There were many things in life that had surprised Buffy over time. But this was absolutely shocking.
“Y-you beat me!” She cried incredulously between heaving breaths.
A tired smirk flittered across Spike’s face as he flopped back on to the grass. “Yeah, I did.”
“But…” Buffy half-protested. She still couldn’t fathom what had happened in the last few minutes. Somehow, just as Buffy was nearly at the end, Spike had stolen her move from the day before and leaped ahead, landing in front of her.
Buffy, at first, had been livid but then she’d fallen to the ground, too exhausted to object. Till now.
“Summers, face it. I beat you, fair and square,” Spike added at her look.
“Ugh,” Buffy grumbled, struggling to sit up again. “I don’t get it! I mean, I so beat you yesterday…why…” her eyes narrowed, “what did you do?”
Spike scoffed, looking at the blonde like she’d just suggested he should stand on his head and count to twenty in Swedish. “I know you’re pissed about this, but now you’re just grasping for straws, luv. What could I possibly do?”
Buffy could feel her face reddening a little. Spike made a very good point, what could he do? She was mad and was saying stupid things. And did he just call her ‘luv’?
“Fine,” she mumbled out loud. “You beat me.” She quickly stood up and stalked off as fast as she could on her shaky, achy legs.
Spike watched Buffy leave, looking almost amused. Then, just to provoke her a little more, he called out, “Summers!”
Buffy half-turned around, her hand shielding her eyes as she waited for whatever Spike was going to say.
“Ten bucks says I beat you tomorrow!”
Buffy snorted and even from a distance she could see the smug smirk on Spike’s face. “You wish!” She called back, trying to sound indignant, but secretly she couldn’t wait for 3:30 the next afternoon.
******
“Poor Buffy,” Willow said sympathetically, watching as the blonde dropped her head on the table.
The pair was sitting at a booth in at the Espresso Pump, the local coffee place, and Willow was buying Buffy a ‘sorry you lost’ drink. Her theory was that given enough sugar, Buffy would be too hyper to fret over Spike’s victory.
“He beat me,” Buffy repeated, her voice muffled by the table.
Willow nodded, taking a gulp of her mocha. She’d seen the end of the race and Fred and Wesley had filled her in on the middle of it, adding their commentary. Willow had wisely decided not to mention any of the things said, especially Fred’s “they were so cute!” No need to further upset Buffy, she reasoned.
With a sigh, Buffy slurped her own mocha. She looked so dejected and Willow felt she had to say something helpful.
“Well, there’s the Central Invitational coming up this weekend,” Willow said cheerfully, “you’ll kick ass there.”
Buffy let out a loud groan at the reminder and Willow winced. Maybe that wasn’t the best thing to mention.
“O-oh!” Willow added, “Don’t forget you’re still racing Spike tomorrow. You’ll win then for sure.” She punctuated her words with a nod.
Then a small grin grew on her lips. “I’ll win and he’ll pay me ten bucks,” she said firmly.
“Sucker,” Willow said, a smile on her face now and the two girls giggled.
“Watcha laughing at?” The pair turned to see Xander with, as usual, Anya by his side as well as Tara.
“How I’m gonna kick Spike’s shiny white ass,” Buffy announced, earning a laugh from Xander.
“That I gotta see,” he said, sitting next to Willow. He instantly grabbed her mocha and took a sip only to make a face.
“Blech. Coffee,” he said, disgusted. Anya sat down next to him, her shoulder bumping his.
“That’s stupid,” she commented, “drinking that is like eating coffee ice-cream. It’s 99% sugar and 1% coffee flavor.”
“I-I can never drink the mochas here,” Tara added shyly as she sat down next to Buffy. “They make me too jumpy.”
“Ditto,” Willow said, her knee jiggling. She’d barely drunk any of the liquid but already she was restless.
Buffy took another sip of her coffee and then looked down at her watch and her face fell. It was just after 5:00 and she’d promised to be home before dinner.
Giles was cooking something, presumably British, and her mother had insisted that everyone would help out in the kitchen. Buffy had a feeling this was for her mother’s benefit, this way she could supervise the cooking. Her mother had always been very protective of her kitchen.
“So Buff, you haven’t told us what it’s like living with Spike Giles.” Xander’s words brought her back to attention.
“Oh, you know,” she began, feeling a little awkward, “It’s Spike. I mean, it’s not like I see him that much. Mostly at dinner or in the morning.”
“Does he sleep naked?” Anya asked suddenly, leaning in eagerly. “Harmony told me he sleeps in the buff.”
Buffy could feel the beet red blush staining her face. “Uh…” she was at a complete lost for words. “I don’t really-“
“Anya! Come on!” Willow admonished, her face slightly pink as well. “They’re practically step-siblings.”
“Well, we’re not really step…” Buffy’s correction was cut off by Anya.
“What? I was just wondering, god!” She huffed. “You’d think I was asking her what his penis looked like,” she muttered, sitting back in her seat.
Xander was shaking his head, glad Anya was pursuing the question. He also couldn’t help feel a little hurt. She was, after all, commenting about another guy’s personal habits and nakedness. But, he reminded himself, it wasn’t like they were exclusive, at least not purposefully. They weren’t together as boyfriend and girlfriend. Sometimes Xander wondered why. It wasn’t like Anya was bad in anyway she was just…Anya.
“Maybe we should talk about something else,” Tara suggested, glancing at Willow who nodded in agreement.
“Yep! New topic time! One that avoids mentioning Spike’s anything,” Buffy quickly added.
“Like say, what is going on between Fred and Wes?” Willow lowered her voice conspiratorially.
“Oh my god, did you see them leaving after school? Total sexual tension,” Anya confirmed.
“Okay! That’s it!” Xander said loudly, standing up. “I’m going to find my male friends and do something…manly.” With that, he maneuvered around Anya and walked out the door, leaving the girls giggling at his dramatic exit.
***********
“Buffy could you pass the salt and the-err-pepper,” Giles said hurriedly.
She complied and watched as Giles dumped some of each in the pot and stirred. Spike was currently juggling the extra potatoes while Joyce hovered of Giles’s shoulder, watching the bubbling mixture.
“William, please,” Giles turned to his son, sounding exasperated, “Leave the potatoes alone.”
Spike caught them both in one hand and tossed them on the table. He flashed Buffy a smirk and she rolled her eyes.
“You still sore about this afternoon?” Spike asked innocently as he sat down in a chair, propping his feet up.
Buffy shot him a death glare. “No,” she answered defiantly, “I’ll beat you tomorrow, big deal.”
Joyce, hearing their conversation, frowned. “What is this about beating?”
Buffy opened her mouth to mutter ‘nothing’ but Spike spoke first. “Just a race we did this afternoon. Buffy here is brassed off because I won and she didn’t.”
Joyce turned to her daughter, eyebrows raised. “Is that right?”
She was so going to kill Spike, Buffy thought fervently. “Not exactly,” she said hesitantly, “I beat him yesterday.”
“Oh?” Joyce crossed her arms. “And what started this…competition?”
Buffy shrugged under the scrutiny of her mother’s eyes. “We were just having fun, right Spike?” Her voice was falsely cheerful.
“Right!” Spike said brightly, his voice equally fake. “For fun.”
“Well, I for one am excited about this meet of yours on Saturday, Buffy,” Giles interjected.
“Me too,” Buffy half-lied. She was excited but also nervous. It was her first big, official meet ever. Fred had assured Buffy multiple times that it wasn’t a big deal, but for her it was.
“William do you have a meet as well?” Giles questioned as he added some more spices to the pot.
“It’s Spike, dad,” he responded automatically. No matter how many times he insisted on his nickname, his father stubbornly refused to call him anything but his full name. “And no, we don’t,” Spike added.
Joyce once again leaned over her boyfriend’s shoulder, eyeing the nearly done stew. “When’s your meet?”
Spike shrugged. Since cross country wasn’t his main sport like football, or as the Americans called it soccer, was; Spike didn’t pay much attention to the meets. He either found out through Gunn or Wes.
Giles turned off the stove and clapped his hands. “Dinner is officially ready.”
*********
Feeling stuffed from the unexpectedly delicious stew, Buffy slumped on the couch watching some reality show.
Her feet were bare and she wore a pair of casual pants paired with a simple T-shirt. Her hair was still slightly damp and pulled up in a half ponytail.
She was currently inspecting her nails which were ragged, bare and in desperate need of a good manicure. Not that she’d had one of those in a long while, Buffy thought. Her gaze returned to the TV after the commercials ended only to have her vision obscured by Spike walking past.
He sat down next to her and resumed his favorite position, his feet propped up by the low coffee table. Annoyed, Buffy scowled at him but he wasn’t paying any attention whatsoever.
“Look at the bloke, he’s about to puke his guts out. His face is practically green,” Spike commented, watching the TV with intensity.
“What are you doing?” Buffy demanded, momentarily catching Spike off guard.
“What?” He asked, sounding truly confused.
“You. Sitting here,” Buffy motioned to him and the couch.
Spike looked around, puzzled. “’m sorry, am I not allowed to sit here?” His voice was tinged with sarcasm.
“No. Yes.” Buffy stopped and took a breath. “Why are sitting here with me?”
Spike rolled his eyes at her and turned back to the TV. “It’s called being civil. Look into it, luv.”
That was the second time he’d called her that, Buffy instantly noticed but didn’t comment on it.
She finally relented and they sat in silence watching the show. Well, not quite silence. Spike, Buffy was discovering, was an avid talker while watching TV. Not exactly directly talking to her but adding comments to just about everything.
“Nasty tasting buggers,” Spike said after a truly disgusting display of a contestant eating a thick earthworm.
Buffy’s faced scrunched up. “Ew,” she paused for a moment, giving Spike a suspicious look. “Are you implying that you’ve actually eaten a worm before?”
“Once,” he answered casually as if she’d asked if he’d ever gone to the grocery store. “On a dare.”
At Buffy’s horrified expression, he elaborated. “I was very pissed. Drunk of my ass and Harris decides it would be amusing to see what I would and wouldn’t do…” he trailed off. “Turns out, there isn’t much I won’t do.”
“Oh god, that is nasty,” Buffy replied, making a ‘blech’ noise. “I can’t believe Xander made you do that.”
“Yeah, well, that wasn’t the worst of it,” Spike muttered under his breath but unfortunately, Buffy didn’t miss it.
She scooted closer to Spike and nudged him with her foot. “Tell me,” she demanded, “what’d he make you do?”
“No,” Spike replied firmly, pushing her with a light shove.
“Yes,” she countered, poking him with her finger now. “You have to.” Buffy wasn’t sure why she was pushing this but it was funny to see Spike so closed-lipped about the dares. Maybe if she didn’t get them out of Spike, Xander would tell her.
“No,” Spike repeated, louder and much firmer than before. “Not if you paid me all the money in the world, Summers. No bloody way.”
Finally, Buffy crossed her arms and with a huff, resumed watching the end of the show. “Meanie,” she muttered but it was almost playful.
“Annoying bint,” Spike rejoined.
“Asshole.”
“Brat.”
“Worm-eater.”
“Hey!”
************
After another couple hours of mindless reality shows with Spike, Buffy nearly crawled upstairs, exhausted. She wasn’t sure why she was so tired, but she caved into the temptation of a nice, comfy, warm bed.
Buffy stripped off her clothes and slipped on a pair of silky shorts and tank top and slipped into bed. Just moments after turning her bedside lamp off, she was drifting off to sleep.
The sound of thunder cracking in sky was deafening and followed by a blinding strike of lightning. Rain was falling heavily now, in big sticky blobs at a rapid pace.
She could feel the car slipping a little as they made a sharp left turn. “I hate you! How could you do this to me?”
“Dammit Buffy, please you have to understand-“
“Understand what?!” The rain was falling almost in sheets now, a relentless cascade of water blurring the windshield.
“I love you, Buffy!”
“You lied! You lied to me!” Tears were pouring down her face, matching the flow outside.
“I was going to tell you, I swear Buffy. I was going to tell you.”
“When? When it suited you? When you had no other choice? All this time…”
“It’s over, I promise Buffy. We’re over, almost officially. There are a few papers I still need to sign. I’ve already moved out months ago. Please, Buffy believe me.”
“Then why do you still have it?” She pointed to the incriminating piece of metal.
Silence.
“This is over. I’m done. I…loved you, I really thought I did.”
“No, Buffy, god no.” He turned to face her, just for a moment. A car honked, loud and he gripped the steering wheel, jerking hard. The car swerved, making her stomach lurch painfully. They were going fast, forty-five, fifty miles in hour.
Too fast.
“Oh god!”
Buffy jolted awake, her breath coming in hard pants, her face and body covered in sweat. Bile rose to her throat as the memories flashed into her mind. She could remember with bone-chilling details everything…
Buffy stumbled out of bed and into the bathroom, shutting the door quickly. She leaned over the toilet just as the contents of her stomach spewed out of her mouth.
Sagging against the porcelain, she closed her eyes. They burned and she swallowed hard against the lump in her throat. She tried to take a deep breath and exhale but it came out a strangled gasp.
Unable to hold back any longer, Buffy’s tears spilled over, faster and faster until she was full-out sobbing, her whole body trembling.
Slowly, the memories faded a little, becoming less harsh now that she was awake. Her stomach even felt marginally better.
Buffy pulled herself up from the cool surface and flushed the toilet and washed her face and hands, hoping no one had heard her.