Chapter 3
Buffy was in her room and staring out the window. She had a nice view of Spike next door washing his car shirtless. She felt bad about watching him, but figured that it wasn’t a big deal if he never found out.
“What are you doing?”
Buffy pulled away from the window at Harmony’s voice. “Nothing,” she said shakily.
Harmony wasn’t convinced. She walked over to the window and noticed what had her sister’s attention. “Are you kidding me? You actually have a thing for Spike? You must be crazy if you think he would ever notice you. That’s really pathetic, Buffy.”
She tried not to let her words hurt. “I wasn’t looking at him.”
Harmony laughed and shook her head. “Sure you weren’t. If I had that view, I would be looking all day. You’re wasting your time. I happen to know that Spike is into me.”
Buffy really dreaded asking her next question, but she was curious. “How do you figure that?”
Harmony rolled her eyes at how dense her sister could be sometimes. “Not that it’s any of your business, but Megan told me. She overheard Spike talking about me. Her brother goes to UC Sunnydale with him. She just happened to be around at the time to listen to one of their conversations. Apparently he’s crazy about me. He wants to ask me out, but he’s not sure how. I decided to make it easier for him. I plan on making my move at Cordy’s party, so you better stay out of my way. You would only get hurt. I mean, it’s obvious that Spike has feelings for me. You can tell by the way he looks at me, and he’s always coming over here. He probably didn’t know how to talk to me before because I was so into Ryan. I knew a good thing would come out of the idiot breaking up with me. I’ll tell people that I dumped him, of course. I need a real man, anyway.” Harmony stopped to look back out the window, only to see Spike stretching now. She licked her lips at the sight of his muscles. “Yeah, Spike definitely qualifies.” She then glanced away to notice the hurt expression on Buffy’s face. “Sorry, little sister. You really didn’t have a chance, anyway,” she finished, then left the room.
Buffy turned back to the window to see that Spike was no longer there. She sighed and looked away. Her sister already gets everything. Why did she have to get the one guy that Buffy liked?
* * * * *
“She is such a bitch.”
Buffy looked up at her sister. “Watch your language, Dawn.”
She rolled her eyes. “Come on, you know she is. Harmony thinks she’s so perfect. You’re way hotter than she is.”
Buffy gave Dawn a small smile of gratitude. “At least I can count on you to make me feel better, even if you’re lying.”
Dawn sat down next to Buffy on her bed and could tell that her sister was near tears. She then wrapped her arms around the older girl and tried to give her what little comfort she could. “It’ll be okay, Buffy. Spike wouldn’t really fall for her. He has better sense than that.”
Buffy shook her head and wiped her eyes. “I really wish I could believe that. I guess it was stupid to think that he would ever be interested in me. I actually thought he always came over here to see me, but it was to see her this whole time. God, I feel so stupid,” she said and buried her head in her hands.
Dawn patted her on the back. A grin soon found its way onto her face. “You wanna move on to phase two? Making Harmony’s life miserable should cheer you up.”
Buffy gave a tiny smile when she removed her hands. “As tempting as that is, it’s probably not a good idea. Mom would be even more pissed at us.”
Dawn nodded and continued to rub her sister’s back. “She’ll get what’s coming to her, Buffy. I have a feeling this whole thing is gonna blow up in her face.”
Buffy looked at Dawn in confusion. “What makes you so sure?”
She shrugged. “I’m usually good at that sort of thing. I may only be fifteen, but I’ve been told that I’m very wise beyond my years.”
Buffy managed to laugh a little at her comment. “Yeah, you’re right about that. Thanks for trying to cheer me up, Dawny. I’m glad someone is on my side.”
“I’d have to be crazy to take Harmony’s side. I still think she’s adopted.”
Buffy had to agree. “You’re not alone in that.”
They both then just continued to sit there in silence.
* * * * *
Buffy headed outside after dinner to get away from Harmony. She was on the phone bragging to another one of her ditzy friends about how she planned on seducing Spike. It wasn’t something Buffy really cared to hear. She wrapped her arms around herself and realized that it was colder than she thought. She was about to walk back inside to grab a jacket, when she noticed Spike come over to her.
He gave her a smile and handed her the leather jacket that he was holding. “Saw you out here, figured you could use this.”
Buffy smiled in return and took the jacket from him. She put it on and was surprised by how well it fit her. It was like he bought it for her. She quickly banished that thought and realized it was crazy to think about.
“So, why are you out here on such a cold night?” he wondered.
“It’s colder inside the house,” she replied, referring to Harmony more than the actual cold, but he didn’t need to know that. “I just needed to get out for a bit.”
Spike nodded in understanding and stood next to her on the steps.
They were both silent and just gazed up at the sky, then noticed a shooting star.
Buffy was mesmerized by it. “Cool, I’ve never seen one before.”
“You should make a wish,” he practically whispered in her ear.
Buffy shivered and shook her head. “What would be the point? I never get what I want.”
Spike moved closer to her, if that was even possible. “Well, there’s a first time for everything.”
Buffy felt a little nervous at his close proximity. “Did you make a wish?” she suddenly asked.
Spike smiled. “I don’t need to.” He started to walk away.
“Wait, you forgot your jacket.” She was about to take it off, until Spike spoke again.
“You keep it. It looks better on you, anyway,” he responded, then headed back to his house.
Buffy watched him go and had to smile at what he said. Things were starting to look a little better.