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Chapter 7 – Adding Insult to Injury


Walking into the kitchen, Spike studied Buffy for a long moment as she sponged off the counters. She had no idea he was there, and it was nice to see her acting like a normal, non-sadistic girl for a change.

Crossing his arms over his chest, he tilted his head to watch her flip the hair out of her eyes as she continued working.

‘When did we start hating each other?’ he thought with a frown on his face before raising an eyebrow in understanding. ‘Well, I didn’t start hating her until she woke me up at the crack of dawn…but what started the verbal sparring?’

Seeing Buffy look up at him, Spike watched as her features immediately hardened before she turned and threw the sponge into the sink.

“Didn’t ask you to clean up,” he said in a bored tone.

“Yeah, well, you would have eventually,” she countered through gritted teeth. “And I didn’t do it for you. I just didn’t want your mom to come home and have to face this mess.”

“Fair enough,” he said with a shrug, turning away from her so she wouldn’t see that he actually found it a thoughtful thing to do. “Come on.”

“Where are we going?” she asked, reluctantly following him out the front door. “Time to wash your car already?”

“Nope, that can wait,” Spike replied, pulling his keys out of his pocket. “I seem to remember you ruining my wardrobe.”

“Wardrobe?” Buffy said with a laugh. “So I threw a few shirts in the machine and accidentally set it on hot water- I wouldn’t call that your wardrobe.” Turning to stare at him for a moment, Buffy took in the newest black shirt and jeans that he was wearing. “Actually, for you…it probably was your whole wardrobe.”

Spike glared at her for a moment before narrowing his eyes. “Thought you didn’t know how to do laundry.”

“I, um, I don’t. That’s what I said earlier.”

“Then how did you know it was hot water that shrunk it?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Well…uh…you see…what else could it be?” she said, biting her lip as she avoided looking him in the eye. “I mean, the detergent doesn’t shrink clothes…right?” she asked, feigning innocence.

“Uh huh,” Spike replied with a disbelieving expression, never taking his gaze from her. Seeing her fidget after a moment, he rolled his eyes, gesturing to the car. “Get in.”

* * * * *

“Coffee,” he said, handing her some money as they walked into the Espresso Pump.

“I thought we were shopping?”

“Need a caffeine fix,” he said with a shrug. “I’ll be over there.”

Buffy looked in the direction he was pointing and sighed when she saw his friends sitting at a nearby table. Seeing her expression, Spike misread it and rolled his eyes before handing her another five dollars.

“Get yourself something.” Watching the look of surprise that came over her face, Spike gave Buffy a smirk before continuing, “I’m not a slave driver, Summers…well…in this case, yeah, I guess I am, but I’m not evil.”

“That’s debatable.”

Stepping toward her, Spike smirked when Buffy didn’t move, leaving him to press his body against hers. “I’m bad, baby. Make no mistake, but I think evil is a bit of a stretch.”

“I guess we’ll have to see,” she said, walking over to the counter and ordering their drinks.

She debated getting something that would piss him off but decided against it. She could be the bigger person…just this once. He did, after all, offer to buy her something as well.

Smiling at the employee as he handed her the two Styrofoam cups, Buffy made her way over to the table and placed one of them in front of Spike, not bothering to look at his friends as she took in the interior of the small café.

Turning around a moment later when Spike started coughing, Buffy’s brows knit together as she watched him.

“What the bloody hell is this?” he asked, holding up his cup.

“Black coffee. It’s what you wanted, right?”

“This is not coffee. I don’t know what it is,” he said, pushing it away and glaring at her.

Taking a sip of hers, Buffy made a face at the bitter liquid before shoving it into his hands. “This must be yours,” she said, picking up her mocha. “Sorry, guess I got them mixed up.”

“Yeah, I’ll bet,” he said in a low voice, standing up.

“Spike, it was an honest mistake.”

“Right, like I believe that for a second. Like the flour? Or the laundry, for that matter?”

“Fine,” she muttered. “Believe what you want.”

“Come on,” Spike said as he began to walk away.

“You’re really not going to let this go, are you?”

“Why should I?” Spike asked with a raised eyebrow. “I’ve paid a lot of money for you, Summers, and I expect a good…return on my investment.”

The smirk that was taking over his features made her want to wipe the smug look from his face. Without another word, Buffy began walking away with Spike right behind her.

“Hey, Lawson!”

Buffy couldn’t help but turn around and see the lunkhead who was high-fiving Spike. “Nice purchase, my man,” the other guy said with a grin as he perused Buffy’s body.

Self-consciously crossing her arms over her chest, she glared at the other man.

“Yeah, Abrams, I’m kinda proud of her,” Spike said with a smile as he watched Buffy’s nervous blush before an angry fire sparked in her eyes.

He was surprised when she turned around and began walking away. With a parting slap on Parker’s back, Spike quickly caught up to her in front of the café.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he asked in a quiet voice as he grasped her arm.

“Let’s get one thing straight, Spike,” she said, spinning around and practically spitting out his name as she poked a finger in his chest. “You may have paid a lot of money for me to do a few chores for you in the next week, but don’t think for a second that I’m going to stand by while you and your idiot friend ogle me as if you’ve never seen a woman before.”

“And the kitten has claws,” Spike replied, biting his bottom lip and admiring the flushed tone of her face and the angry look in her eyes. “I may have to get you mad more often,” he said, his gaze traveling to her heaving chest as her jaw tightened.

“It shouldn’t be too hard. I think you have a natural gift for getting under my skin.”

“Oh, I could definitely get under your skin,” Spike said with a smirk, the innuendo clear in his voice as Buffy turned away from him. He suppressed the chuckle at the rigid stance of her shoulders before she slowly turned back to face him.

Before Buffy could reply, Faith walked over to them with a smiling Andrew in tow. “Hey, B…Lawson,” she said, nodding a greeting. “Nice catch for you.”

“If you say so,” Spike replied, looking Buffy up and down and smiling again when her face heated up before she turned to the blushing boy behind Faith.

“Thanks for bidding on me last night, Andrew. It was really sweet,” she said with a genuine soft smile.

“I would have gone higher,” Andrew said with a dreamy look. “But…I didn’t have enough money.”

“Yeah,” Spike replied, never making eye contact as he lit a cigarette. “That much was obvious.”

He noticed Buffy’s glare in his direction, giving her a look of his own, before turning his attention back to the couple next to them.

“I didn’t catch the end of the auction. I’m assuming you got Faith,” Spike said, gesturing to the brunette and chuckling when Andrew blushed.

“Y-yeah…”

He didn’t seem to know what to say as Faith wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “We’re gonna have some fun this week, aren’t we, Andy?”

Buffy was suddenly grateful that Andrew wasn’t drinking anything as he began choking at her words. “Um…yeah,” he finally said when his coughing was under control.

“We’re gonna catch up with a bunch of people tonight at the Bronze. You guys want to tag along?” Faith asked, turning her attention back to Buffy, who in turn looked at Spike.

‘This is going to get really old,’ she thought, watching Spike carefully as he took a long drag on his cigarette. ‘I really don’t like the idea of having to ask his permission every time I want to do something.’

“Yeah, we’ll be there,” Spike said a moment later, waving as Faith and Andrew walked away.

“See, Summers,” Spike whispered, causing chills to run up and down her spine as his breath tickled her bare skin. “It could have been worse.”

“Who says Andrew would have been worse?” Buffy asked with a smirk as she looked over her shoulder at him. She felt proud when the look of doubt crept over his features before the mask fell back in place. Suddenly realizing her only tiny bit of leverage in this upcoming week from hell, Buffy’s smile widened. “I think he would have been a hell of a lot better than you,” she continued before walking away.

‘Maybe things aren’t as bad as I thought. He’s obviously got a weakness where his masculinity is concerned.’





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