Thirteen, fourteen, fifteen… Five hours after she had returned from Spike’s, Buffy found herself lying on her bed counting the cracks on the ceiling. She was exhausted, but every time she closed her eyes, she would either see the masked face of the robber or Spike’s beautiful blue eyes. Twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three. Yep, she would be calling into work tonight. She felt bad about calling in on a Saturday, but in her fatigued state, she knew that she would do more harm than good.
She rolled over on her stomach and laid her cheek on her pillow. I can be such an idiot sometimes. She had been replaying the night over and over in her head all morning. She began at the collision in the bar and ended at the point where she rushed out of Spike’s flat certain that she had made a fool of herself. I couldn’t even manage an hour at the guy’s place without attempting to molest him, knocking him over, and insinuating that he might be gay. Buffy turned her head and pressed her face into her pillow. What does it really matter? It’s not like he’s even going to give me a second thought.
Spike had slept for a few hours but woke up after a rather enticing dream about the little blonde that had fled his flat earlier that morning. Now, he was lying in bed with his eyes closed fantasizing about alternate directions the night could have taken. Mmmm…under me on the couch…on top on the floor…from behind against the kitchen table… Spike slipped his hand underneath the thin sheet intent on relieving some tension.
“Not while I’m in the room, dude.”
Spike stilled his hand. Without opening his eyes, “Oz, are you ever going to explain to me how you get into my flat with no key?”
“Mystery of life, man.” Spike opened his eyes and saw that Oz was casually perched on his dresser.
“So, what am I forgetting today, mate?”
“Nothing that I’m aware of.” Oz shrugged, “I was just in the neighborhood. Thought you might want to go get a bite to eat. Kinda thought that I would find you grading tests, not lying in bed jacking off…or if I did find you jacking off, I didn’t think it would be in the literal sense.”
Spike pursed his lips, “Yeah, well maybe if you would try knocking, it would be better for both of us. Give me a minute to get dressed, and we can get out of here.”
After Oz left the room, Spike got up and threw on a pair of jeans and an old Ramones t-shirt. He walked out of his room and bypassed the bathroom, opting to skip the eyeliner this afternoon. He entered the living room where Oz was relaxing on the couch watching some inane talk show. “Hey, mate, wanna stop by that pub again tonight?”
Buffy called Faith earlier in the afternoon and relayed the details of her night, leaving out any information that might give away her growing attraction to the professor. That didn’t stop Faith from going heavy on the innuendo, but that was to be expected. After her phone call with Faith, Buffy managed to toss and turn through a few hours of sleep. It was now 8pm and she was lounging on her ratty couch in sweats watching some cheesy Lifetime movie and playing with the ringtones on her cell phone. All of the sudden, she heard the first strains of some old Celine Dion song being emitted from the device. Ugh. That is not a keeper. She quickly opened her phone and put it to her ear so as not to prolong the noise pollution.
“Buffy’s Lounge.”
“Buffy’s lounge? That’s new.”
“Oh hey, Anya, what’s up?”
“Just thought you should know that your professor left you something at the bar.”
“What?!” Buffy sat up straight.
“Yeah, Faith said he dropped it off about half an hour ago. Brown paper bag.”
“And you didn’t look inside, right?”
“Well….”
“That’s what I thought. So, spare me the suspense. What was in the bag?”
“Well, that’s the weird thing. It was a package of cookies with a big red bow stuck on top.”
Buffy’s heart sped up. “Oh, really?”
“Yeah… Faith told me what happened last night. You okay?”
“Yeah, I guess. I’m sure I’ll feel better when everything is not so fresh in my mind.”
“Sooo, what’s he like?”
“What’s who like?”
“The professor, of course! Does he look as good naked as he does with his clothes on?”
“Anya! I did not see the man naked! What did Faith tell you?!”
“Well, she told me what you said, but I’m not buying it. No way you could be in close quarters with a man that edible and not rip his clothes off.”
“That’s you, Anya. Not me.” If she only knew how close I came. “So, are you gonna bring the cookies by?”
“Well, that’s the thing…they’re sorta not here anymore.”
“Not there? What do you mean? Where are they?”
“Well, Angel came in with me tonight, so he heard the whole story about the robbery, and he was really worried about you, so…”
“What does this have to do with the cookies, Anya?”
“Well, I might have told him that you only live five blocks away, so maybe he should go check on you…and since he’s going over there anyway, maybe he should deliver your cookies.”
“Oh my god, Anya, you sent Angel here?! With my cookies from Spike?!”
“Who’s Spike?”
“The professor! Jesus, I don’t want to deal with Angel tonight! Wait, when did he leave? Shouldn’t he be here already?”
“He started walking right before I called.”
“Great, that means he’ll be here any—”
Buffy heard a knock at the door. She groaned.
“Gotta go, Anya. He’s here.”
“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!”
Buffy shook her head and snapped her phone shut. Like that really limits me.
Buffy walked over to the door and affected a big, fake grin. She threw open the door and found Angel standing there poised to knock again. “Hi, Angel! Anya said you were on your way.”
Angel looked uncomfortable. “Yeah…I have your cookies,” he said holding up a paper bag. Buffy took them from him and continued to stand in the doorway smiling. “Umm…can I come in?”
“What? Oh…sure…yeah, come on in.” She moved to the side and Angel entered her apartment. She gestured towards the couch and he sat down. She sat beside him placing the bag on the coffee table.
“I heard what happened last night. That must have been horrible…and to have to go through it with that jackass by your side…but uh…what’s with the cookies?”
“Oh…it’s…a thing.” Buffy bit her lip and stared at her knees.
Angel took a deep breath. “You know, Buffy, I really like you. I’m hoping that we can see more of each other and maybe down the line that will lead to a relationship, but I gotta know…do you have something going on with this guy?”
Buffy looked up, “No, no! Nothing’s going on. I’m sure he’s just trying to be nice. I was really freaking out last night.”
Well, in that case,” Angel grinned, “I was wondering if you would go to the zoo with me tomorrow morning. Anya said you were a big animal lover. I thought it might be fun, and the weather should be perfect.”
“Umm…yeah…okay, Angel, that sounds like…fun.” Just don’t ask me about Spike anymore. Buffy yawned and stretched, “I’m really exhausted. I think I’ll go to bed soon, so I’m well-rested for our day at the zoo.”
“Great,” Angel declared standing up. “I’ll swing by here around 10am and we can cab it out there together.”
Buffy got up and followed Angel to the door. “Sounds good, see you then.” Angel opened the door, but before he stepped out, he leaned down and gave Buffy a light kiss on the lips. Buffy sighed as she closed the door behind him. What am I doing?
Spike was disappointed that he hadn’t gotten to see Buffy that evening. He had explained everything about the robbery and the time at his flat to Oz over lunch. Oz didn’t really seem surprised by any of it, but you can never really tell with him. As Spike was walking back into his flat after dropping his gift off at the pub, he heard ringing. He managed to grab the phone in the living room before the answering machine picked up.
“Hello.”
“William!”
He rolled his eyes. “What do you want, Cecily?”
“Now, is that any way to greet your big sister?”
“Look, I’m busy, Cec. I’m way behind on grading tests, and I know you didn’t call for small talk.”
“Fine. I need you to keep Lisa and Sara for a few hours tomorrow. Wesley and I have been invited to have brunch with the president of the country club.”
“Cecily! I’m not your bloody baby-sitter. I have to have these test scores in by Monday afternoon.”
“William, please. It’s just a few hours. We’ll drop them off around 9:30am and pick them up around 12:30pm.”
Spike closed his eyes. “Fine, Cec, but you’ll owe me. What do you propose I do with the little bits for that time?”
“Well, I heard there was this wonderful new primate exhibit at the zoo—oh, William, I’m going to have to let you go. I have Eleanor on the other line.” Spike heard the phone click.
She couldn’t even spare me a goodbye once she had what she wanted. Spike sighed and ran his hand across his face and through his hair. So, I’m going to the bloody zoo. Brilliant.