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The next day at school, Buffy and her friends sat at a picnic table outside during lunch, planning out more details of the campaign.

“Did anyone else see Spike talking to the freshmen girls today?” Anya asked, frowning. “It made me sick.”

“He’s so charming, that’s why,” Cordelia replied. “The guy grins at you and you feel like bowing down before him.” All of the girls looked at her with raised eyebrows. “Not me, but I’ve seen it happen.”

“As long as he’s not promising to sleep with any of them or something,” Buffy said, writing down notes in a notebook. “‘Vote for me and I’ll shag you’- sounds like a promising campaign pitch.” Everyone laughed.

“Yeah, but wouldn’t you vote for him if he said that to you?” Anya asked curiously, looking at her friend.

“Knowing what I know, no, there’s no way I’d sleep with him,” Buffy said.

“I thought you two did…” Anya said, trailing off as Buffy glared at her. “Nevermind, no idea what I’m saying.”

“I was young, naïve, and incredibly stupid to fall for his tricks,” Buffy replied. “But that was years ago and a very different time.”

“You loved him,” Cordelia said, smiling softly, and Buffy sighed.

“I did,” she agreed. “But like I said, that was years ago. Everything has changed.”

“You two were the picture of perfection,” Willow said. “Everyone else thought so, too.”

“I think everyone was shocked freshman year when you broke up,” Anya said, looking down. “I know I was.”

“Can we not talk about this now?” Buffy asked. “I dated William, not Spike. They’re two completely different entities.”

“You’ve got that right,” a voice said behind her. She tensed up as she turned to see Spike and Lindsey standing there, looking at her. “Hello, Goldilocks.”

“Spike,” she said, nodding to acknowledge him.

“Can we talk?” he asked, and she looked at her friends before taking a deep breath and standing up.

“Yeah,” she answered, following him to a secluded spot a few feet over as Lindsey sat down with the girls. “What’s up? Calling it quits already?”

“We need to discuss the terms of the bet,” he replied. “What do you want if you win?”

“Such a good question,” she answered, crossing her arms. “Well, I suppose there’s a lot I want if I win.” He raised an eyebrow. “If I win, you have to be my slave for a month.”

“Excuse me?” he asked, choking on saliva. She smirked.

“You have to drive me around, do my homework, make me food, et cetera,” she answered. “And after the month is through, you never mess with me again. No more pranks, jokes, destruction of my car-”

“Fine,” he cut in. “I don’t expect you to win, but that’s acceptable.”

“What do you want?” she asked curiously. He sighed.

“You know, I had a fairly good idea before, but the idea of having you be my slave sounds pretty damn good all of a sudden,” he said, smiling. “But if I win, you’re going to do a lot more than just carting me around and cleaning up after me.” She froze as he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

“I am not sleeping with you, Spike,” she replied. “Once was-”

“Twice,” he corrected.

“But not again,” she said, turning on her heel and walking back to her friends. Lindsey walked back over to Spike and looked at him.

“Did you figure it out?” he asked, and Spike smirked.

“Yeah, I’d say it’s all figured out,” he replied.

* * *

As Buffy left after school that day, she saw Spike talking to a bunch of gothic girls, undoubtedly trying to convince them to vote for him. She watched him, noticing the way he grinned at them.

‘Cordelia wasn’t kidding about the power of his smile,’ she thought. ‘I remember how much I loved it when he smiled at me. It was like the world stopped and there was nothing around us.’ She sighed. ‘Things used to be good back then.’

Spike felt as if someone was watching him, so he began to look around, spotting Buffy by her car, studying him. He raised an eyebrow as she quickly looked away and got in her car.

‘I wonder what that’s all about,’ he thought.

“Thanks for your time, ladies,” he said, looking at the girls surrounding him.

“The pleasure was ours,” a girl named Drusilla said, smiling at him. He winked at her and walked away, heading towards the parking lot. He chuckled as he walked past Buffy’s car, noticing that her head was resting against her steering wheel.

“What’s wrong, luv? Starting to think you’re going to lose?” he asked, causing her to jolt and look at him.

“What?” she asked, shaking her head in an attempt to stop having flashbacks of them from when they were younger.

‘Those thoughts won’t lead to anything good,’ she admonished herself.

“I’m just tired,” she said, putting her key in the ignition. Spike frowned, leaning against her car door.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked, trying not to sound concerned.

“I’m fine,” she said, rolling up her window. He frowned and took a step back as she sped off.

‘She’s not fine,’ he thought, heading towards his car. ‘But we’re not best friends anymore, so too bad for me.’

* * *

When Buffy got home from school, she was surprised to see her mother home early from work.

“Hi, Mom,” she said, walking into the kitchen. “What’s up?”

“I thought I’d offer to take you dress shopping for Homecoming,” Joyce said. “Since I hear that you’re running for Homecoming queen.”

“Who told you?” she asked, surprised.

“Rupert told me that both you and Spike were running for Homecoming King and Queen, but separately, of course,” Joyce answered. “When were you going to tell me?”

“When I was sure I’d be on the ballot,” Buffy said, shrugging. “But yes, I’m running against Spike.”

“It just seems so odd to me,” Joyce said, looking through the mail she was holding. “I used to think you two would get married some day.” Buffy made a face. “But apparently not.”

“Dating Spike was a mistake,” Buffy said, leaning back against the kitchen counter.

“He wasn’t Spike back then,” Joyce said, looking at her daughter. “He was William.” Buffy looked down and nodded. “And you loved him.”

“Did you talk to Cordelia or Willow or something?” Buffy asked, raising an eyebrow. “The girls and I had the same conversation this afternoon.”

“Then I guess that shows you how much we all wanted to see you and him be happy together,” Joyce replied. “Things were good between you two.”

“And then they weren’t,” Buffy said, heading out the back door.

‘But that doesn’t mean they can’t get better again,’ Joyce thought as she followed Buffy.





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