Buffy looked at the teenager sitting across from her. Like anyone had to tell her what people had been saying all day… It was all she'd heard since she'd gotten in to work that morning. "Yes, Amanda, I'm dating Spike. Now what did you schedule this appointment to talk about?"
"Oh, that's not important," Amanda replied, waving her hand dismissively. "I want to hear about Spike." She leaned forward, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "Does he have a big penis? Because my older sister says that the jeans he wears on stage make it so obvious how he got that nickname, but then my brother keeps trying to say it's just a sock. So which one of them is right?"
Buffy immediately turned a deep red. "I really don't think that's the sort of thing I'm supposed to be discussing with students."
"I won't tell anyone, Miss Summers, I swear."
Her hand over her eyes, Buffy mumbled quickly, "It's not a sock."
"I knew it!" Amanda shouted before looking a little sheepish and quieting down. "I can't wait to tell my stupid brother he's wrong." When Buffy scissored apart her fingers and peeked through them, Amanda added, "Without letting him know where I got the info, of course."
Buffy cleared her throat and dropped her hand back to her desk. "So, your problems, what…"
"Is he really your step-brother?"
"Well, our parents are married, but he's not my step-brother. I mean, not really. We didn't grow up together or anything."
Amanda shrugged. "That's cool. I mean, it's not like anyone can fault you for jumping all over that."
"You know, Amanda, my personal life isn't really…"
"Has he written you any songs? Because that would be so romantic."
Buffy sighed, deciding she might as well throw in the towel. Apparently, her life had just become a circus, with her relationship right in the center ring. "'Angel' is about me."
"Really?! I love that song. It's so sweet!" Amanda ceased the bouncing that had started at Buffy's admission and suddenly frowned. "But that's like a way old one."
"We dated before, when I was in college," Buffy told the girl. "We broke up right around the time the band started to hit it big, but we recently reconnected."
The bouncing began a new. "Aww! That's so sweet, too! Wow. You're an even cooler grown up than I thought. I mean, you've got a rock star for a boyfriend. That is so awesome."
"Yeah, that's me," Buffy thought. "Buffy the Rock Star Layer." She sighed inwardly. At least it seemed to be gaining her even more of the students' respect.
"So like tell me all about him. What's his favorite food? Does he snore?"
"Spicy Buffalo wings and no," Buffy replied. "Oh, and he also likes those fried onion things that look like flowers. When this place we used to go to back when we lived in New York stopped making them, he learned how to do them himself."
"Wow. Could he make them keep that weird shape?"
"Apparently you just have to soak them in ice water first."
"He sounds really smart," Amanda said, a dreamy look on her face.
Buffy's eyebrow arched. All it took to impress her was the ability to fry an onion? "Yeah, he's a regular Renaissance man. Amanda, are you sure you don't have any actual problems to talk about?"
"Oh, no. Everything's good with me actually," Amanda said. "I really just scheduled the appointment to thank you for your advice. My mom was so happy when I joined the mock trial team that she took me out for ice cream. And so far, the team hasn't even been that bad."
"I'm so happy to hear that," Buffy said, a smile on her face as her day finally got a bright spot. "So things have been going a little better at home?"
"Yeah, home's fine," Amanda said, disinterested. She leaned forward. "Hey, how often does he have to work out to get those abs? You could grate cheese on those things!"
Buffy sighed. And the day just kept getting longer…
"So, you're back with Buffy, huh?"
Spike turned to the diminutive bassist on his left. After the insanity that had been the Dingoes' press conference, that was all Oz had to say?
Then, Spike remembered who he was talking to. "Yeah, I'm back with Buffy. It happened over the weekend—sort of threw me for a loop, too. Sorry it turned into this, though. I had been hoping it could stay low-key until after the album was out."
Oz shrugged. "Any publicity is good publicity. Or so they say anyway. And I always liked Buffy. A hell of a lot better than Eve. Her, I didn't like."
"I hated the bitch."
At her outburst, Spike turned towards where Mona was seated a few feet away. "Oh, now you tell me."
"Hey, I told you then, too," Mona replied, wagging her finger at Spike. "I distinctly remember saying, 'Spike, I hate the bitch. Dump her before she screws you over.'"
"I heard her say that, too," Oz conferred. "More than once."
"Rory would also say he heard it if he wasn't in the bathroom," Mona added.
Spike sighed. "Okay, maybe Eve was a lapse in judgment. But we did have things in common, and she…"
Mona arched her eyebrow. "She gave good head, didn't she?"
"Oh, you shut up," Spike grumbled, his eyes downcast in response to Mona's now-smug expression. "Besides, I think I'm paying the price for that relationship now. I'm fairly certain she was the one who leaked to the media about Buffy."
"Of course she was," Mona replied. "She's a nasty little woman, Spike. You should've seen her when you weren't around."
Spike glanced between Mona and Oz. "She was different when I wasn't here?"
Oz and Mona both nodded. "Hence the whole 'bitch' thing" Mona said.
Spike sighed heavily. "Well, at least I'm done with her."
Mona met his eyes and held his gaze. "Are you, Spike? If she'll go as far as to leak this sort of shit to the media, who knows what else she's capable of."
Spike ran his hand through his hair. "Hopefully this is the most damage she's going to do. I talked to the PR people about what really happened in the break up, and they're working on a way to try to turn it back around on her."
At that, Mona's eyes lit up. "Really? What did she do?"
Spike was about to answer her when his cell phone rang. Immediately, he snatched it out of his pocket. "Sorry. I'll tell you in a minute. That's Buffy's ring. I've been trying to get a hold of her all day."
"There's something very sad about a man who programs one of his own songs as his ringtone," Mona said, shaking her head.
Spike shot her a look. "Hush it, you." He flipped open the phone and stepped to the side, turning away from Oz and Mona even though he knew they'd be listening in—albeit less obviously in Oz's case. "Buffy?"
"Hey, Spike."
"Are you all right, luv? I've been trying to call the school, but the lines were all busy."
"The phone's been ringing off the hook here. That's why I had to call you from my cell. Apparently parents freak when they see pictures of their kids' guidance counselor hanging all over a rock star. Who knew?"
Spike winced. "Buffy, pet, I'm so sorry about all of this."
"I was there, too, Spike. It's not like you made me throw myself at you. Okay, well, it's sort of your fault for being all sexy, but you can't really be held accountable for that since you just are. But anyway, the parents calling hasn't even been the worst. There's also the media. They're freaking everywhere. Robin called the cops to come in and handle it this morning because he doesn't want them near the students, but they keep finding ways to sneak onto campus. I'm afraid to even leave the building, and they're talking about a police escort when I go home this afternoon."
"God, Buffy, I really am sorry you're having to deal with all of this."
"Yeah, me, too. Listen, I don't have a lot of time because like I said, things are crazy here, but I was mainly calling because I really need to talk to you in person—only I don't know how we're gonna work that with these people all over the place."
"Why don't I send a driver to come get you after work and bring you to my house? They'll still follow you, but at least the gates should slow them down a little."
"Yeah, okay, that should work. I'll…" Buffy stopped for a moment. "Crap, there's something going on out there. I need to go see what it is. I'll talk to you tonight."
Before Spike could say anything else, the line went dead. With a heavy sigh, he closed the phone and turned around.
"You don't look so good," Oz said.
"I'm not feeling so good," Spike admitted.
"Was that a bad conversation with Buffy?" Mona asked. "You weren't polite enough to put her on speaker phone, but your end didn't sound so great."
"She's dealing with angry parent calls and paparazzi swarming the school," Spike replied. He sighed, his gaze going downward. "I think she's going to end it again."
"What?!" Mona yelled. "But you two just got back together!"
"I know, but…" Spike looked back up. "Last weekend, I found out why she really called things off. Remember that day she came up to the studio with you, Mo? Travers had come over and told her that our relationship was going to kill my career, and that's what convinced her to leave. And now that our relationship has turned into a media circus three days in…"
"You think she's going to bail," Oz finished for him.
"Exactly."
Mona gaped for a moment, her mind still stuck on one point in particular of Spike's confession. "Wait, Travers did what?"
"He apparently told her she should end things with me," Spike replied.
"That slimey son of a bitch!" Mona yelled. "Where is he these days again? I'm going to kick his ass."
"Uh, Mo, as much as I appreciate the sentiment, I really don't think you're in a state to be kicking anyone's ass."
Mona's eyes narrowed. "Oh, just watch me." She cleared her throat. "And I also want to smack her upside the head for not telling me what was really up that day."
"Yeah, I kind of had that same thought myself, but what's done is done. I was just happy to have her back." Spike slumped. "Or at least I was. I really don't think I can sit there and listen to her tell me it's over again, especially after what we shared this weekend."
"Well, do you know that's what she's planning to do?" Oz asked. "Maybe she's not planning to break up with you at all."
"She said she wanted to talk."
Oz winced. "Ouch."
"You know," Mona said, "that isn't really universal girl code for 'your ass is dumped.' Sometimes when we say we need to talk with one of you, it really just means we need to have a conversation."
The door to the room flew open as Rory came in, immediately going back to his place at Mona's side. "One of those bastards tried to interview me in the bathroom. The last thing I want to talk about when I'm standing in front of a urinal is your sex life, Spike." He frowned. "You look like you've been kicked."
"He thinks Buffy's going to dump him," Mona supplied for the drummer.
"Again?" Rory asked, his brow furrowing. "Hasn't she already done that once?"
"Our relationship is causing problems for her at work." Spike sighed. "It's causing problems for me at work. I'm really sorry to get you all caught up in this, too. I know you weren't prepared for the insanity out there today."
Oz shrugged. "Personally, I'm always prepared for insanity."
Rory pointed beside him. "I live with her. Insanity is like my natural habitat." Rory winced as Mona smacked his shoulder. "Ow."
"I know, but…" Spike paused for a moment, trying to reign in his frustration. "This entire press conference was supposed to be about the album, and instead it turned into a sodding high school gossip fest. And Brian…"
"Brian threw a fit and stormed out," Rory said with a shrug. "As if that hasn't happened so many times we've all lost count."
"He's got a point. If Brian didn't throw a tantrum at least twice a week, my entire worldview would be skewed," Oz said.
Spike chuckled slightly. "Thanks for the support. All of you. It means a lot."
"Well, we like you, Spike," Mona replied. "Even though you're a moron."
"Thanks, Mo. I think."
"No one's about to hug, are they?" Oz asked. "Because I don't hug."
"You do when you're drunk," Rory pointed out with a smirk.
"You were never going to mention that again," Oz replied, his face still expressionless.
Mona rolled her eyes, then turned back to Spike. "Okay, we all know Buffy's a bit…well, Buffy. I always liked the girl. Hell, I've missed having her around these past few years. But she's got her issues. However, she loves you, Spike. It was always obvious, and if she's carried a torch for you for three years, somehow I don't see her throwing in the towel so quickly after getting you back. You're going to talk to her tonight?"
Spike nodded. "Yeah. I'm going to do my best to get her to my house after she gets off work."
"Good. You can talk to her then, and if she is thinking about bolting, grow a spine and convince her to stay this time. But until then, just chill. No use getting all mopey over something that hasn't happened yet."
"I guess you're right," Spike said. "I'm just not exactly having the best day."
"Well, no," Mona conceded, "but that doesn't mean it's going to get topped off with another break-up."
"I'm not so certain about that."
Mona gave an exasperated sigh. "Oz, hit him for me."
"Oi!" Spike yelled as Oz reached up and hit him on the back of the head.
Oz shrugged. "She told me to."
"You needed it," Mona insisted.
"You're possibly right." Spike pulled a chair out from a nearby table and flopped down.
"I usually am right," Mona amended. "This is no exception. I know Buffy loves you, and if she got back with you, it's because she couldn’t live without you, plain and simple. So chill, William."
Spike nodded, hoping beyond hope that this wasn't the one time she was wrong.
Personally, I sort of liked this chapter, but let me know what you thought. Please review!