Chapter 13
“You’re really going home tomorrow?” Willow asked, as she and Buffy walked together after school. Buffy had promised Willow to have a girl’s night, just the two of them. They were going to go to Willow’s house, eat brownies and watch chick flicks all night, or at least until Spike showed up to get her. Cordelia had been invited, but she had a date with yet another jock.
“I guess so,” Buffy said quietly. “I’d rather stay with Spike, but I mean, if I press my luck, my mom could press charges, you know. Or do something. I’m not eighteen yet, so…”
“Yeah,” Willow said quietly. “So what else is new? I’ve been kinda preoccupied with Oz lately, and…”
“It’s ok. I think my middle name is preoccupation,” Buffy teased. “I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow.”
“Are you ok?”
“Yeah. Mom wants me to go on birth control. She doesn’t know how good of an idea that is right now.”
“Really?” Willow asked with wide eyes.
“Yeah,” Buffy muttered. “I sort of lied to her when I told her Spike was sleeping on the couch. Neither of us are exactly sleeping that much, and we’re not doing that apart, that’s for sure.”
“Wow,” Willow gulped.
“Yeah.” Buffy couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across her face. “I can’t help it. I’m happy. And we’re being safe, so…”
“That’s good. Safe is good.”
“How are things with you and Oz?”
“Good,” Willow smiled. “He really wants Spike to join the band. I mean, it’s just him and Jesse, the drummer.”
“Yeah. I think Spike would have fun. I don’t wanna push him into it, though.”
“But wouldn’t it be great? We could ride together to their show. We’d both be dating guys in a band. The same band!”
“Yeah,” Buffy laughed, “giving Cordelia even more reason to fake hate us.”
“True.” They turned the corner onto Willow’s street. “But Oz is…he’s so sweet.”
“Has he kissed you yet?”
“A lady doesn’t reveal her secrets!” Willow laughed, getting an eyeroll from Buffy.
“C’mon, I’ve told you everything I’ve done with Spike.” Buffy chewed her lip. “Well, almost everything.” Willow let out a little gasp.
“You’ve been holding out on me?”
“Says you…the ‘lady.’ Please!” Buffy giggled.
“Ok. Ok. Yeah, we kissed. Well, we’ve kissed a lot. But that’s it. Nothing else. I mean…there are hands…going places, but…”
“Breathe, Wil. Your face is almost as red as your hair.” Willow smiled a little. “I’m happy for you guys. You’re really sweet together.”
“If it hadn’t been for you and Cordelia nudging me at him, I don’t think it ever would’ve happened.”
“Speaking of me and Cordy helping you…I’m loving the new look!”
“Thanks,” Willow said shyly. Since that night at The Bronze, Willow had started doing her hair a little differently, twisting it up in the back. She no longer wore hose with her skirts, and said skirts had gotten a few inches shorter. She now wore more form-fitting blouses and looked more and more feminine, as opposed to the plain, tomboy approach she’d taken before. “It feels good to be dainty.” They both giggled at that. “I’m gonna miss this.”
“What?”
“Well, this. If you move to New York, and…”
“Wil,” Buffy said quickly, holding up a hand. “No way in Hell am I moving to New York, ok? That’s just my dad’s wishful thinking, and he’s in no position to even ask anything of me right now. My mom’s has legal custody of me, and I’ll be eighteen soon, so…”
“But you’re not even, you know, a little curious about what it might be like?” Willow wondered, ducking her head a little. Buffy shrugged her shoulders.
“No. I mean, everything I need’s right here. My friends. Spike.”
“Maybe Spike’ll make it big if he joins the band. And then you can move to New York while he launches his rock band career.”
“He can do that here in California too,” Buffy laughed. “I have no plans to go.”
“What about Dawn?”
“I dunno,” Buffy said quietly. “I don’t know her. I don’t think I need to, you know?”
“But she’s your sister, Buffy.”
“Yeah, but I just found that out. She’s just a kid. How am I supposed to even get to know her? ‘Hey kid. I’m your older sister. I didn’t know about you, because my parents lied to me. Wanna play Barbies?’ I mean, c’mon, Wil.”
“Yeah, I get your point. I guess I’d just be curious. I’d wanna know if she was like me.”
“I guess,” Buffy said quietly. “I kinda hope she is like me, that way when she’s my age, she can give my dad Hell for whatever he does to screw it up with her.”
“That’s…one way to think about it,” Willow offered before changing the subject toward school. Normally, Buffy would object to the subject, but right now, it was a much needed distraction.
***
“God, why can’t real life be like that?” Buffy asked, dabbing her eyes as the credits rolled.
“What do you mean?”
“A happy ending,” Buffy whispered.
“What are you talking about?!” Willow wondered. “He died, Buffy. I mean, he literally died without her.”
“Yeah, but…they were together in the end.”
“In Heaven. Both dead. I mean, that’s depressing, Buffy.” Buffy shrugged and popped out the DVD of Somewhere in Time and placed it back in its case.
“Yeah, but they were perfect for each other. They were from different times, and they still found each other.”
“Yeah,” Willow said dreamily. “I guess that’s true. Stupid penny. You’d think if you were going to risk everything to travel through time, you’d make sure you had all your ducks in a row before attempting the impossible!”
“Ok, which movie’s next? I think we need something…a little less tear-inducing. So don’t even mention The Notebook.”
“Well, let’s see. We’ve got Dirty Dancing and…oh, how about Benny and Joon? That’s a good one, right?”
“Well, yeah. Johnny Depp? Big plus. And it’s quirky and fun.”
“I’ll go find it.” Willow hopped up and started browsing through her movies. Buffy stretched out on Willow’s bed and looked up at the ceiling. She could remember a few years ago when it had been covered in posters of that rugged, long-haired guy from LOST. Sawyer or something like that. Now it was poster-free, reflecting a change within the teen. They were all growing up. Some more than others, having to deal with problems every day that they never expected.
“Wil? Any luck yet? I’m bumming out by the second over here.”
“Maybe we should watch something else. Love stories do tend to be depressing if the mood isn’t right.”
“I dunno.” Buffy reached over and took a brownie off the plate on Willow’s bedside table. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I can’t stop thinking.”
“About anything in particular?”
“More like everything in particular.” She sat up. “I don’t know, Wil. I just can’t make my brain shut off. It’d be nice to do for once. I hate feeling like this.”
“I know, Buffy. But it’ll get better.”
“Yeah. That’s what Spike says. I’m really not so sure.” She ran her fingers through her hair. “Ok, enough of me bumming you out. Let’s watch the movie.” Willow gave Buffy a sympathetic smile and turned to pop the DVD into the player.
***
Spike checked the time on his cell phone. He had to leave to get Buffy in about a half hour. It was too quiet without her there, but he knew he had to get used to it. She was going back home tomorrow, and as much as he wanted to ask her to stay permanently, he knew that the best thing for her to do would to be with her mother and work things out. If she didn’t, he knew that would be something she’d regret for the rest of her life.
So, he sat in his living room, reading a book of poems he had to read for English class, but he wasn’t focusing on the words. He’d received three calls from Oz today asking if he was going to join the band, but he hadn’t made up his mind yet. As much as he’d love to explore music, he wasn’t so sure if he wanted to be the lead singer of a band. Yeah, he’d be working with his best friend, but he wasn’t sure if that was the kind of life he wanted, even if it was for a short time. Still, the upside was that the pay was good, and it would definitely help if his father flaked on supporting him through school. He was already supporting him with a check each month for rent, so Spike wasn’t so certain that his father would exaggerate that courtesy when it came time for college.
His phone rang, and he sighed, looking at the caller ID. It wasn’t Oz this time. It was Drusilla. He wasn’t going to answer, but he figured that if he got it over with, quick and painless, he wouldn’t have to deal with her anymore that night.
“What do you want, Dru?” he spat into the phone.
“William,” she cried, sounding truly frightened. “William, is that…it hurts, William.”
“Very funny, Dru. What do you want this time?”
“No…please,” she cried. “Please…” He could hear her breathing heavily, and he thought maybe it was one of her sick games. “Lovely, Dru. Tell whoever it is that you’re shagging that I don’t…”
“Listen! You need to hurry! Please…he’s…he’s drunk. Passed out cold. Please!” Spike suddenly felt a shiver run up his spine. There was a good possibility that this was a ploy to get his attention. But at the same time, there was a possibility that she was truly hurt, and despite the fact that he despised her more than anything, he couldn’t very well let a girl be in pain like that.
“Where are you?” he asked reluctantly.
“My house. Please, William. Hurry.”
***
“What happened?” Buffy asked, sliding into the car two hours later. “You were supposed to be here an…”
“I know, luv. I’m sorry.” His hands gripped the steering wheel, and he stared straight ahead.
“What happened?”
“Dru called me.” He could hear her sigh loudly.
“What’d she want this time?”
“Called me, sounded scared to death. I didn’t wanna go, but I was afraid she might’ve truly be hurt. Went over there, and found her all bruised up. But she wasn’t lying there, cowering in the corner. She was kissing him. Making up with him. Telling him she was sorry.”
“Who?”
“Angel.”
“I thought Angel dumped her.”
“Guess he can’t bear the thought of being single anymore,” Spike muttered. “Why would she want to endure that? Saw the evidence with my own bloody eyes.” Buffy swallowed hard and looked straight ahead.
“I don’t know. Spike, there’s something seriously wrong with her. She can’t see that, but if she doesn’t want help, then I guess we can’t…”
“Called the police, and they came. She won’t press charges, and they wouldn’t take him away, even though she was…” His hands tightened on the steering wheel. “I know I shouldn’t be angry. Not after what she did.”
“Yeah,” Buffy said quietly, “but you did date her. You cared about her, so seeing anybody in pain like that…I can’t blame you.” She placed her hand on his knee. “I’m sorry she dragged you into it.”
“Me too.” He was trembling.
“Spike?”
“Just seeing her…it made me think…if anybody ever did anything like that to you...”
“Whoa, hey. Angel’s an asshole, ok? But this doesn’t have anything to do with me. Or us.”
“They way they talked about you, Buffy. And tonight…he was stumbling drunk, but…he threatened to hurt you.” Buffy swallowed hard, suddenly understanding why Spike was taking this so strongly.
“Well, he won’t, ok? You beat the crap out of those guys, so I don’t think they’re going to…”
“I just…don’t want to take any chances.” Buffy sighed softly and scooted over in the seat, leaning her head against his shoulder.
“Don’t worry. Nothing’s gonna happen to me.” She closed her eyes. “Even though Dru’s not my favorite person, I hope he doesn’t hurt her again. Nobody deserves that.” They rode in silence for a few minutes, and then Spike spoke again.
“Tomorrow, I’m telling Oz…I’m not joining the band.”
“What?” Buffy sat up a little and turned toward him.
“Right now…Angel’s acting out. He’s pissed about something, tossing threats around, and if I’m not there to…”
“You know I can take care of myself, right?”
“I know, but he did that to Dru, and he’s…dating her, apparently. What would he do to you? Especially after the other day in the park?” He shook his head. “No. I’m telling Oz ‘no.’ I need to take care of you first.”
“Take care of me? Spike,” Buffy whispered, “you should be taking care of yourself. You should do what’s going to be best for you.” He took her hand in his and kissed it.
“I am.”
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