Chapter 13
“What? Is this because of Lilah? I told you she wouldn’t be a problem now.”
Buffy shook her head, finding that it was hard to keep her tears back. “It’s not just about her. Yes, I wish you would have told me you had a girlfriend, but it’s more than that. This is all too much for me, Spike. We never should have gotten involved. We didn’t even think about all of the consequences. I was really scared when I thought that I might be pregnant. It made me realize that I’m not ready for any of this. Being with you is just too much right now,” she finished.
Spike wouldn’t accept that. “We can work it out, Buffy. I know things seem hard now, but they won’t always. I love being with you. I don’t care what happens down the road. The only thing that I care about right now is you. I know it sounds crazy because we haven’t known each other that long, but I can’t help the way I feel. We can just take things slow from now on. Please, at least think about it.” He hated the pleading tone in his voice, but was willing to do anything to stay with her.
Buffy moved closer to him and pressed her lips to his in a soft caress, knowing that it would probably be the last time. “I’m sorry, William,” she whispered, then left his apartment.
Spike watched her go, feeling tears of his own start to form in his eyes.
* * * * *
Buffy sulked in her room all weekend, not wanting to talk to anyone. She dreaded having to go to school and face Spike, but she decided to be strong about it. She hadn’t heard from Faith in a couple of days and was starting to worry, praying that her friend was okay. Buffy walked into the school, with her head held high. She knew that she made the right decision and refused to let it take over her life. She headed to her locker and got everything that she needed, slamming the door shut and almost colliding with the hard chest that was suddenly next to her.
“Hey, Buffy. I was hoping we could talk.”
She sighed and really wasn’t in the mood to talk to Riley, but decided to try being civil. “What would we need to talk about?”
He looked nervous before responding. “I was just wondering if maybe you wanted to go out with me some time.”
Buffy laughed and shook her head. “I’m sorry, but I just find that to be funny. We’ve been in the same classes since freshman year and you never once talked to me. Why would you bother now?”
Riley shrugged. “Well, you have that whole mysterious thing going on for you. I figured that maybe we could get to know each other better. I’ve always wanted to talk to you. I just didn’t really know how.”
Buffy rolled her eyes. “The most popular guy in school had trouble talking to someone like me? I find that very hard to believe. We would never work, Riley. We’re from two different worlds,” with that said, she walked away and headed to class.
“So, you’ll think about it then?” Riley called after her, but she was already long gone.
* * * * *
Buffy sat in class and waited for Spike to arrive. She wondered if Faith would be showing up that day, but had a feeling the other girl wouldn’t be making an appearance. Buffy looked up just in time to see Spike walk into the room. She gasped at the sight of him. His hair was all messy and there were bags under his eyes, it looked like he hadn’t slept in days. She couldn’t believe that the break up would have affected him that much. Buffy could tell that he spent time drinking and was probably still dealing with a hangover. She was surprised that he decided to come in at all.
Riley plopped down next to Buffy and gave her a smile. “I think we should at least go out once, Buffy. If you don’t have fun, then I’ll never bother you about it again. I’m really not a bad guy. I might end up surprising you.”
She rolled her eyes again. “Look outside, Riley. Do you see pigs flying by any chance?”
He actually looked out the window, shaking his head after a moment. “No, is that even possible?”
Buffy raised her eyebrows. “It means that I won’t go out with you, until a flying pig passes that window. Keep looking, they might surprise you.”
Riley nodded and continued to stare out of the window.
Buffy couldn’t hide the smile that formed on her lips. He was just too easy. She then glanced back at Spike and saw the sad expression on his face, with a hint of jealousy. She just had an urge to hold him and tell him that everything would be okay, but knew that she couldn’t do that. She had to be strong right now. It would be better for both of them if they just moved on, but she wasn’t desperate enough to go out with Riley Finn. The dumb jock was still looking out that window. Buffy just shook her head and gazed down at her notebook, knowing that it was going to be a long day.
* * * * *
Buffy found it hard to be around Willow and Xander later that day. She was happy for her friends, but suddenly found their public display of affection to be nauseating. She couldn’t stand seeing couples in love after her relationship fell apart. Not that it was really much of a relationship, anyway. Besides Faith, no one even knew about them. It just seemed to be based on a lot of sex. Not that she had a problem with sex, but there should be more to a relationship than that. A part of her felt betrayed that he hid the fact that he had a girlfriend. It made her wonder about why he never said anything. After the whole thing with her parents, she didn’t believe in cheating on your significant other. That woman might be horrible, but it still didn’t make it right. Buffy didn’t even know if she would be able to trust Spike after that. If he cheated once, then he would probably be capable of cheating again.
She groaned when she spotted Riley in the distance. He was licking his lips and giving her a creepy look. Buffy couldn’t take it anymore and grabbed the first guy that walked by her, planting a hard kiss on his mouth. She pulled away a few seconds later and was glad to see that Riley was gone; maybe he would finally get the hint that she wasn’t interested. Buffy was about to head in the other direction, but stopped when she saw Spike standing outside of his classroom. The look on his face showed that he saw the kiss. He looked hurt and just walked away. Buffy wanted to go after him and tell him that it didn’t mean anything, but she couldn’t get her feet to move. She just glanced at the boy that was still standing next to her, with a goofy grin on his face.
“So, you wanna go somewhere and make out some more?” he wondered.
Buffy cringed and got away from him as fast as she could. God, she just wanted this day to end already.