Chapter 6
Buffy sat in her office the next day, going through some of her files, when
she heard the door open. Looking up, she saw William standing in the
doorway. “Can I come in?”
“Sure,” Buffy said with a small smile.
Walking into the office, Will leaned against Buffy’s desk as she sat back in
her chair. “Look, Buffy, I know I’m doing this a lot lately, but I’m sorry
about the other night.”
Buffy folded her arms over her chest as she looked at him. “That’s quite a
black eye you’ve got there. What happened?”
“Oh, uh, getting dressed in the dark. You know how it is,” he said with a
wave of his hand.
“You’re lying.”
“What?”
“You heard me.”
“Alright…Spike and I, kind of, got into it last night after you left.”
“About me?”
“Part of it.”
Buffy stood up, positioning herself in front of him. “William, what’s going on
with you?”
“I just don’t like him around you, Buffy. Especially considering the
circumstances that you met him under.”
“So the bottom line is, you don’t trust me.”
“I don’t trust him.”
Buffy stared at him for several moments before speaking. “What’s really
bothering you?”
William sighed before reaching out and pulling Buffy close to him. “Were
you attracted to him, Buffy?”
“Will, don’t take this the wrong way,” she said gently. “But of course I
was. I was attracted to him the same way I’m attracted to you. You’re
twins.”
“Even after you saw how different we are?”
“Will, don’t do this to yourself.”
“Answer the question, Buffy, and please don’t lie to me.”
“Yes…I was.”
She watched as William nodded as he turned and walked to the door.
“So that’s it?” Buffy asked angrily. “You’re just going to walk away
because I told you the truth? You know, Will, I could have lied. I could
have conveniently ‘forgotten’ that he wasn’t you, but I didn’t!”
“Buffy, I’m just going to class.”
Buffy visibly calmed down. “Are we still on for tonight?”
“Better make it tomorrow. Something’s come up.”
Buffy looked at him in confusion but didn’t question him. “Okay, I’ll see
you later.”
* * * * *
William sat in his home later that night. The lights were dimmed in his
office as he sipped a tall glass of brandy. Hearing his brother walk in,
William looked up from the picture on his desk to stare into the identical
set of eyes.
“What’s wrong with you, mate?”
“Nothing,” Will grumbled, his accent taking on a gruff sound, making him
sound more like Spike.
“Oh, so you usually sit drinking in the dark when nothing’s wrong?” Spike
asked as he turned on a light.
“I need your help with something, Spike.”
“Have you forgotten who you’re talking to, Will?”
“No, and I need your help.”
* * * * *
Buffy dressed in black pants and a royal blue sleeveless shirt the
following night. She had tried to find William in school today, and he’d
apparently taken a sick day. She’d tried to call him, and he didn’t answer,
so she was assuming he was still going to pick her up.
Hearing a knock on the door, Buffy hurriedly put on her earrings as she ran
for it. Throwing it open with a smile, the smile faded as she looked at the
man on the other side.
“Spike?” she asked, taking in the jeans and black t-shirt with the bleached
hair.
“It’s me, Buffy.”
“William?! What did you do?” Buffy stared, open-mouthed at Will. He
looked identical to his brother. There was no longer a single feature that
could help in telling the two apart. Except maybe the absence of the
duster.
“It’s what you wanted, right?”
“How can you ask me that? Did I ever ask you to change for me?”
“It’s not about what you asked for me to do, Buffy.”
Buffy sighed as she walked out the door, deciding to drop the subject for
the time being. “So where are we going tonight?”
“I thought we’d head to the Bronze.”
“But you hate it there,” Buffy said in disbelief.
“Maybe I want to give it another try.”
Buffy stared at him for a moment. It was unnerving to see Spike from every
angle but know that it was William. Even more unnerving that he was
beginning to sound like Spike. This wasn’t him. At least he wasn’t using
the nicknames for her. Though she didn’t mind when Spike called her ‘luv’
or ‘pet’, she wasn’t sure if she was ready to hear those words coming out of
Will’s mouth.
“You ready to go, Buffy?”
Buffy breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Will’s car sitting in the
parking lot. If she had seen a motorcycle, Buffy was sure she would have
turned around and headed back into the house.
“I guess,” she murmured.
* * * * *
Buffy and William walked into the Bronze ten minutes later. Buffy watched
him skeptically as they made their way through the crowd. The thought had
crossed her mind that this could be Spike with her, but she quickly
dismissed it.
“Buffy, why don’t you go get us some drinks,” Will said, handing her a
twenty. “I’m gonna go say hello to Xander.”
Buffy looked in the direction he was walking and saw Xander at the pool
table. She didn’t see Faith, but she had no doubt that the brunette would
be along soon enough, so she headed for the bar and placed her order.
“Surprised, luv?”
Buffy turned when she heard Spike’s distinct voice to her left. “Surprise
doesn’t begin to cover it.”
“Yeah, he was pretty gung-ho about the whole change,” Spike said, resting
his back against the bar. Buffy looked over and felt a chill creep down her
spine. The two were even dressed alike. Spike’s duster was gone tonight,
probably due to the hot weather they were having, and his jeans were
slightly darker, but otherwise, identical.
“Why did he do it, Spike?”
“You really have to ask that?”
“Yeah…I really do.”
“He thought he was losing you, luv.”
“So turning into a clone of his already identical twin was the perfect way
for him to hold on to me?”
“Something like that.”
Buffy sighed, shredding a napkin as she stared down at her hands.
“Can I ask you something, pet?”
Buffy looked over at him, seeing the boyish way he was biting his bottom
lip, as if he was too shy to actually ask the question.
“Sure.”
Spike took a deep breath as he looked down at the floor. “If you had met me
first…”
“Would I have been interested?”
Spike looked at her but didn’t say anything as Buffy turned to stare into
the growing crowd of people. “Probably,” she murmured softly. Buffy saw
the slight smile that formed on Spike’s face. Turning to him, she
continued, “But, Spike, that means we can’t…it’s different.”
Spike stared at her with his unfathomable blue eyes. She could see the hurt
in them and felt guilty. She felt guilty for Will feeling he had to change
to be what he thought she wanted. She felt guilty that she wasn’t happier
about the change because she was still thinking about Spike. And she felt
really guilty for staring into Spike’s eyes and feeling more alive than
she’d felt since his lips had been on hers almost a week ago.
“Buffy?”
Buffy’s eyes snapped over to her right as she heard William next to her.
“You gonna stand here all night?”
She saw the look that passed between the two brothers and pushed away from
the bar. With drinks in hand, she took a step closer to William, holding
out his drink and giving him a blinding smile. He seemed to visibly relax
at the gesture and took the drink from her. Before she knew what happened,
his lips were on hers in a soft kiss.
Buffy was grateful that it wasn’t the overpowering, claiming kiss he’d given
her the other day. Closing her eyes, she relaxed slightly. This was
William. This was the way she was used to being treated by him. Pulling
away, Buffy turned to head over to Xander. She could see Faith standing at
the table now, giving her a questioning look. On her way, Buffy couldn’t
help but see the look on Spike’s face. She offered him a tender smile as
she passed, knowing that if she was to stop and talk to him, it would only
add to the tension.
Faith grabbed Buffy’s elbow as they got closer and led her away from the
two men. “Okay, spill,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest.
“There’s nothing to spill. I think you know as much as I do at this point.”
“So William is morphing into Spike in front of your eyes, and you don’t find
that a little weird?”
“I didn’t say that. I don’t know what’s going on with him, Faith. It’s not
like this was some kind of gradual change- he just showed up at my
apartment. I thought he was Spike at first, until he started talking.”
Faith looked over at the men, raising her eyebrows. “Is it working?”
“What?”
“Whatever he’s trying to accomplish. It’s obvious he knows that you’re
attracted to his brother, so he’s upping the ante for you.”
Buffy swallowed hard as she looked at her boyfriend. She didn’t know how
she felt. She couldn’t get past the weirdness factor of looking at him and
seeing his brother. Faith patted her gently on the arm as they turned and
walked back over to Xander and William.
* * * * *
A few hours later, William pulled into his driveway.
“Will, aren’t you going to take me home?” Buffy asked.
“I thought you could stay here tonight.”
Buffy looked at him strangely. “Don’t you normally ask me if I want to?”
“I didn’t think you’d mind,” William said with a shrug.
“Well, you thought wrong,” she said angrily.
“What’s the big deal, Buffy? You’ve stayed here before- it’s not like it’s
a soddin’ problem.”
Buffy stared at him in disbelief as his voice changed into Spike’s. “Okay,
this is getting creepy, William.”
“What’s that?” he asked, giving her a bored look.
“This change,” Buffy said, gesturing wildly at him. “I never asked for
this. I never asked you to do anything!” she yelled as she jumped out of
the car.
William stepped out on his side as she came around to stand in front of
him. “It’s obvious this is what you want, Buffy,” he said angrily.
“Oh really?” she asked, putting her hands on her hips. “And why is that?”
“Because you haven’t touched me since that wanker came to town!” he yelled.
Buffy’s mouth dropped open as she stared at him. “I can’t believe you,” she
said quietly. “That’s what this has been about? It hasn’t even been a week
that he’s been in town, and you do a complete physical and mental change
because I haven’t kissed you as much?” William stared into her angry face
as she spoke. “I don’t like this, Will. I started dating you because
you’re YOU! I started dating the man who treated me with respect!”
“And when respect isn’t enough, you just figured you’d go running to the
next best thing,” William yelled back.
Buffy stared at him with cold eyes. “You don’t know anything about me,” she
said in a low voice. “You think you know me? You don’t know a damn thing.”
Buffy turned and began walking away.
“Oh, that’s it! Walk off when the going gets rough- it’s what you’re best
at!”
Buffy turned at the end of the driveway. “Maybe it is,” she said with a
shrug. “But at least I don’t have to change myself to feel good about me.”
* * * * *
Buffy walked into the Bronze for the second time that night. She had been
trying Faith’s cell phone, hoping to have a girl’s night, but it had been
turned off. Walking through the club, Buffy looked around, hoping to spot
her friend.
“She took off.”
Buffy turned and faced Spike. She was surprised by the angry look in his
eyes.
“So, what are you doing back, pet?” he asked. “Thought you’d be curled up in
my brother’s bed by now.”
Buffy stared at him in shock, her mouth dropped open at the callous tone he
was using. “Is that your business?” she asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
“Maybe not,” Spike said with a shrug, dropping his cigarette on the floor.
“For what it’s worth, I’m sure it’s your calling,” he said, looking her up
and down.
Buffy felt a range of emotions course through her body. “What the hell is
your problem?!” she cried, letting anger win out.
“Don’t have a problem, pet. Just trying to pay a girl a compliment,” he
said in a condescending tone.
“Well, then do me a favor…don’t!”
“Well, someone’s got their knickers in a twist,” Spike said with a smirk.
“Yeah? Seems to me, someone’s got his mind in the gutter.”
“Maybe,” he said seductively as he advanced on her. “Up for a round on the
balcony, luv? Promise you’ll have fun.”
“What’s gotten into you?” she asked, shoving him away.
“You have, Summers! Teasing me, leading me on, I’m bloody tired of it. So
why don’t you do us all a favor- go find my dear old brother and give him a
good shag, 'cause God knows he needs it,” Spike said through gritted teeth.
“And maybe you do, too,” he said as an afterthought.
“You’re a pig, Spike,” Buffy said angrily as she turned and headed out the
door.
Spike felt remorse course through him as she slammed the door shut behind
her. He knew he was only taking out his anger at himself, and maybe at his
brother, on her, and she didn’t deserve it. But at the same time, he
couldn’t find it in himself to go after her. Stomping down any feelings he
had about chasing her, Spike turned and headed the other way.
A/N I know, both Will and Spike turned into jerks. You’re not supposed to like either of them at this point, trust me! I’ll make it better!
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