Chapter 17 - Years Gone By
Buffy and Spike were on their way to Giles’s home for dinner. Spike’s wounds had almost healed completely few days after the events at the competition. The only thing left of his fight with the waves and Angel was the cut crossing his eyebrow and a few bruises. Buffy felt helplessly guilty for it, but Spike just scoffed her worries away. He said that it would make him look like a real rock star.
Giles had called earlier that day and asked if Spike would like to come over. Then he’d asked if Buffy also would like to come. She gladly accepted the invitation. Giles was one of Buffy’s favorite authors and she liked both him and Chelsea in person so she wouldn’t miss the chance to meet them again.
So, here they were. In Spike’s black Desoto on their way over to the Giles house. The ride had been made in silence that Buffy normally would’ve felt very uncomfortable with, but this was a nice and comfy silence, Buffy noted with a smile.
She glanced at the clock. It was already eight o’clock so it was going to be a late dinner. Spike had had late surfing practice and Buffy had spent some time with Willow and Tara at the Wicca so they hadn’t had the time until now.
Willow and Tara was two of the most incredible people she’d ever met. They were both funny, smart and really seemed to care about her. Willow was the cute little red head with her weird sense of humor and Tara the more quiet but absolutely adorable girl. She had feared that when she told them about what happened between Spike and Angel they would change their opinion about her because after all, she thought, it was her fault. But she had definitely thought wrong.
“Whoa, Spike got into a fight?” Willow exclaimed, her eyes widening as she leant forward over the bar. Buffy smiled a bit guilty.
“Did he start it?” Tara asked.
“Well,” Buffy started. “To be honest, he… kinda did but at the same time he didn’t.”
Tara and Willow both raised their eyebrows in confusion and Buffy had to suppress a giggle. “I mean, Spike hit Angel – “
“Ohh…” Willow nodded . “I don’t know about you, but I’d say Spike started it if he hit him.”
Buffy sighed. “and then, as I was going to say before you interrupted me,” Buffy continued and earned a sheepish grin from Willow, mouthing sorry, “Angel was way over the line. And I guess it looked kind of… wrong when Angel grabbed me when I tried to walk away. You can’t really blame him.”
“Well, maybe the old rebellious Spike is on his way back,” Tara said with a grin, then a crease suddenly settled between her eyebrows. “I hope not.”
“Tara and Spike got into a few smaller fights while he had his rebellious time,” Willow explained to Buffy and put a hand on her girlfriends arm. “When he got into trouble at clubs and acted really weird at work.”
“Oh, well, I guess he listened to you,” Buffy said, turning to Tara. “I mean, you’re not the type who gets angry much, right? It would affect him more if you told him to stop than if, for example, that Wesley guy who seems to be fighting with Spike every single minute.”
Tara couldn’t help smiling and Willow nodded. “Yeah, well, they’ve always been like that from what I’ve heard. I mean, they are cousins…”
Buffy’s eyes widened. “What? They’re cousins?”
“Yeah, I thought you knew! Wesley is Spike’s mother’s sister’s son. Ah, I remember the first time I saw them together. I seriously thought they were going to kill each other. Oh, did I tell you about the incident with the milkshake…”
Buffy smiled at the memory. She really enjoyed her time with Willow and Tara. As much as she did with Spike. She glanced quickly at him again and eyed his profile for a few seconds before she turned her gaze back to the road. She was definitely going to bring that milkshake accident up at some point, she thought with an evil smirk.
“Here we are.”
Buffy looked out of the window of the car and saw the house placed at the top of the hill. Spike pulled the car to a stop in front of the stairs that led up to the house and together they got out of the car. Giles must’ve seen them coming since he opened the door even before they had gotten all the way up the long stairs. Buffy was slightly panting but Spike seemed to be used to the many steps and walked to greet his father without as much as a pant.
“You made it!” Giles smiled and hugged Buffy after he had greeted his son. “I’m very glad you both could come. The food is almost done; I just have to set the table.”
“Sounds good. What are you making?” Buffy asked and felt her stomach growl as if reading her mind. Buffy glanced down at her stomach and blushed in embarrassment. Spike chuckled and patted her on the shoulder.
“Someone’s hungry, eh?”
Buffy pouted. “I’m sorry, but I just had a sandwich with Willow and Tara.” Spike swallowed quickly and unseen. Did she know what that pout was doing to him? Obviously not. He mentally shook his head before smiling.
“Ah, more for you. So, what are we having?”
“Spaghetti Bolognese. I hope it is edible, my cooking skills aren’t that grate, unfortunately,” Giles replied with a wink at Spike who just shrugged.
“Never complained before so why should I know?”
“You better not,” Giles threatened with a raised eyebrow. He stepped away from the door to let them inside. “Come in, make yourself at home.”
Spike hung off his leather jacket on a clothes hanger and then offered to take Buffy’s jacket.
“Thanks,” Buffy said while shrugging it off. “Do you want us to set the table?”
“You don’t have to do that,” Spike said before his father could answer. “I’m sure Chelsea will do it.”
“I’m afraid not, William,” he shouted from the kitchen. “She is out with some friends but promised she’d be home in time to see you.”
Spike raised his eyebrows. That was a little weird. From what he knew, Chelsea hadn’t been going out for a long time but after all… She was seventeen; of course she’d want to go out. He shrugged off the worries and led Buffy into the dining room.
The dinner was very pleasant, Buffy thought when the big clock in the living room noted that the time was twelve a.m. The time had really just flown by, but that’s what time does when you’re having fun, isn’t it?
Giles had shoved her a few pages of his upcoming book that had made Buffy totally hyped. Spike just shook his head at the sight of the extremely enthusiastic Buffy. He’d grown up with his father’s books and he was used to them. After all they were just some…
“-bloody book,” Spike said and immediately regretted his words when Buffy sent him a glare that only meant he should be killed.
“Just a book?” She repeated and then scoffed. “You’re absolutely mad, William Giles. Do you seriously mean that you don’t think your father’s work is absolutely amazing?”
“Well,” Spike said, tilting his head. “I’m not saying it’s bad, trust me I’m not,” he added to his father. “I just don’t see why you get so worked up over a few pages of letters.”
“Few pages of letter?” She questioned and Spike raised his eyebrows before moving back a little.
“Okay, you seriously have to stop doing that. It’s freaking me out.”
“That’s only fair, you going around and not appreciating a man’s good work.”
Giles couldn’t suppress to laugh at the two of them. Buffy with her death glares and Spike looking a bit frightened. “It’s quite all right, Buffy,” he chuckled. “I’m used to William not being especially interested in my books, although I know that he was enormously interested in a book I wrote called ’The Little Rabbit and his carrot’.”
Spike’s eyes widened. “Oh, don’t you dare,” he threatened.
“Oh, I dare. Poor William,” Giles smiled in a mocking voice, “you cried so hard when the little rabbit lost his carrot to the mean boy.”
“Stop it!” Spike cried out, covering his ears with his hands. “It’s sad,” he mumbled to himself and Buffy and Giles broke out in a hysterical laughter.
Buffy almost started to laugh at the thought of it. When the chaos about Spike’s childhood book had calmed down Giles had offered to send the book to Buffy as soon as it was finished, even before they were released in the store. This had once again made Buffy excited and Spike just shook his head, but this time he knew better than to comment her behavior.
Buffy was snapped out of her day dreaming when she heard Spike let out a content sigh and lean back in the chair. His eyes wandered round the room as if he was searching for something before a frown settled on his face.
“Shouldn’t Chelsea have been home by now?”
Giles checked the clock and sighed. “I told her to be home early,” he murmured. “But obviously, she seems to have forgotten about it.”
“She’s out this late on a Friday night?” Spike questioned, eye brows raised. “Isn’t it a bit late? I mean, I wasn’t allowed to be out that late when I was sixteen.”
Giles shook his head. “She’s seventeen, William and no you weren’t but did that stop you?”
A flash of guilt crossed Spike’s face and a smile curled on his lips as he suddenly found the fork very interesting. “Maybe…”
Buffy laughed. “Well, it’s been very nice, Mr. Giles. Thank you so much for inviting me.”
Giles waved her off. “Nothing to talk about, dear, and please call me Giles. Everyone else does.”
“Alright, Giles. But, I think it’s time for me to head back home. It’s been a pretty long day you know.”
Spike nodded. ”Same here, I’ll drive you home, Buffy.” He then turned to Giles. “Thanks for the dinner, dad. I’ll make it up to you sometime.”
Giles chuckled. “Nothing to worry about, William. I’m just glad you could come.” He put on a meaning look. “I barley see you anymore, you know.”
”Yeah, sorry about that. It’s been a pretty busy week.”
“The cut on your eyebrow a part of it?” Giles asked curiously with a smirk. “What did you do?”
“Uh…” Spike threw a quick glance at Buffy who looked pretty uneasy. “Nothing, got into a fight is all. No biggie.”
Giles raised his eyebrow at his son’s bad explanation. “A fight no biggie? I’d beg the differ, son.”
“I’m sorry, Giles, but that would be my fault. You see, my ex boyfriend came to the town and he’s a little… Special, special as in the way he didn’t want to leave without me. Spike helped me out but Angel hit him and they got into a fight.”
Spike scoffed. “I hit him, luv. That wanker wouldn’t be able to hit a wall without missing it. He’s a chump.”
Buffy just shook her head. “I tried to help you, you know.”
Spike grinned. “Sorry, but it’s the truth.”
It took them another fifteen minutes to finally leave Giles’s dining room after having to explain all about Angel and Connor. Once again, Buffy was surprised to realize that Giles was not upset at her at all for getting his son into a fight. Sure, he didn’t exactly look happy about it but she could see that Giles was not blaming her. That made her fell warm and loved. Even if Buffy knew she had to get some sleep it was hard to leave it. Somehow, she just felt so comfortable in this house with those people.
Spike called one last good bye to his father who had stayed upstairs to deal with the dishes and pulled on his leather duster. They were just about to walk out the door when Spike stopped dead in his tracks at the sight.
“Chelsea?” Spike frowned at the mess of a sister he had in front of him and she gave him a grin.
“Well, hello, Spike,” Chelsea Giles greeted him and tried to walk past him into the hall but he stopped her. Chelsea let out a sigh and met Spike’s eyes. “May I go inside?”
“Where have you been? From what I know of dad asked you to be home much earlier than this,” Spike said, crossing his arms, taking on the over protective brother look.
“Yeah, sorry ‘bout that. I just lost track of time.” Her eyes darted towards Buffy. “Hi, Buffy. I’m sorry, but I’m tired. I’ll talk to you another day.”
Once again she tried to walk past her brother but he moved and didn’t let her. “What now?” She sighed, irritated.
“You’re drunk,” Spike stated. Chelsea rolled her eyes. “I thought you had stopped hanging around those so called friends of yours.”
“Not that it’s any of your business, Spike, but yes, I have stopped hanging out with ‘em. And I’m not drunk.”
“You’re saying you’re not drunk, Chelsea? Try to explain that to dad with the smell of alcohol coming from you.”
The girl in front of them wrinkled her nose. “I don’t smell. And I didn’t drink, my friends did. Must be them.”
“I can’t see any of them here, Chels,” Spike growled, angrily.
“Oh, you can’t!” Chelsea smirked, looking around as if she knew they were hiding in the bushes. With a small purring voice that sounded like she was calling on a cat she said; “Come on, friends, you can come out now. Oh, damn, they’re afraid to with you standing here. Well, I guess you’ll meet them another day. Meanwhile, I’m going to bed.”
She moved quickly and got past Spike but he grabbed her arm and whipped her around. “Stop acting like a five year old and explain why you’re drunk already! I’m not stupid, Chelsea and so isn’t dad. My guess would be that Buffy can smell the alcohol too, am I right?” He said, turning to Buffy who still stood by the door with a confused look. She so didn’t want to be involved in this.
“Um, I don’t think that’s something I should answer, I should go…”
“You stay!” Spike snapped, making Buffy frown as he turned back to Chelsea. “What the hell are you playing at Chelsea?” He continued with a sharp voice that must’ve been heard into the living room since there were footsteps in the stairs and just a few seconds later Giles was standing in the hall, looking confused.
“What’s going on? William, let go of you sister,” he said with a menacing voice and Spike eased the grip but didn’t let go completely. “What’s happened here?”
“Yeah, why won’t you tell dad why you’re drunk, Chelsea?” Spike asked, giving her a fake smile and Chelsea snapped her arm out of his grip with a deathly glare.
“Chelsea?” Giles said, waiting for an explanation and she put her hands up in defeat.
“All right, I’m drunk, okay?” She snapped, glaring at Spike. “Happy? Good, then I’ll go to sleep.”
“Ah-ah, don’t think so,” Spike said, stopping her from walking away. “I think you should tell us why?”
“Spike, stop that – “Buffy started but stopped when she saw Spike’s eyes meet hers.
“Don’t get involved in this.”
Buffy frowned at him, anger rising. “Well, I think you wanted me to be involved in this just a second ago.”
Spike sent her a glare very much like the one Chelsea had given him. “Will you stop that?”
“Stop what?” Buffy snapped. “You’re being too hard on her, Spike. Let her explain it to her dad and not – “
“Sorry, but I don’t really fancy letting my sister walk away from this,” Spike snorted back.
“And I meet those kinds of problems daily, Spike, and I know it’s not the way!” Buffy challenged and Spike opened his mouth to come with an answer but Chelsea’s tears cracked voice stopped him. He let his eyes fall on the younger girl beside him. Her eyes had suddenly begun to tear up, but still the anger and disappointment were there. She shook her head in denial.
“I can’t believe you’re even asking me why I did this,” she mumbled. “Yes, I know it’s not the way, to drown your sorrows in alcohol I mean, but what else could I do, Spike?” Tears were pouring down her cheeks and a frown settled on Spike’s face. “Sit here? Pretend that everything’s all right? I’d much rather go out and get drunk.”
“What are you getting at, Chelsea?” Spike asked, calmer this time because it was years since he’d seen Chelsea cry and to be honest it freaked him out. He hadn’t seen her cry since – oh no.
“How could you forget?” Chelsea spit out through gritted teeth and Spike felt the shame wash over him and all he wanted to do was to sink into the ground and never show up again. “How could you forget it?”
“Mum…” Spike mumbled, too ashamed to look straight into his sister or father’s eyes. “That why you asked us over? Because it’s been…” He asked his father and out of the corner of his eye he saw Giles nod.
“Two years,” Giles answered him softly with sad eyes.
“I’m sorry,” Spike said as he swallowed the lump in his throat. “I-I didn’t mean to, it’s just… It’s been so much going on right now and – “
“So you’re saying that because you had a lot of stuff going on you had a get outta jail free card?” Chelsea snapped, looking at him with fire in her eyes. She scoffed. “I’d doubt it.”
“And what the hell do you think you’re doing?” Spike challenged the anger suddenly back. “You think you’re helping dad while you’re out drinking yourself bloody pissed?”
“I do whatever I want. It’s none of your business. And I didn’t have anything to do, or say to help dad,” Chelsea continued. “I couldn’t sit around here and think of all the happy memories with her; it may help for you but not for me. It didn’t help me cope.”
“Yeah, and alcohol did?” Spike snapped.
“You’re unbelievable. I did this for you, for dad!”
“Getting drunk? Oh, thanks, that really helped…”
“No!” Chelsea exclaimed, desperate for them to understand. “I did not get drunk for you, and not for me. I got out for you, and for me. I’d freak out on you here if I’d stayed.”
“And no one would’ve cared, Chels!” Spike yelled. “We’re family!”
“William…”
Spike ignored his father’s voice. He was too angry with her but mostly with himself for forgetting this day. He couldn’t believe he had forgotten it and almost left his father alone… Why he took it out on Chelsea and Buffy he couldn’t really say, it was all just too hard to handle by himself.
“I don’t like to let people see me cry, that’s just the way it is.”
“Oh, the bottle understands you better then?”
“Will you just drop that?! Okay, I messed up! It’s the past!”
“Chelsea…”
“It may be the past but it’s not forgotten, Chelsea,” Spike replied. “You’re seventeen, dammit, you’re not supposed to – “
“William – “
“Oh, god, Giles!” Buffy exclaimed as she saw Giles press his hand against his chest in plain agony and falling down on the floor. His face screwed up in pain. Spike was frozen in his place, he saw Buffy rush over to Giles, talking, screaming, yelling… But he couldn’t hear a word. Everything seemed to be going in slow motion. Chelsea running towards them, shaking him… Then suddenly Buffy’s voice cut through to him when her eyes met his, worry and reality hit him.
“Call an ambulance now! He’s having a heart attack!”
[Reviews - 450]
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Chapter or Story |
Chapter or Story | 
Chapter or Story
Has been viewed 3191 times
- Text Size +
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Chapter or Story |
Chapter or Story | Chapter or Story - Text Size +
Author's Chapter Notes:
Hi! Here's chapter 17 everyone! Sorry for the delay, I had some problems with this chapter but my wonderful beta Chriss helped me out with it :) Many thanks to her!
Oh, and of course to all of you who reads and review! I can't believe this story has over 150 reviews! Thank you so much guys, I'm so glad you like it :) Your kind words make me smile like a mad man :)
Now, on with the story...
Oh, and of course to all of you who reads and review! I can't believe this story has over 150 reviews! Thank you so much guys, I'm so glad you like it :) Your kind words make me smile like a mad man :)
Now, on with the story...