Hello everyone :) So a little longer chapter than I expected but you guys deserve it for being awesome. Also... I don't know how you'll feel about the issue coming up, so please voice it. Either way hope you enjoy and thank you for reading.

Chapter 13

Angel tossed his keys to the valet as he rushed to Buffy's side to help her out of the car. He could tell that she was nervous from the way she was smiling unsurely. As he wrapped her hand around him, he leaned in close to her ear and whispered…

"You have nothing to worry about sweet love…" while placing a tender kiss on her cheek.

She smiled in return, not being able to form words as they started forward to meet the bunch of guests… awaiting them.

/

Isa noticed her son walk in glowing… the last time she remembered that kind of happiness on her son's face had been on a Christmas morning, when he'd believed that Santa had actually eaten the cookies he'd laid out for him.

She tugged on her husband's arm lightly as he was in deep conversation with business associates, gesturing to were the young couple was being greeted by their other guests.

"Will you excuse us for a moment gentlemen…" the Sr. O'Donnell said, "we've got to continue to make the rounds… will keep discussing this after dinner…"

The men gestured their approval and Angel's parents made their way to their son…

Angel and Buffy were making acquaintances when he noticed his parents approaching… his mother had a very excited expression on her face, while his father showed a skeptical look…

Buffy noticed the older couple approaching and nervousness began to fill her… this was it. Angel put some pressure to their holding hands to reassure her then brought it to his lips to kiss it…

The gesture calmed her a little, but she was still on edge.

Angel began the introductions, "Mom… Father… this is Buffy Summers…" he said with a smirk then continued, "Buffy… these are my parents, Isabella and Liam O'Donnell…"

"It is such an honor…" Buffy extended her hand in greeting when Angel's mother suddenly stepped forward to take Buffy into an embrace …

"Such a pleasure to meet you…" she said warmly, "and please… just call me Isa…"

Isa couldn't believe the intense feeling in her gut about her son and the girl before her. She wasn't sure if it was just mother intuition, but the moment she had locked eyes with the young woman as she'd seen her interact with her son, just did it for her.

There was nothing but genuine affection from the both of them… Now she knew feelings weren't everything, but they at least they had a foot in the right direction towards a strong relationship. The rest of the party, she was going to have to make sure she could fill the very coveted position of being an O'Donnell's wife.

"Pleasure…" Angel's father said almost harshly.

Buffy took his hand in greeting, "It's nice to meet you sir…"

Liam wanted to be apprehensive about the young lady by his son's side because marrying into this family was serious business. In the whole sense of the word… the O'Donnell men weren't known for marrying for love, they were the kind to marry for prestige and stature as their family had certain standards expected from them…

Well… with the exception of himself. He'd actually courted a young Miss Isabella Hamilton, who did not have the same social standing as him, but ran in the same circle of friends. It had been like a revelation to him… the moment he'd laid eyes on her, he knew he was going to marry her. He didn't how or why he knew it, but he had known from the first moment… that she was it.

It wasn't something that he advertised or had shared with anyone but his wife and he was only that loving man with her, she reminded him of that time of his life.

Buffy's genuine smile intrigued the elder O'Donnell and since he could tell that his son was more than smitten, considering what his wife had said before they'd arrived… he decided to take this opportunity to get to know her…

"Has my son offered you something to drink Ms. Summers…" he said softer.

"Not yet…" she smiled, "and please… its Buffy…"

"Well… Buffy…" he said in a charming way similar to his son's, "would you like to walk with me and get a refreshment…?"

"Love to…" she answered allowing herself to be led away from Angel.

He was about to protest but his mother held him back, "This is a good thing son…" she fixed his jacket and bow tie, "he seems to be captivated by her… and you know approval of her is crucial if you're serious about what you showed me earlier…" she arched an eyebrow at him.

Angel sighed, he wasn't about to fight with his mother about this. He wanted to say that even if they disapproved… he was going to ask her to marry him anyways. But he kept that to himself.

"Come, come…" Isa said, "Let's get the business pleasantries out of the way…"

He nodded and walked away with his mother. He wasn't worried about Buffy… she was a strong independent woman when it came to her life outside of relationships, so he was sure she'd wow his father and anyone else, without a doubt.

/

"Unbelievable…" Dru said to Kate as they sipped champagne.

Kate watched Buffy and Angel's father laugh earnestly…

"Dru babe…" Kate started, "don't worry about it. She's a nobody… there is no way that the O'Donnell family will consent to their relationship…"

"It doesn't matter Kate…" Dru said in a broken tone of voice, "look at Angel… he doesn't miss a beat of her presence from any where he's standing. And the way he looks into her eyes…" she felt tears begin to brew, "he never looked at me like that…"

Kate rubbed her friends shoulder… she wasn't sure what to say. She couldn't disagree… the pull between them was undeniable. A blind person could probably tell how much they perfectly fitted together.

"Fucken bitch…" she cursed under her breath.

Next thing Kate knew… Drusilla snapped and began marching towards Buffy. An evil expression on her face; Spike was actually having such a nice time and conversation with Dru's mother that he almost missed the look rage in Drusilla as she passed by him…

"Bloody hell…" he said to himself as he excused himself to grab Dru by the arm… "What's going on love…?"

Her eyes were red with rage and emotion, "Let me go Spike…" she spoke through gritted teeth, "to hell with the plan! I'm going to let everybody in this freaking place know what a piece of trash BUFFY really is…"

Spike pulled her into the edge of the house then out some door, he held her against the wall, "Is this really how you want to do this?" he paused, "THESE are your friends and people of society… is this really how you want them to see you?"

Anger tears streamed down her face as she stared at the man she'd been using for the pasts months… and then it hit her… there it was right in front of her… the look she'd hoped to get from Angel in Spike's eyes…

Letting emotion take her, she pulled him to her for a passionate kiss to which he responded immediately…

/

Buffy had charmed Mr. O'Donnell as he'd asked her about her and aspirations in life. He'd asked very little about what she felt for his son but it hadn't been necessary to ask… she was glowing in emotion and Liam was excited that his son seemed serious about this one. Angel was past the marriage age limit that was expected by the O'Donnell men, so if his son chose her… he was happy to say that he agreed… she'd make a great O'Donnell wife.

More importantly, he thought… she could hold her own when being introduced to important business associates and that was a huge deal. Now a background check and he would welcome her into his family with open arms, he thought.

/

Spike and Drusilla were getting ready to leave but not before handing a set of envelopes to Angel's parents and Angel himself…

Drusilla went outside deciding to forget the whole plan, but Spike on the other hand, had other plans… even if he no longer wanted her back, he wanted to ruin her life for daring to leave him before he'd been done with her.

Angel opened the envelope and stared in shock… he looked up to hear his mother gasp as she gazed at some documents in her hand similar to his, then he turned to his father as he held a similar folder himself but hadn't looked at it as he was too busy chatting away with his guests.

He began to search for Buffy and when they locked eyes… her heart dropped and her face paled. She wasn't sure how she knew that what Angel held in his hands was probably proof of what she'd ran away from that had to do with Spike… and her past.

Riley had been chatting with Willow, Cordy, and Lindsey for a while when he noticed his best friend. He made a gesture to excuse himself to greet Angel when he suddenly picked up on his shocked expression…

He reached him and asked, "Hey… everything alright…?"

Angel was startled out from gazing at Buffy, "What?" he said stuffing the papers in the envelope.

Riley pulled him aside, "What's going on…?" Riley said more seriously.

"Buffy…" he choked out, "its pictures of Buffy…" he tried to explain.

"You're not making any sense what pictures of Buffy…?"

Angel handed him the folder, Riley took it confused pulling up the photos that showed Buffy poll dancing on a stage stripping, and as the pictures increased she had less clothing… he stopped. He figured it reached a possibly nude point but he didn't want to know.

/

Isa looked at the photos and sighed stopping the waiter that had brought her the envelope…

"Who gave you this…?" she asked.

The waiter looked around to try and point him out, but the man was nowhere in sight.

"I believe he may be gone mam…" he said, "I think he was accompanying Ms. Kinsley… he had white looking hair, slim kind of guy…"

Isa nodded, "Thank you…" she glanced around in search of her husband and she spotted him making conversation with more business people, clutching at an envelope she figured contained the same information hers did. She made her way to her husband taking the envelope from him.

Liam was about to question the action when she flirtingly interrupted him by saying she wanted him to handle no business tonight. He agreed and she walked off… Now, she needed to find Ms. Summers…

/

Buffy shakily made her way to Willow and pulled her away…

"Willow…" she said on the verge of tears, "I need you to get me out of here…"

"Buffy…" Will held her friend in a hug, "sure but what's happening, what's wrong…"

"I can't… Will please…" Buffy begged.

"Okay, okay… I'll get Riley to…"

"No!" Buffy practically yelled, "Just…"

"I'll call a cab…" Will said looking at her like she didn't want to leave her, but Buffy nodded to her that she'd be okay. Willow left to make the call as Buffy was trying to discreetly make her way out when she felt someone's hand grab her arm.

"Ms. Summers…" Isa began, "may I have a word…?"

Buffy took a deep breath before facing her then turned around, "I'm sorry… I don't feel very well could we just…"

"Please…" Isa added.

Buffy nodded and Isa took her deeper into the house away from the party into a study. She closed the door locking behind her and asked her to have a seat.

"I rather stand if that's okay…" Buffy said.

Isa nodded then decided to just get to it, "If you're serious about my son… I need the truth…" she said bluntly.

"I don't unders…"

Isa handed her the envelope she'd opened… Buffy saw pictures of herself walking to a bar, putting on a dark wig, waitressing in skimpy outfits at a gentlemen's club, then her standing on stage… she stopped and began to cry.

Isa walked over to her feeling bad and giving her a hug… She handed her a tissue then said, "This kind of information in the hands of the media will not only destroy your chances with my son but also with the dance association…"

Buffy's head snapped up, "How do you know about…"

Isa smiled, "Do you really think that I'd let anybody who my son is interest in, in my house without doing a little digging first?"

Buffy said nothing… as she sniffled.

"I made a couple of phone calls here and there… you're well known around school you know?"

"I… I don't know what to say…" Buffy finally said.

"The truth…" Isa told her, "if you care about my son the way I think you do, the best thing you can do is be honest with me…"

Buffy gave her a small smile as she sighed, "I… I uh… left Sunnydale behind when I caught my ex cheating on me…" she wiped a tear.

"to make a long story short… he broke my heart, but I didn't care about how much that had devastated me. What I was worried about was my sister. Spike, my ex, threatened that if I left him… he'd make sure my family paid. He has a lot of bad connections so I convinced a friend of mine to take my sister away to protect her… she's the only one that matters to me. My father left when I was little and my sister had just been born. My mother blamed us for him leaving so she never cared… she came and went whenever she pleased and said it didn't matter what happened to us."

By now, Buffy stood and began pacing…

"This friend of mine was moving away and when I asked him to take her, like the brother that he practically is, he agreed but he wasn't going to be able to support her on his own… and so comes the part of me working two weekends out of the month in that crappy old bar, away from anyone who could recognize me, by pretending to be someone else…"

Isa stared at the young woman… such a tragic life; she knew she was telling the truth, she could tell.

Buffy looked up to stare at Angel's mother, "the reason I didn't bring my sister with me is because I was scared of him finding me and doing something to her. And the reason I pretend to be someone else in that bar is because if school had found out I'd lose my dance scholarship…" she paused, "that and the owner pays me cash…"

Isabella processed the entire situation and what this young woman was telling her, "So…" she began, "I think it's safe to assume who's causing this is this EX you speak off…"

Buffy nodded, "I don't know anybody else who would care…"

"Okay… I understand and I have to say that it's very brave of you to do what you're doing for your sister. But I do have one question…" Isa pulled out a picture, "this is you on stage isn't…"

Buffy swallowed the lump in her throat and then said yes. She could tell the older woman was about to question her on it but she spoke first…

"The owner threatened to let me go if I didn't cover the ill girl who missed work that night…" she walked over to take Angel's mother's hand and said, "I'd never do something like that if I had a choice and I only did it that one time… I swear I'm not…"

Buffy's voice cracked and Isa pulled her into a hug.

"It's okay dear…" she comforted her, "have you told my son…?"

Buffy jumped out of her arms, "NO! He can't know… what he'll think of me… I…"

She broke into new tears… "Mrs. O'Donnell… I never planned to fall in love... ever… I wanted to finish school, get my career, save enough money for me and my sister and move us across the world… but then… your son happened and I… I just…"

"I know…" Isa whispered. She wasn't sure why she felt like protecting her but she knew that she wanted to.

"Are you going to tell your son…?" Buffy asked.

"He already knows dear…"

Buffy stared in horror and Isa held her hand.

"Three envelopes were delivered to us… My husband, myself, and…"

"Angel…" Buffy breathed remembering the look on Angel's face earlier.