Throughout the night, while Buffy tossed and turned for the most part, snow had fallen over the small town. Buffy noticed it through the windows of her bedroom first, then again in the bathroom. Now, she let out a little groan as she stepped out onto her snow covered porch and looked around.
Buffy loved winter. She loved the cold, loved snow. Winters in North Carolina never compared to this, not once. In the winter season she'd always find herself missing it back here, for this alone. Sure, she'd seen snow, had cold weather to do battle against, but it wasn't the same. Hell, there had even been two years in there where there hadn't been any snow at all. She hadn't been able to wrap her around it then, and not now either.
The road was covered, heavily enough. There were a few trackings in it, a few cars, some footprints. She knew the town wouldn't be all that much better. In this regard, city life had certainly spoiled her. The area, the neighborhood, in which she'd been living had a lovely crew who in the summer would mow the yards and tend to the gardens, in winter they would plow the street to their homes and shovel the drive. The city and more so the traffic would take care of the rest of the streets.
And that just wasn't going to be happening here.
With a shiver, Buffy crossed her arms over her chest and stepped down to the walkway, then started making her way toward the drive for her car. Seeing a neighbor coming out to walk her dog, Buffy waved as she slid inside. As she waited for the vehicle to warm, Buffy checked herself over again in the mirror... hating herself for it all the while... more so now over the fact winter was not being too kind to her, in her eyes.
She groaned for even caring.
She hadn't, not until yesterday. And that pissed her off all the more.
Buffy poked at her face, applied another coat of chapstick, then muttered out a string of curses at the static wreaking havoc on her hair and for shocking her a few times.
Carefully pulling out of her drive, Buffy took a left turn. She heard on the radio that the schools had been canceled so she wasn't surprised to see a couple of kids out enjoying the bright white treat already.
OoOoO
Sitting in the warmth of the car, Buffy rubbed a hand down her face, again wondering why in the hell fate was being so cruel and why she was going along with it. She did her best to ignore the few employees standing out in the freezing, watching her. She knew a face or two but couldn't place them well enough.
With a sigh, Buffy climbed out into the cold air and began walking toward the men. She smiled shyly and waved her glove-covered fingers a bit as she walked toward the building. From the open door, which was propped up by some old, dirty, brown barrel, she'd seen Angel pacing about so that's where she'd decide to head toward. Even though nerves were screaming at her to do the complete opposite.
Inside, Buffy locked eyes with Spike whose head jilted backwards in surprise upon seeing her. He tilted it to the side some before poking at Angel's shoulder. When he got his attention, Spike then pointed at her.
Angel's head slowly turned and he too locked eyes with her and she felt herself blush and hated it so quickly looked away. He continued to look at her for a moment then went back to his clipboard and mumbled something to himself before pointing over to the corner. "You can hang your coat up there."
Buffy looked at the rack, it had a few already set up on it, then wearily at the open door. She debated for a moment, then despite better judgment, went and hung her lock, warm jacket up on the rack. She cringed as she slid her gloves off, feeling them already turning numb, and tucked them away in the pockets of her discarded coat. Turning back around, she tried to keep a grip on her shivering, rubbed her hands together a few times then crossed her arms over her chest.
Angel watched her for a moment, then he came around the large table and across the room toward the door. With a few swift kicks he knocked the barrel out of the door and out of the way. Stepping back, he waited for it to slowly close, then went back to the table and picked up his clipboard and stuck his pen back in his mouth.
When he nodded for her to take a seat she did. He perched himself on the edge of the cluttered desk, muttering to himself, sometimes removing the ballpoint to scribble something down. All the while he did this, Spike tended to two phone calls. One he announced was a canceled appointment, the last was asking for a tow. Angel nodded, finished what he was writing then looked toward the blonde haired Brit. "Alright, take Parker with you."
Spike shot him a look. "Me? Why do I have to go?"
Angel shot him a look of his own. "What do you think you do around here? You're always 'Why do I have to go?' 'Why do I have to do this?' Quit whining."
Spike gave another dirty look, they held each other's gaze for a long pause, then Spike made his way over to the coat rack, slipping off his dusty, old leather on. "Ponce."
Angel responded with pointing a finger toward the door. Spike muttered as he walked toward it, opened it and yelled for Parker, slinging some insults at Angel in the process.
"So..." Angel trailed off after a moment of silence.
"Buffy."
He raised an eyebrow at her. "I know who you are."
She blushed again. She'd kind of hoped he'd have forgotten that.
OoOoO
Liam Angelus. Or Angel, as she secretly referred to him. And many of her friends back in high school had picked it up as well. He was three years ahead of her. And she'd been painfully, embarrassingly in love with him… Something in which he knew, to her horror.
Her friend Faith had been how, running up to him one day in the school hallway and telling him without any warning. Buffy could still feel the utter panic which had taken her over. She'd burned bright red, made a painful squeaking noise, then went running to grab Faith's arm, dragging her out of the building as fast as she possibly could. And it only got worse from there. Her friends, Faith for the most part, seemed to enjoy embarrassing her and harassing him. She did her best to avoid him, any time she would contact him, via passing notes through a series of friends and a time or two daring to speak with him over the phone, had been only for the purpose of apologizing for her friends and their insane behavior.
He was an outcast, an outsider, yet found himself popular enough. His charming good looks and mysterious persona did wonders there. He never seemed to enjoy it though. He had been, and if she was honest with herself he still was, the most attractive man she had ever laid eyes on.
She wasn't shy by nature but something about him brought it out in her. It hadn't made high school very easy in some regards thanks to that, but he'd been pretty much the best part of it all the same.
When he graduated it had been hard to go in there every day. When he'd left town it'd been harder to stick around here.
OoOoO
As Buffy watched the redhead in the window's excitement, all her worries from the ride over here and from the day she'd had slowly faded away to be replaced by her own sharp intake of happiness. Willow was practically bouncing inside the house, Oz was seen behind her shaking his head.
Buffy rubbed her neck then started preparing to go up to the house.
As soon as she had even stepped up outside of the car, she heard the front door flying open and Willow calling her name as she rushed forward in the snow. Buffy barely managed to get the door shut in time before the two girls were locked in a tight embrace. "Hey, Wil."
"It's so good to see you," Willow exclaimed, squeezing her tighter. "Did you make it out okay?"
Buffy rolled her eyes as they separated some. "Oh, sure. Not like you live on Death Road or anything."
Willow laughed. "Wasn't my idea! Believe me! I still get scared every single time we drive out there."
Buffy nodded. "I can imagine." And she certainly could.
She'd always been afraid to divide off from the highway after the bridge crossing the river. It turned into gravel and was unsteady. Rocks fell constantly, was plagued by deer, had no siding to keep you from falling off the huge ledge and down to the river below.
Willow smiled, stepped back to give the blonde a one over, then pulled her close again. "Come on inside, can't have you freezing to death."
OoOoO
The cute Osbournes had cooked a lovely meal and shown Buffy around their place. They all got caught up, though as per usual Oz kept to himself and let them run the show.
Buffy noted he had changed too much, grew up plenty and was a little bit more talkative but she liked him no matter what. Ever since Willow and he had started becoming friends, then of course more, in high school... he'd always been great. He fit into their wacky world somehow.
Willow had both going for her, Buffy had decided. She seemed like both that girl she'd grown up with, was the biggest nerd girl, shy as can be, friendliest person on the planet. But there was also... somewhere in there... something so different. She was more confident, bolder, had really come into her skin. It made her so proud of her friend.
When the girl's began getting into Buffy's life the past several years and then on to what exactly prompted her to come back, Oz quietly left them in private.
Most was already known between the friends but yet so much hadn't come out. All three knew the ever changing hair colored male was more than welcome to stay, he'd end up knowing everything one way or another, but this worked too.
OoOoO
As the desert was being served, they moved into the living room, being rejoined by Oz in the process. The topic now more on future plans, for all of them. Buffy shrugged. "I guess I'm just going to stay out here for awhile, settle things down, figure out what to do next. A lot of things are taken care of, the house, have some money squared away until I get more settled in. I got a job.."
"You did? That's great! Where?"
Buffy shook her head before answering. Two sets of eyes went wide. "Yeah. I know."
Willow started to glow with excitement again. "Did you see him?"
"Yes. He's the one who gave me the job."
"You mean you actually stood in the same space as Angel without running away?"
Buffy laughed. "I was tempted, I will admit. But I'm not fully that little obsessed girl any more it seems." Willow got an evil look flashing in her eyes. "Don't even start. He's still a honey, no question about that. But I got enough going on without worrying over my childhood crush."
"You never know..." Willow said, very sing-song like.
"You're impossible."
"As always!" she grinned.
OoOoO
It was late before Buffy finally got out of there. As she drove away she wished she'd agreed to just stay the night as she faced the road ahead, snow and darkness and all. Thankfully, she made it out alive and in one piece, turned left and headed back towards town.
Everywhere was shut down, by now had been for at least a couple of hours. Buffy yawned as she drove through the heart of the town, waited on the train to pass, then finished her way back.
Walking into the house, Buffy felt drained but somehow lighter after seeing Willow, like some of the pressure had eased up. It was nice, welcomed.
She went to go plug her phone into the charger before getting dressed for bed. Checked her e-mail on the laptop while sitting on the bed then put everything away. Her mind was playing so many images, but tonight it didn't feel overwhelming.
Eventually, she fell asleep.
OoOoO
More snow had decided to fall through the night, Buffy winced at the whiteness of it all that streamed through the window as she woke up. She grumbled, pulled the covers back over her head and remained like that until her snooze alarm came back on. After that, Buffy decided to get up and get the morning started. Buffy locked up the house and started carefully making her way down off the porch, the step, and little walkway until she got to the fresh snow covered yard and driveway. She was still making her way to her car when she glanced across the street, then did a double take.
Angel's car was in their driveway. As was he.
The blonde cursed herself after feeling the air escape all at once, and shook her head. She smiled his way then went to examine the best way to dig herself out all over again.
OoOoO
"You want a ride?"
Buffy turned around, she hadn't even heard him sneak up on her. "Huh? Oh, no, thank you. I'll be fine."
His lips turned up just a tiny bit in one corner. "You sure?"
Buffy looked at the progress she had made so far. Plowing her way out wasn't exactly fun, especially not this early in the morning. "Oh... um... okay. If you don't mind."
"Not at all." He nodded his head for her to follow.
Buffy swallowed, getting into the passenger side of his Plymouth. The first thought flashing in her mind was of how bad she'd wanted to do this when she was younger. This had been his car for as long as she could remember, and had thought about it quite often. "I guess it'll be another busy day," she commented as they pulled out of her neighbor's drive and started down the road.
His eyes turned to her at the sound of her voice, then back to the road ahead. "I'm sure it already has been." His mouth turned into a smirk. "I gave Spike's personal number on the machine," he told her. "He's been bitching at all hours about it."
Buffy's own lips curled into a smile and she nodded. The rest of the trip was made in silence. But as he parked the car, "It doesn't snow like this in California," he said.
Buffy almost jumped as she reached for the door handle. She took a moment then looked back at him. "Not in North Carolina either."
"That where you were?" he asked.
Buffy nodded. "Yep."
He paused for a moment, then, "Why'd you come back?"
Buffy swallowed, then put a smile back on her face. "I found myself in a bad situation and finally got tired of it. I didn't know where else to go, especially at such short notice, so here I am. Home sweet home."
They got out of the car and Angel started shouting across the lot of one of the employees, then Buffy heard her name so turned around. "You get that bad situation taken care of?" he asked.
"I hope so," she responded, heading toward the small building to start her work day.
OoOoO
He didn't know why, but the tone of her voice and that look that flashed across her face before being tucked back away bothered him a great deal. He watched her go up to the office building and slip inside.
He'd about had a heart attack the other day when she pushed himself out from under that car and found her standing there. Buffy Summers was the last person he had expected to see. Not that he was complaining. She looked good, really good. Hell, better than she had in high school.
...High school where he was too shy to talk to her, plus just never thought he was good enough for the likes of the pretty blonde. He could remember those days well. His friends were as bad as hers, he remembered. Slowly they all seemed to find out he was lusting after the young blonde, probably as all he did when given the chance was stare and oogle her. Then one day one of her friends comes up and spills the beans that the feeling is mutual. He had seen her notice him a number of times, but it still was bit of a shock. He'd stood there blushing, watching the object of his affection turn as red as her best friend's hair, her eyes in pure horror, and pulled Faith away from him and rushed away.
After that, he found himself getting a lot of attention from all of her friends. They'd say hi to him, come up to him and tell him how great their friend was and how she liked him. He had a free period in the gym at the end of the day so he soon found his final period being half spent getting pushed on the blonde by her friends in band who would get out early and come see him.
It kept things pretty interesting.
The poor blonde was constantly horrified by things. She started writing him notes, that her good pals would pass along, apologizing for their behavior. She even called him a few times. But never dared talking to him straight on. And hell, if his friends didn't get worse by hers. They all took it upon themselves to do similar actions. It was quite embarrassing.
The blonde had stuck in Angel's mind after high school, after moving away, starting a new life, and when coming home again. He couldn't seem to shake it. She was always a what if to him, a longing for something. And suddenly, she was back in this little piece of nowhere, same as him.
He'd found that shy outcast wanting to take him back over, but he pushed it away. He forced himself to man up a bit. He gladly gave her the job, not complaining one bit of the idea he'd get to see her day in and out.
Being back in Hemery suddenly wasn't all that bad.
OoOoO
Buffy spent most of the day still being trained, but they did let her handle things later on in the day. She was slowly getting the hang of it, and as far as jobs went... this was hardly the worst thing in the world. Angel had been in close corners to her a lot of the time. He'd had her drive his car out to Casey's to get some snacks and the money to cover it, and let her take it when she went out for lunch.
When her shift was coming to an end, he was unable to take her home though, caught up in what seemed like fifteen different things. He did however have Parker take her.
And she felt more disappointed than she was willing to admit.
OoOoO
Buffy sat up in bed, rubbing her still-tired eyes. She already knew it had snowed again last night, the blinding light coming through cracks of the curtains only confirmed it all the more. She groaned, not wanting to get out of bed. Not that she had to, she had today off.
Sighing, she laid back down with a loud thump to the pillow when her head hit. Being stuck here was worse than getting up and going to work.
Buffy laid, staring at the ceiling for awhile before sitting back up. She knew she wasn't going to be falling back asleep. She rubbed her eyes, twitched at her nose, rubbed her face before getting out of the warm bed with a loud sigh.
The air she stepped into felt chilly, so once in the hallway she turned the heat up just a bit before heading to the bathroom. She was washing her hands, debating on taking a bath when there was a knock on the front door.
Waving her hands dry, she walked through the house to get to the front door, opening it to find her father. "Hi," she greeted. The outside world was giving her a headache, she winced at the brightness that also greeted her.
"I didn't know if you would be home... or busy today..." he started.
Buffy shook her head, stepping back to let him know he could come in. "I'm off on weekends."
Hank nodded. "I brought you a few things, in case you need them. I should have more when I can get help loading and the weather clears up a bit."
Buffy gave a hint of a smile. "Thank you."
He nodded again. "Is there anything you're in need of, might need to get for you?"
She didn't even think about it before telling him no, that she was fine. Thanked him again.
"Oh, okay," he said. "I'll go get the stuff out of the car and bring it in."
"Okay."
Buffy walked over to the sofa to take a seat and after two trips back and forth, he had brought in various items and laid them on the floor of the living room, telling her she could use or do whatever with them. Again she thanked him.
"How has work been going?"
"It's been good. Still getting used to it."
"What all are you doing there?"
Buffy shrugged a little. "Answering phones, making appointments mostly. Office type work."
"That's good," he said. "How have things been otherwise? You okay here?"
"Yep."
"Did you get cable set up or internet or anything like that?"
"Yeah, I have internet going."
He stood for a few long moments. "Okay, well I just came by to drop this stuff off for you. I have a part in the garage I'm going to grab and then probably head back."
Buffy stood slowly. "Okay."
OoOoO
Buffy let out the breath she'd been holding the whole time he'd been there as she watched his car pull out of the drive and head down the road. She leaned her head against the door she'd been spying out of for an extra breath before turning to look at what all he had brought her.
There hadn't been too much so it didn't take long before she had it squared away. After that, she made something quick to eat then pulled out her laptop and brought it over the couch with her.
She knew she wasn't going to be heading out with the roads like this if she could help it, but she looked up some local places in the next three counties she might want to go to when she had the time. Mostly a lot of flea markets, thinking about adding some furniture to the place... and whatever else caught her eye. She hadn't really brought any when she came back and the house was sparsely decorated. Buffy also looked at different online places to see if there were anything a) she would like at retailers and/or b) would maybe want to just order online and have shipped out.
After that, she really didn't know what else to do with her time.
With a stretch and yawn, she washed the small pile of dishes then returned to the couch. She decided to just go browse around on Netflix and find something to watch for awhile.
OoOoO
The day was just going by far too slowly. Checking online at various e-mails and social networking-type sites, Buffy felt overwhelmingly bored. She rubbed her eyes before responding to a text she'd gotten from Willow.
Just seconds after it sent, a noise was made from the computer and she looked up and clicked on the correct tab to see what it was, and felt cold as she found out what it'd been from. Swallowing, she read over the name who had both tried to add her on the site as a friend, and had sent her a message. She'd blocked everyone tied to him already, but that didn't mean they couldn't make up new names or harass her all the same.
Not bothering to read the message from his mother, or whoever using her name, she went through the steps to deactivate the account.
Standing, she tried to shake off the feelings rushing through her, get her mind off of everything.
OoOoO
As she laid in bed later in the night, Buffy wondered how smart of an idea it'd been to come here. Not for the first time, and she knew not for the last. It could be easy enough to track her down, she hated the area, she was uncomfortable with her family... she had no idea what she was doing.
She fell into a restless sleep trying to come up with a plan.
OoOoO
Sunday hadn't gone much better, so she was never more happy to see a Monday come than she was this morning.
"Hi."
Buffy turned, finishing hanging her coat up. "Hi. Good morning," she replied.
"How'd the weekend go?" Angel asked, looking back and forth between her and a pile of stapled paperwork in his hands.
She sighed. "It was long."
He chuckled a little. "Tell me about it."
OoOoO
The day went by fast. Thankfully after how dragging the weekend had gone. It'd been busy, vehicles coming out, tows seemingly going out as soon as they got back in. A lot of strands and wrecks were happening. Angel came through the door, cracking his neck several times. "That's it," he declared into the small office. "I'm taking a break."
Buffy smiled at the grumbling in his voice.
He continued to pop bones and stretch. He walked over to the bathroom and seemingly cleaned up a bit. When he came back out, he looked through one of the small windows. "I'm starving, I'm going across the street to get something to eat." He looked back at Buffy. "You want to come?"
Buffy felt a wave go through her entire body. She swallowed. "I'm not off yet."
He looked over at the clock. "You have like fifteen more minutes. I'm hardly going to dock you for it. You wanna come?" She took a moment before finally nodding, standing up to join him. As they walked across the street, her eyebrow raised as she took him in. He caught her, making her blush but he only laughed. "Good thing about small towns? No one cares that the grease monkey comes in looking like exactly that," he said with a smile.
Buffy chuckled, shaking her head.
An older woman was standing behind the main desk when they came in. She raised her eyebrow. "Nice to see you classing up the place, Angelus."
He laughed with her. "I was just saying that," he replied, laughing harder.
She shook her head. "She with you?" she asked with a nod at Buffy.
"Yeah."
"Alright," she said, coming from around the desk, "Let's find you two a seat then."
OoOoO
"I still can't get over how much this place has changed."
Angel looked up for his menu. "I know what you mean. A lot of places here are like that, though. So much the same, so much different."
"Cannot believe I am back here," she muttered.
He looked back down at the menu. "Again, know what you mean."
OoOoO
As their orders were placed on the table, Buffy shook her head a little, fighting a blush that kept wanting to come out and play. She had a hard time wrapping her head around being here with him. "The food's not the same," he said, taking a bite. "But it's not bad either."
She nodded. "I've only been here twice since coming back to town."
"Did you come back to stay or..."
She shrugged. "Not sure. Some days I think I could hang out for awhile, was even thinking about going out to buy some furniture for the house... other times I feel like I should just get out now."
"Where would I go?"
"That I don't know. Anywhere."
They were both enjoying a piece of pie when he looked at her. "What kind of furniture were you needing?"
"Hmm? Oh. I don't know. I didn't bring any with me and my dad doesn't have much at the house. I was thinking about a desk, some shelves, maybe a table and chairs for the dining room." Buffy shrugged. "Just anything I guess."
"Why didn't you get yours moved?"
"Left in a bit of a hurry."
"Because of that problem?"
She smiled at his tone. "Yeah."
"You have a bed?"
Buffy felt her heart's speed pick up a bit and inwardly cursed herself. "Yeah, I do."
"I have some stuff in storage if you want any of it. I already loaned out the bed I had so I couldn't have helped on that."
"What? Oh. No, I couldn't... I'm gonna go check out some places when the roads clear up a bit."
He finished his last bite of the apple pie. "Seriously. I have two storage sheds full and a garage. It's all just sitting there. You should at least come by and see if there's anything you like. You can have it, and I'll even bring it out to you."
"That's very sweet of you, Angel. But I really couldn't." His head popped up at the name. This time, she couldn't hide the blush that overtook her face. "Liam. That's very sweet of you, Liam."
He raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, my God," she growled, burying her face in her hands. "I, we all... we sort of nicknamed you Angel back in high school."
"I'd been told," he said. "I just didn't know it was still used."
She turned even brighter. "Yeah... well..." He couldn't help the laugh that bubbled out. Buffy started fanning her face, refusing to look at him. "Anyway!"
He laughed harder. "You have time now?"
"I'm not taking your furniture."
"Yeah, you are. Come on. One piece. A small one. Come on."
She rolled her eyes.
OoOoO
Buffy got up and went to the door at the sound of cars pulling in. After going with Angel to look at what furniture he had in storage, she had come back home to wait for him to bring what he'd conned her into taking by. But as she stepped outside, finding him, Parker and Spike out there, she also saw he'd obviously added quite a number of things to the pile.
She sighed as he stepped closer. "What is all this?"
He smiled. "You mind?" he asked with a nod at the door. Buffy shook her head and watched as he set the door open then yelled to the guys to start bringing stuff in, telling her just to tell them where to put things.
Shaking her head, she stood back out of the way and waited.
Buffy found the house quickly filled with a variety of items, more than she needed at that. He'd brought chairs, end tables, trays, a dining room table set, book cases, a desk and chair for it, large trunk, ect. He'd brought hanging shelves, lamps, glassware and sets of plates and bowls, decor pieces, paintings, and more.
After the guys were done putting everything up and in place, she shot him a look when he was looking her way. He shrugged and smiled. "Anything else you can think of you might need?"
Buffy shook her head. "I think I now have more than enough at the moment, thank you." He laughed. "You know I might not be staying," she said after a few more moments.
"Well, you're free to take what you want if you do," he said. "Anything else... I'll just come back by and get and find what to do with it next."
OoOoO
Parker and Spike headed off while Angel made the last few touches. That made her all too aware that he was in her house, around her things. Putting his hammer away and grabbing up his tools, Angel came over to her. "Thank you," she told him.
"Not a problem. If there is anything else, just let me know alright?"
She rolled her eyes. "Sure."
He continued walking past her, heading towards the door. "Alright, well... I guess I will see you tomorrow."
Buffy nodded when he turned around, just outside the door on the steps. "I will be there."
"Alright."
"Have a goodnight."
"You too," he said before getting the door to close. A few moments later, she heard his car start up, saw headlights flash on, and he pulled out and drove off.
Buffy felt like she was back in high school as she picked up her cell phone to call Willow and tell her what had happened.
"Well," the redhead said after awhile. "You know he liked you in high school too... so maybe..."
Buffy felt an embarrassing smile across her face at that. His friend's had been about as bad as hers back then. Maybe even worse in some cases, after all her friends never de-pantsed her in the hallway in front of him before. But it'd been Spike actually who'd been the first of a few who had told her that crazy bit of information. School had been let out but she waited a few extra minutes before heading out to walk home before taking up driving or being of age to as well. She'd hang out with other friend's who were lingering about waiting for their parents, having an after school activity or whatever as she waited for the buses to get out of the way and traffic to calm a bit from the school before crossing the highway. So, she'd been there, helping a friend hang pictures up in her locker when the platinum blonde had came down their hallway and watched them for a bit before coming over and striking up a conversation. It was during such that he slipped in that bit of information.
And from there, it'd happened a few other times.
Buffy shook her head. "So a few people said," she said into the phone.
"And he even did," Willow pointed out.
"Oh, he did not."
"He did. Twice!" Buffy knew what she was referring to and blushed.
The first being when Gwen Raiden had moved to town. She'd sort of become friends with their group, but then had set her sights on one Liam Angelus. She hadn't known Buffy's massive crush was on him so you couldn't fault her in that way. But... the sinfully beautiful girl had decided she liked Angel and had started making moves on him, even flat out asking him out once. His response had been basically telling her thanks for the interest, but he liked someone else from her class.
Buffy's friends had had a field day with that one.
The second thing being that one year, at the last day of school, their core group of friends all had plans to go to one of their houses for the following week. Bored, they were roaming around the school after it let out and a few of said friends had the brilliant idea to go through Angel's locker from that year... bringing her a huge pile of stuff he'd left behind. They'd packed it all up with them and when they got the girls' house, started going through it.
The group of girls had later called him, a few at each phone that was scattered through the house to listen and butt in, asking him about some letters they'd "stumbled" upon. Some had been from another girl who apparently had the hots for him but he'd brushed off and they got more information on that, then others that referred to a girl he liked without ever saying a name but there were certainly some similarities in there to their little Buffy.
"Oh, we all just took what we wanted from all of that," Buffy said, shaking her head out of old memories.
"You're just denying," Willow countered with a laugh. "And the way he's behaving now, I wouldn't put it past him that he still has some of those same feelings. Just as you do towards him."
OoOoO
Back at the shop, he was finishing up a few papers and closing up. Spike was roaming around too, but he was doing his best to ignore that. Spike came up to the building as its doors were being locked. He was silent, just staring, his face looking ridiculous. "Yes, Spike?"
"Want to tell me what all this is about, mate?"
"All of what?"
"Giving Buffy Summers a job here, bringing her into work before, taking her out to eat, giving her all this stuff tonight..."
"It's nothing," he said, starting to walk away from the building and over to his car.
"Sure," Spike drawled.
"What do you even care?"
Spike shrugged. "Just playing the part of the annoying best friend, that's all."
"Yeah. Sure."
"Something had to happen to her."
He had started getting into the car but popped his head back up over the top. "Why do you say that?"
Spike shrugged, pulling out his cigarette pack from his jacket. "Girl like that isn't going to come back here unless it did," Spike said.
"We ended up back here, too, Spike."
"Yeah. And we each had our reasons for that, now didn't we?"
OoOoO
With a sigh, he stepped into the shower. Today had felt long. This weather was doing a number on him. He didn't mind helping Buffy out though. He'd liked talking to her, being around her. It made him wish he hadn't been such a shy idiot back in high school, though at times he felt as if he still was when he was around her. He had to do a lot of just blurt things out and not think beforehand with her, otherwise he'd probably get nowhere.
She'd come out to the storage units and after a lot of pestering, she'd picked a few things out. He'd tried to get her to take more but she'd refused, not that he let that stop him. After she left, he got things started, picking out a few things that were similar and thinking back to anything she hadn't mentioned having or had even said she didn't. Some with the addition of not needing them, but he figured it wouldn't hurt. So he'd called in some help with loading and also went out to the house to get a few more things and brought them over.
Her house didn't feel like her at all. She seemed all the more uncomfortable there than ever, but he hoped that maybe with all of this and in time that could change a bit. It had, for the most part, for him. He'd been so out of place when coming back to Hemery as well, but now it was home enough.
When he finished and got ready for bed, his mind went to what Spike had said, as well as the little that could follow along with it. He just couldn't seem to shake the feeling that something was wrong there. And it did make some sense. Coming back here for anyone was one thing, but for the one's so eager and able to get out of here and make a life... you just knew it had to be something.
Right?
He sighed, tossing in bed, punching his pillow until it was a little more comfortable.
OoOoO
Six hundred miles away, another man fumed, throwing things around an already trashed house. "Bitch!" he yelled into the otherwise silent place.
He'd been locked up in a psych ward, then had been thrown in jail, and upon release, he was not at all happy. And he couldn't express how furious he was at her to her because she was nowhere to be found.
And that just pissed him off all the more.
OoOoO
Buffy woke up shaking. Her nightmare had been too real. Hell, it had been real... only it wasn't happening right now, it was just a memory. She let out a breath, running a shaky hand through her tangled hair.
It was still dark outside but she didn't know how well sleep would come to her again. Or if she even wanted it to.
She'd been lucky. Nothing horrifically bad had ever happened to her, but enough had. And she got out of there before anything else could, before anything worse could actually come to be.
For that, she was beyond grateful. She just hoped that was really the end of it all.