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Angel got up early the next day to make a start on gutting the full house of things he didn't want; so that when his things came by delivery it would make things easier on him. His shirt was off and tucked into his jeans as he was sweating profusely.

He wiped his brow with his forearm and dragged the bags out to the end of the drive, he heard a small moan and clinking of glasses, when he turned around a smiling blonde in the tiniest sundress shook a glass of lemonade at him.

"You must be the new neighbour, hi, my name is Darla" she grinned widely and handed him the ice cold drink, he took it from her politely "Hi, I'm Angel" she ran her eyes over him appreciatively as her tongue ran over her teeth.

He sunk the juice in a matter of minutes and handed her the glass back, she took a sip of her own "Welcome to Sunnydale" she turned around when her husband walked out to kiss her on the cheek "Honey, say hi to the new neighbour Angel"

Angel eyed him then Darla, his long sandy blonde hair came down past his chin, he sneered at him "Charmed" he walked away without saying anything. Darla rolled her eyes "If you ever need an escort to show you around town let me know"

Her hand came to rest on his bare chest; she pushed her chest out to give him a good view of her braless breasts under the skimpy sundress. Angel stood back "Thanks Darla, we'll I better get back in" He could feel her cool eyes burning over his skin as he entered his house.

Oooooooooooooo

From what he could tell Darla was a housewife – well as close as she could be, she spent a lot of the day lounging out at the pool in the backyard with her yappy little dog. Occasionally posing her body in attempt to get his attention but he wasn't interested.

After two days of working on the house and her annoying him, he was glad to see when her and the husband wheeled suitcases behind them as they got into a waiting limo. The new office would be open in a couple of days which meant he would be out at work and away from her poor attempts at seduction.

He went down to the mall to kill some time as he had finished sorting out the house, on his way to the food court he heard someone call his name "Angel? Wow look at you all grown up" he beamed brightly when Joyce pulled him into a hug.

"Joyce, it's nice to see you" he hugged her gingerly then smiled warmly, he had missed her too, she was like his mother-in-law, always looking out for him and accepting him into her home "MOM!" he turned around in surprise to see Dawn.

Cute little Dawnie, who used to bounce around and ask him to play dollies with her, she was now swishing her hair and tapping her foot to the ground; eerily like Buffy done when she was a teenager "Dawn, watch your tone… come say hi to Angel"

Her bright blue eyes shined happily as she squealed "Angel" she pulled him into a hug like Joyce had just done. He chuckled again and hugged her back, still in awe with her "Wow, I haven't seen you since you were a little girl"

Dawn frowned playfully and groaned "Oh I'm almost fourteen now, I won't bother you trying to play with dollies" she grinned, remembering all the times she forced him to play with her, putting on a petted lip when he refused.

Angel smiled fondly at the memories, being an only child he yearned for siblings for years and Dawn was the closest thing he had to a sister "Oh, there goes my afternoon plans" she giggled loudly and fawned over him, just like her sister used to.

Joyce eyed her youngest carefully "Honey, why don't you run along to the store and start looking for shoes" at the mention of more shopping Dawn nodded as she power walked over to the store, leaving the pair of them alone.

She took a deep breath "I suppose you've heard about Buffy?" when he nodded she continued "She's still working through things but it would be nice to have a familiar face around, I know she would like that"

Angel pursed his lips together, he would like that too "I met her at the market" Joyce nodded and placed her hand on his shoulder "She told me… she was upset but not in the way you think, think about it, if you want I can give you her address"

She took his chin between her thumb and forefinger and gave him a knowing look "It was really nice to see you Angel" he watched as she went in the same direction as her daughter. He took a moment to digest what he had discussed with Joyce and there was only one choice.

He pocketed the address the Joyce had jotted down and continued with the last of his shopping, he rushed off home to put away his purchases and change clothes before he headed to the address that he was given.

With an unsteady hand he pushed the doorbell then took a deep breath, his face fell when it wasn't Buffy who answered but the red head he had met a few nights ago "Uh… Willow? Hi" she stood motionless then giggled nervously "Angel… what you doing here?"

She mentally slapped herself then grabbed his arm quickly "Oh I didn't mean to be rude! Sorry, how can I help you" this time she gave him a genuine smile.

Angel ran his hand over the back of his neck and forced a smile "Bumped into Joyce at the mall earlier, she gave me this address?"

Willow nodded and stood back so he could enter "Yeah, me and Buffy stay here, it's our own house!" she closed the door over and bounced into the kitchen "Buffy you have a visitor!" when he entered the kitchen she was sitting at the breakfast bar cradling a cup of coffee.

She stood up immediately and brushed away the creases on her top "Angel hi" she gave him a small smile, but to him it meant the world. Willow gave Buffy a look then left them alone in the kitchen.

"I bumped into your mom and sister at the mall; I hope you don't mind that I came here?" he didn't want to come across to eager or annoying. He came further into the kitchen and leaned against the wall beside her.

Buffy shook her head "No I don't mind" she looked to the floor finding it difficult to look at him "Angel I want to apologise for the way I acted in the market" she took a few deep breaths to calm herself down.

Before she could saying he tipped her jaw up to look into her eyes "You don't have to apologise for anything, I should be the one apologising… I didn't mean to upset you" he held her gaze watching the emotions run a riot in her eyes.

She cleared her throat and smiled "You didn't know" his hand cupped her cheek and she leaned into his palm, savouring his touch.

Angel ran his thumb over her cheek "I've missed you" when her eyes shot to his he smiled kindly "If it's not too much, would you like to go out for something to eat? I'd like to catch up with an old friend"

Buffy nodded for a moment, she didn't know whether to be touched by his kindness or be hurt that he only classified her as a friend. It was irrational, of course they were old friends but eight years was a long time plus she did move on…

"That would be nice, thank you" she grabbed her purse and waved to Willow on the way out, although it was sunny today there was a light breeze, she unconsciously walked so close to Angel that his body heat transferred on to her.

The conversation was light, they talked about what happened in the months following the move and about the last few years, although they steered clear of anything to do with Riley. He could tell that she wasn't the same bubbly girl that he left so when he got a tiny laugh out of her his heart warmed.

They reached the diner and took their seats, during their meal he could see Buffy shift nervously and look around the room, her eyes darting from side to side then she would sniffle. He looked around himself to find what was upsetting her but he couldn't see anything out of the norm.

"Buffy, what's wrong?" she looked at him, her eyes full of hurt as she went to speak he cut in "and please don't say it's nothing, I want to make sure you are okay… it's clear you're not" once again it touched her by his concern for her.

She took a deep breath and looked him in the eye "After the accident, I had a hard time…I guess no one told you about it huh?" she smacked her lips and chuckled miserably "I took things bad, one day it got too much and it broke me"

With another sad glance around the room she tipped her head "they're all thinking one thing – there's sad little Buffy, isn't she crazy, how pathetic" she wiped a tear away harshly "I was kept in the hospital for a while, they all think I'm a psycho that belongs in the nut house"

Angel glared harshly around the room, hoping that no one was thinking this "Don't worry yourself with what other people think, people go through hard times and sometimes you need help, it's not being weak, its being strong… strong that you want to help yourself"

Buffy looked at him his tears in her eyes, since she had been admitted into the centre most people looked down on her, they were sorry but most didn't mean it. They wanted the gossip about how her life went downhill and how she was all alone.

It was refreshing to speak to someone who wasn't her family or her few remaining friends that genuinely cared and didn't sneer at how unfortunate her life had turned "Thank you" she whispered at him.

Angel took her hand in his and gave it a squeeze; he wanted her to know that he would be there for her and help her with anything she needed. He could see her visibly relax in her seat then take a few more bites of her barely touched food.

When they finished their meal Buffy took a sip of her drink, she frowned when she saw Faith waltz in with her cousin Amy. Ever since she was the babysitter they had not liked each other, after Angel left Faith went on the defensive again causing more hurt.

In the years she thought that she could grow up, it was a wish unfulfilled as Faith was still as bitchy as she was years ago. She was one of the main culprits that still brought up her hospitalisation without any remorse.

Angel saw who she was looking at and groaned; even during their relationship she was still a bitch, doing her best to put doubt and lies in between them. That was all up till Joyce fired her and she wasn't around a lot but still had the odd dig here and there.

Faith grinned deviously when she spotted Buffy and found who she was with, she heard that tall dark and handsome was back in town but had yet to see him for herself. It appeared that the years were good to him, he looked absolutely delicious.

"Angel, long time, no see… lookin' good big guy, how about we blow this place and have some fun huh?" she shot Buffy a look then smirked at him again. It amused her that Buffy shrunk into the seat, hiding herself from the world.

Angel shook his head "Thanks but no thanks Faith, I'm here with Buffy"

Faith guffawed loudly and slapped her thigh "Better watch out, miss psycho-nut might turn on you… bit dangerous to be around someone who's been in a straightjacket"

Buffy stood up immediately, knocking the chair to the floor, her red hot glare set on the older brunette. To keep herself from lashing out she gripped onto the table turning her knuckles white "What did you say?"

The brunette chuckled, Buffy stood tall, addressing not only Faith but the rest of the diner "Oh that's right, depressed, pitiful little Buffy, she lost her husband then went psycho, oh I forgot" she picked up a plate and smashed it off of the floor, laughing manically.

"Better watch out before she goes mad and wrecks the place huh?" her voice was hoarse from shouting so she smashed another plate and forced a laugh. She poked her finger against Faiths chest hard "You better watch out you bitch, say anything more and I will put you in the hospital!"

All of the other times she felt their judgement she would shrink into the background, so her best to hide from it all – deep down she knew she couldn't continue on like that, she would have to stand up tall and face the world.

Not knowing where this change came from, she didn't care; it felt good standing up for herself for a change, usually her friends would do it. She set her harsh glare around the diner at all the occupants then back at Faith.

For the first time Faith stood motionless, she was all bark and no bite; her reputation was just that, it was word of mouth that she was a hard ass when in fact if she was in a fight her ass would be handed to her on a silver platter.

Buffy stormed past her and out into the street, Angel who had been in shock during the whole scene looked down to the smashed plates then back at an equally shocked Faith.