He had spent ten minutes trying to talk to her through the door, apologising for hurting her and that he still cares for her. Her sobs had came silent and when she wouldn't answer at all he grabbed a screwdriver from the toolbox in the hall closet and fiddled with the lock on the door. When it was loose enough he pushed the door and stepped into an empty room.
Looking around he saw none of last nights clothes lying on the floor, the bed was still untouched and the charger was still plugged into the wall. With a sigh he went over to the window and looked around and down. Great. She had decided to flee, again.
Heading back to his room he grabbed his phone and dialled her number, but the call was being sent directly to voicemail. He tried two more times then sat down on his bed heavily "Buffy, please answer or even better come back…" he ended the message before he said too much in haste or anger.
The next moment his phone began to ring but it wasn't her, it was Giles, clearing his throat he answered "Hey, don't worry it was just something stupid, she came home last night but she didn't say if she was going back to Darla's or not tonight" he decided to lie, if Giles knew something was up then he would cut his trip short and come home for her.
After the phone call he headed downstairs to make something to eat, if this had been the first time that she had got in trouble then ran away he would be out trailing the streets of Sunnydale but being a seasoned pro, he knew best go out on a full stomach.
Four Years Ago
Angel laughed at something his friend Doyle had said, he was going on a long tangent about a girl he had saw at The Bronze and was one hair away from becoming a full blown stalker. He shook his head and went to shuffle the deck of cards in his hand but was stopped by the doorbell chiming.
Giles was back in England for a week leaving him to watch over the property, so naturally he had a bunch of friends over and wasn't expecting anyone else to appear, their food had just been ordered so it was unlikely it was that. He looked to the others and shrugged his shoulders before heading to the door, looking through the peephole he saw a mass of blonde hair.
He opened the door slowly and smiled "Hey, Darla?" His eyes roamed over her tight revealing outfit and back up to her eyes, her smirk was accentuated by the blood red lipstick she was sporting "What brings you here?" In all the years he had known her, she had never stepped a foot anywhere near the property.
"Angel, my boy" she put her hand on his chest and gently worried the material of his shirt with her long nails. Tilting her head she crooned "You are looking… so well"
Feeling uncomfortable, he took a step back and raised his eyebrow at her in question. He watched as she sighed dramatically before placing one hand on her hip "How can I help, Darla"
Sensing that he wasn't going to fall for her charms tonight she waved her free hand about "Buffy isn't here is she?" With his shake of the head she continued "She wasn't at school, she hasn't come home and I am going out, I need that kid to be home"
Angel frowned "You don't know where she is?" The only response he received was a roll of the eyes "When did you last see her?"
Darla clenched her jaw "This morning when I dropped her off at school, I took her there but I am not her keeper"
Clenching his fist he snapped "You're supposed to be her guardian, she's still a child" he rolled his neck "Have you looked anywhere you think she might be?" By the unamused look on Darlas face, he shouldn't have bothered asking, if she didn't care about the fact a thirteen year old in her care was missing, then why would she attempt to look for her.
He scoffed "Just leave, I'll go find her" he slammed the door closed and headed back to the dining room. He grabbed his jacket and apologised to the guys for having to cut short their night.
Doyle grimaced "Angel our food hasn't even arrived yet and now you're going on a wild goose chase for a girl you're not even related too" seeing the daggers being sent his way he raised his hands in peace "Now I'm not sayin' its not a noble thing you're doing but how is it gonna help?"
The rest of the guys stayed quiet and looked back at Angel, he looked around at them all and sighed deeply "All I can do is try" he let them know they could wait until the delivery boy had been but then they had to lock up and leave. Doyle wished him well and that he hoped she would be okay.
He had gone by the park, the cemetery and by her old house that had been ripped down and rebuilt but there was no sign of her. The sky had went from that dusky colour to full on dark blue as the hours went on, he tried to think of where she could be or where she would go and after spending an age replaying all of their heart to hearts, he made his way through towards the edge of town and to the hill that overlooked Sunnydale.
He saw a little hunched figure in the distance so he took soft, slow steps until he was close enough to know that this was her. He let his emotions calm down before he took a seat beside her "Bit late to be out, is it not?" She only shrugged at him.
Angel pinched some grass up and twirled the blades between his fingers "Its not wise to be out alone, anything could have happened to you" once again she shrugged.
He was about to reply when she whispered sadly "It doesn't matter, no one would care"
"That's not true, Jesse and Darla for one…"
Buffy frowned and cut him off "Jesse and Darla don't care, they're too busy fighting" her eyes glazed over with fresh tears "I have no one, I'm a loser and no one would care if I went missing and never came back"
Angel felt his insides clench, she sounded so defeated and it was killing him. He tipped her chin up gently with his fingers so he could look at her "Hey, hey, you know you have me and Giles…" when her lip trembled he wrapped his arm around her "Tell me whats wrong" he knew that she had been having a difficult time lately at school but she always told him it was fine.
Buffy gripped onto his shirt, holding him tight "Some boys at school told me that I may as well have died that night too… th-tha… I'll be alone, forever"
He watched as her bottom lip trembled and she let out a squeak, trying her best not to cry. He felt so sad, for her, for her situation but also felt an indescribable feeling. Who dare say something like that to anyone, everyone knew her story and knew why she now stayed with her foster family.
"You're not alone, Buffy. I know how much it hurts to lose someone you love, I do. It takes time, time to feel like you're not struggling to breathe… Giles was there for me and I have and always will be there for you" he smiled down at her "Please don't ever think that you can't come to me with anything… don't ever run away, it doesn't solve anything and I was so worried"
Buffy wiped at her eyes and nodded slowly, she shivered from the breeze and snuggled closer to him for warmth. He raised his eyebrows at her in question, so she stuck her pinky finger out and waited. Angel nodded and linked his finger around hers and shook, promising her that he meant everything he had said.
When she decided to scale down the side of the mansion that was previously her safe haven, she left all rational thought behind too. Each time she saw his name flash up on screen she pressed ignore and wanted desperately for him to stop trying. She put her phone onto do-not-disturb and slid it back into her pocket, just wanting some breathing space.
Making a quick pitstop back at her foster home, she changed clothes, packed her spare phone charger and some money before heading out to Faith's house. She didn't want to hang about for Angel to appear and make her feel worse.
Sending a quick text to Faith that she was outside, she waited for a response before heading to the back door. Faith held her finger up to silence her before they crept by her sleeping mother and up to her room.
Once her mom picked her up from the police department yesterday, she was threatened and told not to make an appearance in her sight today. Thankfully mother dearest had passed out already, but she didn't want to risk a lashing.
Faith took one look at her and snorted "What happened to you B, you look like hell" of all of them, she knew Buffy would take the fall, but her pain was something else. She watched as tears shined in her eyes, normally she would feel sad but lately Buffy had been a pain in the ass.
"That guy I was telling you about?" She hadn't named names; Parker was the only one who knew about Angel as she let it slip before he had conned her into bed. When Faith nodded, she choked back a sob "I thought he liked me but he doesn't want to be with me"
With a roll of the eyes Faith sat on her windowsill and put her foot up on the desk "What have I told you before B? Men, men are beasts, they're just in it for the chase… you should never fall for one that's stupid to never fall for you" she smiled wickedly "Like I always say want – take – have, treat the beast how they'll treat you. Be in it for yourself girl"
Buffy wiped at her eyes harshly, maybe Faith had a point. When she was younger, she saw how the girls he dated were wooed before he cast them off easily. The amount of broken-hearted girls she could remember but not understand what was wrong with them was too many to count.
The thought of giving herself to someone else other than Angel had her feel queasy – thinking back to her few times with Parker made that feeling burn in her throat. Her conflicted feelings must have been etched on her face as Faith snickered "Lets go meet the guys, huh?" She didn't need to elaborate; Buffy knew who the guys in question were.
Faith grabbed a few items and threw them into her bag and like how they entered, they left her house in silence. Faith sent a short text to Luke saying they would meet them, he text back saying him and Parker were already at the Mausoleum and to meet them there.
When the girls arrived, the guys were chilling with some beers. Faith caught hers in one hand then the other before extending it to Buffy. When she shook her head no, she scoffed "Live a little" the harsh look she gave Buffy must have worked as she finally took the bottle and took a slow sip.
Walking over to Luke, she straddled him and kissed him deeply, breaking away she shot a look at Parker "Hey Parker, why don't you make Buffy feel better, her Mr Right turned her down" she saw the look of panic that Buffy gave her but didn't care.
Parker smirked deviously "Oh Buff, what a shame… come here…" he flicked his fingers at her then laid back against the wall. He could see she had been crying, she always was one to wear her heart on her sleeve despite trying to act like a hard ass since she had met them. When she nervously reached him, he ran his hand over her back as he whispered in her ear "Forget him…"
He came closer and bit her ear lobe before sucking on it gently, he peppered kisses down her neck then heard her moan no. Clenching his jaw, he waited a pause then ran his fingers through her hair as he whispered "Your precious Angel doesn't want you, no one does… except for me and even then" he motioned with his head her, looking at her in disgust.
Buffy bit her bottom lip, she didn't want to cry, not in front of them. As she took a sip of the beer, Parker helped tip the bottle, keeping a steady flow of alcohol running down her throat "That's it Buffy, drink up" when she threw the bottle away he opened another and dropped some crushed powder inside, he swirled the bottle and handed it back to her, her being none the wiser.
Luke and Faith watched on and snorted, part of Parkers charm lay heavily with getting girls hopped up on sweet words, alcohol and a little something extra to make them pliant. They ignored the pair as Parker led Buffy into the small room at the back of the crypt.
Oooooooooooooooo
Angel had checked Darla's, the mall and even the factory again but no sign of Buffy and it was now nearing eight pm. He was driving down main street when his phone pinged with a text, glancing over he saw Buffys name appear on screen, so he pulled over and opened the message. He frowned when it was just a video, he pressed play and held his breath when she appeared.
She was lying on the floor of somewhere, her head lolling to the side as she mumbled incoherently. Whoever was filming didn't say a word as they zoomed in on her face, then back out and down to her opened shirt and her pants not fully pulled up. The last thing he could see were empty bottles of beer lying beside her hand and it made him feel ill.
Once the video stopped, he took a deep breath and panicked, she didn't look in a good state and the video didn't really show anything to identify where she was. Closing his eyes for a moment to think, he opened up that app that would track down where her phone was last used. He had set it up once upon a time when she had started becoming rebellious. Earlier it didn't load so he was hoping that it would this time.
After a moment the little pin emoji fell on Restfield Cemetery, he frowned then sighed. The Mausoleum. Even back when he was a rebellious teen, they would all hang down there, it provided shelter and if the cops came by you could hide easily. Throwing the car into drive, he pulled out without second thought and drove down the street.
He parked down the far-left side of the Cemetery, as close as he could get to the Mausoleum and strode quickly towards it. From what he could tell there was no noise coming from inside, so whoever she was with wasn't there anymore "Buffy?" He looked around to see no sign that anyone had been here, he was about to leave when he heard a moan from the back.
Turning the corner slowly he drew in a sharp breath as he found her lying on the ground, curled up into foetal position "Buffy!" He kneeled down beside her and felt her rapid pulse, he lifted her eyelid to see her eyes unfocused "Talk to me"
Buffy had heard muffling sounds and she tried to ask for help, when she saw Angel come into the room she wanted to throw up. She didn't want him to see her like this "N-no…" she feebly pushed his hand away and felt the world spin again, making her even more nauseated.
"How much have you had to drink?" He looked around and could see a handful of empty bottles of beer, surely it wouldn't make her that inebriated? He looped one arm around her back and the other under her legs as he hoisted her up, spotting her phone thrown to the side he balanced back down to pinch it between his fingers before standing again.
Buffy shook her head, all she wanted to say was only two or three, but it came out as a jumbled mess "…beer…" she tried to point but her hand laid limp against his chest.
Biting back an angry reply he nodded "Yeah, you drank a lot of beer" he stomped out of the Mausoleum and back to his car. Each step caused Buffy to bump against him and make gagging sound. Once she was secured in the passenger seat, he ran round to the driver side and jumped in, ready to get back home.
Occasionally his eyes would snap over to hers when she mumbled something or sounded like she was going to be sick but thankfully, she didn't, and the car made it home in one piece. He on the other hand wasn't as lucky, as they stepped into the house, she finally wretched, throwing up all over him.
As a knee jerk reaction, he pushed her away and yelled "Fuck" but immediately felt bad as she stumbled and fell to her hands and knees, throwing up once more for good effort. Her tiny frame vibrated as she emptied her stomach and began to cry.
He pulled his jumper off and threw it onto the floor before grabbing some tissues to dry his chest. He went over to the sink and ran a cloth under the faucet, he wrung out the excess water before pulling Buffy away from the mess and dabbing her forehead.
When she looked up at him, her eyes were still unfocused and now bloodshot, she had stopped continuously shaking but every few moments a shiver would envelop her "You going to be sick again?" All she could do was shake her head no. He nodded then led her to the downstairs shower room, closing the door over when they were both inside.
Letting her slump down against the wall he fiddled with the knobs until the spray of water was pleasantly warm. She watched him with fascination as he stripped down to his boxers then helped her out of all her clothes, turning her away from his view and under the flow of water.
She put her hands out for stability but slipped against the slick tile, Angel caught her in time and pulled her back against his chest "Careful" he lathered some soap onto her shoulders and let the suds flow down her body. He didn't want to go into that territory right now, so he rinsed her off to get rid of the sick and gave her hair a quick wash, if it wasn't satisfactory then she could rewash when she wasn't a liability.
Turning for a second, he grabbed a fluffy towel and wrapped her in it, covering her from her shoulders to her knees. Weakly she tried to tighten it but struggled, she went to say something but once again it was nonsensical.
Angel rolled his eyes and led her hastily to the kitchen and sat her down in one of the chairs to keep her upright "I'll be a minute" he disappeared out of sight then a few minutes later came back, now dressed in a pair of joggers and an old t shirt, holding the second one out for her. He carefully got her dressed then went over to the cupboard and brought out bread, popping some into the toaster.
Buffy took some sips of the water he had placed in front of her, trying to talk herself into not feeling as sick as she had earlier. Angel grumbled something about lining her stomach as he sat a plate of toast in front of her. She picked up a slice and nibbled away as best as she could, the second slice was harder to finish but she managed.
Without saying anything, Angel led her into the living room and sat down on the sofa, pulling her against him. He draped the decorative throw over her "Sleep" she looked up to him sadly but all he could do was shake his head in disappointment and turn the tv on.
She dozed on the sofa for an hour or two with little indication that she was going to heave again, it looked like she may be coming out of her stupor. He traced the outline of her jaw with his fingertip and sighed, he was pissed, royally pissed but there would have been no point in starting something earlier as she could barely string two words together.
In sleep, she looked so peaceful, calm, relaxed and no worries but over the past 18 months he had seen a change in her. Although their time together was lessened due to being away at College, he found the differences in her more noticeable than Giles did.
In the past she used to tell him everything, he was her friend, confidant and she always asked for his opinion on things. He knew that as he grew up and so too, she would as well, that maybe they would grow apart and it seemed like that's what was happening now and it didn't sit right him at all.
