“Dammit Angel! I’m going to buy a friggin bell to tie around your neck if I don’t choke you with it first! Quit with the sneaky and try knocking or maybe even the proverbial ‘Hey is anyone home’ type shout or something!” Startled green eyes tinged with irritation locked with panicked chocolate brown ones.

“Sorry,” Angel said nervously, the screams of the two surprised women in front of him still ringing in his ears.

Hearing pounding footsteps barreling down the stairs, Dawn and Giles asked simultaneously “What’s wrong?” “What happened?”

Laughing faintly, Xander piped in “I think Angel is about to be turned into a ferret for not remembering to use the doorbell, judging by the look on Willow’s face and the way Buffy is looking, I don’t think she’d raise too much of a fuss about it. Then again, Angel looks as if he’s trying to be some new form of abstract art the way he’s plastered backwards against the wall. Maybe they could call it The Scream part 2?”

Everyone rolling their eyes collectively, Dawn went back upstairs as Giles moved to stand inside the kitchen with Xander going back to setting up the DVDs and Willow pulling out the makings for caramel corn.

“So, what’s up,” Buffy asked, her heartbeat resuming its normal pace once more. Taking in the handsome vampire before her, she could appreciate the way his dark green sweater hugged his broad shoulders, smiling wistfully, thinking about how the colour would look so much better on someone with lighter features.

’Stop if Buffy. Don’t keep with the comparisons because you already know who will come out on top.’ Pulling herself from her thoughts, she caught the last of Angel’s response.

“…and she said she’d be by later with Robin so I offered to deliver the message since I wanted to see how you guys settled into your new place,”

“Oh! Are they all settled into their new place as well then,” Willow asked, looking at Angel over her shoulder as she popped popcorn.

“Yeah. It’s…odd, for lack of a better term,” he responded.

“Odd? In what way,” Buffy asked, opening the cabinet and taking out a couple of tall glasses. Gesturing with one of them to Angel and then looking at Giles she asked “Either of you manly men want a rootbeer float?”

Shaking his head no, Giles looked to Angel as Angel contemplated for a few seconds the idea of a rootbeer float. “You know. I haven’t had one in so long I think I’ve forgotten what they taste like.”

“Well then, you’ve got to have one,” Buffy replied with finality. “Of course unless you’d rather have a creamsicle, which is just like a rootbeer float, only without the rootbeer and with orange soda instead.”

“Ooooh. Creamsicle for me please,” Xander piped in from the living room.

“I guess I’ll take a rootbeer float then since I’m not big on the orange soda thing,” Angel responded with a smile, watching the way Buffy looked almost ok. She was lighter in spirit than when she left L.A., but even still, there was an aura of loneliness around her, shrouding her in its aching veil of sadness that tinged every smile that touched her lips.

“One creamsicle for the Xand-man and rootbeery goodness for the living dead. Wills?” Buffy looked over her shoulder at the redhead drizzling caramel over freshly popped popcorn.

“Oh, make mine rootbeer too please, with an extra scoop of the frozen cure-all in a pint cup,” she replied, unwrapping a chocolate bar and shaving it on a grater over the popcorn.

“So. Odd,” Buffy asked, looking at Angel again as she scooped ice-cream into tall glasses of soda.

“Well, it’s Faith, ya know? Loner girl; big on the not getting involved or staying around too long? Here she is with Robin arguing about what colours to use in their bedroom and whether or not to get a pet of some sort. It’s just…”

“Odd,” Buffy finished for him. Cocking her head to the side a bit, memories of the last couple of weeks drifted through her mind. Remembering the way they looked at each other before they went their respective ways in Sunnydale High before the big bake off and again the way Faith worried and fretted over Robin afterwards in the hospital and the soft way she’d smile at him every time they all got together since coming to Cleveland. Faith had definitely changed. The feisty brunette was still there in full force, but her demeanor was somewhat, softer and she was more prone to genuine smiles then the sardonic ones Buffy was used to before the battle with The First.

“Maybe not so odd,” Buffy replied quietly. “I think Robin and Faith are good for each other and it’s good to see that they are taking the chance they’ve been given to fill the void in their lives with something other than bitterness and revenge that’s been driving them for so long.”

Hearing the sadness in her best friend’s voice, Willow spoke with extra happy on the cheerful tone. “Ok! Popcorn buried beneath chocolate shavings and drizzled with buttery, sticky caramel and all ready for the devouring by happy mouths and eager tummies.” Turning to Buffy, she added, “Let’s not leaver Xander in there too long or he might decide to swap out Die Hard with Star Wars, again,” and with that the pretty redheaded witch brandished a huge bowl filled to almost overflowing, smiling brilliantly at her best friend and the dark, unreadable vampire in front of them.

“Dear God, he’d better NOT be making us watch Star Wars again. I swear, between him and Andrew, I’ve had enough Sci-fi to last me for the rest of my life,” Buffy responded, looking a little lost. Looking up she smiled a half smile at Angel, handing 2 glasses to him and taking the other two herself, before turning to walk out of the kitchen and leaving him to follow behind her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lying in bed the next morning, Buffy listened to the movements and sounds outside her bedroom door. She could hear Willow asking Giles for a ride to the library after he dropped off Dawn at her tutor and Giles responding that he would if she could be ready in the next 5 minutes.

With her eyes still closed she imagined Dawn rushing about, brushing her hair and brushing her teeth weaving her way around Willow and Giles in the hallway. She knew Xander was already gone. Robin showed up sometime around 5 in the morning after he and Xander decided last night to go fishing in the pond a few miles away and after 20 minutes of fumbling about in the kitchen, she heard their booted feet moving quietly across the kitchen and the opening and closing of the backdoor as they left.

Hearing people moving on the stairs, Buffy debated about getting up and going downstairs to say goodbye to Dawn before she left. She debated about it long enough that it became moot when she heard the side door to the garage open and the garage door grumbling its protest as to having its button pushed to open up.

Deciding to go back to sleep for just a little while, Buffy rolled over, snuggling down into her pillows and sighing softly.

10 minutes later, the doorbell rang.

Opening her eyes in exasperation, she flipped back the covers and swung her legs over the side of the bed, the soft baby blue jersey knit of her of her pant legs falling down to her ankles from where they were shoved up around her knees. Yawning and stretching quickly, she stood as she heard the chiming of the doorbell once more, grabbing a clip from the top of her dresser and pulling her golden tresses into a quick bun. Skipping down the stairs, the doorbell chimed once more and she called out “I’m coming,” to whomever was on the other side of the door, her voice still husky with interrupted sleep. Flinging the door open, she was surprised to see a uniformed delivery man standing on her doorstep.

“Good morning. Is there a Miss Elizabeth Summers at this address,” he inquired politely in a voice that reminded her of late night disk jockeys.

“There sure is and she would be me or I would be she…or…whatever,” she said sheepishly.

Grey eyes twinkled as he smiled at her and he handed her a clipboard with a pen tucked beneath the clip.

“I’ve got a package for you then, Miss. Summers. Please sign on line 5,” and with that he smiled at her again.

Taking the clipboard, she scribbled her name on the designated line before handing it back to him with curiosity in her eyes. Trading the clipboard for the overstuffed manila envelope, the delivery man smiled at her once more before tipping the brim of his hat at her.

“Have a good day Miss Summers,” and with that he turned and walked back to the truck parked at the curb.

Closing the door behind him, Buffy tested the weight of the package in her hand, looking at the unfamiliar address of the sender and she moved to sit down in the living room before turning it over and breaking the seal of tape with a fingernail. Upending the envelope over her lap, she was surprised as a bundle of letters fell out. Her brow furrowing in confusion she looked inside the envelope for anything further and found a single sheet of paper that looked as if it had been ripped out of a binder with a familiar slanted and slightly messy handwriting in a blue pen.

Dear Buffy,

I know you probably want as little to do with me as possible, but please believe me when I say that you were never far from my thoughts in these past years. I’ve done a lot of things I’m not proud of, but none of it compares to how horribly I treated your Mother and most of all you, my precious daughter and for that I am the most regretful.

I don’t want there to be anymore lies between us and I know my word doesn’t mean much to you so maybe these letters will convince you that I never meant for any of this to happen and maybe one day you could find it in your heart to give me another chance to be in your life again.

I’m so sorry for everything Buffy. I’m sorry for not being there when you needed me and I’m sorry for hurting you when I didn’t believe you about the vampires and demons. Most of all I’m sorry for being unable to be strong enough for having a daughter who proved to be much stronger than I ever could be in every way, not limited to the physical.

I promise not to invade your life anymore, but please know that I will inquire from time to time, how you and Dawn are doing so if a friend of yours informs you that I was asking about you, it is only to know that you are doing well and are happy.

Always, your loving father,

Hank

Tears swimming in her eyes, Buffy sets aside the letters and picks up the bundle in her lap. Untying the cord that held them all together, she counts 29 of them before she picks up the first one, sliding a fingernail beneath the sealed flap of the envelope. Pulling out the letter inside, she takes in the date on the top right of the paper in her hands.

February 3, 1996

Almost 2 weeks after that horrible night when the man she measured all other boys against burst her perfect bubble and transformed before her very eyes. The night her parents said divorce and her home was broken from that night for the rest of her life.

Drawing her legs up, she nestled down into the couch and began to read.

Dear Pumpkin….


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Groaning loudly, Angel rolled over on the pull-out, grumpy that he was awakened after it seemed he had just gotten to sleep on this uncomfortable god forsaken sofa bed. Pulling the pillow over his head and pressing it down to cover his ears, the doorbell chimed again and yet again, and he ripped the pillow away as her heard Buffy’s muffled voice call out to whomever was ringing that damned doorbell.

Listening for more, he sat up in bed, the rickety bars beneath the mattress creaking in protest. After a minute he heard the front door close softly and her muffled footsteps overhead as she walked into the living room overhead and the soft sighing of the couch as he assumed she sat down on it. Getting out of bed, he gathered his clothes from the chair he hung them over and tossed them onto the makeshift bed. Stretching his arms overhead, he twisted first one way and then the other, trying to work out the kinks in his back. Getting dressed, he made his way up the stairs of the basement, going in search of Buffy. Walking through the kitchen, he stood for a moment in the shadow of the refrigerator, watching her from across the kitchen and dining room as she sat reading a letter of some sort.

God she was beautiful. She was getting a bit too thin for his liking, but it was nothing he hoped a little food wouldn’t cure. Her hair was pulled up on top of her head, showing off the beauty of her bone structure; her high cheekbones and the soft curve of her jaw; the smooth brow leading down into a delicate nose. Her lips were so sexy, her bottom lip fuller than her top making her mouth perfect for pouting, her dusty green eyes able to send shocks straight through him.

Staying in the shadows of the kitchen, he studied her. The smooth golden skin of her neck, bare all the way down to her shoulders; the blue and white striped tank she wore clung to small, rounded breasts, that he remembered all too well most nights; full and firm with dusky nipples that begged for his mouth. It was the way they moved right then, her chest heaving as he was pulled from his thoughts and he looked to her face and watched as tears slide quietly down her cheeks. Wondering what she read that upset her so much, he ducked back behind the wall when she raised her head, not allowing her to see him watching. Waiting for a few moments, he peeked around the corner and saw that she had resumed her reading before she picked up another envelope and opened it, pulling out and unfolding another letter, reading it quietly as tears streaked her face. Silently he stood in the kitchen, watching her open and read letter after letter.

It must have been her 15th letter, when the silence was pierced with a soft hiss as Buffy inhaled through her teeth, shaking her hand in front of her in irritation. Wondering what that was about, his eyes narrowed suddenly as he caught the slightest trace of blood on the air. Watching her examine her finger, before sucking it into her mouth, Angel’s demon smiled as she pulled her finger out to examine it again. Curling her finger against her palm, Buffy looked around, spotting a box of tissues on the stand by the entryway of the dining room and she stood, setting the letters on the coffee table in front of her before crossing the room. Angel ducked back behind the wall again, listening to whisper of the tissue as it was pulled from the box and her footsteps as she walked back to the couth before he chanced peeking again. Watching her wrap the tissue around her cut finger, he closed his eyes and breathed deeply, the coppery scent filling his olfactory senses with the smell of Buffy before the darkness whispered in again and his demon shouted “NO!” and when he opened his eyes, they were glittering gold as he demon came to the fore, his face shifting into the ridged bones of hi vamp.

Growling deep in his chest, Angel, stared angrily at the girl that curled up on the sofa, reading letters as if her betrayal was nothing more bothersome than the annoying peal of the doorbell that chimed earlier. Moving away from the refrigerator, his eyes never leaving the girl of his fantasies, he growled again, one word spoken deep within his throat; “Mine!”