Buffy sat in the kitchen, sipping on some juice and looking through the morning paper. Spike had already left for work, but she still had an hour before she had to be at the Magic Box. It felt a little weird, sitting alone in Spike’s apartment, having breakfast like she lived there. But at the same time, it felt surprisingly nice. She smiled a little to herself. Of course, it would’ve been even nicer if Spike had been there. But then on the other hand, it would’ve been most likely that neither one of them would manage to actually go to work.
Last night had been amazing. She’d been a little sore when she got up this morning, but she supposed that was probably what to expect after making love six times in less than ten hours. Buffy felt her cheeks getting hot; she still had a hard time believing that she’d actually done all those things. When she’d been with Riley, the sex had been nice, but nothing more. Also, when they were done, Riley never wanted to stay in bed and cuddle. He always got up, or just rolled over and fell asleep.
Sex with Spike had been so much more than that. It was probably safe to say that she’d experienced more in one night with Spike than in the two years she’d been with Riley. And afterwords, they’d just been lying there, snuggling comfortably in each other’s arms, resting for a while before starting over again. And again…
Buffy pouted a little, realizing that she missed him. It was less than an hour since Spike had kissed her and left, and she already missed him. She was almost intimidated by her strong feelings; she had barely known Spike for a week so far, and she already had a hard time imagining her life without him. She ignored the annoying little voice inside her head, telling her that it was probably not healthy to get so caught up in a relationship so soon.
Suddenly the door bell rang, and Buffy frowned. Who would come here at this hour? She got up and headed for the door. If it turned out to be that skank, Harmony, having the nerve to come back here…
With a determined expression on her face, Buffy opened the door, and froze. “Riley?!”
“William, do be specific and tell me why I just found ‘The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby’ in the science fiction section? It may not be a personal favorite of mine, but I would hardly call Dickens work… William? William!”
Startled, Spike looked up from the pile of books he was about to put up on the shelves, giving Giles a confused look. “What?” Giles was one of the few people who refused to call him anything but his given name.
Giles gave him an annoyed look. “Would you mind telling me what’s going on? You’ve been absent since you got here, and you couldn’t put a book in its right place if your life depended on it. That is not like you at all, and I…” He stopped, and sighed as realization hit him. “This is about a girl, I presume. That young woman who was here looking for you the other day? Um… Bunny?”
“Buffy.”
“Of course. I take it she found you and things went well?” The grin on Spike’s face told him that his presumption had been correct. “Congratulations. Why don’t you take an early lunch, and go see her.”
Spike looked surprised. “But it’s only ten thirty.”
Giles rolled his eyes. “Seeing the way you’ve managed the work so far today, you’re hardly any use here anyway.” Though he said that with an amused note in his voice, and Spike gave him a grateful smile.
“Thanks. Mind if I make it a long lunch?”
The smile on Giles’ face disappeared, and he suddenly looked suspicious. “How long?”
“Two hours?” Spike looked hopeful.
“Absolutely not. One and a half.” Giles raised his hand before Spike could interrupt. “And I expect you to be able to fully concentrate on your job when you get back, yes?”
Spike was practically bouncing up and down in eagerness to get out of there. “Right. Of course. Can I go now?”
“Buffy?” Riley looked taken by surprise, clearly not expecting to see her.
“Riley, what the hell are you doing here?! How did you know where to find me? I thought I told you to stay away!” Buffy glared at Riley, suddenly realizing that he seemed to be as shocked as she was. That could only mean one thing; that she was not the one he had come here to see. Fury welled up inside her.
“I…” Riley seemed to be out of words, and that only made her angrier.
“Okay, you’ve got five seconds to tell me how you got Spike’s address, and what the hell you think you’re doing here.” Riley opened his mouth to speak, but Buffy interrupted him. “Never mind, I don’t wanna know. How dare you show up here, Riley? After what happened yesterday…”
Finally finding the words, Riley spoke up, pulling out the crumpled paper from his pocket. “You know, we never got to finish the conversation we had, about your boyfriend’s not so pleasant past. You took off without even looking at this; I think you should at least…”
Buffy jerked the paper out of his hand, looking through it briefly before tearing it apart and letting the pieces fall to the floor.
Riley looked exasperated. “You didn’t even…”
“I don’t know why I’m telling you this, but for your information, Spike’s already told me everything. Whatever happened wasn’t his fault, if anything he was the victim; that bitch accused him for something he didn’t do!”
Riley snorted. “He told you that? And you believed him?! That’s bullshit, Buffy, can’t you see he’s just trying to…” Having had enough, Buffy pushed her way past him, stepping out into the hallway outside of the apartment. She headed for the stairs, intending to get as far away from her ex boyfriend as possible, but Riley grabbed her arm to stop her. “Where are you going? Dammit, Buffy, we’re not finished here!”
Buffy spun around, furious. “Yes, we are! I’m going to work, and you’re gonna get the hell out of here.”
She tried to leave, taking one step down the stairs, but Riley refused to let her go. “Buffy, you can’t just leave like this! Look, we have to talk; I still care about you and I want you to be safe. The guy is a rapist, what makes you so sure that he won’t do the same thing to you?”
“Stop saying that you care about me when we both know it’s not true. For the last time, Riley, leave me alone or I’ll scream!” Buffy struggled to pull away from him, and wasn’t prepared when he suddenly let go. Gasping in surprise, she tried to keep her balance, but failed. With a desperate cry, she stumbled backwards and fell all the way down to the bottom of the stairs.
TBC