Chapter 3 – Home Sweet Home
Waiting until Gunn walked into the dressing room, Buffy took a deep breath before approaching him.
“Anything I can do for you, Buffy?” he asked with a friendly smile.
“Um…I just wanted to let you know that I won’t be able to keep this job,” she said with a tentative smile.
“Really?” he asked, obviously disappointed. “Well, that’s too bad. You have real potential, kid.”
“Thanks…I think. And thank you for the job, but it’s just not for me.”
“Understandable. I hear that more than you’d think,” Gunn said with a nod, reaching into his pocket and extracting some money. “Here you go.”
“What’s this?” she asked, taking the bills from him.
“Your cut from what you earned tonight. And a little extra bonus.”
“Bonus?” she asked in confusion.
“You’re a good kid, Buffy,” he said with a smile. “It’s hard enough to find a job. This way you can have a little extra.”
Hugging the man in front of her that she’d only just met a few hours ago, Buffy felt overwhelmed by the generosity of a stranger as she felt tears come to her eyes when she pulled away. “Thank you,” she whispered, giving him a smile when he helped her into her coat.
“Can I call you a cab?” he asked, walking her to the exit door.
“No, that’s alright,” Buffy replied. “I’m staying a few blocks away, so it’s not a big deal. I’m just going to walk.”
“Okay. Well, I’ll see you around.”
“Yeah. Thanks again, Gunn.”
* * * * *
Walking out of the club, Buffy pulled her coat more securely around her, trying to offer some coverage against the chill in the air.
Shivering as an uneasy feeling crept over her, she hurried out of the alley, eager to get back to the motel and lock the door behind her.
Gasping when she felt her shoulders seized in a firm grip, Buffy’s eyes widened in terror as she was pinned to a brick wall.
“Looking for a good time, baby?” the man asked. The scent of alcohol rolling off of him nearly had Buffy gagging as she turned her head, trying to figure out how to get away.
“No,” she ground out through clenched teeth. “Leave me alone.”
“Lucky for you, I know that with girls like you, ‘no’ means ‘yes’,” he said with a drunken leer, trying to find her lips.
Buffy cringed in repulsion, trying to fight the urge to regurgitate as his lips met her neck in a sloppy kiss.
“Let go of me!” she screamed, trying to jerk her arms out of his grasp as flashes of her past threatened to overwhelm her.
“If I were you, I would listen to the lady.”
Hearing the voice of someone who, apparently, wanted to help her, Buffy’s body nearly sagged in relief before remembering that she wasn’t out of the woods yet.
“None of your concern,” the man said, still holding Buffy against the wall as she struggled. “She’s asking for it.”
“I feel certain she wasn't.”
“What do you know about it, grandpa?”
Closing the distance between them, Buffy’s eyes widened as the older man swung, his fist connecting with the man’s face.
“Quite a bit, actually,” he replied.
She gasped as the man landed a solid hit to his jaw before the older man retaliated, throwing a punch with such force, it knocked the larger man to the ground.
“Are you alright?” he asked in concern, looking at Buffy with a worried expression.
“I’m fine,” she replied, wincing in sympathy when she saw the painful expression on his face. “I’m more worried about you.”
“I’ll be fine,” he said with a kind smile, looking at the man who was passed out on the ground. “Come along- I’ll escort you where you need to go.”
“Thank you,” she said with a smile.
“I’m Rupert Giles, by the way. You can call me Giles.”
“Buffy Summers,” she replied, clutching her coat with one hand as she shook his offered hand.
“Where do you live?” he asked as they began walking through the darkened streets.
“Um…the Sun Spot Motel,” she said, avoiding his eyes.
“You live in that rat-trap?” he asked in disbelief.
“Temporarily,” she said softly.
“How long is ‘temporarily’?”
“Until I can afford to move out,” she said, looking down at her feet as they continued to walk.
“May I ask where you work?”
“Well…as of right now…nowhere,” Buffy replied with a sheepish expression. “I kind of had to quit tonight. Conflict of interests or…more accurately, morals.”
Giles seemed to contemplate her for a moment before speaking. “I own a shop in town. It’s called the Magic Box. I was going to run an ad in the paper tomorrow, advertising that we need some help, but perhaps you would be willing to take the position?”
“You’re serious?” she asked in disbelief.
“Absolutely,” he said with a warm smile.
“That would be great,” she said with a bright smile, her shoulders sagging in relief. “Are you sure you’re not some kind of guardian angel?” she asked with a grin. “Rescue the girl and guarantee that she’s alright?”
“Fairly certain,” Giles said with a chuckle. “And if it’s not too presumptuous, I have several available guest rooms in my house, if you’re interested. Purely platonic offer, of course,” he added when he saw her bite her lip in contemplation. “It’s on a much safer side of town, and you wouldn’t have to worry about running into lowlifes every night.”
Buffy watched as he looked over his shoulder, reassuring himself that the man wasn’t following them.
“And I won’t be an imposition?” she asked nervously.
“My wife died several years ago,” he said, earning a sympathetic look from Buffy. “My son is supposed to come back from England, where he’s been living, but he hasn’t graced me with his presence just yet,” he continued, rolling his eyes at the mention of his wayward son. “He could come stumbling in at any time, but other than that, I live alone.”
“Why would you want to take in a girl from the street? Especially one you just met?”
“I have good intuition about people,” he said with a smile. “I’m not one to turn away someone who needs help.”
“Do I really look that desperate?” she asked sadly.
“No,” Giles said, shaking his head. “You look that lonely.”
Buffy wasn’t one to trust people when she first met them- she’d been burned too many times in the past to trust her intuition. But at the same time, there was something about this man that made her feel compelled to trust him. “That would be great,” she agreed with a smile.
* * * * *
“If you want to get your things together, I’ll go pick up my car. It’s parked about a block away.”
Nodding at Giles as she let herself into the hotel room, Buffy gathered her belongings. She kept an eye on the window, feeling a sense of relief when she saw Giles pull up to the motel in a sporty red car. A part of her had been worried that he would doubt his offer once he got some distance from the situation and would simply leave, but the bigger part of her knew that he was a man of his word.
Throwing the few belongings that were still laying out into her bag, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. “Are you actually doing this?” she muttered to herself. “You’re going to live with a man you just met…”
Buffy trailed off, knowing that she would be safer with him than she ever had been with any of the other families she’d lived with in the past. Taking a deep breath, she threw her bag over her shoulder and opened the door as Giles was about to knock. He gave her a kind smile before taking her bag from her and leading her to the car.
Buffy never looked back. Maybe it was possible to start a new life.
Maybe.
* * * * *
Buffy stayed quiet throughout the short ride, watching with intent curiosity as Giles pulled in front of a large house and shut off the engine. “Home sweet home,” he said with a friendly, contagious smile.
“I can’t thank you enough for this, Giles,” Buffy said gratefully.
“There’s really no need to,” he replied, getting out of the car and grabbing Buffy’s bag out of the backseat before she could reach for it. Ever the gentleman.
Leading her toward the house, Giles quickly unlocked the front door and held it open for her
to enter first. Buffy’s eyes widened at her first glimpse of the beautiful interior.
“This is amazing,” she murmured, looking around. A spacious living room with a huge fireplace and flat-screen TV was to her left, complete with white leather couches and black accent furniture arranged around the room. She smiled when she saw the array of old books covering every flat surface. It kept the room from looking too much like a museum, giving it the appeal of a room that could be lived in and not just looked at.
Seeing an office filled with cherry, old-fashioned furniture to her right and the winding staircase that stood in front of her, Buffy barely comprehended when Giles responded to her appraisal of his home.
“I’m quite proud of it,” he said with a wide smile before cringing at the obvious soreness that resided from the punch the other man had inflicted on him.
“How's your face?” Buffy asked, biting her lip and feeling guilty that this kind man was in pain because of her.
“Oh, still ruggedly handsome. 'Grandpa', indeed,” he said with a small smile, reaching up to gently probe the skin. “Ow.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it,” he said with compassion evident in his eyes. “You did nothing wrong, and I couldn’t leave you alone with that pillock to try and fend for yourself.”
“Thank you,” she said with a soft smile.
“Now, let me show you to your room. I’m sure you’re exhausted from…”
Giles trailed off as he paused on the landing.
“Work?” he questioned, trying not to be too judgmental about her possible chosen profession as he remembered the strip club that opened into the alley he had found her in.
Buffy licked her suddenly dry lips and shook her head. “I-I don’t work there…it was more of a…temporary, one night situation.”
“I see,” he replied, continuing the climb up the stairs. “How old are you, Buffy?”
“Nineteen,” she lied, ducking her head in shame.
“Out of school, then?”
Buffy hesitantly nodded. She hated lying to this man, but she couldn’t risk him finding out her past and being shoved back into the bottomless system that was social services. He had been so generous, but she could never work two jobs and go to school. And she certainly didn’t want to outstay her welcome after he showed her so much kindness in such a short span of time.
Giles showed her into a beautiful bedroom that was three times the size of her bedrooms in the past. A queen-sized bed stood against one wall with a matching dresser, chest, and desk, completing the look. Plush carpetting covered the floors, and the look was topped off by a window-seat covered with throw pillows. The entire room was done in soft shades of blues and purples, accentuated by the soft cream-colored carpet and dark wood
“I hope this is acceptable.”
“Acceptable?” Buffy echoed, staring in awe as she took in the huge windows and walk-in closet. “It’s…I can’t even think how to describe it,” she said with a soft smile, slowly walking through the room, feeling as if she was in shock.
“Well…I’ll let you get some rest. You can spend tomorrow settling in, and then we’ll discuss you joining the staff at the Magic Box.”
“Thank you so much…”
Buffy trailed off when she heard the front door open and close with a slam before loud, drunken yelling filled the house. She involuntarily shrunk back against the wall as Giles excused himself and hurried down the stairs.
Buffy took a deep, steadying breath before walking toward the open door and shamelessly eavesdropping on the not-so-quiet conversation.
“William?”
“How many times have I told you? It’s Spike,” she heard a man reply in a bitter voice, her eyes widening at the familiarity of the younger British accent. There was definitely more alcohol slurring his words, but there was no mistaking who the man was.
“I went out looking for you tonight. Where the bloody hell have you been?” Giles asked, obviously concerned.
“Isn’t that obvious, Pops? I was getting hammered and having a damn good time of it, too, if I do say so myself. Best time I’ve had in a while,” he said with a secretive smile, thinking of the blonde.
“For heaven’s sake, keep your voice down. We’re not the only ones here.”
“Entertaining a lady friend, are we, Da’?” he slurred.
“For your information, no, I was not ‘entertaining’ anyone. There is going to be a young woman staying here until she can get back on her feet,” Giles informed his errant son, growing more frustrated as the seconds ticked by.
“Always the Good Samaritan, aren’t you?” he asked in a deprecating tone.
“Look, William, I know you’re upset about Drusilla-”
“Don’t!”
Buffy cringed at the hostility in the other man’s voice as well as the mention of another woman.
“Don’t even say her name,” Spike replied in a menacing tone.
“Relationships come and go-”
“You think I don’t bloody well know that?” he asked in a loud voice. “For your information, I didn’t get pissed because of Drusilla…alright, I started to because of her, but she wasn’t the only woman in the factor tonight.”
“William, you said if you came home, you would-”
“Oh, bugger this!” Spike interrupted, climbing the stairs and gripping the banister for support. “I don’t need a pep talk from my soddin’ father, alright? I came back here so I could get away from everything, not to have it follow me across the pond, so leave it alone, Giles.”
Giles sighed as Spike disappeared up the stairs. He briefly thought about checking on Buffy but decided against it. She seemed a little jumpy, and he didn’t want to add to that by crowding her. He would explain the situation that involved his wayward son in the morning and leave her to relax tonight.
* * * * *
Thirty minutes later, Buffy walked out of the bathroom. It was then, with her face freshly scrubbed, hair pulled back in a ponytail and wearing her yummy sushi pajamas, that she ran into Spike.
Jumping when she literally ran into him outside the door, she bit her lip as nerves seemed to take her over. She was sure he had been asleep when she made a dash for the bathroom. Her eyes widened as he calmly looked her up and down before raising an eyebrow. “You’re the ‘houseguest’?” he asked her.
“That’s me,” Buffy said, nervously fidgeting with the hem of her pajama top, studying him carefully as he continued to look at her.
“Well…when Dad said young woman, I didn’t think that would mean…”
“Mean…what?” Buffy asked.
“Nothing, pet.”
“Mean what?” she pushed.
“I didn’t think that would mean he’d get some hot little chit that doesn’t look a day over seventeen,” he replied, pinching the bridge of his nose as he began to sober up. Buffy flushed a bright red, looking away in embarrassment. “Do I know you?” he asked, looking at her again.
Buffy felt short of breath when she realized he didn’t remember her. Either it was the alcohol messing with his brain or…she wasn’t that memorable. Looking down as the thought flitted through her brain, she slowly shook her head. “Um…no…no, I don’t think so.”
“Okay,” he muttered before walking past her. “Oh, I’m Spike, by the way.”
“Nice to meet you,” she replied in a tight voice. Her heart flipped in her chest when he took her hand in his and left a gentle kiss on it. This definitely wasn’t the behavior of the sex-god she’d met at the club just hours before.
“Pleasure to meet you,” he said with a soft smile, looking at her through hooded eyes before closing the bathroom door.
Turning and walking back to her bedroom, Buffy didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She had never felt better or worse in her entire life.
Thanks so much to: PK, Stephanie, TammyAsh666, Caatje, Rana, Amanda, Nic, Alicia, Caitie, Celestria & pj for reviewing!
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