They didn’t have to walk that far to get to Revello Drive, and they’d been outside Hannah’s house in less than fifteen minutes. Spike had rang the door bell, and when a young woman, obviously Hannah’s mother, immediately opened, Hannah had simply entered the house with an innocent ‘hi mommy’. The woman had just stared at her daughter, and then, all hell had broken lose.
He cleared his throat, and the woman seemed to realize he was there for the first time. Suddenly he had no idea what to say to Hannah’s mother. Not only because she was one of the most beautiful women he’d ever seen, but also because of the way she was looking at him, like he was the lowest creature on the planet.
Knowing that he should just leave, he still hesitated. Obviously the woman was very upset with her daughter, and seeing her yelling at the little girl made him feel like he should say something. “You shouldn’t yell at her, she’s fine. It wasn’t like she was wandering in the middle of the street or anything.”
He immediately realized that it had been the wrong thing to say, as the blonde’s eyes narrowed and she glared at him. “Excuse me? Who the hell do you think you are?! How dare you tell me how to act around my own daughter?”
Spike raised his hands, mentally cursing himself. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to interfere, I just…” He stopped, not sure of what he wanted to say. “I should just leave.”
The woman crossed her arms over her chest, nodding. “I think you should.”
He nodded also. “Right. Sorry.” With that he turned around, and left.
“You were mean.” Hannah glared accusingly at her mother, clearly not pleased with her behavior.
Buffy stared at her daughter for a moment, opened her mouth to say something, then closed it again. She took a deep breath, determined not to yell at the girl again. Truth was, when she’d found out that Hannah was missing, she’d been scared to death. Horrible thoughts and images had rushed through her mind, and she’d been convinced that she’d never see her precious little girl again.
Then the girl had suddenly showed up outside the door, with a complete stranger. The relief she’d felt when she realized that Hannah was unharmed had been so huge, it had just made her lose it. Every day she read those horrible articles in the local paper about kidnappers and pedophiles. What if she’d lose Hannah, that would kill her! Her daughter was all she had, and she loved the girl more than anything.
“I’m sorry I yelled at you, sweetie, but you made me so worried. Sometimes grown-ups yell when they get scared and worried. Miss Burkle called from school, saying that she couldn’t find you. Why did you leave?” Buffy’s voice was almost back to normal now, but she could still feel her heart beating, way too fast, inside her chest.
Hannah didn’t look at her mother when she walked over to the couch and sat down. “The other kids were mean.”
Buffy sighed, and sat down next to her daughter. “Oh sweetie. Did they pick on you again?” Hannah didn’t answer so Buffy gently pulled her into her arms. “Tell me what happened, baby.”
“Kathy pushed me so I fell in the mud. And the other kids laughed.” Hannah looked up at her mother with tear-filled eyes. “I wanna stay here with you, please don’t make me go back there, please!”
Closing her eyes for a moment, Buffy desperately tried to keep her own tears from falling. It wasn’t the first time something like this had happened, and she feared that it wouldn’t be the last, either. But Hannah had never wandered off before. “I won’t honey, not today. But I’m gonna have to call Miss Burkle and tell her you’re home and safe.”
Hannah nodded, the relief obvious on her face. “So you’re not mad anymore?”
Buffy smiled at her and placed a soft kiss on the girl’s forehead. “No, mommy’s not mad. I never was, I was just so worried about you. Can you understand that?” Hannah nodded, now looking very ashamed. “I’m really sorry I was mean to you, honey, I didn’t mean too.”
Hannah gave her a serious look. “That’s okay, mommy. But that’s not what I meant. You were mean to Spike.”
Now, Buffy looked more confused than ever. “Spike?”
The girl nodded again. “Yeah, the guy who walked me home. He called me funny names, mommy, what’s a ‘niblet’?”
Buffy still looked confused, then she shook her head. “I don’t know.” She looked thoughtful for a moment. “I was a little mean, wasn’t I?”
Hannah looked at her with big brown eyes, so much like her father’s. “Yes, you were. He was nice, and you yelled at him. That’s mean.”
Suddenly feeling very stupid, Buffy nodded, not wanting to meet her daughter’s eyes. “Yes, it was, you’re right.”
“You can call him and apologize!” Hannah gave her a huge grin, clearly very pleased with her idea.
Buffy smiled at her, sadly. “I would if I could, sweetie, but I don’t have his phone number.”
Hannah looked disappointed. “Oh.”
Wanting nothing more than to see that smile on her daughter’s face again, Buffy ran her hand gently over the girl’s long, brown hair. “I tell you what. How about we’ll go to the video store and rent a movie, and then order a pizza?”
The smile on the girl’s face was back, and this time bigger than ever. “I wanna see The Lion King! And can we have extra cheese on the pizza?”
Buffy smiled back at her, relieved to see Hannah happy again. “Of course, honey.”
“Yaay!”
“But first I have to call Miss Burkle. And you have to go wash your hands and face, young lady, you have mud all over you.” Hannah suddenly looked sad again, and Buffy could’ve just kicked herself, knowing that the girl must be thinking of how the other kids had teased her in school. “Hannah…”
“I’ll go wash up.” Without another word, Hannah slid off the couch and headed for the bathroom, leaving Buffy to look after her daughter with a helpless expression on her face.
TBC