Buffy had woken up the next day with a good amount of confidence. She was going to set things strait with Spike, be honest and tell him everything, and that technically she was still with Riley.
Maybe.
She really wanted to go to that club and have a good time with him. She knew she would have a great time as long as both of them were in good moods, and she was sure that if she told him about Riley she would probably get left there with no ride home.
But he really deserves to know…
With a frustrated pout she plopped down on her bed, staring out her window across the street to his window.
It was no secret to herself, to Spike, or to Willow and Xander that she had a major crush on him. She had even turned all of the pictures of Riley in her room face down so she wouldn’t have to look at them. It would have been nice if she had a picture of Spike to keep somewhere, as a secret memento of what they have together. Especially if it didn’t last. She wished so badly that all the cliques and everything in her school didn’t exist. She wished her best friend wasn’t such a snob. She was starting to wish she was just a different person all together.
“Buffy!” Joyce yelled from the bottom of the stairs. “Buffy, Willow’s here!”
While hearing her mothers words she noticed how there was once a time when she would have been disgusted to know that Willow Rosenburg was coming to her house. But now, it was almost comforting to hear of the red heads presence.
“I’m up here, Wil,” she yelled back. “Come on up!”
Buffy quickly tossed her diary into her desk drawer and picked a few things up off the floor before Willow stepped into the room.
“Hey, Buffy. I brought your dress and your shoes back.”
“Oh, thanks. Hey, I didn’t get to see you at the dance, did you have fun?” she asked as she motioned for Willow to sit down next to her on her bed.
“I had a great time,” she smiled warmly. “I met a boy…”
Buffy playfully smacked her friends arm. “See! I told you! You’re a hottie.”
Willow blushed.
“So who was he?”
Willow’s smile immediately returned, wider and brighter than before. “His name’s Oz. Well, Daniel Ozbourne… Oz.”
“Oh I know who you’re talking about. He’s a cutie patutie. How’d you get to talking to him?”
“Over at the buffet table. He was joking about the food. Oh, Buffy, I like him so much!”
Buffy giggled and was genuinely happy for the girl. “Well does he know you like him?”
“I think so. I’m pretty much a spaz when it comes to dating so… But… I think he might kinda like me too.”
“Well then start putting the moves in him!”
Willow began frantically shaking her head. “Oh no, I can’t. Moves, a-and me equals spaz.”
“Have confidence, Wil. I’ll help you catch this guy. No one can resist the charm of Willow with a little help from me.”
“Willow smiled. “You’re a really good friend.”
Buffy’s smile faded for a second, but quickly returned. “You consider me a friend?” she asked.
“Well, yeah. You’ve been so great and so fun to be around,” she paused. “Unless you don’t want to be. I’ll understand…”
“No! No… I like it. I just figured after all of the teasing and making fun of you and Xander you guys would hate me.” She looked down at her fidgeting hands, embarrassed. “You should hate me.”
Willow shook her head. “You’re different now. You’re not the same person you were when you did that. Besides, Cordelia did more teasing than the rest of the school combined. Whatever you said doesn’t seem like a big deal now. Like I said, you’re different.”
“Am I?” Am I really that different because I don’t feel it. Or, I don’t act it. I don’t know…”
Willow studied Buffy’s face and she could tell something was up. “Did something happen? You seem distressed about something.”
Buffy sighed. “I told Spike I broke up with Riley.”
“You broke up with-“
“Only I didn’t. I told Riley we would take a break over… well break. And that we’d see how things were when he got back. But I told Spike that we broke up. And I kissed him.”
Willow sort of shifted uncomfortably and kept looking at her. “When?”
“The night before last, right after the dance.” She sort of cringed as she said her next few words, knowing Willow would be shocked. “And I may have slept over his house, in his bed, and… I pretty much made out with him all day yesterday…”
Buffy stared at Willow’s face, trying to interpret what she was going to say. She was more worried than she ever though she would be that Willow would ridicule her.
“Do you love him?” she asked after a few moments of silence.
“Who?” Buffy asked.
“Riley.”
Buffy looked sheepishly down at her hands. “I…” she sighed and shook her head. “I thought I did… but after meeting Spike, and hanging out with you guys… I’m having all these second thoughts on the people I surround myself with and call my friends.”
Willow simply nodded, Spikes words going through her head again and again about Riley’s unfaithfulness. Her heart immediately went out to Buffy. No one deserved to be cheated on or lead on the way she was being. Willow wanted to tell her so bad, but it really wasn’t her place to. She hadn’t seen it herself so she really couldn’t be one-hundred percent positive that Riley really was cheating on her, but Spike couldn’t just make that up.
“Well, what are you feeling for Spike? Do you think anything more will happen with that?”
Willow noted how Buffy smiled as soon as she said Spike’s name… and then cursed herself for sounding like a psychologist.
“I… I find myself liking him more and more and more every single time I’m around him. He makes me feel so good and free around him.” She paused for a moment, smiling at wherever her thoughts had wandered. “And oh my god he is an amazing kisser.”
Willow smiled and slid closer, enjoying this girl talk she was never really able to experience before. “Really? What was it like?”
“Well, we’ve sorta kissed before but, they were kind of accidents. But, when he kisses me now, it feels like he’s making me feel beautiful without even trying. When Riley kissed me after the first time I kissed Spike it felt like he was trying to swallow my face. Spike has such passion, and its so natural with him.” By the time she was don’t speaking it looked like her mind was in a far off place by the dreamy look on her face.
“Wow…” Willow smiled.
Buffy nodded. “He asked me to go to this club with him later on tonight, it’s about an hour away. This band he likes is playing there I guess.”
Willow immediately perked up. “That’s Oz’s band! Xander and I are going too.”
“Oh really? Cool!” Buffy said, although there was a hint of disappointment that she and Spike wouldn’t be alone.
Willow could see all of the thoughts going through Buffy’s head, and she could see the stress it was causing her.
“Hey Buffy…”
Buffy looked up.
“I know you’ve got a lot to think about with this whole Spike/Riley situation, but just try and keep in mind that Spike really likes you. I just don’t want to see him get hurt if you choose Riley over him. And… you should tell him that you haven’t technically broken-up with him. Spike’s falling for you fast.”
Buffy had been careful to protect herself, but she never really thought of Spikes reaction to hearing the truth. She mostly figured he would just get mad, but she never thought about whether or not he’s be sad.
“I don’t want to hurt him,” she said quietly. “But it’s such a big change in such a short time. I kinda need to psych myself up for it, you know?”
Willow nodded. If only she could tell Buffy the truth about Riley… It would make her decision much more obvious.
Buffy was worrying herself now, nervous about how to tell Spike that she was technically still with Riley, but she didn’t want to think too much on it now, it would only make things harder.
“Hey,” Buffy said changing the subject. “You wanna go get lunch?”
x X x X x
“What about this?” Buffy asked, holding up another skirt. She was having Willow help her pick an outfit to wear out with Spike tonight. Willow shook her head.
“Nah, go with the red one. Red is Spike’s favorite color,” she smiled devilishly.
Buffy matched her smile and dropped the blue halter, snatching the red one up from her bed. “Okay, so we got the shirt down, but what do you think… Leather pants? Or mini skirt?”
“I think pants.”
“Yeah?” Buffy said excitedly. “They do make my ass look good.” Willow blushed. “Come on,” Buffy said lying her outfit down on the bed. “Now it’s your turn.” She grabbed the red heads hands and pulled her up off the bed.
“Me? Wh-why my turn?”
“I told you I was going to help you snag this guy Oz. One night of sexy Willow will be sure to get his undivided attention. He’ll want to hop off stage and devour you right there,” she said as she rummaged through her clothes.
“Well, I won’t look like that every day. What if he likes me better in your clothes and realizes he really doesn’t like me in my own clothes?” she nervously asked as she eyed up the clothes Buffy had started pulling for her.
“I promise you that won’t happen. Once you’ve fallen for Willow, you stay fallen,” she said with confidence.
Willow couldn’t help but smile at that. “You know, I’m really starting to enjoy having another girl for a friend. Spike and Xander just don’t understand me like you do.”
Buffy smiled back. “That’s because we’re so much smarter than men. Now put this on.”
x X x X x
“They are gonna freak when they see you!”
“I do look pretty different, huh?” Willow said as she eyed herself up in the mirror.
When Buffy first made her come out of the bathroom she was really unsure of herself, but the more praise Buffy gave her she felt more confident. Then when Mrs. Summers had come upstairs and saw her even she had told Willow she looked good, so she decided to go for it… just for tonight.
She was wearing an amber colored half-shirt that showed off her slim torso. The black mini skirt she told Buffy not to wear was now on her, and Buffy gave her a pair of black heeled boots to match. To top everything off Buffy did her makeup for her in complimenting tones, and did her hair up in a spunky style that let small strands hang down over her shoulders and face.
Buffy had also changed into her outfit and was presently putting her own makeup on while Willow kept looking at herself in the mirror.
“Maybe we should have let Xander in on our total hotness night,” Buffy said as she pressed her lips together and closed her lipstick.
“Nah, he’s already got some girl named Anya hanging all over him. She’s gonna be there tonight so he won’t be lonely.”
“Oh… well that’s good,” she said as she started to press her freshly bleached blonde hair in the straightener. She figured a fresh bleach would make her look sassy, and she’d really match Spike now. She planned on making sure that every girl who tried to hit on him knew he was there with her tonight. Even if she had to scratch the eyes out of every single girl to do it. As she was thinking those very thoughts something dawned on her. She wanted to be with Spike.
I want. To be. With Spike...
A smile crept it’s way onto her lips as she continued to straighten her hair.
x X x X x
Spike was so nervous. Every time he felt himself calming he would remember what she said to him the previous night, and he’d get nervous again.
It’s a date.
Every time he ran the words through his head he would panic, thinking he didn’t look good enough or he wasn’t clean enough, and he’d run and take another shower. At this point he had to be the cleanest man in California.
Deciding to try and relax, he sat down on his bed and flipped on the tv to try and pass the time. There was still a half hour or so before he had to gather the troops and head out. As he laid back against his pillow he happened to take a quick glance over toward Buffy’s house. Her curtains were closed but he could see her silhouette. She was bouncing around the room, presumably getting ready for tonight. He took a deep breath to steady himself before he got too nervous again.
There was a knock on his bedroom door, and it began to open before he got the chance to reply, and Xander peeked his head in. “Hey man, what’s up?” he asked coming fully into the room.
“Hey,” Spike said still gazing out his window to the silhouette of Buffy.
Xander looked back and forth between Spike and the window, quirked and eyebrow and stepped closer to see if he could figure out what he was looking at. When he saw nothing in the window he looked further and finally saw what the object of Spike’s affection was. Buffy.
“Dude,” Xander said shaking his head. “Give it up. She’s nothing but a tease. You’re never gonna get her. Believe me, I’ve tried.”
A small smile crept its way onto Spikes lips. “That’s what you think, mate,” he chuckled as he stretched. “I’ve already got ‘er.”
“What? Be kind, rewind. When did this happen?” he asked pulling the computer chair over and sitting backwards on it.
“She dumped her hunnie and spent the night here with me,” he smirked.
Xander didn’t know what to say. In the matter of a month this guy was able to change Buffy from a California brat to a normal girl who didn’t act like she was the queen of the world. “You are a god.”
x X x X x
“Ahuhuhhhh… I’m so nervous,” Buffy said looking at Willow. “What if he thinks I look dumb?”
Willow rolled her eyes. “I really don’t think that’s going to be a problem. I think the problem is going to be trying to get him to keep his hands off of you,” she smiled as she wiggled her eyebrows.
Buffy couldn’t help but smile. She had never been so nervous about going out with a guy in her entire life. She was always queen B, but with Spike she was just Buffy-goo for him to play with as he pleased. He didn’t know it, but he could hurt her if he really wanted, and she hoped to god he wouldn’t figure that out, or she probably would end up hurt.
“He’s just a guy, right?” Buffy said trying to calm herself. “I’ve gone out with lots of guys before, no big. Oh, not all at the same time of course. Not that I’m a total hobisquit or anything!... guh.”
Willow giggled. Buffy was babbling out of nervousness of seeing Spike. She was acting as if this was a first date sort of thing, and Willow supposed in a way it kind of was, but it was also just supposed to be a night out with friends. Either way, she hoped the night would go well for everybody.
“How’s my hair?” Buffy asked for the hundredth time.
“Your hair is fine, you look fine, everything is fine, Buffy. Don’t be so nervous. The night’s going to be great.”
Buffy quirked an eyebrow at her. “Says the girl who was just freaking out about her outfit and a particular guitarist we’re going to be seeing tonight.”
Willows eyes grew wide and she paled. She had been listening to Buffy be nervous for so long that she forgot to be nervous herself. “Oh god, Oz…”
“Don’t worry, Wil. You’ve already got this guy. You just need to remind him how sexy you can be,” she winked.
The doorbell rang, and the two girls looked at each other in panic.
“Buffy! Spike and Xander are here!” Joyce yelled from the bottom of the stairs.
“Here we go,” Buffy said quietly as the two girls linked arms and made their way down the stairs.
As soon as they began to descend the stairs she could see him standing by the door talking to her mother.
He was Drop. Dead. Gorgeous.
Willow tightened her arm around Buffy’s just in case her legs decided to stop working.
He was dressed in his usual black jeans boots, but he had a purple button down shirt on, the top two or three buttons undone revealing part of his delectable chest. He had on a long black leather coat and he was wearing a few pieces of jewelry, a silver chain that hung loosely around his neck and a few bulky skull rings. To top everything off his hair was slightly mussed instead of slicked back, just the way Buffy liked.
I want you…
He was the definition of sexy.
He was mid-sentence when he finally looked up and saw her. Spike felt his mouth go dry at the sight of her. Her eyes were transfixed on his as he looked her up and down and drank her up.
She had skin-tight leather pants that were snug to her hips, and a blood red halter that tied behind the neck and fell loosely over her breasts. Her tanned skin contrasted against her freshly bleached hair and dark eye makeup.
Need to feel you…
She was sex on legs.
Xander walked over to see what Spike was staring at but came to a screeching halt when he saw the girl attached to Buffy’s arm.
“Yee-gods!” he yelped, and that got a smile out of the girl in question as she detached herself from Buffy and walked the rest of the way down the stairs.
All conversations fell to the background as Spike and Buffy looked at each other, drinking each other up. The lust was clear in their eyes. Joyce, who had been talking to Spike when her daughter came down the stairs, now looked between the two of them and a smile formed on her face as she understood now what was happening between the two. She quietly turned and walked away to the kitchen.
Buffy walked slowly the rest of the way down the stairs and up close to Spikes body. She lifted her hands and played with the lapels of his jacket as she flipped her hair and looked up at him with her big green eyes and a teasing smile. “You ready to go?” she asked quietly.
Spike’s eyes were transfixed on her blood red lips as she spoke. He had to keep himself from throwing her over his shoulder and throwing her on one of the beds upstairs and fucking her senseless. He shuddered as he imagined it. When he opened his eyes and took a deep breath he let his trademark smirk come out.
“You know it.”
TBC