[Reviews - 291]
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Microsoft Word Chapter or Story | ePub eBook Chapter or Story | Printer Chapter or Story

Has been viewed 4888 times

- Text Size +




Author's Chapter Notes:
Hope you enjoy this one!
Chapter 5: ‘You Know The Concept?’


Summary: Buffy gives Spike an answer, kind of……okay so I’m being ambiguous! Please just read the chapter and keep in mind that Spike has an uphill battle in winning over Buffy’s trust and her heart!


Chapter 5:


Spike studied Buffy’s reaction to his words of just a few moments earlier, somewhat wistfully. He watched, carefully, his hope began to wane as he noted the emotions that played out in Buffy’s emerald green eyes.

At first, the little blond angel had seemed just mildly surprised at his request for a date with her. Then, Spike had gained an ounce of hope when Buffy’s expression changed from surprised to slightly confused, to well, rather excited, or so he thought.

However, after what seemed like at least an hour of silence on her part (actually, it was really mere moments) he realized she was going to turn him down. Spike felt his heart sink down to the pit of his gut when Buffy shook her golden head just slightly enough to register a sound ‘no’ to him.

“Oh Buffy,” Spike whispered sadly as he took her tiny hand in his once again. He felt somewhat vindicated when she did not pull it away.

“Let me explain, please Spike,” Buffy murmured softly in reply, her huge green eyes were focused on their entwined hands. Her mouth was twisted into an almost childish pout and Spike could swear she looked only seventeen-years-old if that at the moment.

“I, well, we…..you and I? We don’t really know each other very well, if at all, Spike,” Buffy stammered almost apologetically. “I have just met you and frankly, although you don’t seem like a serial killer or anything,” she paused briefly, a slight smirk played on her lips.

“I can assure I’m no serial killer, Princess,” Spike interjected quickly with a small chuckle. At least Buffy’s unintentional humor had broken the sudden tension between them.

“I’m sure you’re not,” Buffy giggled, giving Spike a reason to smile again and some cause for hope. Her green eyes danced in merriment and he felt even more hopeful.

“See,” Buffy began again carefully, “after Riley and I broke up. Riley, that’s my ex-fiancé,” she added with a frown. “We broke up a while back, but I guess I have just kind of found it hard to move on.” Buffy’s eyes turned sad suddenly and she stared outside the window, almost forgetting the kind man who still held her hand.

“I have been on a few dates since then,” she continued thoughtfully. “They were guys I’ve known for years though and more friends then potential boyfriends, I guess. I’m afraid the whole dating scene has been a real fiasco for me, since……” Buffy’s voice trailed off meekly.

“It’s tough to move on, after a big break up like that, eh? I should know,” Spike mumbled in a hushed tone. “I broke up with my fiancé, ‘bout a year ago,” he added almost casually. “Turned out to the best thing in the world for me as it were. But, at the time it hurt like bloody hell,” he finished with a shrug.

“I’m sorry,” Buffy whispered in a genuinely sympathetic tone. She returned Spike’s squeeze of her hand with her own. They sat, quietly for a moment or two, gazing into each others’ eyes.

“Maybe,” Buffy began softly, “maybe we could kind of start out as friends?” She blushed hotly when Spike smiled at her and tightened the hold on her hand.

“Friends?” He asked with a pleasant grin that just melted Buffy for some reason.

“Yeah, you know,” she smiled in return, “the concept of friends first? Or is that foreign to you Mr. Giles?” Buffy began to giggle merrily and Spike couldn’t help but join in the laughter.

“I’m familiar with the term friends, sweet,” he finally responded with another light chuckle. “I just would rather be more then a friend to you, okay? But, if that’s how it has to be, for now anyway? Then I can live with it,” he finished with a half grin.

“Okay,” Buffy sighed in relief, quite unsure just what she was relieved about. “Tell you what,” she continued suddenly very animated again.

“I have some great friends, a couple who own a start up winery outside of Sunnydale. Wesley and Fred Pryce,” she continued excitedly. “I don’t know if you’d even want to, but maybe you’d like to join us, this Friday night. At their winery. It’s not far from here and…..”

“This sounds like a double date, luv,” Spike interjected kindly, pretty well pleased with the sound of this. “Not that I’m complainin’ but I thought you said……”

“No,” Buffy blurted out quickly. “Wesley and Fred have this Friday night tradition,” she went on to explain patiently. “Wes is a marvelous cook, as well as a vintner and Fred is an avid film collector. They both love old movies, like me,” she continued, quite animated again.

“On most Friday nights, Wes and Fred ask me and some of our other friends over to the winery. They have an amazing collection of old movies, mostly from the 30’s and 40’s! Fred hangs a huge white cloth on the house wall, outside of course, and shows a vintage film on it! We all meet over there about 7:00 PM and Wes lays out a simple but great meal. Usually the food is matched, in theme with the film in some way.”

“Sounds interesting,” Spike intoned sincerely. It really did sound interesting to him. Especially since it seemed that Buffy was willing to include him in her group of friends. That had to be a good sign, right? Besides, he really enjoyed old-time cinema flicks and this was a good start to something in common with Buffy.

“Well, like I was saying,” she continued, “this Friday, Fred is showing ‘Barbary Coast’ on the wall! It’s an old Edward G. Robinson movie, with Joel McCrea and Miriam Hopkins. I don’t suppose you know any of those oldies but goodies, huh?” Buffy looked almost worried when she asked Spike this, but he beat her to the punch.

“Oh, I’ve heard of them a bit,” he replied evenly, thought his smile probably gave him away. “Especially Robinson, tough guy, wasn’t he? Always played the baddies in the films?”

“Yes!” Buffy cried, apparently thrilled by Spike’s recognition of the old movie actor. “He’s a bad guy in this one too,” she added happily. “Oh, it’s a great old movie, Spike! I think you’d like it. I could give you directions to the winery and we could meet there! Willow and Tara will be there, so will my friends Clem and Sophie! Wes and Fred are always trying to get me to bring a ‘friend’ with me, but….”

Buffy’s voice became very soft and Spike could barely understand her words. He noticed she blushed brightly again and seemed almost shy.

“If you don’t want to go, I’ll understand. It’s not like it’s a date and….” Buffy began quietly, her eyes focused on the coffee cup before her.

“I’d love to go, sweetheart,” Spike murmured softly. “I’d rather go there, be with you in some capacity, then not see you at all Friday, Princess. I have to ask though; shouldn’t I bring something for the movie party? I guess wine is out since it’s a winery and all, but maybe some beer? Dessert or……”

“Beer is good,” Buffy giggled with a bright smile. “Wes and Fred will like that. Since the movie is pretty much about San Francisco in the 1800’s? We’re having a kind of west coast themed cuisine; popcorn shrimp; probably some homemade clam chowder; good sourdough bread, of course; and veges, California style,” she giggled girlishly. “Wes always pops corn and puts it in little theatre type bags to munch on for dessert!”

‘Her smile lights up her whole lovely little face and her emerald eyes,’ Spike told himself, a little awe struck. The girl before him looked so happy that it was hard to imagine she still hung on to the painful memories of her broken engagement.

‘I’ll help her forget that stupid wanker that hurt her,’ Spike promised himself silently. ‘When I finally break through her walls, I’ll make her forget every painful thing that’s happened to her.’


Spike sauntered down the hallowed halls of Sunnydale General, his clipboard in hand. He had a very important patient to see to and he was a man on a mission.

‘I’ve got to talk to Tara about Buffy,’ Spike reasoned silently as he opened the patient, one Ethan Rayne’s, hospital room door. Rayne was an important man in Sunnydale, California and he was one of the main reasons that Spike had been summoned here.

Ethan’s case was not a rare one, but neither was it very common in the medical community. Spike knew he could help Rayne with his condition, just by the simple use of his scalpel.

If he was sure of anything, Spike was sure of his surgical skills. After all, he was only thirty-one and already a top notch surgeon. Wasn’t he? So why did Buffy Summers, a mere slip of a girl, make him so unsure of himself?

“Hello Doc,” Ethan Rayne greeted Spike jovially from his nice hospital bed. “Jesus man,” the fellow Brit chuckled wickedly, “you look like shit! Maybe you should be in this bed and I…..” The patient’s voice trailed off to silence when he saw his doctor’s somber scowl.

“Sorry, Doc,” Rayne mumbled, suddenly quite serious. “You look as if you’ve lost your best friend. What’s up?”

Spike sighed heavily and flopped down on the chair next to the prone man. He ran his hand through his blond hair, nervously, and sighed again dramatically.

“Oh, you don’t have to say a word, mate,” Rayne chuckled once again. “This is about a girl, that’s for sure! Some bird’s got you all mopey and soulful, eh Dr. Giles?”

“Yeah, you could say that,” Spike muttered under his breath as he checked Rayne’s chart. “Her name is Buffy and……”

“Buffy!” Rayne crowed gleefully. “You mean the Angel of Sunnydale General, ‘the’ Buffy Summers!”

“You know her?” Spike asked suspiciously as he eyed his animated patient.

“Who doesn’t!” Ethan guffawed heartily in reply. “She’s just about the most sought after woman in Sunnydale. No, make that the ‘most’ sought after woman in Sunnydale!” Rayne laughed lustily.

“Every man, and some women,” he winked at Spike, “from here to LA wants a bite of Buffy Summers! She’s like the fuckin’ Marilyn Monroe of Sunnydale General!”

“Uhm, Mr. Rayne,” Spike mumbled nervously, “I don’t think you should be talking about Buffy that way.”

“I meant no disrespect,” Ethan chuckled with a shake of his handsome head. “But, Buffy Summers? She’s like this icon of beauty; physical, spiritual and well, let’s face it man. She’s got an arse on her that you could bounce a quarter off of!”

“Just how do ‘you’ know Buffy Summers?” Spike grumbled the question to Rayne. He wasn’t sure if he liked the direction this conversation with his patient was going.

“I don’t. I mean, not really,” Ethan replied with a smirk. “But a man can dream, can’t he?

Look,” he continued evenly, “I’m a happily married man; pillar of the community and all; my family is first and foremost with me, then my position at the City Council. However, Buffy is a bloody angel of the community and I can’t count the young and older gits that have chased after her. Word gets around town and especially around this sterile meat house,” he grinned and glanced about the hospital room.

“She was all set to marry that stupid sod, Riley Finn, I think his name was. Word has it that the asshole stepped out on her and she caught him. Just as well I suppose,” Ethan frowned, thoughtfully, “from what I gathered, Finn wasn’t good enough to kiss our Buffy’s feet!”

“Buffy caught her fiancé with another woman?” Spike asked incredulously. “I can’t believe that,” he added with a frown.

“Yup,” Ethan sighed in exasperation. “Some blokes don’t know a great thing when they have it, eh? You know,” the older man continued steadily, “your friend, Dr. Liam O’Connor was sniffin’ around Buffy; some time back. He could probably give you the head’s up more then I can,” he finished with a wicked smile.

“Angelus O’Connor was ‘sniffing’ around Buffy at one time,” Spike nearly gasped. He could feel the jealousy rise up in him, but he pushed it back down long enough to get some more answers from Rayne.

“So I heard,” Ethan shrugged non-chalantly. “It was afore Buffy and that nimrod Finn split up. Then O’Connor met up with his present fiancée, Miss Cordelia Chase; good family the Chases,” Ethan grunted as he shifted to a more comfortable position.

“I believe by the time Buffy had split with Finn, Dr. ‘O’ and Lady Chase had become an item. I guess you could say that Liam was off the market when Buffy was back on it. It was Buffy that introduced O’Connor to Cordelia Chase; basically made their match. There’s irony, eh?” Rayne chuckled merrily and sipped a glass of water.

“Really,” Spike muttered, his mind elsewhere then on his patient before him. At the moment, Buffy was first and foremost on Spike’s mind, everything else had suddenly taken a back seat to her.


“Oh, you’ve got it bad for Summers, eh Doc!” Rayne burst out into laughter. “She’s a hard nut to crack from what I understand,” he added mischievously. “But if anyone can crack her? I’ll lay my bets with you, Dr. William Giles!”

Spike practically ran down the hall of the hospital, again, a man with a mission. Liam O’Connor was in his hospital office at this very moment, Spike was sure of that.

‘I need to talk to my old mate, Angelus,’ Spike mumbled to himself as he stopped in front of said doctor’s office door. ‘I’ve a feeling that old Angel knows a lot about Buffy and is more willing then Tara to fill me in on her.’


A/N: I know the ‘movie night’ at Wesley and Fred’s is a little corny, but actually it’s a big fad in the wine country and elsewhere in California. Movie theme nights are getting more and more popular and the big wide ranch houses and buildings at wineries are perfect for showing films.

Buffy is actually allowing Spike more access to her lonely heart then he realizes at this time. Angel just might give our blond hero some more insight into what makes Buffy tick.

Don’t worry I am ‘not’ going to make Angel a rival with Spike for Buffy’s affection. The Bangel ship (as in the show!) has sailed away for good.

Next chapter ‘The Undate’!

Thank you for reading, please review, spufette.





You must login (register) to review.