Riley hurried over to the other car, happy that someone finally had the decency to stop. That was, until the owner of the car got out and he saw who it was. Then he froze in his tracks. And here he was, thinking his luck had finally changed? Things couldn’t possibly get any worse than this!
“Well, well... Look who it is.” Spike glared at Riley, approaching him slowly, and Riley found himself starting to back away. Now what? By the look on his face, Spike knew, all too well, what had happened.
Riley swallowed. “Hey, I…” Then he stopped, having no idea what to say. He really should’ve just stayed in his car. Not that he was afraid or anything. Hell no, but he didn’t have time for this. He quickly considered his options to get out of this awkward situation as fast and simple as possible. Lie and deny? Or simply confess and apologize? Run? Riley snorted at the last thought. He wondered what Spike wanted from him. A fight?
Riley wasn’t too worried about getting his ass kicked; he knew how to fight back. And honestly, Spike didn’t seem to be that much of a threat. Still, a fight would be highly inconvenient, since he really needed to get out of this town as soon as possible.
Thinking about it, that should be what Spike wanted the most as well. For Riley to leave and stay away from him and Buffy. That way, everybody would be happy. Right? He decided to give it a try and let out a nervous laugh. “Look, I realize that you’re probably a little… upset with me. But there’s no need to do anything rash. I mean, just because there was this unfortunate little misunderstanding…”
Spike looked almost amused for a moment, staring at Riley in disbelief as he cut him off; “I’m sorry, misunderstanding?”
Riley nodded, eagerly. “Yeah, the accident. Listen, I…”
“Oh, you mean when you accidentally pushed my girlfriend down the stairs.” It was more a statement than a question, and Spike sounded calm, in fact way too calm for Riley’s liking.
Then he felt anger welling up inside him. “Hey, I didn’t push her, she fell on her own! Who the hell do you think you are, accusing me like that?! Is that what the bitch told you, that I pushed her? That’s just…” He stumbled backwards as Spike’s fist suddenly hit him right in the face, but he managed to remain standing.
Spike was now in Riley’s face, glaring at him furiously. “Talk about her like that again, and…”
“And what? You’ll kill me? Please!” Riley laughed a little, but when Spike pulled his fist back again, he hurried to take a step back, hands in the air. “All right, enough! Look, you hit me, are you happy now? Can’t we just call it even?”
Staring at him, Spike let out a bitter laugh. “Even? Buffy could’ve died, did you even think about that?!”
“Of course I did! I never meant for this to happen, it was an accident! And I didn’t just take off; I called the ambulance and waited for it to arrive. Then I…” He stopped, looking down at his feet.
”Then you just took off? Oh, in that case, it changes everything. I was wrong; you’re a bloody hero!” The sarcasm in Spike’s voice was obvious.
Riley sighed. “Look, I’m leaving Sunnydale. I shouldn’t have come here in the first place, I realize that now. For what it’s worth, I’m really sorry.”
He sounded sincere, but Spike looked at him suspiciously. “If I ever see you here again…”
“You won’t, I promise. I’ll stay away from you and Buffy from now on.” Riley only hesitated a second before continuing; “And I’d really appreciate it if you’d just tell the cops that I wasn’t in any way responsible for…” The second blow came as a total surprise, and Riley found himself lying on the ground, seeing stars. He spat out a mouthful of blood. Sometimes, he should just know when to stop.
“I’m bored. Can we go now?” Anya gave Xander a hopeful look, but he only raised his eyebrows in response. She sighed, then put on a bright smile and turned to Buffy. “I really enjoy being here.”
Buffy tried not to roll her eyes. “If you wanna go, that’s okay. Really.”
“Of course not, Buff! Don’t mind Anya, we’ll stay right here with you.” Xander gave his lover a stern look when he saw that she was about to object.
Anya slumped down in a chair, sulking. She couldn’t understand why Xander had to insist for them to stay at the hospital; they’d already been here for hours. And Buffy would be just fine, they knew that now. She and Xander hadn’t had sex all day and Anya was starting to get more than a little frustrated. “Xander, she said it was okay. I’m tired, I wanna go home.”
Xander hesitated. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to go home with Anya. He liked her a lot and she was nice, smart and funny. Also, the sex was very good, of course. He couldn’t deny that, but he couldn’t help feeling that things were going a little too fast. Then on the other hand, his life had definitely become more interesting since he’d met her. And again, the sex was nice. Very nice. Suddenly, his pants started to feel extremely uncomfortable. Maybe it was time to leave after all? He glanced at Buffy.
Buffy gave him an assuring smile. “Go.”
Giving her a goofy grin, Xander jumped up from the chair, turning to Anya. “Shall we?”
Anya smiled, happily. “Yes! I feel like doing something kinky tonight. Like last night, when we dressed up like…”
”And on that note...” Xander laughed nervously, looking around the room. “Bye, guys!” He then grabbed Anya’s arm and practically dragged her out of the room.
Buffy giggled, then turned to Willow and Tara. “What about you guys? Wanna leave, too? I don’t mind; I’m sure you have more important things to do than hang here all night. Besides, I’m starting to get a little tired; I should probably try to get some sleep.”
Willow nodded. “Okay, Buffy. We’ll be back tomorrow.” She gave Buffy a hug. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”
Buffy smiled and hugged her back. “Thanks, Will. And Tara, thanks for coming.”
Tara gave her a shy smile. “No problem.”
The two girls waved goodbye and left. Buffy leaned back against the pillows. Her head still hurt a little, but not half as much as it had before. Now, if only Spike would come back soon, everything would be just great.
TBC