When Spike walked into the gallery the following Monday morning, he was surprised to see Hank sitting in his office, apparently waiting for Spike. He walked to the doorway and waited for his new boss to speak, worried that maybe he knew something or was going to fire him.
‘Which would really suck,’ he said to himself. ‘I need this job more than I’d like to admit, and getting to see Buffy almost every day is a perk.’ Hank’s voice quickly interrupted his train of thought.
“So, Buffy tells me that you two are going to the gala together,” Hank said, sitting back in his chair. “Is that true?”
“Yes,” Spike answered, deciding that lying wasn’t worth it.
“Tell me, William,” Hank said, tilting his head. “Do you love my daughter?” Spike raised an eyebrow. “Just answer the question.”
“I care about her,” he said. “I’ve known her for quite a long time.”
“Do you intend on dating her?” Hank asked, and Spike took a deep breath.
“If she’d agree to it, yes,” he answered. “But your daughter is rather stubborn, sir.” Hank laughed and nodded.
“I’m afraid she gets that from me,” he replied, motioning for Spike to have a seat across from him. Spike sat down and looked at his boss, curious to hear what Hank was going to say next. “You know, Joyce once told me that she thought that you and Buffy would make a good couple.” Spike smiled. “But you do realize she’s still just a girl, William. She’s only 18, she’s free-spirited, she’s going to college soon- she has her whole life ahead of her.” Spike nodded, confused by the shift in the conversation. “Whereas you’re 28, have a stable job, and are probably looking to plan out the rest of your life. Am I right?”
“I think everyone wants to ‘plan out’ their lives,” he answered, clasping his hands together.
“My point is that she’s young, and girls her age tend to make foolish decisions,” Hank said.
‘Yeah, I know that all too well,’ Spike thought.
“Even though I think she’s too young for you, I think you’re a good man,” Hank continued. “But if you ever do anything to hurt her, you’ll be hearing from me.” Spike smiled, nodding.
“Thank you for your blessing, sir,” he replied, standing up. “But I can assure you that she’ll be in good hands with me.”
“I hope so,” Hank said, frowning as the phone rang. “And I know you’ll take good care of her when I move back to L.A.” Spike raised an eyebrow as Hank answered the phone.
‘That’s right- he’s going to move back,’ he thought. ‘And she’ll be all alone in that house.’ He frowned and left the office, trying to suss out his thoughts as he began work for the day.
* * *
When Buffy came to the gallery later on, Spike promptly led her into the back room and closed the door. She looked at him, surprised and a little worried.
“What’s up?” she asked, sitting down on a box. He sighed and crossed his arms.
“Your father and I talked this morning,” he answered. “About you…and I.”
“Oh?” she asked, trying not to freak out. “What exactly did you talk about?”
“He doesn’t know about us shagging, luv, so stop looking like you’re going to heave,” he replied, smirking. She sighed with relief and looked down. “But I expressed my feelings about you to him.” She looked at him, an eyebrow raised. “And he expressed his concerns about you and I if we ever started dating.”
“Yeah, I’m sure he’s not too keen on his 18 year old daughter dating a 28 year old man,” she replied.
“But he did give us his blessing, along with a promise of hunting me down if I hurt you,” he said, exaggerating the truth to get her to smile, which she did.
“Glad to hear it,” she said. “Is that really why you pulled me into here?”
“No,” he answered, pushing a box in front of her and sitting down on it. “He reminded me that pretty soon you’ll be living alone.” She nodded, looking down. “I don’t know how I feel about that.” She shrugged.
“Maybe living alone will be good for me,” she said. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt to try it. And if it really sucks that much, I can have Willow live with me or something.”
“But even if she lives with you, I don’t know how protected you’ll be,” he said. “I wouldn’t feel right knowing you’re in a house by yourself every night, or even in a house with another girl.” She looked at him. “I could live with you.” She paused before laughing hysterically. “What’s so funny? I’m being serious.”
“You…and I…living together,” she managed to say as she continued laughing. “Bad…idea.”
“I happen to think it’s a good one,” he replied defensively, crossing his arms. “Why is it so bad?” She slowly calmed down, still giggling a bit every other second.
“We’d be at each other’s throats daily,” she said. “You and I would fight constantly, which isn’t that different from how it is now, but if we lived together, I couldn’t just run away from you and seek shelter in my house because you’d be there, too.” He frowned. “And it’d just be too weird. Let me try living alone, and if it really sucks, I’ll consider having you as a roommate.”
“You promise?” he asked, and she nodded. “Fine, I guess I can live with that.”
“Good,” she replied, getting up before helping him stand. “I bought a dress today for the gala.”
“Yeah?” he asked, smirking. “What does it look like?”
“Not telling,” she answered, heading for the door. “But it’s red.”
“You bought a dress that’s my favorite color?” he asked, smiling, and she nodded. “I’m touched.” She laughed and opened the door.
“I’m going to look beautiful,” she replied, slightly waving at Fred as the brunette walked in through the front door of the gallery.
“You always look beautiful,” he said, and she smiled at him as he leaned down to kiss her temple.
A/N I have to thank PJ for helping me revamp my summary, and I'd also like to thank everyone who has reviewed:)
[Reviews - 141]
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Chapter or Story |
Chapter or Story | 
Chapter or Story
Has been viewed 3964 times
- Text Size +
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Chapter or Story |
Chapter or Story | Chapter or Story - Text Size +