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F E A T U R E D F I C O F T H E M O M E N T
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 S H A D E S O F G R E Y S E R I E S B Y B R E P A R T S 1 - 3
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Prologue The sun was bright and clear in the sky as Buffy Summers walked down the empty hallway of Sunnydale High. Its rays shone down through the large windows that seemed to be everywhere as she sidestepped a trash can. Wearing a short black skirt and a small pink tank top with a covering cardigan, she stopped at her locker. Buffy turned the dial on her locker, locating the correct numbers that would open it. She shifted her books in her arms as she lifted the latch and it fell open to reveal a partially filled locker. Everything could be heard in the long hallway but Buffy didn’t pay any mind to it. She couldn’t stop thinking about whether or not her mother would be getting a call from the evil troll tonight about her latest detention. It wasn’t her damn fault that History was boring. It just couldn’t be helped that she fell asleep every once in a while. Which was why she was in detention. Her teacher had told her to come in after school where she had sat for an hour and a half doing all the work, plus extra, instead of the good ol’ traditional detention. Rather than sit and stare at the sleeping teacher, she had had to do work. Thus the gloomy mood. Shuffling the extra graded papers that littered her locker around, she finally made room for her books. As she began stuffing them in, she didn’t notice the little white, folded paper that fluttered to the floor. Snatching her little backpack from her shoulder, she pulled out other various notebooks and books and filled it before retiring the rest of her school books to her arms. The mere idea that she was bringing them home made her feel less guilty about the fact that she knew she would not be doing her homework that night. Which sucked. And was yet another reason that she was getting in trouble all the time. She knew she needed to get academic, sometime soon. But old habits die hard. She hadn’t done her homework at Hemery in LA, and so it only made sense that she didn’t do it here. But the worst part was that, now that she was in her senior year, the fact that she didn’t do her homework was noticed much more often. When she was younger, she had been able to get away with it much easier. Now? No such luck. Which was why she would start doing that pesky stuff... sometime in the near future. The very near future, hopefully. Because repeating her senior year? Not fun. Her best friend’s boyfriend, Oz, was a shining example of that. And plus her mother would literally kill her and probably cry on what was left of her failing daughter. Buffy smiled wryly. Oh, how she loved her life. Note the heavy sarcasm. But some parts didn’t suck completely. Some parts didn’t make her want to just drop out and stop having responsibilities like the wonderful bums that littered the streets of LA. Life like a bum... now that had potential as long she wasn’t, well, a bum in the physical sense. Just mentally where she wouldn’t have to worry about anything that had to do with her future, unless it involved food and sleep. But then there were her friends. That part definitely did not suck. They were one of the best things she had going for her. Ever since she had moved here from Hemery, Xander and Willow had been there for her. The three had quickly become friends and had stayed that way, through all the angst and trouble that life brought a teenager. She wouldn’t trade them for anything in the entire world. Buffy stepped back from her locker before slamming it shut. As she worked to slip the other strap of her backpack on her other shoulder, she noticed the white piece of paper that had fallen to the ground. Furrowing her brow, Buffy looked around the hall, almost waiting for someone to run up and snatch it up as if they had dropped it. But no one came and the empty stretch of hall just sat there in silence. Shrugging, she kneeled down, juggling her books as she picked it up carefully. She knew it hadn’t been there when she had walked up. She was certain. She had been staring at the ground, grumbling about the bitch that was her history teacher. She would have seen it. So it must have fallen out of her locker. Maybe it was some old homework she had started, never finished and thus never turned in, resulting in yet another school-related failure. Buffy shook her head as she began walking towards the exit, out to freedom. As she approached one of the many trash cans that the school had placed throughout the school to maybe persuade people to actually throw their trash away in a bin rather than on the poor, unsuspecting ground, she noticed her name written on the other side. She paused. Who would leave her a letter in her locker? It reminded her of being in third grade when everyone had their own little cubbies to put their papers from class in. That was the ultimate way to ask someone if they liked you, other than have your friend run up and ask. But this was high school. And who would leave her, Buffy Summers, a letter? She was not among the popular and didn’t really have any friendly, social relationships with anyone other than Willow and Xander. She didn’t have a boyfriend. There were very few people who she could actually see doing this. And as the realization dawned on her, she recognized the handwriting and her hand began to tremble gently. It had been so long... she had thought that he would have stopped by now. It had been a few months at least... Swallowing, Buffy allowed curiosity to get the best of her and she tugged the letter open gently, almost afraid that something would pop out and smack her in the face. But nothing did and all she was greeted with was a half page-long letter in his horrible, chicken-scratch writing. But after the long months of exposure to it, it wasn’t nearly as hard for her to read. Dearest Buffy, We hadn’t talked in the longest time so I thought I would write you a letter to make sure you hadn’t forgotten me. But I knew that you wouldn’t. How could you forget? How was your Christmas? Did you like my gift? Did you enjoy it?... Buffy shuddered in revulsion as she remembered what he was referring to. Closing her eyes, her mind went back to the day before they had their Christmas break. It had been after school and she had been planning on emptying her locker of everything that she had stuffed in their from the first half of the year to save room for the next half. But when she opened her locker, instead of focusing on the papers, her attention had been riveted on the simple little box that was sitting there. She was surprised and excited at the idea of having a Christmas present. She had originally thought it was from Willow... She was very, very wrong. Inside was one of the grossest things she had ever seen. Oh, she had seen vibrators before. On the Internet and in books and magazines when she and Willow were curious, but never in real life. She knew that if it had been different circumstances, she would not have been nearly as disgusted. It was the person who had given it to her and the ideas that he had had in mind when he had placed it in her locker. The letter that had accompanied the decidedly large vibrator had spoken graphically about how he had wanted to use it on her. The incident had almost completely slipped her mind until now. Until he showed up. Again. Just like he did every other single time. He gave her space, allowed her to settle back into her comfortable life where he wasn’t harassing her and then he would pop back in with some nasty letter or toy. Or both. ...You know everything in that letter was true, don’t you? You know you want it too, just as badly. You want me to rub it all over you until you come. Mmm. I can imagine it right now: Your face filled with pleasure, your body shaking with the orgasms you know only I can give you... Buffy felt her grip tightening on the paper, crinkling it, as she continued to read it. Small tears welled in her eyes as she continued. ... I just thought I would let you know that I was thinking about you in my every waking moment. All the time. And of course, in my fantasies. In my dreams. You remember what I told you in my last letter? What you were doing to me? God, I can imagine it right now... Every time I see you, I want you more and more...
Love, Buffy stared at his writing for a moment, a tear slipping down her cheek. It was becoming too much. And she hated that. She hated that a few simple letters were reducing her to a puddle of nothing, but she couldn’t help it. She was scared. About what he would do and when he would do it. How could she not be? And she still refused to go to someone about it. No matter how much Willow tried to convince her. What would they do? Slap him with a stick and say ‘bad boy’? She knew in the world they lived in today, he wouldn’t get punished, not nearly as much as she thought he rightly deserved. And she knew he would come back. He had been around for two years, now... Who’s to say that a little trouble with moral law would stop him? As the thoughts whirled in her mind about what could happen, what might happen, what people would say, she crumpled the letter in her hand quickly, tossing it into the trash as another tear escaped down her cheek. Why was this happening to her? What did she do wrong that she had to have the creepiest guy in the world stalking her? “Oh, now... it can’t be that bad, can it?” Buffy jumped, her hand flying to her chest as she simultaneously spun around to see who the voice belonged to while juggling her books in her shaking arm. It was deep and it rumbled through the hallway loudly as he stepped from the shadow of one of the classrooms, a deep smirk set on his face. On instinct, Buffy backed up, her eyes widening. Very few times had she come face to face with the man who had been sending her letters, and every time she was still scared out of her mind. There was just something about the way he walked, the way he looked at her... his entire being. She hated it. He didn’t speak to her as he walked towards her. Buffy continued to back away until her back hit the lockers. But he didn’t stop in front of her, instead walking towards the trash can and bending in to retrieve the letter she had tossed in there. Buffy watched him closely as he carefully spread it back out, flattening it between his large hands. Buffy felt a shiver dance across her spine as he looked up at her. “Why would you throw this away?” he asked softly. Buffy stared up at him, afraid to respond. What would she say? He took the last few steps that were separating them and Buffy felt something horrible fill her chest. He was a good 6'2" and he hovered over her, completely blocking her from the rest of the world. If she had loved him, or even remotely cared about him, she would be warmed by the idea. But coming from him... it was the worst feeling in the world. “Didn’t you like it?” Buffy shook her head slightly and opened her mouth to respond but he stopped her by gently touching her lips with the tips of his fingers. Buffy cringed. She could only imagine what he did with those fingers. She didn’t like where her thoughts were taking her so she twisted her head to rid herself of the feeling. A dark look crossed his features. Fear almost made her look down at the ground in what would be immediately conceived as a submissive gesture, but her strong sense of self stopped her. It took a lot to scare her, but even more to willingly give herself up. She stared into his dark green eyes. She couldn’t help but notice the unsavory way his shaggy black hair fell across his forehead. He could have been cute - in another life. Right now, he looked rugged and she could see scars littering his face like popcorn on the ground at a baseball game. It made her sick. But she was still extremely aware of the fact that she was a mere two inches from touching her. He smiled and Buffy clenched her jaw. “Did you like your gift, love?” he asked softly, his hand coming up to touch her cheek. Buffy dodged it, pushing herself from the lockers and around him. But the mere act of her rejecting him was enough for him to slam his hand into the locker that was directly next to her head and she stopped in her tracks, a small squeak coming from her lips. “What-“ She never finished as he roughly grabbed her, one arm winding around her waist, effectively crushing her - books and all - against his chest while the other grabbed her chin. He pushed her into the lockers, her head hitting them hard and she opened her mouth to shout for help but his hand stopped her, three of his fingers coming up to cover her lips once more. Buffy felt two tears leak from her eyes as he pinned her to the wall. Her feet weren’t even touching the ground. “When are you going to learn, Buffy?” he asked, his voice low and calm as he leaned in dangerously close to her face. But she could hear something else underneath it. What that was, she didn’t know. But she did know that she did not like. At all. Fear raced unbridled through her system and she couldn’t help it as another tear tracked down her cheek. “You’re mine. I don’t know why you can’t understand that...” “Let me down,” Buffy whispered softly against his fingers, her eyes never leaving his. “Let me go.” He laughed, chuckled really, in her face and Buffy closed her eyes. “Why would I do that?” he asked, pushing his lower body against hers more fully. Buffy squeezed her eyes shut as she felt his obvious arousal press into her. Using one of his legs, he spread her open and settled himself between her legs. Buffy felt more hot tears cascading down from her eyes and she whimpered as he pressed into her. “Come on, Buff, I know you want this. I know you would love to just feel me inside you...” Bile rose in the back of her throat and she almost choked as he kissed the corner of her mouth. His hips began moving gently and she gasped softly. This wasn’t happening. She wasn’t here. It was a nightmare. It had to be. Because this was not happening. But it was and it made Buffy want to scream. Buffy kept her body tense as he molested her in the hallway, her body effectively pinned against the wall. She felt his hot lips against the skin of her neck and she shivered against her will. She felt him smile against her skin and she closed her eyes as tightly as she could. There was nothing she could do. No one was going to come. It was late in the afternoon. Most of the activities were taking place in the gym and they were very, very far from the gym. Too far. She didn’t know if she would be able to stand this. She didn’t have to as he suddenly placed one last kiss to her pulsing jugular and stepped away, placing her gently on the ground. Her fingers were white where she held her books against her as she gripped the lockers behind her with her other hand. He smiled down at her, the back of his fingers resting against her cheek. “Until next time, love,” he whispered softly before turning and walking towards the exit. Buffy stayed frozen, staring at the wall before her. She couldn’t move. Her fingers were gripping madly at the metal that made up the wall behind her and after a moment, her legs gave out as a sob echoed from her throat, her books and backpack spilling to the ground. He didn’t stop walking and Buffy didn’t bother to watch him leave the building, walking out into the bright light that was the typical afternoon in sunny California.
The little stuffed pig was sitting in her tight grasp as she wept softly against her pillows. She had finally been able to stand up and escape the suffocating building. She fled to her house where she ignored her mother and locked herself in her bedroom. She figured Joyce had called Willow to come over and see what was wrong after her failed attempts. After a few moments, Willow had been allowed to enter. And she had yet to pry out of Buffy what she was crying about. She had never seen Buffy this upset. Ever. Not when she heard her parents arguing over the phone about her, not when Cordelia started a nasty rumor around the school... nothing had had this effect on her and she was extremely worried about what had happened. What could have happened? She couldn’t really think of anything. She had had to stay after school for detention. Could detention do this to her? Willow seriously doubted it because Buffy had been forced to stay after before, so she was fairly certain that was completely illogical. But then what? “Buffy? Please tell me what’s wrong...” Buffy breathed in loudly and Willow touched her shoulder. “Buffy?” A soft sigh escaped the blonde’s lips and she opened her eyes to look up at Willow. The redhead frowned at her bloodshot eyes. How long had she been crying? But that wasn’t what truly got her attention. The fear was. She was scared. Completely and utterly afraid of something. But what? “What happened?” Willow asked softly, almost to point where neither of them heard it. Taking a shuddering breath, Buffy closed her eyes and sniffled softly. Willow was the only person she could tell. Willow would help her through this. She had in the past. Then why was it so damn hard? “Buffy...” “It was Kevin,” Buffy whispered. Willow’s hand paused from where it had been stroking Buffy’s shoulder. Buffy opened her eyes to see Willow looking down at her with surprise, anger... and a little fear. Buffy could seriously relate to that. “Kevin? As in Kevin Lanidar?” Buffy nodded helplessly, her face screwing up as she felt more tears coming on. “But... but I thought he got expelled... remember?” Buffy nodded again and sat up quickly, Mr. Gordo never leaving her grasp. “I know. God, Wills, I know. But he... he was there.” Willow watched helplessly as more tears fell from Buffy’s eyes. The blonde angrily swiped at them. “God, I can’t stop crying. I don’t know why...” “Buffy, what happened? What did he do?” Buffy breathed in deeply as she looked down at her little stuffed animal. She began to play with his ear softly as more hot tears escaped. “Do you remember that... thing he gave me at Christmas?” A disgusted look crossed Willow’s face. “Yeah...” Worry colored her tone, “He didn’t give you another one, did he?” Buffy shook her head and laughed. Willow couldn’t help but notice how hollow it sounded. “No. But I wish it had been something like that. Because this was much worse.” Willow frowned. “Why? What did he do?” “He...” Buffy stopped, wiping at her eyes again. “I don’t... God... he... forced himself on me. Or tried to. Or something. I...” “Oh, my god, Buffy...” Willow whispered, her hand reaching out to take Buffy’s. She gripped it before continuing. “He had left me another letter in my locker,” she said, looking down at the comforter, her eyes shooting to meet Willow’s every few seconds, “and I didn’t really think it was from him because the whole Christmas thing had been so long ago. I’d kind of hoped he’d... forgotten me, I guess. But the letter... it was the same as the others. I threw it away but then he was there...” Willow squeezed Buffy’s hand and Buffy looked down. “He... kept calling me ‘love’ and asking me why I didn’t like the letter. He tried to touch my cheek but I didn’t let him. He freaked out, Willow. He... picked me up, literally picked me up off the ground and... held me against the lockers...” A sob fought its way past her lips and Willow moved until her arm was around Buffy’s shoulders, her other hand still gripped in the blonde’s grasp. “He... God... he touched me... I mean, I felt...” Buffy took a deep breath, before closing her eyes. “I felt him... down there. He was pressing himself against me and moving. God, I wanted him to stop but I couldn’t talk. I was so afraid of what he would do...” Buffy wiped at her tears once more. “He kept saying how I was his and how I would learn...” Buffy took a deep breath. “And then he was gone. Just like that. He said ‘until next time’ and then he left.” “Oh, Buffy, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” A pregnant moment passed as Willow silently comforted her friend. As another minute passed, Willow fought for what to say but she couldn’t think of anything. They had already discussed Kevin Lanidar before and it had resulted in some interesting conversations that eventually evolved into arguments about what would be right and wrong. It was pointless brining it all up again because she knew Buffy. Especially when she was like this. She wouldn’t want to talk about it. She would just want to push it away and pretend it never happened. And how Willow wished that it were that easy. But things weren’t. Ever. But she had to do something. And she knew that if that something wasn’t done soon, there would be some serious trouble happening and that was the last thing Willow wanted for her best friend. A concentrated frown decorated Willow’s lips as Buffy leaned against her shoulder, more tears escaping from her already sore eyes...
Part One Two weeks later, the incident was still the main thing on Buffy’s mind. She couldn’t stop thinking about it and it didn’t help that she had to go to her locker everyday where he had practically ambushed her. It made her feel uneasy and extremely uncomfortable in the already hostile zone that was high school. She was always looking over her shoulder to make sure he wasn’t following her. Her skin was constantly crawling at the idea that he was somewhere in the building, despite the fact that he was not allowed on school grounds, watching her. It only made her hate school more. Despite the promise she had made to herself to do her homework, she had not and only her excellent lying skills - yeah, or more commonly known as ‘luck’ - had allowed her to escape some more detention. And plus, Willow. It was not of the bad that she had one of the smartest people in the school as a best friend. Not bad at all. And Xander would most definitely agree. “Did you read for English?” Xander asked her in a hushed tone, looking back over his shoulder, whether for their teacher or Willow, she wasn’t sure. But both thoughts were amusing and she smiled before shaking her head. “Sadly, no.” “Good, so I won’t be the only one.” A sound of pained surprise fell from his lips as Buffy smacked him roughly on the shoulder. “Glad to be at your convenience,” she said with annoyance, a small smile playing on her lips. After all, it meant that she herself wouldn’t be the only one. But of course knowing her luck, she would get called on followed by a healthy dose of humiliation before the entire classroom. “C’mon, Buff... you know I love you,” Xander said as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Buffy just looked up at him, a smile on her lips before she spotted a flash of red hair coming towards them. Her eyes widened. “Willow alert. Don’t tell her I didn’t read. An unhappy Willow is never good.” “Ditto, Buffster.” “Oh, my god,” Willow said breathlessly as she stopped, looking at Buffy with a huge grin on her face. Buffy merely cocked an eyebrow as she continued, “Have you seen the new kid? There’s a new kid!” “A new kid? How come I was the last to hear of this?” Xander asked as they all began to slowly make their way towards English. “Is she hot? What does she look like?” “The she is a he,” Willow stated from where she stood between Buffy and Xander, shooting Xander a dirty look. She turned to the blonde in the group. “And he is very cute.” “Willow,” Buffy admonished. “You have a boyfriend.” “I know that. I wasn’t saying it for me. I was saying it for you.” Buffy just looked at her, her eyes saying exactly what she thought about the idea of dating, especially someone Willow recommended. The last one she had been with... well, the guy’s greasy hair alone had made her want to throw up and plus the bad break dancing in the middle of dance floor at the Bronze? Not the best thing to do to get in her good graces. He had been one of Willow’s “cute” friends. While that had been a long time ago, Buffy still completely and utterly rejected Willow’s thoughts on guys who were supposedly “perfect for her”. And then there was the whole Kevin thing. She wasn’t exactly shopping around for someone to be boyfriendly with... “Willow...” “You haven’t even seen him yet,” Willow protested. “Yeah, well, I hadn’t seen Mitch before and look where that got me.” Willow’s face soured as Xander snorted. “Mitch wasn’t that bad.” “Trust me, Will,” Xander said. “I can dance better than him. What does that say?” Willow shrugged, a look of conflict on her face. It was obvious that she completely agreed with him but she was such a loyal person. Never in her life - excluding Cordelia which was a special situation - had Buffy heard Willow openly badmouth another person. She was just too nice to do that. “Well,” Willow said, gesturing at the air in front of them as if she were pointing at the boy in question, “You haven’t even seen him yet.” “Yet?” “I think he has English with us.” “How do you know that?” “I’ve already had two classes with him. He mentioned he had something literature-like and so I assumed.” “Ah, my smart Willow,” Xander said. “What’s his name?” “Angel Roarke. From Los Angeles.” “LA?” Buffy asked, that little tidbit capturing her attention. “Yep. I don’t know if he went to Hemery, but LA was the location I got.” “What kind of name is Angel?” Xander asked abruptly. “Well, he said it’s actually Angelus but he doesn’t like what people say about it.” “And Angel is so much better?” Xander asked. “Well... what kind of name is... LaVelle?” Xander stopped, a short, patient smile on his face as he turned to Willow. “Remember the not mentioning of the middle name thing we talked about?” Buffy just grinned as Willow frowned in her little Willow way. “It was only fair. You were making fun of his name.” Xander sputtered for a moment and Buffy chanced a glance at the clock on the wall. They had very, very little time to make it to class. Stepping forward, Buffy grabbed Willow’s arm and tugged her along, walking ahead of Xander as he recovered from whatever had been bothering him. “Already defending him, huh, Will?” Buffy asked softly, looking at her friend suspiciously. “Something you wanna spill?” “No. No, there’s nothing going on. With Angel. It’s just... well...” Willow grinned. “It’s Xander.” Buffy smiled knowingly and allowed Xander to come up between them once more and begin chattering to Willow about something. She stopped paying attention as a small tingling began at the base of her back and traveled along her spine quickly. Buffy immediately stiffened as she looked over her shoulder. But no one was looking at her. Frowning, Buffy turned and followed her friends into the classroom. She was now fairly certain that she was on her way to losing her mind. Mind games were just not fun when they started playing with the mind. Which was their goal, but still...
“As tradition would warrant, it’s time to introduce the new individual in our classroom. Angel Roarke.” Buffy struggled to look up over the heads of the rest of her classmates as she stretched to see what the buzz was about. The students of Sunnydale High were extremely loud and this situation was no different. Everyone began talking, some greeting him while the rest just went off into their own gossip worlds. There was also a strange knack for crowding which was why she couldn’t see a damn thing. He was clear across the room and all she could spot was a healthy amount of thick, brown hair at the top of the crowd pile. After that? Nada because the people in her class had gigantic egg-shaped heads that managed to not move out of her way. Sighing, she settled back in her chair as the teacher continued to rattle on about where he came from and whatnot. She spotted Willow grabbing her book from her backpack as Xander did the same. She cursed. She was bookless. Which was an even more obvious sign that she had not read the chapter last night. And more with the cursing. “... joining us from Hemery High...” All thoughts about her book left her mind as she looked up. Hemery? He went to Hemery? She immediately began searching her mind for someone named Angel Roarke and she came up completely blank. Maybe if she saw his face... She leaned forward slightly, trying to be unobvious yet get a glimpse of him at the same time. Again with the nada. All she could see was Harmony’s bouncy blonde head as she practically draped herself on him over the short aisle between the desks. Sighing, she leaned back. “Okay, everyone. That’s enough. On to actual class activities. Who can tell me what the chapter was about last night?” About three hands went up in the air and Buffy could see Willow eagerly holding hers high. Buffy sunk deeper into her chair, hoping she would go unnoticed. Again with the no luck thing. Lady Luck just did not like her at all. “Buffy? Could you please summarize the author’s life for me?” Buffy looked up and felt like she was on fire. Everyone was looking at her and she knew the instant her face began to turn a deep shade of red. “Um...” Buffy said, sitting up in her chair. “Uh... the author’s life was... well...” Buffy looked up, her eyebrows raised in hope. “I didn’t read that part?” The teacher merely sighed and sat back against her desk. “Did you read at all last night, Miss Summers?” Buffy opened her mouth in a way that looked oddly like a fish that had just been rudely taken from his wet home and smacked against the dry earth. “I forgot my book?” “See me after class, please,” she said, her voice calm yet daring Buffy to not follow her instructions. It was the kind of tone only a teacher seemed to have and Buffy nodded before sighing deeply and looking down at her desk. Some people were still looking at her and she frowned. Life could be such a bitch sometimes. Time seemed to ooze on slowly and Buffy barely paid attention as she stared at her notebook. Her mind was still dancing around the subject of Kevin and she was actually contemplating using her sexual harassment issues as an excuse to escape whatever hell the teacher surely had ready for her. But that would mean revealing what she had been going through and that would thrust into the light her reasons for not wanting to complain to the school or police about what was happening. Not that they were exactly stellar, but she liked them and she liked them being kept to herself. And, well, Willow. By the end of the class, her thoughts had shifted to the definite plan about how hard she would smack Xander in the back of the head because he had somehow managed to answer a question with the not reading aspect while she had struggled like the fish. It aggravated her and now she had to go talk to the teacher, which didn’t help to stop her aggravation. The bell was sharp and Buffy winced before relaxing her shoulders. Just a moment more of the teacher lecturing her and she would be free. Free... to go to her next class. Life sucked. As the class emptied quickly, Buffy stood slowly, grabbing her backpack and waiting for Willow to join her at the front of the classroom. Surely Willow wouldn’t leave her alone with the horrible woman, would she? She smiled at the redhead gratefully as Willow and Xander followed her as she made her way up there. Of course it had obviously escaped her attention that the teacher had also asked Willow to join her at the front of the classroom so Willow merely smiled back. It had also escaped her attention that Angel Roarke had stayed as well. “Willow, would you mind helping Angel catch up on what we have been studying lately? You’d get some extra credit, of course...” Xander made a small sound of protest, but Buffy didn’t hear. Her eyes were locked on the gorgeous human being who stood before her. She couldn’t look away. And she wasn’t sure she wanted to. He was beautiful. He was tall and seemed to tower over her, but in a most delicious way. His hair was a rich, dark brown and his chiseled features reminded her of some sort of Greek god. Or maybe he just should be one because... wow. As she focused on his eyes, she felt her face fall slightly. They were cold. As ice. And he was looking directly at her. Coldly. Buffy frowned. “... join me over here a moment... Buffy?” “What? Yes? What?” Buffy looked up at the teacher, her eyes wide as she realized she had been staring. The teacher gestured towards the corner opposite the group. Buffy nodded before stepping over there. She could hear Willow begin talking to Angel about the class. “Buffy, if there a reason that you aren’t doing your homework? Is there something wrong at home? Here, at school? Or do you just not do it?” Buffy looked down at the floor as she was spoken to. She heard the words and slowly comprehended them but all she could feel and see was the coldness in the new boy’s eyes. It was shocking... and reminded her a little bit of Kevin... “Buffy?” “No... I mean, everything’s fine. Well, not fine in the finest sense, but there’s nothing seriously wrong,” Buffy said, stumbling slightly on her words as she forced her mouth to move and her eyes to stay on the teacher’s nose. Right between the eyes, just like Richard Gere said in Pretty Woman. “Then why don’t you do your homework? You have a wonderful mind and I know you are capable of so much more.” The words echoed in her head and she was suddenly reminded of her old Biology teacher from sophmore year. He had said almost the exact same thing to her before he had been viciously murdered in his office later that day. She frowned. “I have... other things... I’m...” The teacher sighed. “Busy? Too busy for school and your future?” Shaking her head, she narrowed her eyes at Buffy with concern. “It’s only the beginning of the year, Buffy. Think about that when you are doing your homework tonight. I’m sure that you don’t want to fail this class and I’m very sure that I don’t want to fail you. Just try.” Buffy forced a reassuring grin on her face and she nodded. “I’ll do that.” The teacher didn’t look convinced. “You do that.”
“So, detention or lucky break?” Buffy looked up at Xander as he spoke to her. She was walking with him while Willow stayed behind with Angel as they brought up the rear. “Lucky break, actually... miraculously,” Buffy said, swinging her book bag and ignoring the stare at her back. She fought the urge to turn around because she was afraid that it would be the man standing directly behind her. She really didn’t look forward to seeing those dark eyes again. “Buff’s with the luck today,” Xander said with a happy grin as he did a little jig. Buffy nodded as she stared straight ahead. “That’s the idea, isn’t it?”
“Giles? It’s officially official of all the officialiness... School is not a friendly place for such a young girl - as myself - and I think I might just drop...” Buffy stopped as she lifted her eyes to see Angel sitting in one of the hard chairs in the library. “... out.” A moment of silence prevailed before Buffy looked around. “Where’s Giles? Er... Mr. Giles? And Willow?” “They went somewhere back,” Angel pointed at the rows of stacks behind him, “there. Don’t know where they disappeared off to. They’ve been gone a while.” “Well... bookworms, those two, so you never know,” Buffy said nervously as she stood next to the check out counter. She couldn’t help but meet his intense gaze before her eyes darted away. She was officially on the creeped out list with this guy. “Well, can you just tell them I dropped by? Something like... ‘Buffy was here’.” Buffy turned to leave and was almost to the suddenly extremely desirable swinging doors when he spoke again. “Buffy Summers.” She stopped. And turned. She didn’t meet his eyes but stared at his hair, hoping the distance would cover her non-eye contact. “That’s me. And you’re Angel Roarke.” “Yes, I am. And you don’t remember me.” Buffy felt her mouth go dry. Didn’t remember him? She had never met him in her entire life! She was fairly certain that she would remember seeing him at Hemery. She was fairly certain that she would have dated him at Hemery. Remember him? No. She swallowed thickly. “Uh... no? Sorry, but... Should I?” The first smile she had ever seen him crack was cold and she didn’t like it all. And it was directed towards her. She felt like she was back in the hall with Kevin as he stared down at her, his fingers touching her... She felt a shiver fall down her spine and she brought her arms up to wrap around her middle. “Well,” Angel drawled. “I would hope so.” He continued to stare at her, the air heavy with his pause. He didn’t notice the way she moved to shield herself from his wandering gaze. “Well, let’s see if this jogs your memory.” He cocked his head. “Beginning of freshman year. Homecoming dance... sour milk.” Buffy furrowed her brows as she tried to remember exactly what he was referring to before it dawned on her. Freshman year. She had been dating Jeffrey, a sophmore and he had wanted to play a prank. And Buffy had let herself be the bait... Buffy’s confused features morphed into realization as she went back to that night. That couldn’t possibly be this kid. There was no resemblance at all. “Uh...” Buffy fought for words. “You’ve... changed... a lot.” Angel smirked, his features icy and Buffy felt guilt hit her. This guy hated her because of what she had done in order to impress her new boyfriend. It didn’t escape her that after that had happened, she had quickly rocketed to the top, to being in the popular crowd. Buffy felt sad and angry that that was the type of initiation one had to make to be ‘in’. And that she had gladly gone along, not caring who she stepped on along the way. “Yes. I have. But you haven’t. And I can’t say I’m surprised,” Angel continued, leaning forward in his chair, his dark eyes boring into her. “Still not giving a shit about the little people as long as you get what you want.” Hurt clenched at Buffy’s heart and she felt like walking up and smacking him. But she didn’t want to do that. That would mean moving closer to him and she didn’t like the thick barriers of sincere dislike towards her that he had built around himself. Buffy felt her mouth open to speak - and she could only imagine what would have come out if she hadn’t been interrupted - when Willow stepped out from the stacks, holding three large textbooks. “Found ‘em!” the redhead announced triumphantly, moving towards the small staircase. “Sorry that took so long, but we couldn’t find the extras. Hey, Buffy!” Buffy managed a weak smile before turning and walking out, the large doors swinging slowly to a stop after her exit. Willow frowned. “Is she okay?” Angel smiled up at the bubbly girl. “I’m sure she’s fine.”
Buffy was not fine. She was about seven counties away from being fine. And it didn’t help that she had stupidly decided to walk home, by herself. She could have at least looked around for Xander but she could only imagine where he got off to those days. It seemed to be more and more common his disappearances and Buffy was getting annoyed. Why? Because she could. And because it meant that she would have to walk home, a good long distance at which Kevin could be waiting for her around any corner. Buffy hated being so paranoid but she hated the idea that he could be waiting for her somewhere more. Someone with her was her security blanket and she was feeling very insecure. Especially with Angel’s new appearance. For the life of her, she didn’t recognize him. The kid she remembered playing that horrible prank on was just a scrawny little ninth grader who had a mouth full of braces and a face covered in acne. It wasn’t uncommon, especially at that age, but it was his nature that made him the prime target. He was quiet, always kept to himself and never spoke unless spoken to. He minded his own business. He wasn’t a pest, instead choosing to have his nose buried in a book somewhere in a corner. That was the reasoning behind Jeffrey’s choice, at least the parts he explained to her. He was too quiet. He needed to be taught a lesson. Thinking back on the entire thing, Buffy couldn’t have felt dumber. What kind of lesson was that? Angel had never done anything to anyone and here she was, helping her shiny new boyfriend poor a bucket of sour milk on his head. But now he was no longer that little boy. He was definitely not a little boy anymore. He was tall, dark and handsome and had one of the most intense gazes she had ever connected with. But the souring thing was was that he did not like her. At all. Buffy was even willing to go as far as he hated her considering the way he looked at her. Buffy shivered. That’s all she needed. Her best friend partnering up with some guy who hated her. Every time they would get together now, he would glare at her. And Willow would be completely oblivious to it and Buffy wouldn’t mention it. That was the circle and Buffy did not want to jump in. Looking up, Buffy found herself approaching her house. Already. Feeling simply grateful that she hadn’t spent the entire time agonizing over whether or not someone was behind her, Buffy pulled out her keys as she advanced on her front door. Before entering, she looked over her shoulder. Nothing seemed out of place. Good. That was the way things should be. But it wouldn’t stop her from checking out the window every other hour for the rest of the night until she fell asleep.
As the rest of the week slowly passed by, nothing eventful came up and Buffy didn’t put herself out there to catch that eventful something. Uneventful was good. Unless you counted Angel’s constant presence. He was making himself a nice, cozy spot in their little group and Buffy was not very happy about that. She hadn’t had the chance to sit down and talk to Willow about Angel and what had happened because she had been busy helping him catch up and making sure he knew everything that was going on. Not that he needed it. He was damn smart and was extremely quick and could come up with things that took Buffy a while to catch on to. But a definite plus to the uneventful happenings was the absence of Kevin. It seemed that he was settling into a pattern and Buffy hoped that she wouldn’t have to see him for a long time to come. Maybe ever. But she wasn’t so sure and still kept a watchful eye on everything - and everyone - around her, always on the edge of her seat in case action was necessary. Which it wasn’t. Which made Buffy very happy and very suspicious and scared about what he would be doing next. It was finally Friday and Buffy was sitting in her English class, listening to every word that fell from the teacher’s mouth. She actually understood most of what she was saying because she had read the chapter. And done the questions. The teacher had called on her again earlier in the period and Buffy had answered the question, confident that it was the right answer. Which it was. Which earned her a very bright smile from Willow. It was going to be a good day. As the end of the class hour neared, the teacher asked everyone to get started on the next chapter. Buffy pulled up her book from where it had been sitting on the floor. Flipping it open, she landed on the page and proceeded to continue turning the pages, counting how many she would need to read that night. Thirty-four. Buffy groaned but flipped back to the beginning and began to read slowly. A silent moment passed before she was interrupted by a large note landing on her book. She looked up and saw Xander grinning at her before he turned back to fiddling with his notebook. She raised her eyebrows and opened the simply folded note. We Bronzing it tonight? Buffy smiled before writing, Sure. What time? Instead of using Xander’s toss technique, she handed the note to Willow who then passed it on to Xander, the redhead’s eyes never leaving the text she was reading. She watched as Xander opened it and then wrote something back before looking up to see if the teacher was looking. He tossed it at her without looking back and Buffy sighed as it landed on the floor just before her desk. Without making it obvious, she scooted it towards her and she opened it once more. 8:00? Buffy smiled and looked up at Xander to see him looking at her. He did a little dance movement with his arms and Buffy tried not to laugh.
“So, we’re Bronze-bound, gang?” Xander asked the minute the three exited the classroom, Angel following as he always did. Buffy wanted to think of him as a lost puppy but she knew the mutual feelings were not there. Both Willow and Xander thought of Angel as a new friend and were starting to involve him in everything. So the lost puppy thing wasn’t really a reality thing. “Are the Dingoes playing tonight, Will?” Buffy asked, looking over to her friend where she was standing next to Angel. She ignored his stare and focused on Willow. “Yeah! And we could take Angel. You haven’t been to the Bronze, have you?” Angel shook his head. “I haven’t even heard of it.” Xander gaped. “Where are our neighborly manners, people?” Slapping his hand on Angel’s back, he continued on to tell Angel everything he could about the Bronze, which wasn’t much. Buffy raised her eyebrows as she and Willow slowed to walk together as the boys pushed farther ahead. “We haven’t been to the Bronze in such a long time,” Willow said, her happy eyes watching Xander talk to Angel, who was simply staring at him, his own eyebrows raised. “Yeah. Should be fun.” “And how cool is it that we are a group of four? So there can be dancing. Boy, girl. Boy, girl.” “Willow,” Buffy admonished. “Angel and I aren’t... liking each other like that.” “Oh, please, I see the way he looks at you.” Buffy didn’t really want to tell Willow that that was a look of dislike rather than like. She was disappointed that she had yet to tell Willow exactly what had happened between her and Angel, or even tell her that they knew each other at all. She didn’t respond and Willow slipped her arm through Buffy’s as they continued to follow the boys. “Is everything set for tonight?” Buffy asked. “My mom says it’s okay.” “Yep! Oz said he’ll just drop us off after the Dingoes are done...”
Part Two Buffy had declined Xander’s offer to have Angel swing by her house to pick her up as well and instead asked her mom to take her to the Bronze. The complete uncool factor of the entire thing should have stopped her but she would rather not burden Angel and give him more reason to not like her - and plus he would know where she lived - and then there were her Kevin issues if she had walked. So she sat back in her mom’s leather seats in her Jeep and watched the night pass by. Couples walked about, an old man walked a dog. How nice it must be to walk around and not be in fear that someone might jump out and attack you. Buffy envied them. “We’re here,” Joyce announced, pulling up to the curb across the street. Joyce hadn’t mentioned anything to Buffy about the oddness of having her drive her daughter to the local club, instead just nodding and smiling, being happy that Buffy had asked at all. Along with growing up, her daughter had started to drift away from her and she was willing to stop that as much as she could. “Should I pick you up?” Buffy shook her head. “No. Oz is dropping us off after his band’s done.” Joyce nodded and watched as her daughter hopped out of the Jeep, careful not to let her short skirt bare all of her leg. Joyce smiled before driving away slowly, watching in her mirror to make sure Buffy made it in okay. Which she did.
The Bronze was rocking, as per usual, but more so because the Dingoes were playing. The club was crowded and smoky and she could smell a mixture of alcohol, cigarette smoke and mostly a strong array of perfumes and colognes. It amused her that she could have not worn any perfume tonight and just walk through one corner of the Bronze and be perfectly fine all night. Wearing a small white skirt and a black halter top, Buffy pushed her way through the crowd, trying to look over the tops of people’s heads to see if Willow and Xander had arrived. Or Angel. But of course she just might wander out to the dance floor if all she spotted was Angel. Buff was relieved to find all of her friends, including the new teenager, sitting at a tall table near the stage, sipping at some sodas and watching Willow’s boyfriend’s band rock out on the stage. They were sounding particularly good tonight and Buffy felt the urge to get up and dance. But she approached them and sat down at the extra seat, smiling at Willow and offering her greetings to them all. Angel’s gaze didn’t go unnoticed. She could feel his eyes boring into her and she fleetingly met his gaze before turning away. It was almost like a head rush when she looked into his eyes. They were so deep and she could see so many things going on in his head. Which only made her worry a little about how many of those thoughts included her. Buffy smiled gratefully at Xander as he passed her a drink. Taking a long sip, she sat back and stared at the pulsating dance floor. It was so weird how all of the people seemed to move as one, yet not. Buffy declined Xander’s first offer to dance but finally agreed as he pulled both her and Willow out. Buffy could feel a set of eyes on her back, but ignored them. If Angel didn’t want to come out and dance, that was his deal. Not hers. She would take a break from those intense eyes tonight and just relax and try to forget about how weird her life was. Xander’s so-called dance moves never failed to make Buffy laugh and she was almost out of breath by the time that song was over. Xander and Willow went back to the table to get their drinks but Buffy stayed out. As another fast song began, Buffy raised her arms in the air and began to move to the music surrounding her, closing her eyes and just letting go. It was nice to dance and be free. Dancing was such a wonderful escape for her. Buffy didn’t pay attention to the random people who brushed up against her or the guys who stuck around for a while to dance. She wrapped her arms around some of their necks and indulged them but always pushed them away. All the while she could feel a set of dark eyes staring at her and she almost blushed. She felt like she was putting on a show for him, which she wouldn’t have mind doing if there wasn’t such bad blood between them. As another racy song came on, Buffy went on to surrender herself to that beat when a pair of strong arms wrapped around her from behind. A deep shiver ran along her spine and Buffy felt her body instantly tense as they gripped her waist tightly and pulled her flush against a hard body. Fear and adrenaline raced through her body as she turned around, half-hoping it was Angel while the other wished it was just some touchy-feely guy trying to cop a feel. But it was neither and Buffy felt her heart stop. Kevin smirked down at her, his long hair brushing against his forehead as he moved his hips to the beat, pushing against her unpleasantly. Buffy moved to struggle but he tightened his hold on her. She paused. The fact that he didn’t speak one word to her made it all the worse. When he talked, she could keep the image of him being a sick sex freak in her head. But when he didn’t and he touched her like they had been going out for years, it was harder to keep the vision because it seemed to him, they had been going out for a long time. At least that was the message she got when he touched her. It made her feel oddly out of place and sick at the same time. Buffy didn’t move as he captured her in his arms, keeping her close as he buried his face in her neck. Buffy felt like throwing up as one of his hands settled on her ass. But she didn’t dare make a sound. She didn’t want to alert the rest of the world to her little problem. He would go away... eventually. So instead, she simply danced with him, her body stiff as he molded himself to her. To the untrained eye, they looked like a loving couple getting close on the dance floor. But to Willow’s eye, it was everything but.
Willow couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Buffy was dancing with Kevin. And he was touching her - all over the place. She could see her friend’s posture and reaction to every touch. The blonde would jerk every time he touched her and Willow felt anger build in her chest. “Xander, go ask Buffy to dance,” she said, her voice loud enough for just the people at their table to hear. Xander looked up as the Dingoes switched to their last song for that set, a slow song, and he raised his eyebrows. “She’s dancing with that Kevin guy,” he said, turning his back to the dance floor once more to take a drink of his soda. Willow pinched his arm. “Ow. What was that for?” “Just do it!” Willow hissed. “Go ask her to dance. Please.” Xander opened his mouth to argue but decided against it at the dark look on Willow’s face. It was a mixture of resolve-face and just plain anger. He nodded before standing, making his way towards the couple. Willow knew it was hopeless the minute she saw Kevin’s eyes spot Xander. He whispered something in Buffy’s ear and the blonde looked up. She saw Xander motioning and talking but Buffy shook her head, saying something softly. Xander shrugged before turning back to the table. “She didn’t want to, Will,” he said with a sigh. “No one wants to dance with the Xandman.” Willow sighed in exasperation and turned to look at Angel but he was missing. She furrowed her brow. Where the heck did he disappear off to? But her thoughts quickly strayed from him. The strangeness of Angel’s disappearance was minimal compared to the catastrophe on the dance floor. After another minute of Kevin rubbing himself against her in time with the soft music, Willow stood and was ready to walk out to the dance floor only to be stopped by a tall man doing her duties for her.
“May I have this dance?” Buffy looked up, fear in her eyes to see who was asking to interrupt them again. Angel stared back, his eyes dark but she couldn’t see anything in them. He was completely shuttered. Kevin looked up as well and glared at the intruder. “No thanks, man, just dancing with my girl.” The look on Buffy’s face was enough for Angel to step forward and push himself between them, not saying a word to Kevin. Buffy stepped back in shock, happy to be free of Kevin’s wandering hands but not overly eager to jump into Angel’s arms either. But he didn’t give her much choice, stepping forward and wrapping his arms around her. Buffy was tense for a moment before she relaxed. She didn’t dare look to see what had happened to Kevin, instead closing her eyes and counting to ten before she opened them again. Looking around, she was relieved to see that her offender was gone. He had melted back into the crowd and she sighed loudly. Angel looked down at her. “Thank you so much for doing that.” “Who was he?” “A guy... Just a... guy.” Angel furrowed his brow as he looked down at her and she looked away. He didn’t push the issue. Buffy swallowed hard, her head becoming a little fuzzy. He was dancing with her. Not moving away. She felt shivers of anticipation rather than disgust flitter down her spine as his hand moved up her back slowly. It felt... good to be in his arms. Comfortable. It was nice. The song was over too soon and Buffy felt him pull away, once again putting up a wall between them. She looked up at him and neither of them spoke as he stared back. The sound of pre-recorded music filtered from the speakers and Buffy watched as he turned away, walking back to the table, not saying another word to her. She followed him. Willow was waiting for Buffy on the edge of her seat when the blonde finally made it to the table. Buffy merely shook her head at Willow, telling her they would talk later. Willow nodded but her eyes never left Buffy. She couldn’t believe what Angel had done. She could sense the coldness between the two from the very beginning and she was pleased when she had seen it was him who had interrupted the dance from hell. She was further surprised to see the two of them practically snuggling it up in the middle of the dance floor. And neither of them seemed to notice that they were doing it. But they were back to the coldness and Willow let it slip for the moment as Oz joined them. Introductions were made as Willow once again met Buffy’s eyes They definitely had to talk.
“So where did he come from?” “Kevin?” Willow nodded, her eyebrows raised. “Yeah. I looked up and suddenly you were dancing with him.” Buffy sighed. “I know. He came up behind me. I can only imagine how long he was there tonight.” Willow furrowed her brow, a little surprised at how well Buffy was taking it. She was half-expecting what had happened when she last encountered him. But she didn’t push it, instead taking a less, more unobvious approach to the confrontation. “And what’s up with you and Angel? That’s with the weirdness, too, right?” Buffy nodded. “Most definitely. And you don’t even know the half of it.” “Wanna tell me?” Buffy inhaled deeply. A few moments after the Kevin incident, Oz had driven Buffy and Willow to the blonde’s house where they were planning a night of ice cream and bad movies from the fifties. Now? It was a fun rehash of the past. But there was still ice cream. “Well, you know he went to Hemery, right?” Willow nodded. “I knew him. At least, he says I did. When I first saw him...” Buffy shrugged. “I thought I had never seen him in my entire life. But I had. And the last time I saw him... well... it wasn’t exactly a pleasant thing.” Willow furrowed her brow but waited for Buffy to continue. “It was in ninth grade. This guy, Jeffrey - he was an upper classman, a sophmore, and he asked me out to the Homecoming dance. And you know how it is when that happens...” Buffy sighed. “I thought I was head over heels in love with him. We did everything together the first couple of weeks before the dance and the stupid kid that I was thought we were going to be together forever.” Buffy looked wistful. “He was my first real boyfriend. And he was a major asshole.” Willow frowned. “Why? What happened?” “Well, this is where Angel comes in,” Buffy said. “A few days before the dance, Jeffrey came up to me and pointed Angel out. Back then, he was just this little scrawny kid. I mean, there was nothing there but skin and bone. And he had these little glasses and a mouth full of braces. And acne was not his friend. Anyway, I knew him a little. I didn’t know his name but we went to the same middle school and I talked to him a bit in eight grade. Well, actually it was more like we talked once. And only because he bumped into me in the lunch line.” Shaking her head, she continued, “Anyway, Jeffrey pointed him out and said he needed me to do a favor.” Willow knew she would not like where this was going. “What did he ask you?” “He said that during the Homecoming dance, he was going to need me to bring Angel behind the bleachers where they were going to give him a little surprise.” “A little surprise?” Willow echoed. Buffy nodded. “Yeah. And of course I went along with it. He didn’t even need to tell me what that little surprise was. I didn’t care just as long as Jeffrey still liked me.” Shaking her head, she took a deep breath. “It was such a dumb and mean thing for me to do.” Looking up, Buffy met Willow’s eyes. “So the night of the dance I went up to him. I was actually surprised that he was even there. And dressed up. Which, now that I think of it, makes it so much worse because he was there, trying to look good and have a fun time.” Buffy looked down. “This was the beginning of my bitchiness at Hemery.” Looking up, Buffy shot Willow a guilty look. “I was even worse than Cordelia.” Willow continued to sit, staring at Buffy, waiting for her to continue. “So, anyway, I asked him to come with me. He was tall, even then, and he just looked down at me and smiled. It never occurred to me then that I should actually feel bad about what I was going to do. So, we go down there and he keeps looking at me, obviously wondering what the hell I was doing bringing him down there when Jeffrey and his friends jump out, tackling him to the floor.” Buffy sighed. “Hard. Really hard. I think his glasses broke or something, I don’t really remember. But that wasn’t the worst part.” Willow raised her eyebrows in question and asked slowly, “What was the worst part?” “He was laying on the ground, looking for his glasses when Jeffrey and one of his friends ran back and grabbed a huge pail of something. It was so much like that movie, Carrie, that it was disturbing. But thankfully it wasn’t some pig’s blood.” “What was it?” “Sour milk.” Willow gaped. “And it smelled horrible. And they just poured it on him. He just sat there. And I just sat there until Jeffrey grabbed my hand and pulled me away, leaving him there.” Buffy took a deep breath. “And the worst part was was that I didn’t care. I think I actually laughed at him.” Shaking her head, Buffy looked at Willow. “Am I not the worst person in the world?” Willow looked at her sympathetically as Buffy went on. “He didn’t even tell anyone. Ever. That was the last time I think I saw him. He seemed to blend in even more with the shadows after that. He was the laughing stock of the entire school after that dance. I remember that the rest of the night had to be canceled because the smell was so bad.” Sitting back, Buffy stared at the floor. “That’s why he doesn’t like me. At all. And it’s why I didn’t recognize him. He looks...” Buffy raised her eyebrows as she remembered exactly the way he looked. “Way different than he used to. I mean he’s... cute, and stuff. Not... scrawny.” Buffy took a deep breathe. “But, yeah, that’s the back story on that one.” Willow was in shock. Angel did not look like the type of person who had been traumatized by something like that. He was so sure and confident and smart. And hanging out with the one girl who had gotten him into it all... To say it was odd was a rather large understatement. And he didn’t look like he hated Buffy. At all. Instead, he looked like he was completely infatuated by her. She could understand the reason why Buffy thought he hated her guts because whenever he looked at her, he would glare. But when no one was looking... and mostly when Buffy wasn’t around, he looked... peaceful. It was so freaking weird that Willow didn’t know what to think. “So this is why you’ve been acting so bizarre around him?” Buffy scoffed. “Isn’t it a good enough reason? I can’t stand looking at him because all he does is glare... And he’s just so cold towards me. It’s so weird being around him now. He’s not that same kid and ever since he told me who he was... it’s been hard not keeping them separate because I don’t see that little boy when I look at him. I see someone completely different.” Willow furrowed her brows and nodded her head. “That is weird.” “And even weirder was what he did with Kevin. What was that all about?” The sudden urge to analyze his every move overcame her and she sighed in frustration. “He’s so... weird! Why can’t he be normal? Like... Xander or something.” Willow lifted an eyebrow and Buffy chuckled. “Okay, well maybe Xander was a bad example.” Willow laughed.”Yeah.” “But I don’t know what to do with him. Or about him. It seems like he won’t be leaving us for quite some time and I don’t want to have to hang out with him and make the entire group depressed because we refuse to talk to each other.” “I’m sorry, Buffy. It’s my fault that he’s so... integrated into the group. He just seemed so nice and sincere and well... not weird. And plus I thought he liked you.” “Yeah, well, that like turned out to be serious dislike. He doesn’t like me. At all.” Willow frowned, staring at her. But she didn’t say anything. It was obvious that Angel was making sure that Buffy knew nothing about the way he felt. It would take a brick wall to not see that he had something going on where it concerned her. But Buffy wouldn’t believe her even if she said something so she stayed silent, instead switching to a more forward subject. “So what was up with Kevin tonight? He’s been really... active lately.” Buffy sighed deeply. “I know. And it is freaky. It’s even more scary because I didn’t know he was there. How many times has he been there before, you know?” Willow nodded. “What are you going to do about it?” Buffy paused and shot Willow a look, half daring the redhead to bring up their earlier arguments about what Buffy should do... according to Willow. She sighed as her friend merely looked back. “Right now? I really don’t know. He hasn’t done anything yet so I guess... we’ll see,” she finished with a shrug.
Part Three “Ah, the wonders of being a senior,” Xander mused as stepped away from the school and into the street as a stream of others from his class bled into the real world, completely willing to get away from school if it was just for an hour. “Never ceases to amaze me.” Buffy nodded sarcastically, her eyebrows arched as she looked to Xander. “Yeah... ‘cause we haven’t done this about seventy times already.” Xander merely smiled, ignoring her as he breathed in deeply. “Mmm... do you smell that? That is only a taste of the freedom we will have in the very near future.” Buffy shook her head in amusement. It was practically a ritual every time they left for lunch, Xander’s musings about life after high school. Buffy would rather concentrate on actually getting out of the damn place with a decent grade point average rather than what it would be like afterwards. And she was fairly certain that her mother would most definitely be sending her away to some college in some far away land to suffer some more so there really wasn’t any satisfaction in taking a deep breath of the supposedly chock-full-of-freedom air. She sighed. She, Willow, Oz, Xander and Angel were all walking towards the school parking lot, towards Angel’s car because Oz’s van was having problems starting, ready to go out to some little fast food joint that tried to get by as a restaurant. They were all prepared to spend a lot of cash for a massive heaping of grease. They tried to do it as often as money allowed, but most of the time the green little bills weren’t on the big side which meant eating the slop they served in the school cafeteria. Buffy often wondered why Sunnydale High never really tried to get up with the rest of the schools in the country and buy... healthy food. Or more like any food that hadn’t been deep fried ten times. “So, convene at the library after school for some studying?” Willow asked Buffy, her hand held tightly by her boyfriend. “Yes, much with the studying. I’d like to actually pass this test,” Buffy said wryly, walking next to the redhead, overtly aware of the two males behind the trio. Willow nodded, offering a smile. “It’s supposed to be really easy this time.” Buffy arched an eyebrow at her best friend. “Has that ever helped me in the past?” “I think I’m up for some much needed studying. I never really understand what she’s saying anyway. Isn’t that class supposed to be about actual English?” Xander asked, leaning forward to speak to both Willow and Buffy. Willow looked back at him, an amused smile on her face. “Xander, it’s not like you’re just learning it.” “Well, she doesn’t make it any easier, now does she?” Xander said in response. Willow just shook her head as she looked towards Angel. “You want to join in on the study fun with us, Angel? In the library after school?” Angel shook his head. “No. I have to work today.” Xander turned to look at the dark teenager. “Where do you work? I don’t see you working anywhere.” Angel returned his gaze and Buffy turned her head casually, waiting for his answer. She swiped her hair behind her ear as he answered, “Nowhere you would know, Harris.” “What, are you an assassin or something, Dead Boy?” Xander asked sarcastically. Angel clenched his jaw at the little nickname Xander had so lovingly picked out for him. “How many times have I told you to not call me that?” Angel asked. Xander shrugged and was saved from answering as the group reached the black convertible. Swinging his keys in his hand, Angel walked around to the driver side as the rest of the group waited for him to unlock the car. They had barely ever used his mode of transportation during their excursions at lunch, one because Angel never really hung out with them, usually taking off to do something and second because Oz’s van was much bigger and normally didn’t have engine troubles. So, in the end, that meant that Buffy had only been in it once. Xander snatched the door handle before swinging it open. “I call shotgun today. Will can do her backseat driving in the actual backseat now.” Willow furrowed her brow. “I don’t backseat drive.” She looked to Oz who was usually driving when she sat in the passenger side. “Do I backseat drive?” Xander didn’t give Oz a chance to say anything as he pulled the seat back to give room for the other three to climb in. “Now, Willow, you know I love you, but it’s time that you accept what we’ve all known to be true for a long time. You backseat drive.” “I do not,” Willow protested once more, climbing in first followed by Oz. Buffy lifted her foot to follow suit, her mouth closed as she felt Angel’s eyes on her as he watched their progress from his seat behind the wheel. It was such a casual thing, yet it unnerved her to feel his eyes watching her. It was the same as Kevin, only different. Maybe because she didn’t exactly despise the feeling of someone she knew - namely him - watching her so openly. He hadn’t done anything out of the ordinary since the night he asked to dance with her. He didn’t bring up the past or their current situation and Buffy was content herself to just let everything be. He was his usual stoic self around her and the gang, that is when he was actually with them. She found that he disappeared every once in a while and she was beginning to think of him as a casual friend rather than someone who was considered “the gang”. “Accepting charity now, Xander?” Buffy looked over her shoulder to see Cordelia Chase waltzing up to the convertible, her long, dark hair bouncing around her shoulders as she swung her hips enough to get her short skirt to swing along with them. Raising an eyebrow, she paused as Xander rolled his eyes. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Angel leaning forward, almost as if he were somehow appraising the brunette... and liked what he saw. Something in her chest flipped and she frowned as her eyes darted to his face. But it was blank as their eyes met and Buffy pulled herself into the car completely, her face feeling like it was beginning to blush but sure it wasn’t at the same time. She felt like she had been caught doing something... when in point of fact she had been doing nothing out of the ordinary... except getting a wee bit jealousy at the thought of Angel paying attention to Cordelia Chase. Buffy fought the urge to scoff. She wasn’t jealous because his attention wasn’t on her. She didn’t even like when he looked at her in the first place. She just didn’t like the idea of him looking at Cordelia, of all people in the world for him to even think of looking at. He just had incredibly poor taste in women and that little jump in her chest was merely her pity for him. Pity that he was even thinking about looking in any direction where the bitch queen happened to be standing. “No, Cordelia, I’m actually paying him to drive me around. Just for the coolness that comes along with the paying.” Cordelia rolled her eyes as she stopped at the car. “I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if you were.” “I’m sure you wouldn’t. We all know you’re well versed in that sort of thing, don’t we?” Xander retorted before pausing and Cordelia lifted an eyebrow. Leaning against the top of the car as he looked the Homecoming Queen over, her continued, “Shopping a little more at Sluts ‘R Us, I see.” Cordelia scoffed. “Oh, yeah, this coming from the loser who gets his clothes from the Salvation Army?” Buffy fought the urge to let a chuckle loose as Xander narrowed his eyes. “You know what?” “What?” Cordelia asked, mockingly, her arms clutching her purse and books as she met his glare. “I-“ “Cordelia! Hello! We’re waiting!” Buffy watched as the brunette turned around before pausing and looking over her shoulder to glare at Xander once more. Without speaking to him, she leaned over and looked at Angel. Buffy narrowed her eyes. “We still meeting up later, Angel?” she asked, her voice practically silk as the words rolled off her tongue. Buffy’s eyes switched to Angel’s face just in time to see him flash her a half smile that would surely make any girl weak in the knees. Buffy just felt anger. “Yeah. Later.” Cordelia nodded before flashing Xander a bittersweet smile and turning towards her friends and her car. Xander leaned down to glare at Angel. “You’re meeting up with Cordelia Chase?” he asked, disbelief in his voice. “For what?” Angel just shrugged as he started the car, the engine roaring to life. Xander stood before folding himself into the front seat, his brow furrowed as Angel pulled the car from the parking lot. Buffy frowned from the back seat, her brow creased in annoyance as she looked at the two in the front seat. That was probably one of the odder things to happen. Angel was apparently doing something with Cordelia, although what she could only imagine, which she found she really didn’t want to do. And Xander was almost... jealous. He was practically slouching all over the car. “So... you dating Cordelia now, or what?” Xander asked, turning to look at Angel, his face unreadable. Angel looked back, his face blank. “Why?” Xander scoffed loudly, the annoyance obvious in his voice. “You do consider us friends, right? So that would mean you know that friends tell each other when they are dating and when they aren’t.” Angel shrugged again. “I guess you could call it dating.” Buffy frowned and looked to Willow who was staring at Xander, a confused look on her face. Her eyes switched to Buffy’s face and she shrugged as Buffy lifted an eyebrow in question. Oz merely sat back, his eyebrows raised as he observed. Xander rolled his eyes. “What kind of friends did you have at Hemery, man?” Buffy immediately stiffened and Willow raised her eyebrows as she looked to Buffy. Buffy met her eyes for a brief second before looking to see if Angel would respond. She missed his eyes darting to the rearview mirror before switching back to the road. Silence prevailed before Angel reached forward, switching on the radio and the car filled with music as each individual was left to their thoughts.
“God, you would think this would be easy but it’s really just going right through my head. You know what... I don’t think I have a brain. I think my head just might be full of air,” Buffy said grouchily as she threw her pencil onto her sprawled book before sticking her bottom lip out in a pout. Willow smiled patiently. “You have a brain, Buffy, you just have to get used to this stuff first. It’s really not that hard after you know what this stuff means.” “Yeah, which considering it’s been a few days and I still don’t know what I’m doing, I’ll probably never know.” Willow shook her head. “Maybe Giles has a few books somewhere that would help you out.” “Yeah, it would actually help if he was here. Which he isn’t.” Willow smiled as she stood. “We don’t need his library brain. I think I can find them. I’ll be right back. I know where he stores all of the extra school books now.” Willow looked amused. “All the way in the back where no one can find them.” Buffy smiled as Willow walked over to the small staircase and practically skipped up them. As she moved to disappear deeper, Buffy called out, “Where the heck is Xander? What happened to his desire to learn the correct way to speak English? He hasn’t been in here at all.” Willow shrugged before disappearing behind a large bookcase. “I don’t know. Maybe he forgot...” Buffy shrugged, turning back to her book. Not that it would do him a whole lot of good to actually be here. She was quite sure that all he would be hearing was the whining of Buffy. A few moments passed as she reread the exact same paragraph she had been trying to understand for the last half hour. She was beginning to think that the person who had written this book was in need of some severe psycho therapy if they couldn’t write a paragraph that was easy enough for an average high school student to read. Instead the person stupidly chose to write it so that only people with huge brains could understand. Maybe it was a conspiracy. A conspiracy to get the people of nerdom recognized as all the dumb people came crawling to them for homework help. Yep, the author was a nerd. It was a conspiracy. Maybe even the government was involved... Buffy started as the sound of running echoed in the quiet room. Looking up, she watched as Willow ran down the stairs and out of the library. It took a second for Buffy to register what she had seen when Xander came running right behind her, calling out her name. Placing the palms of her hands on the table, she called out, “Xander! What’s wrong?” He barely took the time to glance at her over his shoulder before he too breezed out the main doors of Sunnydale High’s library. With a worried look on her face, Buffy pushed herself away from the table and stood, ready to go see what was going on when Cordelia suddenly appeared from out of the stacks. Furrowing her brow, Buffy felt a heavy feeling settle on her heart at the look on her face. “Cordy? What are you doing here?” She didn’t answer. “Cordelia? Hello?” Buffy walked over to meet the brunette as she walked down the stairs. “What happened up there?” Buffy couldn’t help but notice how... annoyed Cordelia looked but she still wasn’t answering her. “Hello? God, you really don’t have this hard a time talking usually.” Buffy didn’t wait for a reply as she turned around and walked towards the doors. She greeted Giles as he entered before she swept out the door. He stood there, looking after her, slightly bewildered by her actions. He turned to Cordelia. “Did I miss something?”
Buffy stopped abruptly as Xander turned the corner before her and he didn’t spare her a glance as he kept walking right past her. She wondered if he had even found Willow as he breezed by. He looked angry and it seemed like he didn’t even know she was there. She looked after him, wondering if she should run after or go find Willow and see what the hell was going on. “Xander? What’s up?” “The world hasn’t ended, Buffy, so don’t bother asking.” Furrowing her brow at his response, she turned slowly and continued to walk in the direction Xander had come. Not spotting the usually bubbly redhead anywhere, she pushed open a door and saw her sitting beneath one of the larger trees outside the school, staring down at her swinging feet from where she sat on a bench. Jogging towards her, Buffy slowed to a small pace as she finally reached her. “Hey.” Willow looked up, smiling. “Hey.” “What happened back there? Suddenly everyone was up and running like it was a marathon. Well... Cordy wasn’t running, but... well, you know what I mean.” Willow sighed and Buffy frowned as she sat down next to her. “What happened?” “I saw Xander and Cordelia kissing,” she said plainly. “Kissing? As in groping, touching and serious tongue action?” Buffy asked, her eyebrows raised as she thought back to Cordelia’s silence. Now that she thought about it, she almost looked shocked and... well, the annoyance was nothing new. Willow nodded. Buffy reached out to touch Willow’s arm. “I’m sorry.” “There’s nothing really to be sorry about. I’m not... mad at him, or anything. Well, I was when we talked in the hall, but I’m really not, I think... I mean, I knew something was happening, Buffy, I just knew it. All they did was argue like some old married couple.” She sighed. “I’m just... hurt, I guess. And mad... or... I really don’t know. “But I want him to think I’m mad at him because... he deserves it for doing that. Not telling me and stuff. Either of us. He deserves to think I’m mad at him and I think I shouldn’t forgive him... for a long time.” Willow nodded and Buffy stared at her. It almost sounded like she was on the verge of tears... “A very long time.” “Will...” “Why does he deserve to be forgiven?” Willow asked, looking to the blonde for an answer. Buffy merely shrugged as Willow continued, “He was making out with Cordelia Chase. We had a hate club for her and everything. And he looked like he was really, really enjoying it.” Buffy leaned forward to catch the redhead’s eye. “Willow, it’s okay to be mad at Xander, you know.” “No, it’s not!” Willow exclaimed as her eyes watered with tears. “It’s really not okay because it means that I still like him and... I don’t like him anymore. At least I thought I didn’t and here I am, getting freaky even though I have Oz and I’m happy with Oz. I really, really like Oz and I’m so... hurt that Xander can still make me so angry and hurt me so much because...” Willow looked up, tears evident in her eyes. “I don’t understand why he doesn’t want me. What’s wrong with me? He chooses to make out with Cordelia. I mean... it’s Cordelia, you know?” Buffy watched as Willow wiped at her eyes. “And at the same time I’m not mad at him. At all. Because of Oz. But then I get mad at him all over again and it’s just so... confusing. I don’t know what to think. I want to be mad at him... but then I want to just let it go... But I can’t let this go. He chose her. Over me.” Buffy nodded, not responding as she rubbed the redhead’s back a little as silence took over. A solitary sob broke free before Willow calmed down. A tear rolled down her cheek but she wiped it away swiftly. A moment passed before she looked up. “We hated Cordelia together for so long. He stole her fuzzy pencil from her once. And now he’s stealing her saliva.” Buffy arched her eyebrows at the odd choice of words. “A saliva thief, huh?” Willow merely shrugged. Buffy smiled before taking a deep breath. “How about this. Think about stealing saliva from Oz... Oz kissage.” Willow smiled slightly and Buffy watched as a simple look crossed her face as she said, “Yeah. Kissing Oz is...” She sighed. “Nice.” Buffy couldn’t really understand exactly where Willow was coming from concerning Xander. She had never had such a long term crush on someone before so she couldn’t really understand the pain. But she had known Willow for quite some time and knew that her serious pining days for Xander were long gone. They had been ever since Oz had entered the picture. And she knew that it was only her past telling her to have a sob fest over Xander while her older self was focusing on the future... with Oz. “Maybe you should go get some Oz kissage right now,” Buffy said slowly, almost as if she were actually hinting at something. She wiggled her eyebrows as Willow turned to look at her. “Buffy, stop doing that with your eyebrows. You’re making it sound like I’m going to go... do other things with Oz than kissing. Which I’m not,” she said quickly, sniffling as she wiped at her face. Sighing, she said, “Anyway, he’s practicing with the Dingoes. I don’t want to be the leechy girlfriend who’s always around... pretending to be a groupie.” “Trust me, Willow, I’m sure Oz doesn’t mind that one bit. He’s just too... Oz-like.” “Well, what about studying?” Buffy rolled her eyes. “I’m sure I’ve learned all I’m going to today. No worries. Either you go get some Oz smoochies or I’m going to make you come back with me to help the dumb girl study. And we both know what you would rather be doing.” “Buffy, you’re not dumb.” Buffy gave her a pointed look. “Which was why that whole studying thing was going so well earlier. And the day before. And the day before that.” It was Willow’s turn to give the pointed look. Buffy just smiled at her semi-resolve face. “None of that. Now go find you a boyfriend and smooch him up and get cheery!”
To say it was shocking actually seeing Xander and Cordelia kissing with her own eyes was an understatement. It had been almost a week since Willow had spotted the two kissing and the next few things happened so fast that Buffy wasn’t quite sure they had, well, happened. It seemed Willow’s discovery set off a chain reaction and by the end of the week, everyone in school seemed to know. Despite her experience with the high school grape vine of gossip, it still amazed her how news seemed to travel so quickly. It had taken a maximum of a day and a half before everyone in the school knew. Everyone. Which meant that Cordelia had taken to traveling around with her gang. Well, at least when Xander was present. Despite the fact that Cordelia and Xander were actually going out now, neither of them acted that way. They were their same bickering selves all the time, but there was affection. Or whatever you called making out in the janitor’s closet during passing period. And during class. It explained all of Xander’s absences since... well, for a long time. She could only imagine when it had actually began. And how. She knew that that was an amusing story that Xander had yet to give up. Or Cordelia. It was amazing that two people who seemingly despised the hell out of each other... liked each other. One could almost say they were giving a new definition to the word paradox... only not. Buffy shook her head. To her knowledge, neither Xander nor Willow had approached the other to talk about Xander’s newfound passion. But they seemed to be coming to a silent agreement on the subject. They didn’t talk for two days before Xander showed up for a study session and things seemed to fall back into place. Things were going good. Willow was happy with Oz and, Buffy could only assume, herself where Xander was concerned. Buffy pushed open the library doors, half expecting everyone to already be there. Buffy furrowed her brow as she spotted Giles and Angel talking quietly in the far corner of the library, near the librarian’s office. Perking her ears as the doors swung shut behind her, she distinctly heard a few names and little heat as they talked about some book or other. Rolling her eyes, she continued into the library. Now Angel... that was a different story. He was in no way heartbroken over what had happened between Cordelia and Xander. He was acting as if nothing at all had happened between him and the voluptuous brunette and everyone seemed content to think just that. Especially Buffy. She had yet to even get the courage to ask anyone what had been going on between the two. Not that she really cared. She just... had pity for a guy that would chase Cordelia around. Especially Angel. Giles was the first to look up as she rounded the checkout counter and he smiled slightly. “Buffy, hello.” “Hey, Giles.” A small pause filtered through. “Angel.” The other teenager merely nodded his acknowledgment of her as Giles removed his glasses and cleaned them. Buffy turned to him. “What’s going on? What were you two talking about?” “Oh...” “Nothing. Boring stuff,” Angel interrupted, looking directly at her and Buffy fought the urge to blush as his eyes penetrated her. No matter the circumstances, his eyes always got to her. She had found as time went on the ice in his eyes continued to thaw, but only slightly. It seemed like a terribly slow process and she was beginning to think that maybe it was merely because of everyone around her and the friendships he shared with them. Surely it couldn’t be because he was actually... warming up to her. “We were discussing some of our more... modern authors,” Giles said as he walked into his office. “I’m glad you came by, Buffy.” “Well, we were all supposed to come by. Lunch plan-type things going on,” Buffy said, leaning against the counter, making a point of ignoring Angel, whether or not he was looking at her. “Ah, well, still,” Giles continued as he came back out with a few books in hand. “I hear you are learning a few new things in English.” Buffy rolled her eyes, everything leaving her mind except for her class and her teacher, who had obviously blabbed to Giles about a few things. “Yeah. So?” “Well, your English teacher and I got to talking as she said you were having a bit of trouble. I pulled a few books that I thought would be helpful.” “Giles,” Buffy said, her voice high with a loud whine. “Why are you taking her side?” Giles blinked. “I’m not taking anyone’s side, Buffy. I’m merely offering some assistance.” “What if I don’t need assistance, Giles? What if I’m really doing really, very good and she’s just saying all of this just to be... spiteful.” Giles’ eyebrow rose as he looked down at her. “Spiteful? You believe she is making me give you books because she wants a spot of spite?” Buffy’s mouth hung open as she slowly nodded. “Duh. Come on, Giles. It’s the oldest trick in the book.” Giles took a moment, looking almost thoughtful as her words ran through his mind. “Do you realize that almost every single trick out there is the oldest trick in the book?” “Yes, well,” Buffy said, crossing her arms. “That’s according to Xander. And he’s not very reliable, now is he?” “Talking about me again?” Buffy turned around as Willow and Oz walked in, followed immediately by Cordelia and Xander. Buffy smiled as the four walked in, happily argument free as Cordelia looked around before looking down at her nails. The blonde turned as Giles tapped her on the shoulder with the spine of one of the books before offering them fully to her. Sighing heavily, she snatched them and began loading them into her backpack. “This place can seriously be so creepy. I don’t know how you can stand it,” Cordelia said, the hand not receiving any inspection still secure in Xander’s. He looked over at her. “Well, if we aren’t just being nice and polite today, Miss Chase...” Buffy rolled her eyes as Cordelia turned to tell Xander off. As a surprisingly easy habit to take on, everyone blocked out their petty bickering. Willow joined the group, looking down at the books Giles had handed Buffy. Her face lit up. “Giles found those books?” Buffy sighed sadly as she zipped everything up. “Yep. They were found. A little late for the test I studied so hard for but apparently they have some groovy info on the new stuff she’s teaching these days.” Willow didn’t miss the heavy sarcasm as Buffy’s words drifted off and she looked over at the blonde. “At least there will be more help with the next test, right?” “Yeah.” “Ready for lunch, people? Time’s awaistin!” Buffy and Willow turned to look at Xander as one but he was looking past them, to Angel. “You coming, too, Dead Boy?” Angel narrowed his eyes. “I swear, Harris, if you keep calling me that...” “Why do you call him that anyway?” Cordelia asked. Xander turned to look at her as she went on, “What kind of nickname is ‘Dead Boy’?” Xander smiled patiently as he turned to look at Angel once more. “Because Angel always has his big forehead stuck in some book written by some dead guy who most of us have probably never heard of.” Angel glared at the other teenage male as he continued, “He likes the dead guys.” “I don’t like dead guys,” Angel said in a low voice as he picked up his backpack. “Well, habit would disagree with you... Dead Boy.”
Buffy cursed as the book nearly fell from her grasp as she slowly made her way towards the exit. Catching it, she stuffed it into her already full bag, grumbling, “I swear to god, Giles, if you ever give me another book, I will throw it at your head...” The hall was nearly empty as she walked away from her locker towards the exit at the other end. She couldn’t wait to get away. She actually wanted to go home and see her mom, who had the day off and had promised and nice girl-y afternoon... of course those were the plans as long as nothing at the gallery came up. Which would suck but they would live another day to plan another afternoon. Buffy yanked the zipper of her bag up, closing her small backpack over the large bulk hidden within. Grunting with the effort of closing it while trying to not drop it, Buffy turned around to push the door open with her behind. Leaning back against it, she finally managed to close her bag when the door suddenly opened from the other side. A surprised sound fell from her lips as she fell, the weight the door had originally been holding working against her. Her arms flailing, she dropped her backpack in an attempt to grab something and stop her descent when she fell into someone’s arms. Shocked adrenaline racing through her system, she looked up to see who her savior was, a relieved smile on her face. It didn’t last long. A large gulp of air stuck in her throat as she met the icy green orbs of Kevin Lanidar. An almost pulverizing feeling of fear bloomed in her chest before spreading through her entire body. Why did it have to be him, of all people, to catch her? That thought was immediately followed by wondering why he was even at the school... or near her. She had been enjoying his absence so much she had nearly forgotten he even existed again. “Don’t worry, lover, I’ve got you.” It took a split second for Buffy to realize the uncompromising position she was in. She had fallen back right into his arms and he was cradling her to his chest, almost as if he had just dipped her while they were dancing. She hated the frigid look he gave her as she attempted to stand on her own. “Kevin...” she said, the weird tone of her voice sounding foreign to her ears as she fought to free herself from his grasp on her. She sounded... scared. “Nuh-uh, Buff. Why don’t we go for a walk?” he said as he pulled her up to her feet and, with his arms still wrapped around her securely, began to pull her through the door. “No,” Buffy said in a loud voice, her first instinct to get the hell away from him, which she tried but to no avail. She had never realized how strong he really was. He had never tried to manhandle her the way he was now, practically carrying her out of the school. “Kevin!” Kicking her legs, Buffy tried to get him in the shin or something but he had managed to turn her around somehow to where that wasn’t possible. Her mind was going around in a blurred circle as she tried to think of a way to get free... any way to get away from him. But nothing seemed to come up. All her body wanted to do was struggle, which made him grip her tighter. Throwing her leg out, she caught the jamb of the doorway and hooked her foot in it before pulling. So intent was Kevin on carrying her out, he wasn’t prepared for the sudden movement and he felt his body jerk along with hers, causing them to almost stumble back into the school. Her heart was racing and she could hear it pounding in her ears as she opened her mouth and said, “Let me go!” “No,” he growled back, his touch never leaving her skin as he pulled her back to him. “Stop fucking around.” A pained sound escaped her mouth as he dug his fingers into the skin of her upper arms roughly, so hard that she knew she would have a few nasty bruises there in the space of a few hours. “No,” she said in a strangled voice as he pulled her back into his arms and he turned again. “Buffy?” Buffy swung her head around to see Xander all the way at the other end of the hall, paused as if he didn’t know what to do with the situation before him. Different scenarios ran through her head of what could happen if he stayed there or if came to her aid. She didn’t really like where her mind took her. “Xander!” Buffy managed to get out as Kevin, too, turned to see who was interrupting. “Screw off, Harris!” he shouted, his voice echoing in the hallway but by then Xander was already moving. He was running but in Buffy’s time warped mind, he was moving too slowly. Kevin was going to take her... and do god only knows what to her. She felt tears gathering at the back of her throat. But Kevin never got the chance to push through the doors as they opened for him. And then everything was quite literally moving in slow motion. Buffy turned to see who was there, so suddenly, someone who would surely help her only to be dropped to the floor. A shocked gasp fell from her lips as she fell on her leg in an awkward position. But she never got the time to concentrate on the pain and she looked up to see Angel punch Kevin again. Buffy gaped at the scene as Kevin fell to the floor next to her and Angel leaned down, grabbing her arm and pulling her to her feet effortlessly before pulling her behind him, facing away from the doors. Kevin looked up from his place on the ground, his hand over his face where blood was flowing from his mouth as Xander skidded to a halt behind her. He gripped her shoulders tightly as he glared at Kevin. She didn’t bother to look back at him, instead keeping her fearful eyes on the man who had just tried to take her, her hands gripping Angel’s t-shirt where it laid at his waist while he held her forearms gently, keeping her behind him as she peeked around his broad shoulder. “Who the fuck are you?” Kevin demanded in a wet voice as he stood, spitting blood to the floor. “Get the hell away from her.” Angel didn’t move as he glared at Kevin. “No, I think you should get the hell away from her. And stay away.” Buffy’s eyes darted to Angel’s face before going back to Kevin’s. Buffy felt something flutter in her stomach as Kevin took a step forward only to have it double as Angel met him, leaving her behind, his hands leaving her. She suddenly felt bare to the world as Xander tried to pull her into his arms. But she wouldn’t have it. He wasn’t Angel. She just didn’t feel the safety she did with him. And plus he was about to do something really stupid. “Angel.” “Xander, take Buffy to the library.” “Angel, no.” “Go,” he said in response to Buffy’s protest, his eyes never leaving Kevin’s. But Kevin didn’t respect the fact that Angel was challenging him as he looked to Buffy. “Yeah, Buffy, why don’t you run? It’s all you’re good at anyway, you spineless bitch.” Buffy didn’t get a chance to get one word in as Angel suddenly pushed Kevin roughly, causing him to stumble backwards before tripping over Buffy’s discarded bag. “Angel, stop!” Buffy said loudly, stepping forward. Xander tried to stop her but she fought him, only allowing him to hold her hand back as she tried to reach towards Angel with her other. “I don’t want you to get involved in this.” “A little late for that,” Angel responded in a low voice, not even looking back at her, almost as if he had said it to himself. “Go to the library.” “No! Not without you. You don’t have to do this,” Buffy said, finally touching his shoulder. “This isn’t your problem.” Kevin snorted from the floor before he stood. “He’s making it his goddamn problem if he keeps interrupting us.” “Screw you, Kevin,” Buffy snapped, her nails digging into Angel’s muscle. “Angel, let’s go.” Angel paused, looking back at her before looking back to Kevin. He narrowed his eyes. “Leave her alone. Don’t come near her again.” “Fuck you,” Kevin said with a cold laugh. He opened his mouth to say more but stopped when Angel stepped back towards him. “I said leave her alone or else,” Angel growled. “Angel, stop it. That’s enough.” “Who the hell do you think you are?” Kevin asked, the blood from Angel’s earlier punches already dried. “You got some claim on that little bitch?” Angel didn’t wait for Kevin to stop speaking as he moved forward and swung his fist. It connected with his face surprisingly hard and he fell back. Buffy gasped as Kevin hit his head on the door. But her eyes weren’t trained on Kevin. She was staring at Angel as he turned to her and Xander. Meeting his gaze, she was surprised to find them... angry. But it was a good angry. The look on his face was hard to describe as he grabbed her free hand and pulled her towards the library, Xander trailing behind, looking back every few seconds to see what Kevin was doing. He appeared to be knocked out because he wasn’t moving. “Should we call an ambulance or something?” Xander asked, but neither Buffy nor Angel were paying him much mind. All Buffy could wrap her mind around was that Angel had saved her from Kevin - again. And he was holding her hand. She couldn’t help the warm feeling that swept through her at the thought that she was safe whenever she was around him. She knew he wouldn’t let anything happen to her. It was strange coming from him. “Are you okay?” he asked in a low voice and Buffy looked up at him. She nodded. “Yeah,” was all she managed as he turned to look fully at her. Without breaking their pace, he pulled her sleeve up and Buffy looked down at what he was inspecting. Kevin’s strong fingers had left angry red marks all over her upper arm and bruises were already starting to come up. Allowing herself to glance at his face, she was a little hurt at his shuttered look but shrugged it off as they stepped through the doors of the library, her sleeve slipping back into place. She failed to notice Xander’s continued silence. Buffy found Willow standing with Oz, getting ready to leave while Giles loitered around in the book cage. They all looked up as the trio entered. Willow raised her eyebrows. “Hey. I thought you were going home,” she said to Buffy, her brow furrowing. Then she took the entire scene in. Buffy and Angel were holding hands. Buffy was rumpled almost as if she had just had a rough tumble in a closet somewhere. Her heart skipped a beat as her mind raced to a conclusion she hadn’t imagined would actually be conclusion-happy. “Yeah. That kind of got stomped out of the plans by the most untimely arrival of Kevin,” Buffy said as she and Angel walked to the table. He dropped her hand almost as if it burned him as they sat down in chairs next to each other. He crossed his arms across his chest, his attention focusing on Willow. Buffy wrapped her arms around her middle, ignoring the weirdness that was coming off of him in waves the size of something you would only see while on the beach at the ocean. Willow’s face fell at the mention of Kevin. Studying her friend closer, she noticed red marks that immediately disappeared underneath her sleeves. “Buffy, what happened?” Buffy looked down at her arms and blushed before responding in a voice that resembled a whisper, not wanting everyone to hear, “Kevin. He got a little rough with me.” “Oh, my god, are you okay?” Willow asked immediately, stepping over to Buffy and pulling her sleeve up. Buffy nodded as she let Willow look at the damage. Giles came out as well, appearing unruffled as if he hadn’t heard the conversation at all before he saw Buffy, her arms bright red and in the shape of gripping hands. “Good Lord, Buffy, what happened?” Buffy smiled slightly. “Nothing. Just a little tumble in the hallway. It’s nothing too serious.” The deep tingling on the back of her neck alerted her to the fact that Angel was staring at her... hard. She hoped he wouldn’t open his mouth and announce to the world her little problem. After what had happened in the hallway, she was fairly certain that Kevin wouldn’t be bothering her again for a while. Or at least that was her hope. Angel had given him a decent sized beating out there and she hoped that was the exact farewell she had been waiting to give him. “Are you sure? That looks quite serious,” Giles said as he too came over to see how extensive her bruises were. He touched them gently and she couldn’t help the hiss that escaped her lips. He frowned at her and she smiled in return. “It’s nothing. Seriously. I’ll be fine. Just something that got a little out of control.” “Something serious?” Giles asked, taking off his glasses and inspecting the lenses before replacing them. “Because if it is...” “It’s not,” Buffy said, standing from her chair. “I’m fine. I’m just going to go home. Chill out for the rest of the afternoon.” Xander standing in the background, not saying anything, escaped everyone’s attention once again as Buffy made her way to the swinging doors. “Maybe do a little homework or something,” Buffy said lightly, making a conscious effort to not cradle her arms as she finally reached the door. Which was when she realized that said homework was laying out in the hallway, next to her attacker. A deep frown immediately found its way to her face. It seemed like she didn’t even have to say anything for a certain male to know exactly what was going on inside her mind and he stood. “I’ll take you.” Buffy looked over at him, her face still decorated with the frown before smiling tightly at the thought of the situation she had just found herself in. Angel walked towards where she stood before pushing open the door and waiting for her to walk through before following her.
l be kind, rewind l back to top l
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