“So, you’re Liam.” Spike rolled his eyes, wondering why he hadn’t made that connection before. After all, he had known that Hannah’s father was a selfish bastard; a description that fitted Angel perfectly.
“He doesn’t go by that name anymore, hasn’t for years.” Cordelia explained with a frown.
“That’s right.” Angel suddenly looked thoughtful. “In fact, the only one who calls me that is…” His eyes narrowed as he put two and two together. “You know Buffy.”
“Buffy?!” Cordelia practically spat the name out, then snorted, obviously deciding that someone who knew Buffy wasn’t worth wasting her precious time on. “That’s nice. Excuse me.” She turned around and started towards the main building, but not before giving Angel a look indicating that he’d better follow.
“Be right there, baby.” Angel blew her a kiss, a big smile on his face. Then he turned to Spike, and the smile disappeared. “Well, isn’t that interesting? Are you two dating?”
“Why do you care?” Spike gave him a suspicious look, causing Angel to burst out laughing.
“So, you are. Didn’t take you long to get over Dru now, did it? Unless…” He paused. “Unless you were already fucking Blondie behind her back, wouldn’t that be ironic?” Unprepared for the hard blow, Angel didn’t have a chance to avoid it, and Spike’s fist hit him right on the nose. He let out a surprised yelp and stumbled backwards, but managed to remain standing. Reaching for his face, his eyes widened at the sight of the blood trickling between his fingers. “You son of a…!”
“Shut up!” Spike glared at him. “You see, I kinda have a problem with people accusing me of cheating, pissing me right off, it does. Never been my thing. You on the other hand…” He raised his eyebrows. “Does your wife know where you really are all those nights you claim to be working? Whose bed you’re in? Tell me, Liam, how do you manage to remember the names of all the daft bints you’re fucking? You make them wear bloody name tags?”
Angel snarled at him. “Whatever I do, it’s none of your damn business, William!”
“It is when the girl you’re shagging is my fiancée.” Angel looked taken aback for a moment. “That’s right, you and Dru. Didn’t think I knew about that, did you?”
“Mrs O’Connor, how nice of you to finally show up. Please, take a seat.” Principal Flutie gestured for Cordelia and Kathy to sit down at the table, where Buffy and Hannah were already sitting. Buffy let out a small sigh of relief when she realized that Cordelia had come alone, she really didn’t want to face Liam in front of Hannah, at least not without Spike.
“Okay, let’s just get this straight.” Cordelia ignored Buffy and turned to Principal Flutie. “Whatever happened, Kathy didn’t do anything wrong.”
Buffy snorted, staring at her in disbelief. “And how the hell do you know that, you weren’t even there?!”
Cordelia gave her an annoyed look and was just about to say something, when Principal Flutie beat her to it. “Miss Summers, Mrs O’Connor, if you please? There are children present.” Buffy glanced at Hannah, a guilty expression on her face, and mumbled an apology. The principal went on. “Thank you. Now…” He turned to the two girls, who had yet to say a word. “Let’s hear what happened from those who actually were there, shall we? Girls?”
“She kicked me! It hurt.” Kathy pouted, and managed to squeeze out a tear.
“Oh, please!” Buffy rolled her eyes, and turned to her daughter. “Hannah, sweetie, what did Kathy do to make you kick her?”
“She called me a liar.” Hannah looked down at her hands, clearly not comfortable with being in the same room as her tormentor.
“You are a liar!” Kathy glared at her.
“And you’re a bloody daft bint!” Hannah shouted back.
“Hannah!” Buffy gasped, her cheeks turning red as she turned to the principal, an apologetic look on her face. “I’m so sorry about that, I swear she didn’t get it from me.” She gave Hannah a warning look, and the girl looked away again.
Cordelia snorted. “Of course not. She got it from your British lover. What was his name again? Spike?”
“Ladies, please…” Principal Flutie was tapping a pen, impatiently, against his desk, but no one paid any attention to him.
Buffy stared at Cordelia. “How do you know about Spike?”
Rolling her eyes, Cordelia leaned back in the chair. “He and Angel obviously go way back. They’re right outside, talking.” She gave Buffy a complacent look. “He was hot, wonder what he sees in you.”
Ignoring the insult, Buffy kept staring at Cordelia, shock evident on her face. “What?! Spike and… oh my God!” She jumped up from the chair and grabbed her daughter’s hand. “Come on, sweetie, we have to go!” Without objecting, Hannah got up as well.
“Wait a minute…” Principal Flutie looked from Buffy to Cordelia in confusion. “Miss Summers, we weren’t finished…”
“I’m really sorry, but I can’t stay. Excuse me.” With that, Buffy practically ran out from the office, Hannah following.
“You were never good enough for her.” Angel had gotten a ‘busted’ look on his face, but quickly covered up. “So you knew, huh? Did you also know that every single time Drusilla was in bed with you, she was really thinking of me, wishing she was with me instead of you?” He chuckled, a smug look on his face.
“That’s not…” Spike stopped, suddenly not sure of what to think. His doubts must have shown, because Angel took a step closer, looking very pleased with himself.
“Of course it’s true. You wanna know how much you meant to her, Spike? Nothing!” Spike flinched, but tried not to let the hurt show as Angel went on; “You wanna know what her last words were? ‘I love you, my Angel’. That’s right; she loved me, not you. You were just convenient. And I bet it’s the same with Buffy, ‘cause face it, Spike. Why would anyone actually care about you?” He let out a cold laugh.
Torn between wanting to kick Angel’s face in, or simply turn around and run, Spike suddenly froze in his tracks as the other man’s words started to sink in. “Did you just say ‘her last words’?”
TBC