As Buffy entered the Magic Box the next morning, a part of her wished she could just go home again, crawl back into bed and stay there for the rest of the day. She had hardly slept at all last night, and now she could feel a huge headache coming up. But on the other hand, if she did so, then she would have nothing else to do but lay there and think. And that was something she desperately wanted to try and avoid doing today.
Buffy still had a hard time believing that Spike had just been using her, that he really didn’t care about her at all. Sure, they had only known each other for a couple of days, but he had seemed so honest with her, so sincere. She supposed it was true that you could never really know a person.
A strange noise, coming from the storage room, suddenly interrupted her thoughts. Buffy froze in her tracks. Was there someone else here? The front door had been locked, so it could hardly be a burglar. She was the one who was supposed to open up the shop this morning, there shouldn’t be anyone else here at this hour.
Slowly, careful not to make any sound, Buffy crept on her toes over to the closed door leading to the storage room and stopped outside, unsure of what to do next. Then she thought ‘what the hell’, and pushed the door open.
“Hey! You ever heard of knocking?!”
Buffy stood frozen in place, watching how her boss – no, make that her naked boss – was straddling a dark-haired man, who was just as naked and for some reason looked vaguely familiar. Suddenly realizing that she was staring, Buffy gasped and immediately covered her eyes with her hands.
“Oh my God, I’m so sorry! I’ll just…oh my GOD!” Buffy ran out of the room and closed the door behind her. She couldn’t believe she had just walked in on Anya like that, they were having sex right here in the shop for crying out loud! Oh God, how embarrassing!
Buffy grabbed a dust rag and started sweeping it over the already clean counter, desperate for something to do. How would she ever be able to look Anya in the eyes again after this? How was she ever supposed to look at the other woman at all, without picturing… aargh!
She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down, as the door to the other room opened again, and the man, now wearing a pair of pants and a sweater, came out with a goofy grin on his face. “Hi. Buffy, right?” Still too embarrassed to speak, Buffy could only nod in response.
“Right. Anya told me about you. Sorry ‘bout that, hope we didn’t scar you for life. I’m Xander, by the way. Xander Harris.”
Buffy smiled a little, starting to relax. “No, it’s ok. I was just…surprised. It’s not every day you walk in on… something like that.” She blushed, not able to get the word ‘sex’ out of her mouth.
Xander laughed, and Buffy decided that she already liked this guy. Then he became serious, looking at her thoughtfully. “You know, we’ve seen each other before, though I’m not sure you remember. The other night at The Bronze?”
So, that’s why he had seemed so familiar. Because she had seen him at The Bronze. The other night, when… Realization hit her, and her face fell. “You’re Spike’s friend.”
Xander nodded. “Yeah. Listen, Buffy, I talked to him last night, and…”
Buffy raised her hand to stop him. “I don’t wanna talk about this.”
“I see.” Although Xander wasn’t about to give up. “He was really upset.”
Snorting, Buffy glared at him. “I bet he was! Upset that I found out what his intentions really were. You know, I really liked him. And all he wanted was…” She wiped angrily at the single tear, rolling down her cheek.
“Okay...” Xander hesitated for a moment before he went on; “First of all; I happen to know that Spike likes you as well, a lot in fact. He told me what happened, and I can’t blame you for thinking what you do. But you’re wrong about him. Using you like that would be the last thing he’d do, believe me.”
Buffy looked at him, a hopeful look on her face. “But he wanted to…”
Xander interrupted her, shaking his head. “He only did what he thought you wanted.”
Staring at him in disbelief, Buffy shook her head, firmly. “That doesn’t make any sense! I never said anything about…” Then she hesitated. “Did he really think that I…?” Suddenly she didn’t know what to think.
Taking a deep breath, Xander quickly made up his mind, silently praying that Spike would understand. “Look Buffy, there are a few things you should know...”
A couple of hours later, Buffy entered the Sunnydale Library. It was a small building, with bookcases and tables all over the place. She looked around, searching for some sign of life, but there was no one in sight. She called out softly. “Hello? Anyone here?”
She jumped at the sound of a throat being cleared behind her, and spun around. A man in his early forties, wearing glasses and a tweed jacket, stood in front of her. “Hello. I’m Rupert Giles, the librarian. But you can just call me Giles. How can I help you, miss…?”
Buffy smiled a little. “Nice to meet you, Mr… Giles. I’m Buffy Summers. I’m looking for someone who’s supposed to work here. Spike?”
Giles looked confused for a moment before shaking his head. “I don’t know anyone with that name… oh, you must be referring to William!”
Buffy nodded, eagerly. “Yes, William. Is he here?”
Shaking his head again, Giles gave her a sympathetic smile. “I’m terribly sorry, Miss Summers... Buffy was it?” She nodded again and he went on; “William called in sick this morning, he said he wasn’t feeling well. He should be at home, though, if you want you can borrow the phone and call him from here.”
Letting out a disappointed sigh, Buffy looked at him pleadingly. “I really need to talk to him face to face. You don’t happen to know where he lives, do you?”
Giles hesitated a little, then nodded. “Of course. Let me write the address down for you.”
Buffy waited as Giles disappeared into the next room, and came back a moment later with a small piece of paper in his hand. “Here you go. Tell William I said hello, and that I hope he’s feeling better.”
“I will, thank you.” Buffy gave him a grateful smile and left the library, the piece of paper in a tight grip and a determined look on her face. It was time to go talk to Spike.
TBC