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Title: Different Worlds
Author: Sara6255
Rating: PG-13 - R
Pairing: C/X, W/O, S/D, A/B eventually
Disclaimer: I don't own anyone or anything. (So sad)
Distribution: Sure, but please ask first. :o)
Summary: This is an AU fic in answer to a challenge: Angel is like a "Bad Boy" who was raised on the tough side of Sunnydale. Buffy is a normal girl. Buffy and Angel despize each other because they are so different, (for now). They all go to school at Sunnydale High. Spike and Angel are brothers and they have an older brother, Kyle and Faith is their sister. Giles is Buffy's legal guardian because Joyce is dead.
Spoilers: None, a totally AU story
Feedback: I need it to survive!
The challenge can be found in the Challenge section of this site.
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Buffy grumbled when Giles dragged her out of bed, "Come on, just a little more sleep?"
"Buffy, we have to get to school. You've been late far to much lately."
"I don't like that whole "we" thing. Can't you be a librarian at a different high school?"
"Get up." Giles smiled at Buffy and shut the door behind him.
Buffy got up, took a shower, dried her hair, put on a cute little blue plaid skirt and a matching top, put on her make-up, then looked at the clock, "OO, ten minutes to spare." She grabbed her bag and headed down stairs.
Giles smiled when Buffy dumped herself into a chair at the kitchen table. He gave her some toast and orange juice, "Glad to see you on time."
"That's me, prompt-girl." She grinned, then finished her breakfast.
~~~~~~~~
When Buffy and Giles got to school, they said their goodbyes, then went their seperate ways. Everyone knew that Buffy lived with Giles and everyone thought it was cool. Buffy's dad abbanonded her, her mom, and sister when she was 10 years old. Buffy's mom died in a car accident two years ago, so Buffy moved in with Giles, who had been very good friends with her mom and Buffy thought of him as a father. Her sister Dawn, moved to Texas to live with her aunt, so it was just her and Giles and Buffy liked it that way. Buffy loved Giles as a father more than she had ever loved her real father, and Giles loved and treated Buffy like a daughter her never had. The only thing about all of it that Buffy didn't like was that she saw Giles everyday at school and if she ever got a bad grade, Giles knew about it before she did. Everything else was great.
Buffy grabbed her books and threw her bag into her locker, "Hey guys."
"Hey Buffy." Buffy's best friend Willow, and her boyfriend Oz greeted the smiling girl.
"Did you guys study for the physics quiz?"
Willow smiled, "Sure did, did you?"
"Yea, for like two hours and it is still a foreign language to me."
Willow laughed, "No sweat Buff, I'll help you cram at lunch."
"Thanks, Will. What would I do without you?"
"Hey, Guys."
Buffy, Willow, and Oz turned to see their friends Tara, Fred, and Gunn walking over to them.
Buffy handed a paper to Tara, "Hey guys. Here Tara, Mr. Smith asked me to give this to you. It's for the field trip to the capital over spring break."
Tara took the paper, "Thanks Buffy." She smiled.
Gunn looked off into the distance and rolled his eyes, "Oh great, here comes the Mod Squad."
They all turned around to see what Gunn was gripping about.
Walking down the hall like they owned the school, Angel and his "gang" came into view. Angel, Spike, and Faith were triplets. Faith and Angel looked some what alike, but Spike didn't want to look anything like the other two, so when he entered high school, her bleached his hair so that he wouldn't be compared to Faith and Angel. They had an older brother, Kyle, who was 23 and pretty much took care of the family. Their parents had died in a plane crash when Kyle was 18, so he became the legal guardian to Angel, Faith, and Spike. They were a very close family and very protective of each other. Dru was Spike's girlfriend; they had been together since 9th grade. Along the way somewhere, they had accumulated two stragglers. Cordelia had been physically abused by her father, so she ran away and made friends with Faith when they were 14. Xander and Angel had been best friends since they were 5. Shortly after Cordelia became friends with Faith, she met Xander and there was instant chemistry. They started dating when they were 15 and totally hit it off, so they were together ever since.
No one ever dared cross Angel because they always got it in the end. Angel had grown up on the rough side of town so he was very capable of taking care of himself and taking care of anyone who messed with him, his family, or his friends.
Buffy had always thought that Angel was attractive, because he was. Every girl in school seemed to have the hots for Angel, but Buffy seemed to be the only one who wasn't interested. From the start, Buffy had thought of Angel as just a stupid image that he had to keep up to protect his reputation and Buffy wasn't impressed. Buffy hadn't always hated Angel; in the 8th grade, Buffy had a class with Xander, and they were assigned to work on a presentation together. Buffy and Xander worked together every day and seemed to get along well. One day when they were working in the school library, Angel stopped by to get Xander. When he saw the two working together, he told Xander what a bitch Buffy was and that she was a total snob because she had more money than they could even dream of, and she knew it, and she loved to rub people's faces in it. Xander believed Angel, so he left Buffy to finish the project by herself and never talked to her again. Ever since then, Buffy hated Angel with a passion.
Buffy slammed her locker shut, "He says I'M stuck up? Look at them? They think they are hot shit."
Tara smiled a little, "Well, they are. Come on Buffy, almost everyone at the school wants to be in that group. They practically run the school."
Buffy rolled her eyes, "Whatever, They intimidate people. That's the only reason why they "run the school." It's stupid."
Willow smiled, "Tara, they are not a subject you want to bring up with Buffy."
Buffy grinned, "I'm sorry, I just don't like any of them. I gotta get to english, I'll catch you guys later."
They all smiled as Buffy headed down the hall.
When people were walking down the halls and they saw Angel and his group coming, they would always step aside and let them pass, but not Buffy; she charged right through Xander and Angel and never looked back.
Xander chuckled, "That was interesting."
Angel replied, "A total rich bitch. She thinks she can do whatever she wants."
Xander smiled, "Looks that way."
Buffy scribbled down some notes for the history project that was worth 40% of her final grade, "I cannot afford to fail this project. Gile's will kill me!"
Willow was also copying down some notes, "No sweat Buffy, with me as your partner, you'll pass with flying colors."
Buffy grinned, "So true."
The teacher grabbed a bucket off her desk, "Ok, people; in here are all your names, which means, I get to pick your partners."
Buffy looked panicked, "Oh boy, I'm dead."
The teacher reached into the bucket, "Ok, the first pair is..."
The door opened and Angel came sauntering in, 30 minutes late.
The teacher rolled her eyes, "Nice of you to join us Angel."
He never cracked a smile, "Well, I try."
Everyone except Buffy laughed.
Buffy rolled her eyes, "Aren't you so cool."
Angel grinned, "Nice of you to say that." Then his grin vanished and he sat in his desk.
"Idiot."
The teacher continued, "The first pair is Willow and Fred."
Willow smiled, "Sorry Buffy, but I can still help."
"Thanks Will."
The teacher pulled out more names, "Tara and Oz."
More names, "Buffy and..."
Buffy looked up.
The teacher wanted to laugh, "Buffy and Angel."
Buffy's eyes widened, "I'm changing schools."
Angel looked ticked off, "Just what I need."
As the teacher finished pairing off people, Buffy glared at Angel.
She turned to Willow, "I'll never pass this class. I'm dead!"
As the bell rang, Angel got up, went to Buffy, and whispered in her ear, "Is that a promise?"
Then he walked out.
Buffy wanted to throw her books at him, "Who the hell does he think he is?! What an ass hole. I am NOT going to let him mess up my grade!"
Buffy ran out of the room and left her friends starring in awe.
Gunn smiled, "This should be interesting."
~~~~~
Buffy stormed down the hall looking for Angel. She found him standing by some lockers with Spike and Xander; she marched right up to them.
They all looked at her.
Spike smiled, "Hey pet."
Buffy ignored Xander and Spike's stares and looked at Angel, "Listen, you self-righteous son-of-a-bitch; There is no way in HELL that I am going to fail that class just because I have a partner with a brain the size of a fuckin' pea! Listen to me, I'm swearing! I never swear!"
The three boys just smiled at her.
Buffy wanted to hit them, "You ARE going to help me on this damn project even if I have to find, and go to your house in the middle of the night to get you to help me! I am NOT fooled by your "bad boy" act and it isn't going to work on me!"
With that, Buffy walked away and didn't say another word.
Xander grinned, "Quite the spitfire isn't she?"
Spike added, "She's hot too."
Angel wasn't amused, "A pain in my ass is what she is."
Xander snickered, "So, are you going to work with her?"
"If I don't, I'll never hear the end of it; she'll be in my face, until she drives me crazy, then...I'll end up killing her."
Spike smiled, "It could be worse; she could be a dog."
Angel just looked at his brother, "Yes, she's hot, but she's still annoying as all hell. I just wanna get it over with."
Xander asked, "Why do you hate her so much?"
"She's a snob. She thinks that she's god gift and that she can get away with whatever she wants."
"Oh, Ok." Xander smiled.
"Why so serious boys?"
Faith, Cordelia, and Dru came walking up.
Xander smiled, "Ladies."
Cordelia wrapped her arms around Xander and kissed him. Angel looked at Spike and Dru and they were doing the same thing.
Faith smiled at Angel, "I guess it's just you and me."
Angel smiled at his sister, "Looks that way."
He put his arm around her shoulders and they walked to their next class together.
Faith noticed that her brother was starring off into space, "What's her name?"
"What?"
"Name, what's her name?"
"Buffy."
"Oh yea, I know her. You got the hots for her?"
"Quite the opposite actually. I can't stand her. I have to work on a history project with her for the next 2 weeks. If she doesn't quit acting like a snobby little bitch, I'm gonna kill her."
Faith laughed, "I see. But you don't find her the least bit attractive?"
"I already went over that with Spike. She's hot; but not hot enough for me to want to put up with her holier-than-though shit for two weeks."
Faith smiled, "Poor baby."
He just grinned at her and they continued walking to class.
Buffy sat in the library for thirty minutes waiting for Angel, "I am such anidiot! I knew he wouldn't come!"
Finally, Angel walked in and sauntered over to Buffy.
He sat in the chair across from her, "Can we just get this over with."
Buffy glared at him, "Well, if you had actually gotten here on time, insteadof showing up 30 minutes late, we could have gotten out of her 30 minutesearly! Trust me, I don't like this any more than you do. Personally, I'drather work with a snake....actually, with you; its pretty close to asnake." Buffy grinned.
Angel was getting angry, "Look, Buffy, you don't want to piss me off. Ok?"
Buffy sneered, "Is that a threat? Please, I've seen dogs that look morethreatening than you. You don't scare me, so just stop. I am so sick andtired of your bad-ass, bad-boy attitude. It's getting old."
Angel clenched his teeth, "Well, it's better than the snobby, stuck-up,spoiled brat, rich girl attitude you've got."
"You don't have any idea who I am, so don't for a second think that you knowme, because you don't! Why don't you get out of my face, before I get mad?"
"Before?"
Buffy shot daggers at Angel with her eyes, "You self righteous son-of-a..."
Angel could tell that Buffy wasn't about to back down, "I have better thingsto do than play name calling games with you all night."
Angel got up and pushed his chair in.
Buffy stood up, "What about the project?"
Angel walked towards the door, "Do it yourself."
Then he walked out.
Buffy threw her books in her bag, "I'm gonna kill him."
She stormed out of the library, slamming the doors behind her.
~~~~~
"Giles, I'll be fine; don't worry."
"Buffy, I'd rather you wait until I can pick you up."
"Giles, you're gonna be like 2 more hours; no way am I gonna stay at schoolfor 2 more hours. I have a cell phone, and if anything happens when I'mwalking home, you'll be the first to know. Don't worry."
"Be careful Buffy."
"I will."
Buffy hung up the phone and stuffed it back in her bag.
She left school and started walking home, "Just stay under the street lightsBuffy, and you'll be ok."
Buffy walked under the street lights and looked at all the houses aroundher. She admired all the nice yards with the flowers and all the cars thatshe wished she had right now.
As Buffy was about to turn onto another street that led to HER street, sheheard voices; she strained her eyes to see who the voices belonged to.
"O great, just perfect. This is what he had to do that was more important?Stand on the corner of a street with a bunch of his stupid friends?Typical!"
Buffy saw that the voices belonged to Angel, Spike, Xander, and another guythat looked like he was in his twenties.
"I'm not going by them; the less I have to look at that jerk, the better."
Buffy looked around her, "That street leads to my house."
She knew that if she crossed the street, they would spot her, but it wasbetter than actually having to pass them. She so didn't want to deal withany of them at the moment. She took a breath and started crossing thestreet.
~~~
"Angel, isn't that your girlfriend?" Xander spotted Buffy.
Angel looked and glared at Xander, "Shut up. She's not my girlfriend."
"Did I miss something?" Angel and Spike's older brother Kyle looked at Buffycrossing the street.
Spike smiled, "That's Buffy."
"Oh, THAT'S Buffy." Kyle smiled, "She looks pretty good from here."
"She's even better close up." Xander grinned.
Angel sighed, "We've already established that she's hot. Now, just take awayher ability to speak, and I'll have no problems with her."
They all laughed.
"Hey," Xander stopped laughing, "Look where's she's going."
Spike nodded, "That's the street where Jack and his pals lurk."
Angel dropped his cigarette and stomped on it, "If they see her, they'llkill her."
"Among other things." Xander added.
"Come on." Kyle started walking in Buffy's direction and the other'sfollowed.
~~~
Buffy continued down the street until she heard a noise that sounded likefootsteps. She spun around and saw three guys coming up behind her; shefroze.
"Hmm, mm. What is a pretty thing like you doing here at night, in the dark,with no witnesses?" A guy in a leather jacket smiled at Buffy.
Buffy cleared her throat, "I...was just going...home."
The guy took a pocket knife out of his jacket pocket, "You should've pickedanother route home, baby."
The three other guys smiled and a tear trickled down Buffy's face, "Pleaselet me go."
They all laughed, and then the "leader" took another step towards her, "Idon't think so."
"Hey Jack."
Before Buffy could see who had spoken, the leader grabbed Buffy's neck,pulled her too him, spun around to face the intruders, and held the knifeunder Buffy's chin.
The leader smiled, "Angel, what a pleasant surprise."
Buffy saw Angel and his friends standing directly across from her"attackers."
Before Buffy could blink, Angel, Spike, Xander, and the other guy all pulledguns out from under the back of their jackets. The second they pulled theirguns out, the three guys behind Buffy pulled out guns as well, and Jack keptthe knife at Buffy's throat.
"Holly shit." Buffy croaked out from behind her tears.
Angel aimed the gun at Jack's head, "Let her go."
Jack kissed Buffy's cheek and she shuddered, "Sorry boys, I can't do that.This is none of your business, just walk away."
They all stood their ground, "Not a chance."
Buffy was now fully crying, "Angel," She whispered between the cries,"Please help me."
Jack shook Buffy, "Shut up!"
Angel stepped closer to them, "Let her go!"
"Over my dead body." Jack slid the knife to the edge of Buffy's neck.
Buffy cried out when the knife poke her.
Spike, Xander, and Kyle stepped closer to Jack.
Angel cocked his gun, "The only way you are getting away with her, is if youkill us."
Jack smiled, "If that's how you really want it."
Buffy heard a shot, and everything went black.
As Buffy came to, she felt a horrible pain in her side. She looked around to see where she was; she had no idea where she was.
"Hey B."
Buffy slowly turned her head and saw Faith standing at the foot of her bed. She tried to speak, but no words came out.
"Chill B, don't try to speak. You're ok. You got shot in the side. Angel carried you back here and we got the bullet out of you. We've all been shot at least once, so we've had plenty of practice with removing bullets; Angel is a pro at it now. 'Course, that's not necessarily a good thing." Faith wrinkled her nose, "Actually, that's kinda scary."
Buffy smiled a little.
Faith returned the smile. "You lost a good amount of blood, but not enough to really hurt you. You'll be ok in a few days."
Buffy squeaked out some words, "What happened?"
Faith sat beside Buffy, "Well, Angel shot that asshole Jack, and at the exact same time, one of his jack ass pals shot you in the side, that's why you blacked out. Before any other shots were fired, Cordy, Dru, and I hit Jack's friends over their heads with the guns we had. We all have a gun; it's a necessity in my family. Anyway, I would have loved to kill all the fuckers, excuse my language, but we didn't want to draw all that attention to ourselves. So, we knocked out Jack's friends, Jack laid there, bleeding to death, and we brought you back here."
Faith could see the confusion in Buffy's eyes, "How'd we get there? Well, we were on our way to meet the guys when we heard Jack's voice, and you crying. So we came over."
The bedroom door opened and Dru came in holding a glass of something.
She handed it to Faith, "How is she?"
Faith smiled, "She'll live. Here B, drink this, it's water."
Buffy took the glass and slowly drank it. She cleared her throat, "Thanks."
Dru smiled, "Much better; I'll get Angel."
Buffy took another drink, "How long have I been out?"
Faith thought for a second, "About 4 hours. Good thing it's Saturday."
"Giles. He must be going crazy."
"No sweat, Xander is taking care of it as we speak. What's the deal with Giles anyway?"
"He and my mom were good friends. When my mom died, he adopted me; it's what my mom wanted."
Faith smiled, "That's cool."
"My turn, what's the deal with Cordelia? She lives here, but why?"
Faith frowned, "Cordy's dad beat her, so she ran away when she was 14. I met her shortly after and we became friends fast. She didn't have any place to go, so I asked Kyle if she could stay with us for a while. Angel, Kyle, and Spike, not to mention Xander, all took a real liking to her, so now she lives with us. She's like a sister to me and my brothers, and Xander is totally devoted to her."
Buffy smiled, "That's so cool. Wait, you said Xander is taking care of Giles? How?"
~~~~
Willow woke to the sound of her phone ringing.
She picked it up, "Do you know it's 3 a.m.?"
"Willow?"
Willow focused, "Who's this?"
"Xander."
"Xander?"
"Yea."
"How'd you get this number?"
"Buffy's address book."
Willow gasped a little, "Buffy? Why do you have her address book?" Willow sat up in bed, "What did you do to her?"
Xander chuckled, "Relax, she's fine."
"Where is she?"
"She's in a safe place."
"What happened?"
"She came across some...bad guys. There were some problems, but she's fine now. I need you to do me a favor."
"What kind of favor?"
"Giles."
"Giles?"
"Yea, he is probably spitting nails wondering where she is. Can you call him and make something up? Tell him she's spending the weekend with you."
"It's 3 a.m. That's not good enough."
"Ok...tell him you went to a party and someone slipped her a drug or something, she passed out, you brought her back to your place so she could sleep,""If I say that to Giles, he's freak!"
"It's better than what really happened."
"What did happen?"
"Just take care of Giles, and I'll fill you in later."
"Ok, fine. But you better call me when the sun is actually up, or I'm telling Giles the truth."
"No sweat. Thanks, Red." Xander hung up the phone.
Willow put her phone back on her desk, "Red?"
~~~~
Buffy finished her water and handed the glass to Faith, "Thank you. Ok, the fact that I'm here, in your house, instead of in the hospital, I'm gonna guess that you guys don't want anyone to know about what happened."
Faith winked at Buffy, "You learn fast B."
She left the room, and Angel came in, "Are you ok?"
"I'll live."
"Good."
"Thank you."
"Why don't you get some sleep?"
Buffy looked around, "Who's room am I in?"
Angel starred at her, "Mine."
"Oh. Where are you..."
"The couch."
"Ok; well, thank you."
Angel gave her a half-smile, then left.
Faith reappeared, "You need your rest B. Xander called your friend Willow and she is taking care of Giles, so just relax. Sleep now."
She turned off the light, and closed the door. Buffy was asleep two minutes later.
~~~~
Faith joined everyone in the living room.
Angel was standing by the window, Kyle was sitting on the couch with Xander and Cordelia, and Dru and Spike were sitting on a love seat. Faith sat next to Kyle.
She looked at Angel, "You saved her life. Jack would have killed her."
Angel looked at Faith, "Well, he didn't, did he."
"What do you have against her?"
"Didn't we already cover this?"
"Yea, yea, she's snobby, stuck-up, self-centered, and rich."
"Yep, that's pretty much it."
Xander smiled, "I don't buy it."
Angel glared at everyone, "Look, I would have done it for anyone, Buffy just happened to be the one that crossed Jack's path."
Kyle laughed, "Look, I don't know Buffy at all, but I do know you. You like her don't you?"
Angel didn't answer; he just looked at the couch, "You guys are on my bed, get off. I'd like to get some sleep before the sun comes up."
Everyone just grinned at Angel.
Kyle and Faith went to their rooms.
Xander kissed Cordelia goodbye, then went home, and Cordelia went to her room.
Spike and Dru exchanged their goodbyes and kisses, then Dru went home, and Spike went to his room.
After the room was finally clear, Angel laid down on the couch, and just stared at the ceiling for the rest of the night.
The pain in her side woke Buffy all too fast. She looked around and saw Angel standing at his dresser with his back to her, shirtless. Buffy saw a tattoo on the back of his left shoulder; from where she was, it looked like some kind a bird. He pulled a dark blue T-shirt out of his top dresser drawer and she saw another tattoo on his left shoulder; it was a blood red heart with a sword piercing right down the middle of the heart. Buffy couldn't help but notice that Angel obviously worked out...a lot. Buffy looked away, 'stop it! Just get it out of your mind!' She thought to herself.
"How do you feel?"
Buffy looked back at Angel and saw him facing her. She noticed that his front looked even better than his back.
Buffy cleared her throat, "My side hurts like a bitch. Thanks for asking."
Angel smiled a little, "You want some aspirin?"
Buffy nodded, "Yea, thanks."
Angel put his shirt on and left the room.
Buffy sighed, "Don't even think about it Summers." She smiled to herself.
Angel returned a few minutes later with a bottle of aspirin and a glass of water; he handed them to her, "Don't take more than three at a time, they work fast."
Buffy smiled, "Thanks."
She took three pills out of the bottle, swallowed them, and drank the water. She put the bottle and glass on the table by the bed, and then she laid down again, "I feel like shit."
Angel chuckled a little, "That happens when you've been shot, AND almost died."
He disappeared again and came back a minute later with a shoebox full of stuff that looked like medical supplies, "I have to change your bandage. I'd have one of the girls do it, but no one's here."
Buffy suddenly got nervous, "Ok."
He did everything he could to try to how nervous he was. He grabbed a chair by his bed and pulled it over to the bed and sat down. He put the box on the table, "Can you sit up?"
He took Buffy's hand and helped her sit up; she winced from the pain in her side.
"It'll hurt for a while. I know from experience; eventually, the pain will go away." Angel took a bandage from the shoebox and some alcohol.
"Faith told me that you've all been shot at least once; some family." Buffy regretted it, as soon as she said it, "I didn't mean that, I just meant that you guys seem to be pretty...busy."
Angel smiled, "You could say that." He poured some alcohol onto the bandage, "Spike, Faith, and I kinda grew up into all this. It started with our older brother, Kyle, the guy who was with us last night. He made friends with some guys who weren't all that...friendly. Kyle didn't like what they did, so he got out and that pissed them off. Ever since then, my family has been pretty much at war with those guys. Jack, the guy who tried to kill you last night, his older brother was one of Kyle's short lived friends, that's why he had the knife at your throat, he thought you were with us. Xander is my best friend, so that put him on their enemy list. Dru and Cordy are our friends, so they're in it too."
Buffy just stared at him, "Wow, that's.... interesting."
Angel smiled, "Yea." He took some medical tape out of the shoebox, "Ok, can you lift up your shirt so I can take off the old bandage?"
Buffy hesitated for a second, and then she carefully lifted up her shirt to expose her bandage. Angel gently pulled the tape off Buffy's skin and when he touched her skin, she had to fight keep her cool. Angel removed the bandage, and inspected her wound, "It's healing fast. You'll be good as new in a few weeks." Their eyes met and Buffy felt like she could get lost in his beautiful eyes.
Angel broke eye contact, "Here, hold your hand on it so I can tape the bandage."
Buffy did like he said, and he quickly taped the bandage in place. He put the stuff back in the shoebox, threw the old bandage away, and quickly got up and put the chair back.
Buffy put her shirt down, "Thanks."
Angel Went to put the supplies away and Buffy wanted to get up. Buffy threw the covers off and slowly sat up, she dragged her legs over to the edge of the bed and sat there for a moment, until the room stopped spinning. Buffy carefully scooted to the edge of the bed, and slowly stood up. Angel came back into the room just in time to see Buffy's legs give out, and she fell.
Angel rushed over to her and caught her before she hit the ground, "WHAT are you doing?!"
Buffy held on to Angel's arms, "I can't stay in bed anymore, I need to move."
Angel held on to her waist and practically carried her back to the bed, "You've been SHOT! You need to take it easy."
Faith walked in and saw Angel with his arms around Buffy. She grinned, "What's goin' on guys?"
Angel helped Buffy back to the bed, "Buffy decided that is was time to blow this pop stand. She tried to walk, and needless to say, it didn't work."
Faith tried to keep from laughing, "Whatever you say."
Angel glared at his sister, "Don't even start."
Buffy looked confused, "Did I miss something?"
Faith and Angel said in unison, "Never mind."
Buffy just nodded, "Whatever you say."
Angel left, and Faith went and sat next to Buffy, "So, how are you feeling this morning?"
Buffy sighed, "Better I guess. One question though."
Faith smiled, "Shoot."
Buffy snickered, "Funny. Anyway, why tell me all of this? I mean, like you said earlier, you don't want a lot of people knowing about what happened, so why tell me?"
Faith had a serious look on her face, "We have nothing to hide...this time. Kyle has been in this longer than any of us, and believe me, he wishes so much that he could just get rid of all of it, but the reality is, we are very much a part of this. Kyle and Angel have pretty much the same feelings, they would never want to kill anyone, but unfortunately, sometimes, it has to be done to save our own lives. Spike is a dumb ass, so he'll do whatever he is told; and Xander trusts Angel with his life. He knows that Angel would do whatever he had to do to protect him, and that goes for all of us; we would kill for each other, just like we would die for each other. Cordy, Dru, and I stay away from it as much as possible because, alas, we are not nearly as capable of protecting each other as the guys are. But, last night, we just happen to be the ones to stop it all. We didn't kill them because we didn't have to; We got lucky this time. We told you everything because we wanted you to know the truth. We don't want you thinking that we go around killing people because of who we are, we only kill if one of our lives is in grave danger; it's all self-defense. Things got pretty scary last night and I could tell that all the guys knew that it could get pretty...bloody; because no one would back down. But, obviously, everything turned out ok."
Buffy thought for a second, "I see. Well, I'm glad you told me what really happened, because honestly, I figured that you would have killed them."
Faith smiled, "Well, I'm glad you asked."
Buffy yawned.
Faith got up, "Why don't you go back to sleep?"
"Works for me, but this is like Angel's bed. I'm sure he'd like it back sometime in the future."
"No sweat, you can go home tomorrow. You'll just have to take it easy, and, needless to say, don't let Giles find out what happened."
"Trust me, that is the last thing that I want to tell Giles. He'd put me under house arrest and never let me leave."
Faith smiled, "Ok, if you need something, holler."
"One more question."
"Yea?"
"Why are you being so nice to me, and helping me?"
Faith grinned, "I like you B, and just between us, I think Angel likes you too."
She winked at Buffy, then left the room.
Buffy's pain pills were starting to take effect, so she laid back down, and drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, Buffy could hardly move. She found the pain pills that Faith had given her the day before. She took two and had a glass of water. That whole morning, Buffy was moving very slowly.
"Buffy, are you alright?"
"I'm fine Giles, I'm just really tired."
Buffy ate most of her breakfast, and then they went to school.
~~~~
At school, Buffy seemed totally distant.
"What happened this weekend Buffy?" Gunn asked.
Buffy smiled, "Nothing, it was just long. I'm really tired is all."
"Ok..." Gunn didn't buy it.
Willow tried to act normal, but she really wanted to talk about it. Buffy wouldn't say anything about the weekend, which was unusual because Buffy told Willow everything.
Buffy put everything back into her bag, "Sorry guys, but I gotta go. I'll see you later."
Before anyone could say anything, Buffy was out of sight.
Fred looked confused, "What's up with her?"
Willow frowned, "For once, I really don't know."
~~~~
Buffy wandered down the halls thinking about the events of the past few days, and a certain someone. She couldn't get her mind off of him; she knew that they would never work out because they were as different as two people could get, but it might be nice to have him as a friend. She wasn't paying attention to where she was going until she ran into someone,
"Oops, Sorry."
She looked up and saw a smiling face, "Hey B."
Buffy smiled, "Faith! Hi. Sorry, I was spacing."
She saw Xander and Cordelia standing next to Faith, "Hey guys."
They both smiled at her, "Hey Buffy. How ya doin'?" Cordelia asked.
"I'm ok, my side is still killing me."
Faith smiled, "To be expected. Are you taking the pills I gave you?"
"Yea, I took two this morning. Hey, where are the rest of you?"
Xander grinned, "Angel is here somewhere."
Buffy smiled, "What makes you think I want Angel?"
They all grinned at her.
Buffy blushed, "I mean, what makes you think I was asking about Angel?"
They just starred at her.
"Ok, Ok. I want to talk to him."
Faith smiled, "I don't know where he is; he likes to wander. Tell you what, today is Kyle's birthday. Tonight we are all going to the Bronze; why don't you meet us there. Then you can talk to Angel."
"I don't want to crash."
"Don't worry, it's cool."
"Ok, I'll see if I can escape from Giles."
"Was he hard on you? What did you tell him?"
"No sweat, I didn't tell him a thing about you guys. I told him what Xander suggested to Willow. Worked like a charm, except he grounded me for next weekend. I wonder if that counts being as he's not my dad, but I know that if I don't listen to him, I'll be grounded for the next two years." Buffy grinned.
Faith laughed, "Do you think you can get away?"
"Yea, I'll tell him I'm going to the library or something. Maybe I can get Willow to help me."
"Sounds like a plan. Later, B."
They all said their goodbyes, and then Buffy went to class.
Buffy rummaged through her closet in search of something to wear to the Bronze. She finally settled on a pair of black Mudd jeans, a black tank top, a periwinkle colored button shirt, and a pair of black Oxfords with 3 1/2" platform heels. The first time she had worn them, Giles laughed at her. He told her they looked ridiculous and that she would probably trip on the things and break her ankle. She just laughed and told him that he was an old man with no fashion sense. To this day, she thought that he hadn't gotten over that 'old man' crack. She put her hair up in a black clip, and put on just enough perfume for people to notice, but not enough to make people gag.
Buffy crept downstairs and left a note on the table next to the couch where Giles was sleeping:
GILES-
SLEEPING AT A FRIENDS HOUSE. YOU CAN CALL AT: 678-0236
-BUFFY
Then Buffy carefully opened the front door and tried not to make a sound. When the door shut, she took off and headed to the Bronze.
~~~~
Buffy walked into the Bronze and immediately spotted Faith at the bar.
"Hey, Faith."
Faith grinned, "Hey B."
"Umm...I gave Giles your cell number. I told him I was sleeping at a friends house and gave him the number to reach me at. I hope you don't mind."
"Not at all."
"Good, cuz he'll probably call in like five minutes."
Then, like clockwork, Faith's cell phone rang.
Faith chuckled, "Come on."
She grabbed Buffy's hand and they went into the bathroom.
Faith answered the phone with a grin, "Wilson residents."
Buffy smiled.
"Sure Mr. Giles, just a minute."
She handed the phone to Buffy, "Here."
"Hey Giles. Sorry I took off, but...Annie and I are working on a book report, so I just figured I'd stay the night."
Buffy listened for a minute, "Ok, just a sec."
She had a panicked look on her face, "She wants to talk to your "mom." What do I do?"
Faith looked around, "Hey you, come here."
She gestured for a girl to come over; she looked about 18, "Yea?"
Faith pulled out a ten dollar bill, "This is all I've got, but it's yours if you put on your best mom voice and tell the guy on the phone that she is spending the night at our house and is working on a book report with your daughter."
The girl grabbed the money, then the phone, and turned on her best "mom" voice, "Hello? Yes, this is Mrs. Wilson.......Yes, the girls are working on a book report. Yes, I will be home all night. Nice talking with you sir. Good bye."
She gave the phone back to Faith, "There you go."
Faith smiled, "Thanks!"
The girl smiled back, put the money in her pocket and left the bathroom.
Faith grinned at Buffy, "Problem solved."
"Very nice."
Faith grabbed Buffy's hand again and they left the bathroom and went to her table.
Everyone, including Angel, was at the table. Buffy handed a card to Kyle, "Happy birthday. I'm on a very tight budget, I had to borrow money from Giles just to get that." She smiled sheepishly when Kyle took the card.
He smiled at her, "I know the feeling. Thanks, Buffy."
Faith looked at Angel and noticed that he wasn't even looking at her; she wanted to hit him.
Buffy awkwardly stood there, saying nothing.
Kyle smiled, "Do you want to sit down?"
Buffy shuffled her feet, "Umm..."
Faith jumped up, "Be right back."
She grabbed Buffy's arm and pulled her from the table.
Xander punched Angel in the arm, "What are you doing!?"
Angel looked at everyone nonchalantly, "What?"
Kyle laughed, "You are blowing it bud."
"Blowing what?"
"Don't even try to play stupid with us. We ALL know that you've got the hots
for her."
Angel didn't even try to deny it, "What's your point?"
"You don't want to let her get away."
Angel didn't say anything.
"Look, it's obvious that you don't want to put her in danger, but do you have to treat her like this? You saved her life, and now you are treating her the same way you used to. She stopped being mean to you and thinking of you as a jerk. She now thinks of you as a great person who she was totally wrong about. If you don't want to get her involved..."
"Too late..." Xander whispered and everyone looked at him and smiled, except Angel.
Kyle continued, "If you don't want to get her involved, at least be a little nicer to her and tell her that you don't hate her, because I'm pretty sure that's what she's thinking."
Spike finally decided to speak up, "Yea, don't blow it."
Angel just sat there.
Buffy and Faith came back to the table, and Faith grabbed a chair for Buffy, "Here B, sit."
Buffy sat down and smiled, "Thanks."
Dru decided to end the silence, "How's your side?"
"It feels better, I'm just glad that Gile's hasn't noticed anything."
Everyone continued talking for about and hour, even Angel said a few words, but never to Buffy, and he never looked at her.
Kyle looked at his watch, "I'm tired, I want to go home."
Everyone agreed, including Buffy.
Faith remembered something, "Hey, B; I remember you told Giles you're sleeping at a friends house, whose house?"
"My friend Willow. She always covers for me."
"Oh, ok."
Everyone got up and headed to the door.
When they were all outside, Buffy smiled at everyone, "Thanks for letting me crash your party. I'll see you around."
She turned around and started walking away.
Everyone glared at Angel, so he finally gave in, "Buffy, can I talk to you?"
Buffy stopped, and turned around, "Yea."
Faith smiled, "We'll go on ahead. You know where to find us Angel."
"Yea, I catch up in a while."
After everyone was way ahead, Angel and Buffy started walking in their direction.
They were silent for a few minutes, until Angel finally spoke, "Buffy, I..."
Buffy cut him off, "Look, I know that you aren't too crazy about me, but..."
"That's not true. Buffy, I do like you; it's just..."
"I know, we are too different, you don't want me involved, yadda, yadda. I got news for ya..."
Buffy lifted up her shirt and showed Angel her side, "I'm already involved! I know all this stuff, about you and that guy Jack; I know it all."
"Yea, I've been told that many times already."
She fixed her shirt, "Look Angel, I'm not asking you to marry me or anything! I just wish you would stop...ignoring me."
"I'm sorry."
"How about...friends?"
Angel smiled, "I can live with that."
Buffy's heart started melting when she saw his smile. 'Since when does that happen? Stop it Buffy, this is a bad idea!' She thought to herself.
Angel's smiled faded, "Seriously though, Jack is a stupid fu..., he's an asshole. This is the best advice anyone will ever give, if you see him even twenty feet away from you, turn around and run away as fast as you can."
Buffy chuckled, "I think that I can take care of myself."
Angel stopped and gently held onto Buffy's arm; when she stopped, he let go, "I think you know what would have happened if we hadn't been there the other night. Now, just imagine it ten times worse, because that's how it will be if he ever gets a hold of you, and it's all because you are "on my side." Why do you think I wanted you to stay away from us?"
"Ok, ok, you win; if I see Jack, I'll run away."
"Then you better start running baby."
Buffy just about jumped out of her skin when she heard Jack come up behind them.
Angel and Buffy turned around and saw Jack standing ten feet away, holding a gun at his side.
When they saw Jack with a gun, Angel immediately stepped in front of Buffy, "Buffy, get out of here."
Jack held the gun straight at Buffy's head, "No, you stay right where you are. You know, it's not every day that you get a chance to catch the all-powerful Angel off guard. Of course, that's perfect for me. Buffy; is that your name? Such a pretty name for such a pretty girl. Buffy, honey, why don't you come over here and stand next to me?"
Buffy could see the fire in his eyes when he spoke to Jack, "If you even touch her, I'll kill you. I'm gonna kill you anyway, but if you touch her, it will be a death far worse than you could ever imagine."
Jack laughed, "Now, I really don't think that you have the place to be making threats; after all," he wiggled the gun, "I have the gun."
Jack saw Angel start to reach in his back pocket and he cocked his gun, "Don't even think about it. If you so much as touch it, she's a dead one."
Angel stopped, "This is between you and me. Let her go."
"Well, like you said, now that I know she's on your side, she's in for it."
"You'll have to kill me before I'll let that happen."
"That's not a problem."
Angel could see Jack eyeing Buffy, "You are signing your death warrant."
"I'm never gonna get her alone am I?"
"Damn straight." Buffy glared at Jack.
"Ok then, there's only one thing left to do." He pointed the gun straight at Buffy's head and pulled the trigger.
"No!" Angel screamed and pushed Buffy out of the way.
Being as Angel was like a foot taller than Buffy, the bullet meant for Buffy's head, hit Angel's shoulder and he dropped like a ton of bricks.
Without even thinking about it, Buffy looked right past Jack's head and shouted, "Oh my god, Xander!"
Like the gullible little fool that he was, Jack turned around, ready to fire at the Xander that wasn't there.
Buffy took her only chance, she kicked the gun out of Jack's hand and it went flying in the air. When Jack turned around to face Buffy, she kicked as high as she could and caught Jack straight in the jaw, and he was out like a light; he dropped to the ground almost as fast as Angel.
When Buffy saw that Jack was out, she ran to Angel. He was laying there holding his shoulder. Buffy quickly took off her shirt and wrapped it around Angel's shoulder. Angel noticed that the tank top she was wearing brought out her best...features. He quickly looked away and smiled, "Where did you learn that?" He looked at Jack lying on the ground.
Buffy continued wrapping the shirt around Angel's arm, "Kick boxing. It does wonders when you are really stressed." She smiled.
Angel chuckled, "I can see that."
"Are you ok? You dropped pretty fast?"
"I was caught off guard, I didn't think I would get hit in the shoulder, but I've been shot in worse places."
"Yea, me too."
They both laughed.
Buffy heard what sounded like a thousand footsteps running towards them.Seconds later, Kyle, Faith, Xander, Spike, Cordelia, and Dru appeared. Faith and Kyle ran to Buffy and Angel.
Faith dropped to Angel's side, "What the hell happened?!"
Buffy looked at Jack, "Long story short, Jack tried to kill...us, but he didn't get that far."
Kyle looked at Jack, "Stupid son-of-a-Bitch."
Buffy saw Xander and Spike pull guns out of their back pockets, "How do you guys keep coming up with these guns? They appear out of nowhere!"
Xander pointed the gun at Jack's head, "Let's kill the fucker and get this over with."
Spike pointed his gun at Jack too, "Good idea."
Cordelia and Dru stepped in.
Cordelia put her hand on Xander's gun, "Baby, don't do it. You guys will only make it worse. You know what will happen if you kill him. Just calm down, and back off."
Dru stepped in front of Spike, "Don't do it Spike. She's right; you'll only make it worse."
Cordelia smiled at Xander, "Put it down, it's ok."
Xander looked at Cordelia, for a moment, then finally put the gun down, "The things I do for you."
Cordelia smiled and kissed Xander.
The four of them left Jack on the ground and went to help Angel.
Kyle saw his shoulder, "We heard the gun shot, what happened?"
Angel held the shirt on his shoulder, "Buffy and I were talking and then Jack came out of nowhere. I didn't even hear him coming! Anyway, he had his gun and he was bitching about Buffy and how he was never gonna get her alone, then he shot at her. Obviously, it missed her and hit me."
Faith smiled, "Well, what happened to Jack?"
Angel smiled back, "Buffy."
Everyone looked at her, "I take kick boxing classes." Was all she said.
They all grinned at her.
Faith chuckled, "Way to go B."
Kyle and Xander slowly helped Angel get up, "Come on, another god damn bullet to get rid of. What is it with this family?" Kyle tried to hide a smile, but couldn't; neither could anyone else.
Xander looked at Buffy, "Come on, you aren't walking home alone." He looked at Angel, then back at Buffy and decided to take the opportunity, "Why don't you come back with us," he whispered in her ear, "I know Angel would like that."
Buffy thought for a second, but Faith decided for her, she grabbed Buffy's hand, "Come on B, keep me company."
Without an argument, Buffy followed everyone back to Angel's house.
~~~~
When they arrived at Angel's house, everyone, including Buffy, looked pretty tired. Everyone made sure that Angel and Buffy were ok, then Xander and Dru went home, and Cordelia and Spike went to bed. Buffy watched Kyle and Faith remove the bullet from Angel's shoulder, "How do you do that?"
Kyle smiled, "Unfortunately, we've all had a lot of practice. It's a wonder none of us have been killed yet."
Faith held a rag around Angel's arm, "The one and only time...so far...that I got shot, was in the stomach. It was touch-and-go for a while. I lost so much blood, I did have to go to the hospital, after I was patched up and such, I snuck out an emergency door and got away. They don't have any of our names, or money and we like it that way. I don't trust hospitals. The doctor who stitched me up, tired to kill me. He was drunk as a damn skunk and he stuck the stitching needle thingy too far into my stomach and almost punctured my spleen. Stupid asshole; I don't like hospitals."
Buffy couldn't help but chuckle, "Sounds like it."
The whole time Angel was sitting there, he never flinched, he just starred at Buffy. She could see a few tears well up in his eyes. It must have hurt like a bitch. Luckily, Buffy had been out when they "operated on her." After Faith and Kyle were finished, Kyle went to bed and Faith put a bandage around Angel's shoulder, gave him a hug and went to tend to Buffy.
"Go you want me to take you home?" Faith asked.
"Are you sure? You look pretty beat."
"No sweat. But if you want to stay here, you're more than welcome to, and I could take you home in the morning."
"Are you sure?"
Faith smiled, "Totally. I'll put some blankets and stuff on the chair in my room. When you're ready, come up and make a bed on the floor. If you want to, you can sleep on the couch down here."
"The floor is fine. I'll be up in a sec."
"Ok."
Faith smiled at Buffy, then went upstairs.
Buffy went to Angel's room and knocked on the door.
"Yea."
Buffy opened the door and peeked in; she saw Angel laying on his bed, holding his arm a little, "Can I come in for a sec?"
"Yea."
Buffy went in and stood by the door, "I just wanted to..."
Angel grinned, "You can come closer, I won't bite; sit there." He pointed to a chair that was by his bed.
Buffy went all the way in and sat on the chair, "I just wanted to thank you."
"For what?"
"Saving my life...again." She smiled.
Angel didn't, "I'm sorry you have to get involved in all this crap."
"I'm kinda not. If I hadn't I wouldn't know any of you guys. Angel, you have a great family and great friends. Do you know how lucky you are?"
"Yea, I know." He smiled.
Buffy smiled back, "Well, I'm sleeping on Faith's floor tonight. Giles would probably have a coronary if I came home at this hour. So, I guess I'll see you in the morning."
Angel smiled again, "Yep, I guess so."
"Thank you." She gave him a shy smile, leaned real close to him like she was going to kiss him, but instead kissed him on the cheek, then quickly exited the room.
When she kissed his cheek, Angel could smell her hair; he loved that smell. He laid there, thinking about various things, mostly Buffy, for the rest of the night.
Buffy woke up at exactly 8 the next morning. She had a weird habit of waking
up at 8 every morning, on the weekends. She looked at Faith's bed and saw
that it was empty. She got up and saw a note on the pillow,
B-
Had to do stuff.
Be back at about 10:00.
Make yourself at home!
P.S. - If you want to change, help yourself to my closet.
-Faith
Next to her name was a little smiley face.
Buffy listened and couldn't hear anything, so she assumed everyone was gone,
or still asleep. She looked at what she was wearing and decided that she
needed to change. She looked in Faith's closet and grabbed a blue tank top
and put it on.
When she got downstairs, she called out quietly, "Anyone home?"
"In here."
She heard Angel's voice from his room.
She peeked in the door and smiled, "Hi."
Angel returned the smile, "Hi. You can come in."
Buffy came in and sat on the chair by his bed, "How's your shoulder?"
"It's ok, but it hurts like Hell."
"You're bleeding." She pointed at the bloody bandage.
"Yea, Everyone left before I was even up, so I didn't change my bandage."
"Oh, I can do it." She jumped up and got the box with all the "Medical"
supplies from his desk and pulled the chair to the other side of his bed.
"You don't have to."
She rolled her eyes, "Do you want to keep bleeding, or are you gonna shut up
and let me do this?"
Angel had to admit, he really liked her fiery attitude.
He sighed, "Ok, fine."
Buffy grabbed the scissors out of the box and carefully cut off the old
bandage and threw it in the garbage. She took out the alcohol, poured some
onto a rag and gently put it on Angel's shoulder.
"Does that hurt?"
"Yea, a little, but I'm a big boy."
Buffy smiled.
She took out a roll of gauze and started gently wrapping it around his
shoulder, "Tell me if I push too hard."
He watched her as she concentrated on his shoulder and noticed that her cute
little nose crinkled whenever she was seriously involved in a task. She took
the scissors and went to cut the bandage off and snagged it on a loose
thread, when she tried to get it off, she pulled too hard and stabbed
Angel's shoulder right where he had been shot. She dropped the scissors and
looked at his face: he was biting his lip very hard and it looked like he
was about to cry. 'Do something Buffy!' she thought. She did the only thing
she could think of, she kissed him. She did the only thing she could think
of that would distract him. It wasn't one of those, 'thank you for saving my
life' little pecks, it was a 'you have got to be the hottest guy I have ever
seen and I totally want you' kisses; she felt it in her stomach. At first,
Buffy thought it was a mistake, but then he started kissing her back, so she
decided it wasn't. Actually, she discovered that he was kissing her more
than she was kissing him, so that was a good thing. Buffy had to breathe, so
she pulled away. Angel just starred at her.
She broke the silence, "I wanted to distract you."
"It worked."
Buffy blushed, "Are you ok? I am so sorry. Did I put another hole in your
shoulder?"
Angel just looked at her for a minute, then spoke, "Um...I'm ok. You just
made the one hole bigger." He smiled.
Buffy carefully unwrapped the bandage to inspect, "It doesn't look too bad."
"I'll be fine."
She put the bandage back on and ripped it off the roll instead of cutting it
and Angel laughed. She put some tape on so that it was nice and tight so it
wouldn't fall off. She put the supplies back in the box and put the box on
his desk. She stood at his desk, but didn't turn around and he didn't look
at her. They both knew what the other one was thinking about. Buffy turned
around and he was looking at her.
She smiled a little, "I..."
"Hello? Anyone here?"
They both heard the front door shut and Faith came into Angel's room. She
looked at his shoulder, "Oh good, you cleaned it. Thanks B." she smiled.
Buffy walked to Faith, "No problem."
Angel and Buffy laughed.
Faith raised her eyebrow, "What?"
Buffy smiled, "I tried to kill him with the scissors...accidentally."
Faith smiled, "He did that to me once; twice to Kyle. Those damn things are
too small and too sharp." She looked at Angel, "Are you ok?"
Angel smiled, "I'll live."
Faith held up a bag, "I brought bagels and coffee. Where is everyone else?"
"I don't know; everyone was gone when I got up."
Angel sat up more, "Yea, me too."
Faith grinned, "Good, more for us."
She handed some Coffee to Buffy and let her pick a bagel, then she did the
same for Angel, then herself. As they were eating, Faith noticed the awkward
silence between Buffy and Angel, "Hey guys, what's with the silence? Did I
catch you in the middle of a make out session?"
Buffy blushed and looked down at her coffee and Angel just smiled.
Faith had a huge smile on her face, "I see."
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