"Hi, Blondie-Bear! I just wanted to say thank you for last night!”
Spike closed his eyes, realizing how this must look. Why was this happening to him?! For the first time in his life, things were finally starting to look up, and then everything had to go tits up again. He didn’t dare to look at Buffy, didn’t want to see the disappointed look on her face. No way would she believe that he hadn’t slept with Harmony now. And just what the fucking hell was she doing here, anyway? Just to say ‘thank you’? Not bloody likely.
“Harmony, this isn’t a good time. Would you please leave?” He was amazed at how calm he sounded. Why did he have to be so incredibly stupid last night and let her stay over? Sure, he’d been drunk, but he really didn’t think Buffy would accept that lame excuse.
Unfortunately, Harmony didn’t take the hint. “But I thought we could go out for a coffee or something.” She looked over his shoulder into the apartment, and spotted Buffy who had walked up behind Spike. Her eyes narrowed. “Spike, who the hell is that?”
“I’m sorry, are you stupid or something? He asked you to leave, why are you still here?” Buffy glared at Harmony, immediately recognizing her from the other night at The Bronze.
Harmony stared at Buffy in shock. “Hey! Who the hell do you think you are, bitch?!
Finally snapping out of it, Spike decided that enough was enough. “You don’t get to talk to her like that. Now get out!” Ignoring Harmony’s objections, he then closed the door in her face.
Prepared for a fit of rage, he looked down at the floor, not wanting to meet Buffy’s eyes while she told him to go to hell before walking out of his life for good. He wanted to tell her that nothing happened, but surely she wouldn’t believe him, anyway. So he just stood where he was, quietly, waiting for her to make her move.
When she finally spoke, her words weren’t what he’d been expecting. “What happened last night after you left my place?”
Spike was surprised, but still didn’t look up. “What do you think happened?”
“Why don’t you tell me?” Buffy sighed. “Spike, look at me.” He obeyed, and she took a deep breath before she went on; “Did you sleep with her?”
He snorted, although he didn’t expect her to believe him. “Of course not!”
She looked relieved, and – much to Spike’s surprise – nodded in acceptance. “Good.”
The next words were out of his mouth before he even realized he had been speaking. “She did spend the night here, though. On the couch.” Oh bollocks! Why did he have to tell her that?!
”She, what?” Buffy’s eyes widened, her face a mixture of hurt and confusion. “Why? Spike, who is she?”
Spike sighed. “Name’s Harmony. She’s my ex. Unfortunately. Ran into her last night at The Bronze, she came up to me, by the way, not the other way around. She was upset because her boyfriend had dumped her, and I just felt sorry for her, I guess. But nothing happened, Buffy, I swear!”
He sounded so desperate, Buffy almost felt sorry for him. Almost. But she wasn’t ready to let this go just yet. “I believe you when you say nothing happened. But if this thing between you and me is going to work, then we need to be honest with each other.”
Spike grimaced. “What you’re saying is, I need to be honest.”
She shook her head, firmly. “No, I mean both of us. But I’m not the one running around inviting my skanky exes over to spend the night.” Then she smiled a little, surprising them both. “You know, I saw her at The Bronze the night we first met. I hated her.”
Spike looked at her in confusion. “Why? You didn’t even know who she was back then.”
Blushing, Buffy looked down at her feet. “No. But she was touching you.” She practically spat the word out, then looked up at the sound of him chuckling. “What?”
He looked amused. “You’re telling me you were jealous?”
Buffy glared at him. “You wish!” She saw the doubtful look on his face, and gave in. “Yes.”
Suddenly getting serious, Spike took a step closer. “Buffy, can you really forgive me? I’m not just talking about Harmony, I’m talking about what happened the other night, too.”
Buffy frowned. “I thought we’d already agreed to start over.”
“I know, it’s just that…” He hesitated. “Well, I thought maybe after what just happened, you’d changed your mind.” He looked miserable, and Buffy couldn’t possibly stay mad at him.
“No, I haven’t. But from now on, I’m the only girl who’s allowed to spend the night here, all right?” Realizing what she had just indicated, she blushed again. “Not that I would assume… I mean… Oh God!”
Relieved beyond words that Buffy wasn’t still mad at him, Spike couldn’t help but smile at her. “I know what you meant, luv. Look, I know we still have a lot of talking to do, but how ‘bout we do that later and just get out of here? You hungry?”
She frowned. “Well, I did kinda skip breakfast this morning. Why?”
He grabbed his coat. “’Cause I’m taking you out for lunch, that's why.” A pause. “We can come back here later and talk if you want.”
Buffy nodded. “Sure, that sounds good. But before we have lunch, there are some people I need to talk to.” She hesitated for a moment. “And I’d really like for you to come with me.”
”Yeah? All right.” Spike gave her a curious look. “Where are we going?”
She smiled a little. “You’ll see. There’s someone I need to thank, and someone else I’d like for you to meet.”
It was obvious that she wouldn’t tell him more, so he just shrugged. “Right. Wanna go right now?”
Buffy nodded, eagerly. “Yeah, might as well, I’m starving. Can we have pizza?” She looked so hopeful, Spike knew he would’ve agreed on just about anything to make her happy. “Sure, pet. Anything you want.” He was rewarded with a huge smile and a soft peck on the cheek. Grabbing her before she could pull back, he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her close. She seemed a little bit surprised, but hugged him back. He cleared his throat. “Buffy, I really care about you. You know that, right?”
She looked him deep into the eyes before nodding. “Yeah, I know. It’s weird; it feels like we’ve known each other for years. I can’t believe we just met a couple of days ago.”
“I know.” He was amazed that she actually seemed to feel the same way he did.
Buffy finally let go of him, somewhat reluctantly, and headed for the door. Then she glanced at him over her shoulder. “Come on, we better get out of here.” She paused. “Oh, and I hope you’re okay with discussing the best way to the perfect orgasm.” She giggled and hurried out through the door, leaving Spike to stare after her in bewilderment.
TBC