By: Jaide
4 days later
Buffy walked towards Angel’s house. She hadn’t seen him for days. She walked slowly down the concrete steps and shuffled her feet to his door. She didn’t hear any sounds of life on the other side. She knew he was home. She could see the light on the other side and feel his presence.
Buffy raised her hand to the door. She knocked ever so lightly, then harder.
Angel looked up. He’d been lying on the middle of his floor. He’d been like that for days. Just lying. Not caring, not feeling, but lying. His burns were bad; he’d doused his whole chest with holy water in pain and frustration.
"Angel?" came the soft voice on the other side. It was killing him not seeing her. He had to open the door. He slowly stood up, not bothering to hide his wounds. He opened the door. Her eyes went wide when she saw him.
"Oh, my God, Angel what happened?" he remained silent. She eyed the empty bottle labeled "Holy water" lying on the floor. "You did this to yourself, didn’t you?" he nodded.
"Yeah, it hurt," he was out of it, almost ready to pass out. Buffy came inside, closed the door, and took his arm.
"Come on, sit down," she led him to his bed, where he sat on the edge. She found his first aid kit underneath it, and took out some gauze. Se retrieved some water, and wet the gauze. She poured some peroxide on to it.
"No, leave them be," Angel told her, pushing her away.
"I’m not going to, now hold still," she tried to help him, but he stood up and moved away, clutching at his hurt stomach.
"Angel, come her!" she ordered. He shook his head, and backed into a wall. She watched as he slid down and buried his head in his hands. His whole body was shaking violently.
Buffy didn’t know what to do. She’d never seen him like this. She set down the gauze and approached him slowly.
"Angel? What’s wrong?" he didn’t answer. She kneeled down next to him, putting a hand on his bare back.
He couldn’t stop crying. He’d lost her, he was sure of it. Why wouldn’t she leave? Leave him to his pain? Her hand was warm and gentle on his back. It comforted him. He calmed down, just a little. He’d almost forgotten how much better he felt when she was around. She put her other hand on his head, stroking his hair. Moving slowly, she wrapped her arms around him and held him close.
He brought his head up and reached for her. He took her in his arms, into his lap and held her close. She wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head against his chest. Angel felt a whole lot better. He brought her as close to him as he could and just held her. He didn’t know how long they sat there, but it didn’t matter. He looked down and found Buffy sleeping. He smiled and kissed her head gently.
They could stay like that for a while.
Buffy woke up in Angel’s arms. They were still sitting on the floor, and he was asleep, too. She hadn’t realized how tired she was. Buffy reached up and kissed him on the cheek. He remained asleep. She checked her watch. Noon. She’d missed most of school, but she had to get to the library to let the gang know she was ok.
She carefully managed to stand without waking Angel. She made it to the door as a hand clamped around her waist. She almost screamed.