Spike had just stepped out of the shower when the doorbell rang. Reaching for a large towel, he quickly dried himself off and pulled on a pair of jeans. The doorbell rang again and he let out a sigh, leaving the bathroom and heading towards the front door without bothering to put on a shirt. Pulling the door open, he found himself standing face to face with the blonde woman who had been talking to Billy the other day. He gave her a questioning look.
Buffy had a polite smile plastered to her face, but when the door swung open, her smile disappeared and she could do little more than stare at the shirtless man in front of her. He looked surprised to see her and she realized that he was obviously waiting for her to say something. Unfortunately, her mind had suddenly become completely blank. Why was she here again? Well, it certainly wasn’t so she could stand in the doorway like an idiot, ogling her new neighbor. Even if said neighbor, who she had already stated was beyond gorgeous, looked like a Greek God with his shirt off. That bastard!
“Um…” She desperately tried to force her mouth to form some kind of words. “Hi, we met the other day. I’m, uh… My name is…” Oh God, was she drooling?!
“Buffy, right?” The man looked a little amused, but not at all surprised by her reaction.
Buffy suppressed the urge to roll her eyes; of course he would be aware of how damn attractive he was. Then she frowned. Did he just call her Buffy? She shook her head, as if to clear it. “Yeah. Um, how do you know my name? I don’t remember introducing myself.”
“You didn’t.” He watched her, a little curiously. “Billy told me.”
Of course the boy had told him. Buffy found herself wondering if it was possible to feel even more like an idiot. “Right, of course. I…”
Spike interrupted her and took a step back, obviously taking pity on her. “Wanna come in?” She opened her mouth to object, but he went on; “Name’s Spike, by the way. Guess I completely forgot my manners the other day. I apologize.” He reached out his hand in greeting.
She looked at his outstretched hand a little suspiciously, then accepted it after a moment’s hesitation. Now he was smiling at her. Why did he have to do that? Buffy had already decided that this man was a jerk; why did he have to make it so much harder for her to dislike him by smiling and being all… nice? She forced back a sigh, finally taking a hesitant step into the house, and Spike closed the door behind her.
Spike suddenly seemed to be a little uncomfortable. “Right, well…” He hesitated. “Just gonna go put on a shirt or something, be right back. Excuse me.” He left the room before Buffy got the chance to object and she let out a sigh of relief; clearly her mind was not working quite yet. Because she was so not disappointed that he had finally decided to cover up that lean, yet muscular body of his. Not at all. And she was not drooling again, either. Yes, she was. Dammit!
A moment later, Spike was back, now fully dressed. He gave her an almost shy smile. “Can I get you anything? Coffee? Tea?”
She found herself smiling back, much to her irritation. “No thanks, I don’t wanna be any trouble. I just came here to introduce myself and, well…” She finished with a shrug; “Welcome to the neighborhood!”
He chuckled a little. “That’s very nice of you. Thank you.” A somewhat uncomfortable silence followed.
Buffy finally cleared her throat. “I, um, ran into Billy outside, we talked a little. Hope you don’t mind.”
“Course not.” Spike suddenly looked a little ashamed. “Look, I’m sorry ‘bout the other day.”
She frowned, not sure if he was apologizing for his behavior, or for Billy’s. “That’s okay.” Then she took a deep breath. “I couldn’t help but notice that he had a large, nasty looking bruise on the inside of his arm. For some reason, he didn’t seem to want me to see it.”
Spike looked a little surprised for a moment, then shrugged. “Kids get hurt all the time. Must’ve gotten it at school.”
“He told me he fell.” Buffy watched his face, closely, wanting to study his reaction. “But I don’t think that’s what really happened. It kinda looked like someone grabbed him, hard.”
He just looked at her with a blank expression on his face, clearly not yet understanding where she was going. Buffy let out a sigh. “Billy says you get mad and yell at him a lot.”
For a moment Spike just stared at her, mouth open. Finally he seemed to realize just what it was she was indicating. “You think I have something to do with it, is that it?” Buffy lowered her eyes, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable. He went on before she could say anything; “You come here, to my bloody house, accusing me of hurting my own son?!”
He looked her right in the eyes and she found herself taking a step back, not so much out of fear as of guilt and shame. His face was a mixture of shock and horror and Buffy immediately realized that there was just no way anyone could fake such a genuinely hurt expression. Suddenly she felt like the most horrible person in the world, wishing she had never brought it up. “I’m sorry, I…”
“You’re sorry?” He let out a snort, staring at her in disbelief. “You just accused me of beating up my own kid, and now you’re sorry?!”
Swallowing hard, Buffy desperately tried to keep the tears from falling. “I was wrong, okay? I didn’t want to believe it, but he was obviously lying about what happened…” Her voice trailed off and she looked down at her feet, not able to meet his eyes any longer.
“So, naturally you assumed I did it?” Spike crossed his arms over his chest, nodding in understanding.
She swallowed again. “I…”
Ignoring her, he went on, eyes on the floor as he spoke, quietly; “Billy’s all I got. I love him. I would never hurt him.”
For some reason, Buffy just knew he was telling the truth, and words could not describe how absolutely awful she felt in that moment. “I believe you.”
He looked up then, a cold expression on his face. “Get out.”
“Spike, wait.” She gave him a pleading look, afraid she would start crying. “I’m really, really sorry. Can’t we just…?”
“I said, get the fuck out!” He glared at her furiously and walked over to the door, jerking it open.
Buffy opened her mouth, then closed it again, nodding miserably. “I’ll go, I’m sorry.” Then she fled out through the door without another word.
Spike remained in the doorway for a moment, eyes closed and resting his forehead against the door. Then he stepped out on the porch, immediately spotting the boy in the far end of the backyard. “Billy?” Suddenly he felt beyond tired. “Get in here for a moment, I wanna talk to you.”
TBC