Eighteen Month Ago
Walking round the side of the yard, she crept slowly until she came to a stop, she looked out over the pool and felt her heart sink. Angel had mentioned that he was home this weekend but what he hadn't mentioned that he wasn't going to be alone. She shapely brunette wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply.
Heat prickled through her body as she watched them kiss for a minute or two before the woman pulled back and giggled at him. The scene in front of her was common, over the years she was used to seeing him being pawed over and up until lately it only ruffled her, now it made her heart break and her to seethe in anger. She tried to back away quietly but tripped over and grumbled loudly.
Angel spun around in the pool and leaned against the edge "Buffy?!" He saw her flinch then turn back towards him and walk slowly over, removing her sunglasses and placing them on top of her head.
Before Buffy could say anything the woman came over and ran her hand up and down his smooth, damp back "Angel, who is your little friend?!" The condescension and the smirk on her face made Buffy's mind up instantly, bimbo here, had to go.
Seeing the dark look on Buffy's face, he smiled kindly "Cordy, go grab a bottle from the bar… this won't take long" the brunette shot him a look before swimming towards the ledge and climbing out, taking her sweet ass time, clearly all for his viewing.
When he turned back to Buffy he smiled "How are you?" He'd been told by Giles that she had been caught with her friends vandalising a few buildings across town and was waiting on her bringing it up, rather than bombarding her with questions from the get go.
Buffy watched as the leggy brunette swaggered her way into the house out of sight then looked back at Angel and spat out "A friend of yours? Or just another flavour of the week?"
Angel counted back from ten, he was already on edge because of her lack of thought and didn't appreciate her moodiness to put a damper on his day. He forced a smile "Here to vandalise my house or just here to be a bitch to my date?"
One thing Buffy hated was being called a bitch, take any other insult, no matter how vulgar and that would never compare to something as simple as what he had called her. She slid her sunglasses back down to cover the rage filled tears that had filled her eyes "I came by because we hadn't seen each other in a while but I guess Miss Airhead is more important to you"
As she turned to walk away she heard the splashing of water as he hoisted himself out of the pool then was spun around to be faced with his damp chest. She craned her neck to look at him and forced a smile "What, you can call me out but I can't call you out?!"
Angel sighed and let go of her wrist, taking her hand in his "I don't know what you want me to say, Buff. I have been there for you and I am still trying… but you don't listen when me or Giles warn you about these friends of yours… they're bad news" he pleaded with her silently, hoping to change her mind on them.
She yanked her hand out of his, still reeling at his attitude. She was about to say something when Cordelia came back out with two champagne glasses filled to the brim "Only two glasses, looks like you're not invited… run along"
Angel grabbed her arm when she went to step around him "Buffy…" she shook her head and he sighed "I'll call you later"
Hearing another giggle from his friend, she pulled away from him and stomped away "Don't bother, have fun with Miss moron instead…"
At Cordelia's gasp he clenched his fist "Get back here and apologise, Buff" she paused for a moment, her body tensing before she flipped him off and hightailed it out of the yard and away from the house.
Her tongue felt like it had dried out and her throat felt like sandpaper when she tried to swallow, with a groan she opened her eyes and tried to lean up on one elbow. She looked around then felt someone shift beside her, pushing herself into a sitting position she lost her balance and almost fell but was stopped.
"Easy" Looking up her eyes locked his his, the look of worry in his eyes made her heart melt, the fact that he still openly cared for her after all these years was something that amazed her. Lately she hadn't given him nor Giles any reason as to why they should care about her wellbeing. Call it a defence mechanism or just badly handling her self worth, it was a subject she didn't want to dwell upon for too long.
Clearing her throat was unsuccessful until Angel ran over to grab her a bottle of water, letting her rehydrate after all the nonsense from earlier. He watched as she sipped lightly then took a gulp of the water, her eyes didn't have that shifty way that they had earlier, so that was a positive "How you feeling?"
Buffy wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and recapped the bottle "Better" she sat the bottle on the sofa beside her then sat back, trying to get comfy. Worry worked its way over her face as she tried to piece together the last few hours, she remembered leaving, Faiths, The Mausoleum and beer, but not much else after that until she was puking her guts out earlier.
Angel took a deep breath and whispered "Good" he observed her face as it twisted in worry and anger before he saw her eyes glass over. Normally he would scoop her up and tell her everything was going to be okay, but he could feel that feeling, the one full of hate and anger rise again.
"How did I get here?"
He shot up from the sofa and crossed the room, clenching his hands slowly and taking deep breaths in sync, he counted down from five before answering "You don't remember?" Her avoidance rubbed him "I found you at the Mausoleum by tracking your phone, this was after I got a video sent to me of you, passed out from drinking!"
Buffy flinched then got mad and screeched "You tracked my phone?!" She looked up at him in shock, she couldn't believe how ballsy he was, why in the hell did he think that was appropriate? "How dare you!"
Angel laughed in disbelief "That's the part you want to focus on, that I tracked you? What about the part where you drank too much fucking beer and passed out and barely dressed?" He took a ragged breath and shook his head, when he got no answer, he looked back to find her silently crying.
Buffy slowly looked down to the ground in disbelief, she had drunk two maybe three beers at most. Last halloween she drank more than double that and was fine, so it didn't make sense that she passed out and couldn't remember a damn thing.
"What excuse are you going to come up with now, Buff? You didn't drink that much or that you did, and you don't care? I don't have to guess who you were with, do i?"
Rather than replying she ran her hands down her abdomen and over her thighs, she shifted on the seat before looking back up at him as she wrapped her arms around her waist "I-i…" she couldn't say their names, but he knew anyways, she remembered how Parker kept trying to get her to take more although she had refused before it all became fuzzy.
She patted around the sofa looking for her phone without success but then she spotted it on the coffee table, so she stumbled over to grab it. Clicking on the message icon she went to her chats with Angel and clicked on the video. As the short clip began, she covered her mouth and let out a sob, the more it went on, the more she could feel the sting of tears in her eyes.
Angel remained rooted on the spot, he was furious, even back when him and his friends drank at parties, they never left their friend if they got in a state. Not only were these friends' bad influences but they were also shitheads too, the amount of trouble Buffy got in because of them and was left high and dry was too much to count.
When her hand clutched her stomach as she began to dry heave in a panic he came by her side and rubbed his hand soothingly up and down her back. She tried her best not to hyperventilate, it scared her how out of it she looked in that video, anything could have happened to her… she was also a little scared that something had as well.
"I promise" when he looked at her, she whispered "I only had three beers, nothing more but I don't remember what happened. Parker kept pushing me to drink and I didn't…"
Angel nodded slowly, that tick in his jaw clenching once more "Anything else happen?" Knowing that Parker was the one most likely to get her in this state AND send a video of her, then he wouldn't have qualms about pushing her to do other things… she had said such herself.
Her heart rate increased the more the tried to remember earlier, they had kissed but she was maybe 90% sure that nothing else had happened. Blinking back tears she cleared her throat "I don't… I don't think so" she stood up carefully and stretched her legs out, she wiggled around, almost sighing in relief. When she turned back to Angel, he was looking at her in question.
As Buffy stuttered over her response to his silent question he closed his eyes, taking what he hoped was a massive leap in the wrong direction "He's hurt you before… hasn't he?" He kept them closed for a beat then reopened to look at her, she was biting her bottom lip and refused to look at him.
"Buffy, tell me…" his weary voice was tinged with sadness.
She shook her head and cleared her throat "It was nothing, he uh was just a little rough last time" she wiped at her eyes harshly then turned away from him, wrapping her arms around her abdomen.
His heart ached for her, it had for years, unfortunately a lot of the tragedies in her life made her feel less than she was worth so she settled for less than best "That's not okay" he came over and wrapped his arms around her petite frame and pulled her back against his chest, his chin resting on her head "Don't ever feel like you have to do something you don't want to, even when you think you cant say something about it"
Her fingers gripped onto his forearms, trying to pull him closer but she remained silent "Im pissed but I know you're a good kid Buffy. Why do you spend your time with people who clearly don't care enough about you?" He tried to keep his voice light, he didn't want to shame her, he just wanted to know where this change in personality came from.
Buffy sighed, leaning back against him "It wasn't always like this… Faith was always a dark horse but she was so nice to me, she's popular and everyone likes her and when I'm around her its like they see me for me: Buffy… not the girl whose parents died in a fire" she looked down to their arms around her waist and sighed "I think I know deep down, that you would never want me, so I began to believe Parker for what he was saying to me"
Angel urged her to turn in his arms so he could see her, her arms remained locked around his waist with her head buried against his chest "Buffy?" He tipped her jaw up and caressed her cheek with his fingers, she looked up at him sadly, that sparkle in her eye was dull compared to usual "You are worth so much more than you give yourself credit for, you're beautiful and smart…"
She felt tears sting at her eyes again and whispered, "but not what you want?" She couldn't let this go, they hadn't had an open conversation like this in such a long time and now that she had got her chance to kiss him, she wanted more.
Angel kissed her forehead tenderly then leaned his forehead against hers and sighed. He didn't know what to say, he didn't want to say the wrong thing or hurt her anymore than he already had. As she took a shaky breath, he ran his fingers through her still damp hair "Please, just be careful around them"
Instead of replying she squeezed him tighter and closed her eyes. Angel rubbed her back soothingly with one hand whilst the other was wrapped around her waist "Its late… I'll order some food in, and stay here, no point in you going home to no one in" she nodded then gave him a weak smile before sitting back down on the sofa and pulling the blanket over her.
Oooooooooooooooo
That weekend she had remained in Crawford Street, she didn't want to go home alone and wanted to avoid her so called friends. Faith had sent a couple of texts asking where she was, she was going to reply but when she sent a text mocking her, she ignored them.
She did enjoy being seen as popular, the girl everyone liked and had something to nice to say about her but was that worth all the trouble she was getting into?
Not only had she ended up at the police station a couple of times now, luckily not being charged with anything that would stay on her permanent record, her grades were slipping too. From B's to C's and she had been warned that if she kept on this path she would start failing and wouldn't be allowed to graduate.
She wanted to graduate, take a year out to decide what she wanted to do then maybe do College but that wouldn't pan out if she kept skipping and getting into trouble. Angel had said he would do his best to help her study, even when away but she wanted him to focus on his own studies.
Angel. He had been polite all weekend but didn't bring up what she had said about him, part of her was sad about that but for the most part she was glad that he didn't. What she wouldn't give for him to tell her he felt the same way, she could to a point see his side of things but what can you do.
He offered for her to come by when he was there, whenever she wanted but did say he would be out catching up with his own friends. Giles returned and stated that it would be nice for her to stay for dinner more often, she did say she would take him up on that, Darla's cooking was something to be desired.
Wanting to be open with her foster mom, Buffy fully disclosed being picked up by the police but mentioned that she got out just with a warning. Darla rolled her eyes and told her she didn't care as long as her parenting wasn't called into question, last thing she wanted was to be under scrutiny.
Buffy promised that she would do better and apologised for acting like she had, despite home life not being perfect, she knew she could have had it much worse. Darla laid her hand over Buffys, a hint of a smile gracing her face as she said to get to bed and try to get some sleep.
