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Chapter 2: The Girl Next Door

(August 9th)

Buffy stood in the middle of her backyard with her eyes closed and a peaceful look on her face. A light breeze blew through her hair and she sighed softly. She’d worn a long white sun dress that day, and she’d actually left her hair down for once. It felt good to have the wind in her hair again.

She kept her eyes closed and started humming softly to herself. She tilted her head upward, and suddenly lyrics started pouring from her lips. She’d loved to sing as long as she could remember, but she never sang for anyone but herself. She was just too shy to sing in front of other people.

The winter here’s cold, and bitter
It’s chilled us to the bone
We haven’t seen the sun for weeks
Too long too far from home
I feel just like I’m sinking
And I claw for solid ground
I’m pulled down by the undertow
I never thought I could feel so low
Oh darkness I feel like letting go

If all of the strength and all of the courage
Come and lift me from this place
I know I can love you much better than this
Full of grace
Full of grace
My love

Next door, Spike was in his backyard relaxing and trying to finish one of his songs. He’d been working on it for about a month and it still wasn’t finished. He was finding it hard to complete anything artistic at the moment. He didn’t have the inspiration for it. He constantly kept an eye out for things that inspired him, but he mostly came up empty.

Currently he was sitting in a large white plastic chair, under the shade of his back patio. He had his notebook in his lap and his pen in his hand. His notebook was well-covered in scribbles and doodles, and the pen’s upper half had clearly been chewed on quite frequently. To the casual observer it would seem like he was a slob, but it was actually just his ADD kicking in.

He finally looked up from the paper after a brutal five-minute staring contest with it. He tilted his head slightly as he observed his backyard, narrowing his eyes and studying it as if he’d put it under a microscope. He was once again looking for some sort of inspiration.

The large, square pool was centered in the yard with a concrete sidewalk lining it. At one end there was even a waterslide, albeit a relatively small one, and a diving board. Whenever he got bored and was tired of jotting down nonsense, he’d change into his trunks and take a dip.

Of course he’d prefer not wearing anything at all, but after the first incident he’d decided to spare his poor mother from the embarrassing debacle. She was likely to have a heart attack or something. Surrounding the pool was a wide expanse of green, grassy lawn. The yard was enclosed by a tall wooden fence, and it was lined by various trees and bushes.

In one corner of the yard was a medium-sized shed. Since his father had passed away when he was younger, it wasn’t really needed as a work shop or anything. The only family he had left was his mother and his uncle, Rupert, the school librarian. The building would’ve been abandoned, but Spike managed to find a use for it.

He’d turned it into a little mini-condo for himself. He’d set it up with a bed, couch, television set, and a mini-refrigerator. It was pretty much all he needed to keep himself entertained. Sometimes he even spent the night out there instead of in his bedroom. As he sat there bored out of his mind, he contemplated going for a swim then watching a movie.

Just then, the sound of music reached his ears and caught his attention. At first he’d thought the neighbors had their stereo on, and then realized it was a girl singing. He set his pen and notebook on the table beside him then stood up. It was coming from his right, so he walked over to the fence in curiosity.

Sure enough, as he pressed his ear to the wood he heard her singing on the other side. He grabbed the handle on the wooden gate, which separated his property from hers, and he twisted it slowly. He opened the gate enough so that he could peek into the yard. His eyes widened when he saw her and his first thoughts were, ‘Bloody angel…’

At first he didn’t even recognize her. Then, as he stared at her more, he realized she was the shy girl he’d seen at the cafeteria the day before. She’d stayed behind the rest of the crowd like she was afraid of being trampled. He’d seen her around in the halls a few times, but he hadn’t paid her any attention. He certainly hadn’t known that she lived right next to him.

He opened the gate quietly, not wanting to alert her to his presence; fearing she’d stop singing if she knew he was there. He couldn’t believe this was the same shy girl he’d seen in the halls at school. She was… gorgeous. She looked like an angel right now, and he couldn’t believe he hadn’t noticed her all along.

This girl had him stunned speechless, and that was difficult to do. He always had some sort of smartass comment to make, but right now he was content to just stand there and watch her. He knew right then it was unavoidable. He had to get to know this girl, and he knew he’d fall for her in the process.

As she neared the end of the song, he walked into the yard quietly, leaving the gate open behind him. As she hummed the last few notes, he made his presence known.

He whispered from where he stood, echoing his earlier thoughts, “Bloody angel…”

Her eyes popped open and she quickly faced him, her surprise and embarrassment written clearly across her face.

She blushed cutely and swallowed hard before saying timidly, “H-hi… I… I didn’t see you there.”

She looked down and her hair fell in a curtain to cover her face. She’d obviously had no idea she hadn’t been alone. He chuckled lightly at her shyness.

“S’all right, love. You were bloody incredible. Got a voice like an angel.”

His blue eyes lit up happily as he stared at her, and she blushed again under his scrutiny. He openly looked her up and down, surprised by her change in wardrobe. Every other time he’d seen her, her hair had been in a tight braid and she’d worn somewhat boyish clothes that were made to cover her.

Right now, though, he could actually make out the delicate curves of her body, and he longed to run his fingers through her silky-looking hair. He took a step closer to her, and she raised her eyes to meet his, looking up at him through thick lashes. She was amazed at just how blue his eyes were. She’d never seen anything like them.

He could tell she was extremely shy, but that drew him in even more. He could tell that there was a strong, confident woman buried in there, and he wanted to pull her out of her shell. He wanted to see the real girl she was hiding. Just then he remembered that he hadn’t introduced himself.

“I’m Spike. It’s nice to meet you.” He extended his hand toward her.

She smiled a bit and looked down at the ground. “I know.” She shook his hand gently then said, “I’m Buffy.”

He was surprised by two things: 1) That she already knew who he was, and 2) That she had such an unusual name.

He gave her a rakish grin and said, “An adorable name for an adorable girl.”

She blushed even further from his compliment and she realized he was still holding her hand. She pulled it back gently and mumbled, “Thanks.”

As he stood there, he wasn’t quite sure what he wanted to do. He wanted to take a swim but he didn’t want to say good bye to Buffy yet. He came up with a compromise and decided to ask her to join him. He was hoping maybe she’d even sing for him again.

“I was just about to take a dip in my pool. Would you care to join me?”

She looked at him with surprise at the offer. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d actually hung out with someone outside of school, or inside of school for that matter.

“Umm… I… I don’t know.”

There she was being shy again. He had to chuckle a little, because it was extremely cute.

“C’mon, love… it’ll be fun.”

She chewed on her lip for a moment as she considered the offer, and then she nodded slowly in agreement.

“Okay. I have to go get changed.”

He nodded and glanced at his watch. He smiled and said, “I’ll meet you in my backyard in ten minutes.”

Spike left her yard and returned to his own house. He told his mother he was going to take a swim, and then he went upstairs to change.

Buffy also went into her house to change, but she was grateful she didn’t have to explain anything to anyone, because her father was still at work.

Spike changed into little black swimming trunks, which left little to the imagination, and then he practically skipped down to the kitchen. He grabbed two cokes out of the fridge and a bowl of assorted fruits, which his mother had made the previous day. Anne came downstairs just then and raised her brows in surprise.

“Do you have company, William?”

He smiled softly at his mother and admitted quietly, “Yeah… the girl next door.”

With another little grin, he went out the back door and sat on the patio as he waited for her.


Chapter End Notes:
The song Buffy was singing was 'Full of Grace' by Sarah McLachlan. You should listen if you haven't heard it. Please review!



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