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Author's Chapter Notes:
This chapter was supposed to be up yesterday, but I forgot=P Anywayz diclaimers in full force and effect, and the song to Bonnie Tyler, from Footloose=P
2. Hero

“Where have all good men gone
And where are all the gods?
Where’s the street-wise Hercules
To fight the rising odds?

Isn’t there a white knight upon a fiery steed?
Late at night I toss and I turn and I dream of what I need

I need a hero
I’m holding out for a hero ‘til the end of the night
He’s gotta be strong
And he’s gotta be fast
And he’s gotta be fresh from the fight
I need a hero
I’m holding out for a hero ‘til the morning light
He’s gotta be sure
And it’s gotta be soon
And he’s gotta be larger than life (larger than life...)”

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That day at lunch I glanced over at Spike’s table and found him looking at me, with a concerned look on his face, before he quickly turned back to his ever chattering ‘best girl-friend’ Harmony. Although how he could stand to be around her, let alone call her his best girl friend was beyond me. If anyone he fit more with Faith, the school bad ass of the X, X chromosome.

Glancing back at my table I decided to make my way back into the conversation again, although my heart was in other things entirely, namely Spike Giles. Hearing Willow gushing about the Spring Formal made me sad again, but shaking it off when she glanced at me expectantly, having just asked me a question that I totally missed. “Huh? Didn’t catch that, sorry, Wills,” I mumble around my bite of ‘Meatball Surprise’, which believe me, was the Lunch Lady trying to kill us. We’d be better off eating rat poison filled Jell-o.

Willow just looked at me with a confused and slightly worried expression before repeating quietly, “Are you going to go stag?”

I just smile slightly and look down at my food in response. I suddenly didn’t feel all that hungry and the prospect of eating what the cafeteria lady classified as edible was making me sick. “Yeah,” I finally mutter, slightly angry, “I’m going stag. No guy for poor old geeky Buffy.”

Willow just smiled sympathetically and looked to Oz, “what about Devon, Oz? He got a date, yet?”

Oz shook his head, and in that special way of his replied, “Nah, he’s going with Aurora.”

I looked at her sharply then, really needing to get my point across on this factor, “Willow Rosenberg, there will be no setting Buffy up of any kind for this dance, got it? I’ll go stag with my buds. Plus, Tar doesn’t have a date either, so I’ll hang with her, right Tara?”

Tara glanced down and muttered shyly, “I-I’m going with C-Callista, we’re kind of dating.”

Everyone just sort of sat there with their mouths open after that. I swear, if she had’ve announced giving birth to a pterodactyl we wouldn’t have been more surprised. Finally Willow broke the silence and stared at her favorite cousin. “Tar, sweetie, why didn’t you tell us? I mean, wow. You’re gay?”

And it was as if someone had put a hush on the entire room, cause everyone stopped talking, even though Willow said it in her normal voice, not even overly loud, and every one of their heads swiveled to stare in our direction, as if trying to find the culprit. And apparently she was found: me. “I beat Buffy’s the one Willow was talking about. She is such a lesbian!” Harmony yelled, and Spike’s eyes turned to glare at her, before he looked at me questioningly.

“No!” I yell, getting angry, and grabbing my bags and leaving the cafeteria. I didn’t mean to offend Tara, which I actually did, but it was just so like him to actually think I was gay. I mean he didn’t even seem to realize who ‘B & S’ were, or he did and chose to stay blissfully ignorant of my undeniable love for him. “Stupid bleached moron…” I mutter, shoving my bag into my locker and grabbing my books for Chem class, even though I hate it.

Turning around, I ran straight into Harmony and Faith, and of course Robin, who follows his girlfriend wherever she goes. ‘Course Faith doesn’t mind, she loves having a boyfriend who does whatever she says. Something about the sex being great when all she has to do is purr and he’s ready and willing. “What do you want?” I demand angrily as the two-stood snickering, Faith’s 12 o’clock shadow hovering behind.

Faith just tittered, and then looked at me mockingly, “Quite a show back there, Summers. Imagine if Spike only knew, he wouldn’t have been so quick to question your orientation then huh? But, he doesn’t. Oh, Harm, why don’t we do little Buffy here a favor and make her crush on ol’ Spikey publicly known? Perhaps through a publication? Or, even better, a banner above the main doors?”

I just glared at her through fiery eyes and pushed past them, Harmony’s sickeningly sweet voice following me, “Don’t worry sweetie, we wouldn’t do that. After all he still thinks you’re a lesbian, wouldn’t want to discourage him would we?”

Running into the bathroom as soon as I rounded the corner, I let the tears fall and that’s where Willow found me a little while later. “I didn’t know you felt that way about gay people, Buffy. You really fooled all of us,” she said as she hopped up on the counter beside me.

I looked at her with confusion clearly written on my face, “What are you talking about, Wills?”

“You. Being a homophobe and stuff. Poor Tara though, I think it broke her heart to find out that you’re against gay people, but we all have our preferences, right? I just thought you were indifferent, but I guess not.”

I stared at her for a moment, and then burst out laughing, “Homophobe? Nuh-uh, Willow. What gave you that idea?”

“You were all offended when Spike looked at you as if to ask, ‘Are you?’”

“Willow, I am so not a homophobe, I was just way embarrassed. And Spike thinks I’m a lesbian now, so it adds insult to injury, or in this case, injury to embarrassment. But, oh god, Tara thinks I’m a homophobe? God. I’m going to have to talk to her, cause I totally think it’s great that she’s dating a girl. And Callie? She’s amazing. I totally think it’s a good thing. Damn.”

When the bell rang we both ran to our next classes and I had Chem with Tara so I passed her a note apologizing and explaining my rash behavior. She wrote back saying it was okay and she understood. Also something about my aura giving away everything anyway so I didn’t actually have to apologize, she got it.

About a half hour into Mr. Budgie’s speech, I was called down to the office, and was asked to take all my books. Getting there I saw Principal I’m a troll Snyder sitting with a huge smile on his face that I knew I’d regret seeing. Walking into his office with the air and confidence of someone who wasn’t scared of the man, which was unusual, as most of the kids at Sunnydale were, I sat in the seat on the student side of his desk and waited for whatever punishment I’d get this week for whatever lame ass thing he came up with that I did.

Bingo. 5 lates in 2 weeks was against school policies and I was getting a warning detention. I was actual grateful to the little guy for not suspending me which I knew would end in near death bruises at home, but detentions were only a slightly bigger beating than usual. Unless he was drunk, of course, and then I was usually sent to the hospital with concussion or internal bleeding.

Leaving campus immediately, since he didn’t want me ‘influencing other impressionable students’ I walked past Angel O’Connor and Darla Huntington making out in the hallway, two of Spike’s cronies, and Angel just smirked at me saying, “Too bad you’re a lesbian, Buff, you’re hot for a nerd.” I rolled my eyes, repulsed by the football player, and kept walking.

Knowing that Ted was still at work, I thanked the lords, then cursed them as I opened the door and saw him sitting there with a bottle or scotch in one hand, and the TV remote in the other. Grimacing at the ugly display he made, I silently went to head up the stairs when his angry voice stopped me from the couch, “What the fuck are you doing home so early, slut?”

I just sighed and walked down to the doorway, handing him my detention slip, knowing he’d find it anyway. Glaring at me, he threw the bottle of scotch at my head, smashing it just inches from my face, some of the shards embedding themselves in my skin. Tears stinging my eyes from the new form of pain, I glared at him before turning around and heading back up the stairs.

Of course, he chased after me, and I got partway up before he threw me down and proceeded to sit on top of me, punching and kicking, using broken pieces of the glass to slice my arms and face. Finally, when I was to bruised to even open my eyes, he got up and stumbled into the kitchen, and I dragged myself into my room where I passed out on my floor, my door safely locked.

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Two days went by and I still hadn’t left my room, too scared to venture outside, and too banged up to even care. I had turned into a nice shade of dark purple, and my cuts where all a nasty red, but they had all healed, and Dawn had picked all the glass out, crying harder than I did at the flinching I made when it hurt.

Dawn was in my room then, reading my a story she wrote, when mom appeared in the doorway, with Spike in tow, and just smiled sadly at me, before disappearing downstairs to her husband.

Spike walked in with soup in his hands, and homework tucked under his arm. Mine too, that jerk. “Hey nibblet, can I get a moment with big sis?”

Dawn nodded silently, leaning up to kiss my cheek carefully before laying the unfinished story on my nightstand and leaving, shutting the door softly behind her.

Spike took Dawn’s vacated seat on the bed, although unlike Dawn, he wasn’t leaning against me, one arm wrapped protectively around me, as she read. He just smiled at me as he set the soup beside me on the bed, and the homework beside that. “So, stupid question coming here, how are you?”

I just shrugged, which hurt like hell, but the only indicator of my pain was a flinch in my eyes and the pain filling them before quickly disappearing. “I’m fine. Better question is how do I look?”

Spike laughed, “Like a big blueberry. Or plum. You can pick which one.”

I smiled, which also slightly hurt, but I shook it off, “So I look like a fruit. How kind of you, sir.”

He grinned, “I said you could pick which kind of fruit.” Glancing over my visible wounds he sighed, “So what set him off this time?”

“Detention. And also me being ‘mouthy and irresponsible’, or some other bullshit he fed mom. I haven’t seen him since then, mostly because my door is guarded by an unwavering little 12 yr old, night and day.”

Spike looked to the door then back to me, “She is protective of you.”

I just smiled, “That’s cause I get the beatings worse than her. She just gets the other stuff.” Staring at the blanket for a moment, I sniffled, and wiped blindly at some stray tears, before looking at Spike with a watery smile. “So, you brought me homework? How very kind of you, William.”

He growled playfully at the name ‘William’, but glanced at the soup, “I brought soup though. Hearty Chicken Noodle, so none of that icky stuff. Actual chicken and vegetables and spiral noodles.”

I grinned at him, “My favorite. You remembered.”

He just looked sheepish, “Well, you complained so much that day how could I forget?” Both of us flashing back to when I had chicken pox, and Spike had to take care of me since he was the only one that had already had them. He went to buy my soup, but got the wrong kind, so I begged and pleaded until he finally brought me the right kind.

We talked for an hour about various things, before he looked at the clock on my nightstand and stood up. “I have to get going, Buffy, got a date with Drusilla tonight.” Obviously he missed the jealous growl and darkening of my eyes, or else he would have been scared, but he just smiled, gave me a kiss on the cheek and left.

Shortly thereafter, well I was sipping the soup, Dawn came trundling back in, and grabbed the story, picking up and situating herself as if she had never left, neither of us saying anything as she read her tale, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. And to us, it really was.





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