Chapter One
It was almost four in the morning when they got back to Crawford Street, Giles had shown Buffy where the kitchen and bathroom were before he left her in the living room with Angel as he quickly made up the guest room for her to sleep in.
Angel looked down to the terrified girl and sighed, she was still on edge and had yet to ease her tense frame "Would you like something to drink, Buffy?" When she nodded, he led her to the kitchen and opened the fridge and handed her a soda. She took it off him and fumbled with trying to open it before crying again.
He plucked the can from her fingers and opened it with ease "Hey, hey, don't worry… here" he handed her the can back and smiled kindly "Like Giles said, you can help yourself to anything you want, okay?" Without saying anything she took a sip and looked around the kitchen before looking down to her feet.
When Giles reappeared, he led them upstairs and to the spare room "Well I don't have anything your size but we do have an old t-shirt and shorts that belonged to my niece when she stayed here last summer" he handed her the brightly coloured garments and smiled kindly "If you need me at any point throughout the night, please do call"
"And you, off to bed you have school to attend in oh" Giles looked at his watch and smirked "…a few hours, best get some sleep" seeing the incredulous look from his stepson he shrugged his shoulders.
Angel scowled "Giles, its almost FIVE AM, you can't be serious"
The older man rolled his eyes and huffed "Of course I'm not bloody serious, get to bed and all of us try and get some rest" he loved winding up Angel, he then smiled back down at Buffy before retreating to his room.
Angel rubbed his arm and smiled as well "If you need anything…" seeing her shake her head he said goodnight and went back to his room. Climbing under the covers he sighed and rolled onto his stomach, sliding his arms under the pillow to try and get comfy.
Now having the chance to take in what happened tonight, he felt his full body tense before becoming heavy. He couldn't believe that he had gone running towards a burning building, it was really a stupid thing to do but he had saved a life. Not before long he must have passed out as the next thing he knew, he could hear screaming down the hall.
He blinked rapidly and covered his eyes to shield from the sunlight that was pouring in, he had forgotten to draw the blackout curtains when he got home last night. When he realised that it was a scream he had heard, he ran down the hall to the guest room and found Buffy still asleep and screaming.
Giles entered the room and they both held her until they wakened her by repeatedly saying her name. When her eyes shot open, she wailed loudly and grabbed onto Angel, pulling him closer. Her dreams were of a darkened room, billowing smoke and the feeling of fire licking at her skin. It almost felt as real as it could have been last night.
It took almost a half hour for them to calm her down and when they did, she went back into an almost catatonic state. They let her be for a while, before trying again to get her to talk and after an hour or so she blinked rapidly before asking where the bathroom was.
Late breakfast/early lunch was a sombre affair, no one wanted to speak, no one knew what to say or what they should say. Shortly after they finished eating, Detective Finn appeared with a psychiatrist who wanted to have a conversation with them all.
Buffy would remain in the care of Rupert Giles until a suitable foster family should be found. Although it was stressed that this could happen either right away or be far off in the future, they had said that they would try to keep Buffy as close to Sunnydale as they could but it wasn't a guarantee.
After they had left, they spent the evening letting Buffy warm up to them, letting her lead in what they would do. When Giles suggested going to the mall to get some essentials in for her, she refused to leave, not wanting to face the world. When he asked if it was okay for him to go out and pick some clothes with the help of a friend, she said that was okay.
Angel remained with her when he was gone, they sat in silence watching a movie until the doorbell went. When Angel answered, Eve threw herself into his arms and shrieked "I cannot believe what a hero you are! You are so much more hotter than before" when she went to kiss him he shook his head and motioned towards the living room.
Eve followed him and looked at the little girl, crouching down she pursed her lips "Oh aren't you so lucky for Angel to find you, so, so lucky" she had heard from him just a little earlier about how the orphan was now staying with them in the meantime, although she thought it was weird, it wouldn't be something her parents would do but it was totally Giles.
Buffy frowned at her, not liking the condescending tone nor how she was pawing all over Angel. Folding her arms, she turned away and continued to watch TV.
"Rude… say why don't we go upstairs and uh" she nodded her head, hinting at what she wanted them to get up to but when he shook his head she frowned "Come on, the kid can watch cartoons and we can lock the door"
Angel nudged her towards the door "Eve, we can't… I'll talk to you later okay?" When her lips pursed together in annoyance, he pressed his lips to hers to stop her from throwing a shit fit. She accepted the kiss then whispered she would see him later before leaving.
When he closed the door and made his way back to the sofa he sighed "Sorry about that… Eve is just a little lacking in… tact" he knew how she came across and had many arguments with Giles over her.
Buffy rolled her eyes "I don't like her"
Angel sighed, although Eve was popular, she did rub people the wrong way, always putting her foot in it and not thinking before speaking. He shrugged and made his way back to sit down and watched as Buffy shuffled away from him slightly. He shook his head and pulled out his homework that Giles had oh so kindly collected on the drive by the high school earlier.
When Giles returned, he found them both asleep on the sofa, Angel had laid down and he found Buffy lying behind him, holding onto him with her face pressed against his back, almost trying to shield herself from the world. He smiled and grabbed the throw from the chair and tossed it over them, letting them rest before dinner.
Finding them napping together became common, any time Angel would fall asleep on the sofa, it wasn't long before Buffy would rest her head against him, her arm over him or be safe in his arms. At first Angel had kindly let her know that it wasn't appropriate, but that lost and lonely look made him ease up. It was pure innocence and she admitted that he was the only one to make her feel completely safe.
Buffy gradually went back to school but found that the others would indirectly treat her differently, either they would be over nice or over cautious around her and it rubbed her the wrong way. Although she was just a kid, she felt like she had aged drastically since the fire.
One day she tried to ditch but by no such luck, Angel had a free period and was running late so caught her trying to sneak into the park. Rather than cornering her, he let her talk about why she didn't want to go to school, and she said that she couldn't stand how the others tried to sympathise but failed badly.
Angel tried to explain he knew what she was going through, but she snapped at him, telling him he was just as bad as the others. With a sigh he had told her that his mom had passed away when he was ten, so he fully knew what she was going through. Buffy apologised and cried, not only for being mean to him but also that he had lost his mother, like she had lost hers.
Within a month or so of staying at Giles' she had experienced Thanksgiving and Christmas, to which the traditions were similar to her own home but missing her parents got worse. She missed her moms cooking or her dads' cheesy jokes and had all but cried herself silly throughout the holidays. They had tried to give her as normal of a holiday as they could but understood that they hadn't succeeded.
The psychiatrist had requested longer sessions to which he abided by, but she had also started using Angel as an outlet. Although he was out more, spending time with friends, girlfriend and playing sports, he always made time for her to listen to. He even helped her with her homework and had managed to keep her from flunking some of her worse off subjects.
When her ninth birthday came around, they had taken her out to the ice-rink a little outside of town. Skating had been a hobby that her and her mother would do every week and when she let that slip in her heart to heart with her Angel, he made sure that they incorporated that into her celebrations.
Although she knew this birthday was going to be a hard one, Giles and Angel had managed to put a smile on her face. She thought she would never be happy again, but they managed the impossible and made her feel, even the tiniest bit of hope. Hope that she would see the light at the end of the tunnel and that maybe she could just survive.
Throughout her time with them, she had seen their traditions for birthdays, had seen how Giles liked a traditional English breakfast, complete with tea, or how Angel wanted nothing more than to stuff himself with pancakes. She made them homemade gifts for their birthdays, and they exclaimed that they were the best and most thoughtful gifts they had ever received.
They also made sure that she was never left without, like Angel, Giles would buy her clothing, books, anything she really wanted, and she knew she was lucky. She knew that some kids were worse off than her and they had their parents, Giles truly made her feel like a member of his family.
During Summer vacation, they had all went down the coast and rented a house on the beach, where no one knew who she was and the kids her age treated her no differently to the rest. The three weeks they spent there was one of the best times she had and felt a little guilt that it overtook one of her memories from travelling with her parents long ago.
The heartache she felt hadn't lessened, those painful memories of her parents were still there but she was learning to cope with them. Dealing with death is always tricky, hearing people say 'it'll get easier' is a bald face lie, it doesn't get easy, you just test your resilience and live with it.
As the one-year anniversary of the tragedy came around, she felt like she could be brave enough to handle going back to the house, the one that was bare and decaying, just to help put it behind her but unfortunately, another blow came. Detective Finn had come by, a foster family had been found and she would have to leave her safe haven.
Luckily the new family also stayed in Sunnydale, the other side of town, a good forty-minute walk from Crawford Street but at least it was still in the same town. Giles had promised her that she was most welcome to return to their house whenever she saw fit and that they would always have a place for her.
She hadn't wanted to leave but the decision wasn't up to her nor Giles. Angel had promised that he would always be her friend and that he was only ever a call away. He kept true to that and had all but ditched his friends when she asked him to go back to her old house and be there for her.
The house wasn't the safe by any means, so they sat in the backyard and talked about her memories of her parents, her life before meeting them and it helped bring a sense of closure to the accident.
Angel had asked her how living at her new house was, with a shrug of her shoulders she said it was okay but that it was nothing like living with them and that she missed them, so much. He repeated that he would always be there for her, although he was older and had plans for his future, he would always have time for her.
Extending out her pinky, she nodded "Swear?" Her eyes filled with tears as he held his pinky out and hooked it around hers, sharing the sentiment that they would always have a connection. She wiped at her eyes and stood up with his help, he ushered her to his car and drove her back to her new home, so that she could be home in time for dinner.
Oooooooooooooooo
Eight Years Later
Angel had made it back to Sunnydale and had only been in the town limits for a grand total of five minute before he received an unpleasant phone call. Rather than driving back to his house on Crawford Street after a four-hour flight, he was now headed downtown.
Pulling up outside of the police department he sighed loudly and pinched the bridge of his nose, willing the throbbing in his temples to ease off, at least until he could get home. Pocketing his phone, he entered the building and stated his name and why he was here, before he was escorted down to the rooms that lined the edge of the building.
As he entered the room, he heard a scoff "Oh come on… you've got to be kidding me?!" Angel turned to face her and felt anger, annoyance, and overall sadness. His eyes roamed over her dark clothing, heavy eyeliner, her long blonde locks tied into a serious braid that was resting over her left shoulder.
The officer only stated they had five minutes then left them alone. Angel took a seat in front of her and sighed "Buffy"
Rolling her eyes and thudding her boots on the table as she crossed her ankles, she faked a wide smile before going back to picking her nails in disinterest at his appearance here. It had been an age since she had last seen him and was not expecting him to be here.
Angel watched as she refused to look at him, his dark eyes bore right into her causing her to squirm. He could see that she was fighting the urge to run away from him, good luck to her cause it wouldn't he happening anytime soon. The more she ignored him, the more he felt tension across his back.
They had always had a close bond but ever since he left for College and she began to hang around with the wrong crowd, her personality began to change. Each time she done something unbelievably stupid Giles would inform him and that feeling of being let down by her kicked up a notch. Unfortunately, this wasn't her first time being hauled in and he wondered what in the hell she had done this time.
