Chapter 22
Buffy didn’t know what to think as she stared at Spike in a Santa Claus outfit.
He spoke to the boy in the elf costume next to him and said that he would be taking an early break. He then walked over to Buffy and pulled her away, so they could have some privacy. “What are you doing here?”
Buffy finally spoke after a few seconds. “I should be asking you the same question, but I guess it’s obvious what you’re doing here. Is this why you’ve been acting all weird?”
Spike took his Santa hat off and ran his fingers through his hair, then removed the beard.
Buffy once again thought about how cute he looked in the outfit. Red definitely looked good on him.
“I needed a part-time job and this was the only thing I could get.”
Buffy nodded, but there was something she still didn’t understand. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
He shrugged and thought about why he didn’t tell her. “I guess I was embarrassed. I was going to tell you, I just never found the right time. I didn’t want you to see me like this.”
Buffy was just really relieved to find out that Spike wasn’t cheating on her. She should have known that he would never do that. “Spike, you didn’t have to be embarrassed. You could have told me. I mean, you look really good in that outfit. Do you get to keep it?”
Spike laughed and rolled his eyes. “No, but I’m really glad you’re okay with this. I just didn’t have any money for gifts this year and I wanted to get you something special. The good news is that I’ll only have to keep at this for a few more weeks. It’s bloody hot in this thing.”
Buffy smiled and gave him a peck on the lips. “You still look incredibly sexy.”
Spike wiggled his eyebrows and gave her a longer snog.
A throat being cleared forced them to break the kiss.
Spike pulled away to look at the irritated elf behind him. He sighed and turned back to Buffy. “I should get back to work now. I’ll see you later, love.”
Buffy nodded and gave him one more kiss. “Yeah, I’ll tell you what I want then,” she said with a smile.
“Will you sit on my lap?” he responded, leering at her.
Her smile grew even bigger. “You can count on that,” she replied with a wave, then went to find her sisters.
Spike watched her go and turned back to the elf, who couldn’t stop staring at her backside.
“Dude, your girlfriend’s hot.”
Spike glared at the man. “Eyes off, mate.”
He raised his hands in surrender.
Spike only rolled his eyes and got back to work. He couldn’t wait for the day to be over.
* * * * *
“So, that’s what you guys wanted to show me? You could have just told me instead of making me come here.”
Dawn nodded. “Yes, but this way was much more fun.”
Harmony didn’t even seem to be paying attention to them. She was looking off in the distance. “Does anyone else agree that Spike looks damn good dressed like Santa?” she said and noticed the expressions on both of their faces. “I’m just saying. Don’t worry, I’m totally over him. He’s not really my type, anyway.”
Dawn rolled her eyes.
Buffy didn’t have anything to say to that.
Harmony’s attention then focused on something else.
Buffy turned to see what her sister was staring at and saw Cordelia Chase. She guessed that things still weren’t good between them. They had been friends practically since the beginning of high school. It was weird not seeing them together all the time.
Harmony took a deep breath when the brunette headed in their direction.
She stood in front of them and looked like she didn’t know what to say. “Hey,” was all she managed to get out.
Harmony was just glad that she said something. “Hey, how are things going?”
Cordelia shrugged. “Not so great. I’m not with Angel anymore.”
Harmony felt even worse for her actions. “I’m really sorry. I hope you guys didn’t break up because of me. It didn’t mean anything.”
Cordelia let out a sigh. “It wasn’t because of you. Things just haven’t been working out with us lately. I told myself that he would change, but it doesn’t look like that will be happening. He didn’t just sleep with you. I found out that he has been cheating on me with Darla Thompson for a few months now. I couldn’t be with him anymore after that. She’s a major whore, there’s no telling what diseases I would get.”
Harmony was shocked and had no idea. “I’m sorry, he was a jerk anyway. You deserve better than that, Cordy.”
Cordelia gave a small smile and realized that she missed her friend. “Thanks, you wanna get out of here? I would suddenly rather be elsewhere.”
Harmony thought about it and then looked at both of her sisters, who have been quiet since the other girl walked over to them. “I’m with my sisters right now. We had more shopping to do.”
Buffy and Dawn were stunned that Harmony would rather spend time with them instead of Cordelia.
“That’s fine; could I hang with you guys then?” she wondered.
They all nodded.
Cordelia smiled as they started to walk away in silence. She spoke again a few seconds later. “Did you guys check out that Santa? You can tell he has a nice ass under all those clothes. I wonder who it is.”
Buffy and Dawn tried not to laugh.
Harmony grinned at her friend. “That ass belongs to Buffy,” she said and gave her sister a wink.
Cordelia was confused. “Okay, I have a feeling I missed something here.”
They nodded again as they continued their shopping.
* * * * *
“Damn, I never knew Santa was so hot.”
Spike turned around at the familiar voice that he hadn’t heard in a while. He was finally ready to go home when she appeared. “Faith?” he said in astonishment.
She gave him a huge smile. “What? You don’t have a hug for your old girlfriend?”
Spike returned her smile and went to do just that. He lifted her off of the ground a little in the process.
She laughed at his antics.
Spike then put her down and still couldn’t believe that she was there. He hadn’t seen her since he left England all those years ago. “What are you doing here?”
Faith shrugged and pulled on his beard. “I figured I would look you up; see what you’ve been doing. Besides, London was starting to bore me. I see you’re doing pretty well,” she said, looking him up and down. “I’m not even gonna ask.”
Spike was grateful for that. “How did you know where I was?” he wondered and got a good look at her. She still looked the same as he remembered, not much for change.
“I stopped by your house and Giles was kind enough to let me know. So, you happy to see me?”
Spike wrapped his arms around her again and nodded. “You have no idea,” he whispered and couldn’t remember ever being so happy to see anyone. He knew Faith since childhood and they were always so close. He didn’t realize how much he missed her, until now. They still kept in touch, but it wasn’t the same. Spike then grabbed her hand and walked out of the mall. They had a lot of catching up to do.