Buffy glanced about the restaurant uncomfortably. This was definitely not what she had expected when Spike had suggested that he wanted to have a normal evening out. She had ruled out the Doublemeat Palace, but she had kind of figured they’d end up at the Bronze. This place had the same dim lighting, but that was about the only similarity it had to their regular hangout. She doubted her date would be ale to get his beloved flowering onion at Sunnydale’s most expensive French restaurant.
“Spike, are you sure you don’t want to hit the Bronze?” she asked scanning the menu. A few of the words made sense—French hadn’t been her strongest subject back in high school—but the prices glared out at her.
“No Bronze tonight, luv,” he gave her a little smile before taking a sip of his wine. It had been waiting at the table when they had arrived. Once again making her wonder how he was going to manage to pay for this extravagance. “Tonight is going to be special.”
“Not that I don’t appreciate it,” she replied carefully, “but, um, special seems extremely pricey. Can you really afford this?”
“Let the finances to me,” Spike insisted. “The bill’s been taken care of.”
“Please tell me you didn’t give them any kittens,” she sighed only have joking.
“No, luv, the Scoobies got this one taken care of,” he explained. “Dawn and Willow agreed with me that you needed a night out…”
“You took money from Dawn and Willow?” Her eyes narrowed angrily.
“It was a loan, and it was their idea,” he told her in his defense. “Besides, Xander donated too.”
“You got Xander to give you money to take me on a date?” She glanced at her companion suspiciously over the rim of her wine glass.
“Well,” he replied a smirk playing at the corner of his lips, “I believe Red told him it was to help you with your slaying duties.”
“You asked her to lie?”
“I didn’t ask her, pet,” he answered. “She came up with the idea on her own, and a relaxing night out will help you concentrate on the Slayage, right?”
“Well,” she spoke slowly considering his words. “I’m not exactly feeling all that relaxed at the moment, but I suppose it could help. But I’m sure you could have found someplace in Sunnydale that doesn’t ask for your first born for the appetizer.”
His smirk softened into an affection smile as his index finger ran lightly over the back of her hand. “Well, I suppose that’s true, but I wanted tonight to be special. Take you somewhere Captain Cardboard would never have thought of. And I’m curious, pet, what exactly had you so tense?”
She always felt tense and excited when he was around, but there was no way she was admitting that to him. Her cheeks flamed a bright shade of crimson as she lowered her head and focused her attention on the menu lying on the table before her.
“Tense? I’m not tense,” she told him with a nervous laugh.
***
“Well, um, thanks for everything.”
Buffy stood at the foot of the stairs, her hands twitching nervously as she debated on how to end their date. She really had had a good time. Their meal at the restaurant had been delicious and listening to Spike ordering French had been surprising. He had gotten around quite a bit in his hundred and twenty some years, so he was bound to have picked up a language or two. Still, it was odd to hear a foreign language pouring from his lips.
After their meal, they had taken a drive outside of Sunnydale and ended the evening sitting on the beach gazing at the stars. It wasn’t the public place Spike had mentioned when he had suggested their date, but it had actually been the most enjoyable part of their evening together. They had even had a conversation free of their usually jibes at each other, and the entire time Spike had kept his distance, not even attempting to hold her hand.
Now that they had returned home, she didn’t know what to do. It didn’t seem right to just run up the stairs. The thought of a good night kiss had crossed her mind, but after what had already transpired between them, that didn’t really seem right either.
“I had a good time,” she smiled uneasily. Could she possibly have thought of a more stupid thing to say?
“Yeah,” he replied softly. The look he gave her was the same as the one he had worn that night she had met him on the steps after Dawn had brought her home from the ruins of Glory’s tower. “Me too. Good night, Buffy.”
He stood there for a moment as if waiting for her to say something more. When she didn’t speak, he shrugged his shoulders and turned towards the living room. Still Buffy couldn’t make herself climb the stairs.
“Spike?”
“What, luv?” He stopped just inside the doorway, but kept his back towards her. She wished he’d turn around. It was hard to think under his piercing blue gaze, but holding a discussion with his back was even harder.
“I, um,” she paused a moment trying to decide on what to say. “You don’t have to sleep on the couch.”
Buffy had to remind herself to breathe while she waited. The words hung in the air, and she could have sworn she heard them echo. After what seemed like forever, Spike slowly turned to face her. He wasn’t smiling, and she could feel her heart drop in her chest.
“And where would I sleep then?” he asked his voice completely void of emotion.
“You could come upstairs,” she suggested with a small smile.
TBC…
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