None of these characters are mine. But the stuff that they do is my idea.
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Part Five
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Cordelia let out a long sigh as she drove home. This day had just been full of surprises. When she returned to her room, she found Buffy sitting up, carefully sipping a bowl of soup.
"Your housekeeper brought it up." Buffy told Cordelia's questioning eyes.
"So, you've been down there ever since my party? I don't know how you could stand it. Down there in the dark without a change of clothes or even a brush. How did you do it?"
Buffy gave Cordelia a half smile, "I managed."
Cordelia went to her closet and pulled out a long nightshirt.
"You can use this for tonight. Tomorrow we can go to your place so you can get some things of your own."
"Thanks." Buffy put the bowl on the nightstand and changed into the nightshirt.
Noticing that she didn't pick up the bowl again, Cordelia asked, "Are you done?"
"I can't eat any more."
Cordelia picked up the bowl and took it to the kitchen. When she got back to her room, Buffy was asleep. She yawned and grabbed some pajamas from a drawer. Within ten minutes, she was ready for bed. Of course, her bed ended up being a sleeping bag placed at the foot of her bed, but she endured it. After everything Buffy had been through, what she needed now, was a good night's sleep in a comfortable bed.
Tomorrow, she's moving into the guestroom. Cordelia decided.
* * *
Joyce waited anxiously on the couch. Buffy would be coming home any minute. She had been gone for nearly two weeks and the house had never seemed emptier. She looked at the clock. 7:38.
She should have been here half an hour ago, Joyce thought to herself.
A car pulled up outside the house. A minute later, Buffy came through the door. Joyce jumped up from her spot to hug her daughter. It took a second to realize how skinny and pale Buffy had become.
"What did they feed you. Look at you, you're so thin, it's unhealthy. Are you hungry?" she asked.
"No, mom, I'm fine. We stopped for burgers on the way here. The food on the trip wasn't all that great, so I didn't eat much." Buffy wasn't back to her old eating habits yet and she didn't want to risk throwing up in front of her mom.
"What did you do on your trip?" they moved to the couch.
Buffy told her mom some things that her friends had told her about the trip. Luckily, Joyce didn't ask for details. The conversation quickly changed to Joyce's adventures of the week. They talked for another two hours. Before Joyce finally realized something.
"Buffy, where are your things? You didn't bring them in with you."
"Uh, well, Xander's bringing them over later. He and Willow are gonna stick around here till about 10:00, until their parents get home. Right now, I think they're at the Bronze."
"When are they coming over?"
"They should be here soon."
It was at that moment that the doorbell rang.
"Well, I'll let you guys talk." Said Joyce, she kissed Buffy's forehead, then walked up the stairs.
Buffy opened the door and let her friends inside.
"Your mom bought it?" asked Xander.
"Yup. I told her the food was bad and I was in protest."
"How you doing?"
"A lot better. Where were you guys?"
"The group leaders said that we weren't participating in enough group activities." Said Willow
"Besides, we couldn't get Matt and Michelle away from us long enough to visit you." Added Xander. The all sat down on the couch.
"How's Angel doing?" Willow asked.
"Physically, fine, but he seems really distant. He keeps his conversations short and doesn't talk to me that much. I think he's mad at me." Buffy answered.
"For what?"
"I… I don't know. I've got this theory, which is eating at me and is almost making me feel guilty, but I think he's mad at me for saving him. When I woke up after the crash, he made it pretty clear that he wasn't willing to… I-… He wouldn't let me give him blood. After a few days, he fell unconscious and I force fed him." She lifted up her sleeve and showed them the scar on her arm, "He made me promise not to do it again. A couple days later, he went out again and I had to use every ounce of control I had, to not save him, this time. I had another day before I went out, too. During that day, I did a lot of thinking. One thing I tried to figure out was why he wouldn't let me save him. I went through a lot of ideas and came to a conclusion. Then I threw the conclusion out of my mind. I told myself it was crazy, mostly cause I didn't like to think about it. Unfortunately, the past few days have proven it." Buffy realized that she was babbling. The took a deep breath and said, "He saw the chance for death and I think he welcomed it."
"Why?"
The question was a dumb one and Willow realized it as soon as she'd said it.
"The more I think about it, the more it makes sense." Buffy continued, "I'm not worrying about it just yet. I mean, he isn't the suicidal type, I hope. He'll get over this, I'm pretty sure of that."
"What if he doesn't?" asked Xander.
"I don't know. He's gonna wait for the next chance. That's all he can do and I'm hoping that I won't have to take that one from him, too. I want him to give it up on his own."
"If you remind him why you did it, I think he'll forgive you." Said Willow.
Xander looked at the clock, "Hey, Wil, it's ten. You wanna head home?"
"Sure. I'm anxious to get some sleep."
Buffy walked them out. She yelled "Goodnight." out the door. When they had driven off, she shut it.
The End
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