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Author's Chapter Notes:
The arrival of Spike! And i'm surpirsed nobody was curious as to how Angel died...well you find out in this chapter...hope you like?
Chapter 6: How Do I Carry On?

It was a month later and Buffy was walking into the Group Home that she had finally named after her husband’s death; Angel’s Sanctuary. The place had been in full swing now for a couple of weeks and the blonde was finding it very hard to run the place on her own. Sure Buffy hired people to watch after the kids and teens, but she had counted on Angel being there to help her manage the place and now that he wasn’t she needed to hire help. There was a sign on the door since the first day it opened saying ‘Help Wanted’ and a list of qualifications underneath. Today was the day she booked off for interviews, so she headed towards her office in the back, waving at the kids she had gotten to know already. There were only fifteen people living there right now, and she had already set up their rooms upstairs.

She plopped herself down in her chair, and took a minute to organize herself before there was a knock on the door. “Come in.” she called out.

She didn’t look up until the man was standing in front of her. “Hi…I’m here for an interview.” the man drawled out in an accent.

Buffy looked up asked the man to sit down. “Do you have a resume with you?” she tried to keep the shake out of her voice. He gave off this vibe that threw her senses off.

“Of course.” he handed it to her as he sat down in the plush chair opposite hers. “You must be Buffy.” he stated with a smile.

The blonde shook her head to clear it. “Oh yes! I’m sorry, I’m Buffy Summers…and you are…?” she asked. It slipped her mind to look down at the resume in front of her.

“William Bennett. I was very sorry to hear about your husband…our families were close.” William commented with a sincere frown.

Buffy’s eyes widened a little. “You knew Angel?”

William looked down shyly, and fidgeted with his hands. “Well we grew up in the same neighborhood…our parents were friends, but we would bump heads every now and then.” he said with a chuckle.

Buffy smiled. She had heard many people saying they knew of Angel…and that they were close and nobody would say a bad word about him. Buffy knew that most of those people were just talking shit. Yes, Angel was a great person, but he couldn’t have gotten along with everybody in this damn town. By the look on William’s face they more than bumped heads. “Yes, well Angel could be very stubborn from time to time.” it was nice talking about him…talking about with a smile instead of tears. It felt good.

William scoffed. “Tell me about it. It was always his way or the highway with me. I hope a wife and kids smartened his ass up.” he smiled. Buffy found herself noticing how bright it was.

Buffy looked down shyly now. “I can be stubborn too. Angel learned how to give into me.” she giggled. Buffy turned her focus back to the interview. “So how did you hear about us?” the blonde started to look over his resume while he answered.

“Well I didn’t actually.” He shrugged. “I don’t even really come to this part of town much, but I was walking by, I saw the ‘Help wanted’ sign out front, and thought I could put my experience to good cause.”

Buffy continued to look over his resume. “You volunteered at the Sunnydale orphanage for nine months; you coach a co-ed soccer team, Big Brothers…God you’re almost over qualified.” She joked. “You don’t get paid for any of these things?” she asked looking over his resume again.

He shifted in his seat. “Well I don’t really need the money, I was left with a pretty hefty inheritance…but I gotta do something with my time, so I thought helping the less fortunate would be the best place to start.” For some reason a part of him felt like divulging a bit of his history. He didn’t talk about it much, but something told him that he could trust her. “I grew up in a foster home, I know what it’s like to feel…out of place, alone. Everybody needs someone. And that’s how I came to live with the Bennett’s; Angel lived a couple doors down from them.” William tried for some humor. “Hey don’t let anyone in on the fact that I’m a do gooder…it might ruin my reputation of being a hard ass.” He chuckled out, and smiled when she laughed as well.

“You’re secret’s save with me.” Buffy stated. She folded her hands on her desk. “So when can you start?”


* * * * *

Ten year old Dawn and eight year old Michelle got home from school before Buffy got home from work. They sat at the dinner table with Aunt Jenny and Aunt Joyce talking about their dear mother.

“So Mommy was really good at spells?” Dawn asked as she ate her chocolate brownie. She knew she wasn’t supposed to be eating it before dinner but she couldn’t resist…it was so good!

Jenny nodded. “Yes she was…your mother always picked up on spells a lot quicker than your Aunty Faith.” She answered as she knitted.

Michelle frowned and leaned over the table to grab a brownie from the center. “Why doesn’t Mommy do spells now?”

Joyce was about to answer when Buffy walked in the front door. Michelle and Dawn quickly finished off their chocolately dessert and put on innocent faces for their mother. “Hi Mom!” Dawn greeted cheerfully. “How was work?”

Buffy could help but let a small smile grow on her face. “Work was good, I found someone that’s going to help me manage the Group Home.” She let them think they got away with it for a while. “So what’s going on here?” she looked at her Aunts. She knew they had been talking about her.

Jenny smiled. “Oh just making toast is all.” She quickly glanced at the toaster, and willed two pieces of toast to pop up.

Buffy nodded unconvinced. She looked at her daughters. “I want you two to lock all the windows in the house, a storms coming.” The girls jumped up and headed for the stairs. “Oh! By the way…” she whipped around to look at them. “You guys got a little something right here.” She teased, as she pointed to the side of her lip. She looked back at her Aunts. “Toast?” she sighed. “Look I don’t want you guys filled their heads with nonsense, okay?” she headed for the stairs herself.

Joyce called out to her. “Not nonsense, dear!” she shook her head and turned to her sister. “Four years Angel’s been gone and it’s like his funeral was just yesterday. She doesn’t seem to be healing properly.”

Jenny looked up at the stairs as if Buffy was still standing there. “Give it time.”


* * * * *

Four years ago…

Angel got up early in the morning to go to work. He was excited to get the ball rolling with the Group Home him and his wife founded. They had already put the beds in, and most of the furnishing had been done. Today he was going to interview some people to help out: a couple of cooks, people to help clean up, and a few others to watch after the younger kids.

One of the upsides to running your own business was that he didn’t have to wear the damn suit all the time. This was such a great idea! And it was all her idea…God how he loved her. Everything she did made him smile. Her being a witch even started to grow on him. At first he didn’t think he could get used to seeing spoons turn themselves in a cup, or blowing in a candle…and the way things would rattle when she got mad. He loved it…and he loved her!

Angel pressed a soft kiss to her forehead and brushed a few strands out of her face, and smiled. He was ready for forever with her. But Buffy neglected to tell him of the curse, in the hopes that if she ignored it, it would go away.

He carefully made his way down the steps of the house as he left. It was pretty icy on the ground and a little on the roads. He got in his car and carefully made his way to work. He slowly to a stop at a red light and glanced into his rearview mirror to see another car coming up behind him…and it wasn’t slowly down.

The guy in the car behind Angel was pumping his breaks frantically but his tires weren’t catching. He closed his eyes as he hit the car in front of him, and the impact slowed him down enough for him to turn his wheel and pull the emergency break.

Angel’s car had spun out, making two full turns before he yanked the e-brake up. He released a sigh of relief letting his head hit the steering wheel before he undid his seat belt.

“Hey man look out!” cried the man from the other car.

Angel looked up in time to see a truck sliding towards him sideways. His eyes went big before the sound of metal crunching was heard.


Chapter End Notes:
I know...so sad. please leave a comment!



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