Swings and Roundabouts
Chapter Eight
Three months later
“I don’t know…”
“Come on, Buffy. You’ll like him; I promise.”
“Willow…” Buffy sighed.
“Come on. One date, or he’ll be really disappointed.”
“Disappointed? Did you already tell him I’d go out with him?”
“Um…”
“Willow!” Buffy switched the receiver to her other ear, wishing that her friend was there in person so she could withstand the full power of her glare.
“I’m sorry!” Willow’s voice had taken on a high-pitched edge, and Buffy knew it would only be mere minutes before she started baking the apology cookies. “But you’ve not been out with anyone in a really long time. It’ll be good for you. Not to mention—you need a break, Buffy. And he’s a nice guy, honest.”
Buffy shook her head, mouthing wordlessly. She knew that her friend meant well, she always did, but Buffy wished that, for once, Willow would just butt out and leave her alone. Dating was the last thing on her mind, and she’d thought that Willow knew that. On the other hand, she really could do with some time out.
“Fine. Whatever. I’ll go out with him. Once. But you and Oz are coming, too. Double date, okay?” Despite the question, her voice left no room for argument.
“But then who’ll—”
“Dawn, she’s home from school for Christmas.”
“Oh, okay.”
“And nowhere fancy. Somewhere casual. I don’t want to get this guy’s hopes up.” Buffy frowned. “You didn’t get his hopes up already, did you?”
“If by not getting them up you mean not telling him that I have a totally hot friend that would just love to go out with him, then nope.” Buffy could hear the smile in Willow’s voice.
“Willow...” She sighed, but didn’t want to argue anymore. She’d go on the date with the guy, pretend to have a good time, and then she’d never have to see him again. “All right. Let me know where and when, and I’ll turn up.”
“If you really don’t want to—”
“I said I will.”
“Now you’re mad at me,” Willow said. “Look, I’ll call him and tell him no, okay?”
“No, it’s fine. I swear.” She looked at the clock, and cursed under her breath. “Shoot. I have to go. Text me, okay?”
“Got it. Bye, Buffy.”
“See ya.”
***
“Earrings… earrings…” Buffy glared at her dressing table. “Where the hell did I put my earrings?”
“Talking to yourself again?”
She jumped, and turned towards the door with her hand pressed to her suddenly pounding heart. “Dawn! You scared me.”
Dawn smirked, sauntered into the room, perched herself at the end of Buffy’s bed and looked her big sister up and down. “So, for a date that you don’t want to go on, you sure are dressed up.”
“What? This old thing?” Buffy turned towards the mirror and frowned at her reflection. The calf-length black skirt and pale shimmery blouse didn’t look particularly dressy, in her opinion. She shrugged. “I dunno, Dawnie. If I’m going out with the guy, I feel like I should at least make an effort.”
“You look nice,” Dawn said. “Just… I thought you told Willow somewhere casual?”
“I did. Aha!” Buffy grinned when she found her earrings at the bottom of her jewellery box. “But she went ahead and booked a classy restaurant anyway.”
“She interferes too much.”
“Dawn—”
“What? She does.” Dawn uncrossed her legs and lay back on the bed. “She’s supposed to be your friend, not your life-guru. If you say you’re not ready, she should respect that.”
Buffy closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. She knew what Dawn said was mostly right, but another part of her felt that she shouldn’t let herself stop living. “I don’t really want to talk about it now.”
“Fine.” Dawn huffed and sat up. “I was just saying.”
“I know.” Buffy turned soft eyes on her sister. “Maybe she’s right, you know? I’ve been so down lately—”
“With good reason!” Dawn interrupted.
“I know.” Buffy took a deep breath, and ran her fingers through her hair. “The last few months have been hell for us all. I need a break, okay?” She shrugged. “It’s selfish, but—”
“It’s not selfish,” Dawn said, softly. “I get it. I’m away at college so I don’t realise—I just want to help you, Buffy.”
“And you do. But right now, there are other things you can do to help, all right?”
“Yeah, yeah. I know. I’ll go find mom.”
“Thanks.” Buffy turned back to the mirror and took a deep breath. She smiled at her reflection, then bit her lip. “Time to go.”
***
The taxi pulled up outside the restaurant, and Buffy peered out the window in trepidation.
“Damn it, Will.” A large Christmas tree with twinkling lights gave way to a very upscale-looking frontage. La Piazza was definitely not the casual date she had asked for.
She passed a couple of bills to the driver and climbed out of the car. A quick glance around revealed no sign of Willow or Oz, or anyone who could be her mysterious date. A lull in the sound of traffic pulled her from her thoughts, and Buffy took that as a sign to go inside.
The restaurant was as fancy on the inside as it had looked from the outside, and she sighed. She was going to kill Willow.
The hostess greeted her with a smile, and Buffy froze. It had been so long since she’d been to a place like this, that she’d almost forgotten how things worked.
“Um… Rosenberg? Or Osbourne, I guess. Or even Mr. Mystery Man, but I kinda don’t know his name yet…” She trailed off at the hostess’s raised eyebrow, and blushed.
“I have a table for four under Rosenberg,” the woman said. “You’re the first of your party to arrive. If you’d like to take a seat over there…”
Buffy nodded and hurried off to the plush seating area. She hated that, what the last few years—and especially the past few months—had reduced her to. Before, after Angel had died, she’d been depressed, but the years had afforded her closure and time to think. And it had been nothing like this.
Now, things were different. She had responsibilities, things that no one should ever have to deal with. She missed the happy-go-lucky girl she’d been all that time ago, and wanted her back.
A flash of red caught her eye, and she looked up to see Willow and Oz talking to the hostess, who pointed in her direction.
“Hey, Buffy!”
Buffy stood up and grabbed Willow by the arm, pulling her away from Oz.
“Willow,” she hissed. “I said somewhere casual!” Gesturing around the foyer she continued, “This is not casual!”
“I know,” Willow said, grimacing. “But your date insisted. And you know I have a problem with saying no. I really ought to work on that. No. No. Nuh-uh, no way.”
Buffy couldn’t help but smile. “You know what? I have a feeling I’m gonna hate this guy.”
“Sorry. Again.” Willow paused. “Did I mention I was sorry?”
Buffy rolled her eyes. “I’ll survive.”
They moved back towards Oz, who—as was typical—nodded and smiled but remained silent.
Buffy listened to the bustle of the restaurant, not really paying attention to what was going on around her. So, when Willow grabbed her arm, fingers almost bruising in their intensity, she jumped in surprise.
“There he is.”
She fixed her gaze on the doorway, and her mouth fell open when she saw her date enter the restaurant.
“Oh, God.”
-TBC-
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Thanks to everyone for the comments so far, your thoughts and encouragement mean a lot! Thank you to Sotia for beta reading, and as I have played around with this chapter since she looked it over, any mistakes are my own!
Chapter End Notes:
Thanks for reading! Please let me know what you thought in a review. :)