“ Surprise!” Came a loud voice as the front door was thrust open and the newest arrival walked in.
Buffy stared at him in shock not believing her eyes. “ Angel?”
“ Liam?” Spike said directly after and then saw the expression on Buffy’s face, and with that, he knew. Just like that he knew.
“ You two know each other.” It wasn’t a question, more of a statement, but Angel answered anyway.
“ Yeah, we uhm… We dated a little while back, it’s good to see you again Buffy.” Angel flashed his charming smile as he looked at her for the first time in a month. The same smile that had fooled her so many times.
Buffy just looked away, nodding once before leaving the room in a hurry. Things had been going bad after what happened in the bed but now they just went straight to hell. Angel was here, and apparently he was somehow related to Spike.
“ So Will, what’s Buffy doing here? You two dating or something?” He chuckled and shook his head at the question, finding it funny.
“ Yes, actually, we are.” Angel watched in disbelief as Spike walked out of the room in the direction Buffy had left.
***
Buffy sat down on the worn tire swing under the tree rubbing her arms as if she’d suddenly felt cold. Why did these things always seem to happen to her? If one thing went bad it caused a whole big chain reaction. What was that saying? Oh, right, ‘when it rains, it pours’. She closed her eyes inhaling the cold morning air. She wasn’t going to cry, she had done that enough after he left her. She still couldn’t believe the bastard left her after he had cheated on her. The nerve… She sensed someone sit beside her and let out a deep sigh.
“ So, how do you know each other?” He already knew the answer, he just needed to hear it from her.
Buffy opened her eyes and looked at the dreary grey-ish sky. Clouds were scattered all around and it looked like it was going to rain sometime in the day. She couldn’t just ignore the question, but she could try… “ Is the weather always like this here?”
“ Buffy…”
“ I mean, does it always fit your mood perfectly or something?” She kept looking up, her legs starting to sway the swing back and forth gently.
Spike just waited for her to continue, but it was several minutes before she did. “ We dated. I was young and stupid.” She let out an ironic laugh. “ Except that lasted about 3 years before I realized it. After that…” She paused looking at him for a few moments, her face blank. She turned away again. “ We met in high school, he was a sophomore and I was only a junior, but we dated not caring what people said.” She shivered from the combination of the cold weather outside and reminiscing painful memories.
Spike immediately took off his coat and put it around her shoulders. “ Cold, kitten?”
She nodded slowly before realizing how intimate the moment seemed. “ Can we just not? I can’t talk about this right now. Not the Angel thing and not…the other thing.” She stood up and started to walk away when Spike grabbed her hand.
“ Give me a chance…please.” Buffy stared at the look on his face. He seemed so sincere, but how could she? How could she give anyone another chance after Angel did what he had done, all the pain… She just looked away and kept walking.
Spike just watched her leave in misery. He couldn’t lose her now…
***
Buffy sat at the elegantly decorated table solemnly and took a sip of her wine. She was currently dining with Spike and his family, including Angel, at a four star restaurant. All she could do was sit there the whole night quietly, only answering questions when someone asked her something. Everything had been tense since this morning, since Angel came.
“ So Buffy, you’re awfully quiet tonight. Is everything all right?” Giles asked, giving her a gentle smile.
She just smiled back weakly. “ I’m fine Giles, thanks.”
Spike’s frown intensified. She was lying, he had been watching her the whole night. She wasn’t fine, she was far from it. Ever since his poof of a cousin came she had been acting more distant then normal.
“ Would you like to dance?” Buffy looked at Spike who had gotten out of his seat and was holding out one hand to her, smiling. She took it, not wanting to make the rest of his family suspicious.
“ Sure.”
He led her to the dance floor and put one hand on her hip and kept hold of her right hand. Not having danced to the classical music much before the blonde just looked at Spike nervously. Leading her as the music played he leaned in close to her ear.
“ Relax, luv. We don’t have to talk about anything you don’t want to, just have fun tonight.” With that he gently kissed the side of her neck and looked back at her smiling as they danced.
Buffy visibly relaxed in his arms. She was happy right now, even if she could get out of not talking about Angel or anything else that made her tense for one night, she would be happy. She leaned up, smiling and kissed him on the cheek. “ Thanks.” He grinned, twirling her around the dance floor more enthusiastically, making her giggle.
Buffy frowned slightly when she saw Angel come up to Spike and tap him on the shoulder. “ May I cut in?”
“ Actually…” Spike started. But before he could finish Angel took his place and started dancing away with Buffy who was looking confused and scared.
“ What are you doing?” Buffy hissed angrily. She really didn’t want to talk to him.
“ What does it look like? I’m dancing with the most beautiful girl in the room.” He gave her a devilish grin.
Her frown intensified. “ Angel, cut the crap. That may have worked on me once but it’s not going to work on me again. Don’t you remember the saying? Believe you once, shame on you, believe you twice, shame on me…or something like that. I’m not about to prove that true.”
Angel’s grin turned to a sneer and he gripped her tighter. “ Who are you kidding, Buffy? You know you’ll never have anyone better than me.” He sneered. “ Especially not with my cousin.”
That was it. She had had enough. Slapping him across the face she ran out of the restaurant, too afraid to look over at the table with Spike’s family to see if they had witnessed the event.
_______________________________
A/N: So what do you think of this chapter? I know I haven't updated and I feel bad so here's a little teaser for you ;) The next chapter has the following: Buffy + alcohol ;)