This was her life, and they wouldn't take it from her.
She went straight to Robin's office, walking inside without bothering to knock. He looked up, seeming surprised to see her standing there.
"Buffy…" he began, but she cut him off.
"I made my decision, Robin," she said bluntly. "And it's the right decision."
Robin smiled. "I'm glad to hear that, Buffy. It's going to be a hard sell to the School Board, but I think if we convince them you really won't cause any more problems, I…"
He stopped abruptly when Buffy dropped a piece of paper on his desk. "What's this?"
"It's my letter of resignation. Sorry it isn't typed, but I wrote it in the car on the way here this morning."
Robin gaped as he scanned over the letter. "Buffy, you can't seriously be choosing him over your job."
"I am," Buffy said, no sign of doubt in her voice. "I love Spike, and I'll be damned before I give him up again. And yeah, I hate to have to lose this job, but in the long run, it's a small price to pay to be with him." She crossed her arms over her chest and narrowed her eyes. "And you better be glad I'm too sick of media frenzy to sue your ass for sexual harassment."
Robin swallowed, his eyes bulging. "What do you…"
"Oh, please. Do you think I'm stupid? You dangled my job over my head to get me to leave my boyfriend days after I ended things with you. You tried to manipulate me, and while I'm still not sure if it was an attempt to get me back or an attempt at revenge, I do know it wasn't entirely on the up and up. If you were behind me as someone who's fit for this job, then you'd be behind me despite what I do in my personal life."
Robin tried to respond, but Buffy didn't let him. He hadn't proven to be the man she'd thought he was at all, and she didn't want to hear excuses from him. "You were right about one thing; I'm too much of a distraction around here these days. As long as I'm still an employee here, the media isn't going to go away, and that's not fair to these kids. So I'm leaving. Not because of you or because I'm ashamed of what I have with Spike, but because given the circumstances, it is the right thing to do."
"I think you're making a mistake," Robin said once Buffy stopped talking.
"Yeah, well, I don't. I'll be cleaning out my desk now."
With that, Buffy turned on her heel and walked out, surprised to find she had a smile on her face.
When Buffy got back to Spike's, she found him in the kitchen, wearing nothing but his jeans as he washed off his plates from breakfast, the television turned to MTv and muted in the background.
"Checking for album sales?"
Spike jumped, then turned to Buffy. "Bloody hell, scare a bloke half to death why don't you? And you're home early."
"Yup, I am. How's it doing?"
"Very well," Spike told her. "Stores had people waiting outside this morning to buy it, and it's already sold out in a few places." He shrugged. "I guess any publicity really is good publicity."
Buffy came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist, dropping a kiss on his shoulder. "It's a good album, honey. I think when it comes down to it, people are going to end up paying more attention to that than who you're sleeping with."
"Oh you do, huh?"
"Yes, I do."
"Glad to hear it." Spike paused for a moment, then asked her, "So what exactly are you doing home so early anyway?"
"I quit my job."
He turned quickly, staring at her in shock. "You what?"
"Or I may have been fired. The whole thing was sorta iffy. Anyway, I'm not working there anymore."
She seemed so calm, Spike wondered if possibly she'd snapped, gone into some sort of deep, deep denial. "Buffy, you love your job," Spike said softly.
"I did, yeah, but I love you more," Buffy told him honestly. "Robin gave me a choice. I picked you."
"You…" Spike stopped as the rest of what she'd said sank in. "Wait, Robin did what?"
"He gave me a choice. He said the School Board wanted my resignation because of all the disruptions that had been caused due to the media circus around me, and that he would only support me if I dumped you. He tried to write it off as if he was saying that because as long as I was with you, the paparazzi crap wouldn't stop, but I smelled ulterior motives. Anyway, there wasn't really a choice to be made, and I turned in my resignation this morning."
Spike had never liked Robin, though before, it had been simple jealousy. Now, any modicum of respect he may have had for the other man was completely gone. "That right bastard. Buffy, you can't just give up your job like this."
"Yeah, I can." She took a step back from him. "As much as I didn't want to admit it, I can't really be with you and work in the public school system. Your private life can't be in so much of a spotlight when you're working that kind of job. He handled it in a bad way, but Robin was right—it's better for me not to be on the campus anymore. How long would it have been before having all those people around got one of the students hurt? I couldn't live with that, Spike. That's not why I came to work there."
"But working with those kids meant so much to you."
"And I'm still going to work with kids. They can't take that away from me. I won't let them. It's just going to have to be in a private setting. I can go back to school in the fall and get what I need to be certified enough to open my own practice." She placed her hand gently against his cheek. "Don't feel guilty, okay? I'm happy with my decision. The moment Robin told me I had to make a choice, it was already made, and I have no regrets." Buffy smiled. "The only reason I waited until this morning to tell him was because if I'd tried to yesterday, it just would've been yelling and cursing, and I wanted to go out on a better note."
"So he gave you that 'choice' yesterday then?"
"Yeah. Right before I left work," Buffy answered, nodding.
"And you didn't tell me until now?"
"Sorry. I knew you'd be pissed at me for that one, but I knew you were worried about the album release today, and you had that party thing last night, and I didn't want to throw something else in on top of it all. Like I said, I made up my mind the moment he said I had to pick one, and nothing else really mattered."
"You were upset yesterday," Spike pointed out.
"Well, yeah. It was an easy decision to make, but that doesn't mean it wasn't a little hard, too. It does hurt to leave those kids, but I can't do them the sort of good I want to anymore." She reached down and took his hands, squeezing them tightly in hers. "I wouldn't change a thing. Had I known letting you back into my life would cost me my job, then I still would've jumped right in. I love you, Spike. You…you're what makes me whole."
Buffy paused and met his eyes before she continued. "You love me unconditionally, even when I make huge mistakes. You know everything I like and everything I don't. You never eat the last of the ice cream, and you always cover up my toes in the night because you know I don't like waking up with them cold. You're my lover, my partner, my best friend. I love you, William. I always have, and I always will. This is it for me. You're it for me."
Spike stared at her for long moments, his throat tight and tears in his eyes. "Say something," Buffy said finally. "All that silence makes a girl nervous."
Spike felt as if he'd waited a lifetime to hear someone say something like that to him, and now that Buffy had said it, he found himself at an uncharacteristic loss for words. "Pet, I…"
She gave him a soft smile and put her palm to his cheek. "You can just tell me you love me, and I'll know."
He smiled back, joy bursting in his heart. "I love you," he told her before he captured her lips in a kiss.
"I don't think I've ever seen a prettier sunset."
Spike pulled Buffy closer against his chest, his feet digging into the sand beneath them. "I like watching it from here, like watching how it reflects on the ocean."
Buffy sighed in contentment, her hands going over Spike's, holding him to her. "This is nice. Peaceful." She looked up and smiled. "This whole having a private beach thing is pretty awesome."
Spike grinned. "One of the definite perks to being ridiculously wealthy."
She laughed, a rich, genuine laugh the likes of which he rarely ever heard from her. He'd spent the day searching for signs of regret concerning her decision to leave her job, but so far, he hadn't seen any. If anything, she seemed more content than he ever remembered seeing her before.
"So how's the water this time of year?" Buffy asked, her mischievous smile belying her casual tone.
"It's nice," Spike told her, fully expecting her to bolt a second before she did. With a grin, he ran after her, scooping her up and making her squeal just as her feet hit the surf.
"Spike! Don't!" Buffy said, even as she laughed.
"Don't what? Do this?" He dropped her, only to catch her again a split second later.
"Spike!" she yelled again, only this time, she followed it with a pout. "Big meanie."
"Oh, look at the pout," Spike said, mimicking her expression.
She smacked his chest. "Stop it."
"Make me."
Buffy leaned up and grabbed the back of his head, her fingers tangling in his hair as she kissed him, making him moan into her mouth. Then, when she knew she had him properly distracted, Buffy scrambled out of his arms and pushed him back, making him tumble into the shallow water.
He looked up, his eyebrow cocked. "Oh, now you're gonna get it, missy," he growled.
Buffy squealed again as she ran off back towards the shore, Spike hot on her heels. When he grabbed her this time, he started to lower her down to the sand, but Buffy stopped him with a hand on his chest. "Not here."
"But I want here," Spike protested. "I want now."
"No way. There are some places I do not want sand."
"So I can never shag you on the beach?" Spike asked with a pitiful look.
"Only with a blanket. And seeing as there's no blanket…"
"Right. Up to the house we go." He flipped her over his shoulder.
"I want to shower first," Buffy said as she hung over him, letting him carry her inside.
"Bloody hell, woman," Spike grumbled.
"But sand," Buffy insisted.
"Fine, there can be a shower. But then I'm shagging you until your legs don't work, and I don't want to hear anymore lip about it."
With a huge grin on her face, Buffy let him continue carrying her into the house.
Yes, life was good.
Well, aren't you a wily bunch, seeing right through my ruse at the end of the last chapter? lol
Please review!