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DISCLAIMER: Let's be frank - I don't own these characters. Joss Whedon owns them.

****

It surprised Spike that the Scoobies actually took him up on his offer. They must be desperate, he thought. Then again, so was he. He took a deep breath and walked into the Magic Shop and immediately into Buffy's glare. That didn't surprise him.

"Thank you so much for helping us." Giles, smiling, shook his hand.

There was a pause as the rest of the group held back. Giles raised his eyebrow at them, prompting action.

Finally, the redhead he'd seen so many times with Buffy offered her hand. "I'm Willow."

Spike gave her a charming smile. "On the keyboard, right?"

Willow smiled. "Yes, that's right." She tugged on the arm of another woman, who stared at the floor. "This is Tara."

Spike shook her hand, remembering the bass player. She had stood towards the back during their show. He made a note of that as something to work on.

"Hey, man." A young man with dark hair bounded over and shook Spike's hand. "Name's Xander. I'm sure I'll need the most help." A nervous laugh broke out.

Spike nodded and kept his annoyance to himself. He wondered if there was something between him and Buffy.

"Okay, now that we have the hellos out of the way, we can get started." Buffy abruptly turned and crossed the room.

"I haven't met him yet." A blonde woman closed the cash register and walked towards Spike. "I'm Anya."

"Hello." Spike took in her appearance. "And what do you play?"

"Oh, I'm not in the band. I just count the money."

Xander stepped next to Anya and pulled her away from Spike. "And she needs to get back to counting the money, don't you?"

Anya seemed pleased with that and gave Xander a big smile. "Yeah, I do."

"Hey, the sooner we start, the sooner we can go home," Buffy called from across the room. She opened the door next to her and walked into another room.

"That's the room we practice in." Willow indicated where Buffy had gone. Spike raised an eyebrow and crossed the room.

The Scoobies went to the same spots they were when Spike saw them at Kilos and started to warm up. Tara was towards the back, near Xander.

"Don't play yet." Spike walked up to them. "Tara, you need to come out on the stage more. I know you're a good player, but there is more to being in a band than playing your instrument."

Tara's eyes widened and she nervously looked towards Willow. Since Willow was closer to the front, he had an idea.

"Why don't you stand next to Willow?"

Tara nodded. Spike helped her move her amp and microphone so that she stood slightly in front of Willow.

"Now, when you get used to being in front, we can work on moving around the stage."

Willow smiled and touched Tara's arm. Spike glanced to the back of the room and saw Giles nod in approval.

"Can we play now?" Buffy had her hand on her hip.

Spike raised an eyebrow at her. "I was just getting to that."

Buffy rolled her eyes and nodded to the rest of the band. They started to play one of the songs he heard at Kilos the other weekend. It was a catchy song, but there were spots that could be changed.

"Stop. That part right there. Elizabeth-"

"Who the hell is Elizabeth?" Buffy glared at him.

Spike blinked. "I thought that was your name. Isn't Buffy short-"

"'Buffy is what's on my birth certificate. It's not short for anything."

"You mean that's your real name?" He broke out in a big smile.

"There's nothing wrong with my name, Spike," she said with emphasis on his name.

"My mother didn't give me that name," he laughed.

"So now you're starting in on my.." She shook her head. "Can we get back to practice?"

"Ok, Buffy." He stressed her name before turning serious. "Do you think you could change your guitar solo a little? It sounds too much like what you play while you're singing."

Buffy gave him a confused look and played the solo again. "That part?"

Spike nodded. "Yeah. Can you jazz it up a bit?"

"It's only a couple of chords. I don't think it needs to be updated." Buffy played it again.

Spike shook his head. "It does. This part leads into the last chorus. You want to use this solo to build up to an incredible ending."

"I don't see.."

"Just do it!" Spike almost lost his temper. This woman was going to cause him to blow his only chance at this job.

Buffy's eyes flared. "If you're the expert, show me what you mean." She removed her guitar and thrust it into his hands.

He thrust it back. "I don't play the guitar. You know exactly what I mean, but you're just too stubborn to change what you've been playing for years."

"Buffy, why don't you at least try it." Giles spoke up.

Her face flushed red, and she played the guitar in anger.

"Yes, like that!" He knew she could do it. All she needed was to add a little fire. "Now, take it from the top."

Spike worked them hard. He questioned and improved everything - from the way they stood, to some of the lyrics, to the final notes. He was surprised to find that he enjoyed this almost as much as the column. Sure, most of that was getting under Buffy's skin. To see her fired up made his night.

"Uh, Spike?" Willow walked over to where he was standing. "It's almost one, and I've got an eight o'clock class tomorrow."

Spike looked at his watch in surprise. He hadn't meant to work them that long. Willow looked exhausted, and so did Xander and Tara. Buffy, on the other hand, looked ready to continue for another three hours. Maybe if he hadn't spent the night concentrating on Buffy, he would have noticed how late it had gotten.

"Oh. Yeah, go home everyone. Good practice."

Buffy was mumbling as she put her guitar away. Willow asked her if she needed a ride home, but Buffy just shook her head. Spike wanted to talk to her, but she gave him the cold shoulder. What was amusing a few hours ago, began to annoy him. He followed her outside and noticed that she began to walk down the street.

"You're walking home at one in the morning?" He caught up with her and pulled her around to face her.

Buffy shrugged him off. "I'll be fine. It's a small town."

"Let me give you a ride home." Spike tried to grab her arm again to pull her towards his car.

"No! I'm not a child," she seethed and continued down the street.

"Then, stop acting like one!"

She stopped and glared at him. They eyed each other, daring the other to make the next move.

Spike held up his hands in surrender and backed towards his car and got in. Slowly he followed right behind her, keeping her in sight. Suddenly, she stopped and motioned for him to pass her. He refused, instead waited for her to move. Finally, she walked over to the passenger side and climbed in.

"Well, you might as well give me a ride home."

"You're welcome," he said, sarcastically.

There was sudden fatigue in her face as she put on her seatbelt. As he drove her home, she didn't speak except to give him directions. For that he was forgiving, because he could tell she was more tired than she let on. She really pushed herself.

"You have a house?" He pulled into the driveway of a small bungalow.

Buffy yawned. "It's my mom's." She turned to him without any anger, just tiredness. "Thank you. I really.." She shook her head and left the car. Without a backward glance, she walked up the lawn and entered her house.

He liked seeing the side of her that was too tired to be weary. It surprised him. The spitfire side of her excited him, but the thought of gaining her trust warmed his heart. Glancing at the clock, he groaned. He had a forty five minute drive home. Maybe he should think about moving to Sunnydale.

****

Buffy had to admit that they had improved over the week with Spike's help. Of course, she wouldn't admit it out loud - she didn't want his head to get any bigger. They were going to perform in one of the smaller clubs, and with two other bands, but their small crowd of fans always found them.

The air conditioning in the club was broken, and she was already covered in sweat. She fanned herself with her t-shirt, happy that she wore a short skirt. Spike had wanted her to wear leather pants. She might have looked good, but she'd would have been dying.

Someone tapped her on the shoulder, and she was surprised to see Riley standing beside her. "Hey! I thought the Initiative had a show tonight." She gave him a hug, but avoided his kiss. For some reason, she felt strange kissing him in the middle of the club.

"I'm just stopping by for a few minutes. I have to get back to help tear the stage down." Riley was beaming at her.

"I'm glad you came. Can you stay for one song? We're on in a few minutes." She smiled at him.

"I was hoping to see how much you've improved with this Spike helping you."

At the mention of Spike, a tingle crawled up her spine. She turned, and Spike was intently staring at her from across the room. Butterflies danced in her stomach, and she realized that she never felt that with Riley. It's just nerves, she told herself. She became annoyed and glared at Spike. Why was he just looking at her like that?

"Who's that?" Riley gently touched her arm.

"That's Spike."

"Oh." Riley paused. "I thought he'd be older."

"Buffy, we're on." Willow ran past Buffy to the stage.

As the band began to play, Buffy looked up at Riley. She should be crazy about this man. He was kind, thoughtful, and good looking. She did like him, but something nagged at her. Pushing her doubts away, she grabbed his shoulders, pulling him down to kiss him. Before she could think about how the kiss felt, she was running onto the stage.

She was relieved to be on stage again. All cares were left behind as she stood before the roaring crowd. The changes in their performance were second nature, now. Her spirits soared, and she was on cloud nine. This is what she needed after a week of dealing with school, her mother and sister, and Spike.

She didn't notice when Riley left to go back. She was never aware of anything else while she was on stage. An earthquake could occur, and she'd still be playing.

"So, Riley came to see you." Willow gave her a knowing look, as they left the stage. "It must be getting serious if he came across town for only five minutes."

Buffy smiled. "Yeah, he surprised me."

Spike walked up to them, looking unamused. "I'm glad to see you guys remembered most of what we practiced." He turned to Tara. "We need to work on you coming out more."

Buffy turned to him and crossed her arms. "We'll talk about this on Monday at practice. Right now, I just need something to drink."

Spike raised his eyebrow. He looked like he was about to say something, when he smiled. "That sounds like a good idea. I could use a good beer myself."

"Actually, I was thinking about some water." Buffy rolled her eyes and grabbed a bottle of water from her cooler.

Spike glared at her. "So, where's your Honey?"

"My what?"

"Your Honey." He stepped closer to her and smirked. "Your boyfriend. He didn't stay long, did he?"

Buffy cocked her head to the side. "He had to get back to help the Initiative after their gig."

"The Initiative?"

"Well, yeah." She shrugged nonchalantly, while trying not to grin. "He works for them."

Spike's face turned red with anger. "Your boyfriend is working for the Initiative? You're dating a man who probably helped destroy my column?"

Anger flared up in her. "He had nothing to do with your column - I asked him. He's just an assistant to Maggie Walsh and helps out with the band."

"He works directly with Maggie Walsh. That's just perfect." Spike shook his head.

"Maybe if you hadn't written such a cruel column, you'd still have it."

"If it hadn't been so "cruel", it wouldn't have been in twenty-six newspapers." Spike stared at a spot just above Buffy's head and slowly breathed out through his nose. "I don't feel much like celebrating. See you Monday."

Buffy quietly watched him leave. She hadn't talked to Spike about the column since he started working for them and hadn't realized that he was that upset about it. For the first time, she felt a twinge of sympathy for the man.





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