**Disclaimer still very much in effect**
Buffy threw the car in park and got out, nearly ripping the door off its hinges. She had had the whole ride home to stew over what Lindsey had said and she was thoroughly pissed. She belonged to no one!
Buffy stormed in the front door and turned to see Lindsey sitting on the couch talking to her mother. Shooting him a lethal glare, she walked out the backdoor and slammed it behind her. If Lindsey was smart, he would follow her and not make her have to come back in to get him.
Lindsey winced at the sound of the backdoor slamming and looked over at Joyce. “Well looks like someone’s not happy to see me,” he sighed exasperatedly.
Joyce shook her head and looked in the direction of the backdoor. “Well Lindsey I can’t say I envy you right about now,” she commented knowingly. Buffy could be down right scary at times.
With a sigh, Lindsey got up from the couch to meet his fate with the wrath of one, Buffy Summers.
Buffy paced back and forth trying to concentrate on what she was going to say. She was so mad she couldn’t even see straight. Lindsey had no right to say that she belonged to him. Hell she had never even told the guy she loved him, let alone that she ‘belonged’ to him. When the backdoor opened, Buffy stilled her pacing and looked up at Lindsey with angry eyes.
“Would you mind explaining to me why the hell you told my brother that I ‘belonged’ to you?” she asked heatedly.
Lindsey let his jaw drop. That’s what she was so spitfire mad about?” Lindsey couldn’t help but laugh.
Buffy crossed her arms over her chest and scowled. “I’m sorry but I so don’t see the humor in this.”
“Oh believe me, this is funny,” Lindsey said wryly. “You are actually pissed at me for saying that you belonged to me Buffy, I don’t think it can get any more amusing than that.”
“And how is this funny?”
“Buffy you’re my GIRLFRIEND!” Lindsey stated as if he was talking to an ignorant child.
“And?” Buffy asked pointedly.
“And nothing! We’ve been together for five years Buffy, how the hell do you expect me to react when I find out the woman I love is with her ex-husband.” Lindsey pointed out heatedly.
“Husband,” Buffy corrected.
Lindsey clinched his teeth and took a deep breath to calm his nerves. “See, that right there is why I said what I said Buffy. You still can’t let it go,” he pointed out irritably.
“Let what go?” Buffy asked completely exasperated.
“The fact that it’s over!” Lindsey snapped.
******************************************************************************
Angel ran into the house looking around curiously. Joyce frowned at her son and furrowed her brow. “Angel what are you doing?” she asked getting up to see what he might be looking for.
“Where’s Buffy?” he asked quickly heading towards the kitchen.
“She’s out back with Lindsey,” Joyce explained with a frown. What was her son up to?
Angel had his hand on the door but stopped at the sound of his mother’s voice.
“Angel Conner Summers if you open that door so help me,” Joyce threatened in a warning tone.
Angel slowly turned and looked at his mother with a look of pure innocence. “What?”
Joyce placed her hands on her hips. “Don’t give me that. Sit.” She demanded gesturing to the chair in front of her at the breakfast table.
Angel let out a huff and trudged over to the chair like a sullen child. “Fine,” he relented grumpily.
Joyce shook her head disapprovingly at her son. “You know this is none of our business,” she scolded.
“Well as her older brother I make it my business,” Angel pointed out defiantly.
“Buffy is a big girl now Angel, she can take care of herself,” Joyce replied with a heavy sigh.
“Oh I know Buffy can handle herself,” Angel pointed out matter of factly.
“Then why do you want to go out there?” Joyce asked curiously.
Angel let a smirk cross his handsome face. “To see Lindsey get what’s coming to him.”
******************************************************************************
Buffy stood there wide-eyed. She couldn’t believe Lindsey had just said that. She couldn’t decide if she was hurt or pissed off, maybe even a bit of both.
Lindsey rubbed at his face in frustration. “Buffy look, I’m sorry I was so harsh, but it’s true. You won’t let the fact that whatever you and Will had is over. I mean come on; who stays married to someone after not hearing a single word from them for eight years?”
Buffy felt her chin begin to tremble and tears sting her eyes. There was so much truth to Lindsey’s words yet she wouldn’t let herself believe them, because then it would make it real.
“Go,” she stated flatly.
“What?” Lindsey asked disbelievingly.
“Go,” she repeated. “This isn’t working anymore,” she explained emotionlessly.
“You have got to be shitting me,” Lindsey replied with a shake of his head.
“Sorry Lindsey, but I’m not ‘shitting’ you,” Buffy replied dryly.
“So this is it? All this time we’ve put into this relationship was just a waste of time?” he asked full of raw emotion.
“Lindsey obviously you feel you can’t trust me,” Buffy pointed out.
“Buffy it was never a question of trust,” Lindsey retorted.
“Than explain to me why you felt the need to try and claim me like some barbaric oaf?”
“Buffy don’t you get it?” Lindsey asked wryly.
“Get what?” Buffy asked confused.
“How am I supposed to compare to the man that you’ve had on a pedestal your whole life? When you first told me about Will I thought that maybe it was something you might get over some day, but now I’m not so sure,” Lindsey replied mournfully. He could see himself losing the girl he loved right before his eyes.
Buffy let go of some of her anger and placed a hand on Lindsey’s arm. “Lindsey I’m sorry you feel that way, but you know how hard it is for me to just give my heart to someone after what I’ve been through,” Buffy pointed out gently.
“So what now?” Lindsey asked as he looked up at Buffy with sad blue eyes.
“I think maybe we should take a break and give each other a bit of space,” Buffy suggested softly.
“How long?”
“At least until I can get through all this shit with Will,” Buffy replied feeling a headache coming on at just the thought of her divorce.
“I’ll move back to my place until then,” Lindsey suggested.
Buffy let out a sigh of relief. She was glad that Lindsey was going to give her the space she needed to figure everything out.
“Thanks Lindsey, it really means a lot to me,” she replied with a small grateful smile.
“So can I call you sometime?” Lindsey asked hopefully.
Buffy smiled. “I would like that, besides we still have to work together right?”
Lindsey hadn’t thought about that. How in the hell was he supposed to work with Buffy and pretend that they weren’t separated? This was going to be harder than he thought.
“Buffy how are we gonna work this?” Lindsey asked dejectedly.
“Lindsey I know it will be weird at first, but maybe we can work things out somewhere down the road,” Buffy tried to reassure him. She knew the chances were slim, but she did still care for him.
“Right,” Lindsey replied not believing a word she said.
They stood there awkwardly on Buffy’s mother’s back porch not knowing what to say next. I mean what do you say to the person whom you’ve shared a bed with for five years and never even considered sharing your heart?
******************************************************************************
William walked in the door of his apartment and let out a sigh. It was good to be home. At least here he wouldn’t have to deal with all the bullshit he had left in Sunnydale.
Setting his bag down, he walked over to his answering machine, pushed the flashing button, and listened as the machine played out the messages.
William was about to sit down on his cool leather couch when a deep voice came over the machine.
“Will I know you must be surprised to here from me, but I think we should talk. You know where to find me.”
William pinched the bridge of his nose. Bloody hell. Was there no end to the nightmare that was this weekend? Grabbing the phone, he dialed the familiar number and waited for his old friend to answer and prayed that she wouldn’t.
******************************************************************************
Angel sat in the living room watching TV when the sound of the phone interrupted him. Reaching over he grabbed the cordless phone and brought it to his ear.
“Summers residence.”
“’Ello Peaches,” came the low British drawl over the line.
Angel couldn’t help but chuckle. “Will you do realize I can grow facial hair now?” he replied dryly. His friend would never let him live down the fact that he didn’t have to shave until they were seniors in high school.
“Pfft. I’ve seen the sad excuse you call facial hair, and it’s not much,” William retorted playfully.
“You’re just jealous of my baby smooth skin,” Angel retorted back.
“What ever you say Peaches,” William chuckled.
“So how the hell have you been Will?” Angel asked of his oldest friend. It had been quite some time since he had talked to William.
“Do you even need to ask?” William snorted.
“Well I’ve heard Buffy’s side of it, but you know what a drama queen she can be,” Angel replied knowingly.
“Well there’s not much for me to tell you,” William replied flatly.
“How about your side?” Angel suggested.
“Buffy moved on, so now I’m gonna truly set her free. The end,” William replied.
“What, you mean Lindsey?”
William had to take a deep breath before he replied. “Yes, Lindsey,” he said through clinched teeth.
Angel couldn’t help the grin that crossed his face. “Well I don’t think that’s an issue anymore,” he replied cryptically. He knew that Buffy was just taking a break from Lindsey, but he couldn’t help but see this as the chance to try and get his sister back with his best friend.
“Wha’” William mumbled stunned.
“Buffy and Lindsey aren’t together right now,” Angel replied. It wasn’t exactly a lie.
“Angel what are you getting at?” William asked cautiously.
“Nothing, just that if Lindsey’s the only reason you’re pushing the divorce, then you’re gonna have to find a new one,” Angel replied flippantly.
“What are you on about mate?” William asked cautiously.
“I mean you and Buffy can be together now, there’s no obstacles,” Angel pointed out resolutely.
“Hate to tell you Angel, but just because Buffy’s decided to un-ass the git doesn’t mean I’m gonna go running back to her,” William replied matter of factly.
Angel let out a heavy sigh. “Listen I’m the first to admit that I wasn’t too keen on the idea of you and my sister, but after I saw the way you two were together I realized that you were really meant for one another.”
“The key word of that statement being ‘were’, as in not any more,” William pointed out.
“How can you say that?” Angel asked frustratedly.
“Things have changed, we’ve changed,” William replied point-blankly.
“Well I can’t say I didn’t try,” Angel huffed, defeated.
“Were you calling to try and get Buffy and I back together?” William asked disbelievingly.
“Well, yeah,” Angel replied honestly.
William couldn’t believe it. He expected something like this from Joyce, maybe even his father, but never from Angel.
“Listen mate, just because things didn’t work out between me and your sis…” William trailed off thinking he was beginning to sound like a bloody poof.
“Easy Will,” Angel warned playfully.
William let out a chuckle. “I know, I’m startin’ to sound like a poof aren’t I?”
“I always wondered about you,” Angel teased.
“Hey I think you know for a fact that that’s bloody well not true and if you need remindin’ go and ask your wife,” William retorted cockily.
Angel felt his jealousy bubble to the surface. He was well aware of the fling his wife had had with his best friend while he and Cordy were on the outs.
“I’m going to pretend you didn’t just say that,” Angel warned in a serious tone.
“Easy Peaches, it was a long time ago and it obviously didn’t mean anything to Cordy ‘cause the next day she ran to you beggin’ for forgiveness,” William defended.
“I think we should find something else to talk about,” Angel suggested still feeling a twinge of jealousy.
William let out a chuckle. “Still want me back with your sis?” he asked sarcastically.
“Surprisingly yes. For some reason it’s you that makes her truly happy.” Angel retorted sarcastically. “Ever since the day you guys split, Buffy hasn’t been the same,” he finished honestly.
William closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. He really didn’t want to deal with this right now. “Angel I need to make some calls before it gets too late,” he lied.
Angel knew William was trying to give him the brush off. “Whatever Will. Listen, I know it’s been a long time, but we’re still family and you have two nephews and a niece on the way that would love to met you.”
William felt a pang of guilt rack him. He had never even thought to try and stay in touch with Buffy’s family due to the fact he didn’t feel he had any right to.
“I’m sorry Angel,” William apologized.
“Don’t be. I know why you stayed away, really I do, but now that you know that we still consider you family you have no excuse,” Angel pointed out.
“You’re right. Maybe we can get together sometime and I can see the boys and Cordy,” William suggested.
“That’d be great. As long as you promise to keep your hands off my wife,” Angel teased.
William let out a chuckle. “You have my word.”
Angel felt a bit better about the situation and decided to let William go. “Alright Will, go make those important calls that don’t exist,” Angel commented sarcastically.
“Thanks Angel,” William replied gratefully.
“I head back to Boston tomorrow but I will give you a call soon, alright?”
“Sounds good, tell Cordy I said hello and congrats on the new baby,” William replied before hanging up.
“Thanks Will, I’ll talk to you soon, bye.”
William hung up the phone and let out a heavy sigh. Angel’s call was making his decision even harder. Was Angel serious when he said that he was the only one who made Buffy truly happy? Looking up at the ceiling and fusing his eyes shut, William let out a growl of frustration as he kicked the wall.
“Bloody fucking hell!”
Huge thanks to Briana, spufette, cee, Raspy_Luv, Meagan, Nicki, spikestheman, teasha, blondiebear, dragontiff, dusty273, Lucy, SarahandJAmesFanatic, DaniD, jenny, caatje, cordykitten, Spikesluv, ChrissieLinnit, MidnightGirl, kim, Kimber, frederique, vitalis, Rikki, and Laura for the lovely reviews, I can't thank you guys enough. I want to say a special thanks to gotkona, my beta who has been my backbone through this fic. If not for her I so never would have posted, thanks swwets, love ya! Kuddos!
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Well I am absolutely blown away by the amount of reviews this fic has gotten so far, y'all are freakin' amazing! I hope you enjoy this next chap and if you do let me know, kuddos!