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Buffy went in to work the next day after spending a generous amount of time trying to cover her black eye with make-up. Other than the dull pains she had every once in a while, she felt a lot better about things. She had called the cops to report Lindsey to them, and when two cops arrived at her door, she told them all about what he had done to her that night and before then. After they left and arrested him, she felt a lot safer and knew she had done the right thing.

‘And if more girls come forward, he’ll be put away for a very long time,’ she thought. ‘A very long time.’

When she walked into the gallery, she managed a smile when Spike walked out of the back room and grinned at her as he approached her.

“Hello, my sweet,” he said, hugging her and not noticing when she winced slightly. “How’re you?”

‘Do I tell him, do I not tell him…’ she thought.

“I’m doing well,” she answered. “How are you?”

‘Stupid, stupid Buffy,’ she chided herself. ‘Why aren’t you telling him?’

“I’m fine, pet,” he answered. “I still can’t believe Fred is letting me work here again without telling Hank.”

“I called in a favor,” Buffy said, shrugging. “I wanted you to have your old job back. Screw whatever Dad wants.”

“That’s sweet of you, but what happens when he finds out?” Spike asked.

“I’ll come up with something,” she answered, walking towards the office.

“So, I was thinking a lot about us last night,” Spike said as he followed her.

“Yeah? And what did you deduce?” she asked, putting down her purse before going into the back room, him still following her.

“That I really want us to give dating a try,” he said, looking at her. She smiled softly and went to a set of shelves, reaching up to grab a box. “What the bloody hell happened?” She looked at him and noticed he was looking at her stomach, where her shirt had raised, showing off her new bruises.

‘I’m screwed.’

“Spike, sit down,” she said quietly, and he crossed his arms. “Please?”

“What’s going on?” he asked sternly, becoming angrier by the second.

“Lindsey came over uninvited last night,” she answered, looking down. “To settle the score, I guess…or something like that, I don’t know. He was looking for you and settled on me.” Spike’s eyes widened.

“He did that to you?” he asked, furious. “Where is he? I’m going to kill him, Buffy, I swear to-”

“The cops already have him in custody,” she cut in, still not looking at him. “I called them last night after he left and they arrested him.”

“And you weren’t going to tell me?” he asked, even more upset by the fact she was hiding it from him.

“I was,” she answered. “Eventually.”

“‘Eventually’?” he yelled. “‘Eventually’, she says. How bloody brilliant!”

“I didn’t want to alarm you,” she said, looking at him and seeing how tightly his jaw was clenched, along with his fists, causing her to take a step back in fear, a move that didn’t go unnoticed by Spike. He tried to calm down, taking a deep breath.

“Buffy, you should’ve told me,” he replied. “You should’ve called me to come over, to tell me what happened- I should’ve been there for you.”

“I could handle it on my own, Spike,” she said, walking out of the storage room, carrying the box into the office.

“You got punched around- obviously you couldn’t handle it on your own,” he said sharply, an edge to his voice. She put the box down on the desk and looked at him.

“I should’ve called you- I’m sorry,” she replied. “But there’s nothing I can do about it now. Lindsey is with the cops and I’m fine.”

“You’ve got bruises that prove otherwise,” he said.

“And a nifty black eye,” she added quietly, looking down. He walked towards her and looked at her, noticing that her left eye was definitely inflamed, and he could tell that there was some bruising beneath a layer of make-up.

“That stupid son of a bitch,” he growled. “If he ever gets out of jail-”

“This isn’t your fight,” she said, taking a step back and trying to open the box. “I appreciate that you tried to help before, but this is for me to do, not you.”

“Why are you pushing me away?” he asked, both hurt and angry.

“Because I don’t want you to be involved in this mess,” she answered, prying open the box.

“I want to be involved,” he replied, frowning.

“Spike, let it go,” she said firmly, looking at him.

“I’m not letting this go!” he shouted, and she looked down. “Buffy, Lindsey attacked you again- that’s not something you just shrug off.”

“I don’t want to talk about this anymore,” she said, walking past him and out of the office. He caught up to her and grabbed her arm, turning her around. She looked down and took a deep breath. “I can’t do this, Spike. I need to be on my own again, and it’s better if I just live through this Lindsey thing by myself.”

“What’re you trying to say, Buffy?” he asked, confused. She looked at him with a sad expression.

“I don’t think this is going to work,” she said quietly, turning and walking out of the gallery. Spike watched her walk away, frozen in his place, beyond stunned. When he felt a tear roll down his cheek, he idly wiped it away before sitting down on a bench, trying to compose himself.

‘Why am I letting her walk away from this?’

* * *

Spike left the gallery that night, hurt and frustrated. He went home to his apartment and instantly grabbed a bottle of Jack Daniels, sitting down on his couch and drinking the amber liquor.

‘I need to see her,’ he thought, grabbing his phone. ‘I need to talk to her and sort this all out.’ He paused. ‘But maybe she really does need to be alone right now. I should give her some space, right? Maybe she’ll come to her senses.’ He sighed. ‘Or maybe she won’t.’ He looked at the phone in his hand and studied it. ‘But maybe there’s someone else I can try talking to.’ He dialed a familiar number and waited for someone to pick up on the other line.

“Hi, Harmony,” he said. “It’s me.”

On the other side of town, Buffy was lying in her bed, staring out her window.

‘I really screwed up this time,’ she thought. ‘I’m making a big mistake, aren’t I? I should just call Spike and apologize. Maybe we can still work things out.’ She took a deep breath and stood up. ‘This isn’t something one should do on a phone.’ She grabbed her purse and car keys before walking downstairs and leaving her house. ‘I just hope he’ll forgive me. For everything.’ She got in her car and sped off to his place.

When she pulled up in front of his building, she parked and looked outside to see Harmony walking inside. She raised an eyebrow before it hit her.

‘Unless Harmony’s got a friend here, she must be here for Spike,’ Buffy thought, instantly feeling sick. ‘He’s going back to her, isn’t he?’ She felt tears welling up in her eyes. ‘It’s too late.’





A/N First, I want to thank everyone who has reviewed- you all have been absolute sweethearts and I appreciate the fact that you took time out and responded to what I wrote! Second, I’d like to thank those who nominated/voted for this fic this week as Best Spuffy Fic- I definitely didn’t expect to be in the running with this story:)





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