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Buffy sat on her window-seat, watching as droplets of water rolled down the smooth pane of glass and as the world surrounding her was pelted by the torrent of rain that was falling from the sky.

‘There’s nothing to do,’ she thought, wishing the day would end already. ‘Everyone’s out of town, and I’m stuck here, doing absolutely nothing.’ She sighed and brought her knees up to her chin. ‘Why does my life suck so much?’

She watched as a black car sped down by, seemingly oblivious to the puddles that were beginning to flood the street.

‘I wish I had a car,’ she thought. ‘Would get me out of here and far away from this place. Or, better yet, Dad could buy me a car before he goes back to L.A. and leaves me to live on my own.’ She sighed. ‘But even then, I doubt my life would perk up at all.’ It was as she focused on the car once again that she realized it was familiar. ‘Why am I not surprised? Of course, Spike Giles is out and about when there are flood warnings all across the county. What a moron.’ She stood up and frowned.

“But I still envy him,” she said quietly as she walked out of her bedroom.

When the phone rang a moment later, Buffy excitedly ran to pick it up. “Hello?”

“Hey, honey,” Hank Summers said, and Buffy’s mood instantly dropped. “Is there any way you can make it to the gallery tonight? I’m still getting acquainted to the set-up, and I’d really appreciate it if you came by.”

“How am I supposed to get there?” she asked, crossing her arms. “I don’t have a car, none of my friends are around, and you’re already there.”

“I’ll send someone to get you,” he replied. “Within the next hour, William should be there.” Before she could protest, he hung up, causing her to slam the phone down.

‘I’d rather stab myself with a pen,’ she thought absently as she returned to her bedroom to get dressed.

* * *

Spike Giles sped down Revello Drive, talking on his cell phone to his current girlfriend Harmony Kendall.

“I already told you that I’m not stopping by,” he said, frustrated. “I’m supposed to be at the gallery all night tonight.”

“I thought you said Hank was in charge now,” Harmony replied. “Shouldn’t he be there all night instead of you?”

“Hank doesn’t know anything about running an art gallery,” Spike said, stopping at a red light. “I offered to help out as much as I could after Joyce died- it’s the least I can do. She was practically a mother to me, Harm.”

“I know,” she said, sighing. “Fine, go work until midnight. But if you leave early, call me. You know how much I hate being alone at night.”

“Will do,” he lied, fully knowing that even if he left the gallery early, he wasn’t going to call her. “Bye, pet.” He hung up and tossed his phone aside after turning it off.

‘Stupid bint,’ he thought, pulling up in front of the art gallery. ‘I should’ve gotten out of that relationship a long time ago.’ He exited his car and was drenched by the time he walked through the door of the building. ‘Perfect start to a long night.’

“Hello, William,” Hank said as he saw Spike walk in. Spike instantly cringed at the formality of Hank’s tone.

‘But he’s the boss now, and if he refuses to call me Spike, then I guess I don’t really have a choice,’ he thought.

“Sorry I’m a couple of minutes late,” he apologized, hoping he’d dry off quickly as he felt water trickling down the back of his neck.

“I’m surprised you got here in one piece,” Hank replied, smiling. “It looks pretty dangerous out there.”

“It’s a bloody nightmare,” Spike affirmed.

“Speaking of nightmares,” Hank began. “I wouldn’t normally ask this of anyone, but I’ve got a phone conference in about ten minutes, so I can’t do it myself.”

“What is it?” Spike asked, hoping he could be of some help.

‘Always a good idea to be an ally to your boss,’ he thought. ‘Especially if you need your job and usually enjoy it.’

“Would you be willing to pick up Buffy?” Hank asked, and Spike tensed up, indiscreetly clenching his fists. “I’ll even pay you extra.”

“Fine,” Spike said, deciding extra money was a good thing, even if it was for driving his boss’ bitch of a daughter. “I’ll be back in twenty minutes.” Hank gave him a grateful smile before he turned and went to his office. Spike took a deep breath and walked back outside, stopping at his car door and letting the warm rain beat down on him. “Today just keeps getting better and better,” he said sarcastically, clenching his jaw as he wrenched his car door open.

* * *

When she saw Spike’s car pull up in the driveway, she grabbed her keys and sprinted outside, letting herself into his car. He looked at her and tried not to notice how her wet shirt was clinging to her upper body.

‘Don’t even think about it, mate,’ he berated himself as he began to back down the driveway. ‘This chit has never been nice to you, especially as of late. Don’t even think of finding her attractive right now.’

“Sorry you had to come and get me,” she said, offering a meager olive branch as she looked outside. “I can’t imagine driving around when it’s like this outside.”

“It’s fine,” he replied, an edge to his voice. She looked down and nodded slightly.

“So, how’ve you been?” she asked quietly. “I haven’t seen you since the day of the funeral.”

“I’ve been around,” he answered sternly. “Not much to tell.” She looked at him and was about to speak, but he cut her off. “If you’re going to apologize, don’t. I don’t want to hear it.”

“This isn’t just about you, as much as you’d like it to be,” she replied firmly. “I’m sorry for what happened, Spike.” He gripped the wheel tighter.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” he said, focusing on the road.

“I don’t really, either, but I wanted to say I’m sorry,” she said, looking out the window. “It was a big mistake, we were both sad- we needed comfort and turned to each other for it. It was a bad call on both of our parts.”

“Yeah, it really was,” he agreed, not willing to look at her. “We both knew that sleeping together was going to change everything.”





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