Buffy and Spike spent the next few days busying themselves at work, too stubborn to call one another and talk out what was on their minds. Whenever Buffy came to A Summers’ Night to drop off desserts she had made at Joyce’s, Spike would let Xander handle things, watching them from the comfort of his office, pretending to be filling out paperwork.
It was during her third trip to the restaurant after their argument that Spike decided to speak to her, hoping that maybe they could talk before she left. He watched her carry in boxes of cheesecakes before walking over to her and grabbing them, giving her a small smile before taking them to the kitchen, her in tow.
“Hey, Buffy,” Xander said as the two blondes walked into the room. “How’re you?”
“I’m fine,” she answered, watching Spike as he put the cheesecake boxes into a refrigerator and returned to her side. “How are you?”
“Fairly well,” Xander said, shrugging. “Anya and I are getting ready to go away for the weekend.”
“That’s all she’s been talking about,” Buffy said, smiling. “I hope you have a good time.”
“Thanks,” he said, seeing the look Spike gave him before smirking. “Well, I’ll let you two talk.”
“See you later,” Buffy said, giving him a slight wave before he exited the kitchen, noticing that everyone else wasn’t paying attention to them. “So…”
“How’ve you been?” Spike asked, putting his hands in his pockets.
“Well, some days have been better than others,” she said. “You?”
“The same,” he answered, looking down. “Buffy-”
“I don’t want to talk about this here,” she said quietly. “People could hear us.”
“Probably,” he agreed, smiling. “Can we maybe meet up later, then?”
“I can come in tomorrow,” she answered. “With Xander going out of town, maybe it will help to have me fill in.”
“You’re willing to work here again?” he asked, failing to mask his surprise.
“Just to help for the weekend,” she said, looking down. “We’ll see what happens from there.”
“Okay,” he said, nodding and looking away. “Thanks for delivering everything this week. You could’ve opted not to just to spite me.”
“We made a deal,” she replied, raising her eyes to his. “I’m not going to back out of it just because we had a disagreement.”
“I’m happy to hear that,” he said, sighing. “Because I’ve changed my mind about the starting-over thing.” She raised an eyebrow as she heard the sincerity in his tone. “If it’d make you happy, I’m willing to give dating a try, and we can overlook what happened last week… for a while, at least. It won’t be easy for either of us to ignore it, you know. It meant a lot to me.”
“I know what you mean,” she agreed, smiling softly. “We can discuss it more tomorrow.”
“Alright,” he said, taking one of her hands in his and squeezing it as they left the kitchen, escorting her to the front door. “So are we dating, then?”
“Looks like,” she said, kissing his cheek as he opened the door for her. “Bye, Spike.”
“Bye, Buffy,” he replied, smiling at her before she left.
“Looks like you moved on quickly,” a familiar voice said behind him, getting his attention.
Spike slowly turned around as he let the door close, looking at the woman standing in front of him and taking a deep breath to calm the emotions that began to course through him.
“Hello, Lily.”
“Hi, Spike,” she said, smirking at him. “Long time no see.”
“I’m sure that didn’t bother you in the slightest,” he replied, crossing his arms. “What’re you doing here?”
“Just came to check in, see how the new place is doing,” she said, looking around. “I must say that it looks pretty nice in here now. You did a great job with it.”
“Thanks,” he said, studying her. “But I have a feeling you didn’t come to compliment me.”
“No, I didn’t,” she affirmed, sighing. “Dad isn’t too pleased that you renamed the restaurant.”
“Well, it’s mine,” he said, shrugging. “I can do whatever I’d like with it.”
“You could’ve at least told him before you closed it down and reopened it with a new name,” she said, frowning when his eyes darkened.
“And you could’ve told me earlier than you did that you were sleeping with Gunn,” he replied in a low tone. “How’s that going, by the way?”
“We broke up,” she answered, looking down. “We realized that it was only fun when we were being secretive about it.” She paused for a moment. “I want to be with you again, Spike.” He scoffed and began walking away. “Hear me out first.”
“I have someone else now,” he said, turning around. “And I care a lot about her.”
“More than you cared about me?” she asked, happy when he didn’t answer. “We were so good together.”
“You cheated on me,” he shot back, angry. “I don’t want to get back together, Lily. I’m a lot happier now than I was with you.”
“You don’t mean that,” she said, moving closer to hug him, frowning he put a hand up to stop her.
“Yes, I do,” he replied, turning around again. “I’m sorry.”
“Spike!” she called after him, feeling tears form in her eyes as he walked into his office and closed the door.
“I think you had better leave, Lily,” Andrew said, appearing by the kitchen doors, glaring at her. “You’re no longer welcome here.”
“It’s a public place,” she said, narrowing her eyes at him as he took a few steps towards her.
“No one wants you here,” he said sternly. “And if you do anything to hurt either Spike or Buffy, I will personally make sure that you get what you deserve. Understand?”
“You can’t do anything to me,” she replied, amused. “I could do more damage to you than you could ever do to me.”
“Go,” Spike said, opening his office’s door, hearing everything that they had said to each other. “Before I make my own threats.”
Lily turned and stormed out of the building, both men watching her leave.
“You alright?” Spike asked, looking at Andrew.
“Yep,” he answered, smiling. “I’ve wanted to say something like that to her for as long as I can remember.” Spike chuckled and patted his friend on the back. “Can I go out to lunch with Lorne now?”
“Go ahead,” Spike said, smirking. “Are you two dating now?”
“Yes,” Andrew said with a dreamy look in his eyes.
“I’ll have to meet him sometime,” Spike said. “You should bring him in soon.”
“Sure,” Andrew replied. “What about you and Buffy? Are things better now? I saw you two talking before Lily showed up.”
“Yeah,” Spike said, looking down and smiling. “I think things are going to work out nicely from now on.”
* * * * *
That night, Buffy walked into The Little Green Tavern and sat down at the bar, smiling when Rupert sat beside her, ordering a beer for her.
“How are you?” he asked. “You haven’t come by in a while.”
“I had some things to sort out,” she replied, smiling. “But everything’s fine.”
“Did something happen?” he asked, worried.
“Spike and I… had a little argument about something,” she answered, frowning when he smirked. “What?”
“I heard from one of his friends that you two had gotten involved,” he said. “I’ll admit I was hurt that you didn’t tell me first, but-”
“We weren’t exactly ‘involved’,” she cut in, looking down. “We kind of… slept together.” When she didn’t hear a reaction from him, she raised her eyes to his and saw the shock in them before he started laughing. She raised an eyebrow and accepted her beer from the bartender before smacking Giles’ arm. “What’s so funny?”
“You and Spike…” he managed to get out, chuckling harder. “Enemies… sleeping together…”
“It was only one time,” she said before blushing. “Well, only one night- it was definitely more than one time.”
“Hey,” he said, instantly calming down. “I didn’t need to hear any of that.” She giggled and sipped her beer. “What did you argue about?”
“I wanted to slow things down because we were moving too fast,” she answered, sighing. “And he didn’t agree.”
“Do you want me to talk to him?” he asked.
“It’s fine,” she said, waving it off. “I think things are going to work out eventually.”
“Well, I’m happy for you, Buffy,” he said, putting his hand on her back. “You deserve some happiness in life.” He paused. “Even if it’s with Spike.”
As he began laughing again, she shook her head and smirked before standing up and paying for her drink.
“Night, Giles,” she said, ignoring his continued chortling as she left the bar.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Thank you for all of the reviews for the last chapter! I'm sorry it was angsty, but I think it was necessary. There is a lot less Spuffy angst in this chapter, and as far as I know, there isn't a lot more of it throughout the rest of the fic. I hope you continue to enjoy it!:)