The following day, Spike arrived at work and noticed Buffy slamming her locker shut in the back room of the Doublemeat Palace. He slowly approached her, not wanting to either scare her or piss her off more.
“You alright, pet?” he asked, and she turned to look at him, her eyes slightly red and puffy. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing,” she mumbled, walking away, but he caught up to her, walking beside her.
“Did something happen at school?” he asked, and she remembered asking Riley something similar the day before, which caused her to tear up. Spike’s eyes widened.
‘I wonder if Harmony said something to her,’ he thought before restraining himself from slapping his forehead for even mentioning Buffy to Harmony. ‘Bugger.’
“You didn’t happen to talk to Harmony today, did you?” he asked cautiously, and she raised an eyebrow, looking at him.
“No,” she answered, and he sighed with relief. “She wasn’t at school. I heard a couple of girls say she was taking a ‘mental health day’, whatever that means.” She paused, wiping off the corners of her eyes. “Why?”
“Well, I kind of… dumped her yesterday,” he said sheepishly, surprised when she slightly smirked at him. “What?”
“Wow, yesterday really was a bad day, wasn’t it?” she asked, shaking her head and looking away. “You and Harmony broke up, Riley dumped me, I got a B on an English paper-”
“Whoa, wait a second,” he said, cutting her off. “What was that middle part you said? About Riley?” She sighed and shoved her hands in the pockets of her uniform pants, trying not to cry as she remembered what Riley had said to her.
“He came over after school and told me that he and I weren’t working anymore,” she said quietly. “He thinks that you and I have something going on between us.” He smirked before looking away, hoping she didn’t notice the happy look on his face. “So, guess we’re both singletons now.”
“Looks like,” he agreed. “It’s for the best, though, Buffy.” She looked at him and hesitantly nodded.
“Yeah, I guess it is,” she said before continuing to walk to her register. “You should go clock-in before Manny notices you aimlessly standing around, talking to me.” He chuckled and nodded, turning to walk into the back room again. She watched him go, tilting her head.
‘Him and I both being single at the same time can’t be of the good,’ she thought as a customer came over to her.
* * * * *
“We haven’t had a customer in almost half an hour,” Buffy said, looking at a clock on the wall. “Who really comes here after eleven o’clock on a school-night to get greasy food?”
“No one I can think of,” Spike mumbled, turning off his register for the night. “Let’s just clock-out and go home, luv. I’ll drive you.” She raised an eyebrow, looking at him. “What? Riley used to be your wheels home, and since he no longer wants to play your knight in shining armor, I’ll gladly fill in.” She giggled and shook her head, shutting off her register, too. “You’ll let me?”
“I’ll let you drive me, yes,” she answered, beginning to walk away. “But not the ‘knight in shining armor’ thing.” He frowned before following her, shutting the door behind him as they got into the back room. She opened her locker and grabbed her stuff, in the meantime taking off her uniform hat and smoothing down her hair.
“Why not?” he asked as he opened his locker. “I could even try to show up on a trusty white steed.”
“You’re bent,” she said, laughing quietly, and he grinned.
“How would you know? Sneaking peeks in my window at night to see my manly bits?” he joked, noticing the deep blush that began to cover her cheeks. “Wow, you really are adorable.” She looked away quickly, trying her hardest not to smile. “Oh come on, princess, I’m just kidding around. Don’t have to pretend I’m sullying your virtue or something.” She closed her locker.
“No, that would’ve been Parker,” she replied, looking at him, and he sighed before nodding. “Everyone told me you were like him, Spike, did you know that?” He looked away. “I believed them, too, and a little part of me still does.” He closed his locker sadly. “But a larger part of me doesn’t believe that at all.” He looked at her, surprised. “You’ve been pretty sweet to me at points, and I guess I just wanted to thank you for that. It’s nice to know you’re not really the rebellious bad-ass you try so hard to be.” Before she could realize what was happening, he gently cupped her cheeks in his hands and kissed her softly. She allowed the kiss to continue for a moment before quickly pushing him away, her eyes wide. “What the hell was that?”
“A you’re welcome, of sorts,” he answered, stunned when she quickly turned and ran out of the building. “Oh bollocks.” He chased after her, catching her before she was out of the parking lot, grabbing her arm and turning her around. “Buffy-”
“You kissed me,” she said in a low tone. “You kissed me, Spike!”
“Yes, I know I did,” he said quietly. “And I’m sorry if that bothered you, but-”
“No, that’s not the problem,” she replied, looking away. “The problem is that it didn’t bother me.” His eyes widened as she focused on him again. “I just got out of a year-long relationship, Spike. The last thing I should be thinking of is dating someone else.”
“You want to date me?” he asked, smiling, and she shot him a look. He raised his hands in surrender. “Sorry. Just trying to lighten the mood.”
“It’s just not a good idea for me to get involved with anyone right now, least of all you,” she said, and when she saw the hurt look on his face, she quickly continued. “I just mean that Riley suspected you and I might’ve been… close, so I don’t want to confirm his suspicious.” She paused. “For a while, at least.”
“Then we won’t let anyone know,” Spike said, taking her hands in his and gently squeezing them. “We’ll just be secretive for a while.” She frowned. “Please give me a chance, Buffy. I want to prove to you that I can be a nice guy all of the time, not just sometimes.”
“I don’t think I can,” she said, looking down, and he let go of one of her hands to tilt her chin up.
“Yes, luv, you can,” he replied, grazing her cheek. “Just one date- that’s all I want.”
“Liar,” she said, managing a small smile. “You want a lot more than that.” He grinned widely, and she sighed. “Fine, one date, but that’s it.” He leaned down to kiss her once more, but this time, she kissed him back, which only served to surprise Spike more.
“Come on, Goldilocks,” he said. “We should get you home so you can rest up for our date tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?” she asked, and he nodded, smirking.
“What can I say?” he asked, shrugging. “I’m impatient and can’t wait.”
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Author's Chapter Notes:
My Internet works again- hooray! I don't know if I'll post tomorrow, but just like last weekend, if I get a lot of reviews, maybe I'll change my mind:) I hope you like this chapter, and enjoy your weekend!