit?"
Buffy couldn't have hidden her surprise if she'd tried, nearly choking on her drink for a second, her head nodded. "Yeah. Hi again."
"Can you pretend to talk to me for a couple minutes?"
Her face crunched up in confusion. "We are talking?" she said but he just did that whole stone faced stare look again. Blinking, she reached to clean off a bit of her own table and offered him a seat. "You can have some nachos if you want, I just got them like three minutes ago." He eyed the small tray for a moment and her insides did a little happy dance when he took one. "Can I ask why you need me to have a pretend conversation with you?"
"I'm appeasing an annoying friend."
"That'll do it, won't it?" She asked, leading them into another brief lull of silence. He sure wasn't much of a talker. "Are you having a good time? You know, besides that whole ordeal earlier..."
"Not particularly. I didn't exactly want to come here to be honest."
"Me either. I regretted accepting the invitation as soon as I did then had some overwhelming feeling of doom hanging over my head as I was preparing to come out. Maybe I should have listened to it a little better and saved everyone some trouble."
Before he could answer, if he had planned to anyway, or for her to run off with more nervous rambling, Oz and Willow returned from their latest spin around the makeshift dance floor. Willow's face lit up as soon as she spotted him, stretching a hand out she quickly introduced herself to Angel, then pulled Oz closer so they could properly meet as well. "I heard you two went to high school together. Small world, huh?"
OoOoO
When Willow had suggested they go dance, his brain rushed through all the reasons as to why that should never, ever happen, and yet his mouth wouldn't work with him to actually save him from this madness. Hell, Buffy had even given him an out and his body went fucking rogue next.
For someone who'd spent way too much of his lifetime hyper focused on this girl, he sure felt unprepared for how tiny she was when they were this close to one another. He wasn't sure whether or not to be thankful for the slower paced song as they worked their way towards an open spot, but there wasn't much he could do about it either, so he just went with it.
"Your friends seem nice," he forced out when even he was starting to feel tension from the lack of speaking.
That made her smile, which almost caused him to do the same. "Yeah, they're both pretty amazing. I'm pretty sure Willow's the first real friend I've ever had and I'm not sure where I'd be right now if not for her."
"If I'm remembering correctly, you've always had a mass following of people around you."
"Yeah, well, just because you have a bunch of people around doesn't exactly mean they're your friends," she answered, her face suddenly looking a lot less happy than it had a few moments ago.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything by it."
"Yes you did, but it's okay. I'm sure I was always seen one way to most people back then. And I wasn't exactly the greatest person on the planet, I know that."
"You and I didn't exactly have a long history of interacting with one another or anything but as an outsider looking in I'd say compared to a lot of the others you might as well have been a saint. I don't remember you ever pulling a fraction of the shit some of them did."
"Maybe not, but I still had a hand in it, you know. I was so wrapped up with my reputation, and what everyone thought of me, I didn't really spend much time thinking about what anyone else was going through, or how me or any of the crew I hung out made them feel."
A small chuckle left him, and she couldn't help but think how nice he looked when he smiled. "We were just kids Buffy, I'm sure most people wish they could go back and change one thing or another about who they were growing up."
"What would you change?"
That was a loaded question if he ever heard one. "I think my story is a little different than yours."
"How?"
He wasn't used to being asked so many questions, and he most definitely wasn't used to answering them. But for reasons he didn't understand, he found himself giving her a brief version of his life throughout high school, and why he'd had the reputation he did. Even though he didn't give away many details, he still let her in on more than he usually would. He skimmed over the rougher parts involving his parents problems, but he could tell she got the jist of it. When he finally dared to meet her eyes again, instead of the pity he expected to find though, there was something else, something he would almost liken to understanding.
"I guess everyone really is dealing with a whole mess of problems that the rest of the world knows nothing about."
Surprising him yet again, she let her head rest against his chest as the melody of another slow song filled the space around them.
ButImBroken:
"So long, Scarecrow, sorry you're sad. You say you lost everything, some things you never had..."
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