A/N: I am very very sorry about the huge wait, but after starting college, this is the only actual time off I've had when I didn't have other papers to write or things to study for. But I have the time off now, and I fully intend on finishing this fic in this time! After getting this far in my fic, you should be happy to hear I have decided to change tense lol. I hope you like this chapter.

Chapter Thirty One

Buffy walked up to the entrance of the Hyperion, hoping that Angel was awake. She really needed to talk to someone and she really wanted that someone to be him. She slowly pushed open the door, thinking about what she was going to say. Willow had seemed very nervous, but she had pushed it out of her mind, not really caring about if something was wrong between her and Xander. That had been the last thing she was expecting Willow to say.

Buffy walked into the hotel lobby and looked around. She saw silhouettes in the office, but nobody was in the lobby. She quietly moved across to and went up the stairs, heading to Angel's room. She hoped she wouldn't be disturbing him, but then again he did say to come anytime. She knocked tentatively on his bedroom door, "Angel?"

"Buffy?" Angel's voice calls out from behind the door, sounding like he'd just been asleep.

Buffy winced, "Sorry. You were asleep. I'll come back later." Buffy turned took a step away from the door about to leave, when the door flew open.

"No!" Angel sticks his head through the doorway, not wanting to reveal the rest of his body in case anyone else was there, "It's fine. Come on in."

Buffy gave him a little smile of thanks and walked back to his room. She stepped inside, closing the door behind her and turned to face Angel, freezing as she saw how he was dressed. Or not as the case would be. He was stood by the bed, wearing nothing more than a bed sheet around his waist. Angel noticed Buffy was staring and looked at her sheepishly, "I prefer to sleep like this. I can put some clothes on if it would make you feel more comfortable."

Buffy shook her head, "No, no. It's fine really. Not like I haven't seen you naked before."

Angel smiled at the memory, and sat down on the bed, getting comfortable, "So, what did you want to see me about?" He pats the side of the bed next to him, gesturing for her to sit next to him.

Buffy pouted slightly at the memory of why she was there, "You're gonna think I'm crazy."

Angel frowned, not understanding why Buffy would think that, "Why would I think you're crazy?"

"Because I'm always coming to you with my problems. Okay, maybe that's more dysfunctional than crazy, but still, you know…"

Angel is unfazed, "What's the problem?"

Buffy looks down with a sigh, not quite knowing where to start. She had far too many problems than she liked. To start with, there was the tension between her and Willow and Xander. Not to mention that she'd just lost one of her dearest friends. Good place to start as any, "Gunn left last night."

Angel immediately takes her into his arms, "Oh, Buffy, I'm so sorry."

A tear makes its way down Buffy's cheek as she rests her head on his chest. She sniffles quietly, "Thank you. He was my best friend. The only person I could trust, and now I'll never see him again…"

Angel held her tighter, "I'm sorry. You know, I'll always be here for you. Me and all of the others. Giles, Wesley, Cordelia, Spike, no matter how crazy that sounds, we all care about you."

Buffy gave him a small smile, "I know. Thank you. You've all been amazing, through everything that's happened. Coming to Sunnydale was the best thing that's ever happened to me."

Angel gave her a gentle kiss to the top of her head, "Me too. Was there anything else you wanted to talk about?"

Buffy's face immediately fell. Time to talk about Willow and Xander. Damn. She had been hoping to avoid that subject altogether. No such luck. Angel would have found a way to get it out of her anyway, "It's my friends. Well, sort of friends. Oh, I don't know what they are. Willow and Xander."

Angel just listens patiently, "What about Willow and Xander?"

"Willow…just a couple of hours ago, she told me…she told my dad where to find me. She gave him Giles' address. She said she thought she was doing the right thing, that I needed help and my dad could give it to me. You couldn't get any more wrong then that."

Angel purses his lips, thinking quietly for a moment of what to say that wouldn't make her mad at him, "Well…I'm assuming the problem is whether you should forgive her or not?" At her nod, he continued, "Willow did something wrong, but doesn't everyone at some point? I'm not telling you to forget about it, but Willow didn't exactly know the whole story about your father."

"But she didn't ask me. She didn't even stop to think that I might have been innocent. She heard the rumors and she asked me if they were true, which yeah I told her were mostly true, but she didn't ask about the circumstances. She didn't know that my own father was abusing me at the time! And neither did Xander. He didn't ask me anything. He heard what Willow said and immediately started ignoring me."

"Buffy…don't think that I'm standing up for them, because I'm not, but just listen to me okay? People make mistakes. I know a lot of people say that to cover up their own mistakes, but it's true. Willow and Xander might not have done the right thing…but at least they apologized, right? They obviously care about what you think of them if they apologized. I'm not saying 'forgive them', I'm just saying, think about it before you decide never to talk to them again. Just give it time…"

Willow stared sadly into her cup of coffee, while next to her Xander sat munching on a brownie at their table at the espresso pump, "I hate me. I have a big rambly mouth and I say and think things that I shouldn't and I know that coffee is bad and makes me ramble more, but I feel bad and I say bring on the coffee!"

"Don't blame yourself, Will. All that stuff was true, or most of it. No one can blame you for being weird about Buffy."

Willow makes a tortured face, "But it is! I didn't even ask her what happened, or why she did any of that stuff. I actually listened to Harmony! Why would I do that??"

Xander was quiet for a moment. Although he never apologized himself, he really did feel bad for freezing Buffy out. He knew he should apologize to her, as he was sure she was really a good person, but his pride wouldn't let him. "Will…"

Xander was cut off by screams and loud crashing noises. He and Willow looked towards the source of the sounds and Willow let out a scream herself, as Xander stared in horrified fascination at the sight in front of them. All around them it was chaos, as the other customers at the café ran for their lives. Willow screamed again as one of the 'people' zeroed in on her and Xander and, with a vicious grin, lunged towards them.

Willow jumped backwards, knocking over a chair, "XANDER, run!!" She immediately ran away from the creature, not stopping to check on Xander, out of her mind with terror. Suddenly she is knocked over by another customer's desperate escape, and she hits her head hard on the sidewalk, knocking her out. She is ignored as the other customers run away, or lay bleeding on the ground. Willow is unconscious, bleeding profusely from a cut on her head from where she hit the ground. The shop falls silent, all of its customers having fled or been killed. Nobody left remaining, and no one to hear Xander's horrified scream.

To be continued…

Please leave me some feedback. Always happy to know what people think.