The What If Factor

Chapter 11: Pain.

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: If I said I owned them, I lied.

Buffy's POV:

I should have known.

When I looked at the clock and noticed that Bill would be home in an hour, I should have told Angel to leave. But then we fell asleep.

Paige's POV:

When I got home from school, my mom and Ben were arguing. I heard something shatter, so I wandered up stairs. I saw a suit case open on the bed, cloths and such hanging out of it. It was all Ben's stuff. I had an idea of what was going on. My mom looked tired as she yelled, and Ben looked angry and hurt as he yelled. Then I noticed my Dad in the corner, looking, well, not looking like anything at all, really, not saying anything.

And it became apparent who my mother's accomplice had been.

She had been seeing my father.

I thought that that's who it had been. It had just made sense. And now it was obviously true. I had never really seen my mother as being that kind of person, and she wasn't. She had just been with the person she loved the most. I'm not saying that it was right, for she had done it while she was still married to Ben. I'm just saying that it almost made sense... in a twisted sort of way.

But, what came next was the last thing I expected.

Buffy's POV:

When you wake up to "Get the hell outta my bed!" You know that it's only going to get worse. I had been asleep, but when I heard the all familiar voice of my second husband, I sat straight up. I looked from an extremely angry Ben, to an almost terrified Angel. He was pushed back against the head board so far, you'd think he'd be in the next room.

"Ben, what are you doing here?" The second those words came out of my mouth, I knew what a stupid question it had been. He lived there.

"What am I doing here?" He asked in a mix of anger and confusion, "What is he doing here?"

I would have said that I could explain, but I didn't have to. Ben had seen it. He stormed out of the room, and Angel and I quickly redressed ourselves. He came back into the room moments later with a suitcase, and began packing his things. I didn't try to stop him. He had the right to leave. He had every right. I didn't say anything, actually.

Until the yelling started.

"How long has this been going on?" He asked. I hung my head and quietly said,

"A year."

"A year?" He stormed over to the closet. "I can't believe you've been doing this behind my back for a year!" He roared, tearing shirts off the hangers. "How could you do this? We're supposed to be married! Married people don't do this! And you," He said, pointing to Angel, "You're married, too! How could you pull this shit on your wife! You have a child with this woman!" And that's what got me thinking. Angel did have a child with Nina. After Ben took Andy and left, we'd probably never talk to each other again. Sure, the girls would see and hand out with Andy, but Ben and I had no other ties to each other then our marriage. But Angel had a son with Nina. That complicated things.

"God, Buffy, this was the last thing I expected from you. After you tried to sell me that shit about you being over him! I just can't believe it!"

"Ben, I'm sorry. I really am. I'm sorry I lied to you, I'm sorry that I had an affair. I'm sorry that I hurt you and betrayed your trust. But, if you want me to stand here and try to justify my actions, I'm not going to do that. I know that I was wrong, but I don't have any excuses. You have been nothing but wonderful to me. You've treated me with the upmost respect, and done nothing but love me. I am truly sorry. But that's all I can give you."

He just shook his head and closed the suit case. When he turned around, Paige was standing there, looking anything but surprised. Like she had known all along. Bill walked towards her and said, "Paige, would you go get Andy and help us pack his things?" She nodded, then ran off. Ben took one more look at me, then walked out of the room. I stayed away until Andy came in to hug me goodbye. I told him I'd talk to him soon.

And that was it. They left. I asked Paige to take Ava and Kat out in the back yard. I had to talk to Daddy.

Paige's POV:

I knew. It was one of those times when I just knew. If you haven't figured it out yet, I have a lot of those moments. But, I was a teenager, I got it. I knew that they were leaving. I hadn't been out back to "play" in at least two years. But, when I Mom asked me, I knew that her and Dad were gonna get into it. And they didn't want us in the house.

Which meant that when Daddy walked out that night, it might have been the last time he set foot in our house again.

Buffy's POV:

I could feel his eye's on me. They were burning a hole through my back. I felt him come closer to me. I couldn't take it. So much had happened, I just couldn't take that side show we called a relationship at that time. "Can you just go?" I asked, feeling sorry the second I said it.

"Why? Don't you think-" I whorled around.

"I don't really know what I think. I just need some time to register all of this."

"I don't want to go. I want to stay with you, with my daughters."

"Well, I need you gone."

I could practically feel him roll his eyes. He sighed in frustration. "Dammit, Buffy," He cried, walking away from me. "You don't get to do this. You don't get to make me believe that we have a chance again, a chance with my girls, and then tare it away from me!"

"This isn't about you and me, this is about your son!" I blurted out. Angel just looked at me. "Dylan has nothing to do with this."

"He has everything to do with this!" I roared, not understanding why he didn't get it. "If you leave Nina, then you leave Dylan, too."

"That's crap and you know it." He said, shaking his head. "If Nina and I broke up, she's not the kind of person to keep Dylan from me. She would be an adult about it. She wouldn't hold grudges, or spend the next three years living off of 'what ifs' and 'could haves.'" And then he turned around and stormed out. I was just left standing there, in our bedroom, knowing that he was right.