Chapter 1 – Run-In


Buffy Summers clutched her books to her chest as she wandered through the
crowded halls of Sunnydale High. It was her first day at the new school and
already several months into her senior year. At her old school, she had been
happy. Popular. Now, she felt like she was stuck in a fishbowl with
everyone staring at her as she made her way to her locker.

Trying to avert her eyes, she felt the shyness creep into her that she
wasn’t used to. Her mother had been killed in a car accident a few weeks
ago, and ever since then, Buffy had reverted into a much more reserved person
when she was in an unfamiliar setting.

Finally reaching her locker, Buffy looked at the combination written on the
small slip of paper in her hand. After her third unsuccessful try at
opening it, she had to repress a growl as she lowered her head in defeat.
Seeing a fist fly by her head, Buffy instinctively ducked as it struck the
door of her locker.

Spinning around in surprise, she encountered a tall brown-haired boy with a
goofy grin. “Most of these lockers just need a little persuasion of the
forceful variety,” he said, offering his hand. “I’m Xander Harris.”

“Buffy Summers,” she said with a smile of her own, shaking his hand.

“So, you’re the new girl everyone’s talking about.”

“I was hoping the staring and whispering was my imagination,” Buffy said,
depositing half of her books in the locker and slamming the door.

“Nope, that’s the consequence of moving to a one Starbucks town like
Sunnydale,” he replied as they began walking down the hall.

“Great,” Buffy said with a small grin. “Just what every new kid looks
forward to- being the daily gossip.”

“Try weekly,” Xander said with a smile. “We don’t get a lot of news by the
day.”

Buffy laughed as he reached for her schedule. “Well, you’ve got most of
your classes with me, and the ones that I’m not in, you’ve got with Willow.”

“Willow?”

“Yeah, she’s my best friend. Really nice, you two should get along just
fine.”

“Oh, that’s-“

Buffy was cut off as she turned a corner and crashed into what felt like a
wall, her books flying everywhere.

“Bloody hell, woman, watch where you’re going!”

Buffy looked up from picking up her books to stare at the leather-clad
bleach blonde who had nearly knocked her off her feet and was now glowering
at her. Standing up to her full five feet, three inches, Buffy gave him a
glare of her own. “Me? You’re the one that doesn’t know how to walk!”

She narrowed her eyes as he looked her up and down, suddenly wishing she
wasn’t wearing a skirt today as his eyes seemed to linger on her legs
longer than necessary. “Listen, Princess, you need to figure something out
real quick,” he said, a more menacing tone to his voice as he took a step
closer to her. “YOU move out of MY way when you see me coming.”

Buffy clenched her jaw as she looked over his shoulder to see his friends
chuckling. “The name’s Buffy, not Princess,” she replied, offering a
half-hearted smile. “And I’m guessing you’re about to have a rough time
because I have no intention of getting out of your way.”

Buffy roughly pushed past him, feeling moderately satisfied when his friends
moved out of her way.

“Hey.”

Buffy turned to see Xander jogging up beside her, handing her the books that
she didn’t get around to picking up. “Oh, Xander, I’m so sorry! I forgot
all about you when that jerk crashed into me.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he said, waving his hand in dismissal.

“So, who is he, anyway? Leader of the Sunnydale High Hell’s Angels?”

Xander chuckled. “You’d think so, wouldn’t you? No, he’s actually William
‘Spike’ Giles. Star of the Sunnydale High soccer team and general pain in
the ass if you’re not in his clique.”

“I guess after my little display back there, I am definitely not in the
clique,” Buffy said with a smile.

“Probably not,” Xander replied with an answering smile. “Well, this is us,”
he said, pointing to a nearby classroom.

“Let the torture begin,” Buffy said with a wry smile.

* * * * *

Spike roughly shoved both doors open to the library as he stormed in. “You
know, I really hate the bints that go to this school!”

“Shhhh,” his father shushed him as he came rushing out of his office.

“Dad, there’s no one here,” Spike said with a raised eyebrow.

“It’s still a library,” Rupert Giles said as he got closer to his son.
“Now, what’s the problem today?”

“Just some little chit, thinks she’s God’s gift or something,” Spike said,
slouching into a nearby chair.

“You mean someone has annoyed you today?” Giles asked. “I don’t believe
it.”

Spike stared at his father for a minute. Sarcasm was definitely not normal
in a conversation with him. “You feelin’ alright, Dad?”

“Yes, why do you ask?”

“No reason,” Spike replied, shaking his head.

“So, who is this girl that seemed to agitate you so much?”

“Some little princess. She plows into me and then informs me that she has
no intention of ever getting out of my way.”

“After you informed her of the very same thing, I’d wager.”

Spike knew enough to look suitably sheepish at his father’s accusation.
“She’s the new girl. I’ve been here for years- I’ve earned my place!”

“Son, this is not a Caste system,” Giles said with a sigh. “It’s a high
school. You could at least try to be nice, especially if she’s new. She’s
probably nervous.”

“Yeah, real nervous with her designer clothes and snobby attitude.”

“Should I be worried that my son knows what clothes are designer?” Giles
asked with a smile.

Spike glared at him, deciding to not even dignify the statement with a
reply. “You could try and support your flesh and blood every now and then
and not defend a girl you’ve never even met.”

“Did you say she’s new?” Giles asked with a puzzled look.

“I’ve never seen her before,” Spike answered as Giles walked over to his
desk and began flipping through papers.

“Did you happen to catch her name?”

“It was something weird.”

“People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones, SPIKE.”

Spike glared at his father. “I don’t know it was something like Bunny or
Candy. Why do you care anyway?”

“Buffy?” Giles asked, staring at a piece of paper in his hand.

“That sounds right.”

“Buffy Summers. She’s the daughter of Hank Summers.”

“So?”

“I think you should try and be nice to her.”

“And why would I want to do that?” Spike asked with a confused look as he
stared at his father.

“Just be nice to her, William.”

* * * * *


Buffy let out a heavy sigh as she walked into the cafeteria. It had been a
very long day, and it was barely even half over. Smiling when she saw Xander
and Willow waving at her from their table, Buffy began making her way over
to them.

Halfway there, and for the second time that day, she felt herself losing
balance as someone plowed into her. Turning to face the perpetrator, Buffy
found herself rolling her eyes as she, once again, began glaring at Spike
Giles. She noticed his clenched jaw as he looked up at the ceiling.

“Do you need glasses or something?” he asked, making eye contact with her.

Buffy took a deep breath, not wanting to get into a screaming match in the
middle of the cafeteria on her first day at a new school. Regardless of
what she thought of him, it wouldn’t do wonders for her reputation to be
caught yelling at one of the most popular guys in school. Unless everyone
else disliked him as much as she did. This thought almost brought a smile
to her face, but Buffy quickly remembered where she was. “Do you think
you’re so superior to everyone else that they don’t even matter when you
try and knock them over?”

“Maybe if you’d get your nose out of the air and watch where you’re going,
you wouldn’t find yourself in this position so often.”

“I’m the one with my nose in the air?” Buffy asked, gesturing to herself in
disbelief. “When you practically have an entourage following you?” She
motioned at the same group of people that were with him that morning in the
hallway.

“At least I have friends,” he said with an annoying smirk.

Buffy glared at him. “Yeah, I’m sure they’d stick with you through thick
and thin. Or at least through the next soccer game, provided that you score
the winning goal!”

Without another word, Buffy turned and made her way to the only two people
who had made an effort to be friendly to her all day.

Spike gritted his teeth as he stalked over to his table, jerking out his
chair with enough force to propel it across the room if he hadn’t had such a
harsh grip on it. “I’ll be damned if I’m going to be nice to her,” he
grumbled as he dropped into the chair.

“What’s wrong, Blondie Bear?”

Spike looked to his left to see his girlfriend Harmony sitting next to
him. “Nothing, Harm,” he said in a sulky tone.

“Spike just had another run-in with the new girl,” Riley Finn said as he sat
across the table.

“New girl?” Harmony’s whiny tone carried across the cafeteria.

Spike glanced over at Buffy’s table to see her shoot him a look, obviously
knowing that they were talking about her.

“Yeah, Buffy something,” Angel O’Rourke said, taking a seat. “Cute girl,”
he said, looking over at Buffy’s table.

“I’ll say,” Riley spoke up. “Definite potential for that one.”

Spike stared incredulously at his friends. “Are you lot insane!?”

“Come on, Spike,” Angel said. “You know you were checking her out with the
rest of us.”

“My Spikey doesn’t check out other girls,” Harmony said, not noticing the
eyes that were rolling.

“What’s the what?” Cordelia Chase asked, sitting down next to Riley as Darla
Mason sat next to Angel.

“Just talking about the new girl,” Angel said.

“I had a class with her earlier. She seemed alright, great fashion sense.
Why? Are we thinking about letting her into the group?” Cordy asked.

“We bloody well better not be,” Spike said, giving the members of the table
a look.

“Spike’s having issues with her,” Riley said when Cordelia gave them a
confused look.

“Did she put you in your place, Spike?” Darla asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Oh yeah,” Angel said with a chuckle, earning a glare from Spike. “She told
him she wouldn’t be getting out of his way anytime soon.”

“I like her already,” Cordy said with a laugh.

* * * * *

Buffy was practically running through the hallways after school. She had
stopped by the Counselor’s office to make sure her transcripts had arrived
from her old high school, and now she was running late.

Turning the corner, Buffy groaned when she saw Spike at the end of the hall,
leaning against the row of lockers. Taking a deep breath, Buffy made her
way toward the exit. She could have found another door, but she didn’t have
time.

She saw when Spike noticed her but kept her eyes averted as she got closer.

“Are you stalking me, Summers?”

Buffy turned to face him, looking slightly uneasy. “I never told you my
last name.”

“Small school. Details don’t stay quiet long.”

Buffy didn’t bother to answer- she simply made her way to the exit door.

“You never answered my question.”

“No, I’m not stalking you,” she said in an irritated voice. “I’m trying to
get home…and I’m not the one lurking in darkened hallways like some creature
of the night.”

“I’m not lurking, I’m waiting.”

“Waiting?”

“For my girlfriend,” Spike said in a tone that implied she should have
known.

“You mean someone’s actually going out with you? What kind of air-headed,
bubble brain would demean herself that much?”

Before Spike had a chance to answer, Harmony came bouncing down the hallway. “Spikey! I’m done with cheerleading practice. You wouldn’t believe how
easy it is for me to do the new cheer now.”

Buffy raised an eyebrow as she looked at him. “Never mind, you don’t need
to answer. I think I get the picture.”

Spike walked closer to Buffy, putting more distance between himself and
Harmony. “You think you’re so cute, don’t you, Summers? With your pricey
clothes and the holier than thou attitude, but you know what? I see through
all that. I see the shallow, egotistical creature that’s lying under that
polished surface.”

“You talk to me for less than five minutes, and you think you know me? Let
me tell you something, Spike, you…” Buffy trailed off as she looked at her
watch, her eyes widening as she turned around to run for the door.

“So that’s it? No snappy retort?”

“I don’t have time for you, Spike,” Buffy said, rushing out the door.





A/N Let me know if you think I should continue.

A/N I originally wasn’t going to update today, but the number of reviews made me decide otherwise. This is kind of a short chapter and I’ll try and have another one tomorrow. Thank you to all the reviews I’ve gotten so far!



Chapter 2 – Not a Clue


Spike walked into the modest, two-story house on Revello and draped his
duster on the banister as he made his way into the kitchen. His mother
Jenny was standing in front of the oven, keeping an eye on a batch of
cookies, as she looked up to smile at her son.

“Hello, sweetheart,” she said, walking over to give him a kiss on the cheek.
“Did you have a good day?”

Spike shrugged as he took his place at the kitchen island, grabbing one of
the cooling cookies off of the plate in front of him. “It was alright, I
guess.”

“Did you have a fight with Harmony?”

Spike gave his mother a look at the obvious hopeful tone in her voice. It
was no secret that Jennifer Giles disliked Harmony Kendall and obviously
thought her son could do better. “No, Mum, I didn’t have a fight with her.
I just kept running into some new chit. Literally.”

“What’s so wrong with that? You didn’t injure the poor girl, did you?”

Spike offered her a small smile. “Only in my dreams, Mum.”

“William Giles, I don’t want to hear my son talking that way.”

“She just gets under my skin,” he mumbled, staring at the tiled surface.

“Is she annoying?”

“Yeah.”

“Stubborn?”

“Yeah.”

“Irritating?”

“Yeah.”

“Pretty?”

“Yeah…wait!” Spike looked up and saw the devilish smile on his mother’s
face. “That was a trick question.”

“It worked, didn’t it? So, what’s her name?”

“Buffy.”

“Buffy,” Jenny repeated softly as she took her latest batch of cookies out
of the oven. “Sounds like an interesting girl.”

“If you mean to say spoiled, I’ll support that statement.”

“William, did you even give the girl a chance? You haven’t even known her a
day.”

“And that’s one day too many,” Spike said, walking out of the kitchen.

* * * * *

Buffy tried to enter her house as quietly as she could. Not quiet enough,
apparently.

“Buffy!”

Buffy inhaled sharply at the sound of her father’s voice. The very idea
that he was even in the house sent chills racing up and down her spine, but
knowing that he was looking for her practically had her in panic mode.

Knowing that it was best to not keep him waiting, Buffy made her way through
the huge, impersonal mansion, quickly coming to stand in front of her
father’s office. Timidly knocking on the door, Buffy jumped when the door
was wrenched open and an angry Hank Summers stood in front of her.

“Where the hell have you been?”

“I-I’m sorry. I had to talk to the guidance counselor after school.”

Hank seemed to study her for a long time before his glare deepened. “Get
out of my sight.”

Buffy wasn’t sure what had made him so angry this time but didn’t hesitate
to retreat to the front of the house. Quickly climbing the staircase, Buffy
made her way to her room, dropping her backpack in a nearby chair as she
collapsed on her bed.

Her mind flashed over the events of the day. Buffy was grateful that she
had made two new friends, even if she did have too many run-ins with the
infuriating Spike Giles. Buffy lay on her bed, repeatedly tossing her
stuffed pig Mr. Gordo into the air and catching it on every downfall.

Buffy froze when she heard footsteps approaching. Surely her father
wouldn’t seek her out when he had demanded her out of his sight less than
ten minutes ago. Hearing a soft knock on the door, Buffy breathed a sigh of
relief. Hank Summers never concerned himself with knocking. It was ‘his
house’ after all, and he could ‘go anywhere he damn well pleased.’

Jumping up from the bed, Buffy opened the door to reveal Winifred Burkle.
Fred was one of the maids in the household and the closest thing to a mother
that Buffy had these days.

“How are you, honey?” she asked with compassion evident in her voice.

“I’m okay,” Buffy said with a shrug. “It’s not that bad…today.”

Fred nodded. “How was your first day of school?”

“It was good,” Buffy said, offering a tentative smile. “I made some new
friends. I’m meeting them at the local club tonight.”

“That’s great,” Fred said with a big smile. “Be home before your father
gets back,” she warned, the smile fading from her face.

“Don’t worry,” Buffy said with a nod. “I’m not going to give him any
ammunition to use against me.”

Fred gave Buffy a quick hug. “Charles said he’ll be back a little after
midnight.”

“Thanks, Fred. And tell Gunn I said thank you.” Charles Gunn was her
father’s driver. In the few weeks since she’d moved in, the staff had made
a conscious effort to look after Buffy.

Buffy shut the door and leaned against it as Fred left. Looking around her
room, she shook her head at the irony of her life. The room was decorated
in burgundy shades, accenting the deep cherry wood of her four-poster bed,
dresser, and desk. Several windows lined the huge room, including Buffy’s
favorite place- her window seat.

The seat was covered in a velvet, burgundy cushion and looked out over the
vast grounds of Hank Summers' property. From the gardens, where every exotic
flower that could survive the California heat were planted, to the stables
and rolling pastures that were dotted with exquisite Thoroughbreds.

Hank never bothered to ride the horses, only having a few exclusively for
riding. He housed prized stallions which he used for breeding to local
racing farms. The horses were also one more way for Hank to schmooze his
fancy clients that he brought home to wine and dine from his law-firm
Summers & Pryce.

On the outside, Buffy was nothing more than a spoiled little rich girl,
perfectly polished and playing her role as the attentive daughter. But
scratch the surface, just the tiniest amount, and the glamour fell away.
She might appear to be a princess, but more than anything, she wanted her
mother back. She wanted the life that she had grown up with, in a modest
house with a warm, comforting environment. A bedroom that felt
personalized. She wanted the love and kindness that she feared she would
never have again. Yes, people thought they knew Buffy Summers…they didn’t
have a clue.

A/N For those of you who didn’t see my note in the reviews section, my computer completely crashed yesterday. Luckily, I have the updates saved to a disk, but my hard-drive had to be reinstalled and the new one (which is actually a very old one) is very slow. This is my only update today, because it takes so long for the computer to process it. I’ll try and have one tomorrow, but this hard-drive could crash at any time. I’m expecting a new computer around the middle of next week, so until then the updates will be irregular. If there are none at all, you know why. I’m sorry, believe me- I hate it more than you do, I’ve been working on it all day and come to the realization that there’s nothing I can do until I get a new computer. I promise to update as often as I’m capable of.


Chapter 3


Buffy nervously walked through the doors of The Bronze, wearing a lavender
halter with a slight shimmer to it when she moved and a pair of black
pants. Her hair fell slightly past her shoulders in a golden curtain.
Buffy looked around the popular club and spotted Willow and Xander at a
table, waving at her to get her attention.

Buffy smiled and waded through the crowd to get to her new friends, giving
them each a friendly greeting as she sat down.

“So this is the ‘it’ place in Sunnydale, huh?”

“Yeah,” Willow said with a nod. “It’s not much, but it’s got a homey
atmosphere.”

Buffy nodded in agreement as she looked around the dimly lit club. “Well, I
think I’m going to get a drink. Do you guys want anything?”

“I’m good,” Xander said with a shake of his head.

“Me, too,” Willow said, nodding. “But thanks.”

Buffy slowly made her way to the bar, feeling like a fish swimming upstream,
as she tried to squeeze through a particularly tight area.

“Bloody hell!”

Buffy squeezed her eyes shut, praying to anyone who would hear her, begging
that the voice she heard didn’t belong to the one and only Spike Giles.
Apparently no one was listening.

“I should have known it was you.”

Buffy opened her eyes and turned in the direction of the voice. Her mouth
opening slightly as she saw his t-shirt clinging to his chest as a result of
the empty cup in his hand.

“Why don’t you watch where you’re bloody going next time?” he growled,
looking at her with ice blue eyes.

“I-I’m sorry…I didn’t…”

Spike clenched his jaw, staring at the tiny blonde girl in front of him.
“Forget it,” he ground out, pushing past her, only to come face to face with
his girlfriend.

“Why are you talking to her?” Harmony asked in a haughty voice as she looked
down her nose at Buffy.

“I wasn’t,” Spike said, trying to pull the soaked fabric away from his
chest.

Harmony stared at the other girl for a minute. “What a cute outfit…last
year.”

Buffy glanced down at her clothes before sighing and turning for the bar,
narrowly avoiding knocking over another man. She stopped when she heard
Spike’s voice again.

“You know, Summers, wherever you go, I’m guessing bad things inevitably
follow.”

Buffy turned to face him, something that could only be anguish written on
her features. Blinking rapidly, trying to keep her tears at bay, Buffy
quickly began walking the other way, only stopping briefly to say a quick
goodnight to Willow and Xander, making up an excuse of a headache.

Spike watched her walk out of the club, not sure what came over her all of a
sudden. He felt remorse for something that he didn’t consciously do, and it
mad him angry at himself. His ‘inner ponce’ William was trying to come out
and make him feel guilty, but Spike gritted his teeth before turning away
from the direction that Buffy fled.

* * * * *

Buffy wandered home slowly. Her father would still be gone for several
hours, so there was no need to rush back. Hugging her arms around her thin
frame, she periodically wiped tears from her eyes, hating herself for the
weakness flowing through her.

She felt her heart rate speed up when she heard a car approach and slow
down, coming to a stop next to her.

“Buffy, right?”

Buffy turned at the sound of her name, vaguely recognizing the boy in the
car. “Who wants to know?”

She watched skeptically as he exited the car, making sure to keep a safe
distance from her. “I’m Riley Finn,” he said with a friendly smile. “I go
to Sunnydale High.”

“Oh, right,” Buffy said with a nod. “One of Spike’s lackeys.”

Riley smiled, glancing down at the ground almost shyly. “Not the way I
like to think of it, but I can see how you would get the assumption. I was
wondering if you wanted a ride?”

Buffy hesitated, looking up and down the dark street as she nervously bit
her lip.

“I promise I’m not an axe murderer or something.”

“Okay,” Buffy said softly. Riley seemed like a nice guy, and it was probably
safer than walking a mile in the dark.

Walking around the side of his car, Riley held the door open for her,
helping her into the car like a gentleman.

Very little was said as Buffy pointed out the way to her house. Pulling
through the front gates of the Summers Estate, Riley let loose with a soft
whistle.

“Nice house,” he said with raised eyebrows.

“Thanks,” Buffy murmured.

“Must be nice living here.”

Buffy shrugged. “It’s just a house.”

Riley looked at her but didn’t comment as he got out of the car.

“Thanks for the ride, Riley,” Buffy said, offering him a smile in gratitude.
“It really wasn’t necessary, but I appreciate it.”

“No problem,” he replied with a goofy smile. “Listen, Buffy…there’s this
party Saturday night that one of the guys from the football team is
throwing. I was wondering if you wanted to go.”

Buffy swallowed nervously as she glanced behind her at the imposing house.
“Can I tell you in school tomorrow?” At Riley’s quizzical look, she
continued. “I have to ask my dad.”

“Sure,” Riley said, glad that she wasn’t blowing him off.

* * * * *

Buffy wandered through the halls of Sunnydale High the next day. She was
slowly making her way to the cafeteria, not in a hurry since she never had
much of an appetite anymore.

Stepping through the doors, Buffy sighed when she saw Riley begin waving her
over to his table. Swallowing hard, she walked over to him, trying to avoid
eye contact with most of the people sitting there, especially Spike and
Harmony.

“Guys, this is Buffy,” Riley said in introduction. “Buffy, this is Angel
O’Rourke, Darla Mason, Cordelia Chase, Harmony Kendall, and I think you
already know Spike.”

Buffy offered a timid smile, wanting to make her escape as soon as possible.

“Nice shoes,” Cordelia said, looking the blonde girl up and down and
ignoring the shocked look that Harmony was giving her.

“Thanks,” Buffy said, smiling genuinely for the first time that day.

“Gucci?”

“Yeah,” Buffy said quietly.

“Of course,” Spike said, stabbing at his lunch, never making eye contact
with Buffy. “The Princess has to have the best of everything, isn’t that
right?” he asked, looking up at Buffy for the first time.

“There’s nothing wrong with that,” Cordelia said, raising an eyebrow at her
friend.

Spike wisely stayed quiet, not wanting to get into an argument with
Cordelia Chase of all people.

“So, what do you say, Buffy?” Riley asked, steering her attention back to
him.

“Yeah…it sounds good.”

“Great! The party starts at nine, so I’ll pick you up around then.”

“That’s-“

“What?” Buffy was cut off as Spike turned to Riley, staring at him as if
he’d grown two heads. “You’re going out with her?” he asked, jerking a
thumb in Buffy’s direction. “Come on, Finn, you don’t want to have to pawn
your car so the Duchess can have a good time.”

“You know what, Spike?” Buffy said, her anger finally bubbling over. “You
think you’re so clever, but let me fill you in…you’re not! Riley asked me
to go to a party, and I accepted. You may think I’m a stuck-up snob that’s
only interested in money and clothes, and that’s okay, because I have no
interest in the opinions of a guy who doesn’t even bother to get to know me
before he makes a snap judgment. You’re pathetic.”

The group at the table watched as Buffy turned and walked toward her lunch
table, many raising their eyebrows at Spike as he stared after her with
narrowed eyes.

A/N More of an insight into Buffy’s home-life in this chapter and the story takes a slightly darker turn. Nothing unthinkable, but I did feel it warranted a warning.



Chapter 4 - Interactions


Buffy was nervously going through her closet on Saturday night. She wasn’t
thinking about impressing Riley- as far as she was concerned, this was just a
friendly date. No need to send him romantic implications when she didn’t
necessarily feel that way about him. Buffy was nervous because this would
be the first night she was out of her comfort zone. Xander and Willow
weren’t planning on attending the party, and Buffy didn’t want to feel
completely dependent on staying with Riley the whole night. She was hoping
to meet some new people.

Finally making a decision, Buffy pulled out a black leather skirt and a
silky, white sleeveless shirt that was more draped in the front, showing off
just a hint of cleavage. Buffy looked at the clock and realized she was
running late, hurriedly dressed, and slipped on her shoes. Hearing the
doorbell, she smoothed her hair, which was pulled back in a loose bun with
some pieces left down to frame her face, and quickly reapplied her lip
gloss before walking downstairs.

Buffy smiled when she saw Fred talking to Riley, giving her version of the
third degree, which wasn’t much, but it was sweet that she wanted to make
sure Buffy was safe.

Riley turned to Buffy with a smile when he saw her descending the stairs.
“Wow,” he said. “You look sensational.”

Buffy blushed at the compliment and smiled back. “You look pretty good
yourself.”

Buffy saw that Fred had to restrain from clapping her hands in excitement
when Riley offered Buffy his arm. Buffy wished she would have talked to the
older woman to let her know this date wasn’t a romantic intention, merely a
friend, but she would have to do that later.

Waving good-bye, Riley led her out the door to his sports car, opening the
door for her and helping her in.

Buffy and Riley made small talk on the way to the party.

“So, whose house are we going to?”

“Parker Abrams,” Riley replied. “Have you met him?”

Buffy shook her head. “I haven’t met many people this week.”

“Well, you know me now,” Riley said, throwing a smile her way, which Buffy
returned. She really did like Riley. She didn’t feel butterflies or get
nervous around him, but he seemed like a genuinely nice guy, and she was glad she met him.

Pulling up to a large house close to Buffy’s neighborhood, Riley escorted
Buffy into the house. She had to refrain from groaning as she encountered
Spike and his girlfriend close to the door. Thankfully, Spike barely even
glanced at Buffy, giving her the once-over before turning back to his
conversation.

Buffy looked around the huge house. The foyer and the living room were
connected, leaving an open area for all of the high school students. A
curving staircase was to her right, leading to the second floor, where a
balcony ran the length of the room and several students were already dancing
and partying, to overlook the downstairs.

Riley excused himself to get some drinks as Buffy stood close to the wall,
surveying the area. She smiled when she saw Cordelia Chase walking toward
her. She knew Cordy was considered one of Sunnydale High’s resident snobs,
but the girl had been nice to her the few times they had spoken.

“Buffy,” Cordy greeted with a smile. “Glad you could make it.”

“Me, too,” Buffy said, smiling back at the taller girl. “You look great,”
she continued, looking at the red Versace dress.

“Thanks, you do, too.”

Buffy was grateful for the sincere compliment. “Are you here with anyone?”

“Not tonight,” Cordy said with a shake of her head. “I’m currently in
between boyfriends, so tonight is for Cordelia Chase to have fun and relax.
Where did Riley run off to?”

“Oh, I think he went to get us some punch.”

Before Buffy even finished talking, Riley appeared behind her with two
glasses of punch, offering one to Buffy.

“Cordelia,” Riley said with a nod in greeting. “Good to see you.”

“You, too, Riley. Well, I’m going to leave you two alone. Have a good time
tonight, Buffy,” Cordy said as she passed by them.

* * * * *

Two hours later, Buffy stood on the balcony, looking over at the party. She
had met several people tonight, but most were too drunk to even remember who
she was. Riley had disappeared about twenty minutes ago with a group of his
football buddies, and Buffy was getting increasingly bored.

The party was in full swing, but Buffy had already danced most of the night
and was soon tiring of the packed house.

“Not good to be all alone up here, pet.”

Buffy didn’t turn around as she heard the distinct British accent, but she
was surprised when she felt his warm breath caressing her shoulder. She was
even more surprised at the tingles that seemed to spread through her body.

“And why not?” Buffy asked in a much shakier voice than she intended.

Buffy felt her breathing become shallow as Spike stepped behind her, putting
one hand on each side of the railing that she was leaning against,
effectively blocking her in. She could smell the faint scent of alcohol,
but she knew that he was more sober than the majority of the house.

“You never know when some nasty might try and get a taste of you,” he
whispered.

Spike didn’t know what was coming over him. He had seen Buffy standing
alone, the way she had been most of the night, and felt himself drawn to
her. He didn’t understand why he was up here, and he really didn’t
understand why he was having to fight the urge to brush his lips over the
bare skin of her shoulder, but for some reason, she wasn’t as infuriating to
him right now.

“And that’s not you?” she asked in a whisper, trying to fight the trembling
that seemed to course through her.

“Maybe,” he replied in a husky voice.

Buffy’s brow furrowed as she looked around the crowded room. “Where’s your
girlfriend?”

“Probably off flirting with one of my teammates,” Spike said, looking over
her shoulder.

“And that doesn’t bother you?”

“Couldn’t really care less, luv.”

Buffy trembled slightly when she felt his hand gently running over her
shoulder to trail up and down her arm. “Don’t we hate each other?” she
whispered softly.

Spike smiled before leaning in close. “We can still hate each other,” he
whispered as he let his hands fall down to the hem of her skirt, his
fingertips trailing slightly underneath. “It doesn’t stop what you want.”

Buffy finally snapped out of the daze that she’d been in, spinning around to
face the arrogant man behind her with a glare. “You’re a pig, Spike! You
expect me to just jump into bed with you after the way you’ve treated me.”

“I wouldn’t throw stones, pet,” he said with an arrogant smirk.

“Yeah, I’d really want to be with a winner like you,” she said
sarcastically. “Someone who would willingly cheat on his girlfriend just
to get some action.”

Spike’s gaze hardened as he stared at her. “You don’t know anything about
me or my relationship,” he growled.

“I know more about you than you know about me,” she shot back. “And
relationship? I’m willing to bet that you two are no more than bed warmers
for each other. Just an easy fix that happened to turn into a so-called
committed relationship.”

“Tread lightly, Summers,” Spike said in a deadly tone.

“What’s the matter, Spike?” Buffy asked, widening her eyes in false
innocence. “I got a little too close to the truth, didn’t I?”

Buffy watched as Spike clenched his jaw before turning and walking down the
stairs. Buffy knew she was a little too hard on him, but her mind kept
flashing back to some of the hateful things he said to her, and she didn’t
feel as bad as she probably should have.

* * * * *

Riley dropped Buffy off, leaving her with a chaste kiss on the cheek. Buffy
quietly entered her house and jumped when she saw her father standing next
to the front door.

“Daddy!” she squeaked in surprise.

“Where were you?” Hank asked in a low voice.

“I-I told you…remember? I went out with a…with a boy from school. You said
it was okay.” Buffy hated herself for the terror in her voice.

“You’re back a little late, aren’t you?” he asked, a cool edge to his voice.

“I-it’s before my curfew,” she said softly.

“So you went to a party,” he said with a false warmth. “And how many boys
did you screw while you were there?”

Buffy’s eyes widened at the question. She shook her head as she answered,
“None, Daddy, I promise.”

Hank stared at her for a few moments before turning and walking away.
Buffy breathed a sigh of relief as she quickly ran up to her room. Shutting
the door behind her, she felt some of the tension leave her body as she
leaned against it, grateful that her father hadn’t said anything
else…tonight.

Hank Summers tried to play the role of the perfect father in front of other
people, but he had no problems degrading his daughter when they were alone.
In the few weeks since she’d moved in, Hank was certain that Buffy was the
town slut. He had no facts to base this opinion on, but it apparently made
him feel good about himself to humiliate his only child. Buffy knew that
Fred and Gunn were worried that he would start to take out his anger on her
physically, but she just told them she’d cross that bridge when she got to
it.

Hank never wanted a daughter to begin with, and he detested the idea of being
saddled with a teenager, especially when the women he brought home were not
much older than Buffy. She was a constant reminder that he was getting
older, and he hated her for that, among other things. Buffy was biding her
time until she graduated and could leave this Hell dimension that was
camouflaged by money.

Chapter 5 - Confrontations


Buffy walked through the halls of Sunnydale High Monday afternoon, searching
for her friends in the crowd as she headed for her last class of the day.
Spotting them on the other end, Buffy waved as she made her way over to
them, greeting them as she approached.

“Hey, Buffster,” Xander said, throwing an arm over Buffy’s shoulders. “How’s
my favorite girl?” Noticing the look that Buffy was throwing his way,
Xander’s eyes widened as he turned and pulled Willow to him with his other
arm. “I meant, my OTHER favorite girl.”

“Nice save, Xand,” Buffy said with a smile.

“I thought so,” he mumbled.

Buffy frowned when they neared the end of the hallway to encounter a very
heated argument between Spike and Harmony. The three friends exchanged
looks as they got closer.

“You were the one off snoggin’ some other guy, Harm, so don’t even try it.”

“I wouldn’t have if you would give me the time of day!” Harmony replied in
a high-pitched voice.

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about the fact that ever since Little Miss New Girl showed up,
you haven’t been able to have a conversation that doesn’t revolve around
her!”

Buffy blushed at the assumption that it was her. There was no other new
girl in this school as far as she knew.

“You’re blowing things out of proportion, Harm. And you’re trying to get me
off the subject, which is the fact that you were the one messing around with
someone else!”

“Don’t try that with me, Spike. I saw you at the party the other night.
You were practically having sex with her on the second floor!”

“That’s an exaggeration, and you know it,” Spike said in a low voice.

“Maybe it is, but you obviously can’t stop thinking about the little
floozy,” Harmony replied, noticing Buffy standing there for the first time
and gesturing toward her.

Buffy swallowed hard. It was bad enough that she got called every name in the book by her father, but now she had to be subjected to it at school.
Turning away from the couple, she knew she saw Spike look over at her before
continuing the argument.

Xander and Willow quickly chased after Buffy, who was busy trying to fight
back the tears in her eyes.

“Buffy, don’t listen to that vacuous tramp,” Willow said, earning a look
from both of her friends for her unusual words. “Don’t look at me like
that- you know I’m right, Xander.”

“Yeah, she is right, Buff. I mean, Harmony doesn’t have a coherent thought
in her head.”

“Guys, I’m okay, don’t worry about me,” Buffy said, offering a small smile
of gratitude as she continued walking.

* * * * *

Buffy walked toward her locker after the final bell had rung, only to be
encountered by a very angry man in a leather duster.

“Hope you’re happy, Summers,” Spike said in a low tone.

“About what?” Buffy asked with a skeptical expression.

“Thanks to you, my girlfriend broke up with me.”

“Thanks to me?” Buffy asked in disbelief as she pointed to herself.

“Yeah, you!”

“Don’t even start with me, Giles,” Buffy said, lowering her own voice to a
menacing level. “I never forced you to try and come on to me at that stupid
party! I was minding my own business when you decided if you gave me a
little sweet talk, I’d just offer myself to you. You have a lot to learn
about women.”

“Maybe I do,” Spike replied. “I just thought I’d see if you were trying to
turn over a new leaf since your reputation preceded you.”

“What?” Buffy asked in confusion.

“Oh, you mean you didn’t know?” Spike asked with mock sincerity. “Yeah, the
entire school knows about what you were like in L.A. You didn’t think you
could keep your shady past a secret, now do you?”

Buffy stared at Spike for a long minute before turning and walking away.
She had plenty of quick retorts for him, but it wasn’t even worth it. He
wasn’t even worth it.

Spike watched the petite girl walk away, feeling guilty for such a low blow.
He always opened his big mouth, but it was infuriating to know that
Harmony had called it quits, and it was, in fact, his fault. He knew he
shouldn’t have taken it out on Buffy, but he was ready to lash out at
anybody, and she had the misfortune of being the first one he came across.

With a heavy sigh, Spike turned around and groaned when he looked into the
angry eyes of his father.

“Son,” Giles said with venom evident in his voice. “Might I have a word?”

* * * * *

Spike was surprised that he wasn’t being dragged into his home by his ear
when he and Giles walked through the front door.

“Sit down,” Giles said, pointing toward the couch as he walked out of the
room.

Spike felt like he was five years old again, as he sat down. His father
wouldn’t even let him drive home, lecturing him the entire way about
propriety and appropriateness in proper conversation.

He sighed as his mother and father walked into the room.

“Rupert, what’s going on?” Jenny asked as she looked at her son sitting on
the couch like a scolded child.

“He’s your son,” Giles said, leaving the room again. “I’ll let him tell
you.”

Jenny raised an eyebrow as she looked at Spike. “Wow, you really must have
screwed up if you’re ‘my’ son.”

Spike offered his mother a small smile before clasping his hands in front
of him and biting his lip.

“What’s going on, William?” Jenny asked softly, sitting down next to Spike.

“I’m an idiot, Mum,” he said, looking at the floor. “I told a girl a rumor
I heard about her, and Dad overheard, and now…”

“Why would he get mad about that? You were just trying to inform a girl
about something.”

“More like…using it against her in an argument,” he said, looking up at her
with a sheepish expression.

“William,” Jenny said in a reprimanding voice. “You were raised better than
that. Why would you do it?”

“Harmony and I broke up,” he said softly.

“Really?” Jenny asked, trying to keep the obvious glee out of her voice.

“I just happened to come across Buffy and-“

“The girl that you keep running into?”

“Yeah, and I started an argument with her because she happened to be there.”

“William-“

“I don’t need a lecture, Mum. I know I screwed up.”

“Yes, you did,” she said softly. “Is there any specific reason you would
have started an argument with that particular girl?”

“She’s the reason Harmony broke up with me,” Spike said, hanging his head.

Jenny suppressed a smile- she liked this girl even more. “And why was
that?”

Spike took a deep breath before explaining. “Harm thought I was flirting
with her or wanting to be with her instead or something like that.”

“And do you?”

"Do I what?" Spike asked, looking over at his mother.

"Would you rather be with her?"

Spike was all ready with a resounding ‘No’, but he couldn’t get the word to
leave his throat.

Jenny softly patted her son’s arm as she stood. “Maybe you should think
about that, William.”

* * * * *

Buffy quietly let herself into the house. Her father probably wasn’t there
anyway- he was usually at work this time of day, but there were the
occasional surprises. Walking up the stairs, Spike’s voice kept echoing
inside her head, ‘Your reputation preceded you.’

Walking into her room, Buffy felt anger begin to take over at the callous
use of his words.

“What does he know?” she muttered to herself. “He thinks he’s such an
expert on women. He thinks he knows me, but he doesn’t know a damn thing!”
she finished as she forcefully pulled her books out of her bag, throwing
them down on her desk.

* * * * *

Buffy did her homework, finishing it in just under two hours, when she heard
the door open behind her. Briefly squeezing her eyes shut, Buffy quickly
turned and faced her father. “Hi, Daddy,” she said softly.

“What are you doing?” her father asked, not bothering to greet his daughter
as he looked over her shoulder to the work on her desk.

“Just finishing up with my English homework.”

“You keeping your grades up?”

“Yes, sir.”

“We’re expected to attend a dinner party tomorrow night.”

“A school night?”

“Did I stutter?” Hank asked, his gaze hardening.

“No, sir,” Buffy replied quietly.

“Not that I want you to go,” Hank continued. “But it’s part of the Mayor’s
reelection campaign, and he wants to prove that family values are important.”

‘He’s obviously never seen this so-called family,’ Buffy thought but wisely
kept her mouth shut.

"Be ready to go by seven,” Hank said, walking out the door before turning
back to face her. “And Buffy…I don’t want you coming on to every man in the
room.”

Buffy felt tears spring to her eyes as she watched the door close behind
him. The first night that she had arrived, Hank had been hosting a party.
Buffy had the unfortunate experience of meeting some of his colleagues,
including the revolting Ethan Rayne.

Ethan had made passes at Buffy all night long, even when she was around her
father. Hank didn’t seem to notice or care until all his guests left for
the evening when he turned on his daughter, accusing her of being a whore and
wanting to sell herself to the highest bidder.

It wasn’t Buffy’s first experience with Hank’s dark side, but it was the
first time he had so blatantly accused her of something. To an outsider,
Buffy had only been there for a few short weeks. From Buffy’s point of
view, she had been living in this house for an eternity.

* * * * *

Buffy dressed in a black silk halter dress the next night. The hem of the
dress fell to the floor with a slit on one side that showed a generous
amount of her tanned leg while still leaving a lot to the imagination.

Styling her hair in an elegant chignon, Buffy checked her make-up before
heading downstairs. She was five minutes earlier than she needed to be, but
that wasn’t enough to impress her father, who just raised an eyebrow upon
seeing her before turning and walking out the door.

Buffy smiled when she saw Fred wave good-bye from the entrance to the dining
room. Buffy waved back and walked out the door, feeling relief when she saw
Charles Gunn standing next to the Rolls Royce and holding the door open for
her.

“Thanks, Gunn,” she whispered as she walked past him.

“You look beautiful, Buffy,” Charles said softly with genuine care in his
voice. “Try and have fun tonight, okay?”

“I’ll try,” she said before getting into the car.

* * * * *

Ten minutes later, Buffy was walking into the Mayor’s mansion on her
father’s arm. It almost made her sick being this close to him. Her nerves
were practically shattered as Richard Wilkins came to greet them.

“Hank, it’s always good to see my favorite lawyer,” Wilkins said with the
suave attitude that kept him in office. “And who is this exquisite young
lady?”

“Richard Wilkins, meet my daughter, Buffy,” Hank said, putting on his false
pride as the Mayor shook Buffy’s hand.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, my dear.”

“You, too, Mr. Mayor,” Buffy said with a smile.

“Well,” Wilkins said. “I must be off to greet the rest of my guests, but
Hank, I expect to talk to you later.”

Buffy followed her father into the ballroom of the mansion, surprised when
she felt herself nearly toppling over in her heels.

Turning around, Buffy’s mouth dropped open when she saw Spike standing
behind her, an equally surprised expression on his face.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

Spike stared at her for a moment as if he wasn’t sure it was her before
answering. “My Dad is friends with the Mayor. He always drags me along to
these things. You?”

“Same,” Buffy said softly when she noticed the older, attractive couple
walking up behind Spike.

“Son, aren’t you going to introduce us to this lovely young woman?”

“Sorry, Dad,” Spike mumbled, briefly taking his eyes away from Buffy as he
looked over his shoulder. “Buffy Summers, meet my parents, Rupert and Jenny
Giles.”

Buffy smiled as she shook hands with Rupert before turning to the friendly
woman to her right. Jenny surprised both Spike and Buffy by enveloping
Buffy in a warm hug. “I’ve heard so much about you,” she said softly as she
pulled away to look at Buffy.

“I don’t know if that’s good,” Buffy replied with a smile.

“Oh, it was,” Jenny said, laughing when she saw Buffy’s skeptical look.
“You have to read between the lines.”

Buffy was about to respond when she heard her father calling out to her from
across the room. The Giles family all noticed the crestfallen look on
Buffy’s face before she turned and motioned to her father that she would be
right there. Turning around, Buffy pasted a fake smile on her face as she
looked at the two adults. “It was a pleasure meeting you, Mr. and Mrs.
Giles.”

“Oh, please just call me Giles,” he said with a wave of his hand.

“And I’m Jenny. None of this Mrs. Giles business.”

Buffy smiled at the warmth that the woman seemed to radiate as she began to
walk away. She gave a quick nod to Spike, who was still staring at her,
before making her way over to her father.

“Who was that?” Hank asked in a low tone as he pulled Buffy to a more
secluded area.

“Rupert and Jenny Giles.”

“The librarian at your school.”

Buffy shrugged, even though it wasn’t technically a question. “And the
other one?”

Buffy turned and noticed that the Giles family were all discreetly watching
her interaction with her father. “That’s their son, Spike.”

“Spike,” Hank said with a scoff. “Sounds like a guy you’d date.”

“I’m not dating him,” she replied, trying to keep the defiant tone out of
her voice, to no avail.

“No?” Hank asked with a disbelieving tone. “I guess he’s just one of your
conquests then.” Buffy visibly flinched at the statement as Hank
continued. “Don’t embarrass me tonight, and don’t even think about talking
to any of my clients or coworkers.”

“Dad, I wasn’t-“

“And make sure you don’t go slutting around in your hooker dress, either.”

“You bought it for me.”

Buffy realized her mistake as soon as the words were out of her mouth. Yes,
she was proud of herself for standing up to the man, but pride had nothing
on fear.

Hank roughly grabbed Buffy’s arm, apparently not caring who saw, as he
spoke. “Don’t you dare speak to me in that tone, young lady.”

“I’m sorry, I was just meaning that it was in with all the dresses that were
there when I moved in.”

Hank let go of her as he took a few steps away. “Don’t test me, little
girl,” he said in a low tone. “You are nothing to me.”

Buffy watched as her father turned and walked away. She swallowed the lump
in her throat as she made her way to the open French doors at the back of
the room, needing a few minutes to herself.

Once outside, Buffy took in deep gulps of the cool night air as she looked
at the elaborate patio, leading down to a beautiful swimming pool with
flowers floating on the glassy surface.

“Are you okay?”

Buffy turned and was surprised when she encountered Jenny standing next to
her, with a sympathetic look on her face.

“You saw?” Buffy asked, already knowing the answer.

“Yeah,” Jenny said, resisting the urge to take the tiny girl in her arms and
give her some much needed mothering.

“I’ll be fine,” Buffy said with a firm nod.

“Buffy, are you sure you’re safe where you’re living?”

“I’m safe,” Buffy said, trying to put enough resolve into her voice to make
it sound more believable. “Don’t worry about me. I can handle whatever
comes my way.”




A/N I know Spike's not very likeable right now, but he will have some redeeming qualities later, I promise :-) Thanks for reading!

A/N I combined two chapters, so I don't think there will be an update tomorrow. I wanted to give everyone a little bit of what they've been waiting for.




Chapter 6


Buffy sat next to her father in the elaborate ballroom as she played with
the food on her plate. She wasn’t all that hungry, but it wasn’t like she
could get up and leave whenever she felt like it. Looking up, Buffy nearly
dropped her fork when she saw Spike carefully watching her. He was sitting
across the table and a little further down, but his blue eyes seemed to be
penetrating into her.

Spike watched Buffy carefully as she moved the food around her plate. He
noticed she didn’t eat much of anything as she seemed to be preoccupied.
He offered her a slight smile as she looked up, directly into his eyes,
before Spike turned back to his own meal.

Spike had seen his mother go outside to talk to Buffy, but she refused to
tell him anything when she came back inside. Now, as everyone finished
their dinner and began leaving the table, Spike found himself almost drawn
to Buffy.

“Care to dance, pet?” Spike asked as he walked up behind her.

Buffy whirled around to face him, surprise written all over her features.
“Why would I want to do that?” she asked in an icy tone.

Spike didn’t hesitate as he wrapped his arms around Buffy, pulling her close
to him as they began to sway to the beat. “Because it’s so easy,” he
whispered, sending chills up and down her spine as his fingertips trailed
along her back.

“Okay then,” Buffy replied in a voice barely above a whisper. “Why would
you want to do that?” Spike pulled back slightly to look into her eyes
questioningly as Buffy continued. “Do you just want to find out if the
rumors that ‘preceded’ me are true?”

Understanding dawned on Spike as he turned away from her, not sure what to
say.

“That’s it, isn’t it?” Buffy asked, pulling away from him. “You’re all
bitter because your girlfriend left you, and now you’re looking for a quick
fix.”

“Did I say that?” Spike said in a neutral tone as he tried to pull her
closer.

Buffy evaded his arms as she stared at him. “I’m not some replacement for
your Barbie Doll wannabe. I don’t know what you saw in her, because from
what I’ve been told, she’s gotten friendly with every member of every sports team at
Sunnydale High.”

“Be quiet, Summers,” Spike said through gritted teeth.

“Why? Does the truth hurt, Spikey? Knowing that you weren’t enough for
her?”

Spike saw red as he took a step closer to Buffy. “You know what?” he said
in a deadly calm whisper. “The truth is, you’re not enough for me.”

Spike felt the anger radiating off of him as he walked away.

Buffy watched him go, feeling upset and guilty at the same time. Why did
she and Spike always manage to bring out the worst in each other?

“Care to dance?”

Buffy turned and was shocked to see Rupert Giles standing behind her,
extending his hand. “Thank you,” she said softly.

Giles kept an appropriate amount of distance between himself and Buffy as
they began moving to the music. “Buffy, you’ll have to forgive my son,”
Giles said, looking across the room, where Spike was trying to discreetly
look their way. “He has a bad habit of putting his foot in his mouth, and I
feel that he’s effectively done that tonight since he stormed off the way he
did.”

“It wasn’t his fault, Giles,” Buffy said. “I just bring it out in him, I
guess.”

“I’m sure that’s not true,” Giles said with a gentle smile.

“It really is,” Buffy replied with a nod. “Spike’s not the only one who
puts his foot in his mouth all the time.”

* * * * *

Buffy walked into her English class the next day with a heavy heart. She
had to listen to a forty-five minute lecture from Hank Summers the previous
night about the proper etiquette at parties and many more things that Buffy
would never feel comfortable thinking of again.

The source of the problem, being that Buffy danced with not one, but two
men. One of which was married. Never mind that it was in the most innocent
of contexts, and never mind that Hank himself had been dancing with girls
who were barely even Buffy’s age. No, the fault and the blame always lay
with his daughter.

Buffy barely even offered a greeting to Willow as she took her seat,
propping her head up with her hands as she waited for the teacher to start
class.

Nearly an hour later, Buffy was bored out of her mind as Mr. Green repeated
the instructions for their next project.

“Okay,” he said. “Now that everyone knows what they are supposed to be
doing, you’re going to be paired up to complete the project.”

Buffy and Willow each looked at each other, silently confirming that they
would work together.

“And I’ve decided to pair off the partners,” Mr. Green continued, as he
began reading from a list in his hand.

Buffy listened as the names of the students dwindled down, silently begging
that she wouldn’t be put with the peroxide pest that sat in the back row.

“William Giles and Buffy Summers.”

Buffy narrowly avoided beating her head on the desk as the names were
uttered.

“Alright,” Mr. Green said a few minutes later. “Now that you know who you
are partnered with, you have until the week before Christmas vacation to
finish, so I suggest you get started on it sooner rather than later.”

As the bell rang, Buffy practically bolted to the front of the room, with
Spike right behind her.

“Mr. Green,” Buffy said, reaching his desk first. “You can’t expect me to
work with him.”

“I can, and I do,” Green said with a pleasant smile.

“Sir, with all do respect, I don’t think Summers and I are the best choice
to be partners for this,” Spike said.

“And why is that?” Green asked, leaning back in his chair and crossing his
arms over his chest as he awaited an answer.

“Because one of us will end up killing the other,” Spike replied in an
honest tone. “And I don’t want to go to prison for murder.”

Buffy glared at him before turning back to the teacher. “I would be
perfectly happy working by myself on this,” she offered in an overly hopeful
tone.

“Nope,” Green replied. “My decision has been made. Maybe this project will
do you two some good.”

“But him?” Buffy said, jerking her thumb in Spike’s direction.

“Yes,” he replied. “We’re done now.”

Both Buffy and Spike gave a deep sigh as they turned and walked out of the
room.

“Well, this is just great,” Buffy muttered as they stepped into the hallway.

“I’m not too thrilled about it either, Princess,” Spike said in a sardonic
tone as he glanced over at the small girl. “So, when do you want to get
started on this? The sooner we start, the sooner it’s over.”

“I guess we could work on it tonight,” Buffy mumbled in defeat. “How about
your house?”

“No can do, Princess- Mum’s having some friends over tonight. I’ll just
come to your place.”

“N-no, that’s okay, why don’t we-“

“It’s not a problem, Buffy,” Spike said, cutting her off. “I’ll stop by
around four.”

“Alright,” Buffy said with a resigned sigh as Spike turned to walk away.
“Do you even know where I live?” she called after him.

“No worries,” Spike said as he turned around. “Biggest house
in town…I think I can find it.”

“Yeah,” Buffy mumbled, already hoping that her father would be working late.
She didn’t even want to think what his reaction would be to someone of the
opposite sex stopping by, no matter how innocent the situation.

* * * * *

Buffy nervously paced through the foyer of her house later that day. She
had changed into a pair of jeans and a black sweater, deciding it would be
more appropriate than her skirt that she’d worn to school.

Looking at the clock, Buffy noticed that it was already a few minutes past
four, and her anger was beginning to rise.

“The least he could do is be on time,” she mumbled as she resumed pacing,
seconds later hearing a knock on one of the double doors.

Buffy ran for it, throwing it open to reveal a very smug-looking Spike
standing on the other side. “Nice house, Princess,” he said in a
patronizing tone. “Come with its own staff, does it?”

Buffy had to suppress a groan as Fred walked around the corner from the
dining room.

“Buffy, I…oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t know you had company.”

“That’s okay, Fred,” Buffy replied. “Spike’s just over here to work on a
school project- don’t worry about it.”

“Aren’t you going to introduce me, pet?” Spike asked Buffy with a smirk.

Buffy sighed. “Winifred Burkle, meet Spike Giles. Spike, this is Fred.”

“Pleasure to meet you, may I take your coat?” Fred asked.

“Uh, no, that’s alright.”

“Okay then. Buffy, I’ll be in the kitchen if you need anything.”

“Thanks, Fred,” Buffy said softly.

“So, you have a maid, huh?” Spike asked, looking over at Buffy. “I can’t say
I’m surprised. It’s not like I expected you to lift one of your pretty
little manicured fingers to help.”

“Shut up, Spike! You don’t know what I do or how I help out, so why don’t
you keep your preconceptions to yourself, because you don’t even know what
you’re talking about.”

Spike raised an eyebrow as Buffy turned and walked down a nearby hallway.
With a heavy sigh he followed her, coming to a stop at one of the doors at
the end. Buffy quickly pushed it open and walked through, not bothering to
check and see if Spike was behind her.

Spike walked through the doorway a moment later, looking at the vast room he
was standing in. It was almost the size of the entire downstairs of his
house. Oriental rugs lined the hardwood floor with brown leather sofas
sitting in the middle of the room, accented by the mahogany end tables and
coffee table. Adorning the walls were expensive art, which Spike had a
feeling weren’t reproductions.

Wandering around the room, Spike stopped in front of a particularly
extraordinary painting.

“Renoir,” he murmured as he stared at the beautiful work.

Buffy looked up in surprise as she slowly walked over to stand next to him.
“You know his work?”

“Yeah…my Mum, she’s a fan of the Impressionist painters- Monet, Bazille,
Renoir…among others.”

“It is beautiful,” she said softly as she stared at it for a moment longer.

“Kind of expensive.”

Spike realized his mistake the moment the words were out of his mouth. He
wasn’t meaning to bring up the sensitive subject, merely commenting on how
the painting would be almost priceless, but of course, he’d said it wrong.

Buffy’s features hardened as her gaze dropped to the ground. “I guess so.
I really wouldn’t know since it belonged to my grandfather.”

“Buffy, I’m-“

“Don’t,” Buffy said, holding up her hand as she looked into his eyes. “It’s
not important anymore. You obviously aren’t going to change your opinion
about me, so I may as well agree with you.”

“Buffy-“

“Spike, my father has a lot of money. A LOT of money,” she reiterated.
“So, yes, I probably appear to be the spoiled little rich girl. Let’s just
get this project finished so we don’t have to go through this anymore.”

Spike watched as Buffy turned and walked over to the couch to begin their
assignment. With a heavy sigh, Spike followed her, choosing to sit next to
her instead of on the other couch. He noticed as Buffy tensed slightly when
he sat down, but she soon turned back to their work.

* * * * *

Over an hour later, Spike threw his head back to rest on the back of the
couch, exhaling loudly as he shut his eyes. He and Buffy had gone over
every detail of what they needed to do, and he was already exhausted by
thinking about all the work they would have in the next few weeks.

Buffy mimicked Spike’s movements as she stretched her arms over her head,
causing Spike to glance at her out of the corner of his eye. He noticed the
exposed skin of her taut stomach as her shirt rode up and was surprised as
he felt a slight movement in his groin.

Spike quickly looked away, frowning. He had never had any type of reaction
when seeing a little bit of skin. Shaking his head slightly, he began to
gather his things together.

“I’ll talk to you tomorrow at school. We can work out when we’re going to
do the rest of the assignment. I’d rather it be sooner than later,” Spike
said, looking into Buffy’s eyes and noticing the brilliant colors that
seemed to dance in them for the first time.

Buffy opened her mouth to respond when she heard the door to the room open.
Without looking up to see who entered, she felt the trembling begin in her
stomach and spread throughout her body.

Spike looked at her in confusion before turning and standing to greet the
older man that he vaguely recognized as Buffy’s father.

“Mr. Summers,” Spike greeted, shaking her father’s hand. “Nice to meet you,
I’m William Giles.”

Spike saw Buffy turn to look at him upon hearing his name.

“You, too,” Hank said in what Buffy recognized as a fake voice. He used it
whenever talking to someone who wasn’t her. “Buffy,” he said, motioning
for his daughter. “This way.”

Buffy tried to calm her breathing as she stood to follow him out of the
room. “I’ll be right back,” she mumbled to Spike who was still looking at
her with some unease, brought on by her current mood.

Buffy walked into the hall with trepidation, pulling the door shut behind
her as she looked up to see Hank standing further away. Walking toward him,
she hung her head in defeat, hating herself for so many things. Not the
least of which was being born Hank Summers’ daughter.

“What the hell are you doing?” he asked in a menacing tone.

“We’re working on a school project,” Buffy said, knowing that saying
anything would be futile, but saying nothing would be even more damaging.

“I’m so sure,” Hank said in a sarcastic voice. “What else were you
‘working’ on, Buffy?”

She stayed quiet, surprised when she felt her arm grabbed in a vice-like
grip.

“You’re quite the little slut, aren’t you?” he asked in a wicked tone.
“You’re a whore, just like your mother was!”

Buffy’s eyes snapped up to meet his. “Don’t you talk about her,” she said
in a low voice that disguised her fear.

“I’ll do and say whatever the hell I want,” Hank said, his voice rising.
“You’re my daughter.”

“Your daughter?” Buffy asked in disbelief. “You never even wanted to have
me! It was Mom who raised me. And turning out like her would be a hundred
times better than turning into you.” She noticed the tick in his jaw but
felt the power surge through her at finally standing up to him. “You call
me a whore, but you know what? You’re describing yourself!”

Buffy jumped and let out a yelp as she felt his fist impact the wall next to
her head as Hank lowered his head to look her in the eye. “You’re just
giving me a reason to send you away. Is that what you want, Buffy? To live
in some group home until you’re eighteen and they throw you out in the
street?”

Buffy’s eyes narrowed as she stared at him. “What about your ‘family
values,’ Father? It wouldn’t look good for the flawless Hank Summers to
ship his only motherless child away because he never wanted her to begin
with.”

Hank gritted his teeth as he looked at the small girl. “I don’t want to see
you,” he said in a menacing tone. “I don’t want to know you’re here. Stay
out of my way.”

Buffy watched as he walked away. “That’s what I’ve been trying to do,” she
said as he turned the corner.

Taking a deep breath, Buffy turned and walked back to the den, opening the
door to see Spike standing there with an unreadable expression. “You should
probably go,” she said softly.

Spike didn’t answer her as she walked past him. He watched as she began
gathering her things together before he turned and shut the door.

“Spike-“

“Does that happen a lot?”

Buffy shut her eyes, humiliation and shame filling her. “How much did you
hear?”

“Enough,” he said softly as he walked toward her.

Buffy looked down at the ground as she felt her chin begin to quiver.
“Spike, I know you hate me,” she said quietly, never raising her eyes from
the floor. “But…please don’t tell anybody about this. Say whatever you
want to me, but please-“

Buffy was cut off as she felt herself wrapped in a strong embrace. Spike
pulled her firmly against him, feeling her clutching at his shirt as she
buried her face in his chest and finally let her tears fall.

Buffy hadn’t had this kind of comfort in so long, she wasn’t about to turn it down.

Spike felt his heart wrench as he ran his fingers through her silky hair,
lowering his head until his lips were level with her ear. “I don’t hate
you, Buffy,” he whispered. “I'm here...I'll be here."

Chapter 7


Spike walked through his front door with a heavy heart. He had stayed at
Buffy’s for a few more minutes before she insisted that it would be best if
he left. He felt guilty for being the cause of putting Buffy through so
much pain, but she assured him Hank would have found something to say to
her regardless of whether he’d been there or not.

“Hi, honey,” Jenny said with a smile as she walked into the living room.

“Mum,” he said in a forced greeting.

“William, what’s wrong?” she asked as Spike sat down in a chair.

“Mum, I think…I think I have a friend who might be in trouble.”

“What kind of trouble?” Jenny asked, the worry evident in her voice.

“Trouble at home.”

“Can you tell me who this friend is?”

“No,” Spike said quietly, shaking his head. “I can’t…not right now, anyway.
I just…I’m worried, Mum.”

“Honey, is this friend in danger?”

“I don’t know,” he said softly. “I don’t think so…not yet.”

“Then be a friend,” Jenny said as Spike raised his eyes to hers. “Be there
for anything. Talk and listen and just be a friend. But honey, if this
gets dangerous, I want you to tell me.”

“Thanks, Mum,” Spike said, offering her a grateful smile as the front door
opened. Spike stood up as his father walked into the house. Walking over
to him, Giles jumped slightly at the unexpected hug his son gave him before
hugging him back.

“What was that for?” Giles asked with a smile as Spike stepped away.

“For being the dad that everyone should have,” he said quietly before
turning and going upstairs.

Giles turned to Jenny. “Do you know what brought that on?”

Jenny looked at the empty stairs, hearing Spike’s door close quietly.
“Rupert, I think we need to talk.”

* * * * *

“Buffy!”

Buffy turned around when she heard her name and was more than a little
surprised to see Spike jogging toward her. “Hi, Spike,” she said with
uncertainty.

“How are you?” he asked in concern.

Buffy glanced around before taking a deep breath and answering him.
“Spike, don’t treat me like glass- I’m not going to break.”

“I was just-“

“I know,” Buffy replied. “And I appreciate it…but the fact is, this has
been going on for a while, and there’s no reason for you to act different.”

Spike felt the guilt flood through him as he remembered past conversations
with the girl in front of him. “When do you want to work on the project?”
he asked, deciding it would be best to change the subject.

“Tonight’s fine, just…not at my house.”

“How about mine? I can drive us after school and then take you home later.”

“Okay,” Buffy said with a nod. “I’ll see you later.”

* * * * *

“Bye, Wills,” Buffy called as Willow walked away after their last class.

“Ready to go, luv?”

Buffy jumped at the voice behind her, turning around to face Spike.

“Sorry,” he said, looking guilty. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“I’m okay. Let’s go,” she said with a soft smile.

Buffy felt a chill run up and down her spine when she felt Spike’s hand on
the small of her back, guiding her out of the building and into the parking
lot. She smiled when Spike opened the door for her. “Thanks.”

“No problem, luv.”

Both stayed quiet, listening to the radio as Spike drove. Buffy looked up
as Spike pulled into a driveway. As she got out of the car, she smiled
slightly as she followed Spike up to the front porch.

“It’s not much,” he said, opening the front door and leading her inside.
“But it’s home.”

Buffy looked around the house. It seemed to exude a warm, comforting
feeling. “It’s perfect,” she said softly, wandering around to look at the
pictures that seemed to cover every surface, of the family on vacations and
at birthday parties. Some showed Spike growing up, while others showcased
Giles and Jenny, whether it was at their wedding or more recently.

“See anything interesting?” Spike asked with a smile.

Buffy whirled around to face him. “Sorry, I was just-“

“It’s okay, Buffy. Mum likes to display every picture that’s taken. We’ve
finally talked her out some of them, but she still insists that it adds a
more personal touch to the house.”

“She’s right,” Buffy agreed softly.

Both turned when they heard a door at the back of the house close.

“William? Are you home?”

“It’s me, Mum,” Spike called, guiding Buffy toward the kitchen.

“William, I was wondering if you- oh! Buffy, I’m sorry. I didn’t know you
were here.”

“Hello, Mrs. Giles.”

“I told you, it’s Jenny,” his mother replied with a smile.

“We’re just going to work on our English project. Was there something you
needed?” Spike asked.

“No, you two go right ahead. It was good seeing you again, Buffy,” Jenny
replied with a warm smile.

“You, too, Mrs…Jenny.”

“We’ll be in my room, Mum.”

“Okay, dear, let me know if you need anything.”

Buffy followed Spike up the stairs, surprised by what she just witnessed.
She watched as Spike walked to a door at one end of the hall and motioned
her to follow him. She walked into the room, that was surprisingly clean
for a teenage boy to be living there.

“So…your mom doesn’t care that you bring a virtual stranger up to your
bedroom?” Buffy asked with a raised eyebrow.

“She trusts me,” Spike said, throwing his backpack onto his bed before
turning around to face Buffy with wide eyes. “Buffy, I’m sorry! I didn’t
mean-“

“Spike, it’s okay,” Buffy said with a shrug. “My father doesn’t trust me.
It’s not like it’s a big secret…well, not where you’re concerned at least.
Maybe we should…”

“Yeah, let’s get to work.”



A/N This chapter was going to run a little too long, and since I wasn’t planning on posting at all today, I’ve decided to split it up into two parts. A little bit of Spuffyness in the next one. Thank you for all the terrific reviews, they are the only reason I decided to post this today.

A/N Okay, big Author’s Note coming up. I have had numerous e-mails and quite a few reviews asking why I don’t post a full chapter if it’s finished. It’s quite simple- I am constantly rewriting. In addition to writing new chapters, I am going back and rereading what I wrote- making sure it all blends together, I wasn’t too harsh with the characters, trying to get them as close to their TV counterparts as possible. But I also pay close attention to the reviews and while I always stay close to what I think the story should be, I take them into consideration for future chapters. For instance- if the majority thinks the recent chapter was too sappy, harsh, etc. I tone down the next chapter. I know it’s frustrating, but contrary to popular belief, I don’t have either of my WIP’s finished. In fact, I’ve had a major case of writer’s block with both of them and we’re closing in on the chapters that I can’t seem to get past. Soooo it’s either shorten some of the chapters or have an indefinite wait with no updates. I am currently over my writer’s block for Remember When so even as you are reading this, I am probably staring at a blank computers screen, trying to keep Intimate Enemies fresh and entertaining. Wish me luck- and I really do appreciate every review and e-mail I get. Oh, and I just wanted to let everyone know, I will NEVER leave a WIP unfinished. Just thought a few of you needed a little reassurance-now why are you still here? Go…read…review :-)



Chapter 8


Buffy closed her notebook two hours later before running her fingers
through her hair and breathing out a sigh. Looking up to see Spike watching
her, she gave a nervous smile. “What?”

“Uh…nothing…it’s nothing,” Spike replied, shaking his head.

Buffy frowned, getting up from her chair to move over to the bed and sit
next to him. “What is it?”

Spike looked up into her emerald eyes, feeling himself getting lost in them.
“Can I ask you a question?”

Buffy glanced down at her hands, biting her lip nervously, before looking up
at him again. “I guess,” she said softly.

“What happened to your mum?”

Buffy paused a minute before answering. “Car accident,” she mumbled, wringing
her hands together as she looked down at them.

Spike gently reached out and tilted Buffy’s chin up to look at her. “I’m
sorry,” he whispered. He jumped slightly when he found himself with Buffy
in his arms but quickly wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on
the top of her head as he held her. Spike was relieved that she wasn’t
crying- she just appeared to be holding onto him.

After a few minutes, Spike maneuvered them to lay down side by side on the
bed. Pulling her close to him, he felt her shoulders begin shaking
slightly. “Don’t cry, luv,” he whispered, holding her tighter. “Please
don’t cry.”

A few moments later, Buffy pulled away from his embrace, wiping the tears
from her cheeks. “I’m sorry,” she said softly, trying to move away from
him.

Spike wasn’t about to let her go when he knew she obviously needed someone.
Easing her back into his arms, he gently caressed her arm as he felt her
relax. “I told you, I’m here.”

“You’re definitely not who I thought you were,” Buffy said with a slight
smile. “You know you don’t have to do this, right? I mean…if you would
rather just work on-“

“Buffy, I want to do this,” Spike said, reaching for her hand and holding it
loosely to his chest.

“Why?” she asked quietly, looking up at him.

“Because, Summers…there’s something about you that keeps drawing me in,” he whispered.

Buffy blushed as she avoided his eyes. “I thought you didn’t like me.”

“I didn’t,” Spike said with a smile as he heard Buffy giggle.

“I guess that’s fair,” she replied. “I wasn’t crazy about you, either.”

“You mean, you weren’t overwhelmed by my masculine charms?” Spike asked with a smile as Buffy giggled again.

“Oh, I was overwhelmed alright, but mainly because I kept getting run over.”

“Hey!” Spike said in indignation. “You were the one that was running over
me, Summers.”

“Spike, I’m five foot nothing,” Buffy said with a smile. “I couldn’t run
over you if I tried.”

Spike scoffed but didn’t say anything else about it. They lay in each
other’s arms for a few more minutes, both enjoying the comfort that the
other provided. Spike was also confused that a girl who was practically his enemy
the day before was now in his bed, and his arms, as if it was the most
natural thing in the world. Spike looked at Buffy, staring at her smooth
skin, full lips, and golden hair.

Buffy turned to look up at Spike, surprised when she met his gaze. Both
felt the electricity between them as they each leaned forward. Seconds
before their lips touched, Buffy jumped off the bed.

Spike looked at her in confusion, just as his mother opened the door.
“Buffy, would you like to stay for dinner?”

Buffy nervously smoothed her hair, trying to fight the blush that was
creeping into her cheeks. “Um…I-I think my father wants me home.”

Jenny watched her son at the mention of Hank Summers, noticing his
expression harden, before turning back to Buffy. “I already called him- he
said it would be fine if you wanted to stay.”

“H-he did?” Buffy asked skeptically.

“Yes, he said it was fine, if that’s what you wanted.”

Buffy stood, obviously stunned, before regaining her thoughts. “Um…that
would be nice…thank you.”

“You’re welcome, dear,” Jenny said with a smile. “Dinner will be ready in
ten minutes,” she finished as she walked out the door.

Buffy stared at the door in shock when she felt Spike approach her from
behind. “This is good, right?” he asked with uncertainty clear in his
voice.

“I don’t know,” Buffy whispered, almost to herself. “I don’t even know my
own father well enough to know what’s going on.” She turned around to face
Spike, her eyes wide with confusion.

* * * * *

Buffy sat at the dining room table, slightly apprehensive with the
unfamiliar surroundings. She looked across the table and saw Spike staring
at her, offering her a smile.

“Buffy,” Giles said. “How are you adjusting to school?”

“It’s fine,” Buffy said with a smile. “It’s been a much easier adjustment
than I would have expected, and I’ve made some good friends.”

Spike saw the look that she gave him and smiled, knowing that he was now
included as one of those friends.

“Where did you live before?” Jenny asked.

“Los Angeles. I lived there with my mom.”

Spike caught his mother’s eye and shook his head, silently telling her not
to ask. Jenny nodded slightly that she understood before turning back to
her meal.

“William, did you mention a party this weekend?” Giles asked.

Spike nodded. “I’m not sure if I’m going to go.”

“Maybe you should,” Giles said. “It might be good if you and Buffy were to
go together.”

“Oh…um…that’s okay,” Buffy said, shaking her head, looking from Giles to
Spike. “You have your own life, you don’t need-“

“No, I think it’s a good idea,” Spike said, looking at her.

Buffy frowned slightly. Sure, Spike had been nice to her, but she didn’t
expect him to willingly take her to a party where all of his friends would
be.

* * * * *

Spike rested his hand on the small of Buffy’s back as they walked up the
steps leading to her front door. Buffy turned to face him when they reached
the top.

“Spike, you really don’t have to take me to a party. I know you were just
trying to be nice.”

“I want to, Buffy,” he said in a husky voice that sent chills up and down
her spine.

Both locked eyes for a moment before Buffy turned to look at the door of
her prison. “I should probably…”

She trailed off as she gestured to the door.

Spike looked over her shoulder, biting his lip, before looking back at her.
“I don’t want you to go in there,” he said softly, taking a step closer to
her.

“That makes two of us,” she replied, trying to smile and lighten the mood.

“Come over tomorrow.”

“I don’t think I can,” she said, her voice getting more overwrought. “I
need to get inside…I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

Buffy turned away, surprised when she felt Spike’s hand on her arm.
“Buffy-“

“Spike,” she whispered in a strained voice, not turning around. “Please
don’t make this harder than it already is.”

Spike let go of her, closing his eyes as she walked into the house, never
looking back at him.




A/N Just a quick thank you to everyone who has voted for any of my stories on Spuffy Fantasy for Fic of the Week. Once in a Lifetime Love is currenlty first and it means a lot to me that so many people liked it!

Chapter 9 – Reflecting


Buffy walked into her house, surprised and grateful that her father wasn’t
waiting on her. She didn’t want to know what was going through his twisted
mind, and she had no intention of finding out. As quickly and quietly as she
could, Buffy jogged up the marble staircase, hurriedly making her way to her
room. Opening her door, she froze when she saw her father sitting in the
armchair in the shadows.

Buffy’s hand gripped the doorknob, her knuckles turning white with the
force. “Daddy,” she said quietly.

Hank never looked at her- he just continued staring out the window with his
scotch in his hand. Buffy thought about turning around and heading to one
of the guestrooms, but there was no use putting off the inevitable. Taking
a deep breath, Buffy stepped into the room, making sure to leave the door
open. Her father rarely drank, and if his violent tendencies when he was
sober were any indication, she didn’t want to know what he would act like
with a little alcohol in his system.

“I’m a horrible father, aren’t I?” Hank’s voice asked quietly.

Buffy stared at him incredulously for a few moments, not sure if she even
wanted to witness this little mood swing of his. “Why do you care?” she
asked quietly, not wanting to say anything to get her in trouble, but at the
same time, what could she say to him?

“My only daughter, and I can’t even stand the sight of you,” he said softly,
more to himself than to her. Buffy didn’t say anything- she already knew
this was true. “You already know I never wanted you,” he commented.

“Yeah,” Buffy replied in an indifferent tone.

“You’re a constant reminder of what could have been,” Hank continued in the
same soft voice. “Of the happiness I could have had with your mother if I
had stayed, but I didn’t want it. I wanted my freedom.”

‘Oh, you have got to be kidding me,’ Buffy thought, fighting not to roll her
eyes. ‘Alcohol makes some people crazy, some violent, and some tired, but
my father? It makes him sane.’

“You don’t want to live here, do you?” Hank asked, still not looking at her.

Buffy didn’t say anything, instinctively knowing that whatever response she
had could come back to haunt her.

“Where’s your boyfriend?” he asked, finally looking at her.

“I don’t have a boyfriend,” Buffy replied softly. “I told you, he was just
over here because of a school project.”

Hank stayed quiet, either not believing her or simply taking what she said
as the truth for a change.

After a few minutes, he stood on shaky legs and began walking toward her.
Stopping in front of his daughter, he stared at her for a long moment. “You
look like your mother,” he said in a voice that almost sounded depressed.

“Is that good or bad?” Buffy asked in an unreadable voice.

For a second, she could see the man that she knew as her father emerge from
his alcohol laden state, glaring at her. Buffy prepared herself for the
explosion and was surprised when he simply turned and walked out of her
room.

Buffy let out a breath she didn’t even know she was holding before walking
into her adjoining bathroom and turning on the faucet. A few minutes later,
as she was pulling her hair off her neck as she prepared to lower herself in
the tub, Buffy heard a humming sound coming from her bedroom. Frowning, she made her way back into her room and looked for the source. She noticed it
was her cell phone, quietly vibrating on the surface of her dresser.

Buffy picked up the phone and headed back into the bathroom, flipping it
open as she walked.

“Hello,” she said softly, stepping into the tub.

“Are you alright, luv?”

Buffy smiled at the concern in his voice. “I’m fine, Spike.”

“You sure, you’re not just saying that? He’s not there right now, is he?”

“No, Spike. I am most definitely alone,” she replied, immersing herself in
the steaming water as she leaned her head back, attempting to alleviate the
ever-present tension in her body.

“Where are you?”

“Taking a bath,” Buffy said, closing her eyes.

Spike had to suppress a groan as the image of her naked body entered his
mind.

“Spike? Are you okay?” she asked when he stayed quiet for a while.

“Uh…yeah…fine, Buffy. I’m just fine. So…when are we going to get to work
again?” he asked.

“I don’t know. Depends how long my dad’s mood holds out.”

“His mood?” Spike replied in a worried tone.

“Yeah, I came in tonight, and he was being all broody and reflective.”

“How long will that last?”

“I’m guessing until the effects of the scotch wear off,” Buffy replied.

“I’m worried about you, luv,” Spike said softly.

“Spike, you don’t even know me,” Buffy said in a gentle tone.

“Doesn’t mean I can’t be worried about you,” he responded, the tone of his
voice rising slightly.

“Are you saying you want to be best friends now?” Buffy asked with a smile
beginning on her lips.

“Is that all you want?” Spike asked in a rough whisper that sent chills up
and down Buffy’s spine. She stayed quiet for a moment, contemplating the
many different meanings of that simple phrase.

“It’s been a long day, Spike,” Buffy said, her own voice coming out in a
whisper. “Why don’t we save the decision making for another time, okay?”

“So that’s not what you want,” Spike said softly in a dismayed tone.

“That’s not what I said,” Buffy replied gently. “You’ve been amazing, I
just don’t want to have any more serious conversations for a while, if
that’s okay?”

“Okay, luv,” he said quietly. “What about Saturday? We still going, or do
you think your dad will object?”

“It should be fine. He’s usually out with his current flavor-of-the-week, so
I don’t think it will be a problem. That is, if you’re sure you want to go
with the new girl who you hate, as far as everyone else is concerned,” Buffy
said, smiling brightly.

Spike chuckled. “Yeah, I’m not sure if it will do wonders for my
reputation. Maybe we should just take a rain check…or better yet, call the
whole thing off,” he replied in a sarcastic voice.

“I figured you’d try and get out of it,” Buffy said with a smile. “I knew
you were just putting on a show for your parents' benefit.” Buffy giggled
when she heard him laughing on the other end of the phone.

“I better go, pet. I just wanted to check on you.”

“How’d you get this number anyway?” Buffy asked, suddenly realizing that
she never gave it to him.

“I’ll see you at school, Summers.”

“Spike, don’t you dare hang up! How did you-“

“I have many persuasive techniques, pet,” Spike replied, the smile obvious
in his voice.

“That’s not an answer,” Buffy said, her brow furrowed in confusion.

“Well, that’s all you’re going to get tonight. Good night, luv,” he said
in low voice.

Buffy shivered at his tone. “Good night. And Spike?”

“Yeah, pet?”

“Thank you,” she whispered, bringing a smile to his face.

“You’re welcome, Buffy.”

Chapter 10


Buffy listened as her father walked out of the house on one of his many
dates. Saturday night was finally here, and Buffy was surprised how much
she’d been looking forward to it. Once the car had pulled down the long
driveway, Buffy made her way down the grand staircase.

“Oh, Buffy, you look beautiful.” Fred greeted her with a huge smile as she
saw Buffy approaching.

“Thanks,” Buffy said with a smile, nervously smoothing her black skirt. It
was longer than she usually wore, but it had two slits running along her
legs, compensating for the length. Her hair was loose and slightly curled,
and the golden highlights were set off by the shimmery silver shirt, she was
wearing.

Buffy worried her bottom lip as she paced the length of the house. She and
Spike hadn’t spoken that often, unless it was to discuss their English
project, and Buffy was worried that he was starting to regret asking her to
the party to begin with.

Looking in the mirror of the foyer for what felt like the thousandth time,
Buffy was about to head upstairs and change when she heard a knock at the
door. With a deep breath, she put a smile on her face and pulled it open.

Spike’s eyes lit up when he saw her, running the length of her body and
taking in every detail that he could commit to memory. “You ready to go,
luv?” he asked, offering his hand as she walked outside.

“Yeah,” Buffy said in what sounded like a shy voice. Taking his hand in
hers, she let him lead her to his car, surprised when he opened the door for
her. “Thanks,” she said, turning to give him a grateful smile.

“Not a problem, pet,” Spike replied with his own smile before shutting the
door and jogging around to his side of the car. “You ready for this?” he
asked, turning the key in the ignition as he looked over at her.

“Ready and willing,” she said, trying to sound more confident than she was
feeling. Spike wasn’t convinced.

“We don’t have to go, Buffy,” he said, his tone turning serious. “If you’d
rather not, I’ll understand.”

“No,” Buffy said quickly, her eyes getting wide as she shook her head. “I-I
mean…unless you don’t want to go, that is. It’s fine if you don’t.”

Spike smiled at her nervous tone. “Let’s have some fun, Buffy.”

Pulling up in front of the spacious house a few minutes later, Buffy took a
deep breath. “Spike?”

“Yeah, pet,” he responded distractedly, looking through his pockets and
around the car for his lost pack of cigarettes.

“Is this…I mean, are we…”

Spike looked up at her with a curious expression. “Are we what, luv?”

“It’s just…I was just wondering if this…if tonight was a date…or
something…you know, just forget I said anything.”

Spike stared straight ahead for a moment, not sure how to react. “Buffy,”
he said slowly, not wanting to blurt out the wrong thing for a change.
“Harmony just broke up with me, and I-“

“Say no more,” Buffy said with a generous smile and a wave of her hand as
she opened the car door. “I don’t know what I was talking about,” she
continued, hopping out of the car.

“Buffy, wait, luv, that’s not what I-“

Spike was cut off as the door closed on his reply. “Bollocks,” he muttered
with a sigh. “That’s not what I mean. I’ll straighten it out with her
later.”

* * * * *

Two hours later, Buffy was nowhere to be seen. She had disappeared about an
hour ago, and although Spike didn’t expect her to stay by his side all
night, he would have liked to know where she was. There were too many guys
milling around that would take advantage of a situation.

Scanning the area, Spike saw a blonde heading for him but groaned when he
realized it wasn’t the right one.

“Blondie Bear,” Harmony sing-songed as she danced up to him, a slight slur
in her words. “What’s my wittle Spikey up to tonight?” she asked in a baby
voice, wrapping her arms around Spike’s neck.

“Same thing as you, Harm,” he replied, trying to discreetly extract himself
from her grip. “You can go now.”

“Now, that wouldn’t be any fun, would it?” Harmony replied with a pout. The
same pout that she knew Spike could never resist. “I plan on staying here
until you’re in a much better mood, Spikeykins.”

Spike was shocked, although he wasn’t sure why, when he felt Harmony’s lips
on his. Making an effort to push her away at first, she simply dug her
claws into his back, pulling him closer to her as one hand came up to grip
his head.

* * * * *

Buffy wandered around the party, woozy from having too much to
drink. Stopping at the stairwell, she gripped the banister, trying to will
the room to stop spinning.

“Hi.”

Buffy turned at the unfamiliar voice, having to blink hard to focus on who
was talking to her.

“I’m Parker Abrams,” said a smiling brunette. “I don’t think we’ve been
introduced yet.”

“B-Buffy,” she mumbled, not even sure if that was her name at this point.
All she wanted to do was leave…or sit down.

Parker smiled, recognizing a trashed girl when he saw one. “So…would you
want to go upstairs and lie down for a bit?” he asked, putting on his most
concerned face.

“Yeah,” Buffy said softly, swallowing hard as she tried to focus on any
unmoving target in the room. She was surprised when she felt Parker’s hands
go around her waist, pulling her closer to him, and his lips were suddenly on
hers. After a minute of very sloppy kissing from Parker’s side, Buffy
succeeded in pushing him away.

“Come on, baby, you know you want it.”

“Does that line ever work?” she asked, proud of herself for sounding more
coherent than her foggy brain wanted her to.

“I’ve never had any complaints,” Parker said with a cocky smile. “Let’s
just go upstairs and relax a little, okay, honey?”

Buffy was about to shake her head when a flash of blonde caught her eye.
She could almost feel herself sober up as she watched Spike kissing Harmony.

‘He doesn’t owe you anything, Buffy,’ she reminded herself. ‘He was just
being nice by bringing you here tonight. It’s not like you’re together.’

Turning away from the sickening sight, Buffy began climbing the stairs, not
knowing that Parker was right behind her.

“Buffy!”

Buffy frowned at the familiar voice, turning when she was halfway up the
staircase. She watched in confusion as Spike jogged up to meet her. “What
are you doing?” he asked her, shooting a look Parker’s way.

“Why do you care?” Buffy retorted with far more malice in her voice than
she had intended.

“Come on, I’m taking you home,” Spike said, taking her elbow.

Buffy roughly pulled herself away, nearly falling from the momentum.
Gripping the banister, she stared at Spike. “Don’t you have a little floozy
to tend to?” she asked angrily.

Spike’s jaw ticked as he stared at the infuriating blonde. He didn’t
particularly care for Harmony anymore, but he did date the chit for most of
the school year and felt the need to defend her. He decided to keep his
mouth shut this time.

“I brought you here, Buffy,” Spike replied in a low tone. “I’m taking you
home now.”

“No,” Buffy said, crossing her arms, which was a complicated process for
her in itself, and staring back at him.

Spike glanced around and noticed most of the partygoers had stopped to watch
the display on the stairs. “Stop acting like a spoiled brat and come on,”
he practically growled.

“Go back to your tramp, Spike. I’m fine.”

“Don’t say that,” he replied with a warning tingeing his voice.

“Don’t say what? That you’ve been dating a whore? It’s practically common
knowledge, Spike.” Somewhere in her alcohol-laden brain, Buffy knew that
she had gone too far, but there was no taking it back now.

“You want to know common knowledge?” Spike asked, taking a menacing step
toward her. “How about the fact that you’ve slept with practically every
guy in Los Angeles and had to move down the coast to get away from your
reputation? That little bit of news arrived long before you did.”

Buffy fought the urge to slap him with everything she had. Her eyes
shimmering with tears, Buffy took a deep breath. “Well…if the shoe
fits…come on, Parker,” she said, grabbing the other boy by the hand and
leading him up the stairs.

Spike watched her go in shock. He stood there for several long moments as
she disappeared around the corner with Parker in tow. Swallowing the
sensations of jealousy and sickness that were creeping through him, Spike
began walking up the stairs a few minutes later with one thought in mind- he
had to get to Buffy.

* * * * *

Buffy pulled Parker down the hall with her. Suddenly remembering that he
was with her, Buffy’s eyes widened. She looked around the unfamiliar hall
and saw a smaller staircase that probably led to the back of the house. Her
only thought was going home…but now she had to deal with Parker.

Turning around, she roughly pushed him into a bedroom. “I’ll be right in,”
she said with a sweet smile as she closed the door in his face.

Buffy quickly turned and ran as fast as she could down the back stairs, sure
that she was going to lose her balance and break half the bones in her body.
She breathed a sigh of relief as her feet met the hard tile of the kitchen
floor. Looking around, Buffy spotted the backdoor and let herself outside.
She had no idea who Parker was or how he would react to being ditched, but
she didn’t want to risk him coming after her.

As she was met with the cool night air, Buffy let the tears fall as Spike’s
hurtful words filled her head again. Moving as fast as she could, Buffy
gasped as she crashed into someone, feeling strong hands grab her shoulders
and steady her.

“Whoa, are you okay?”

Buffy looked up and saw a pair of warm brown eyes.

“Buffy?” she heard a small voice ask as the man let her go. “It is Buffy,
right?”

She turned and nodded at the petite blonde that stood next to the man.
“Yeah,” she said softly, trying to control her crying.

“I thought so. I’m Darla, and this is Angel,” she said. “Are you okay?”

Buffy shook her head as the tears began falling again. “I need to go home,”
she whispered.

“We can take you,” Darla said with a nod as she gently wrapped her arms
around Buffy’s shoulders, leading her to a car parked further away.

“Thank you,” Buffy whispered.

“Wasn’t Spike bringing you tonight?” Angel asked as he walked next to his
girlfriend.

Buffy felt the lump in her throat as she nodded. “Please don’t tell him
about this,” she said softly. “Please.”

“Won’t he be worried about you?” Darla asked.

“No,” Buffy said, shaking her head. “He really won’t.”




A/N Please, please, please don’t hate me :-) A version of this was actually going to be earlier in the story, but I pushed it back because the title is Intimate ENEMIES and I needed just a teensy tiny conflict between our two favorites. I promise I’ll make it better (don’t I always?) in a chapter or two. I love all of my reviewers- especially when they are loving and understanding about my needing material for a story :-P

Chapter 11


Spike slammed the door of his house long after he should have been home.
Jenny sat up, pretending to read a book, and breathed a sigh of relief as she
looked at her son. “You could have called,” she said softly as he entered
the living room.

“Sorry, Mum,” he mumbled.

Jenny raised her eyes to her son and noticed his rigid stance and clenched
jaw. “What happened?” she asked with empathy. “Did you and Buffy not have
a good time?”

“I’m sure Buffy did,” he mumbled, scuffing his shoe into the carpet.

“What does that mean?”

“It means I acted like a ponce, and she got mad. I never saw her again.”

“How did she get home?” Jenny asked worriedly.

“I don’t know,” Spike said quietly. “I’ve been driving around, making sure
she wasn’t walking, but I never found her.”

“William-“

“Mum, you don’t have to say it,” Spike interrupted. “I don’t think before I
act, I need to apologize, and I should make it up to her.”

“I was actually going to say you should probably call and make sure she got
home okay,” Jenny replied.

“She’s not answering her cell,” Spike said softly. “I didn’t want to try
her house and get her in trouble with…”

“I’ll call her house,” Jenny offered. “If Hank answers, I’ll just make
something up.”

Spike’s eyes shot up to meet his mother's. “You know,” he said quietly.

“Yes,” Jenny replied softly. “I know.”

“How?”

“I’m a mother, William. I just had to look close enough.”

Spike had to smile at his mother’s explanation as she picked up the phone.
Spike quickly gave her the number before he began pacing the length of the
living room.

“Hello, this is Jennifer Giles, may I speak to Buffy, please?”

“Oh, she can’t? No, no, that’s okay, don’t tell her I called. Thank you.”

Spike felt like he was going to explode as he waited for his mother to hang
up the phone. “Well?”

“She’s home, William,” Jenny replied.

“But she didn’t want to talk?”

“No. Whoever answered, it was a woman, said that Buffy came in and went
right to bed. She didn’t want to talk at all tonight. What happened,
William?”

Spike clenched his jaw. “Believe me, Mum, it’s better if you don’t know.”

“Nothing bad happened, did it?” Jenny asked worriedly.

“Not that I know of,” Spike said softly as he turned and began walking up
the stairs.

Wandering into his bedroom, he shut the door, having to fight every instinct
he had to destroy his room. His ‘Spike’ side that he had established since
high school wanted to throw anything he could get his hands on. His
‘William’ side, which Spike considered his poncey side the majority of the
time, wanted to let a few tears fall that something he had said made Buffy
have sex with someone. Someone that she may or may not have wanted to sleep with to begin with.

Reigning in all of his emotions, Spike took a deep breath and closed his
eyes. His thoughts seemed to be flying in a million different directions.
He would definitely not be getting any sleep tonight.

* * * * *

Buffy hurried toward the Sunnydale High campus, hoping that she would make
it before the first bell rang. Breathing a sigh of relief when she saw
students still wandering around outside the building, she slowed down.

“Buffy!”

Buffy smiled when she saw Willow jogging toward her. The smile immediately
faded when she saw the worried expression on her friend’s face.

“Wills, what’s wrong?”

Willow didn’t answer as she grabbed Buffy’s arm and led her off to a more
secluded area. “Buffy,” she said, turning to face her friend. “There’s
something that’s going around school…”

“Willow, talk to me,” Buffy said, getting worried.

“People are saying…everyone’s saying that you slept with Parker,” Willow
said with a slight blush beginning to color her cheeks.

Buffy sighed. She should have known this would happen. In her haste to
make a stupid point to one person, she had inadvertently led the entire
senior class into believing that she and Parker had sex.

“Who told you?” Buffy asked, not even sure if she wanted to know the answer.

“Well…Xander, but Parker told him.”

This got Buffy’s attention. Her eyes snapped up to her friend's as she
stared in disbelief.

“Buffy, I didn’t believe it,” Willow said in a rush. “I mean, you would
never…you and Parker…well he…I mean if you did, that would be okay. I am
your friend after all, and if you wanted to…you know, with Parker, I would
still-“

“Willow! Calm down,” Buffy said with a smile at her friend’s rambling. “I
didn’t sleep with Parker.”

“Oh good,” Willow said in relief. “I mean-“

“Willow, it’s okay,” Buffy replied with a smile. “No Parker thoughts were
going through my head. I promise, but I need to go now.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Nothing much. I just need to go kill a doe-eyed pig who’s been spreading
lies about me,” Buffy said with a sweet smile.

Buffy searched where she could before the bell rang. When the students
began rushing to class, Buffy sighed. She would have to find (and torture)
Parker later. Right now, she still had to get to her locker.

The halls were empty as Buffy threw her backpack into her locker. She felt
a chill creep up her spine but ignored it.

“Hey, baby.”

Buffy tensed at the whispered words, cringing when she felt the breath on
the back of her neck. Turning around, she glared at Parker. “You bastard,”
she hissed in a low voice. “You’ve been spreading lies about me, as if I
would ever sleep with you to begin with.”

“Come on now, Buffy,” Parker said in what was supposed to be a seductive
tone as he played with the thin strap of her tank top. “You didn’t feel
that way the other night.” Buffy shied away from him as much as she could,
being backed up against a wall of lockers.

“Get a clue, Parker,” Buffy said, her anger erupting as she glared at him.
“You couldn’t even get me to have sex with you when I was drunk.”

Buffy jumped as Parker’s fist impacted the locker next to her head. “Let’s
change things then, shall we, Buffy?” he asked in a menacing tone as he
grabbed her arm.

Buffy struggled against him as he pulled her around a corner and out one of
the doors. “Let me go,” she cried as she tried to pull herself from his
grasp as he shoved her against the wall.

“Just a little kiss, Buff,” Parker said with a threatening smile.

“No,” Buffy said through clenched teeth. “Now let me go!”

“I believe the lady doesn’t want you here, Abrams.”

Buffy had never been so thankful to hear that voice.

“Stay out of this, Giles,” Parker said, turning to face Spike, who was
casually walking toward the two people.

“Get away from her, Parker,” Spike replied in a menacing tone.

Parker seemed to realize he would be better off backing down. “She’s not
even worth it,” he said as he passed Spike, never seeing the knee that
connected with his stomach. Spike opened the door to the school, shoving
Parker’s hunched figure through it before slamming it shut.

Buffy breathed a sigh of relief, leaning her head back against the hard
bricks, letting her body relax.

“I hope he was worth the harassment, Summers,” Spike said in a clipped tone
as he pulled out a cigarette. “You better be glad I needed the smoke.”

Buffy swallowed every smart remark she had for him. She was grateful that
he was there, even if he was acting so smug about it. “Spike, I…thank you,”
Buffy said softly.

Spike looked up, meeting her eyes with his. “Well?”

“Well…what?” Buffy asked.

“Was he worth it?”

Buffy looked down at the ground, taking a deep breath to steady her nerves.
She had brought this on herself. “I didn’t sleep with him,” she said
softly.

Spike froze for a brief moment before advancing on her. Buffy felt her
breathing become labored as she once again found herself against the wall.
Except this time, she didn’t feel threatened.

“Why?” Spike asked softly, throwing his cigarette to the ground.

“Because I just wanted to make you mad,” Buffy said quietly, avoiding his
eyes.

“It worked,” Spike said softly as Buffy looked up at him.

“It did?”

“It made me mad,” Spike replied, lightly tracing his finger over her
collarbone to her shoulder and back again. “Furious actually…and
annoyed…frustrated…jealous.”

“Jealous?” Buffy asked, uncertainty mixing with her words.

“Insanely,” he whispered, his lips getting closer to hers as her breath
quickened. Spike could feel his pulse racing as their lips met.

Buffy’s hands wrapped around his neck, threading through his soft hair, as
she felt Spike’s arms go around her waist, pulling her closer to him, his
tongue gently tracing her soft lips. Buffy moaned as she opened her mouth,
letting Spike’s tongue slowly stroke against hers. She could feel the
evidence of his arousal as he pushed her into the wall, carefully
positioning his hands so the bricks wouldn’t hurt her. Buffy clutched at
him, her breath coming out in short gasps as they broke away. Spike
breathed heavily, his forehead pressed against hers, as he stared into her
eyes for a long minute.

Slowly backing away, Buffy closed her eyes and turned away as his words from
the other night came back to her.

“I think this changes things, luv,” Spike said softly.

“Why?” Buffy said, turning to face him. “I’m just the town slut, remember?”

Spike watched with a dismayed expression as she walked back into the school.
Clenching his jaw so tight, he thought it might break, Spike threw his
fist into the solid wall, feeling only mildly satisfied at the pain that
flooded through his arm. He knew he deserved it.

Chapter 12 - Apology


Spike couldn’t find Buffy the rest of the day. He only had one class with
her, English, at the end of the day. She hadn’t been to lunch, and he never
saw her walking with her friends.

Spike looked through the crowded halls, beginning to get worried when he
didn’t see her at her locker.

“If that pillock did something to her, I’ll…”

Spike trailed off with a sigh when he heard the bell ringing, turning to
walk to his last class. He froze as he stood in the doorway. Buffy was
already sitting in her seat and had, apparently, been there for a while.
Spike saw Willow on one side and an empty seat on the other. He took a deep
breath before heading her way.

Buffy looked up as the screeching of a chair being pulled back alerted her
to someone. A backpack was tossed down next to her, and as she turned, she had to fight the groan that threatened to come out. She settled on a heavy sigh before turning and focusing her attention on the teacher.

“I’ve been looking for you,” Spike whispered.

Buffy fought the shiver that raced up her spine as she felt his breath on
her ear. She tightened her lips and continued staring straight ahead as
Spike reached for her notebook and pen. Opening it up to a blank page, he
quickly wrote something down and slid it back to her.

Against her better judgment, Buffy looked at the note:

‘I’m Sorry’

She blinked away the tears in her eyes as she looked away. She knew that
she was being petty and selfish, but she couldn’t control her feelings any
more than she could control what Spike said to her the other night.

* * * * *

As the bell rang, signaling the end of class, Buffy hurriedly gathered her
books together, eager to get out of the close proximity of the man who
awakened so many emotions in her.

Unfortunately, Spike was too fast for her. As Buffy reached for her
backpack, her hand was met with nothing but air. She looked down in
confusion before letting her eyes travel upward. Spike stood above her,
holding her bag in one hand as he made eye contact with her.

“Thanks,” Buffy said softly, reaching for it.

“I’ve got it, pet.”

“No, that’s really okay,” Buffy said, trying not to look into his eyes. She
felt like he could look right through her when she stared at him. He
probably could.

“I said, I’ve got it,” Spike repeated as he held her bag out of reach.
“Lead the way.”

Buffy sighed before turning and walking out of the classroom. She didn’t
need to stop by her locker, so she walked through the closest exit doors,
not really caring if Spike was behind her.

“Let me give you a ride home, luv,” Spike said, gesturing to his car that
was parked a few feet away.

“I can walk,” Buffy mumbled.

“Don’t act like the spoiled little rich girl- it doesn’t suit you. Just let
me take you home.”

"I thought it did suit me,” Buffy replied, looking into his eyes and
realizing her mistake as they seemed to read every thought she had.

“I was wrong,” Spike said softly, stopping next to his car and grabbing her
arm in a gentle grip to stop her. “I shouldn’t have said it. I shouldn’t
have said a lot of things, but I open my mouth and they just come out.”

Buffy looked down at the ground, swallowing hard as she felt her emotions
rise to the surface.

Spike gently ran his hand along her cheek to come to rest on the back of her
neck, his fingers threading through her hair. “Forgive me, luv,” he
whispered. “I never meant to hurt you.”

Buffy felt tears spring to her eyes as Spike slowly lowered his head, his
lips barely brushing against hers.

“Please,” he whispered softly against her lips.

Buffy didn’t answer as she wrapped her arms around his neck, pushing her
lips against his, enjoying the opportunity to not think before she acted. Spike dropped everything he was holding as his arms went to encircle her waist, needing to feel as close to her as possible.

The kiss was passionate and consuming. Buffy felt herself clutching at
Spike’s shoulders as she fought to remain upright. Spike gently pushed her
against the car as his hands trailed over the slight curve in her hips.

Breaking away, Buffy gasped as his lips found their way down her neck,
softly nibbling on the tender flesh that was exposed.

“Spike,” she whispered breathlessly. “We can’t…we’re…we can’t do this
here.”

“I think we are,” he said in a husky whisper as his lips met hers again.
Buffy moaned as his tongue caressed hers, sweeping lightly against her lips
as she pushed herself against him.

After several long moments, Spike stepped away, breathless, and looked
into her eyes. Gently pushing her hair off her shoulder, Spike gave her a
gentle smile. “I want to be with you, Buffy,” he said softly.

Buffy’s eyes widened. “Spike, I-“

“No, not like that,” Spike said, shaking his head. “Well…yes, like that,”
he added as an afterthought. “But what I meant was…”

Buffy smiled at his nervousness. “You want to go out on a date?” she asked softly,
causing Spike to look into her eyes.

He stared at her for a moment before the smile spread to his lips. “God, yes. If you do.”

“Of course I want to, silly,” Buffy said with a giggle, causing Spike to
claim her lips again.

“Let me take you home, luv,” Spike whispered a moment later.

Buffy nodded as Spike opened the door for her.

* * * * *

Spike walked Buffy up the steps in front of her house. He didn’t want to
say good-bye to her, but he knew it wouldn’t help if her father was to come
home and find him in the house again (and this time, not working on a school
assignment).

“What about tomorrow night?” he asked, holding her hand as she turned to
look up at him.

“For what?” she asked curiously.

“Our date.”

Buffy smiled, liking the sound of that. “Sounds good,” she said softly as
Spike leaned forward to leave a tender kiss on her lips.

“You’re sure it will be okay?” he asked, pulling away after a moment as he
looked over her shoulder at the imposing house.

“It’ll be fine,” she replied with a nod, smiling as Spike gently squeezed
her hand in his.

“I’ll pick you up tomorrow at seven,” he whispered with a slight smile,
leaning forward to gently brush his lips against hers again. Slowly, he
pulled away, giving Buffy a long look before turning and walking to his car.

Buffy smiled and waved as he pulled out of the driveway. For the first time
in months, she felt happy. She just hoped it would last.

A/N Okay, this was the chapter that my writer’s block developed. It’s over, for the moment, but I decided to fast-forward, skipping ahead about a month. I’m sorry to anyone who wanted the first date, but I hope this chapter will make it up to you. It’s a very Spuffy-centric update, and I refrained from any cliffhangers, but the drama/angst isn’t over, yet, so please come back to read more! Thank you for all of the wonderful reviews!


Chapter 13 - Feelings


“Spike…” Buffy giggled as his lips attacked her neck. “I thought you came
over to study.”

“Me, too,” he murmured, letting his hands trail up her body as his mouth
continued its assault. “I just can’t help myself.”

Buffy finally relented, laying back on her bed as his hands massaged her
lower back. The two had been dating for over a month, and every time they
got a moment alone, this was the end result. Not that Buffy was
complaining, but it was becoming more and more obvious that they might fail
their English project.

“Spike,” she whispered, her voice taking on a needy quality as her hands
threaded through his hair.

Spike pulled back, looking at her for a moment, before sealing his lips to
hers in a tender kiss.

The past two weeks, Buffy’s father had gone out of town on business, and
Spike was relieved that they didn’t have to worry about him. Now, as he lay
on top of his girlfriend, he felt his hips lightly rotate against hers,
almost testing her reaction. Spike’s eyes rolled back when her body arched
against his, making him grow almost painfully hard with her movement.

“Spike,” she whispered as he pulled back to look into her emerald eyes. He
frowned when he saw her worrying her bottom lip with her teeth.

“What is it, luv?” he whispered as he tenderly brushed the hair away from
her face.

“Can we…go farther?” she asked in a timid voice, averting her eyes.

Spike swallowed hard as his eyes widened, not sure if he heard the right
request. “Buffy…are you sure?”

“I am,” she whispered, raising her eyes to his as she nodded.

Spike watched as she gently pushed against his chest so she could sit up
before removing her shirt completely. He felt his mouth go dry at the
golden skin that was exposed, reaching out to lightly run a hand over her
bare shoulder and down her arm.

Any words that he might have articulated were silenced as Buffy’s lips slid
across his. Buffy moaned as Spike’s fingers interlaced through her hair,
pulling her even closer to him as the kiss deepened.

After a few minutes, Buffy broke away from him breathlessly as she flipped
them over, straddling his waist. Spike looked up at her, giving her a soft
smile as she slowly leaned forward, unhurriedly touching her lips to his.
Her tongue gently brushed his bottom lip, asking for entrance, as Spike felt
his eyes roll back at her tenderness.

His mouth opened for her as his hands gripped her hips, trying to control
his emotions as she lightly pushed against him. Buffy gasped when she felt
them rolling over once again before moaning as his hand traveled up her
stomach to graze the tender skin underneath her bra. Buffy squirmed around
underneath him for a moment as she released the clasp on her bra, letting
it fall to the floor.

Spike felt his breath catch as he stared at her exposed breasts, gently
running his hand along the side of one before letting his thumb lightly
tease one nipple. Buffy tried to keep her breathing as steady as possible
as they looked into each other’s eyes.

“Are you sure?” Spike asked again, his hands traveling lower until they rested on
the waistband of her pants. Buffy didn’t answer as she pulled him into
another kiss. As the kiss intensified, she could feel his hands moving,
slowly stripping her of her clothes before sitting up and practically
ripping off his shirt. She watched nervously as he looked back at her
before unhurriedly sliding his jeans down his legs. Buffy could barely
comprehend that he wasn’t wearing anything under his jeans as she looked at
his hardened length, her eyes widening at the size.

Buffy felt her face flush as he crawled up the length of her body before
she was lying beneath him, completely naked. Spike smiled at the delicate
blush as he ran his hands over her skin, putting her at ease. His lips met
hers in another kiss as one of his hands lightly palmed her breast.

“Wait,” Buffy said breathlessly, smiling when Spike immediately jumped away
from her as if he’d been burned. “Not that kind of ‘wait’,” Buffy said,
rolling over slightly to rummage through her nightstand, extracting a condom
a moment later.

Spike took it from her with a raised eyebrow as he looked from it to her.
“Buffy…didn’t I see some birth control pills in your bathroom?”

“Yes,” Buffy said quietly as she watched him. “This is for you, because…I
thought you might be more comfortable if you had…”

“So, this is for my benefit?” he asked skeptically as Buffy nodded.

“I thought…”

“Answer me,” he said gently.

“Yes.”

“Let’s get one thing straight, luv. You trust me, right?”

“Of course,” Buffy replied, her eyes widening.

“You know I got tested to make sure you stay safe whenever we decided to do
this?”

“You’re kinda killin’ the mood, Spike.”

“Answer the question.”

“I know you would never put me in danger.”

“And you feel the same way?”

“What?” Buffy asked, her mouth hanging open slightly. “Spike, I would never
hurt-“

She was immediately silenced as his lips fused with hers before
breathlessly pulling away, tossing the condom over his shoulder. “That’s
all I wanted to hear,” he said with a smile as she playfully smacked his
chest.

The mood immediately turned serious as his hand dipped between her thighs,
slowly inserting a finger into her body as her eyes fluttered shut and her
breathing became more labored.

Buffy felt her heartbeat skyrocket as he moved on top of her to settle in
between her legs. “I want to feel you,” he murmured softly, brushing his
lips against her collarbone as his shaft teased her entrance. Pulling back
to look into her eyes, he brushed a lock of hair away from her face. “I want to feel all of you…nothing between us.”

He entered her with an agonizingly slow pace, gently thrusting in and out
of her, getting deeper until he froze completely.

“Buffy?”

Spike stared at her in shock, his mouth slightly open, his eyes wide.

“I didn’t know if I should tell you,” Buffy whispered quietly, burying her
face in his shoulder.

Spike swallowed nervously. She was a virgin. He breathed heavily as he
pulled back to give her a soft kiss. “You still want to do this?”

Buffy nodded, tears shimmering in her eyes. “If you still want me.”

“I always want you,” he said in a husky whisper. “It’s going to hurt for a
minute, baby.”

Buffy’s eyes squeezed shut at he tore through her barrier, her nails digging
into his back. She stifled a sob as tears streamed down her cheeks.

Spike stilled his movements as he tried to comfort her. “It’s over,” he
whispered, kissing her tears away, trying to fight his own emotions for
making her cry. “I’ll never hurt you again, baby, I promise.”

Slowly, her muscles began to relax around him as her hands released their
hold. “It’s better,” she whispered before arching her hips against his.

Spike closed his eyes before moving slowly, sheathing himself fully inside
her and gradually pulling out with long, sure strokes.

They moved together as if they were made for each other. Spike brought her
to her orgasm gradually as Buffy threw her head back as she cried out in
pleasure. Spike followed soon after, gasping her name as he pulsed deep
inside of her.

Minutes later she was laying in his arms as Spike gently traced his
fingertips along her arm. “Why didn’t you tell me?” he whispered.

“I didn’t think you’d believe me,” she whispered, averting her eyes. “You
were so sure that you knew who I was, and…”

Spike closed his eyes in shame as he pulled her as close to him as possible.
“I’m sorry,” he said softly, burying his face in her silky hair. “Will
you tell me now?”

Buffy took a deep breath. “I was dating a guy named Scott in L.A. We were
never really serious, but he always tried to push me to go farther than I
wanted to.” Buffy felt Spike’s arms tighten around her in a rigid hold.
“When I finally broke up with him, he got mad because I never…anyway, he
knew who my dad was, so he called him ‘anonymously’, telling him that his
only child was sleeping with anyone who would have her. And, as you said, the story made it here before I did.”

“So that’s where the hatred with you and your dad comes from?”

“No,” Buffy replied. “That’s where the name-calling comes from. We’ve
always hated each other.”

“I’m sorry,” he whispered again.

“Hey, I’m starving,” Buffy said, changing the subject as she sat up. “What
do you say we head out for pizza?”

Spike had to smile at her suddenly chipper attitude. “I’d have to say, that
sounds great,” he replied, pulling her to him for a gentle kiss.

Chapter 14 – Rescue


Buffy held onto Spike as he walked her to her front door later that night.
She smiled as he pulled her into his arms, leaving a soft kiss on her
forehead.

“You’re amazing,” Spike whispered.

Buffy blushed, her smile fading as she looked over his shoulder.

“What’s wrong, luv?”

“I didn’t leave the lights on.”

“Maybe Fred or Gunn decided to stop by and check on you.”

“It’s their night off, Spike. They would call, not come over.” Spike
could feel the tension in her body as she stared at the front door. “He’s
back early.”

“You don’t know that,” Spike whispered, running his hands up and down her
arms, trying to put her at ease.

“Yes, I do,” Buffy replied, clutching at Spike. “I don’t want to go in
there.”

“Do you want me to go with you?”

Buffy saw the light in her father’s office switch on and felt her body go
rigid before turning to face Spike. “I don’t want to go,” she whispered as
tears began streaming down her face. “I want things to stay the way they
are. I want to be happy…I don’t want to be here,” she cried as Spike pulled
her against his chest, feeling tears fall from his own eyes as she buried her
face against him, sobbing.

“I don’t want you to go either, luv,” he said in a choked whisper, not
willing to let her go.

The minutes seemed to fly by as Buffy slowly pulled away from Spike, wiping
her eyes as she turned to the door.

“Buffy,” he whispered. “You don’t have to go in there now.”

“I know,” she said, trying to be brave. “But the sooner I go in, the faster
it will be over.”

“I want you to call me later,” he said, tucking her hair behind her ears as
he held onto her.

“I will,” she promised, pulling him down for a long, tender kiss as she tried to control her tears. Stepping
away much too soon for either of them, Buffy managed to hold back the next flow of tears as she looked into
his bright eyes. “Tonight was the best night of my life,” she whispered
with a watery smile.

“Mine, too,” Spike replied, trying his hardest to smile against his tears.

* * * * *

Spike sat next to the phone for nearly two hours, waiting for Buffy’s call,
lunging for it when it finally rang.

“Spike?”

“It’s me, luv. What’s wrong?”

“I-I need to…”

“What? Buffy, talk to me.”

“I had to call…I can’t see you anymore.”

Spike felt as if his heart was about to stop. “Buffy-“

“I need to go.”

“Buffy, are you okay?”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“Is he there?”

“Yes.”

Spike held the phone away from his ear as the dial tone signaled that she’d
hung up.

”Damn it!” he cried, resisting the urge to throw the phone. “DAD! MUM!”

Jenny and Giles ran into the living room, both looking panicked at their
son’s outburst.

“What’s wrong?” Jenny asked, running over to Spike.

“It’s Buffy. Her dad came home tonight, and I think something’s wrong.”

“Like what?” Jenny asked worriedly.

“She said she couldn’t see me anymore.”

“Son,” Giles spoke up. “Are you sure she just-“

“Don’t even say it,” Spike interrupted. “She said she didn’t want to go in
that house when I dropped her off. She’s happy when she’s with me.”

“Rupert,” Jenny began. “We’ve talked about the possibility-“

“Say no more,” Giles said. “Jenny, stay here. Spike, come with me.”

“What possibility?” Spike asked as they practically bolted out the door.

“That Hank’s temper might get the best of him.”

“You know about Hank?”

“I knew his wife left him because he turned into an abusive bastard,” Giles
replied. “You’re mother and I have discussed the possibility that Buffy
might be in danger eventually.”

“And you didn’t think that maybe I should be included in any of these
conversations?” Spike asked angrily.

“As long as you were spending time with Buffy, giving her someone to listen
to or simply be with, we didn’t think it should be relevant. You were with
her when she needed someone. Your mother and I couldn’t do anything with our mere opinions.”

* * * * *

Five minutes later, Giles was coming to a screeching halt in front of the
Summers Mansion. Spike was out of the car before it stopped moving, running
up to the front door, and began incessantly knocking.

He glared when Hank opened the door. “Where is she?” he asked through
gritted teeth.

“I’m sorry,” Hank replied with false politeness. “She doesn’t want to see
you anymore.”

Spike’s hand shot out to block the door, seconds before Hank shut it in his
face. “I’m not leaving.”

“Then I’m calling the police to have you arrested for trespassing.”

“Yeah?” Spike asked with a smile, seconds before his fist connected with the
older man’s nose. “If I’m going to be arrested, it’s going to be for a
better charge than trespassing,” he replied, throwing another punch at his
stomach. “Like assault and battery.”

Spike raised his fist again and was surprised when it was caught in a strong
grip. Turning to face his father, he saw the look that he had only seen one
other time in his life. The look in his eye that he had a few years ago
when a co-worker turned stalker wouldn’t leave Jenny alone. Ripper.

“Spike, go check on Buffy. I’ll handle things down here.”

Spike wasn’t about to argue as he quickly made his way up the stairs,
practically running for Buffy’s bedroom. Opening the door, he scanned the
darkened area, finally seeing her curled up in her window seat, hugging her
knees to her chest. She didn’t see him as he slowly walked toward her.

Spike couldn’t tell anything was wrong as he looked at her. She was wearing
her favorite jeans and a dark green turtleneck sweater, but Spike knew she
wasn’t wearing that when he’d dropped her off a few hours ago.

Getting a few feet away, Spike stopped. “Buffy,” he whispered softly.

Her head snapped around to face him before she seemed to withdraw into
herself, cuddling her legs closer to her body. "You shouldn’t be here,
Spike,” she said hoarsely.

“I’m going to turn on a light, luv,” he said softly, reaching for the lamp
on her nightstand. The shadows seemed to diminish as the soft glow spread
through the room, bathing the young girl in a golden light. She was facing
the window again, and Spike could see her body shaking with the sobs that she was trying to
suppress.

“Look at me, Buffy,” he whispered, walking over to her. Crouching down at
her side, Spike reached up, slowly turning her head to face him. He felt
his jaw clench when he saw her split lip and swollen cheek. The cheekbone
already had a shade of purple spreading along her skin.

“You shouldn’t see me like this,” she whispered, fighting the tears in her
eyes. Spike didn’t say anything as he picked her up, only to turn and sit
down in the seat, letting her curl into him. “I tried to…I tried to get
away,” Buffy said softly as she clutched Spike’s strong shoulders.

Spike closed his eyes, feeling the anguish rip through to his soul as he
held her. “Are you hurt anywhere else?” Spike asked in a choked voice.

Buffy shook her head, trying to stop the flow of tears, hating herself for
being weak.

“You’re sure?”

Buffy sighed. “It’s just my shoulder,” she whispered. “I’ll be fine.”

“And he didn’t…”

Spike couldn’t even get himself to finish that sentence.

“No,” Buffy said softly.

Spike was about to reply when he heard a movement in the doorway. Both
turned to see Giles walking into the room. He seemed to pause when he saw
the tender display before his face hardened when he saw the damage
inflicted on his son’s girlfriend.

“Pack your things, Buffy,” Giles said. “We’re getting you out of here.”

Spike gave his father a grateful look as he glanced at Giles’ hands and
noticed his bruised knuckles. With a nod to his father, he turned to see the
shocked look on Buffy’s face.

“Wh-what’s going on?” she asked.

“You’re moving in with us,” Giles replied.

“But my father-“

“Is no longer a problem,” Giles said with a soft smile. “It seems he is
very agreeable to the fact.”

Buffy’s eyes widened as she turned to look at Spike.

“Go pack, Buffy. We’ll wait,” he said with a smile, kissing her temple
before she climbed out of his lap.

Spike smiled as Buffy walked over to Giles, throwing her arms around him.
“Thank you, so much,” she whispered, with tears evident in her voice.

Spike’s smile broadened at Giles’ flustered look. One second, Ripper would
be shining through, and the next, he was back to a bumbling librarian.

“Come on, luv,” Spike said, gently putting a hand on her back. “Let’s get
you out of here.”




A/N Okay, I really need some opinions right now. I'm in a position where I can wrap this story up in a few chapters or continue until I get really sick of writing it :-) So, I'm asking you if I should drag on the angst/drama or if our couple should get a slightly premature happy ending. Please let me know what you think, I will appreciate any comments. Thank you!

A/N Well, the majority have spoken and I’ve decided to continue this fic for a while. I’ve got a few ideas I feel confident about, so there will definitely be at least another five chapters. Truthfully, I don’t want this fic to end either. I love writing it, I was just running out of ideas, but I think I may have some good plot developments on the horizon. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, it means a lot to me!



Chapter 15


Buffy breathed a sigh of relief when she walked through the front door of
the Giles home. She wasn’t sure what transpired between Giles and Hank
Summers, but Hank was nowhere to be found when they left.

As soon as the door closed behind them, an emotional Jenny immediately
enveloped Buffy in a hug. The older woman slowly pulled away to gently cup
Buffy’s face and look at the injuries she had. “Honey, are you okay?”

“I am now,” Buffy replied with tears in her eyes as she smiled. “Thank you
so much for doing this.”

“No thanks are needed,” Jenny said with a smile. “Let me get you some ice.
Rupert, why don’t you take her bags up to her room?”

Once the couple was alone in the living room, Spike’s arms immediately found
their way around Buffy’s waist. She leaned back, enjoying the strength and
support he was offering her.

“This is all happening so fast,” Buffy murmured. “I can’t believe your
parents are just letting a virtual stranger come live with them.”

“You’re not a stranger, Buffy,” Spike said softly, turning her around in his
embrace. “They want you here. Not as much as I do,” he added with a smile.
“But they do want you here.”

“I should probably call Fred and Gunn…let them know what happened.”

“Don’t worry about it, luv. I had Mum call Fred.”

“What? How did you get her number, she’s unlisted?”

Spike smiled sheepishly as he pulled Buffy closer. “She was my informant, so to speak.”

“She gave you my cell number,” Buffy replied in understanding as her eyes widened.

“They were worried about you, baby,” he whispered, nuzzling her neck. “They wanted to keep you safe.”

Buffy sighed contentedly as Spike held her firmly in his grasp.

Jenny quietly entered the room, leaving an icepack on the coffee table,
before slipping out to leave the two alone.

“And why do you want me here, Mr. Giles?” she asked with a smile.

Spike’s expression turned serious as he stared into her eyes. “Because…I’m
in love with you.”

Buffy’s eyes widened at the admission, seconds before she found herself
wrapped in strong arms, her lips being devoured in a passionate kiss.
Breaking away after a moment, Buffy let her hands wander up to wrap around
his neck. “I love you, too.”

Spike slowly began kissing along her jaw-line, smiling at the words, before
moving to her ear. “It’s late. Maybe we should head upstairs.”

Buffy gasped slightly, pulling away to look in his eyes. “Are you saying
what I think you’re saying?”

Spike smiled. “What do you think I’m saying, luv?”

Buffy narrowed her eyes slightly before a mischievous smile overtook her
features. “I think you’re saying it’s been a long night, so we need to get
some sleep.”

Turning around, Buffy’s smile broadened when she felt his arms wrap around
her waist, pulling her back to him as he pushed his erection against her.
“Spike…we can’t. Your parents-“

“Won’t know a thing,” he whispered. “They’re already going to sleep for the
night, which leaves you and me all alone in my big, comfortable bed. What
do you say?”

“I say…remind me where your room is again.”

* * * * *

Spike worshiped Buffy’s naked body with his teeth and tongue, kissing and
licking his way down her stomach, lightly nibbling at the soft swell of her
abdomen, moaning when her legs parted for him. He quickly moved lower,
accepting her invitation, as he unhurriedly kissed his way to her dripping
center.

His tongue lightly swept over her opening, bathing her sensitive area before
brushing over the hardened bundle of nerves. Buffy gasped as he latched on,
catapulting her into an instant orgasm, her hands lacing through his hair,
holding him to her as she rode out the effects. She whimpered in need,
trying her hardest not to scream and awaken the adults in the household.

Spike pressed his hand against her stomach, trying to soothe her and draw
out her pleasure at the same time. When Buffy finally went limp, Spike
climbed up her body, licking his lips as he moved above her, slowly bending
forward to claim her lips in a soft kiss.

Buffy moaned, tasting herself on him, as she reached lower, positioning him
at her opening before arching her hips off the bed, letting him enter her
fully. Spike gasped as Buffy wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him
more fully inside of her. He was making a conscious effort not to crush her and irritate any injuries she may have, but she seemed more than content beneath him.

Slowly, he began to regain control of his body as she pulled him closer to
her, letting their bodies fall into perfect movement.

Spike’s eyes squeezed shut as her muscles began to clamp around him, causing them both to shake with the feeling of being a part of the other. Meeting her lips in a soft kiss, Spike pulled away to clamp his hand over Buffy’s mouth as she fell over the edge. Her brow furrowed with pleasure as her
fingernails dug into his back, trying to keep from screaming out her
release.

Letting go of her, Spike brushed a kiss over her forehead, proud of her
holding it in. “That’s my girl,” he whispered.

He watched as Buffy’s eyes widened seconds before she gasped, and a third
more powerful orgasm overtook her. Her inner muscles grasped at his shaft
as he continued moving within her.

“Spike!”

Spike couldn’t help but smile at the explosion, seconds before his own body
peaked, sending him into oblivion as the pleasure coursed through him.

“I love you,” she whispered, kissing his damp forehead.

“I love you, too, baby,” he whispered breathlessly.

* * * * *

Two hours later, Spike slipped into some sweatpants as he heard a knock on
the door. Making sure Buffy was completely covered with the comforter, he
went to answer it and saw his mom standing on the other side.

“Is Buffy okay?” Jenny asked. “I went to check on her, and she wasn’t in her
room. I got worried.”

“She’s fine, Mum,” Spike replied, rubbing his eyes as he opened the door a
little wider, letting a sliver of light fall on Buffy’s peacefully sleeping
face. “First night in a new house. She’s had a rough night.”

“Yeah,” Jenny agreed with a smile as she backed out of the room. Turning
to walk down the hall, Jenny looked back over her shoulder. “William?”

“Yeah, Mum,” Spike replied before closing the door.

“You are using protection?”

Spike felt his face turn about four different shades of red as Jenny smiled
softly. “I wasn’t born in the dark ages, William. I knew what we were
getting into when we asked your girlfriend to come live with us. I just
want to know that you’re being careful.”

Spike scuffed a foot along the floor, trying to avoid his mother’s gaze.
“Yes,” he mumbled, wishing the floor would open up and swallow him so he
could avoid this conversation. “We are.”

“Good,” Jenny replied, turning to walk toward her room.

“Mum?”

“Yes, dear?”

“I love her.”

Jenny gave her son a soft smile as she nodded. “I know. She loves you,
too.”

Spike softly closed the door before crawling back into bed with Buffy.

Immediately sensing the difference, Buffy snuggled closer to him, causing
Spike’s eyes to roll back as her naked body pressed against his. Gently
reaching out to caress the soft skin of her breast, Buffy’s eyes fluttered
open. “You’re ready to go again?” she asked in a teasing tone as she
stretched, arching her back off the bed.

Spike felt his mouth go dry as he stared at her body. “Only if you are.”

Buffy noticed the serious tone and immediately rolled them over, straddling
his waist. “Only if I get to be on top this time,” she said with a smile.

“You can be anywhere you want, baby,” Spike replied, running his hands over
her curves.

“Feel up for pulling an all-nighter?” she asked, biting her lip and giggling
as Spike moaned.



A/N Okay, before I get all the reviews, let me just say that I know a normal mom would not react that way, BUT I designed Jenny to be a cool mom from the beginning and, let’s face it, when you invite your son’s girlfriend to live in your house, you know they’re going to find a way if that’s what it takes. Hope you liked the chapter. This one and the next one are very Spuffy centric, before we get back into the story, again. I felt that they needed a break from all the angst :-) Thanks for the wonderful reviews and support!

Chapter 16


Buffy woke up the next morning, feeling more content and safe than she had
ever felt. She was on her side, facing Spike’s strong, bare chest, one of
her legs nestled between both of his. Both of his arms were snugly wrapped
around her, not willing to let go. She smiled when she looked up, meeting
Spike’s peaceful face. She wasn’t sure when they had fallen asleep, but she
was still exhausted from their activities the night before.

Buffy looked at Spike for a long moment, enjoying the chance to see all
sides of him as he peacefully slept. His features were boyish, with pouty
lips and long eyelashes, but at the same time, they were rugged. Buffy
smiled when she realized that his toughest features were also ‘manmade.’
The peroxide hair that gave him an edge. The scar that crisscrossed through
his eyebrow.

Buffy lightly traced the scar as she stared at it. It almost looked like it
was put there so he wouldn’t look too perfect, but at the same time, ‘perfect’ was
the only way to describe how he looked.

Spike’s eyes slowly opened, and he smiled when he saw Buffy lying next to
him.

“Good morning,” she whispered.

Spike gently brushed his lips against hers. “That it is, luv. Did you
sleep well?”

Buffy slowly rolled away, stretching and rotating her sore muscles. “Better
than ever.”

Spike suppressed a groan as his hand trailed over her bare stomach, feeling
the tight muscles that lay underneath.

Buffy lay still for a moment as she looked at him.

“What's going on in that head of yours, Goldilocks?” Spike asked, nuzzling her
neck as she laughed.

“How’d you get the scar?” Buffy asked, pulling back to run her fingers over
his eyebrow one more time.

“An accident a few years ago,” Spike explained with a shrug.

Buffy raised her eyebrows, knowing there was clearly more to the story than
Spike was letting on.

“Alright,” he relented. “The football team and I got into a big fight with
an opposing team last season. I was one of the unfortunate ones who got a
bottle to the head as a gift from one of their fans. Shard of glass, a few
stitches, and now I have what you see today,” he explained, gesturing to it.

Buffy nodded slightly. “So…when you say football, I’m guessing you really
mean soccer.”

Spike snorted. “If that’s what you want to call it.”

Buffy smiled before sitting up, with all intentions of going to get a
shower. She giggled when she was pulled back down and pinned with two arms
wrapped around her body.

“Spike, I need to get up.”

“You’re not going anywhere,” Spike playfully growled as he nipped the tender
skin of her neck.

Buffy wiggled and squirmed until she was facing him once again and smiled.
Spike, on the other hand, was frowning as he looked at her. Buffy’s lip
wasn’t as bad as the night before, but her cheek was now a vicious shade of
black, blue, and purple.

Buffy’s smile faded as Spike reached up to gently trace her wounded skin.
She tried to flinch away from him, hating herself for what happened the
night before and for not being strong enough to defend herself.

“Why did he do it?” Spike asked softly.

“He got home early…found the condom that we didn’t use, on the floor.”

Spike shut his eyes as guilt seemed to explode in his body. “I’m sorry,
luv,” he whispered. “It’s my fault.”

“No,” Buffy said, shaking her head as she tilted his head down, waiting
until he opened his eyes. “It was his fault, not yours. Spike…you saved
me.”

She snuggled even further into his embrace, resting her head on his chest as
he lovingly stroked her back and ran his fingers through her hair. “I love
you so much,” he whispered, leaving a delicate kiss on her shoulder.

“I know,” Buffy said with a smile.

Spike waited for a moment before pulling back to look at her, scarred
eyebrow raised in question. “Aren’t you going to say it back?”

“I don’t know,” Buffy replied with a playful shrug. “Maybe later, I don’t
really feel like it right now.”

Buffy moved to get out of the bed as she tried to suppress her laughter, but
she was soon giggling as Spike pulled her back to the bed, pinning her
underneath him. She squealed when he soon began mercilessly tickling her.

“Say it,” he said in a warning tone as Buffy laughed and squirmed.

“Later,” Buffy said, gasping for breath and trying to evade his maneuvers.

“Now.”

“Okay, okay,” Buffy replied, panting heavily as Spike stopped in
expectation. Buffy slowly caressed his cheek as she stared into his cobalt
eyes, her smile fading as the mood turned more serious. “I love you,
Spike.”

Spike smiled before catching her lips in a soft kiss. “Just like to hear
you say it now and then,” he said softly.

“I’ll be saying it more than ‘now and then.’”

Spike’s happiness was short-lived as Buffy pulled away from him. He was
soon frowning and making a move to grab her when she rolled out of bed,
grabbing a button-down shirt from his desk chair and slipping it on. “Where
do you think you’re going?” Spike asked before groaning as Buffy turned
around, only two buttons connecting the shirt, leaving him with an excellent
view. “Well, that’s got to be one of the sexiest things I’ve ever seen,” he
said, advancing toward her. “Even if I do prefer you with nothing on.”

“Don’t even think about it,” Buffy warned, holding up a hand to keep him at
bay. “I need to get a shower.”

“No problem,” Spike said with a casual shrug. “I’ll join you.”

“You will not!” Buffy cried, staring at him. “Look, Mister. Your parents
might turn a blind eye to us sharing a bed, but I think they might be a
little suspicious if we share the bathroom.”

Buffy smiled as Spike’s bottom lip poked out in an endearing pout. With a
sigh, she walked over, wrapping her arms around his lean waist and planting
soft kisses on his chest.

“Keep doing that, luv, and you won’t be making it to the shower,” Spike
said, his eyes trying to stay open as his hands traveled up to her hair.

“I’ll be back in a minute,” Buffy said softly.

“You know it’s going to kill me, knowing you’re in there and not able to get
to you.”

“I’ll make it up to you.”

“How?” Spike asked with a smile.

“Next time your parents are gone for a while, we can have a shower
together,” she replied with a grin.

Spike raised an eyebrow at the offer as Buffy turned and headed out the
door.

“Promise?” he called after her.

“I promise,” she yelled back before shutting the bathroom door.

Spike waited until the water was running before quickly dressing and
jogging downstairs.

“Mum! Dad!” he called. “How would you two like dinner and a movie tonight?
It’s on me.”

Chapter 17 – Delusions


Spike and Buffy lay curled up on the couch later that night. Buffy had
stayed true to her word and shared a shower with Spike while his parents
were spending the night out. He was contently wrapped around his
girlfriend, sharing a bowl of popcorn and some chick flick that Buffy had
picked out.

Spike frowned when he heard a knock at the door, disentangling himself from
Buffy as he went to answer it. His jaw set on edge when he opened the door
to reveal a very bruised Hank Summers.

“You’re not welcome here, mate,” Spike said with a raised eyebrow, not
intimidated in the slightest by the older man.

“I came to see my daughter.”

“Is that a fact?” Spike asked with a smirk. “Well, I’m sorry, but she
doesn’t want to see you anymore,” he finished, echoing the words Hank had
told him the previous night.

“She’s my daughter, and I’ll…”

Hank trailed off as he looked over Spike's shoulder. Spike turned around to
see Buffy huddled next to the stairs, staring at the two men. Spike wanted
to go to her, but he resisted the urge, not wanting to give Hank the
opportunity to walk in the house uninvited.

“Buffy, talk to me,” Hank said in the soothing tone he used on his clients.

Buffy took a step forward before Spike’s hand blocked the small opening
that led outside. “She’s not going anywhere.”

“Spike.”

Spike turned at the small voice, looking at Buffy in confusion.

“I’ll talk to him,” she whispered.

Spike abandoned the door, not caring if Hank came into the house. He knew
he could deal with him if it came to that. He stared at Buffy for a long
moment. She looked so tiny and frail, wearing a turtleneck that seemed to
swallow her, falling past her waist and almost covering her hands. Her hair
was down and lightly curled from drying after their shower. Her cheekbone
was still several shades of purple and blue, making her look even more
helpless to Spike. “You don’t have to do this, luv,” he said softly.

“Yes, I do,” she whispered, looking at Spike with pleading eyes.

Spike set his jaw, closing his eyes for a moment.

“We can talk outside,” Hank said, causing Spike to whirl around and face
him.

“No, you won’t!”

“Spike,” Buffy said softly. “It’s okay. I need to do this alone.”

Spike took a deep breath. “I’ll go outside,” he said to Buffy before
turning to face her father. “You have five minutes.”

Making sure he had his key in case Hank tried to pull anything over on him,
Spike stepped out on the front porch, lighting a much needed cigarette
before he was even fully out of the house.

Buffy turned to her father as the door shut behind her boyfriend, holding up
her hand. “Do NOT come any closer than that.”

“What are you doing here, Buffy?” Hank asked.

“Staying away from you,” she answered bluntly.

“You think he wants you?” he asked, gesturing to the front door. “You think
he’ll still be here if you weren’t such an easy lay?”

Buffy could feel her resolve crumbling as her father spoke. Tears began
glistening in her eyes as he continued.

“You’re nothing but a charity case to him, Buffy. You’ll have him for a few
months, and then he’ll head off to college, and you’ll go wherever the hell
you’re headed. He’ll forget all about you as soon as some cheerleader gets
him off.”

“What do you want from me?” Buffy asked, still fighting the tears as she
stared at a man who was supposed to be her father. “You don’t want me to
come home. Do you want me attend some fundraiser with you?” she asked
sarcastically. “Pretend to be the perfect family?”

Hank glared at his daughter as she looked down at the floor and continued.

“You’re supposed to love me,” she whispered, hating herself for showing her
weakness but needing him to understand at the same time. Maybe she needed
herself to understand as well. “You’re my only living relative. We share
the same blood, Dad. I never did anything that you said I did. I know you
got that call from Scott, and I don’t know how the rumor spread all over
town, but that’s all it was…a rumor. So, I want to know…why do you hate
me?”

Hank didn’t answer as he looked at his daughter with a strange mixture of disgust
and pity. He took a deep breath as he looked down at the floor. “I’ve
already told you.”

“Because of Mom,” Buffy said with a nod. “So what happens now?” she asked,
knowing that if he really wanted to drag her back to that hellhole, she would
have no choice in the matter.

Hank seemed to think for a moment before answering. “If anyone asks, you’re
only here temporarily.”

“Am I?”

“I don’t know.”

Without another word, Hank turned and left the house, not giving Spike a
second glance as the younger man bolted through the door and slammed it
behind him.

“Are you okay?” Spike asked.

Buffy was visibly shaken up, more from the fact that she confronted her
father, but also for the words that haunted her. What if Spike was only
with her because she was easy? It’s not like she had been before, but they had
only been together for a month and she’d slept with him. She wasn’t even
eighteen. Did she really expect Spike to stay with her for the rest of her
life? Was she that delusional?

“Buffy, are you okay?” Spike asked a little more forcefully as he looked at
her.

“I’m fine,” she replied in an unconvincing voice as she shook her head, as
if trying to clear it.

Spike frowned as he put his arms around her, only to have her flinch and
pull away from him.

“Luv,” Spike said softly. “I know you’re a little shaken up, but everything
will be okay. Why don’t we go upstairs, alright?”

Spike meant it in the most innocent context, but the shocked look Buffy gave
him, made him think he’d asked her to have sex on Principal Snyder’s desk.

“No,” Buffy said, shaking her head. “Y-you stay down here…I’ll be
upstairs.”

Spike watched anxiously as Buffy climbed the stairs, not giving him a second
glance. He heard the soft click of her bedroom door before turning and
facing the door. Hank Summers was gone, but Spike knew he was still with
Buffy in everything that she did.

“What did you say to her, you pillock?”

Chapter 18 - Confrontations


The next day, Spike was more worried than ever. He’d noticed that morning that Buffy was wearing more make-up than usual, to cover the bruising on her face. He had given her a ride
to school, but she had barely said two words to him.

Spike had filled his parents in when they got home the previous night, but
when he went to check on Buffy, she was already asleep. Or at least,
pretending to be asleep.

It was now lunchtime, and Spike could see Buffy sitting with Willow and
Xander on the other side of the cafeteria. Although they had been dating
for over a month, very few people at school knew it. They only had one
class together, and Buffy insisted that he sit with his friends so he
wouldn’t start ignoring them, and she still sat with hers. Today, he headed
over to her table, bending low to whisper in her ear. “I’ve missed you,
luv.”

Buffy seemed to jump as she turned to face him. “What are you doing?” she
asked, looking around the cafeteria.

“Sitting with my girlfriend,” he replied, dropping into a seat as he nodded
a quick hello to her friends.

“Really, Spike…you don’t have to.”

Spike stared at her for a long moment before responding. “Can we talk,
luv?”

Buffy took a deep breath before nodding. Spike stood with her, following
her out into the hallway as she turned to face him. He noticed that she
wasn’t raising her eyes to his. Spike slowly tilted her chin up to look at
her, seeing insecurity written all over her face.

“Buffy, what happened?”

“I’m fine, Spike,” she insisted a little too rapidly.

“Are we fine?” he asked, feeling insecurity begin to creep through him as he
stared at her.

“I don’t know,” she whispered, turning her head away from his.

Spike clenched his jaw as he took her firmly by the shoulders, turning her
to face him. “We were fine until last night, Buffy. What’s going on?”

Buffy took a deep breath, tears shimmering in her eyes as she looked at him.
“I don’t think this is going to work,” she whispered, feeling her heart
breaking.

Spike felt his stomach drop as he stared at her in shock. “What’s not going
to work, baby?” he asked softly.

Buffy swallowed hard before taking a deep breath. “Us.”

“We were working just fine the other night,” Spike replied, feeling his
temper get the best of him. Lowering his voice to a whisper, he bent to
Buffy’s eye level. “And considering we live together, I think it’s going to
be pretty hard getting away from me because I have no intention of letting
you go back to that wanker that you call a father.”

“I need…I need some space,” Buffy said softly.

“We’ve been going out a month, and you need space?” he asked in disbelief.

“Spike, please-“

“No, Buffy! Now, tell me what the hell happened in the last twelve hours
that made you have such a big change of heart.”

“Spike…”

Buffy swallowed a sob as she turned to walk away from him. Spike quickly
caught her arm, bringing her closer to him as he spoke. “You said you loved
me,” his voice taking on a desperate quality.

“I know,” Buffy replied in a quiet voice before pulling free and running
down the hallway.

He watched her go, as his heart shattered.

“So, you got a ride, too, huh, Giles?”

Spike clenched his jaw and turned to face Parker Abrams.

“What do you mean ‘too’?” Spike asked with a raised eyebrow as Parker began
walking toward him.

“She’s a good lay, isn’t she?” Parker asked with a smile as Spike clenched
both of his fists.

“I don’t see how you would know.”

Parker looked at him as if he was the stupidest man on the planet. “I had
her already, remember? That one definitely has stamina.”

Spike couldn’t take anymore as he let his fist fly, connecting to Parker’s
nose with a solid punch.

“What the fuck, man!” Parker yelled as his hand came up to the blood that
was now flowing freely.

“Stop spreading lies, Abrams,” Spike said in a menacing voice. “Buffy would
never touch you, and we both know it.”

Spike was surprised when Parker punched him in the stomach but quickly got
his bearings and retaliated, sending the other man sprawling on the tile.
Spike was on him in an instant, punching and kicking as Parker tried to get
to his feet.

Spike was so consumed by his rage, he barely even registered when he was
pulled away and held back.

“What the hell is going on here?”

Spike and Parker both groaned when they heard Snyder’s voice. Spike was
released and turned around to see Angel standing behind him.

“Sorry, man,” Angel said softly. “I tried to stop you before he saw, but…”

Spike nodded his understanding as the annoying little mad approached them.

“You two, in my office. NOW!”

Both men looked at each other with mutual hatred as they slowly trudged to
the office.

* * * * *

Buffy looked around her English class, feeling more anxious when she still
didn’t see Spike. She hadn’t seen him since the disaster at lunch, and she
was starting to get worried. Her heart felt like it was falling apart, but
deep down, she felt that her father was right. Spike didn’t need her. She
knew that he cared about her, but she probably was just the next best thing
until college.

When the bell signaling the last class was over, finally rang, Buffy quickly
gathered her books and ran out the door. She was in such a hurry, she
almost ran over a very nervous Giles as he stood at the door, apparently
waiting on her.

“Buffy, I’m glad I caught you. I’m afraid I’ll be the one driving you home
today.”

A tiny part of her was relieved that she wouldn’t be in such a confining
space with the man she loved and let go, but a larger part began to grow
very concerned.

“Where’s Spike?”

Giles took a deep breath as he took his glasses off and began cleaning them.
“I’m afraid he’s been suspended.”



A/N Please review!

Chapter 19 – Boiling Point


Buffy walked into Spike’s bedroom, slamming the door behind her. Spike
looked up in surprise, standing when he saw her walk in.

“You got suspended!” she yelled. “What the hell were you trying to prove?”

Spike raised an eyebrow at Buffy’s outburst. “You know,” he replied. “I
thought you’d be the last one in line. What happened? Did Mum and Dad not
want to yell at me right now?”

“They saw how mad I was and decided to leave for a while,” Buffy replied,
crossing her arms across her chest and raising her own eyebrow, almost in a
challenge. “They were hoping I might be able to talk some sense into you.
What the hell were you thinking, Spike?”

“I was thinking that Parker Abrams was still spreading lies about you, and I
set him straight,” he replied, walking toward her as she backed into the
door.

“It wasn’t worth getting suspended, Spike,” Buffy replied, almost
breathlessly as Spike got closer to her.

“It’s only a few days, luv. I’ll be back at school before you know it. I
wasn’t willing to risk your reputation.”

“Have you listened to the gossip going through that school, Spike!” Buffy
cried. “You said it yourself, my reputation was established before I even
moved into this town! What are you going to do? Beat up everyone who’s
talked about me? You would be first on that list.”

Buffy’s jaw clenched as Spike pinned her to the door, pressing his body
against hers until she couldn’t move.

“You’re right,” he whispered, his lips brushing against hers as he spoke.

Buffy’s breath hitched as her eyes fluttered shut. She tried to resist the
urge to bring her mouth to his.

“What’s the matter, luv?” Spike asked softly, a smirk playing on his lips as
his hands left the door to settle on her waist. “You seem a little short of
breath.”

“We can’t do this, Spike,” Buffy whispered. The words had sounded much more
convincing in her head, but when she actually said them out loud, they
seemed hollow and lacked the conviction she wished for.

“I think we already are,” Spike said, his hands playing with the hem of her
skirt as she gave him a gentle push, not trusting her reaction when he was
so close to her, clouding her judgment.

Spike acted so quickly, Buffy’s eyes widened as she found herself lifted
into his arms, the sound of a zipper filling the quiet room. The noise
seemed to reverberate through the open space, sounding like the loudest thing
she had ever heard, as she was pressed against the door.

Buffy’s eyes closed as her head rolled back against the door. His fingers
brushed her thong aside, but she was surprised when she felt him teasing her
entrance instead of pushing into her. Her thigh muscles were clenching in
anticipation as she gasped for breath.

“I’ll stop if you want me to, Buffy,” Spike said in a low voice. “Just say
the word.”

Buffy opened her eyes, getting lost in his as she tightened her lips. Spike
began breathing heavily at the simple gesture. With aching slowness, he
began to fill her, inch by agonizing inch.

Spike held onto her hips as she tried to arch against him, craving more
friction as he fully sheathed himself inside of her. He buried his head
against her neck before he began thrusting in and out of her tight passage.

Buffy moaned in pleasure as they moved together, fitting each other
perfectly. The euphoric sensations that seemed to be rushing through both
of them was almost too much. Spike wasn’t aware that anything else
existed except for Buffy’s body moving with his.

Spike pressed his forehead to hers as their eyes met, each conveying the
vast emotions and feelings that the other was going through. He plunged
in and out of her at a more rapid pace as her muscles began to tremble
around him.

Spike knew she was close, and Buffy felt his hand dip in between their
bodies, lightly teasing her clit as he helped her to climax.

Buffy clutched at Spike’s body as he sent her over the edge with a scream of
satisfaction.

Spike continued moving against her, feeling his own orgasm approaching as
he, once again, buried his face in her neck. He sped up his thrusts before
spilling himself deep inside of her.

“I love you,” he whispered, their bodies melting together. “I love you, I
love you.”

Buffy pressed her head against his shirt, letting her tears fall as he
whispered to her, wishing for so many things.

“Spike,” she whispered, trying to disentangle herself from his strong grasp.
“Don’t.”

Spike pulled back to look into her eyes, his own filling with anger as he
stared at her. “You love me, I know you do. You’re not going to do this,
Buffy.”

“Spike, let me go,” she said softly, wriggling in his grasp, only to be
pressed more firmly against the door.

“No,” he replied, clenching his teeth.

“Spike, please,” she begged softly, not trusting herself to keep her
resolve, especially since he was still firmly joined with her.

“Tell me,” Spike said, practically yelling at her, the desperation obvious
in his panicked voice.

Buffy managed to push herself away, separating them. Spike took a step
back as they straightened their clothes. She gave Spike a tender,
remorseful look before turning for the door. Spike felt fear grip his
heart before he stepped forward, wrapping his arms around her waist.
“Please, baby,” he whispered, nuzzling her hair before planting gentle
kisses along her neck. “I love you.”

Buffy sniffled, trying to hold back her tears. “I love you, too.”

Spike watched, feeling his heart break as she pulled away from him, walking
out of his room and leaving him alone.

A/N After this chapter, there is only one more and an epilogue, so stick with me and please review!


Chapter 20 - Make it Work


Spike waited until he was positive that Buffy was in bed, before slipping on
a pair of sweatpants and leaving his room. He had skipped dinner with his
family, not feeling up to seeing anyone. Especially not up to seeing the
woman he loved, ignoring him through the entire meal.

Slipping quietly down the hall, Spike slowly opened her bedroom door,
careful not to make the hinges squeak as he shut it behind him. He stared
at Buffy for a long moment, feeling his heart swell as he looked at her.

The moonlight spilled throughout the room, bathing it in a soft blue light.
Her hair seemed illuminated, pooled on the pillow as she slept. Spike
noticed it wasn’t a peaceful sleep, however. Her brow was furrowed as she
tossed slightly, obviously troubled by something.

Spike moved quietly across the room, climbing under the covers with her,
before wrapping his body around her smaller one. Buffy seemed to quiet for
a moment before he felt her tense as she entered the first stages of
waking, realizing something was different.

“Shhh, it’s me, luv,” Spike whispered, leaving a soft kiss on the exposed
skin of her shoulder as one hand slipped beneath her camisole to run
soothing circles along her stomach.

Buffy once again seemed to relax before fully waking up and tension filling
her body again. Spike noticed with a slight smile that she wasn’t trying
to pull away from him as she became more aware of her surroundings.

“Spike,” she whispered. “What are you doing?”

“I couldn’t be without you, baby,” he whispered through his soft kisses.

“Spike, we can’t keep doing this.”

“Why not?” Spike asked with a hint of anger as his hold tightened.

“Because it’s over,” she whispered with tears in her eyes, grateful that her
back was to him so he wouldn’t see her cry.

“No, it’s not,” Spike said through gritted teeth before grabbing her more
firmly and rolling her to face him.

Spike could see the tears rolling down her cheeks as he covered her body
with his.

“Spike, what are you doing?” Buffy asked, a tremor of nervousness entering
her voice, causing Spike to tenderly stroke her cheek.

“Nothing, baby,” he whispered. “I just want to talk to you.”

“While you’re on top of me?” Buffy asked with a raised eyebrow as Spike
smiled.

“Well, at least I know you can’t run away.”

Buffy couldn’t help it- the smile slowly overtook her features as she looked
away.

“Knew I could get a grin,” he said with a soft smile as Buffy’s faded. She
looked back at him with sad eyes as he stared at her. “Did I do something,
Buffy?” he asked softly, causing her eyes to widen.

“No,” she said, shaking her head as Spike soothingly ran his hand along her
arm. “No, of course not.”

“What did he say?”

“Wh-who?”

“Don’t play dumb with me, Buffy. Your father…what did your father say to
you last night?”

“I-it was nothing,” Buffy replied in a whisper.

“Nothing?” Spike asked disbelievingly. “And yet, you say you still love me,
but you don’t want to be with me anymore?”

Buffy looked away as she tried to control her tears.

“Is it true?” Spike asked. “Do you really want to break up with me?”

Buffy didn’t say anything as Spike’s eyes hardened. Rolling away from her
and standing, Buffy gasped. “Where are you going?” she asked, almost in a
panic, sitting up as she stared after him.

“You don’t want to be with me, Buffy. You don’t expect to stay where I’m
not wanted, do you?” he asked, never looking at her as he walked toward the
door.

“Because you can do better than me,” Buffy said quietly, looking at the
floor.

Spike froze, his hand on the doorknob as he steadied his breathing.

“Because you can do better than some charity case,” Buffy continued.

“Charity case? Where are you getting…I want to kill your father,” Spike spat,
turning around. Walking back to the bed, he dropped down to his knees,
taking Buffy’s hands in his as he looked into her eyes. “I would never
think that, luv,” he said softly. “I’m with you because I want to be, not
because I feel sorry for you or feel like I owe you anything, okay?”

“So you would have stayed with me even if we hadn’t slept together?” Buffy
asked doubtfully.

Spike’s eyes clouded over with anger as he stood up. “Is that the only
reason you did it?” he asked in a low tone. “You thought it was the only
reason to keep me with you?”

“Spike-“

“No,” Spike said angrily. “I would have stayed with you, Buffy. If you had
wanted to wait until marriage, I would have been fine with that. I never
wanted you to feel pressured to do something you weren’t ready for.”

“I was,” Buffy whispered. “I was ready. And I wanted to be with you so
much,” she finished with tears in her eyes.

“I love you,” Spike whispered, taking her face in his hands. “I love you,”
he repeated, looking into her eyes, needing her to understand the extent of
his feelings.

“You love me…but what is that?” Buffy asked. “I know how I feel for you,
but getting this feeling from someone I barely know...”

Spike tried to hide the flash of anger as she spoke. “I know what you’re
scared of, Buffy. Your father was supposed to love you, but he didn’t…not the
way he should, anyway, so how could I? Is that it?”

“You have your whole life ahead of you,” Buffy whispered.

“With you.”

“Spike, I’m not even eighteen. How can you know that you want to spend the
rest of your life with me?”

“I’m not going to rationalize everything I feel, Buffy. I’m not letting you
push me away just because you’re scared. I told you I would be here, and I
intend on keeping that promise.”

Buffy felt her heart swell at his confession before pulling him down for a
soft kiss. Her hands threaded through his hair, pulling him closer as her
tongue slipped into his mouth. Spike felt the situation begin to spiral out
of control as he gently put his hands on her arms, prying them away from him
as he separated their lips.

“What’s wrong?” Buffy asked in concern.

“We’re not doing this tonight,” Spike whispered, tucking a strand of hair
behind her ear.

“You don’t want me?” she asked softly.

“More than anything,” he replied, giving her another gentle kiss. “But I
don’t want you to think this relationship revolves around sex.”

Buffy smiled as Spike pulled her into his arms before lying back on the bed,
holding her firmly against him as he kissed along her shoulder. “Tonight, I
just want to hold you,” he whispered against her skin as he left more
kisses. “And tomorrow.” Another kiss. “And the night after that…and the
night after that.”

Buffy began giggling as his lips attacked her neck, tickling more than
pleasuring. She tried to squirm away from him as his hold tightened on her.
Slowly, they settled down as Buffy rolled over to face him, tracing the scar
in his eyebrow. “I love you,” she whispered.

“I know.”

Chapter 21 – Christmas Surprises


Christmas finally arrived and, miraculously, Buffy and Spike passed their
English project.

Buffy hadn’t heard anything from her father, and she didn’t know whether to
be worried or relieved. She had taken an after school job at the Sun Cinema
to save some money for Christmas presents. The previous night, she and
Spike went to visit Gunn and Fred, who were now dating, and Buffy could not have
been happier for them. They were her family when she had no one, and she was
relieved that they finally realized how much they needed each other. Much
like her and Spike.

Spike had stayed true to his word, and although they did spend every night
together, they hadn’t made love in weeks. Some nights were harder than
others, but slowing down had done wonders for their relationship, bringing
them closer together.

It was now Christmas Eve, and all four members of the household were living
the cliché- watching “It’s a Wonderful Life”.

Everyone looked up as a loud knock sounded on the door.

“Who could that be?” Giles asked, almost to himself, as he got up to answer
it.

No one could see the front door from their positions in the living room, but
everyone froze when they heard Giles speak. “Hello, Officer, how can I help
you?”

“Sorry, to bother you, Sir, but is Buffy Summers living here?”

Spike’s arms tightened around Buffy’s waist as she sat up a little bit
straighter.

“Buffy,” Giles said from the entranceway. “Could you come here for a
moment?”

Spike and Jenny followed closely behind, both worried about the young girl.

Buffy stepped forward, shaking the officer’s hand before wrapping her arms
around her body.

“Miss Summers, my name is Robin Wood, I’m with the Sunnydale PD. Could I
speak to you in private?”

“It’s okay, Officer,” Buffy said with a nod. “These people are my family,
you can talk to me in front of them.”

She felt Spike’s hand reach for hers and give it a light squeeze.

“Alright then,” Officer Wood continued. “I’m sorry to bother you on
Christmas Eve, but it’s about your father.”

Buffy’s body tensed as she waited.

“He’s been arrested.”

Buffy felt her shoulders sag. She wasn’t sure what her feelings were as she
stared at the floor. A part of her had been scared that her only living
relative was gone. Another part felt that Hank was going to use the police
to get her to come back to the mansion without too much of a fight. Hearing
he was arrested was almost a relief.

“Why?” Buffy asked softly, raising her eyes to the policeman’s.

“Numerous charges,” Officer Wood replied. “Tax evasion, fraud…statutory
rape.”

Buffy’s eyes widened as her mouth dropped open. “Excuse me?”

“Your father was in a relationship with a seventeen year old. He claims he
didn’t know her true age, but her parents found out and are now pressing
charges. We’ve been watching him for a while, and when her parents came
forth, we decided it was time to bring up the charges we already had.”

Buffy concentrated on her breathing as the man began to back to the door.
“I’m sorry, again. But since you’re his daughter, we thought you should know.
Normally, we’d send someone from social services since you’re a minor, but these are…unique
circumstances. Your father said you’ve been staying with friends for a few
months.”

“Buffy’s more than welcome to stay here indefinitely,” Giles spoke up,
deciding to not offer the information that this was already the arrangement.

“I’m almost eighteen,” Buffy said with a hopeful expression. “I’ll be
willing to talk to someone, but they won’t…try and take me away, will they?”

“No,” Wood said with a friendly smile. “You obviously have friends who care
about you a great deal and want to take care of you, so as long as you’re in
a safe place, they’ll probably just do a routine interview.”

“Thank you, Officer,” Jenny said as she and Giles walked him to the door.

“Merry Christmas,” he said with a smile.

“Merry Christmas to you, as well,” Giles replied.

Buffy stood still as Spike gently tugged on her hand. “Do you want to go
get some sleep, luv?” he asked quietly.

Buffy nodded, saying goodnight to Jenny and Giles before slowly walking up
the stairs. Spike followed closely behind her, keeping their hands locked
together as she led him to his room, not even questioning where she was
going anymore.

“Are you going to be okay?” Spike asked, closing the door behind them
before turning to face Buffy as she sat down on the bed.

“I’ll be fine,” Buffy said in a soft voice. “For a second, I…I thought…”

“That something bad had happened?”

Buffy nodded, looking at the floor as Spike moved to sit next to her. “Did
it remind you of your mom?” he asked quietly, watching as Buffy’s eyes
snapped up to his.

“What do you mean?” Buffy asked nervously.

“Well…a cop shows up at your door…I’m just assuming that’s how it happened. Am I wrong?”

“Yeah,” Buffy said softly. “It didn’t exactly happen that way.”

“Do you want to tell me?” he asked quietly.

Buffy took a deep breath, tears shimmering in her eyes. “I was driving,”
she said in a barely audible whisper.

Spike stayed quiet, tilting his head to watch her as she continued. “Mom,
she…she had a headache and wanted me to drive. I never...”

Buffy trailed off with a sob as Spike wrapped his arms around her.

“I never saw the other car,” she said in a choked voice.

“Buffy, it wasn’t your fault,” Spike whispered.

“How do you know that?” Buffy asked, pulling away to look into Spike’s eyes.

“Was it?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.

Buffy closed her eyes as she shook her head. “It was a drunk driver, but
if…if I had only done something better. If I had just gone around that
curve ten seconds earlier…she would still be here.”

Spike felt the different emotions coursing through him and chose his next
words carefully.

“Buffy…I hate that you had to go through that…that you’re still having to go
through it. But you got one good thing out of it.”

Buffy looked at him as he gave her a lazy smile. “What’s that?”

“Me,” he said, his smile broadening.

Buffy felt her own smile escape as Spike reached over to wipe her tears away.
Still smiling, she looked into his cobalt eyes and felt herself falling even
more in love with him. “Thank you,” she whispered.

* * * * *

Spike pressed his lips to Buffy’s, swallowing her scream as he thrust into
her, letting her muscles contract around him as he fell over the edge with
her.

The two had been talking for hours before Buffy had moved to straddle his
lap, not giving him a chance to protest before he’d been inside of her.

Spike gasped for air as he rolled away, pulling Buffy with him. “I thought
we were going to wait,” he said breathlessly.

“Yeah,” Buffy said, trying to catch her own breath. “It was just too much
tonight. I just had to have you…sorry.”

Holding her close as she ran her hand over his chest, Spike let his own hand
trail along her arm. “Don’t ever apologize after you do that,” Spike said
with a smile, kissing the top of her head. “Feel free to pounce on me any
time you want.”



A/N Only the epilogue, so please read it tomorrow! Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed, I am so grateful for each one!

Epilogue


5 Years Later


Spike held Buffy’s hand as they walked into the crowded country club. It
was their five-year reunion, and both were looking forward to it and dreading
it at the same time.

“You ready for this, luv?” Spike whispered to her.

Buffy looked around the over-decorated room and nodded. “Ready as I’ll ever
be,” she murmured as they walked into the room, hand in hand.

“Buffy!”

Buffy turned and smiled when she saw Willow running toward her, dragging Oz
with her. Buffy gasped when she saw her, quickly wrapping her friend in a
hug before pulling away and holding her at arms length.

“Wills, I haven’t seen you in two months, and you’re already about to pop,”
Buffy said excitedly as she ran her hand over her friend’s swollen stomach.
“There’s still only one in there, right?” she asked as she and Willow
laughed.

“I don’t know. As much as she kicks, I’m thinking there’s three or four,”
Willow replied.

Spike gave Oz a sympathetic look as Buffy came back to his side. He wrapped
an arm around her, pulling her close to him, almost protectively, as they
continued their conversation with their friends.

“Blondie Bear? Oh my God, it is you!”

Spike groaned as Buffy giggled, burying her face in his chest. Slowly
turning, he took a deep breath as he faced the woman running toward him.
“How’ve you been, Harm?” he asked in a bored tone.

“I’m great, I can’t believe you’re here, and…oh, you’re with her,” she
commented, sending a pointed look in Buffy’s direction.

“It’s been a long time, Harmony,” Buffy said with a fake smile, holding out
her left hand, making sure that the other woman saw the huge diamond on her
ring finger as they shook hands.

“So,” Harmony said in a snooty tone. “You two are engaged.”

“Oh no,” Buffy said with a bright smile that only got bigger at Harmony’s
excited look. “We’re married.”

The other woman immediately dropped Buffy’s hand with a huff as Willow spoke
up. “Yeah, they’re still newlyweds. You didn’t know? They got married two
months ago on the beach…it was so romantic.”

Buffy and Spike both got the urge to kiss Willow as Harmony turned and
walked away.

“Thanks, Wills,” Buffy said with a smile.

Spike brushed a kiss along Buffy’s temple, bending low to whisper in her
ear. “I never did thank you for setting me free of that airhead, did I?”

Buffy laughed, pulling her husband onto the dance floor as a slow song
started.

“So,” Spike said, looking down at the woman he loved. “Are you happy?”

Buffy thought of the events that transpired over the past few years. From
her father being arrested to graduating, to Spike’s proposal at their
college graduation. Both had decided on a simple wedding on the beach at
sunset.

Willow, Oz, Angel, Darla, Xander and his wife Anya, newlyweds Gunn and Fred, and of course Jenny and Giles had all attended. Giles had nearly cried when Buffy asked him to give her away.
And he did cry when he walked Buffy down the long white runner and gave her
hand to his son. She had worn a simple, elegant ivory dress with spaghetti
straps, carrying a bouquet of daisies. Spike had gone for comfort, wearing
khakis and a white shirt, grateful that he didn't have to wear a tux like he
did for their prom. The day they got married had been the happiest day of
their lives.

They still lived in Sunnydale, close to his parents, and everyone made an
effort to get together at least once a week. Spike still whined and
complained about having to go home so often, but Buffy knew he secretly
loved spending time with his parents.

Now, as they swayed to the music, Buffy looked into the eyes of the man she
was falling in love with more every day. “Yes,” she finally responded.
“I’m very happy.”



A/N Thank you to everyone who read, e-mailed, reviewed, offered support, and stuck with me! This was a fun story to write and I’m happy so many people enjoyed it. I normally have two WIP’s at once, and with Remember When ending soon, I will only have Desire and Deception. I’m going to focus a lot of my energy on that one for a while, but I should have a new WIP shortly. I actually have three new ones on the horizon, but I need a little time to work on them, so keep an eye out for my next one! And as always, a big thank you to Allison for all of her support and help with this story!