"You're engaged?" Buffy asked as her heart broke with each word she spoke.
Angel saw the excitement in Liam's eyes diminish. He had only knew his son for not even five minutes and already was disappointing him. "Buffy, can we take this out into the hall?" Angel pleaded.
"So I can meet your fiancée? No thanks," Buffy spat. While Liam was her main reason to keep on going in captivity, Angel gave her hope that things would be alright once she got out. They could pick up where they left off. It seemed like her fantasy was indeed a fantasy.
"I really don't want to do this in front of Liam," Angel whispered.
Buffy understood Angel's reasoning. The poor boy was trying his best not to cry. Liam had been through enough in the past week; he didn't need to hear this. "Fine, but I only want it to be the two of us."
Angel nodded in agreement. He left Liam's room first, to explain to Kate the current situation about to unfold and suggested that she sit in the waiting room for the time being. When Kate had left earshot, Angel pulled Buffy into the hall.
"When were you going to tell me?" Buffy asked crossing her arms.
"Just before Kate came in," Angel answered, leaning up against the wall opposite to Buffy. Even after six years apart, the emotional distance between them in this moment rivaled an physical distance they endured.
"How long have you two been together?" Buffy inquired. She hoped that the engagement was a rash decision and Angel would soon realize the mistake he made and come crawling back to her, but Angel was never really one to crawl,
"Officially, three years," Angel began as Buffy listened intently. "Kate started at the station about a year after you went missing. I was so caught up in finding you that I barely gave her a second glance. We were friends. And that was it. But after the case went cold, I had a hard time letting go. She would often just hang out with me, to keep me company. Someone who wasn't Spike. Kate was a friend, but with encouragement from basically everyone in the Department, I asked her out. I didn't expect anything to come of it, but Kate...she's something else. She's compassionate, brave, and pretty kick-ass. I admired her as a partner on the field and now in life."
Buffy saw Angel speak of Kate with the same love and devotion he had when he used to speak about her. "You love her, don't you?" Buffy knew the answer, but she needed to hear Angel say it for it to fully sink in.
Angel avoided Buffy's gaze. "It's different from what we had..."
"That's not what I asked," Buffy interjected. No more stalling, he needed to rip off the new information like a band-aid.
He swallowed slightly and stared at his ex. "I do love her."
Buffy had the urge to melt into a puddle and cry. She looked at her engagement ring. What once symbolized hope and a promising future was now stripped from her. She realized there was no point of holding onto the ring as Angel clearly moved on. Her worst fear come to life. Buffy pulled her ring off her left hand and tried to give it back to Angel. "Here you go, there's no need for me to keep this anymore."
Angel examined the ring still in its original pristine condition. He felt guilty. They had four years of bliss together and the ring he held was their love, literally. "Buffy, I can't take this from you."
"I can't keep this." As much as she wanted to take the ring back, it would only hurt her. It was best if it she didn't have it at all.
"Then save it for Liam when he gets married," Angel suggested. Neither him nor Buffy wanted the ring due to feelings attached to the item. It signified a broken marriage, but that ring also signified their relationship and from that relationship came Liam.
"That's a long way down the road, don't you think?" Buffy had to admit that it was a kind gesture, but Liam was only five. It was early to think about her son getting married.
Angel handed the ring back to Buffy. "Yeah, but I would rather him have it since it's of use to neither one of us."
"Yeah..." Buffy trailed off as she starred at the Claddagh engagement ring. Though her thoughts should have been directed towards her son, Buffy's mind kept floating back to Angel's new fiancée. "So when's the wedding?"
"January 31st."
"The same day we were..."
"I didn't intend on that date. Kate had really liked it and we had fought about it, but she won in the end." Even now, Angel was firmly against the wedding date out of respect of his previous relationship, but Kate had always fantasized getting married in late January. She understood the reservations he had towards the date but sweet-talked him into agreeing. "You and Liam are invited, if you want to come. I wouldn't force you or anything to go. I'm sure you're already dealing with enough as is. I would understand if you didn't..."
"We'll be there. After all, Liam has to get used to interacting with others in a social setting somehow," Buffy joked. Angel went pale at her comment. Though Liam appeared intelligent, Angel wondered how much damage was inflicted to his son's social ability, but he was glad to notice Buffy laughing the comment off. Obviously it wasn't as severe as he thought.
"Speaking of Liam, we should probably talk about him," Angel pressed.
"What about?" Buffy asked.
"I don't know, everything. I know nothing about my kid." Angel crept open the Liam's room door and watched as his son watched colorful cartoons.
"That's not your fault." The pain in Angel's eyes was clear to Buffy. She was quite aware how much he wanted a family and with the first five years of his son's life taken from him must have been a hard pill for him to swallow.
"I know it isn't, but I feel guilty. If I would have tried harder, maybe I would have found you guys sooner and you wouldn't have to escape. Maybe I could have been there for my son." Despite meeting his son and knowing of his existence as of less than an hour ago, he already fell in love. The kid captured his heart.
"Don't worry too much about that, Liam isn't upset. He sees you as a superhero, fighting the bad guys. Your his hero," Buffy admitted trying to lighten the mood.
"Really?" Angel questioned.
"Of course! I tell him stories of his selfless, courageous, and kind father everyday," Buffy tried to comfort.
"Do you think he'll adapt well? To everything?" Angel gestured to his surroundings. He had no clue what Liam's upbringing was like, but it was far from normal. Angel was at least thankful that Liam had Buffy by his side.
"I don't know. I tried to teach him everything about the outside world, but it's hard. I think he understands a lot, but he hasn't been around many people before. He's such a smart kid, but he's just shy," Buffy explained.
"You know Willow's a child psychologist, I'm sure she could help." Angel tried to offer support. He knew Willow would be excited to see Buffy again and would take good care of Liam.
"I've heard. But I was a guidance counselor, I think I can handle my own kid." It's not that Buffy didn't want to take Liam to Willow. Buffy was confident that Willow was the best in the business, but her lack of funds were a driving force.
"I'm sure you can," Angel smiled. He missed her spunky and fiesta nature. It was one of his favorite things about her. "Do you know where you're staying once you get out?"
"Probably my mom's." Buffy hated that she had to rely on her mother, but with Angel no longer in the picture, Liam and her need somewhere to live. "Do you still own the old place?"
"Yeah, Kate and I live there now." For the six months following Buffy's disappearance, he refused to stay at the home. He had crashed with Spike because being at the home was too painful. But they say time heals and Angel was able to move back home. And Kate seemed eager to join him as their relationship progressed. "I can drop off some of your things to Joyce's. I've kept them in a box for six years. I swear no one besides me has touched them. Not even Spike."
"How is Spike?" Buffy remembered Angel's best friend from college and the Department. He was a flirtatious guy and had hit on her once or twice, but nonetheless was a loyal friend to Angel.
"Good. He's got a new girlfriend in his life."
"Drusilla?" Buffy asked cocking an eyebrow.
"No, they broke up for good two years ago. He's been seeing Faith Lehane from college."
"I remember Faith. Didn't she end up owning a gym?" Buffy had tried to piece together new information she heard and the last known whereabouts of people from six years ago. Faith was the latter.
"Yeah, that's how her and Spike met." In Angel's mind the pairing made sense. Faith was intense. Spike was intense. They always fought, but often fell victim to passion as a result of their fighting.
"What about everyone else?" Buffy had heard a little about people from her mom and Giles, but didn't know the specifics.
"As I said Willow's a child psychologist. She's currently seeing a girl named Tara." Buffy's eyes popped out. Last Buffy knew about Willow was her grieving her breakup with Oz. "I know, none of it saw it coming, but Tara is her other half. They fit perfectly together. Xander still works in construction, but he left Anya at the altar and married Cordelia in Vegas six months later."
"Wow, it seems like a lot happened." Buffy felt the sadness rising in her. Everyone's lives had moved forward without her and she was struggling to play catch up.
"It wasn't the same without you," Angel admitted. Their friendship dynamics were never the same once Buffy went missing. She was the glue that held everyone together, without her, they fell apart.
"Do you think we would have worked out?" Buffy blurted out as she was caught up in the moment.
"What?" Angel asked, being visibly taken aback.
"I mean, if I wasn't abducted. We got married and had Liam, do you think we would still be together?" Buffy asked hopefully. She wished she was married and they raised their son together. Nothing would have given her greater joy than fulfilling her fantasies, but with Kate in the picture, even her fantasies were brought into question.
"I would like to this so."
"I sense a 'but' coming."
"But I love Kate. She's the person I want to spend the rest of my life with." Angel hated to hurt Buffy, but he knew Buffy hated liars more. It was best for him to tell the truth even if it broke her.
"And I wasn't?" They were supposed to be together, but Buffy slowly came to the realization that they were possibly doomed from the start.
"Buffy it want like that. We were young and in love. I'm thirty now and more mature than I was at twenty two when I proposed," Angel rationed. That was the same rationing he had used when he proposed to Kate. He was more mature and knew more about love than he did in his youth.
"I should probably head back. Liam's going to wonder what's taking me so long." Buffy quickly wiped away the tears that were starting to form around her eyes.
"Then I won't keep you." Angel stepped out of the way to grant Buffy full passage to their son's room, "Just so you know, my number hadn't changed. You can call me at any time and I'll be there. We'll talk soon?"
"Yeah, we'll talk soon."
