A VERY LITTLE TALE – CHAPTER 1

The sun had been shining a minute ago, but now clouds threw a shadow over the yard. There was the usual crowd out behind the school. They were in clumps and in pairs and in singles. Doing what they usually did this time of day. Near the center of all the activity, one pair stood well away from another pair. It was a pair of girls and a pair of boys.

One of the girls said to the other, “Willow! Willow! Look, look, there they are again! They keep looking over here. What’s it for? What are they doing?”

Willow’s straight hair hung down over her face, and she barely looked up. She said, “I dunno, Buffy. Maybe they’re retarded. They look retarded to me. I wished they’d stop. It’s way creepy the way they’re always looking at you.”

Buffy was pretending not to look over at the two boys. She stopped and spun around on her friend. She squealed, “Me! What do you mean? They’re not looking at me. Are they? Oh my gosh! Maybe he is. I mean them, um, they. Maybe they are looking at me. Oh my gosh! I don’t know what to do.”

One of the boys was kicking repeatedly into the dirt, sending little clouds of dust and sand up into the air around them. He stopped, glanced over at the two girls, and said to the other boy, “Are you completely crackers, Angel-Bangel? Sum-dummers is way uglier than Rosie-booger.”

Angel shoved the other boy in the shoulder. Spike stumbled sideways but bounced back with a shove of his own. He started kicking at the dirt again. Angel said, “Yeah, maybe you’re right, Spike-ster. I dare you to go over there and tell them that they’re ugly. You could say they are so ugly that they’d stop a clock or break a camera or something.”

Spike looked over at the two girls again. Buffy was clearly acting like she wasn’t looking back at them. Spike said, “That’s retarded, Butthead? You think I won’t do it? I’ll do it. Just watch me.”

“Yeah, yeah, stupid-head. I know, I know. But, check this out. Say it to Willow. Make sure that you tell her that she’s the ugly one, not Buffy.”

Spike shook his head and said, “What are you talking about, moron? They’re both ugly.” Spike tugged on Angel’s t-shirt. “C’mon, I’ll do it. Come with me part of the way.”

Buffy did a little hop and spun around to face Willow again. “Oh my gosh! Willow! They’re coming over this way. He’s coming. What do I do?”

Willow glanced around nervously and grabbed Buffy’s hand. “I dunno. Let’s run away.” Willow pulled at her friend but couldn’t move her. Afraid to run off on her own, she ended up just hiding behind Buffy instead.

Buffy faced the approaching boys. She tried not to smile at them, but didn’t quite succeed. She stopped, however, and frowned instead when Angel stopped halfway over and Spike continued to advance. He was walking right up to her with that stupid grin on his face.

Spike stopped in front of Buffy. He tip-toed up and looked over her shoulder at Willow who just ducked down further behind Buffy to protect herself from Spike looking at her. Finally he met Buffy’s expressionless stare.

It was then that Spike noticed just how shiny her pig-tails were. And how bright the green was in her eyes and just how yellow and pink she was. Something grabbed him in the stomach. Something that he’d never felt before. Something that he didn’t understand. Something that told him how neat it was to just look at her. Especially this close. He realized then he’d never really done that before. Never even really looked at her.

Buffy watched Spike’s grin turn into something else. Confusion, or was it that he was just dumb or something. She didn’t know. She just wished he’d go away. She thought Angel was coming over to say something. Or just walk by like he’d done sometimes before. But he didn’t. Now it was just stupid Spike staring at her.

Buffy blurted out, “What?! What do you want?!”

Spike blinked and swayed back a little bit at the sound of her voice. He said, “Uh, I… um, you’re, you’re ugly. And, uh, you’ve got stupid hair. And…, and…, and Angel doesn’t like you.” What, Spike thought. Why’d he say that last part?

Buffy backed up and bumped against Willow behind her. She blinked a little tear in her eye. She yelled, “Shut up, Spike! You’re the ugly one. I hate you!”

Her shout snapped Spike out of whatever state he had fallen into. Quickly he looked around and located Mr. Giles. The teacher was busy watching another part of the playground. With a flash, Spike punched Buffy in the arm and pushed her down. He turned to run away and ran right into Angel. Spike started laughing then Angel joined in as the two ran away.

Buffy tried really hard not to start crying. She just sat there pulling blades of grass out of the ground. Willow sat down beside her.

“Are you okay, Buffy? Let’s get a teacher and tell on them.”

Buffy said, “Boys are such jerks. Why do they do that? Hit you in the arm and push you down? I don’t get it.”

“They don’t do that to me. Just you, Buffy. They really are just stupid jerks.” Willow got up and pulled Buffy up with her. “Come on. Recess is almost over. I’ll race you to the door.” Willow only said this to try to cheer Buffy up. She never won a race against her best friend. Or against anyone really.

Buffy sighed trying to sort it all out, “First multiplication tables and then stupid retarded boys. How come third grade is so confusing? Come on. Ready. Set. Go!”

Both girls squealed as they took off running towards Mr. Giles who was calling and waving all the kids back into class.

A VERY LITTLE TALE – CHAPTER 2

The Saturday afternoon session at Bob’s Skateaway Ice Rink was three-quarters of the way over. It was couples skating time. The lights were lowered, and a big-hair-band power ballad was playing on the speakers. It serenaded the few pairs of middle-schoolers that were brave enough to skate in a circle holding hands in front of their classmates.

One pair in particular, a boy and a girl, skated around and around, stealing as many looks at each other as they could. Another pair, another boy and another girl, sat in a booth at the dark end of the snack bar watching them.

The skating girl said to her boyfriend, “Wow, Angel. I don’t know what to say. You guys are still fighting? I mean, you’re still not talking to each other. Or hanging out, or anything?”

Angel adjusted his grip on Buffy’s hand. She almost slipped away as they went around the curve at the far end of the rink. He sighed, “Yeah, it’s been almost a month. We got really mad at each other one day, and I hit him.” Angel didn’t mention that Spike had gotten him back pretty good with a kick to his nuts. No way he was going to tell her that.

Buffy remembered seeing Spike with the busted lip. She said, “You never told me. What was the fight about anyway?” She almost slipped away again. “Hey! Let’s slow down. Here, put your arm around me.” She looped hers around Angel’s waist, and he put his across her shoulders. They skated slower and were careful to make sure they didn’t tangle their feet together.

Angel was glad that Buffy got distracted from her question. He didn’t want to tell her the fight had been about her. But then she asked again. He had to answer, “I- I don’t remember what we fought about. You know Spike. Such a hot-head. And always spoutin’ off about shit, I mean, stuff he knows nothing about.”

Buffy wanted to say that she was sorry about the whole thing, but she really wasn’t. She hated Spike. He was so rude and crude all the time. His jokes were always totally gross. And especially she hated the way he was always staring at her. Like he thought she didn’t notice. It was creepy. No, not creepy, but it bothered her.

But Buffy didn’t say anything. Angel and Spike had been best friends for a long time. She felt bad for Angel, but secretly she’d be relieved if Spike wasn’t going to be around anymore.

As the song got near its end, Angel slowed them down and steered Buffy towards the center of the ice.

“What’s going on, Angel? What are we doing?”

They stopped, and Angel turned to face her. He looked into her eyes and said, “I- I want to kiss you, Buffy.”

Buffy glanced around surprised. “Right here? Right now? Why don’t we wait? There’s that place on the walk home where we usually… I mean, everyone’s gonna see.”

Angel had been scared shitless about his little plan. He totally was, but he found that he could still say the words. “Yes, Buffy. Right here. Right now. I want to kiss you, and then I’m going to tell you something.”

Buffy’s silent answer was enough. He moved in and pressed his lips to hers. His arms wrapped around her back. Her heart pounded and a million thoughts raced through her head. What was Angel going to tell her? They were already going steady. Was he going to give her something. A ring to wear? No, probably not. Besides, she thought, Mom would never let her wear one anyway. Was he going to say… *that*? No. Was he? Was he going to say he loved her? Maybe he was. She hadn’t been sure before about what she thought, but now she was. She loved him too. When he said it, she’d say it too.

Buffy didn’t hear the whistles and hoots from the side boards while she opened her mouth to let Angel play with her tongue. She was tingly all over and couldn’t wait to hear what Angel was going to tell her.

*******

The other boy said to the other girl, and to the world in general, “Careful there, Angel. Better come up for air soon, or you’re gonna choke to death on a mouthful of Buffy.” Spike sat in a booth in the snack bar. He was where he had a clear view of the ice. His arm was around the shoulders of a dark-eyed girl with long dark hair. He said to the girl, “So you say he’s moving? Where’d you hear that kind of shit, Dru?”

The girl, Drusilla, was pressed up as close as she could get to Spike. Under the table she kept her hand planted firmly on his knee. She said, “I promise you, it’s all true, Spike. Angel’s big sister Darla told me. Their father’s got a new job. In Los Angeles. They’re leaving next week.”

Dru leaned up to kiss Spike’s ear. Normally Spike would be totally in favor of this. They could get away with a short make-out session before it was time to go. And if the angle was right and he could block the view enough, he could probably sneak in a little booby-squeeze before the final horn sounded.

But while part of Spike’s boy-brain zipped through that scenario, he was miraculously too distracted by Dru’s bombshell to carry it out.

He and Angel had been buds forever, minus the last month. And that cutesy little blond bitch had busted that up. Why’d he have to hang around with her so much? She was so goody-goody. And Angel was so, ‘I’m a goofy moron’, when he was around her. Yeah she’s pretty, and her boobs *are* bigger than Dru’s. So what? Fuck! Why couldn’t she be the one leaving? And then stuff could get back to normal with him and Angel.

Suddenly Bob’s voice came over the speaker system. He said, “All right you two out on center ice. Break it up now, or I’ll have to call your parents.”

Spike smirked at that, and Drusilla giggled. Angel and Buffy untwined. Spike could see Angel talking to her now. The next song started, and single skaters clomped out onto the ice. Angel stopped talking and Buffy said something. Her hands dropped their hold on his and fell to her sides. Angel pushed back away from her a few feet. Buffy spoke again. To Spike it looked like she said either, ‘No, no’, or ‘Don’t go’. And then she was crying. Spike smiled at the sight of her pain at first, but then stopped. Tears streamed down her face and her chest convulsed pathetically. Then Angel just turned and skated away.

Spike kept his eyes on Buffy until she buried her face in her hands and turned away from his direction. Dru was doing a number on his neck now. Spike wasn’t sure how, but he came to a decision that he didn’t expect. He took his arm from around Drusilla and pushed her away.

“Drusilla…, we’re breaking up now.”

A VERY LITTLE TALE – CHAPTER 3

Dance music and fake fog drifted out of the gymnasium at Sunnydale High. So far the Senior Prom was the usual mixture of clichéd lameness, along with unexpected irregular bursts of sentimentality. A girl stood in line at the entrance with her friends. A boy stood off to the side observing her unobserved. Everyone was smiles and laughter. Everyone except for the boy and the girl.

Senior year had been rough on Buffy. After the heart-wrenching badness of back-to-back two-timing boyfriends, she was ready to seriously consider joining a convent, or possibly even taking a swing at that whole lesbian thing. After much coaxing though, her friends got her to come to the prom. She was sure it was a bad idea, but there would be the fun of the giant limo, and promises that they’d all dance with her.

It was a plan, but Buffy saw on the ride over just how much of a seventh wheel she really was. Anya spent the whole time in Xander’s lap lip wrestling with him. Cordelia and Wesley yapped at each other incessantly. Neither one was listening to the other, and per usual, they were both talking about Cordy. Willow and Tara sat pretty much just giggling at each other. Buffy imagined that they’d prefer to be smooching too, but they were probably afraid it might make the others uncomfortable.

So Buffy was the odd man out. She was the last of the group to present her ticket. But before she could, the boy came out of the shadows. He took her arm and led her away from the ticket table and over to the other end of the trophy case. Out of view of casual observers.

“Spike! What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Buffy slapped at his hands until he let her go.

He planted himself in front of her and said, “Nothin’, Buffy. Just thought it was time you got what you deserved.”

The sudden Spike encounter had the same effect on Buffy it always did. It jacked up just about all of her emotions all at the same time. It was instantly exhausting and impossible to correctly interpret everything that he was making her feel.

“What are you talking about? What I deserve?”

“Yeah,” Spike said. “You deserve a proper prom date. With proper dancing. Proper spiked punch. The cutesy picture. More booze and then a good shagging.” He ran one finger up and down Buffy’s arm suggestively. “That’s what you girls want from your prom, isn’t it? God knows I do. The good shagging part, I mean.”

Buffy was getting redder and redder from various causes. She slapped at his hand again. “A proper prom date! That’s a laugh. How many times do I have to tell you, Spike?”

“Tell me what, luv?”

“I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. I will never ever touch you, Spike! Never!”

She stepped to move around him, but he cut her off. “Oh, then you’re not countin’ those other times then?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Spike. Because I would never…”

“We kissed, Buffy. I think that qualifies as touching.”

“It was only once!”

“Twice.”

“Whatever.” Buffy slumped her shoulder’s a little bit. She knew it was stupid of her to try to deny their past minor hook-ups of the kissing variety. She had tried to forget it ever happened, but seeing Spike every day at school made that impossible. Her anger lost some of its steam. She was getting tired and losing the ability to deal with his shit at all. She sighed, “Spike. Why do you keep doing this to me? This is the last fling before we’re all out of high school. I just wanted to have some fun with my friends.”

“And do you think you’d really have fun without a date? I saw how coupley they all were with each other. It’s their night too, you know. They all want to be with their respective honeys. If you hang around stag, don’t you think you’d just be bringin’ ‘em all down? It’s not your fault, luv. It’s just the way things turned out. Let ‘em be for tonight. You and I can have a bit o’ fun ourselves, and they can all concentrate on the business of gettin’ into each other’s pants without worryin’ ‘bout poor little Buffy.” Spike slipped a hand around Buffy’s waist and moved her a little closer. “Come to think of it, pet, that should be our goal too.”

Buffy was thinking about what Spike said and half-consciously permitted his touch. Of course she didn’t want to be a drag on her friends. It was the main reason she hadn’t wanted to come in the first place. But she had gone along with it because somewhere in the back of her head was still the desire to have the perfect high school experience. But with no date, there would have to be the horse-riding prince-swooping-in-to-sweep-her-off-her-feet thing. She looked up into Spike’s eyes. She sighed to herself. No horse. He was sort of swooping. But definitely not a prince.

Buffy put a hand on his chest. She said, “Spike? How come you always come around me when things are at their worst? It’s because you think you can take advantage or something, right?”

“That hurts, Buffy.”

“I’m sorry. I mean, come on. You can take it. Just tell me it’s the truth, so I can keep hating you.”

Spike said, “Here’s the thing, Buffy. When you’re down, when things are bad… and let me tell you, pet, that’s not an inconsiderable amount of the time… but when you hurt, it turns out that I actually hurt too. And are your friends really much of a help to you when you really need ‘em. They’re bloody useless on that score, if you ask me. Tell me I’m wrong. As for me? All I want, luv, is to make you feel better.” He brushed his hand across her cheek, down her soft neck, and over her bare shoulder. He leaned in and kissed her for the third time. It was warm, but short. And then he said into her ear, “And trust me, Buffy, there are any number of ways I can make you feel a *lot* better.”

No, Buffy thought, there would be no perfect high school experience for her. She couldn’t just go in there with Spike and start dancing. Especially not in front of her friends. She didn’t want a cheesy photo of them together, and she didn’t want to get drunk with him either.

But, on the other hand – one of which of his was now and not unpleasantly caressing her backside – the Spike of the last five minutes was different from the Spike she thought she knew. It did sound an awfully lot like he actually cared about her. There was no way to be sure either way. Not tonight anyway. And, on the second thing, the thing about making her feel better, well, other than the obvious things about his physique, and full lips, and sculpty face, Buffy had heard more than a few stories about Spike and his… Buffy thought for a word and then decided on *prowess*.

So it boiled down to a few things. And his lips on her neck were definitely doing some boiling of their own. If she did the thing she was thinking about doing and he really did care about her, was she using him? Or, if he was lying to her, then was he using her? Or maybe they were just using each other. Or neither one was. There were just too many combinations for Buffy to sort—the reason being her thoughts were getting cloudy while Spike’s hands and lips moved to other parts of her body.

It was silly, Buffy thought. There were two people with obvious and suddenly increasing feelings of lust and so forth. What with the breathing, and the hardening, and the tingling. But was there more than that in either of the two? She hadn’t a clue. And she was one of the two!

Buffy pushed Spike away long enough to tear up her prom ticket and drop it to the floor. In the back of the limo, in the parking lot, they tore up some more things pretty good. Including her pink, satiny dress. She wouldn’t be able to go back into the prom even if she’d wanted to. But in the next few hours, even though Spike did, more than once, make her feel a *lot* better, she couldn’t help thinking that the whole good shagging thing was a huge mistake.

A VERY LITTLE TALE – CHAPTER 4

A girl pulled her car into the driveway of her house. A house that had once belonged to her mother. A boy was parked down the block unable to decide what to do.

Buffy gathered a bunch of stuff from the backseat—a heavy shoulder bag, a few bags of groceries, and a very special little bundle. Her back hurt with the load, but that’s the way things had been for some months now. She put all of the bags on the dining table and the bundle onto a different table. Cold stuff went into the fridge, and the other groceries stayed on the counter. She’d deal with it later, along with the dirty dishes in the sink. Whenever she got a chance. Whenever that might be.

Likewise, Buffy ignored the stack of mail on the table in the foyer. Too much junk mail and undoubtedly some bills. The bills weren’t a problem in and of themselves. She just didn’t want to deal with little pieces of paper with numbers on them right now. It was sort of a dirty dishes kind of problem.

When she went back into the living room, the boy was sitting in the big chair across from the couch. Buffy ignored him like she did the other problems in her house. She fussed with the bundle on the little table instead. The boy reached for a smoke and then thought twice about it.

Without turning to face him, Buffy said, “What do you want, Spike? This is my day off, and I’ve got a lot to do.”

Spike fiddled with his Zippo lighter. “What do ya’ think, pet? Why else do I come around? I wouldn’t really expect you to be up for a bit of the rough and tumble, but you know. A boy can dream.”

Buffy looked up at the ceiling before turning to face him. “That’s it? That’s all? Just dropped by for a quickie? Gosh, I think I’m getting wet already.”

Her venom went right past him. Spike said, “Wouldn’t use the word ‘quick’, luv. But yeah, that’s the idea. For starters.”

“We’re not doing… that anymore. I told you, Spike. I told you last year. And I know it wasn’t the first time I’ve said it, but that was it. No more. I thought you finally figured it out. I haven’t seen you poking around in a long time. Thankfully. Besides, aren’t you banging Harmony now. Or is it Drusilla again? I can’t keep track.”

“Nope. And nope.” Spike shook his head and inhaled on the cigarette he wasn’t smoking. “Neither, pet. Not for months now. A good deal more than nine months to be exact.”

Buffy found this nearly impossible to believe, but over the years her Spike-bullshit-detector had gotten pretty good. “Really? Well who’s the lucky person with female sex parts these days?”

“Guess.”

“Don’t tell me you’re back with Darla.” Spike shook his head again. Buffy said, “Then who? Anyone I know so I can warn them off?”

“Nope. There’s no one.”

Buffy crossed her arms over her chest. “Seems unlikely. What about Aura? Or Amy?” More shakes. “Okay, what about Lilah or Eve? Or Winifred? Kendra? Kennedy? Satsu? Faith?”

“Nada, but each and every one’s a fine upstanding lady. Except that last one. She pretty much kicked my ass.”

Buffy racked her brain. “What about Cordy? She told me that one time you two…”

“That was ages ago. Like junior year. Way before you and I even…”

“Okay fine. Then tell me. Are you currently, or have you ever…? With Anya, Willow, or Tara?”

Spike hesitated and then admitted the truth, “Once, almost once, and never even tried. Tara’s not even remotely bi. You’ve got a better shot at her than I do. If you could just nose Willow out of the way, that is. But we’re getting’ off the point here, luv.”

“What is the point, Spike? What’s this all about, anyway?”

Spike stood up to collect himself. He said, “The point is that I miss you. And, and, I guess that I haven’t been nailin’ anyone else in your stead. Pale substitutes at best.” Spike began to get more animated, waving his arms around when he talked. “But that’s not the point either. The point, pet, is that I know you think I can’t love or some such rot, and that I’m just a mean, mean man. And if that’s what you think then…”

“You haven’t been mean.” Buffy’s soft voice interrupted him. He stared back at her wordlessly. She continued quietly, “You are a rude, crude, socially unacceptable, crazy-making, frustration of a man. But you are not mean, Spike. Do you have any idea the last time you were actually truly mean to me?” When he still said nothing, Buffy went on, “We were eight. You pushed me down in the playground during recess. And, oh yeah, you hit me in the arm first.” Buffy stepped closer to him. “Do you remember?”

Spike spoke just above a whisper, “I do. I think. You had pink ribbons in your hair. You were so beautiful. That was the first time I ever noticed that. Although I might have said something to the contrary at the time. Sorry ‘bout that, pet.”

“Thank you, Spike. I forgive you.” Buffy moved back over to the little table and fiddled with the bundle some more. Spike joined her there.

Indicating the bundle, Spike said, “How is Angel, anyway?” Buffy shot him a look. He said, “Pretend I’m concerned.”

Buffy blushed hard, gulped once, gathered her courage, and answered, “I haven’t the slightest, Spike. I haven’t seen him in…well, in a really long time.”

“Oh, what then, like a year? So you decided not to tell him? I wonder what I think about that.”

Buffy picked up the bundle and held it to her. “Well, don’t think anything about it. ‘Cause there’s nothing to tell him. It’s been more than a year. More like three since I’ve seen Angel.”

Spike didn’t flinch or run for the door. Or start screaming. Or anything. He just stated the obvious. “Then he’s not the father.”

She gently bounced the fussing baby in her arms. “Nope. He’s not the father.” Buffy met Spikes eyes. Her guilt was obvious in them. “Spike, you can tell me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure this is the only truly mean thing I’ve ever done to you. Maybe you can forgive me. That’s up to you. I forgave you for the hitting and pushing down thing, remember? And if you do want to forgive me then I’ve got a favor to ask. So either way, the thing of it is this. He was a late baby. Way late, like seventeen days late. Which puts things back into the middle of October last year, which is pretty much almost exactly the last time that you and I…”

Spike stopped her with a question, “What’s his name?”

“That’s the thing, um, William. His name is… William.”

Spike kissed the baby on his head and gently but deliberately kissed Buffy too. He said to her moistening eyes. “What’s the favor you wanted to ask, my love?”

Buffy blinked. “Could you maybe, um…my back is killing me. Could you change your son and watch him for a while so I can take a nap? I’m sorry. But I’m really tired.”

Spike smirked at her. Possibly it was the thing that still had the potential to irritate her the most. He said, “Not a chance, Summers.” She stiffened and frowned, but then she managed a smile. It was because he said, “Not until you show me how first.”

So Buffy changed the baby with Spike at her side. She showered while he made some lunch for them. After that Spike watched both Buffy and his son sleep most of the afternoon away. Outside, the clouds broke up, and the sun began to shine again.

*** End of A VERY LITTLE TALE ***