Buffy turned around, taking in her surroundings for the last time before she had to hand over the keys to her mother’s house. When her mother died, Buffy swore to herself that she would always keep the house, no matter the cost. But that cost grew out of her budget, taking more and more from her pocket. Some months were harder than others, coming up with the mortgage money. Not only that, but she also had to pay the hydro, water, and phone bills along with food and other necessities on the side. She did have help at one point, from her ex boyfriend Angel, but he ran off, leaving her to deal with her ‘baggage’, as he called it, herself. Showed her how much he cared. ‘Good riddance,’ she thought, ‘he was a loser anyway.’
“And this box?” a voice behind her asked, bringing Buffy out of her thoughts. She turned to look at her cousin Xander holding a box labelled ‘Mom’s stuff’ in his hands. “Storage, or your new apartment?”
Buffy sighed, hating the answer she had to give him. Knowing she wouldn’t have enough room at her new, tiny apartment, she mumbled, “Storage, please,” then walked into the kitchen.
A million memories ran through her mind as she walked through each room in her mother’s house, bringing the sting of tears to her cheeks that she’d grown so accustomed to since her mother’s funeral a year ago. That time she was so hyper one morning, dancing through the kitchen singing the Macho Man song as her mother shook her head. That time she and her mother painted each other’s fingers and toes as they pigged out on brownies and watched old romance movies, talking and giggling about all the girly things only a mother and daughter would share. Or that time her mother duct taped oven mits to Buffy’s hands so she couldn’t scratch the poison ivy she came home with from summer camp.
Fifteen years of laughter and tears were put into this house, and now she had to lose it, just as she lost her mother.
It was killing her inside.
Gathering the strength inside of herself, she wiped a tear that was staining her cheek, straightened her shoulders and walked down the stairs for the last time, and out the door.
Climbing into her mother’s old green jeep filled with boxes to go to her new apartment, Buffy turned the ignition and backed out of the driveway for the last time.
*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*
“Jeez, Buffster, do you really need this many boxes?” Xander asked as he heaved another heavy box up the stairs.
Buffy giggled as she walked up the stairs behind him, holding a smaller, less heavy box. “Come on, Xan’, it’s the last box. If you stop complaining, there will be a tasty glass of ice water waiting for you when you get to my apartment.”
“Gee, ice water! I haven’t had that in years!” he laughed, poking fun at his cousin. “It’s alright, I’m a big, strong, manly man, remember? A few hundred measly boxes are nothing for my brute strength.”
Buffy laughed again as she put the box she was carrying down to hold open the door to her hallway for him. “There was maybe twelve boxes, Xander. Over exaggerate much?”
“I know, I know. Just open your door so I can put this thing down already, please? Know why the elevator is ‘out of service’ yet?”
“It’s been out of service for almost a year,” a female voice sounded from behind them. Buffy spun around, eager to meet her neighbour. “I think they are just refusing to fix it. Rents so cheap, they figure we wouldn’t mind climbing 6 flights of stairs to get home.”
“It’s possible,” Buffy smiled. She adjusted the box in her hands so she could free one and held it out to the woman. “My name is Buffy, I’m your new neighbour.”
The blonde took her hand and shook it briskly. “Anya. Who’s the guy? He’s all sweaty.”
“Oh!” Buffy exclaimed, spinning around to see Xander barely holding the box in his sweaty hands, trying to catch his breath. “This is my cousin Xander. I guess I should open my door for him, huh?”
Anya laughed, Xander nodded emphatically and Buffy dug her keys out of her pocket. “So, obviously I’m in apartment 611,” she said as she unlocked the door and opened it for Xander. “You can stop by later if you want, have a...” Buffy turned toward where Anya last was, only to find the hallway empty and the 610 apartment door softly clicking shut. “Odd girl,” she breathed, then turned toward the heavy thud noise in her apartment.
Buffy walked in and placed the box she was holding on the living room table. She looked around at all of the boxes, and sighed, rubbing her tired eyes.
"You know," Xander said as he walked to the kitchen, getting that glass of water Buffy had promised she'd get for him. "You don't have to do all of this alone."
"What do you mean?" Buffy replied, folloing him into the small kitchen, getting herself a glass as well.
"I mean the whole, independant woman who has lost everything and refuses to talk about it. You shouldn't bottle. It's unhealthy, and it's wearing you down. You know that I'm here for you, same with Willow and Tara. You just... don't have to do this alone."
Thanks, Xan'," Buffy whispered, giving him a soft smile. She downed her glass of water in one shot, then leaned over to look at all of the boxes that littered her living room floor. “So...” she breathed, wiping the beads of sweat from her forehead. “Wanna help me unpack?”
Buffy just laughed as Xander groaned.
*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*
“Are you sure you want this house, sir?” a Chaos demon asked the vampire beside him. “It has three bedrooms. You’re a single vampire, you really only need one. And then there is the...”
“Shut up, you ponce," Spike bellowed, growning tired of the demons voice. "I want it. Get Wolfram and Hart to make it all sunlight proof, and it’s perfect.”
The blonde, British vampire looked at the slimy creature beside him, smiled slyly and walked up a few stairs then turned toward the gooey demon. “Oh, and Simon?”
“WhAAAAH!!” the demon screamed as Spike's foot crashed against his chest, sending him flying through the open front door.
“You’re drippin' on my carpet.”
Smirking as Simon scrambled away, Spike turned and shut the door and turned to look at his new house again. It was big and spacious, a wide living room with adjoining dining room, a quaint kitchen down the hall and a big basement with a washer, dryer and a deep freezer. ‘Should come in handy,’ he thought to himself. ‘Lets check upstairs now, shall we?”
Taking the stairs two at a time, he got to the upper floor and poked his head through the first door on his right. It was a good size, the walls were purple though. That had to change, for sure. A master vampire such as himself—soul or no soul—couldn’t be seen with a purple room, it just simply wouldn’t do at all. He visualized what he could do with the room, knowing this one wasn’t going to be his bedroom. Wasn’t big enough by far, so that left two other options; training room, or his game room.
He decided he would choose after he saw the other two rooms.
He went to the next door on the left, opening the door to find a bathroom. He closed the door, knowing he wouldn’t really use that room for anything other than showering. So, he went to the next room, opting for the one at the end of the hall, probably the master bedroom. And he was right. The room was covered in green and beige flowery pattern wallpaper, which was another thing he had to change. Really, must have been a house full of women before. He took a deep breath, smelling a faint flowery perfume, confirming his thought. It was big though, much bigger than the first room. This would be his bedroom, he knew.
He stepped out of the room and back into the hallway. He looked at the last door, and a chill went through his body. Something about that door was... almost calling to him. Slowly, he stepped toward the room and spread his senses, trying to see if something was inside that room. Finding nothing, he put his hand on the door knob and turned it silently.
Suddenly, he flung the door open, going for the startle-then-attack method, if anything happened to get past his senses.
Nothing.
Just an empty, yellow room.
Still a little wary, he took a tentative step into the room and looked around. And still, nothing. He felt another chill go through his body, so he shook himself and took a deep breath through his nose, trying to get rid of the odd feeling.
His eyebrows furrowed in confusion and he took another breath, using his heightened sense of smell to pick up the scent of... he couldn’t quite place it. It was a mix of sweet melons and something uniquely feminine. Nothing like he’d ever had the pleasure of smelling before.
“Intoxicatin',” he whispered.
To Be Continued...
Author's Chapter Notes:
I hope everyone who reads will enjoy! Very first fic, so please be kind in any reviews. I don't think anyone likes to be bashed lol. Any suggestions or corrections can be sent to my email, simply_beautiful@hotmail.com Thanks!
Chapter End Notes:
Please, please, please review. I'd love to know how you feel about the first chapter. Should I continue, or should I just stick to reading instead?