Having gotten up for the day, and finally dragging themselves out of the bed, Buffy went to go take a hot bath while Angel said he'd go whip them up some breakfast. He'd carried her into the bathroom and started the water for her before leaving her with a fleeing kiss.
She found herself giggling out loud at times as she thought about the events from the previous day, blushing and lowering herself into the water with a silly smile on her face throughout the bath. It was a nice feeling, and she hoped it would continue.
Getting out of the bathtub, she dried off and put Angel's shirt back on before coming out. She could smell the food being made and followed her nose the rest of the way to the kitchen. Her heart gave a little jump upon seeing him... he was moving around the kitchen with grace just as he'd done the night before, and in nothing but a pair of boxer shorts.
"Almost done," he told her when he spotted her, his eyes giving her a lusty look that she'd come to know well.
She smiled and asked him what she could do to help. She got to work on getting the last of the table ready and got their drinks, stealing a piece of bacon in the process and conning him into telling her her clothes had been washed and dried. She went to go get them out, but only slipped on her pair of panties back on and put the rest to the side for now.
And before she knew it, she was sitting back down at his kitchen table, something she now knew quite well after last night, and digging into their breakfast of French toast, eggs, bacon and hash browns. "So, have you called to make sure your shop is still standing yet?" Buffy asked, savoring the last bite of her toast.
He chuckled a little. "I might have checked in while cooking," he admitted.
"All is well then?"
"So they say." Buffy laughed and shook her head. "I guess if they can make it through this weekend it'll give me some peace of mind for the future."
She quirked an eyebrow up. "How so?"
"Well, if I want these weekend escapes to continue with you someone has to run the place right?"
Buffy couldn't help but blush. "Oh, so you're planning on more of these, huh?" she teased.
He reached over to kiss her. "Absolutely."
OoOoO
It didn't take much convincing to get her to agree to stay through the day. And while spending the day naked and in bed with him, she enjoyed their lazy Sunday all the same. After they finished breakfast, the two of them sat there just talking for the longest time about a wide range of topics. They finally decided to get up and clean up after themselves before they did wind up back in the bedroom.
They tried finding something to watch on tv but then got dressed and went out to the closest movie theater in one of the nearby towns. She hadn't heard of most of the titles so had to do a little research on the flicks on her phone before they chose one. Gathering up an arms worth of food, they found their way to the proper room and took a seat.
She found herself having a hard time focusing on the movie while it played though. Sitting here with him was still a little too surreal at times. And he wasn't helping that feeling any by sharing all of his food, leaning over to kiss her constantly, holding one of her hands in his own. And even in a moment of bravery, she scooted over in her seat closer to him, leaned down, laying her head on his shoulder. She felt his head lean down on top of hers, a smile on his lips before he kissed the top of her head.
When the movie ended, they walked out of the theater... Angel behind her, his arms wrapped around her waist, keeping step and asking her what she wanted to do next.
OoOoO
It was still chilly out, but the sun was shining in the early afternoon enough to make it one of the first warmer days so far in the year. Using that to their advantage, Buffy and Angel wound up in one of the parks near the movie theater and ran around like little kids until wearing themselves out. They'd gone down slides, ran, spun on a merry-go-round, climbed monkey bars and the works.
Buffy had nearly died of laughter at one point when Angel found himself stuck in one of the smaller slides, and again when he nearly broke one of the toddler rides that she'd fought long and hard for him to even go near. And she'd nearly had a heart attack when while they played around the teeter-totter, he slipped off the back of his end while he was at the ground and her in the air, making her have a quick ride down. he'd swung around the wooden contraption in time to catch her before her butt landed with a hard thump.
Finally wore out, they rested on the swings before deciding to go grab something to eat somewhere. After, they drove around randomly through the town, stopped in a hardware store so Angel could pick up some supplies after she mentioned a few things she needed worked on at the house and he'd wasted no time signing himself up to take care of it despite her protests, then made their way back to Hemery.
Having work in the morning, Angel stopped by his place to grab a few tools before taking them back to her house where he made quick work of fixing up what she'd needed. She watched him from the doorway, telling him multiple times he didn't have to and getting waved off every time. She just rolled her eyes in the end and let him finish.
"Anything else?" he asked. Buffy shook her head. He smiled and bent to kiss her before taking his tools back out to the car and came back in. Buffy found herself back in his arms, his hands around her waist, hers around his neck. "Thank you for coming out with me this weekend," he told her softly, drawing her closer.
Buffy smiled brightly at him. "Thank you for inviting me along," she told him before lifting up on her toes to kiss him. "I had a perfect time, Angel."
He smiled and kissed her again, leaning them both against the large television. "I wish you were sleeping next to me tonight."
Buffy blushed a little. "I think you'll live," she said just above a whisper. "And you will be seeing me bright and early in the morning."
"Mmm," he growled. "That sounds like an awfully long time away."
She nodded. "It really does," she agreed.
Angel kissed her once more then let out a large sigh, stepping away from her slowly. "Alright," he said in a sigh, "Guess I should head home." Buffy grabbed him, pulling him back to her. Smiling, she pulled him down to kiss him until they were both left breathless. "Fuck," he swore under his breath, kissing her again. "If I don't leave we're both not going to be getting any sleep tonight," he warned.
Buffy groaned, re-releasing him. Her fingers were the last to let go of his and she missed the feel of him instantly.
"I'll see you in the morning," he told her as she walked him to the door.
OoOoO
Angel was fighting every single urge to turn the car around and go back to Buffy's. To strip her down and have his way with her until the break of dawn. Honestly, that seemed like a much better plan than anything else...
He sighed, rubbing his eyes. The past few days were unlike anything he could have ever hoped for and he felt like he was walking on clouds right now. This was everything he'd wanted for as long as he could remember... from the second he rolled out from under that car to see her standing before him like she'd just stepped out of a dream, to back when he was a teenager lusting over her day in and day out.
He smirked, an image of her screaming his name playing across his mind... then he was pulled out of it by a strange noise. He glanced over, trying to figure out what it was when he finally saw a hint of light in the side passenger floor. He reached over to grab it, and then his smirk grew. It was as if the heaven's wanted him to go back there, right? Finding that she'd left her phone in his car gave him the perfect excuse to return. And quite honestly, with as hard as it was to leave in the first place, to make it this far without turning back, he kind of doubted his willpower on any of that happening again.
He turned the car around and started back towards Buffy's.
OoOoO
Buffy let out a huge breath as she closed the door once he had finally disappeared out of sight. She turned to rest her back against it and let out a very girlish squeal before clamping a hand over her mouth and shook her head.
Laughing at herself, she reminded herself she needed to grab the box of new checks she'd gotten in at the end of the week so she could prepare a few extra stops in the morning to pay some bills before work. For now, she was going to go change into some pj's and then call Willow to gossip about her weekend before heading to bed.
She'd made it halfway down the hall when she heard her front door open and shut. A smile broke out on her face as she'd been half hoping he'd turn around and stay with her tonight. She turned around, ready to give a nice quip his way but the words and the smile died on her lips as she found it wasn't Angel standing at the end of the hall.
Buffy felt her blood run instantly cold, fear taking a firm grip on her. "Wh-What are you doing here?"
He stood still for a second before taking another step. She screamed, turning to run though she knew it wasn't going to be any use. In mere seconds he was grabbing her. She tried to fight but he fought her down to the floor and she'd never felt more helpless in her life. She forced her to try and function, to come up with a plan... any plan.
She needed away from him, away from here.
OoOoO
Liam sighed, waiting for the train to pass so he could continue on his way back to Buffy's. A smile crossed his face despite the current annoyance at the thought of her and with what plans he had passing through his thoughts.
Finally, he was allowed to go over the tracks and was soon pulling back into her driveway. He grabbed up her phone and started for the door.
He rang the doorbell first, then knocked after a few minutes. His lips twisted a bit and he looked from one end of the house to another before ringing the bell one more time. He gave it a minute before debating whether to give it a few minutes as she may be in the shower or whatever else, to give it up for the night, or to probably cross a line and go on in.
That was if the door wasn't locked.
Liam sighed, giving her house another look before opening the screen door and reaching a hand out to the knob and testing it out. It turned and he let it slowly open, giving a quick peek inside the living room. He knocked extra loudly on the door before calling out her name and stepping inside. "Buffy?" he tried a second time, walking deeper into the house.
It wasn't until he got to the end of the living room and turned to look down the hall that anything looked wrong. Near the end of the hallway was blood spattered across the wooden floor.
OoOoO
Buffy groaned, coming to. She blinked her eyes a few times, wincing as her head protested with thundering pain. One hand came up to the back of her hair, feeling it sticky. She pulled the hand away and brought it in front of her face and she winced again at the sight of her own blood on her fingertips.
"Good, you're awake." She nearly jumped at the voice, her head turning towards the noise. She felt her stomach wanting to give out. He smiled at her. "I am sorry I had to be a little rough with you back there."
She swallowed. "What are you doing here?"
Another smile. He walked over and took a seat beside her. "I came for you, Buffy. I want to make things right between us."
At that, she let out a bitter laugh. Anger crossed his face briefly before he put that eerie smile back in place. "I love you," he told her.
Buffy remained silent, biting her tongue.
"I was released from the hospital and came home to find you gone. That broke my heart, Buffy. More than you can imagine. All I thought about that whole time was how messed up things were and how we could work through them, to be better. But you left... and it took forever to find you." Buffy's hands fisted. "I know things hadn't been great with us for awhile," he finally spoke again. "But it'll be different now."
Buffy glared at him. "There is no 'now', Riley. We are over. We were over before you went psycho on me. We were over before I left. We were over, we are over, we will forever be over." She had spent too long playing along with him, afraid of the consequences, quite frankly. She was pissed off right now more than anything else. All she wanted was to be free of this monster.
In a flash, he was grabbing her, pulling her to him. Buffy yelled but then was muffled by his lips crashing on hers, his teeth cutting her in the process.
OoOoO
Liam was pacing back and forth as the police officers spoke to him and looked around her place. If this wasn't such a small town he was sure he'd be under more scrutiny for having just up and walked into someone else's home and found this so at least that was one less thing he had to play on his mind. With some of the questions he did get a little panicked over, not knowing much... and that was when he decided to place a call to Willow and Oz.
He was never more relieved to see the redhead in his life.
"Riley Finn," Willow said as soon as she entered the house. "That's who you need to be looking into. Riley Finn."
The officers took down some quick information from Willow before going back to this person. "Who is this Riley Finn person?" they asked. "Why do you think they have anything to do with what happened here."
Willow sighed, looking down the hall before looking back away quickly. She looked at Liam then back to the officer. "He is Buffy's ex-boyfriend. They lived together back in North Carolina, and why she ended up back here in Hemery. She was running away from him."
Liam ground his teeth together at this new information. "Why?" he asked before anyone else could.
She let out another deep breath. "They had been together for awhile... things were fine at first but then she moved closer to him and eventually in with him and things took a turn. Buffy said he just started becoming very controlling towards her, that he didn't like any of her friends, didn't like her going anywhere without her... things like that. He was very jealous, too. She would try to leave him but every time she did he would start saying how his life would be over, he'd kill himself without her... he would cut himself up or take pills and things like that to keep her from leaving him."
The officers made some notes. "Do you know if this Riley Finn was ever abusive towards Miss Summers?"
Willow looked down at her hands. "Yes, he was." Liam growled. "Besides those... he was verbally abusive to her, always putting her down, yelling at her... Physically..." Willow swallowed. "She said there were three instances where he had been. One was he had grabbed her, shook her and threw her on a couch. Another he pushed her back into a wall. Then this last time was what had her leaving him and North Carolina for good."
"What happened?"
"Buffy said that she had kicked Riley out of their house, being fed up with everything. She had ignored him... his attempts at trying to get her back and even when he'd threaten to hurt himself... refusing to give in. Then one night he came back, broke into the house and told her he was moving back in and they were going to be together whether she liked it or not. Buffy told him no and he stalked over to her, grabbing her, picking her up and throwing her on the ground. He pushed her face into the floor before getting up and kicking her before walking away. When she got up she ran and grabbed her phone to call the police. He started to apologize, begging her back, and she went off on him. He went to another room, grabbed a knife and was threatening to kill her first before turning it on himself. He wound up cutting up his wrists then even slit his throat before the police arrived. The police officers talked to them, an ambulance was called, Riley was taken away in it. She finished making a report and then pretty much packed up her things, cut ties to everything and everyone back there, and came running back here."
"Do you know what happened to Riley after this incident?"
Willow shook her head a little bit. "I heard that he was taken to the hospital then transferred to another one, a VA hospital-he's ex military, and locked up in a sort of psych ward. And that was the last I knew of it." Liam started pacing, fuming.
"Could you describe Riley?"
Willow nodded, pulling her purse around and bringing out a piece of paper. "I printed off a photo she sent me once before rushing over here."
Liam grabbed it before the officer could, giving it a quick one-over. If he dared to see anyone even close to resembling this asshole...
OoOoO
"Are you okay?"
Liam turned as he felt Willow's hand on his shoulder. "No," he answered. He felt helpless. "You really think it's this asshole ex of hers?"
She nodded. "I really do. I mean, who else would it be?"
He almost asked her if she thought he would hurt her, but he already had so the answer to that was already known. He sighed, wishing there was more he could do. "I knew she had to of run from something to wind up back here, hell I even suspected something similar... but she never wanted to talk about it," he told her.
Willow nodded, taking a seat beside him on Buffy's sofa. "It wasn't exactly something she wanted broadcasted to the world."
His hands went up to his neck, rubbing his tense muscles. "I should have stayed," he whispered.
"You didn't know, Angel."
"No, but that doesn't change anything either for me. I should have stayed. Or turned around sooner. I was gone less than ten minutes."
Willow reached for his hand. "We're gonna find her, Angel."
OoOoO
Buffy fought against him. "Get off of me!" she screamed, pushing him away with everything she had. She jumped up, eyeing the first door she saw.
Riley growled. "What the fuck is wrong with you?"
"What is wrong with me?! What the fuck is wrong with you, Riley? You're the one stalking me, kidnapping me, attacking me! I do not want to be with you, Riley. I don't want anything to do with you. I just want to forget everything about you and move the fuck on with my life!"
He grabbed a handful of stuff from a desk and threw it wildly around the room. "Because of him?"
Her eyes narrowed. "Because of who?" she asked.
"The mechanic you're fucking." He gave a sickening smile at her reaction. "Oh, yes, Buf. I am well aware about that. I've been watching you for the past two weeks since I figured out where you must have run off to."
Buffy felt herself shiver but forced it away. "It has nothing to do with him or anyone else. It's you. It's all on you."
"Me? What the hell did I do?"
She laughed bitterly, her hands flying into the air. "What have you done? Are you kidding me right now? Riley, what the fuck didn't you do?" she asked angrily. "You did nothing but abuse me-mentally, emotionally, verbally and even physically. You cheated on me repeatedly then had the nerve to turn around and constantly accuse me of doing something with every Tom, Dick and Harry in the book-when nothing, absolutely nothing, was going on. You did nothing but make me miserable! You would threaten me and your own self, manipulating me into staying in this relationship when all I had wanted was out, to escape you. I hated you, resented you... You made me hate my own self and everything in my life. You took everything from me!"
"It wouldn't be like that now!"
She laughed again. "It never will be. We go through this every single time. It's always going to be different. It's always going to change. It's always going to be this won't ever happen before it turns into it won't happen again then it won't again, again, then it really won't this next time and so on. It's always the same, it's a never-ending cycle with you. And even if things did change it wouldn't matter, Riley. Not at this point. I fell out of love with you... a long time ago. I don't want to be with you. Too much has happened, changed."
"I can make you love me again."
"No, you can't," she said angrily.
"I don't accept that," he told her.
"I couldn't really give a flying fuck," she spat out. "That's how it is. I'm done with you."
OoOoO
After getting into a screaming fit, some vicious words being spat-especially there at the end, Buffy heard him start screaming threats at her and the second she saw him starting to launch for her, she moved. It didn't go as she hoped, but rather expected all the same.
She'd turned to run towards the closest exit she could see of the small cabin they were in and got a step or two out when his much larger body plowed into her. She screamed as she felt him touching her, as her body fell towards the ground. Buffy clipped her temple on a wooden chest and fought with all her might not to pass out again. Honestly, she wasn't sure what would happen to her if she gave into the darkness... or even if she'd ever wake back up from it.
Buffy's hands went down to where he was on her and she began pushing him away, her body wiggling, fighting against him.
He screamed at her more but she tuned it all out. She had heard all he'd had to say before, and she'd heard enough of it, too. He could degrade her all he wanted, tell her in the next breath how much he loved her, he could promise things would be different, turn around and threaten him and her both. She was well over this stupid cycle with him.
When he managed to flip her over, she landed back on the ground with another hard thud, her already damaged head bouncing off the floor. Riley's hands began ripping at her clothes and she felt a new panic rising in her. His eyes, his face were wild and shook her to the bone. She screamed as loud as she could and began doing anything possible to get him off of her. She screamed, wriggled, kicked, scratched, pushed with all she had.
One of his hands reached between them, and he began groping at her through her clothing, before sliding a hand underneath. Buffy's eyes squeezed shut as she continued to try and get away, praying she would. And soon she found an opening. Riley leaned back to try and go for the buttons of her jeans, giving her more room in the process.
In a flash, Buffy yanked her legs up toward her body then kicked at him with all she had before rushing back up on to her feet, grabbing a lamp nearby and tossing it at him. She didn't know how much damage she'd managed... he'd landed loudly, and he was groaning... but she turned to run instead of assessing the situation any further.
Out the door, her eyes went from one side to another trying to figure out where they were. It was dark out, and the best she could make out was they were in the woods. Buffy began to head down the hill in a rush, moving as fast as her legs would allow. And when she saw some other cabins and a gravel road she let out a breath.
There were no lights on in the log cabins but she pounded on the doors, looked inside, before moving along. She looked one way then the other before deciding on a direction to follow. And it wasn't too long before she knew where she was once she spotted the river below. She then knew roughly where she was.. which was both a blessing and a curse.
OoOoO
Buffy heard Riley in the distance shouting her name. She stilled, her breath coming out in heavy pants. He knew there were several more cabins out here but doubted anyone would be there. The only one who had a permanent residence was empty as she'd already learned and the next closest possibility at finding help was still a long ways away. She didn't know the woods up here very well, and it wasn't exactly smart to be trolliping through them to begin with. She was currently following the trail of the road from a hidden place in the trees but suddenly decided to turn back around, going back towards the water.
Buffy looked over the side of the cliff she came to. This wasn't anything like the death road one Willow and Oz lived near, though it wasn't exactly inviting either. She was still well above the water, a slope of hard earth just a step away. Buffy was trying to carefully find her footing, going over the small wooded edging to the road, when she suddenly heard her name again.
He sounded closer than he should. Buffy turned to look over her shoulder and lost her footing in the process. Her arms went up in the air as she began sliding down.
OoOoO
Willow and Liam banded together to try and find some other way to help out. Phone calls, texts and emails started being made... including one to Buffy's father which he wanted to kick himself over for not having done sooner. They posted online to anywhere they could think of then printed out some photos and quick information before heading into town to start questioning people.
Hemery was a small, Mid-Western town. Someone had to know something.
OoOoO
Liam went racing into the police station, gaining everyone's attention briefly. He was out of breath as he looked around the room. Willow came over and put a hand on his shoulder. "Mister Rayne has some new information," she told him as she mentioned on the phone call that had him rushing over here.
Ethan Rayne was the latest owner of The Cave restaurant and began to re-explain that he'd been at the gas station where the cashier had her laptop open behind her and saw the Facebook alert posted she had up. From there he explained how he had gotten a call about two weeks ago from someone looking to rent out one of the cabins. As it was still off-season for that he thought it was odd but they insisted so it was set up. And that the guy in the flier was who he'd met up with to give the keys to.
Ethan said he'd seen him only once since then but hadn't paid much attention since there hadn't been any trouble.
OoOoO
Liam refused to stay behind and no one wanted to argue with him any longer. Lights and sirens were going, the patrol cars racing through the streets of the town and on out through the country. Liam sucked in a breath as they started seeing signs directing toward the cave, his eyes searching endlessly for something, anything.
They got to the graveled parking lot and waiting area of the old restaurant, then ignoring the signs stating no vehicles were allowed up, they started up the large hill. They passed the picnic area, took the curved roads, passed one of the small lakes, a few of the cabins. When they got as close as they could to the particular cabin they were looking for, they stopped. Liam was told to stay in the car, and at first he did... watching them out the window as they got out, gathered, spoke out of the loud speaker then began making their way toward the small cabin.
He was out when some of the officers started coming back down. And he began slowly moving away as they explained the situation. That no one was found inside but obviously someone had been in there, and recently. They described it was a mess in there, looking like there'd been a struggle. That it looked like she had tried to get away.
Liam began moving away from them, his eyes searching the woods around them. He knew they'd be getting together to do the same, hell probably just the townspeople would show up soon to help too.
One officer seemed to be following him... but he paid no mind. He was about to look over towards the river when he heard noises that had him rushing to the ledge. His eyes scanned until he spotted the figured below. The larger of the two was just pulling the smaller figure out of the water. Even before he'd turned her over so she was on her back, he knew who it was.
Liam stepped over the protective fencing and began racing down the rocky slope toward them.
"Angelus!" the officer shouted. Liam heard him swear then heard the sounds of him following behind.
Riley Finn's head turned so fast you'd think it'd have snapped. He began to stand up.
Liam growled, running uneasily down the hill, trying not to slip on the grass, a rock, the dirt or run into a tree. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Buffy laying wet and lifeless on the ground. He growled, pushing forward and soon his large body was spearing right into the blonde man.
"Oomph!" fell from Riley's lips as they went up in the air. Then the next thing Liam heard was the splash of water, followed by its rushing.
The water was freezing as they hit and then fell under. He ignored it though. He started pushing away from the other man some. He found his head breaking back up into the cold night air and took a large gasp of it into his lungs, then swung one fist downward as the other pulled the other man's head up above water as well. The sound echoed sickening around them as his fist connected.
He kept swinging, his other hand holding Riley by the collar, pulling him back up above water each time.
"Angelus!" he began to hear. Fuzzy at first, but then it began to get clearer with every yell.
He let go of Finn, letting the blonde slip back under the river's chilling water. His breath came out in heavy pants. His lungs hurt, as did the rest of him, and he could see his breath now. His head turned and his heart sunk. The officer was over Buffy's body and he was performing CPR on her.
He looked panicked. "She's not breathing," he shouted. "She's not breathing," he repeated. "I-I can't get her to breathe."
Riley was behind him now, as he tried making his way out of the river. He pushed the officer out of the way, beginning to perform CPR on her himself. 'This cannot be happening,' his mind screamed. "Come on, Buffy, come on," he said out loud, his hands pushing on her chest.
She was drenched, freezing, unmoving. Her skin looked ashen in the little light they had.
Above, the other officers began to spot them. The one beside him yelled up they needed an ambulance. A few started down the hill. He somewhat understood one going out into the water to get Finn. But none of that mattered. All that did was that he needed her to breathe. He needed her chest to move.
OoOoO
When Buffy woke up, it didn't take her very long to figure out where she was. Even before she was able to open her eyes she started honing in on the sounds, the smells, and knew she was in a hospital room. It didn't take long to remember why that was, either. All of the horrifying events came rushing back to her at once, forcing her eyes to pry their way open and she sat up with a start. This was neither an easy task to do, nor a pleasant one. Buffy winced in pain, squeezing her eyes back shut as her head pounded.
Buffy felt movement beside her and jumped when she felt someone touching her.
"Hey," she heard Angel's voice softly saying. His voice was rough, but soothed her over instantly. "You're okay."
Buffy gave it a few seconds, then she started opening her eyes back up. She hurt, there were wires coming out of everywhere, and everything around her was too bright. Her eyes falling onto Angel almost hurt the most as he looked like a trainwreck.
Buffy swallowed painfully and one of his large hands came up to cup the side of her face. His thumb traced along her eyebrow, then fell down her cheek. "I thought I lost you all over again," he whispered, his body nearly shaking.
"Wh-what happened?" she barely croaked out.
He stared at her so long that she didn't think he would answer, but when he did go to open his mouth to say something, she heard the door opening, footsteps, along with a few familiar voices and one that wasn't. Both looked over towards the door to see a nurse come in, followed by Hank and her step-mother Jenny.
Buffy felt a complete unease fall over her as she watched their shocked faces, rushing over to her. Buffy looked downward, feeling Angel moving beside her again. He'd propped himself up beside her on the bed after she'd sat up and now was putting his arms around her waist, laying down beside her body.
Swallowing again, she did her best to remain calm, answer questions they were shooting at her. She sunk herself deeper against Angel. Her relationship with her father was already strained without this having happened. She could count on one hand for how many people had known the entire truth to what drove her out of North Carolina... Hank she'd skimmed over the details so much, Angel she'd never wanted to go into about with, but now here they all were.
In this moment she felt humiliated and ashamed. She knew better, but that didn't make it any less true.
Buffy wanted to ask them questions for what happened, how she got here, what all was wrong with her... she wanted to ask about Riley... but she just did her best to keep her mouth shut.
In her head though, her thoughts were running a mile a minute.
OoOoO
"He's not left your side," Buffy heard Jenny say. She looked up at her step-mom then over at Angel. She didn't doubt it by the looks of him.
Buffy nodded, still mulling over everything.
They had filled her in on a few things by now. She knew the extent of her injuries and what had happened while she was out of it, how she'd been found, and what was going on with Riley at the moment. Honestly, she wanted to repeat what brought her here and just run from it but after this she knew that wouldn't be the smartest choice. Given the chance, Buffy was sure he'd always track her down and she'd spend her days always looking over her shoulder for him.
When she fled out of North Carolina she'd known she could have-should have-pressed charges against him then, but stupidity won over. She was pretty sure she'd been granted at least a temporary fix the night everything hit the fan while he was bleeding all over the place and acting like a psychopath. At the time she wasn't thinking about that though, only following the urge to get away, to take the first real chance she'd been given since meeting him to get away.
OoOoO
When a nurse finally came to check on her, Buffy was informed there would be police officers stopping by soon to speak with her. She nodded, swallowing down the nerves and shame coursing through her at the idea. This whole thing was just more than she'd ever wanted to deal with. She hated herself so much for letting it get this bad, for so long. She knew she should have cut ties with Riley forever ago, saved herself such trouble.
Hank and Jenny stayed for awhile before going back home, telling her to call them if she needed anything. Buffy nodded, thanking them. Jenny had done most of the talking, but Hank had gone out of his way to try and comfort her, which she could appreciate.
A nurse popped her head in to check on her, but then it was back to just her and Angel.
Buffy looked the room over, then herself again, then she let her eyes fall on Angel. She stared at the ugly markings adorning his hands. "What happened to you?" she asked.
Buffy's eyes looked for his. He looked confused for a moment then watched as she looked back down at his hands. He clenched them tightly. "Punched someone in the face a few good times," he told her. "And later, a wall."
From his tone that he tried and failed at hiding, she knew who that 'someone' was.
Buffy could only nod and look away. She didn't know what to say to him, didn't want to know what he might think of her now. One second everything was perfect, just starting to really happen for the two of them... and then all of this happened.
Buffy felt his arms tightening around her. She looked down and her heart nearly broke at the look on his face.
"I shouldn't have left," he strangled out. I knew that the whole time. I shouldn't have left," he repeated. "I turned around, Buffy... I was on my way back but by the time I got there... you were already gone."
Buffy felt her stomach wanting to give out.
Angel sat back up beside her, his hands both coming up to cup her face in them. Buffy felt tears spilling from her eyes, hitting his thumbs.
His head leaned forward, he kissed her softly. "I'm so sorry, baby," he whispered at her before kissing her gently once more.
Buffy shook her head. "You didn't know anything about it," she whispered. "And if it hadn't been then, it just would have been another day and time with him."
He shook his head, burying it into the crook of her neck. His arms fell back down to her waist, hers playing in his locks of hair.
"I thought I'd lost you," he whispered against her. "You weren't there, there was blood in the hall. We searched and searched, but nothing... Then we headed out to the cabins and missed you again," he rushed out. "Then you were lifeless in the river, being pulled out... we couldn't get you to come back to us. They worked on you for hours on the way here, then once they got you in... they told us you weren't going to make it, there was nothing they could do... then something changed and we've just been waiting..."
Buffy stroked his hair, letting him fall apart against her, feeling like she was about to do similar.
"For years you were the only thing in the world I wanted, but I was too shy-too scared to do anything about it. Years later, I still had that feeling about you, Buffy. I thought about you way more than I probably should have. Especially when I got back out this way, because it was all just a reminder at times. Then, you just show back up one day and turned everything upside down for me. It was like a second chance laid out in front of me. I just got the nerve to go after it. I just got everything I've wanted for so long. I can't lose you, Buffy."
Angel leaned his head back, meeting her eyes. His words sucker punched her in her very core.
He propped himself up on his elbow, using his other hand to bring her down to him, kissing her.
OoOoO
Speaking to the police answered more questions for her than anything else. She'd not wanted to go over all of the details with her father and especially not Angel just yet so she was grateful for their walk through, questions and answers. She told them she wanted to file multiple charges against Riley and they assured her they would help do just that, taking their time to speak over everything, and going out of their way to make sure she was feeling alright.
They'd let Angel stay in for most of the meeting, but eventually had asked him to step out. He wasn't happy about it-not then, not now. The entire time he was pacing in front of the door. Every so often they'd all stop what they were doing and look his way, his eyes always burning holes into the room.
"I think you got your hands full with that one."
Buffy looked up, smiling at the officer who was now standing.
"In a good way," he quickly added, looking embarrassed.
She could pretty much read his thoughts given all that was going on. She smiled again though, nodding at him.
While they gathered their things to go, Buffy let her mind wander to the very place she didn't want it to go. She let the thoughts cross through her mind for what was going to happen once she was released, the court involvements ahead of her, and wondered how she was going to be able to leave here, leave him, once everything was settled.
OoOoO
"Anything else you might want me to grab?" Angel asked.
Buffy shook her head, her eyes glancing toward the house. She hated Riley all the more in this moment, for turning her childhood home against her even more than it'd been, of making her afraid of it. Memories of the attack flashed before her eyes and she felt a sudden rush of panic.
Angel reached out for her hand, calming her some. "It's okay," he told her, his voice just about a whisper.
He stayed with her out in the car until she seemed to calm down some before hurrying inside to fill up a new bag. She'd been released from the hospital, told she could go home, but that was too much for her to handle just yet. Angel had wasted no time in offering to take her to her dad's, to Willow's, and of course asking her if she wanted to stay with him.
The latter was exactly what she wanted.
They'd filled those who needed to know in on where she would be for the time being and began their exit from the hospital. They were only stopping so Angel could run in and grab a few things that she was needing, but it was hard enough for her to even be out in the driveway at this point.
Buffy had felt those worries and thoughts starting to bubble back up to the surface just as the front door opened back up and Angel stepped back out on to the porch. She let out a huge breath as she watched him lock the door and start heading back her way.
OoOoO
"You hungry?"
Buffy shook her head, her eyes following Angel as he moved around the house. It felt like their date, their night together, was a lifetime ago as she stood in the middle of the room.
"Okay," he whispered, coming over to her and dropping a kiss to her forehead. "Maybe later?" he offered. "You want to go lay down? Take a shower?"
Buffy agreed to the shower as that sounded heavenly right now. She'd had sponge baths at the hospital-which were no help. She felt gross, was sure the saline smell and taste were implanted in her forever, and would like to wash it all away.
Angel set the bathroom up for her, getting her fresh towels, putting her toiletry items in there along with her bag of clean clothes, lighting a candle and bringing her in a glass of juice as well as a snack cake and a bag of chips for in case she did get hungry. He helped her start to undress, his movements careful, his fingers lightly dancing over any evidence of her attack.
Down to just her underwear, Angel held her for a moment and kissed her before saying he'd just be in the bedroom and to come get him if she needed anything. A large part of her wanted to ask him to stay but she kept her mouth shut, watching him slowly retreat out the door and began to focus on the task before her.
OoOoO
Liam was surprised when the door opened and Buffy stepped out. She was still wet from the shower, steam coming off of her even, but more importantly she was still only wrapped up in a towel as she took a few more steps closer to him. He swallowed at the sight. Bruised and beat up she was still far too tempting like this. "Everything okay?"
Buffy nodded, looking at the ground for several more seconds. Then, "I know I've said this many times now... but I am sorry for everything."
"You have nothing at all to be sorry about, Buffy. Nothing," he told her.
"I should have handled things better than I did. I should have told you. I should have..."
He shook his head, standing to go to her, wrapping her up in his arms. "Stop thinking that way. No one is faulting you for anything and you didn't owe me your whole life story-at least not yet," he added with a hint of a smile.
She sighed, laying her head against his chest. "I'm just so scared, so angry now. I am not that girl," she told him. "I don't know how it happened. I'm not the girl who lets someone push me around and somehow that's what I wound up as. I let someone control me and hurt me and I hate that. I didn't love Riley and for a good long while I didn't even like him, it was just stupid of me to stay for the reasons I did. And it became a never-ending mess."
Liam cupped the back of her head with one hand. "You don't owe anyone-including yourself-an explanation on this, Buffy. Shit happened. Just know that it won't again and that it's all over. And you're going to be stronger in the end because of it."
"But it's not over, not entirely. I mean I know there's going to be putting him away for what all happened but it's also being afraid now, too. It's what else he's ruined for me here now as well. It's fear of that feeling he's going to pop up or remembering that night, being afraid to step inside my house. It's, god, the shame I now carry with me. Fear of all the looks and whispers. Everyone knowing all of this..."
Dropping a kiss to the top of her head, he held her tighter. "I'm not saying this is perfect right now, but it'll get better. That fear is normal, and I am here, as are others, to help you through that. Anything you need. Some things are going to take time and other things, hell, they may stay with you forever. I don't know. But it will get better. If you can't handle a situation you have people who will be at your side or to help you through anything. If you can't go back to that house, it's understandable. There's other places we can get you in to, you have family and friends, and better than any of that... you could stay here as long as you want. This is a small town, a small, sleepy town. People are going to talk. It doesn't matter if it's you were held captive by a crazy ex-boyfriend or you got a speeding ticket around here. You have nothing to be feeling ashamed over. You are not a victim here. You're still standing and growing and pushing through this."
She was silent for a long time again. He picked her up and carried her over to the bed, letting her curl herself up in his lap. "I've been thinking about leaving."
He was caught a little off-guard by her voice, having gotten used to the silence. "Leaving?"
"Hemery."
He took in a long breath, his eyes roaming around the room at random. "I don't think anyone could blame you for wanting to get the hell out of here," he finally replied. "That includes me. But then again that's on the list of last things I want to happen." He sighed. "Where would you be heading off to?"
Buffy shrugged. "I really have no idea. I've only ever been here and out there and the distance between the two."
"You could stay."
She turned, now looking up at him from his lap. "I came here running, Angel. I didn't know where else to go. And now all this happened..."
"I know. And I know this is not exactly any ideal location in the world, too. But there are things worth sticking around for, least for awhile."
"Like what?"
"Well, you have quite a bit of family around here. They'd all miss you. Had missed you."
"I have a very strained relationship with my father, in case you hadn't picked up on that. And while seeing my many aunts and uncles and cousins from time to time... there's also phone calls and emails and letters to keep in touch."
"Which you didn't do before," he pointed out. "And it's not the same. And you can work on fixing whatever is wrong with you and Hank. You also have friends here who would hate to see you go again."
Her eyes closed for a moment. "I would miss them. Especially Willow and Oz as I had so, so much over the years and it has been wonderful to have them back in my life."
"You've started building a life here. The house-which is iffy right now, the friends and family reconnecting, you have a pretty nice job set up," he said with a smile.
Buffy laughed at that. "And good co-workers there."
"See, that too. I bet you could even talk your boss into giving you a raise."
She laughed again.
"And there's me..."
The air turned back a little more serious with that around them. He held her gaze for a long time.
"This just started with us, Angel. I mean... we had one date..."
"A very intense date and a lot of time spent before that too. At work, at the diner. Not to mention a whole high school experience of the two of us making moon eyes at one another from across the halls. It's a nice start with the potential to go quite a long way. As for me, I would like to see where that could wind up."
"Even after everything?"
He nodded. "Maybe even more so."
"How's that?"
"Because I want to be with you. I want to be the one who helps you out of this hole of darkness, who treats you as you should be treated, shows you that shit does not have to be like it was with him and that everything can be better. I'm not going to keep you from leaving this little slice of nowhere if that's what you want, but I will say that I want to be with you and want you to stay. Not forever as I sure don't plan on being here forever, but for right now... until the next step is figured out."
OoOoO
Buffy had told Angel she would think about what she was going to do next and it was left at that for the next several days. His offer was more than a little tempting, but she had no idea what she felt was the best option. For now, she'd just let it sit as she got herself back together.
In fact, she'd pretty much been that way with everything. She'd kept in touch with those close to her, seeing a few of them once since coming over to stay with Angel, but hadn't been much for wanting to go do anything just yet so had kept to the house for the most part.
That was until Angel came home from his first day back at work, telling her he missed her and she needed to come back soon, but more the part where he handed her a new dress and shoes and told her they would be going out that night. At first she wanted to protest but was convinced into it easier than she'd anticipated.
OoOoO
"Would you like to tell me what's going on yet?" Buffy asked Willow as they parked in the back lot of the high school. She looked around, seeing some decorations around the school along with a few strangling teens dressed up.
Willow smiled evilly. "No," she answered. "Come on."
Buffy felt a wave of nerves as they got closer to the school, her hand even shaking as she reached for the side door that was at the very end of the junior high hallway.
The halls of the school were decorated and music was coming from the gym. Her eyes looked around the familiar hallways of the high school. A lot had changed when it came to the paint and decor around the old building, but it still felt familiar and brought back many memories.
And Buffy's heart nearly flew out of her chest when her eyes drifted up the hallway up to the front of the building, seeing Angel standing at the top of the ramp. This was how her almost every school morning had begun, walking in through those doors and finding him standing in that area to kick her day off.
"You two have fun," Willow whispered as she passed her best friend, heading toward the gym.
"What? Willow? Wait!" Buffy called after her but got a laugh from the redhead and nothing more. Buffy's legs wanted to give out as she saw Angel walking toward her, making her feel like she was a teenager all over again.
"That's a nice shade of red you're wearing."
Buffy blushed harder, her hand coming up to fan at her face. "This is a little much," she told him. "Your idea was to come to a high school dance?"
He shrugged. "The garage always makes pretty big donations for one school events or another so I usually get invited to these things. Never came before but it seemed like it could be worth a go. Make up for some lost time maybe. Plus get to relieve a good memory from the past or two. I about fell over watching you walk through the doors, like I did every day back in school. I would get here early and stalk around the top of those stairs just to wait for you to show up."
That certainly didn't make Buffy's face turn back to its normal shade any.
Neither did his reaching out for her, kissing her hungrily there in the hall way and leading her into the large gym where the dance was being held.
OoOoO
"Please don't tell me you booked a hotel room, too."
Angel laughed heartily at that. "No, I didn't do that. Though I do have a room with a very large bed that I wouldn't mind taking you to anyway."
Buffy felt herself blushing yet again, burying her face in his shoulder and chest. "You have some evil power-hold over me, I swear," she muttered.
She could feel him smile against the top of her head.
OoOoO
Buffy wasn't exactly sure when it happened, but somewhere during the night she decided on what she was going to do. At least for now. Angel had been right, this was far from her ideal place, not anywhere she had thought she would want to be let alone stay at any longer than she had to, but there were things worth sticking around for now.
She enjoyed their date at the dance and let him take her back to his place, which was more of their place these days. She happily helped him with undressing one another as they entered the front door and made their way back to the bedroom. They hadn't been intimate in such a way since all the madness had come to light but the motions came easily. She felt safe and secure with him, wanted and even loved as he went out of his way to worship every inch of her.
Before falling asleep, she whispered she would stay. That what was going on between the two of them was worth sticking around for and seeing what might happen next.
THE END.