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Author's Chapter Notes:
Happy 4th!
Chapter 8

William's hand had trembled when he dialed Dru's number. He also felt a pang a guilt with a slight side of anger that served to assuage the guilt. To sum up, he'd lied to Buffy. He hadn't made plans for a date with Dru before her innocent ‘why?' to his workout regime. Did she think that nothing could ever help his appearance? Was he a lost cause when it came to looking good? Was he destined to be her sidekick for the rest of his life?

So he'd called Dru out of anger at Buffy. She made him uncomfortable, in an
‘out of my league' kind of way. Which was odd considering she was the one
who had made her interest clear. You couldn't be out of someone's league if
they made the play for you. However, he was starting to think there was
something to Buffy dubbing her Bride of Dracula. She had an affinity for lots
of black and Goth wear. Then, there was the way she draped herself over
him, spoke to him in metaphors he didn't quite understand and with the
touching so soon and so much.

Not knowing too much about the dating world, but enough to get by, he
figured he'd take her out to a nice dinner, despite being completely cashed,
and maybe out to a movie. Drusilla wasn't like most birds, William soon
realized. She wanted to go someplace dark and loud with lots of grinding
bodies and smoke. In short, it was a club that had a slight S&M theme to it.
Not at all the type of thing he was used to and not at all the type of place he
could picture ever taking Buffy.

He was on a date. Why was he thinking of Buffy?

He'd long given up shifting and adjusting in his seat to fend off Dru's
wandering hands and just sat back, taking long gulps of his beer to calm his
nerves, and letting Dru ramble on about the ‘people finding their pleasure
in pain'. Or was it pain in pleasure? He wasn't sure. Despite his discomfort,
William was trying to make the best of it. He was taking Buffy's advice in
the ‘nothing ventured, nothing gained' variety and was trying to see if he
could gain any information on this new world Dru was introducing him to. If
he wanted to change and break out of his shell to become more of the man
he felt he needed to be then he had to start somewhere. Buffy would tell
him to think outside the box, and see beyond what was in front of him. So,
a) asking a woman out, and b) exposing himself to different modes of living
was bound to teach him something he could apply. Right? Well, he hoped
so. And, as the alcohol started to course through his body and make certain
parts of him numb and relaxed, he found Dru's touching wasn't all that bad.
It was actually kind of . . . arousing.

"Tell me about your sunshine, dearie," Dru said, leaning in close and gazing
at him with that kind of unwavering gaze that had him averting his eyes.

"My sunshine?" he asked dumbly.

"The guard dog that barked at Mummy last night," Dru said, slightly
pouting.

She wasn't talking about Buffy was she? He soon realized she must be.
Guard dog, sunshine—who else would she be talking about? Great, now he
was starting to understand her weird way of talking about things. Couldn't
she have just asked how Buffy was? Buffy, Buffy, Buffy. Why did
everything lead back to Buffy? Couldn't he have one night without having
her make cameos in his mind?

"She's my roommate," William said flatly.

Dru smiled almost sadistically. "Naughty boy, lying to Mummy in such a
way!"

William blinked. "What?"

"She's more than that, my Spike."

"Why do you keep calling me that?" he asked, frowning.

She shrugged, "It's what I see in you."

"You see a Spike in me?"

"It's not the name my sweet that matters, it's the persona. It's the man
inside you itching, aching, burning to break free and meet the world," her
hands scratched at her arms, leaving pink tracks down her arms. Her eyes
were wild with intent "I see it all around you," now her arms wove in circles
around his head. "The urge, the desire, the passion you keep laden inside
yourself. Break free of the shell!" Her hands stopped weaving and she
spread her fingers wide. "Embrace Spike and all he possesses and then,
you'll find your sunshine." Her eyes bore into him and god, he found himself
under some kind of spell. He could almost SEE what she was speaking of.
He did have passion inside of him; he had so much inside of him just dying
to break free. She made it sound so easy, she made it seem feasible.

"Help me?" he asked weakly.

Dru smiled broadly, her eyes glinting even in the dark, smoky club. "I will
help you."



Buffy was starting to worry. She glanced at the time on the VCR for what
felt like the hundredth time. It was almost one-thirty. Where the freaking
hell was William? She and Willow had scoured the city looking for him and
had come up with jack in the squat of finding him.

Buffy jumped up from the couch, her heart racing with worry. She started
to pace, trying to assess any and all places William could be with the
vampiric Drusilla. And really, what kind of name was that? She was just
asking for all kinds of comments with that name.

"Her name's probably something simple like Jane, or funny like Fanny and
she changed it to be all ‘cool' and stuff. What a weirdo—"

The door swinging open startled Buffy and she nearly jumped a mile.

"William?" she called out and rushed to the kitchen. The man carrying
himself into the kitchen certainly looked like William, but wasn't acting like
William. He had this swagger . . .

"William?" she asked again and flicked on the light in the kitchen.

"Bloody hell!"

It certainly looked like William. Sort of. There was something different
about him. Something in his eyes, in his face and in his stance, something
had changed, she just couldn't place it.

"Where the hell have you been?" she demanded.

William smirked, "Keeping tabs on me luv?"

Her eyebrows flew off her head. "You are drunk! You didn't drive home did
you?"

"Bloody hell, would you stop fucking coddling me!"

Buffy's eyes widened. Where had that come from? For one thing, William
hardly EVER swore and for another he'd never yelled at her like that
before.

"That's the second time in two days you've yelled at me. I don't like it,"
Buffy said pointedly. "It's her. She's making you act like this—"

"No, she's not. She hasn't done anything that I haven't wanted to do."

"What the hell are you talking about William?"

"It's not William," he slurred slightly.

"Oh no," Buffy murmured.

"It's Spike."

"Is it now? I'm not calling you that."

"Why not?"

"Because it's dumb?"

"Suit yourself, BUFFY."

"It's a nickname you moron."

"So is Spike. It's the name I prefer. It's the name of the man I want to be."

"Well, if a raving asshole is who you want to be, then congratulations."

He shrugged. "Spike isn't a raving asshole. He's just a man who knows what
he wants and goes after it is all." He stepped closer to her. So close that she
could feel his breath on her face. "Think you can handle it?" he asked
deeply.

She looked up at him and met his eyes, a retort of ‘hit me with your best
shot' on the tip of her tongue. However, when her eyes met his blue ones
and she noticed not for the first time just how incredibly handsome he
was—and so TALL—she found herself lost. Her eyes fell on his lips and she
moistened her own with her tongue subconsciously.

He smirked and spun around, heading for the bathroom. "Night Sunshine."

He'll sleep it off and be back to William tomorrow, Buffy thought, I hope.





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