The Prom
by Ben: The Vampire Hunter
b_church@yahoo.com
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Buffy and co. belong to Joss Whedon.
Joe still wasn't sure it had been such a good idea to come.
But his friends who had yet to graduate had insisted. He sighed,
looking around at all the smiling, happy faces around him.
Last year he'd managed to enjoy himself. Despite one,
glaring flaw in the evening. Theresa should have been there with him.
He'd gone with Miriam. He'd gone with all his friends, and had a good
time. For one night, he'd forgotten his pain. And then spent the
weekend feeling guilty about doing so.
And here he was the following year. He'd come in support of
his friends. And the happiness they felt helped lift his spirit. But
not enough. He put on a brave front for them, the only one who knew
how unhappy he was, was his closest friend, Micky.
He closed his eyes and tried to block out the pain. He
deserved to have a good time. But it didn't work.
Finally, he got up. He needed some air. Outside, he sat on
the steps and brooded. He sat up, shocked, as a familiar figure
approached.
Angelus. The leader of the Vampires. Or had been last year
at any rate. He hated Vampires. It wouldn't even have surprised him
to learn that Angelus was the one who'd killed Theresa. Who'd done
worse than kill her.
Oh he'd known right off what had killed his friend. The
puncture wounds on her neck had left no doubt. Oh sure, someone had
blamed the Werewolf, but he'd known it was a Vampire. And when her
body had vanished, at first he'd thought she'd gotten away. But the
new dust layer on the floor had told him that someone had put an end
to the defilement of Theresa's body.
Whipping a cross out of his pocket, Joe glowered at the
Vampire. "What the hell are you doing here?" he snapped.
The Vampire looked stricken.
Angel sighed inwardly. Here was someone who he'd obviously
hurt badly while his soul was gone. He remembered the boy, though he'd
only seen him briefly, during his aborted attack on the Drama Club's
rehearsal that night. But the boy recognized him, the look on his face
told Angel all he needed to know.
"I'm not evil." he said tiredly. "Anymore."
"What?"
"It's difficult to explain. But please believe, I'm sorry for
whatever it is I did. I'm not like I was, before."
Joe searched the Vampire's face. He prided himself on being
able to read people rather well. And what he read told him that this
man, Vampire, was sincere.
He nodded silently and lowered the crucifix. But he didn't
put it away.
Joe was still sitting on the steps outside the school when
Buffy came out. He glanced at her, and smiled. It was a sad smile,
but one of pride as well. "I see they gave you the Umbrella. That was
Micky's idea."
"It was?"
"Yeah. They couldn't think of just the right thing. Micky
suggested that, Jonathan seconded."
"I hadn't realized he was part of the prom committee."
"Yeah." He sighed.
Buffy took a deep breath. "I'm sorry."
"What?"
"I'm supposed to have been the class protector." She held up
the umbrella. "But I couldn't save her life. I'm sorry I let Theresa
get taken from you."
Joe looked at her and smiled. A genuine, affectionate smile.
He'd never really known Buffy or her friends all that well, but he knew
that many of his friends owed their lives to this girl. There was a
good reason she'd gotten that umbrella.
"Don't be sorry." he said. "I'm sorry. That I couldn't save
her." He sighed, and stood.
"If my class had an official protector, I guess it would have
been me. I took responsibility for the lives of my friends. I don't
know why, but they started looking up to me, and I took it to heart.
I've been like, sort of a big brother to them.
"The bottom line is, Theresa's death, if it was anyone's
failure, it was mine. No one else's."
Buffy knew that wasn't true. But Joe didn't know that the one
who'd killed Theresa had been her boyfriend, and that she had been too
weak to kill him. That it was Buffy's responsibility to protect
people, as the Slayer.
"I'm sure Theresa doesn't blame you." Buffy said finally. "You
shouldn't either."
Joe smiled. "I'll make you a deal. I'll try to forgive
myself, if you do the same."
"Deal."
Joe nodded, and went back inside to join his friends. He felt
better, having talked about it a bit. Maybe it hadn't been such a bad
idea to come here after all.
The End (
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