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Ch. 6: I'm a Loser and a User


Buffy spun around, eyes wide. She couldn't believe Spike's timing because a slow song had just begun to play.

"Pet?"

Buffy smiled warmly. "Yeah, I think I can put my loneliness on hold for a little bit."

"Glad to hear it," Spike laughed.

He gently took Buffy's hand and led her to the center of the floor. Slowly, his hands went to her waist as hers raised to his neck. Spike tilted his head to the side as he listened to the music. "Great song."

Buffy inched closer to Spike, not realizing he was doing the same. "It's Aerosmith, isn't it? 'Don't Wanna Miss A Thing'?"

Spike tightened his grip on the girl in his arms and smiled. "Very good, pet."

"What can I say?" Buffy sighed as she moved even closer. The bodies of the two blondes were now touching, though neither seemed to care. "I know my music."

They continued dancing for a minute or so in semi-comfortable silence before Buffy nervously spoke up. "You, uh....You guys were fantastic tonight." She bit her lip and looked deep into Spike's crystalline blue eyes. "YOU were fantastic."

A wry smile began to form on Spike's lips. "Is that so, pet?" Buffy nodded. "And what song did you like best?" She sighed in defeat at Spike's playful glare.

"Question first."

Spike quirked an eyebrow. "What's that, love?" He gulped, fearing what was coming next.

"The last three songs that you guys played. Not 'Longview' obviously, but the others... Were they about me in any way?"

Closing his eyes and inhaling deeply, Spike nodded, berating his inner William all the way. "We, uh, weren't gonna play 'Goodnight, Sweet Girl' tonight, but we kind of changed plans."

"Why?" Spike opened his eyes and gave her a pointed look. "I just mean...Spike....you sounded so, I dunno, pained?" She nodded. "Yes, pained when you sang it."

Spike bit his lip. "It was just... I don't know. After knowing what the wanker did to you, seeing the two of you together really got to me." Spike hesitated before saying softly, "I couldn't bear to see you hurt that way. Not again."

Buffy reached her hand up and caressed Spike's cheek. "Well, whatever sparked it, it was my favorite. Probably." They both laughed, and Buffy cautiously rested her head against Spike's muscular chest.

The blonde duo had finally grown comfortable with their dance when the song changed. As the new one began to play, Buffy let out an excited shriek and began to speak in sync with the recording. "Oh. My. God. Becky, look at her butt..."

Spike's eyes widened in horror. "Uh-uh. No bloody way, pet."

"Aww, come on, Spike," Buffy said, her voice suddenly dripping with seduction. Slowly at first, she began to grind against him. "Don't you wanna dance?"

The phrase 'bloody hell' was on Spike's lips, but as she pulled his arms tighter around her, coherent thought became hard to come by.

Buffy was, to say the least, surprised when she felt Spike begin moving rhythmically with her. She pressed herself closer to him and ran her hands up his stomach and chest. When she saw Spike's jaw tense and his eyes roll back into his head, she inhaled sharply. She was in awe that she held so much power over a man, let alone him.

The two were oblivious to the increased amount of space they had around them as the crowd parted to watch. At the bar, a tall brunette turned to Lorne.

"Damn, check them out. That is HOT, yo. I'm telling ya, mad skills."

"Calm down, cupcake," he said as he handed her a tray. "You've got work to do, Faith." She pouted slightly as she gave her boss doe eyes. Lorne's forehead creased as he looked at her. "You okay?"

"Five by five."

*****

Three hours later, both Buffy and Spike were ready to collapse. They finally retired to the table and were met by the wide eyes of Gunn and Fred.

"What's up, Charlie boy?"

"You two just put me and my girl to shame, man. Long live the new Lord and Lady of the dance."

Buffy snatched Willow's glass of water and took a gulp before asking, "What do you mean?"

"What he means," Fred said shyly, "is that the two of you had the club's undivided attention the entire time you were out there."

Spike laughed disbelievingly but faltered when he saw the serious looks on his friends' faces. "You bloody well better be kidding." He closed his eyes when everyone shook their heads at him. "Oh, balls. So they saw everything, then?"

"Don't worry, Bleach Boy. Buffy did a pretty good job at hiding any... excitement ... that there might've been," Xander laughed, clapping a hand on Spike's back.

Buffy grabbed her purse and stood up. "And that would be my cue to exit stage left."

"Don't tell me you're walking home, love."

"Unless you have a better idea?"

Spike stood up and draped his long leather duster over Buffy's shoulders. "Of course I do. Let me give you a ride. It's not safe to walk alone at night, love. You never know what kind of nasties might be lurking around a dark corner."

Buffy shivered. "Thank you, William, for reestablishing my fear of the dark. Now, where's your car?"

"Right this way, pet," he said, placing his hand on the small of her back. "G'night, mates."

"Bye, everybody!"

*****

Buffy smiled as Spike shut her door for her but sighed dejectedly when he got in moments later.

"Love?"

"My house- it's not far enough away," she whined.

Spike's eyes glinted mischievously. "What, not getting enough quality time with your Lord of the Dance?"

Buffy's lip trembled, as did her voice, when she attempted a weak smile. "Not nearly."

"Buffy, are you alright?"

"What happened tonight? With us?"


Spike cocked his head to the side and squinted. "As far as I know, we put the Bronze's unofficial professional dirty dancers to shame. Pet, what's going on?"

She shook her head. "Sp...William...Not then. When you were onstage. You were so angry, but then you weren't. I'm just..." Buffy sniffed pathetically and wiped her eyes.

"You really have no idea what you do to me, do you?" Spike whispered softly. Buffy answered his question with a head shake, indicating the negative. "When I saw you with the Great Poof, I lost it." He held out his injured hand for her to inspect. "Ended up playing a bit of wall versus fist."

"And who won?"

"Well, neither is broken, so we'll call it a draw." Spike lifted his hand slowly out of Buffy's and cupped her cheek.

"And what you sang in the last song?" Buffy inquired, leaning into Spike's gentle touch.

Spike took a deep breath. "I love you, Buffy. I know it's sudden, but I knew it when I first saw you. You're special, Buffy."

She smiled genuinely. "You're different, too, Spike." She paused, knitting her brows in thought. "Now whether that's a good thing or not is still to be decided..."

The entire time they had been talking, they were leaning toward each other, even if it was unknowingly.

Spike's face was mere inches from Buffy's, their breath mingling in the heavy air. "Buffy," he whispered huskily. "I think I might kiss you."

She brought her eyes up to meet his, which were now navy with passion. "I think I might kiss you back."

"Well, bully for me, then," he whispered against her lips.

Buffy couldn't take it any more. She lunged forward, closing the remaining distance and capturing Spike's lips with her own in a hungry kiss. Her small hands moved up to his neck and threaded through the short, soft hair she found there.

The ferocity of the kiss dissipated quickly, but there was still intense passion hiding behind the tenderness. Buffy moaned into Spike's mouth as he sucked on her lower lip. He growled slightly in pleasure as Buffy plunged her tongue into his mouth with renewed vigor.

It wasn't until they pulled back to catch their breath that the kiss was broken. The couple rested their foreheads against each other.

"Wow," Buffy breathed. "That was...wow."

Spike chuckled. "Glad you thought so. I sure as hell couldn't think. At least, not coherently, or anything I want you knowing about." He stroked her cheek gently. "I should probably be getting you home, Goldilocks."

Buffy stuck out her bottom lip in a childish pout. "I don't wanna."

Spike smirked and leaned forward. "Watch that lip. I'm gonna get it."

"No," Buffy squealed, giggling and shrinking away.

"You're no fun," Spike muttered, narrowing his eyes and copying her pout.

"I'm plenty of fun," Buffy purred as she crawled to sit on Spike's leather-clad lap. His eyes opened wide as he pushed her back into her seat.

"Sorry, love, but it's past midnight, so I think Cinderella needs to be getting home."

Buffy gasped. "How long past midnight?"

"Um..."

"How. Long?!"

"About half an hour."

"Oh my God. Go!" She ran a hand through her hair as Spike started the ignition and threw the car into drive. "Ohh, mom's gonna KILL me!"

Spike gave her a sidelong glance. "Pet, if you want me to go in and explain to your mum, I will."

"And say what? 'Sorry, Mrs. Summers, I couldn't get your daughter home on time because we were making out in my car'?"

"Damn," Spike muttered. "Yeah, didn't exactly think that one through."

Two minutes later, Spike was screeching to a halt in front of Buffy's house.

"Thanks for the ride," Buffy called as she leapt out of the car and ran for the door. "See you tomorrow!"

"Buffy!" Spike yelled in a stage whisper.

"What?"

He put a finger to his lips and pointed to the tree outside her bedroom window. Buffy seemed to take the hint as she stealthily ascended the tree and disappeared into her house.

*****

Buffy had just put on her pajamas when her cell phone began ringing shrilly from inside her purse.

"Hello?"

"Buffy! You picked up!"

Buffy smiled. "Uh, yeah. What's up, Wills?"

Willow wasted no time in getting to the subject that she wanted. "Did you kiss him? Did he kiss you? Was there kissage of any sort?"

"Willow," gasped Buffy.

"What? I need my vicarious smoochies."

Buffy chewed her lower lip. "Yeah. There was definitely kissage."

Willow squealed. "And sparkage?"

There's a definite possibility," Buffy replied, flopping back onto her bed.

*****

Saturday found the members of Black Frost sitting in Spike's garage, discussing new music.

"How do you guys feel about ska?" Spike asked suddenly.

"What's that?" inquired Gunn, who was absently juggling drumsticks.

"Punk with horns," Wesley supplied.

Gunn smiled, as did Xander and Oz. "Sounds fun."

Spike nodded. "Good. Look, I was thinking, maybe we should talk to the Jazz band and see if they would play with us."

"I happen to know that most of them happen to be fans of Reel Big Fish," Wes said quietly. "But I'm not gonna be the one to go in there."

Spike raised a questioning eyebrow and nodded. "Alright. I'll do it, then. Now, all it seems I have to do is go in there without being killed."

*****

"STFU, renob!" a small redhead laughed. "JJ, as much as it pains me to say, the rest of the Jazz band doesn't want to hear about your lack of a sex life."

Spike's eyes widened at the scene in front of him. The twenty or so musicians that made up Sunnydale's Jazz Prism were all yelling random phrases and profanities at each other, and the teacher was nowhere in sight.

"Hey," one of the drummers exclaimed suddenly as he abandoned playing the Beastie Boys song "Girls". A mallet was pointed directly at Spike, and the other one was in the position to be thrown. "Who the hell are you and what are you doing in my bandroom?"

The redhead girl raised an eyebrow. "Little bit of senioritis, Justin?"

Justin pinched his fingers together. "Little bit."

"Sorry to intrude," Spike began. "But I have a bit of a proposition for you."

A girl with long blonde hair looked away from her bari sax music to raise an eyebrow at Spike. "And what would that be?"

"I'm told that you are all fans of Reel Big Fish."

The entire jazz band smiled as one and said, "Oh yeah."

Spike laughed. "Well, how would you lot like to play a little bit of ska with my band at the Bronze on Friday?"

A dark-haired trumpeter held out his hand expectantly. "Let's see the music."

"Alright," Spike said, nodding. He reached behind him and pulled out a stack of paper and began handing it out.

"'Good Thing', huh?" the female drummer asked. "Sounds good, but do you really need another drummer and two more bass players? It seems like overkill to me."

"I've actually given that some thought, and I've discovered a solution."

"And that would be..." the redhead questioned.

"My band will do backup vocals, and you guys will play your instruments."

"Uh, you have a pianist, right?" a skinny boy with partially bleached hair asked. "Because I doubt Mr. Clair will wanna play."

Spike bit his cheek. "Yeah, I think Wes can stay with his keyboard. He already sings backup, anyway." He paused and looked at the eerily still musicians that filled the room. "Uh, maybe we should do some introductions. I'm Spike Matheson."

The blonde girl on the end of the front row nodded. "I'm Kailey."

A tall, dark-haired boy on her right looked up, pulling his bari sax out of his mouth. "Call me Shattuck. Everyone does."

Spike nodded. "Right-o."

Another dark-haired boy, this one with glasses, lifted a hand. "Levi." He paused and gestured next to him. "Usually Steve sits there, but he's absent."

"There's a big surprise," Kailey muttered.

The blondish boy stood up and stuck out his right hand. "Hi, I'm JJ. But you can call me 'sexy'," he said with a slight lisp as he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

The redhead next to him rolled her eyes and smacked the back of his head. "Talk normal, moron. It's not the weekend, remember?" She paused before looking up at Spike. "Hi," she said with a grin. "I'm Kayla. Sorry you have to witness the psychoticness that is us."

Spike winked and nodded. "Not a problem."

The next person in line was a shorter boy with light brown hair. "I'm Rob. And so far, I'm liking this music. Did you write all of this yourself?"

"Yeah."

"Wow," JJ murmured. "Another Matt. Almost."

The group laughed, leaving Spike quite confused. "Right, then. Trombones?"

A tan, dark-haired girl smiled widely. "I'm Jen. Or Jenny. Or Tippy. Or Fish. Whatever. Just not 'hey, you'."


The boy sitting on her left furrowed his eyebrows. "No. Not Fish. Fish is mine." His voice suddenly turned throaty and harsh. "My precioussssss."

"Jeremy," Kayla snarled in a similar, although slightly more accurate, voice. "You suck."

The blonde, bespectacled boy Jeremy frowned and pretended to cry. "Why are you so mean to me?"

"Shut up, Jeremy," Jenny, Kailey, and Kayla said in unison.

"Hi," the dark-haired trumpeter from before laughed. "I'm Noah. Brittany is getting a drink, but she's the blonde on my left."

A girl with long dirty-blonde hair on his right smiled. "I'm Kelli. It's nice to meet you."

"The pleasure is mine, pet. I must admit, you are a lively bunch, aren't you?"

Everyone nodded.

A girl with wavy blonde hair wearing a black T-shirt smiled. "Sup? I'm Courtney. A freshman. Don't hurt me!" she cried, cowering. She then stood upright and laughed. "Okay, so not that worried, but whatever. Josh is gone today, but I dunno why."

"Alright. I'll try not to forget him, then," Spike said, chuckling.

The drummer already identified as Justin stood up and crossed his eyes. "Buenos dias, muchachos," he sing-songed. Spike raised an eyebrow. Justin sat back down. "Sorry, had to do it."

A tan boy with short dark hair was playing "Crazy Train" on his bass. He looked up, fingers still flying. "Hey, I'm Jordan. But you can call me King Jordan." At the eye rolls he received, he sighed heavily. "Or not. Jessie isn't here today. Go figure. And neither is Nick. But that's okay because he sucks."

Spike grinned. "Well, I guess that's everyone, then."

*****

Willow bounced on Buffy's bed giddily. "So, do you think you'll see him again? I mean, in the smoochies sense?"

The door shut behind the small blonde with a quiet snap, and she crossed her arms. "Now, Wills, didn't you come here to help me with chemistry? Something about studying for the big exam?"

Willow rolled her eyes. "Screw the exam. There's a whole best-friend love-life loophole thingy. And you never answered my question," she finished with a pout.

A slow smile spread across Buffy's face. "There's a definite possibility." She flopped onto the bed, next to Willow.

"Meaning?"

"Meaning....my God, Wills! Have you SEEN him? He's...perfect. Sorta." Buffy made a face. "How 'bout he seems perfect? Too soon too tell, and all that."

"He loves you," Willow said pointedly.

"And what does that mean? He loves me, but after the whole Angel debacle... Let's just say I'm reluctant."

Willow gently took Buffy's hand. "Spike is NOTHING like Angel. Nothing. Capital N. With Angel, when I looked at you two, something always seemed...I dunno...off...with him."

Buffy looked down. "I should've seen it. I should have known."

"No," Willow said firmly. "Don't go there. That's not what...I see you and Spike, and it looks right. The way you two are. You just fit. Like peas in a pod. Bonded peas."

A smile began to spread across Buffy's face, and she hugged Willow tightly. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For being a friend."

TBC....

A/N: Wow. I'm so sorry that took so long to write. I have a new job, so my life is pretty hectic right now. I hope this chapter didn't suck too bad. I know I said I wouldn't include myself, but I lied. I had to get (last year's) Jazz Band in there. Sorry. And really, you people have to listen to RBF. I hope to be getting the next chapter of "Taking Over Me" out soon, assuming people are still interested. I hope there are still a few people following this fic, and if you are, please let me know. I don't care what's in the review- I just wanna know people are reading. It's the kind of pick-me-up I love on bad days. And a HUGE thank you to Allison for being my new beta. THANK YOU!!!! Until next time...


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