Buffy stood in front of the bathroom mirror, finishing her make-up. She checked her watch for the fiftieth time; Spike would be there in less than fifteen minutes to pick her up for their first date. She still had a hard time believing that she had actually asked a guy out, but as the saying went, there was a first time for everything.
She had been so afraid that Spike would reject her, that he wouldn’t be interested in seeing her again, but he had actually seemed happy that Buffy had asked, in fact, almost relieved. A part of her found that to be a little strange, though. Relieved about what? That he didn’t have to be the one to ask her out? That really didn’t make any sense.
Spike was the hottest guy she had ever seen; she was fully convinced that he had tonnes of women standing in line to date him. He should be used to the attention, seeing how he could probably get whoever he wanted, but for some reason, he just didn’t seem to be aware of how incredibly attractive he was. Buffy knew it wasn’t just her; she had seen first hand how the women at The Bronze had acted around him.
Was it possible that someone who was so amazingly gorgeous as Spike could really be insecure? Buffy shook her head, as if to clear it. They had talked all the way home last night, but she realized that for all their conversation, she didn’t really know him at all, and oh, how she wanted to. She wanted to know everything there was to know about Spike, and in turn, Buffy wanted him to know everything about her.
Or maybe not everything; there were certain things about her life that she really didn’t feel like sharing with anyone, not even Spike. Like her ex boyfriend Riley, for example, and how he had cheated on her for weeks before finally dumping her. He hadn't even had the decency to tell her face to face. No, he had called her, telling her over the phone that he didn’t want to date her anymore.
As if that hadn't been bad enough, his timing couldn’t possibly have been any worse. Just a couple of days before Riley had dumped her, Buffy had found her mother dead on the couch. Aneurysm, the doctors had told her, she had died immediately, probably without any pain. God, how she hated that word, ‘Probably’. What if the doctors had been wrong, what if her mother had been in great pain? All alone and afraid?
So, Riley left her when she needed him the most. He had told her that he still wanted them to be friends, but Buffy had just snorted, telling him to forget it. She would never be able to forgive him for his thoughtless actions. Sure, it wasn’t Riley’s fault that he didn’t love her, but it was his fault that he was a cold-hearted jerk. She hadn’t seen or talked to him again after that last phone call, and three weeks later, Buffy had left LA for good.
That was almost a month ago now, still not very long, but for the first time since Riley had left her, Buffy actually felt ready to start dating again. But she knew she would not have felt like that, had it been any other guy taking her out, it was all because of Spike. For some reason, he just made her feel special, without really doing anything at all. It was the little things he had already done for her; how he had held the car door open, the way he smiled at her, and how…
Suddenly, her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door bell. Spike had arrived! Buffy hurriedly ran the brush through her long hair one last time and rushed to open the door.
Spike took a deep breath, not wanting Buffy to see how nervous he really was. He still couldn’t believe he was actually taking her out on a date and that it had been her idea. He had wanted to ask her out, of course he had, but he had been too afraid that she would reject him. Luckily for him, it definitely seemed like he had been wrong about that.
However, he had no idea what to expect from her, she had simply told him that she wanted to see him again and he had suggested dinner and a movie. He had been a little uncertain about what she would think of that, but amazingly enough, she seemed to be thrilled, much to his great relief. He had not been out on a real date for a long time, not because he didn’t like taking girls out, but the fact was, the girls he had met so far had clearly had other ideas about how they wanted to spend their time with him.
~flashback~
“You wanna go out tonight, luv? We could go to The Bronze or something.”
“I don’t know, Spike. I really don’t see the point of going there. How about I’ll just come over to your place?”
He had soon learned that the girls preferred coming to his place, since that meant they could just sneak out and leave when they were done. Not that he didn’t enjoy the attention; hell, he wasn’t stupid. He knew that most women found him attractive, and he enjoyed the sex as well. He was a guy after all. For just once, though, it would be nice not to wake up alone the next morning.
Spike wondered if Buffy expected him to take her back to his place after dinner. Sure, she hadn’t mentioned anything like that, but he had come to realize that she was a bit shy. Maybe she would be disappointed if he wouldn’t invite her back with him. Just because she was shy didn’t mean she didn’t want to sleep with him. Cause that was what girls wanted from him, right?
Although, maybe Buffy really was different, maybe she actually wanted to get to know him. Maybe Xander was right after all; there could still be some decent girls out there. Perhaps Buffy was even one of them. Well, only one way to find out, he decided. He had been standing outside her door for a moment, lost in his thoughts, but now he finally reached out and rang the door bell.
He could hear footsteps coming from inside, coming closer before the door swung open and Buffy stood in front of him. He couldn’t help but smile at the sight of her, she was just as beautiful as he remembered from last night. Smiling brightly at him, she happily accepted the single red rose he had brought her, lifting it delicately to her nose.
“It’s beautiful, thank you!” She leaned over and placed a soft kiss on his cheek, then froze with the realization of what she had just done, before lowering her eyes and blushing prettily.
Spike tried not to chuckle, finding her sudden shyness adorable. He realized that she was probably just as nervous as he was, and with that thought, he finally managed to relax. “What do you say, pet? Wanna get out of here?”
Buffy nodded, eagerly. “Lead the way!”
TBC