Spike knocked softly on the door to Hannah’s bedroom before peeking inside. “Hey, niblet. Mind if I come in?” He could see the girl siting on the bed, sulking.
Hannah gave him a suspicious look. “Are you gonna yell at me and tell me I was bad?”
Spike shook his head. “No.”
“All right then. You can come in, but not Mommy. I’m very mad at her!” She glared at him, daring him to object.
He tried not to chuckle; the kid could obviously be quite stubborn and he didn’t doubt for a second that she’d gotten that from her mother. Spike nodded, putting a serious expression on his face. “I see. That because she told you that you have to go to school?” She nodded. “Right.” He paused for a moment, then entered the room and sat down on the bed next to her. “You know, when I was a kid, I used to hate going to school.”
“You did?” Hannah looked at him with wide eyes. “Were the other kids mean to you, too?”
“No.” Spike decided it was probably best not to tell her that if anyone would’ve dared being mean to him, he would have just kicked their ass. “Never liked them, though. Thought they were just a bunch of nancy-boys.”
Hannah looked confused. “What’s that? Is it bad?” Spike opened his mouth to answer, but she went on; “Is it like being a geek?”
Spike hesitated for a second. “Something like that.”
The girl nodded in understanding. “Kathy says I’m a geek.”
“Yeah? Well, Kathy’s wrong!” That came out a bit harsher than he’d intended. “Look, bit, I’m really sorry they pick on you. Have you ever tried telling them to stop?” She just stared at him, and he sighed. “Take that as a no, then. How long has this been going on?”
Hannah just shrugged. “Do you know what else Kathy says?” He shook his head. “That my real Daddy didn’t want Mommy and me because we’re losers.”
He snorted, feeling anger welling up inside. “That’s bollocks! What does she know about that?!”
“Why else would he be with them instead of us?” His confusion must have shown, because she went on explaining; “Kathy’s dad is my real dad, too. I see him in school sometimes when he picks up Kathy, but he never talks to me. It doesn’t feel like he’s my dad, I don’t even know him.”
Spike stared at the girl in bewilderment. He opened his mouth, then closed it again, having no idea what to say. Finally he managed to speak. “Who told you this? Your mum?”
She nodded. “Yeah. Kathy was teasing me. She told me she knew why he wasn’t living with us, because he’s living with them. I asked Mommy if it was true, and she said it was.”
Suddenly Spike felt like he’d gotten a little too much information. He’d wanted to know more about Liam, but this sounded way too personal. Maybe Buffy wouldn’t want him to know about it, at least not yet. As if Hannah had been reading his mind, she quickly changed the subject. “Is Mommy angry?”
He finally snapped out of it. “No, of course not. Think she might be a bit sad, though. You know she loves you and only wants what’s best for you, right?”
Hannah’s eyes narrowed. “Then she shouldn’t make me go to school.”
“You want to just stay home forever?” She nodded, firmly. “Right. Just gonna let the other kids win, then?”
She looked at him in confusion. “What do you mean?”
“I…” Spike hesitated. He was going to give her a big speech about the importance of standing up for yourself, but realized that it would be a hell of a lot to ask from a little kid. The girl didn’t care about self respect, she just wanted to be left alone, and he couldn’t really blame her. Suddenly, he had no idea what to say to her.
Hannah lowered her eyes to the bed. “It doesn’t really matter what I want, does it? I still have to go.”
He wanted, so desperately, to tell her otherwise, that she never would have to go back to school again. But, of course, he couldn’t. “I’m afraid so.” The miserable look on her face almost broke his heart. He was almost relieved when he looked up and saw Buffy standing at the door.
She gave him a small smile before looking at her daughter. “Are you okay, sweetie?” The girl nodded, after a moment’s hesitation. “I’m sorry I yelled at you, again.”
Hannah didn’t answer at first. Then she finally looked at her mother. “I’m sorry I said I hated you.”
Buffy smiled at her. “That’s okay, honey.” She took a deep breath. “Hannah, it’s getting really late…”
Sighing, Hannah got up from the bed. “I know. We have to go.” She grabbed her pink school bag from the floor, and left the room without another word.
Buffy made an attempt of following, but Spike stopped her. “Buffy, wait. There’s something you should know.”
She gave him a worried look. “Uh-oh, that sounds bad. What is it?”
“Well…um…” He got up from the bed, slowly, not exactly sure of what to tell her. “It’s just that… well Hannah told me some things. About her father.”
“Oh.” Buffy looked down at her feet. “Can we not do this now? Please? I have to take Hannah to school, and then I have to go to work.”
“Of course.” Spike silently cursed himself for mentioning Hannah’s father. “I understand. I’ll just get out of here, then.” He paused for a moment. “I’m sorry, I know it’s none of my business, but I wasn’t the one who brought it up. I just thought you should know what she told me, is all.”
“Spike, it’s okay.” Buffy walked over to him and pressed a kiss to his lips. “I don’t mind talking about it, but now is really not a good time. How ‘bout we’ll meet up later for lunch, then we can talk?”
Relieved that she wasn’t upset with him, Spike nodded. “Sure, I’d like that.”
Buffy smiled, then an idea just hit her. “Do you have some place you have to be right now?” He shook his head, wondering what was going through her mind. “In that case, would you like to come with me when I drop Hannah off at school? I’ll give you a ride home afterwords if you want.”
Happy for getting to spend some more time with both her and Hannah, not to mention touched that Buffy wanted him to go with her; Spike accepted her offer without hesitation. “All right.” He was rewarded with a bright smile, and another kiss. When she pulled back, he tucked some of her hair behind her ear.
She looked thoughtful for a moment. “I’m gonna talk to Hannah tonight. About us.”
He swallowed, suddenly finding it hard to breathe. “What are you gonna tell her?”
Giggling nervously, Buffy took a step back. “That’s the thing, I don’t know.” She hesitated. “We have something here, right? Something… good?”
Spike let out the breath he’d been holding. “Yeah, pet. We do.”
“Good!” She blushed, then remembered where they were, and that they were already late. “We better go.”
“Right. Because we don’t wanna…” Their eyes met. “be…” Spike took a step towards her. “…late.” He pulled her into his arms, and when he finally kissed her, almost fiercely, the world around them ceased to exist.
TBC
Saving You by Pet
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Thank you Tammy for betaing! Also, thank you all of you who have been kind enough to leave me a review, I can't tell you how much me and my muse appreciate it! :)