Buffy's eyes went wide, going back from the eager black haired man back to Angel.

Angel shook his head then closed the door. "Lorne, I think you've heard of Buffy. Buffy, this is my.. friend.. Lorne."

"Hi," she said shyly.

"Hello!" he looked back at Angel. "Am I missing something here? The other day, like every day, you were sitting in my bar drinking your heartache over this girl.. correct?"

Angel gave an embarrassed smile. "Yes. I uh.. Fred and Gunn.. found her.."

"Good for them!" he turned back to Buffy. "No wonder this boy's been crying over you for the past few years. He isn't holding you prisoner here or something is he?" he asked as his eyes narrowed.

Buffy's widened then she laughed. "No. And maybe I'm missing something about you Angel."

He smirked and came back over to her.

"Hmm. You two work things out?" Lorne asked after a moment of watching them, almost as if nothing had happened.

Buffy looked down, unsure. Angel wasn't much better. He hoped they could.. but he knew that was hoping for a lot.

"Well you'd better. I think me and Miss.. Summers, is it?"

Buffy nodded, looking back up.

"Miss Summers and I should have a chat huh? You don't mind do you Angel?"

"Um actually.."

"Good," he came over and put his arm around the blondes small shoulders, "I'll take her down to the bar. Don't worry, I'll bring her back."

OoOoO

"You're in alot of pain, aren't you kiddo?" he asked as they drove.

Buffy nodded. "You have no idea."

Lorne smiled at her. "I'll take it he told you.."

"Well yes. Cordelia kind of said it first.. but yeah. He told me yesterday."

"Cordy told you first?"

Buffy laughed and told him the whole story of the night before.

Lorne laughed with her. "That's our girl. Well, here we are. Welcome to Caritas."

Buffy got out, looked the building over, then followed the basci stranger inside.

OoOoO

Buffy didn't know why, but talking to Lorne sort of came easy for her. She told him about the past few years, where she'd gone, what she'd done, how she felt. And he told her the equally heartbreaking tale of what Angel had been up to.

It made her feel even worse then before.

Lorne's hand reached across the table to grab hers. "You still love him, don't you?"

She nodded, trying to not cry again.

He smiled. "Then you guys gotta work this out. You're being given another chance and I think you both deserve it."

She scoffed.

"Don't be so hard on yourself, he shouldn't be either. The past is the past, you can't change, I can't change it, but you just have to move forward."

She still didn't seem so convienced and still being attacked by her own mind.

Lorne smiled again. "Get up," he told her.

"Wha.."

He stood and walked across the room, turning on some of the lights and equipment.

"What you need is a song!" he shouted gleefully. And only then did Buffy realize this was a karoke bar.

'Angel visits a karaoke bar?!'

"That's right," Lorne shouted, as if reading her mind. "And now you do too. So come on up and let's sing those blues away."

"I.. um.." she shook her head.

He raised an eyebrow then finished getting everything set up before coming back towards her.

"Honey, it's just you, me and Ramone. And I can ask him to leave. But I think you need this. And a lot of whiskey."