Chapter 20
Buffy ran into Dawn’s room, with a huge smile plastered on her face.
“I’m not pregnant,” she said excitedly.
Dawn was glad to hear that as well. “Really?” she wondered.
Buffy nodded. “I have never been so happy to get my period.” She knew that a huge weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. She had been worried for days about the fact that she could be pregnant, but was so relieved to realize that she wasn’t. Buffy did want kids, but definitely not when she was still in high school. Now, she could finally enjoy the holidays without being worried about a baby. Her and Spike would have to be a lot more careful from now on. Buffy didn’t tell him about the possibility of her getting pregnant. She figured there was no use worrying him unless she knew for sure. Speaking of Spike, she wondered where he was. She hadn’t seen much of him the last week and hoped that everything was okay.
* * * * *
“So, are we doing anything this weekend?” Buffy asked her boyfriend when she finally saw him the next day.
He only shook his head. “I can’t this weekend. I have a whole lot of school work to do. I’ve been neglecting my studies recently.”
Buffy had a feeling that he was keeping something from her. Spike would never choose to study over spending time with her. She knew that school was important, but he hadn’t been around much the last few nights and she was starting to get lonely without him. “Maybe we can just go to a movie or something. That shouldn’t take so long. Come on, Spike. I feel like I haven’t seen you in a while, one movie couldn’t hurt.”
Spike didn’t look like he would be agreeing with her. “I said I can’t, all right? Just leave it, Buffy. I have things to do. We can do something next week.”
Buffy flinched at the tone of his voice and was really getting worried now. “Are you okay?”
Spike sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. He then wrapped his arms around her and planted a kiss on the top of her head. “I’m sorry, baby. I just really have to get my work done. I’ll be spending most of the day at the library tomorrow. I just don’t have time for anything else right now. I promise I’ll make it up to you.” He pulled away and gave her a pout.
She smiled and couldn’t resist when he did that. “Okay, we can do it another time.”
Spike smiled in return and pressed a quick kiss to her lips. “I won’t be home until pretty late tonight. I promised I would help Xander with something,” he explained, giving her one more kiss before leaving her house.
Buffy watched him go and still couldn’t help feeling that something was wrong.
* * * * *
“I know what you’ve been doing.”
Spike stopped at the sound of Harmony’s voice. “Were you waiting for me to leave?”
She shrugged and moved closer to him. “I couldn’t talk to you with Buffy around. I saw you the other day, Spike. Do you really think you can keep this from her?”
Spike clenched his fists at his side and had to keep reminding himself that it was wrong to hit a woman. “You can’t tell her. I’m not ready for her to know yet,” he said in an almost pleading voice.
“I won’t be telling her, you will. She has a right to know why her boyfriend has been lying to her. Buffy’s not stupid, she’ll figure it out. It would probably be better if she found out from you.”
Spike knew she was right and hated to think that. He couldn’t believe how much Harmony had changed in only a few days. “I will tell her, I just need some time. This is nothing I’m really proud of.”
Harmony nodded and accepted his answer.
“I have to go,” Spike told her and walked away, heading to his destination. He was going to be late now.
* * * * *
Buffy walked to Xander’s apartment and knocked on the door. It wasn’t like she was checking up on Spike. She trusted him completely, but he had been acting a little weird lately. She just wanted to make sure everything was okay, and maybe Xander knew something that she didn’t. Buffy knocked again and there was still no answer. She then turned the doorknob to find that it was unlocked, so she entered the apartment and looked around. She finally heard something that came from the bedroom and went to check it out. She realized that the door wasn’t closed all the way and really was not prepared for the sight in front of her.
“Oh god, I’m so sorry,” she said quickly and clapped her hands over her eyes.
Xander was startled when he noticed her there and covered himself up, along with the girl in bed next to him. “Buffy, what are you doing here?”
She shook her head. “I knocked, but there was no answer. Sorry, I shouldn’t have come in.”
“That’s okay; you can look now. We’re not completely decent, but I promise you won’t be scarred for life.”
“I think it’s a little too late for that,” she mumbled and finally removed her hands, relieved to see both of them covered. “I’m really sorry,” she said again.
“It’s not a problem. It was my fault; I should have locked the door. This is Anya, my girlfriend. We met about a month ago. This is Buffy, she’s dating Spike,” he claimed, making the introductions.
Buffy smiled at the other woman. “It’s nice to meet you.”
Anya nodded and looked back at Xander. “Is she going to be here long? You promised me more orgasms.”
Xander blushed at his girlfriend’s bluntness that he still wasn’t used to.
Buffy was just shocked and didn’t know what else to say.
He then got up to get dressed.
Buffy turned around, so she wouldn’t see anymore of his nakedness.
Xander glanced at Anya after putting his clothes on and kissed her forehead. “I’ll be back in a second.”
She didn’t look pleased, but nodded anyway.
Xander walked out of his room.
Buffy moved out of the way.
He shut the door and turned his attention on her. “So, what can I help you with?”
Buffy tried to forget what she just saw and got to the reason of why she was there. “I was just looking for Spike. I thought he was here.”
Xander seemed to be confused and shook his head. “I haven’t seen Spike in a couple of days. Why did you think he was here?”
Buffy didn’t know what to think now. “He told me that he would be here. Maybe I heard him wrong.”
Xander nodded in agreement. “Yeah, that’s probably it.”
Buffy gave him a small smile. “Sorry again for walking in on you. I’ll just be going now,” she said, then headed out of the apartment. She was beyond worried at this point. It was one thing for Spike to be acting weird, but something had to be really wrong if he would lie to her. Buffy just wished that she knew what it was.