Chapter 18
“Would you stop moving like that? You’re gonna lose the whole effect of the outfit,” Harmony complained as she held her sister still.
“This just isn’t me.”
Harmony rolled her eyes. “That’s the idea, Buffy. I should have messed with your wardrobe years ago. How can you not own any skimpy leather? That’s just not natural,” she stated and pulled away to give Buffy a look. “Yep, you almost look as good as I do in that outfit. Spike is gonna freak when he sees you.”
Buffy sighed and continued to stare at herself in the mirror. “That’s what I’m afraid of. Are you sure it’s not too much?” she wondered and tried to pull the leather skirt down that Harmony let her borrow, but it wasn’t working very well. She didn’t understand how her sister could wear something so short and tight. It was practically showing her underwear that Harmony suggested Buffy shouldn’t even bother with, but there was just so much she would tolerate. She was wearing a red, halter top and planned on putting her leather jacket on over it. Her hair was down in loose curls. She had to admit that she looked good, figuring that a change wouldn’t hurt. It was only for her date with Spike, anyway. She still didn’t know where they were going and hoped that the clothes would be okay.
“Holy crap, you’ve turned her into you.”
Buffy was pulled out of her thoughts at Dawn’s voice.
“I think this is a major improvement. Your clothes could use a little help, too.”
Dawn had a look of fear on her face. “You won’t be coming anywhere near my closet, Barbie. I happen to like my style, thank you very much.”
Buffy rolled her eyes and tried to tune her sisters out. They may have all been a little better towards each other lately, but Harmony and Dawn would still constantly fight about stupid things. Buffy then felt nervous when she heard the doorbell ring and knew it was Spike. She took a deep breath and left the room, heading downstairs.
Both girls watched her go in trepidation.
Dawn took another good look at the outfit that Buffy was wearing. “Can I borrow that skirt?”
Harmony grinned. “I knew you would come around,” she said and secretly hoped that Spike would like her sister’s transformation.
* * * * *
“Bloody hell,” Spike commented, his eyes perusing her body in wonder.
“Is that good or bad?”
Spike licked his lips. “It’s definitely good. You look amazing, love. What’s with the sudden change?”
Buffy grabbed her jacket and made her way out of the house, closing the door behind her. She shrugged and got into his car. “I just wanted to try something different. Harmony talked me into it.”
Spike rolled his eyes and got in on his side, then started the car up and pulled out of the driveway. “I should have known. You look great, but you don’t have to change who you are. You would look gorgeous in anything, including the sweats that you always wear. You didn’t have to change to impress me.”
Buffy shook her head. “I actually think I did it for me. I’ve always been plain and I wanted to be sexy for once. You may have thought I always was, but I never did. I never looked into the mirror and thought I was pretty, but I actually did today for the first time ever. It felt really nice. I’m not saying that I’m going to make a habit of it, but one night couldn’t hurt.”
He smiled and grasped her hand, placing a kiss on the back of it. “No, it doesn’t. You may be dressed a little too fancy for where we’re going, though.”
Buffy raised her eyebrows. “How is this fancy? I would say slutty, not fancy.”
Spike glanced at her when he stopped at a red light. “You’ll just have to wait and see, and there’s nothing slutty about you.”
Buffy pouted at the first part, but found herself smiling at the second. She always hated surprises, but was positive that Spike wouldn’t disappoint.
* * * * *
“I can’t believe you did this,” Buffy said when they finally arrived at their destination. Spike brought her to a farm a little out of Sunnydale, where she could see a lot of animals running around. It reminded her of the farm where her grandfather lived. She used to always visit there when she was younger.
“You do still like horses, right?”
Buffy nodded and looked around the place once she got out of the car. “Yeah, ever since I was a little girl. I used to love riding horses.”
Spike nodded as well and pulled her over to the stables. “I know, you told me.”
She was about to respond, when she noticed a young woman brushing a horse.
The woman noticed them and a smile graced her lips. “Spike, it’s great to see you again,” she said, giving him a hug.
“Same to you, love,” he replied and pulled out of the embrace after a moment, then turned back to Buffy. “This is, Tara. She’s a friend. Tara, this is Buffy,” he introduced them.
Buffy gave her a smile. “It’s nice to meet you.”
Tara nodded and smiled in return. “Likewise, Spike has told me a lot about you.”
Buffy wasn’t expecting that and stared at Spike.
“I’ve been coming up here a lot.”
She nodded and accepted his answer.
Tara focused back on the horse that she was brushing earlier. “Well, this one is ready if you want to take him for a run. I would be careful, though. He loves to go fast.”
Buffy smiled and moved closer to the horse, running her fingers through his mane.
He nuzzled her hand with his nose.
Buffy giggled and glanced back at Tara. “What’s his name?” she asked, turning her concentration back on the horse.
“We call him Lightning, but don’t let that scare you. He’s really very gentle.”
Spike smiled and watched Buffy get acquainted with Lightning. He knew that she would love it there.
“Hey, boy. You’re really very handsome, you know that?” she said to the horse and was rewarded when he nuzzled her hand again. “I could really ride him?” she asked Tara, who only nodded.
Buffy’s smile faded when she realized something. “Yeah, I really shouldn’t have worn this,” she said and looked down at her outfit, deciding that it wouldn’t be very easy to ride a horse in a leather skirt.
Tara waved her hand in the air like it was no problem. “Don’t worry; I have some comfortable pants you can change into. I’ll be right back,” she explained, then walked away.
Buffy gazed at Spike. “I really like her. How do you two know each other?”
He had a feeling she would ask that. “We dated for a little while last year. It didn’t really work out.”
Buffy was surprised that Tara was one of his ex-girlfriends. “Why didn’t it work out?” she wondered.
“Tara’s a great girl and we really had fun together, but we just had different interests. Okay, let me rephrase that. We had one very similar interest.”
Buffy didn’t understand how that was a good enough reason to break up with someone. “What would that be?”
He gave her a smile. “We both like women.”
Buffy’s eyes widened. “Oh, well that would do it. When did she find out?”
Spike shrugged and started to pet Lightning as a distraction. “I’m not sure; it was probably when she realized that she wasn’t really attracted to me. Normally I would take offense to that, but when she told me that she was a lesbian, I started to fantasize about her with another woman. It all seemed better after that.” He laughed when Buffy hit him on the arm.
“You’re such a guy,” she claimed, wrinkling her nose at his comment.
“Well, that is one of my many good qualities.”
Buffy rolled her eyes, but couldn’t help the smile that formed on her face.
Tara then came back out and saw the humor in their eyes. “Did I miss something?”
Buffy shook her head. “Nope, just Spike being a perv.”
Tara nodded in understanding. “That’s definitely nothing new. I wish you luck with him.”
Spike felt a little hurt.
Buffy just smiled and gave him a kiss on the cheek to ease his feelings.
Tara handed her the pants that she went to retrieve.
Buffy took them and made sure that Spike’s back was turned when she changed. He was complaining about it being nothing that he hasn’t seen before, but Buffy wasn’t having it.
Tara grinned at their banter. She could see the obvious love the two shared for each other and felt pleased that Spike found someone. He was a good guy and he really deserved it. Tara just wished that she could be that lucky. She still hoped that there was someone out there for her. Maybe she would find her one day.