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Chapter 7 – Communication


Everyone turned as Buffy and Spike walked into the Magic Box laughing. The sight was a little strange, to say the least, but the majority of the gang was so relieved to see a smile on the young woman’s face that the vampire at her side could be overlooked.

Buffy gently slapped his arm as they walked toward the rest of the group, playfully scolding him for whatever it was that he’d said before she separated from him to take a seat next to Riley.

Her attention was soon drawn to her boyfriend when he grabbed her arm to get her attention. She didn’t appreciate being manhandled when he could have just tapped her on the shoulder, but she kept her mouth shut as she turned to look at him.

“You two seem cozy.”

Since no one turned around, Buffy assumed that he’d mouthed the words to her. She glanced up and saw Willow and Tara talking to Spike who was sitting on the counter next to the cash register. For his part, he seemed interested in whatever they were saying, giving them each a polite smile and nodding in agreement with what they were talking about.

“I wouldn’t call it that,” Buffy replied, noticing that Spike glanced at her when he heard her voice. She didn’t hold his gaze very long, feeling Riley’s eyes on her. “Where’s Giles?” she asked the gang.

Xander and Anya looked up from their conversation. “He’s running late,” Xander said.

“Giles is running late?” Buffy asked in disbelief.

“Something about getting new weapons for you to train with,” Willow said, gently touching Buffy’s arm so they were looking at each other.

Buffy was a little surprised but nodded and dropped back into her chair, noticing Spike’s eyes were still on her. Normally this would unnerve her, having a vampire watching her every move, but the look that he was giving her only put her at ease. That is…until Riley practically jerked her out of her chair and planted her in his lap.

“Riley, what are you doing?” Buffy asked, looking at him when she felt his arms band around her waist in a tight grip.

“Just wanted to hold my girl,” Riley said, barely looking at her and making it even harder to understand him as he nuzzled her neck.

Buffy tensed, her shoulder involuntarily rising to ward off his advances, but he obviously wasn’t paying attention.

Spike watched the interaction with interest. It was obvious that Buffy would rather be anywhere else at that moment, but apparently Captain Cardboard wasn’t concerned with the woman in his arms. At least, if the looks he was shooting toward Spike were any indication, he was more concerned with marking his territory.

Buffy looked up, meeting Spike’s eyes, and a silent connection seemed to pass through them. She realized in that moment that spending time with Spike wasn’t as strange as she would have expected. He made her feel more at ease than her friends did, even when she was sitting in a room that was full of the people who were supposed to support her. Half of them seemed to have trouble remembering to even look at her when they spoke, but Spike never had that problem.

A few days ago, Buffy would have eagerly been first in line to throw a punch or a stake at him. But now…things were different. In less than twenty-four hours, the blonde vampire had blended into her life with such ease that it felt like he was the only person she needed to get through her latest problem, even if it was a huge one. Which was lucky, considering no one else besides Giles was interested in helping her get through this- they were all too concerned with taking care of her. She was the Slayer- she didn’t want comfort, she wanted support.

Spike studied her carefully, seeing the tension in her muscles and the distress in her eyes. Something was changing whenever he looked at the Slayer. To begin with, she wasn’t just ‘the Slayer’ anymore. Now, she was turning into ‘Buffy’, and he wasn’t sure how he felt about that. The only reason he agreed to help her was for the money that he was promised. Helping her was for his own benefit, and that was it…at least, that’s what he kept telling himself.

He realized in that moment that it ran beyond his monetary gain. He would be a fool not to recognize that there was some connection that seemed to be drawing him closer to her. It seemed to be drawing them closer to each other, and the idea that it wasn’t just a one-sided feeling filled Spike with a certain amount of hope that he wasn’t ready to think about.

‘I don’t want to be her protector,’ he thought, giving her a soft smile when her eyes met his, and she visibly relaxed from the look they shared. ‘That’s what Peaches is for.’

No, Spike wanted to help her. He wanted her to know that she wasn’t alone. He saw Riley shoot him another look, tightening his hold on the woman in his arms. Spike couldn’t help the smirk on his face when Buffy tensed up even more, subtly trying to pull away from him.

She gave Spike a look before turning her gaze toward the door of the training room. Spike nodded almost imperceptibly as he stood up and shrugged out of his duster. Laying it across the counter, he disappeared into the back room without a word.

Buffy disentangled herself from her boyfriend, suddenly feeling defensive when all eyes turned toward her.

“Spike and I are going to spar until Giles gets here,” she said with a dismissive shrug.

Buffy noticed that everyone was watching Riley, and she turned to look at him in time to see him finish whatever he was saying.

“I’m deaf, Riley,” she said with a hard edge to her voice as her anger got the best of her. “I can’t hear you when my back is to you…I can’t hear you no matter which way my back is facing, but if you want to talk, I’m going to have to be looking directly at you. Now, what were you saying?”

“I was asking when you two decided to go sparring?”

The contempt was obvious as he looked toward the door of the training room, and Buffy was suddenly glad that she couldn’t hear him. The hostility was probably dripping from his voice.

“Just now,” she replied.

Willow touched her arm, drawing her attention away from Riley. “But you didn’t say anything.”

“That’s right,” Buffy replied, trying to remind herself that she wasn’t mad at Willow before she turned back to Riley. “In less than a day, the one person in this world who I would expect to be gloating about the fact that I got myself into an incurable situation has learned how to communicate with me. Not just talk to me,” she emphasized. “But communicate.”

Everyone watched in shock as Buffy disappeared to the back of the shop and slammed the door behind her.



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