Title: Not Guilty
Fandom: BtVS
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Angel, Darla, Joyce, Buffy.
Rating: PG
Word Count: 350
Spoilers/Setting: Angel.
Summary: Angel needs to make Buffy understand he’s not the one who hurt her mom.
Content Notes: None needed.
Written For: Challenge 423: Amnesty 70, using Challenge 43: Not What It Looks Like
Disclaimer: I don’t own BtVS, or the characters.
A/N: Triple drabble and a half, 350 words.



This is exactly what Darla wanted, Angel knows that, but regardless of the temptation, the heady scent of blood in the air, he’s not going to let her win. He won’t feed from a human, hasn’t since his soul was restored by the gypsies’ curse, and he won’t start again now, no matter how much the demon inside him urges him to.

Besides, this is Buffy’s mom, and Angel came here to talk to Buffy, to explain, not to snack on her family.

Resisting the temptation is never easy, he’s like an addict craving a fix, but he can fight it, just the way he has so many times. It’s just that Buffy arrives home at exactly the wrong moment, before he’s gotten his demon side under control, and jumps to the only logical conclusion.

What can Angel tell her, this isn’t what it looks like? It’s not, but why should she believe him? She has no reason to trust him, not when he already hid from her that he’s a vampire. He’s not the one who bit her mother, but Buffy’s in no mood to stand there and listen while he explains what really happened, not while he’s right there in the kitchen, vamped out and in a very compromising position. He can’t blame her, not even when she hurls him through the window without opening it. Maybe it would be best if she did kill him. There’s no doubt in his mind that he deserves it.

But at the same time, he doesn’t want to die and leave her undefended. Buffy can take care of herself, Angel’s watched her long enough to know that, but she doesn’t know who she’s up against, and he does. After all, Darla is the one who turned him.

So he has to at least try to make Buffy listen to him. Once she knows the truth, once he’s warned her, then she can kill him, and he’ll make no attempt to stop her. He’d rather die at the hands of the girl he’s already falling in love with than any other way.


The End