Buffy cringed at the tinny sound of the tiny bell over her head as the door to the Magick Shop swung shut behind her. It still hurt to visit the shop knowing Giles wasn’t there. With everything that had happened in the past couple of months, she had been rather preoccupied to give much thought about her absentee Watcher, but that didn’t mean she missed him any less. Every time she came to the shop part of her always expected Giles to come strolling out of the back, nosed buried in some musty old volume of demon lore, ready to tell her about her latest enemy.
The shop was empty, save for Anya behind the counter engaged in one of her favorite pastimes—counting the money from the register. Buffy still had a few reservations about the whole Xander and Anya wedding thing, but she knew with Anya handling the checkbook, her friends would never be hurting financially!
“Good morning, Buffy,” Anya greeted placing her hand protectively over the money on the counter.
“Hey,” Buffy returned her smile as she took a seat on one of the stools by the counter. She knew it was just Anya’s miserly personality, but she couldn’t help but feel offended by the way she was stuffing the bills back in the register.
“What can I do for you today?”
“Look, Anya,” the Slayer sighed. How many times was she going to have to do this? “I’m really sorry for what Dawn did.”
“Well, I would hope so,” Anya broke in pushing the cash register door shut. “It was really a horrible thing to do after all I did for her over the summer, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s illegal too.”
She decided to let that one lie. Anya had been running the whole “stealing is wrong” issue into the ground ever since they had discovered the stolen items in Dawn’s room. They really didn’t need the police involved, not with a caseworker breathing down her neck just waiting for her next screw up.
“Anya,” Buffy said sharply, “Dawn knows it’s wrong. We had a long talk, and she’s very sorry. She’s going to make it up to you.”
The ex-demon’s features brightened at the mention of reimbursement. “Well, if she’s willing to pay for what she took…”
“Well, we really don’t have the money to pay for it,” she looked down at her hands folded together on the edge of the counter. She wondered if it was possible for one day in her life to go by without her having to worry about finances.
“The how do you plan on paying for what she took?” Anya asked.
“I…I thought she could work off what she owes you,” she suggested. “She can work here a couple of hours after school till Willow can get out of class and take her home.”
“Well,” she looked at the Slayer thoughtfully for a moment, “I guess that would be okay, as long as she doesn’t take anything else.”
“She won’t” Buffy promised. “Anya, there’s something else I wanted to ask you.”
“What? Is it about the wedding? I really hope so,” she smiled at the thought of discussing her third favorite topic after sex and money. “With all the excitement on your birthday, I haven’t gotten to plan anything in nearly two days!”
“Actually, it’s not about the wedding,” the blond answered slowly. “It’s about Halfrek.”
“Halfrek? What about her?” Anya’s forehead creased in confusion. “It was not really her fault. I mean, I was angry too, but Dawn really should have thought before she just started wishing willy nilly.”
“I’m not upset with her,” Buffy responded. “It’s just that she called Spike William.”
“Well, that’s his name isn’t it?” Anya asked.
“Yeah, I suppose so,” she agreed, “but how did Halfrek know that? It was like they knew each other.”
“Maybe they do,” Anya replied with a shrug.
“But how?” Buffy pushed.
“I don’t know,” the ex-demon eyed the Slayer suspiciously. “They’ve both been around for a while, maybe they met somewhere along the line. Maybe Spike made a wish…”
“A wish?” Buffy repeated more to herself than to Anya. She supposed it was possible that the vampire could have wished for something. It could have been a very reasonable explanation for what had happened between them. Under normal circumstances, she would have never let him kiss her much less make…do what they had done together.
“There was that whole thing with Drusilla,” Anya pointed out. “He could have wanted revenge on her. We usually only answer mortals’ wishes, but Halfrek does like to dabble a bit. Why are you so interested anyway?”
“What?” she gasped. Had she been that obvious? “Me? Interested in Spike? No interest there, what so ever. It was just professional curiosity, that’s all. Listen, I’ve got to go.”
Buffy jumped from the stool so quickly it nearly tipped over and walked quickly towards the door. She kept her gaze focused on her destination, refusing to look at the girl behind the counter. Anya’s suspicions were already dangerously close to the truth without the look in Buffy’s eyes confirming them.
“Are you alright?” Anya called out as the Slayer opened the door.
“Yeah, fine,” she growled over her shoulder as the door clicked shut behind her.
^^^^^^^^^^^^
“Spike?” Buffy growled as she stalked into the crypt. She had really hoped to avoid him, but this had to be done.
“Buffy,” Spike said from one of the darker corners of the crypt. “And what do I owe this pleasant surprise to?”
“There’s nothing pleasant about this,” she gave him her nastiest glare which wasn’t easy considering the view provided by the open red shirt he wore. How she wished for his trademark t-shirts back!
“I seem to remember you liked it that way, luv,” he teased with a cocky grin.
“Stop it!” she shook her head angrily to force her attention away from his tongue as it ran lightly over his lower lip. “I am not here for that!”
“Then what are you here for?” he asked slowly crossing the distance between them.
Buffy felt her body tense as he approached. She forced herself to hold her ground even though the look in his blue eyes made her want to melt inside.
“It’s over!” she blurted out as he came to a stop only a few inched separating them.
“Over?” he laughed softly as he trailed his cold fingers over her cheek and down her throat to rest lightly against the erratic pulse beat at the base of her neck. “I’ve heard that one before.”
“Well, I mean it this time!” she snarled jerking away from the vampire’s touch. “We can’t do this anymore…I can’t do this anymore!”
“But yet you keep coming back for more,” he raised is hand to cup her breast his lips curving into a smile as she leaned into his touch in spite of herself.
“That’s going to end right now,” she gasped taking a large step backwards. “This is wrong, and you know it! I need to take care of my sister…my friends. I can’t keep ignoring them.”
“If you were honest with them,” he replied sharply. “Then you wouldn’t have to sneak around behind their backs…”
“They will never know,” she spat. “You’re a vampire, Spike. I could never love you!”
“Let’s not go there again!” he fought hard not to yell. “We already know you have nothing against loving vamps!”
“That was different…”
“Yeah, yeah,” Spike sighed, “spare me the whole soul lecture! Look me in the eye and tell me you don’t love me. I’ll make it easier on you, just tell me you don’t feel something for me.”
“I…I,” Buffy quickly averted her eyes and started for the door. “I can’t love you, Spike. You’re and evil, soulless killer, and Dawn needs me. It’s over.”
With that parting insult, she rushed outside slamming the crypt door with a loud clang behind her. Buffy slumped back against the cold steel door expelling the air from her lungs in one long gasp. The sunshine was nearly glaring after the dimness inside Spike’s crypt, and she was glad for it. If it weren’t for the daylight, he would have followed her right out into the cemetery and continued badgering her. She could hear him moving about behind the door, and nearly jumped when he raised his voice calling out a name. She swore under her breath as she cross the cemetery. She was not angry, or so she kept telling herself. There was no reason for her to get angry just because Spike had called out a woman’s name and it wasn’t hers.
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