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Author's Chapter Notes:
Disclaimer in full effect.

Sorry for posting so late at night, but I had to deal with a cranky three year old who so didn't want to go to bed. Better late than never right? Enjoy!
Buffy and Spike had avoided each other for the rest of the day . Buffy had called Willow and told her about her and Spike’s little fall out. Willow had explained to her about Spike’s dad and how he had disowned Spike and his mom and had left them with nothing. Buffy felt a pang of guilt for being so nasty to him. She honestly had no clue about his dad. Looking at the clock, she noted it was 4:30. Swallowing her pride, she walked over and knocked on his door.

Spike heard a soft knock at his door. Clearly confused he walked over and answered it. When he opened it he saw Buffy, standing there, looking somewhat nervous. Feeling bad still for snapping at her, he offered her a smile and invited her in. “Come on in luv, I’m just about ready, just give us a sec.”

Buffy looked up when the door opened. Clearly by the smile he gave her he wasn’t mad at her anymore. She was a little surprised though that he invited her into his room. Walking in, she took in the new decor. It was exactly like her room, but with a masculine touch. He had dark curtains on the windows and a navy comforter on the bed. In the corner was an old green comfy chair that looked older than she was. Thinking that the safest place to sit, she walked over and sat down.

Spike smirked as she chose the chair over the bed to sit down on. Taking one last look in the mirror, he turned to Buffy and asked, “So, what do you think?”

Buffy took in his appearance. Gone were the black jeans and t-shirt to be replaced with a royal blue polo that brought out his eyes and a pair of light khaki chinos. He looked hot. Looking back up at his face she gave a look of approval. “You clean up nice.”

Spike smirked at her. “Is that so luv?” He had watched the way she had checked him out and could tell she thought more than just he cleaned up well. With a chuckle he grabbed his cologne off the dresser and put on a few sprits.

Buffy involuntarily sniffed the air after he sprayed his cologne. It was one of her favorites, Cool Water. Swallowing hard she got up from her seat and asked, “Ready to go?”

Spike looked over at her and nodded. Was there a slight strain to her voice? Shaking his thoughts away he held his had out in a gentlemanly gesture. “After you pet.”

Buffy walked out of his room and grabbed her purse of the table. Turning around she stopped him with her hand. “Spike listen, I just wanted to apologize if I said something to make you mad earlier, I shouldn’t have been so nasty about you paying for college, It’s none of my business.”

Spike was shocked. Where the hell did that come from? He’s the one that had yelled at her, and she was apologizing to him? Smiling softly he replied, “No worries luv, s’not your fault. No need to apologize.”

Buffy was hopping he would explain himself to her, but since he didn’t, she wasn’t going to bring it up. With a smile, she walked out the door with Spike behind her.

They pulled up to the gated community and stopped at the gate. Since it was the weekend, there was no guard was on duty. After Buffy punched in the code, the gates opened and she and Spike made their way to Buffy’s childhood home.

Spike took in the nice neighborhood. Not so long ago he too had lived in a place like this. Shaking away his thoughts he turned to Buffy. “So how long have your folks lived here?”

Buffy glanced over at him. “I grew up in this house,” she said as she pulled into the circular drive.

They both got out of the car and made their way up the steps to the front door. Spike was surprised when Buffy rang the doorbell. He was going to say something about it when the door opened to reveal a brightly smiling Joyce.

“Oh good you both made it. Come in, come in.” Spike handed Joyce the flowers he had brought and walked in. Joyce smiled and brought the flowers to her nose. “William these are gorgeous, you shouldn’t have.”

Spike gave her a lopsided grin. “Nonsense, gorgeous flowers for a gorgeous lady,” he said charmingly.

Buffy rolled her eyes. He had insisted she stop on the way to the house to pick up said flowers for her mother. He was such a brown noser, but it most definitely did the trick because her mom was acting like a schoolgirl.

Joyce led them to the formal living room where Hank was sitting, having a drink. Hank stood when they entered the room and studied the young man standing next to his daughter. Joyce excused herself to put the flowers in water. Hank held out his hand to Spike. “William nice to see you again, have a seat. Can I get you something to drink?” He had opted to be polite this time since his wife had promised that if he wasn’t, he would be sleeping in the guest room.

Spike knew Hank was testing to see if he would accept alcohol. “Soda water would be fine.” Hank nodded his head approvingly as he fixed Spike’s drink. Well, he had at least passed that part of his testing.

Buffy felt like her dad was giving him the ‘date’ test. She wanted nothing more than for the floor to open up and swallow her. Looking over at spike she mouthed ‘sorry’ and turned to her dad. “So Daddy how’s work?” she asked trying to distract him.

Hank stared at his daughter. She never asked about his company. Giving her a skeptical look he replied, “Good sweetie.” Hank was about to question her sudden interest when his wife walked in the room.

Buffy let out a silent sigh of relief when her mom came in the room. “Dinner is ready. William I hope roast chicken is okay with you, I wasn’t to sure what you liked so Maggie went with something simple.”

Spike nodded politely. “Chicken is fine. I’m not a picky eater. My Mum always made sure to make me try different foods when I was growing up,” Spike reassured her.

They all sat down at the table as Maggie, their housekeeper, brought out their plates. Spike politely accepted his plate and thanked the kind women. Once everyone had their dinner, they began to eat in silence. Joyce was the first to break the mood. “So tell me William, where did you grow up?”

Spike swallowed the bite in his mouth and took a sip of his water. “I grew up in England in a small village not far from the coast.”

Hank looked over to him and added, “We do a lot of business with London, so I’ve been a few times on business.”

Buffy had no appetite at all. Her parents were treating this occasion as if it were a date. This was so not a date. Buffy dropped her fork on her plate and suddenly all eyes were on her. Giving everyone an apologetic look, she picked her fork up and managed to take a bite of her food.

Spike noticed Buffy was acting strange. She had barely touched her food and she looked as if she might be sick. Getting her attention by tapping her foot under the table, he gave her a questioning look

Buffy felt something brush her foot under the table and she sat ramrod straight in her chair. Eyes going wide, she noticed Spike looking at her. Apparently he had noticed her distressed look and was calling her on it. Shaking her head, she prayed he would drop it for now.

Spike saw her shake her head and took that as a sign to leave it alone. They finished dinner with light conversation about Spike, his childhood and what his intentions were as far as his education. When the table was cleared, they all retreated back to the formal living room.

Buffy relaxed slightly as dinner went on, but she was more than ready to call it a night. She went to sit down in one of the chairs, but her mother and father beat her to it, so she had no choice but to sit next to Spike.

Spike saw her apprehension to sit next to him and frowned. What was with her tonight? She had been acting strangely since the moment they walked in the door. Deciding he was definitely going to ask her as soon as they got in the car, he turned to Joyce. “Dinner was amazing, my compliments to the chef.”

Joyce smiled. “I’ll be sure to tell Maggie. She’s probably in the kitchen right now packing up food for you and Buffy to take with you.”

Buffy looked over at her mom. “Really she doesn’t have to do that Mom.”

Joyce waved her off. “You know Maggie wouldn’t have it any other way. She’s worried that you’re going to wither away now that you aren’t living at home.”

Spike couldn’t help but chuckle. He saw the way she woofed down the pizza the other night. She wasn’t gonna let herself starve.

Buffy threw a look over at Spike. Spike cleared his throat and tried to cover the smirk on his face.

Hank looked at his daughter as he addressed her. “Buffy I’ve done some thinking this afternoon about the whole dorm situation, well, I don’t see why you can’t continue to stay there. William has proved to be a nice young man and since there are no romantic intentions on either of your behalves, I will agree to let you live on campus,” he said, as if he was directing a board meeting rather that talking to his daughter.

Buffy smiled her first genuine smile since they had gotten to the house. Looking at her mother she mouthed ‘thank you’ and then went over to her daddy and gave him a big hug. “Thank you daddy, I promise I won’t disappoint you.” Hank pulled her back and placed a kiss to her forehead. “I know sweetie, I just worry about you is all. You’re still so young and guys can tend to take advantage of that,” he said as he looked at Spike.

Spike knew he was saying this on his behalf. “Don’t worry Mr. Summers, I’ll make sure she stays out of trouble,” he told him reassuringly.

Hank gave him a look and replied, “Yes William I’m sure you will.”

Buffy felt the tension in her fathers voice and decided it was time to go before things could start to go downhill. “Well we better head back to campus. I know I have classes in the morning,” she said as he gave Spike a look that said ‘let’s get out while the getting’s good’.

Reading her loud and clear he got up from his seat and walked over to Buffy. “Right, got an early day tomorrow. Thank you again for the lovely dinner,” he said as Buffy practically dragged him to the door.

Maggie stood at the door with a bag of food in her hand and a smile on her face. “Here you two go. All you have to do is heat it up and it will be good as new.” Buffy hugged Maggie and thanked her for the food.

Joyce and Hank walked Buffy and Spike out and said their goodbyes. Just before Spike got down the steps Hank stopped him. “William, if anything happens to my little girl. I will hunt you down.” he said in a low menacing tone.

Spike swallowed hard and nodded his head. He knew that Hank had every intention of following through with his threat. Hank gave him a satisfied grin and patted his shoulder before he walked back inside the house.

Buffy saw her dad stop Spike and let out a groan. God could this be anymore embarrassing? Plopping down in the driver’s seat she started her car.

Spike slid in the passenger’s side and shut the door. Turning to her he asked, “What the hell was wrong with you tonight? You looked like you couldn’t get out of the house fast enough.”

Buffy pulled out of the neighborhood and glanced over at him. “Not me, you. I couldn’t get you out of there fast enough.”

Her words had stung. Giving her a menacing look he bit out, “If you didn’t want me to go to fucking dinner, then you should have just said so.” He turned and stared out the front window.

Buffy realized what she said had come out all wrong. “No Spike I didn’t mean it like that. What I meant is that you had to sit and go through the whole third degree with my parents asking everything but what size underwear you wear.”

Spike looked over at her and could see she really didn’t mean it how he had taken it. Letting out a chuckle he said, “Well she would have been hard pressed luv, seeing on how I’m not wearing any.”

Buffy cheeks turned scarlet. With a groan she muttered “God Spike, you really are a pig.”

Spike let out a full laugh. “Oink, oink baby!”

Buffy couldn’t help but laugh. Reaching over, she smacked him playfully on the chest and smiled.

He was glad to see that for once she was willing to let loose and just enjoy herself. If it was up to him, from here on out, he was going to make sure she smiled a whole lot more. Getting a serious look on his face he commented “You know you really are beautiful when you smile, you should do it more often,” he said casually.

Buffy stopped at the red light and looked over at him. That was totally not what she had expected to hear from him. Giving him a shy smile, she replied, “Thanks, yours isn’t half bad either.”

Spike actually blushed and nodded his head. They made the rest of the trip in comfortable silence. One thing they both realized on the way home that night was that things were going to be different now and hopefully in a good way.



Thanks to MarstersGirl13, MidnightGirl, Brat, BuffyandSpikeForever, Cordykitten, Mariana, and txjmfan for the reviews, you guys are great! Thanks also to Mac again fotr the lovely beta job, smooches! Kuddos!





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