⚠️ WARNING: Mature themes/topics are included in this chapter!! Death, rape, violence, alcohol abuse mentioned! If you are not comfortable with any of these themes then skip to the next chapter. ⚠️

3rd Person's POV

Willow's room

Neat, clean... everything is in place just so, except for some clothes on her bed. Walking out her closet in her nightshirt, Willow brushes her hair about to get ready for bed.

There is a knocking on her balcony door, which catches her off guard making her jump in the air slightly. She drops her brush on the bed cautiously, and slowly goes to the door. Gulping in fear and worry, she raises her hand up to the window, before taking a deep breath and pushing the blinds apart to see who it is.

"Oh!"

Willow let's out a relieved sigh as she sees Angel standing on the other side of the glass. She opens the door and steps aside as he cautiously looks inside the room.

"Angel! What are you doing here?"

Angel clears his throat while staring only at Willow's face, "I wanted to talk to you."

Willow looks around nervously, "Oh, well..."

She gestures for him to come in, but he just stays standing there.

"Well?"

Angel shrugs lightly, "I can't. Unless you invite me, I can't come in."

"Oh!" Willow laughs nervously while wringing her hands together, "Well, okay, I invite you. To come in."

She turns around as he comes in, and a look of horror appears on her face when she sees her bra just lying there on her bed out in the open. She quickly rushes over, grabs it and stashes it.

Angel who had been looking at the pictures on her dresser finally turns around seeing a flustered Willow, "I-if this is a bad time, I..."

"No! I just... I'm not supposed to have boys in my room."

Angel smiles lightly with a low chuckle, "I promise to behave myself."

Willow still nervous nods, "Okay. Good."

Angel gulps before finally speaking on why he was here in the first place... well second, "I guess I need help."

"Help?" Willow frowns in confusion, "You mean like on homework? No, 'cause you're old and you already know stuff."

Angel shakes his head while eyeing her laptop, "I want you to track someone down. On the 'Net."

Willow smiles in excitement before going over to sit in her chair, "Oh! Great! I'm so the 'Net girl."

"I just wanna find everything I can." Angel says as he stands behind her chair, "Records, affiliates, I'm not even sure what I'm looking for yet."

Willow nods as she begins to type, "Good. What's the name?"

Angel grimaces before shrugging, "Billy Fordham."

Willow freezes with a frown, "Uh, Angel? If I say something you really don't wanna hear," She faces him and grimaces, "do you promise not to bite me?"

Angel sighs, "Are you gonna tell me that I'm jealous?"

Willow gulps, "Well, you do sometimes get that way."

Angel huffs lightly before going over to sit on her bed, "You know, I never used to. Things used to be pretty simple."

Willow nods turning back to the computer to type.

"A hundred years, just hanging out, feelin' guilty... I really honed my brooding k*ll. Then she comes along."

Willow faces him again.

"Yeah, I get jealous. But I know people. And my gut tells me this is a wrong guy."

Willow nods, "Okay."

She smiles turns back to the laptop once more.

"But if there isn't anything weird... Hey, that's weird."

Angel stands up and frowns, "What?"

"I just checked the school records, and he's not in them. I mean, usually they transfer your grades and stuff, but he's not even registered."

Angel nods, "He said he was in school with you guys, right?"

Willow nods with a frown, "Let me just see if I can..."

"Willow, mom wanted me to-"

Laney stands staring at Angel and Willow in confusion, "Well I wasn't expecting your first boy in your room to be Angel."

Willow gives her a look as if saying shut up as her face began to redden from embarrassment, "Angel just needed to ask me-"

"You don't have to explain. I honestly could care less. No offense."

Angel looks over at Laney then looks away before quickly doing a double take. What was happening?

"Anyways mom said she was about to head off to bed which means she will be here in any minute to say goodnight to you."

Angel who had been staring at Laney since she walked in the room, couldn't help but feel like he let her down. He knew something was going on with her and he hadn't even tried to see her in a week. Not that she would've let him into her room. She was ignoring everyone.

Laney looks over at him frowning uncomfortably as he stares at her.

"Yes?"

"Why are your eyes red and your face puffy?"

Laney shrugs nonchalantly, "Allergies."

She quickly leaves the room, making Willow shrug as Angel asks what was up with her.

"I have no idea. I've been a little preoccupied and in my own world."

"Willow? Are you still up?"

Willow gasps before getting up pushing Angel towards her balcony door, "Ack! Go!"

She hurries over to her bedroom door and sticks her head out, "I-I'm just going to bed now, mom!"

Willow closes the door and turns back to Angel, "Come by tomorrow at sunset. I'll keep looking."

Angel nods, "Don't tell Buffy what we're doing, alright?"

"You want me to lie to her? It's Buffy!"

"Just don't bring it up until we know what's what."

"Okay. I-it's probably nothing."

"That'd be nice."

She frets a bit, nervous about what she has to do. Walking over to the balcony door she pulls it open then freezes as she hears her mom call her name once again.

"Willow! Come here for a second!"

"Alright mom!" Willow looks over to wear Angel had been standing and frowns when she sees an empty space.

...

Laney sits on her bed looking down at her diary as she writes on a new blank page. She sighs hearing her door crack open.

"You know it's rude to enter without knocking."

She lifts her head to stare at Angel knowingly as he closes the door behind himself. He makes his way over to kneel beside her bed as his eyes were trained on her face.

"What's wrong, Laney? Something's going on... I know there is."

Laney scoffs while chuckling so painfully that Angel can hear the hurt in it, "Why would anything be wrong? I'm fine. I'm always fine."

Angel sighs, "Laney you do realize this is me. You're gonna talk whether you want to or not. Otherwise I'll just sit in the corner of the room and stare at you until you break... or I'll play heartbreak music."

Laney laughs a little pouting as her eyes start to tear up.

Angel nudges her as he sits beside her legs on the bed, "Come on..."

"Okay..." She takes a deep shaky breath in before looking down at her hands, "Monday was the most painful day that... well one of the most painful days that I have ever had to go through. And you want to know who checked on me?"

Angel stays quiet as he watches a tear slides down Laney's face. She quickly wipes it away almost angrily as she shakes her head.

"Colby and Cordy...and you. But not my sister and not my mom. Never my mom. Neither of them."

Angel's eyebrows furrow in confusion.

Lane sighs, "Willow's mom is downstairs. My mom is in Paris. Living the life... the day after the anniversary of my fathers death."

Angel sits quietly letting the information sink in. He had wondered why she had been somewhat okay last week and then this week not wanted to be around a single soul.

"I no longer had a father to celebrate holidays with about three years ago."

"How did he pass?"

"It was my fault..."

"Laney-"

"Hey I'm really tired right now and I feel a horrible headache coming on. Could we try this again another time?" Laney tries to smile but it quickly falls as her lips quiver and three tears roll down her cheeks, "Please?"

Angel nods with a small smile quickly looking away from the distraught slightly embarrassed Laney. He stands up and watches her get into her bed as he peeks at her phone. Sighing to himself, he knows what he was about to do was an invasion of privacy, but he also knew Laney needed to get this off her chest.

As Laney fixes up her pillows and blankets, she pays no attention to Angel who uses her phone before putting it back. He walks over to her and pats her head awkwardly making her smile lightly before wishing her a goodnight. Laney watches him leave through the window and falls back onto her bed, crying.

After a couple of minutes, Laney jumps hearing her window go up. She peeks over her shoulder seeing Colby squeeze into her room. She frowns at him confused as he kicks off his shoes and turns off the light in her room. He gets into the bed holding her, arms wrapped around her waist before kissing her head of hair.

"What the fuck? Why are you- I'm so confused?..."

Colby sighs, "You texted me saying you needed me and wanted to talk about your um your d-dad."

Laney's mouth drops open as she shakes her head smiling with a slight pout, "Stupid Angel. He texted you from my phone."

Colby chuckles nodding, "Well I know he must've believed that you needed to talk to me."

Laney sighs before nodding, "I think I'm gonna lose my mind if I don't get this off my chest."

"Okay."

"I had to explain this so many times that I started to believe it. I believed the lie and that became my life. When I was a freshman, just started school my current boyfriend Daryl Epps was the most popular guy in school. He was a sophomore who was the quarterback of the football team. He was the reason why the team always went to championships. All the guys wanted to be him and all the girls wanted to be with him. But for some reason he chose me. I don't know why, he could've had any girl he wanted. He could've had Cordelia, who was the most popular freshman girl at the time. No one knew why Daryl was with me. Everyone thought I just gave it up so easily. That was the only way Daryl would've stayed with me. But what they don't now is that behind closed doors... everything was not what it seemed."

Laney takes a deep breath while playing with her fingers, "At first everything was perfect. It was just how the movies showed love and relationships. It was just how I wanted it to be. Then it wasn't. I learned how jealous Daryl easily got, and how insecure he was in himself, and how angry he got so fast... and um I learned that my perfect sweet boyfriend wasn't so perfect and sweet. He had been hearing about his guy friends sleeping with their girls and he was jealous. So when he came to talk to me about it, he was already antsy and deprived as he liked to say. Me being the innocent little freshman I was knew along the lines of what he wanted but I knew I wasn't ready... but it didn't matter because he was. And I didn't have a choice."

Colby frowns grabbing her hand that was starting to scratch her now red skin, "Lane please tell me he didn't."

Laney sniffles as a tear runs down her cheek, "I can't tell you that. Because then I would be lying. He did... he took advantage of me and I was um r-raped by my boyfriend. And what's sad is that I still stayed with him because I thought I loved him."

"I loved Daryl with all my heart but did he show the same emotion? No, not at all. When he got what he wanted, he changed. In front of all his friends it seemed like we were the perfect couple, but no we always fought about him talking to other girls. He thought he should've been able to do what he wanted, when he wanted. So, eventually he slept with Cordelia. And that broke me. I was shattered in pieces and there was no one to help me. I was depressed and my dad could tell something was wrong. He pestered me daily about school and friends and Daryl, but I never told."

Laney smiles sadly as Colby's thumb rubs the top of her hand. It brought her comfort but even his comfort didn't fully help bring her ease in telling her awful past.

"One night I was with Daryl at a party and saw him dancing with this girl. I tapped his shoulder and tried to talk to him not confront him but he didn't care. So I left the party and started to walk home in the rain. I was so upset and so over everything that I called my dad and told him what was going on... I told him everything... the rape included. He obviously wanted to murder Daryl and told me he would be driving home from work at that very moment to talk to me."

"After a few minutes of walking, Daryl's car pulled up beside me and he yelled at me to get in the car. But I ignored him and kept walking, which just pissed him off more. He parked the car, got out, and literally forced me into the passenger seat. As he got in the drivers seat and started to drive to my house, I could tell that he was belligerently drunk. I was so scared... he was livid. Screaming to the top of his lungs and throwing his arms everywhere, his whole car was filled with the smell of beer. And I was just sitting soaking wet, just taking it."

"He brought up the fact that I had Jesse and Xander as friends so that meant that he could have Cordelia as a friend if he wanted. And I told him that wasn't the same thing. I didn't want to be with my friends. And he started saying how he had slept with Cordelia again... about two weeks before when I had been away visiting my mom in Paris... I was so hurt... so mad. I just looked at him with a blank face and then out of nowhere I got so angry. I started to slap him where I could."

Laney let's out a shaky breath as Colby kisses her knuckles in a reassuring way, "A loud horn beeped and we both looked through the windshield and saw an 18 wheeler headed straight for us. Darryl turned the wheel to move back over into his lane, but since it was raining the car hydroplaned and went sideways making the truck slam into us. It hit the side Darryl was on then we flipped over five times before falling into a ditch. All I could hear was the echoing of a car horn. I tried to open my eyes but one of them were closed shut. When sight cleared up in my one eye, I noticed we were upside down... or at least I was. Daryl had been underneath me... beside me... and through the windshield. When we rolled into the ditch I guess the trees that broke the windshield hit so hard so fast that they had... you know."

"Laney baby you don't have to continue. It's okay..."

"No I need to.  I need to finally get this off my chest. If I don't it's going to continue to haunt me."

Laney takes a deep breath as Colby's free hand strokes her face then places a strand of her hair behind her ear.

"Take your time."

Laney nods as she wrings her hands with his.

"I screamed in terror, fear, sadness, regret, pity, and happiness. It's so wrong but I was so glad to be free from him. He was a monster. I don't wish death on anyone, but I was just so relieved."

...

"The rain had become worse and I was still stuck in the car. The weather person had warned us for days about a horrible storm but no one believed her. I was still strapped in my seatbelt and tried to get out, but it snapped and I fell on my arm instantly breaking it. It started to slowly flood around the car. So there I was injured, scarred, writhering in pain as the water started to flood throughout the car. I was in too much shock to even try and climb over Daryl's dismembered body to get through the shattered windshield and out the car... I tried over and over again to kick the passenger window and finally after ten tries it broke. I didn't even feel the glass that had made its way into my leg as I crawled out the window, because I was so scared. I finally made my way out and just laid in the muddy water as it stormed around me.
After another minute or two, I um remember hearing sirens and that's it. The last thing I did was black out."

"When I woke up, I realized I was on a hospital bed with Willow and her mom sitting in front of me. I was confused for a second but slowly started to remember why I was there and what had happened. I looked at Willow's mom and wondered why her face was so flushed and her eyes looked so red. It looked like she had been crying. Now I know she had a soft spot for me and was probably worried but the way she looked thinking back was a look of distraught."

Laney glances up for a second before clearing her throat and looking back down at her hands.

"When I moved, she noticed I was awake. One glance at me and she bursts into tears, and runs out the door. I was so confused and in shock, I had no idea what was wrong... Willow looked at me with the saddest face I've ever seen her wear... and she told me... that my dad..."

Laney sobs into her hands as a hand rubs her back.

"He um died in a car crash too. Just a few minutes after he heard about the one that I was in. Well he didn't literally die... But when he got hit, he was instantly brain dead. I found out that he was in a coma. And a month later... my mother decided to pull the plug. Willow's moms' insurance couldn't keep up with the bills and mine didn't want to. So I blamed myself for three deaths that night... Darryl, my dad, and myself. I never forgave myself for anything that happened that night. I tried so hard to forget about it. I had to go to so many psychiatrists and take so much medicine just to keep me feeling emotion and not drowning in shock, sadness, and loneliness. I died that day and I had to reinvent myself to even survive just a little bit."

"That's why you-"

Laney nods interrupting Angel as he looks at her with slight pity, "Why I ignored everyone and stayed in my room? Yes. I just needed time to myself. Monday was the date that my mom pulled the plug on my dad. And having to deal with an alive again Daryl last month did not help with my healing process."

Angel nods, "Sorry for trying to pry and texting Colby-"

Laney interrupts him by kissing his cheek. He freezes and smiles softly as she pulls back and shrugs lightly.

"You we're trying to help. I'm glad you did. I think I was trying to figure out how to cry out for help... you heard me... I won't forget that."

Angel nods, "I'm glad you're okay now. Well are you?"

"I'll be okay. It'll just take time. I was really hurt that only you, Colby, and Cordelia tried to talk to me. Willow and the others... Cordy told me they asked about me and asked why I was ignoring them. I wasn't trying to, I just needed space. But it hurt that they didn't even try to talk to me themselves. Especially Willow... she knew what this week meant to me. What that day meant. But instead she's all up under Buffy... no offense."

Angel chuckles, "None taken. I get it. I'm sorry that you feel that way. I know it's tough but it'll get better... hopefully."

Laney shrugs slightly with a small painful smile, "I just... what makes everyone go so gaga about Buffy Summers? My own sister forgot about what happened to me."

"Honestly I don't know. I really couldn't tell you, Laney. There's just something about her... but you know what?"

"What?"

"There's something about you too."

Laney rolls her eyes, "Yeah right."

"Seriously Laney. Why do you think that asshole wanted you in the first place?"

In the hallway of Angel's apartment, Buffy walks down to his door wanting to see him after leaving so hastily at the Bronze with Ford. She wanted to talk things out and figure out who was the girl he was with and why he lied. She wanted to see him, hold him...

Buffy freezes as she sees his front door open. She hears voices making her frown in confusion. She knew one voice was Angel and the other sounded so familiar. But who would've been at his house this late at night.

Peeking into the apartment, Buffy's heart drops into her stomach seeing Angel sitting on his bed... across from him is Laney.

"There's something in you. A light. You bring out the best in people. You bring people joy. You make them laugh. You make them happy."

"Sure..."

Angel grabs Laney's face with both hands making her look at him as he stares at her in seriousness, "You make me happy. Laney, I haven't been happy in centuries."

"Ange-"

"Laney Rosenberg... you are something special. You mean a lot to everyone. Me included."

Buffy watches Angel lean forward and Laney do nothing, not even a flinch as he gets closer and closer. Millions of thoughts cloud her mind. Closing her eyes, Buffy holds her chest in pain and shakes her head as a tear slides down her cheek. She quickly looks away and hurries back down the hall and out the building.

Angel kisses Laney's forehead as Laney smiles to herself, "And I'm sure Colby would say the same thing. Cordelia too. You have no idea how much of an impact you have."

Laney nods, "Thanks Angel."

Angel watches Laney's innocent smile turn into a smirk. He rolls his eyes already knowing what she was about to say.

"What?"

"You love me... we're going to be best friends forever and there's nothing you can do about it."

Angel chuckles shaking his head.

There wasn't anything he could do about it. But if he was honest, he wouldn't want to change a thing.

A/n: what did we think of this chapter? It was super long so I hope y'all enjoyed!!

Also how do we feel finally knowing about Laney and her haunting past?

Fav character?

Fav duo?

Trio?

Ships?

Future predictions?

Any special requests...