Author's Chapter Notes:
I really hope everyone's still liking this story--interest seems to have gone down over the last few chapters....Really do want you to continue enjoying it (and not just because I've already written it :P)
Chapter 13



This whole having a sex only relationship would have been easier, Buffy thought, if her mother wasn’t so intent on treating William like her son. He was her husband's brother but she was treating him much more like a son; maybe it was the age difference, the fact that he was much closer to Buffy's age than Giles', or maybe it was the fact that Spike was in such a sad position.

She was going to go with the first option because William seemed to have been fine whenever she talked to him, and she wasn't going to do any more thinking as to why that was.

As far as Buffy was concerned, Spike was doing perfectly fine and didn't need any help from them—at all. For all she cared, he could move back to England.
Or so she told herself.

And she did tell herself just that, over and over again during the lunch that Joyce had set up for the four of them.

And wasn't that just a 50s sitcom waiting to happen? You know, she realized again, minus the fact that two of us are fucking each other…well, and Mom and Giles—she didn't let herself finish that thought, refusing to think about her mother and sex.

She had managed to avoid William all day, or for the five and a half hours of it that had passed since they'd woken up. The avoiding was something that she was thankful for. For some reason she wasn't quite ready to face him yet, which was why the lunch invitation had been met with something other than joy—something very other.

Her mother was obviously intent on the whole familial bonding thing. And from what was happening, Buffy guessed that it was going to start immediately. Oh joy!
The entire situation was a lot easier to deal with when it wasn't constantly being thrown in her face that Spike was her father's brother.

Buffy wasn't exactly a good little Christian girl, or even a good girl minus the Christian part, but even she was more than a little squicked by the idea of sleeping with her uncle.

Which was why he was going to be referred to as her 'step-father's half brother' from now on—in her head and otherwise.

"Oh dear," Joyce said as William met her on the outside patio where she'd laid their lunch out already. He looked exhausted, positively worn out. "Buffy didn't keep you up last night, did she?"

William didn't know how to answer that one.

"I know she used to snore when she was younger, I’d hoped that was done with by now. I'd hate for you to lose sleep because of it."

Deciding not to lie, he just answered the second part of her statement, "No, Buffy doesn't snore anymore."
"Must just be the jet lag then," Joyce murmured sympathetically.

"Must be," he agreed quietly as he noticed that Buffy was coming to join them.

She was trying to look chipper and awake--and happy. But William could see beneath the carefully applied make-up and the facade it provided; she looked as worn out as he did.

Which strangely, perversely, he was glad for. It meant that she wasn't as unaffected by their night together as she wanted him to believe--as she wanted to believe.

"Morning, Buffy," He said as nonchalantly as he could. "Nice to see you this morning, luv. Hope you had a good night's sleep."

If it hadn't been for that last part, Buffy would have sworn that he was being civil, that he'd accepted everything she'd declared that morning...but since he did say the last part, and with a wink no less, she decided that he was just positively evil, no two ways about it.

"Actually, I didn't sleep so well." Two could play this game, Buffy was coming to realize. "Wasn't really...comfortable...didn't feel so good."

'Ooh, you're playing with fire, kitten,' Spike thought, but he wasn't going to give in that easily. "Really? When I saw you, you looked like you were feeling really good--err I mean well," he pretended to correct himself.

"Guess it was just how things looked, then. I can be a pretty good actress if need be," she returned icily. It wasn't fair that he was always beating her at this. "Guess you just don't know me...to know that."

"That's right," he admitted, unfazed. "I don't know
you...yet. But I plan on getting to know you real well, pet. Just you wait and see. I am living with you after all." He threw in the smile for Rupert and Joyce's benefit, realizing their little quarrel was drawing attention.

"Right, but you know, I'm sure you'll have stuff to do during the day and since we have separate bedrooms and all, I'm sure we won't see too much of each other," Buffy couldn't help but add.

"Well of course you have separate bedrooms, no one expects you to be spending that much time together," her mother intoned. "But I do expect you to spend some time together"

"Yes, do be hospitable, Buffy," Giles added.
"Oh, Buffy's plenty hospitable," Spike told them, sounding to the two like he was coming to her defense when Buffy knew he had a whole other meaning behind the statement. "She just has to let herself do it."

"Very true, William," Rupert told him, happy to see that his brother and daughter were getting on so well.
"Would you all quit talking about me while I'm standing right here? It's aggravating!" Buffy knew it would seem like an overreaction to her parent's and by their looks it did, but Spike just laughed.

"Calm down, luv. We're just having a friendly conversation--that happens to be about you. No harm there."

"Well, quit it anyway," she grumbled, taking her seat at the patio table. "Aren't we going to eat? I thought this was supposed to be a family lunch."

"Yes, Buffy," her mother said patronizingly, "We can eat now. But," she added, stopping Buffy from thinking she'd gotten out of the conversation, "I really do wish you'd be nicer to William."

"Oh," Buffy practically seethed, Spike's nonchalant attitude, knowing smirks, and refusal to let her bother him finally getting to her, "I've been real nice to 'William'. Why don't you ask him about the 'nice' time we had last night?"

"Oh, really?" Giles asked, "What did you two do?"

Buffy waited expectantly for his answer, surprised when she didn't have to wait long and when, on top of that, he didn't even seem to bat an eye before answering.

"I thought it'd be nice just to spend some time together, you know learning about each other and all.

But Buffy wanted to play a game, so that's what we did. Silly bint thought I didn't know the rules, thought she was going to win. But I've got years of practice on her, been playing practically since she was born, I know all the rules--all the tricks too. I'm going to win--I mean, did win. I won our little game; was fun though," he added, smiling again at Buffy.






TBC.............Please review...and a big thank you to everyone who has so far--and for Panta for updating for me....Hope you'll review--and I'll try to get some new fics up soon :-)

I hope the spacing is all right, it kept taking thins out when I copy and pasted....


and if youd like to see just how deranged I can be: here's a fic Panta wrote with an idea I had/gave her http://www.spikeluver.com/SpuffyRealm/viewstory.php?sid=18810





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