Flash back 8 years ago
At the center for the homeless, it was already past midnight when Charles Gunn had turned off his computer and decided to head home. His older and stepsister Anne, and the rest of the volunteers had already gone several hours before him. He didn’t know why he had stayed longer than usual when he already knew that there was absolutely nothing he could do to ease the worries that coninued to plague his mind.
His day had gone from bad to worse; he almost came close to being fired from his day job at the Double Meat Palace for being late for the tenth time that month. Then he had to find out later that the Center for homeless kids that he and Anne had up and running for three years was being shut down.
With the eviction letter on his hand, he slowly approached his car with his mind in complete shambles. Tentatively, he tried to put his mind at ease, telling himself that they could head out to the mayor’s office first thing in the morning. They could probably beg for an extension of their lease until they could come up with a way to pay for the month’s rent.
He was about to insert the key on the ignition when a loud scream pierced through his addled brain. His heart pounded in apprehension, knowing fully well that several mugging incidents had occurred at an alley near his office for the past few months.
Quickly, he got out of his car and ran towards the source of the screams.
He was right. Fury boiled within him as he took sight of two young men assaulting what seemed to be helpless-looking old woman. One was holding a large knife while the other held the stolen purse.
“If you two boys know what’s good for you, you’ll hand back the old lady’s purse right now.”
The younger one scoffed. “Man, either you’re stupid or you’re on crack. There are two of us against you, pea brain! “
Gunn regarded them calmly. His father used to be a member of one of the gangsters that owned the harsh streets of L.A. His early years of living with him had taught him well to survive, mostly from people who wanted to do nothing but hurt his family. “ Trust me, kid. You wouldn’t want to deal with me. “
Just then, the boy with the knife lunged for his chest. He smoothly caught his hand and twisted it so hard that the boy instantly cried out in pain. “Ow!” the teen yelped.
Gunn took the knife. “And now for the purse.” He ordered the other.
As the teen started to hand him the stolen item, the woman’s cry in pain suddenly grabbed Gunn’s attention. And in the split second that he had turned, the two muggers had already been able to flee from him.
“Ma’am, are you okay?”
The old lady nodded. “Broke my leg, but I’ll be fine.”
Charles was about to run after the two guys when she stopped him. ““No! Just leave them.”
“ But your purse-“
“…is not important. I need to call my chauffer. Do you have a phone?”
“Yes, it’s back in my office. I’ll take you there.” He told her as gently placed one of her arms over his shoulder.
“Thanks.”
“Just curious on how you ended up here.”
“You mean what does an old lady like me doing in a place like this.”
He nodded.
“Well actually I came here to look for you.“
At his stunned reaction, she went on, ”Your name is Gunn, am I right?”
-End of flashback-
*********************
“ William?”
All eyes focused on Spike while their mind share the same thoughts. How did Glory knew William?
“W-wait a minute.” Tara interrupted.” William? You mean he’s THE William that I’ve been trying to reach all week?”
“You know him?” Charles asked Glory.
“Well, he’s-“
“I’m sorry ma’am but I don’t think we’ve met before.” Spike countered in a very poor attempt at an American accent.
Glory cocked an eyebrow at him,” You mean your name is NOT William?“
Spike cleared his throat. “Yes, my name IS William but you probably had me mistaken for some other bloke, I mean guy with the same name.”
“Are you sure?” Glory raised her brow in suspicion.
“Yes ma’am.”
”Then you have to accept my apology. It’s just…I could have sworn you look exactly like the one in the picture that had been sent to me.”
***************
“Well then. I guess we can all agree that we found the couple we are looking for.” Tara piped up as she turned to Spike and Buffy. ”So are you guys ok with it? To model for our ad?”
Spike started. ”Well you see, the thing is-“
“We’ll do it!” Buffy replied without pause.
“Will you excuse us please?” The bleached blonde told them with a false smile. At their nod, his arms went around Buffy to guide her into a corner.
“All right, what’s going on? We can’t model for them, Summers.” Spike pointed out.
“I know but I overheard Mr. Gunn and Lorne talking.” Buffy explained. “They said that only one couple postponed their wedding date and not only that. They were seriously considering Faith and her fiancé because they appear to be…more into it than us.”
“But, luv. Lorne said that there’s another hotel that we could check out tomorrow.”
“No.” She shook her head. ”I want this hotel.”
Spike heaved a big sigh of exasperation.“ All right. Suppose we stayed. They take our picture and then what? I’m sure that a certain guy named Riley Finn would have something to say about that as soon as he sees our picture in the magazine stand.”
“Since when did you start caring about what Riley would think?” She asked, crossing her arms on her chest.
He looked at her thoughtfully. “You’re right. I don’t and I never would, but-“
“I’ll just call them later on and cancel the reservation.”
“You’ll what?!!!” Spike looked at Buffy like she’d grown another head. “You’re still drunk aren’t you? You’re not making any sense, Buffy. I thought the whole idea of me pretending to be your fiancé was to snag this particular hotel for your wedding reception in the first place?”
”I know…I know.” She told seriously. “But the thing is, it’s not about the reception anymore. All my life, Spike, Faith always managed to grab the things that I like and win the competition I should’ve won. ” She looked at him pleadingly. “I know that once I cancel, they would automatically consider Faith. But to be able to beat her even just for a day is sort of a big deal for me. Please Will. This is really important to me. I’ll do anything to kick her ass this time around.”
“Even kiss me.”
“Yes. Even…kiss you.” She gave out a deep breath.
A smirk suddenly formed in Spike’s lips.
“What?” Buffy asked.
“You enjoyed it.”
Buffy opened and closed her mouth, not sure how to react.
“Well?” He asked.
“It’s all part of the act.” She told him lamely.
Spike chuckled. “So you’re telling me that all that groaning was part of the act?” He asked, his face once again getting dangerously closer.
Buffy swallowed hard. “Yes.” She wondered if he could hear the loud pounding sound in her chest.
“And the grinding… Was that part of the act too?”
And there it was. The expected blush. Each time it happens, his blood would race. Bugger. Now that they’ve really kissed, Spike was finding it even harder to resist touching her.
Buffy was about to make a very lame comeback when Tara came between them.
“I’m sorry to intrude, but the photographer is already waiting at the ballroom to take a few sample shots of you. I promise that it will only take a few minutes of your time.”
**********************
Buffy found herself staring in admiration as they opened the door that led to the hotel’s main banquet hall. Truth was, in all her life she’d only been to two wedding parties, but she could already tell that this particular ballroom was one of the best there is.
“This place is over a hundred years old.” Lorne informed the couple. “As far as I know, this hotel had already been passed on for three generations. And this particular ballroom, if I’m not mistaken, is just one of the two rooms in this hotel that had been kept at its original state.”
Whoa! Buffy and Spike thought in unison
The art and furniture surrounding the place emit an uncommon feeling of medieval atmosphere that centers on the richness of the family’s heritage. The cathedral ceiling, she noticed, were made out of beautifully designed stained glass. The sun coming through illuminates the colors that brought out the romantic atmosphere inside the room.
Enchanting, that’s how she would describe it. It looked more like a grand ballroom that one could find in a castle. Not that she’d already been inside one herself, this certainly reminded her of the hall in the Princess Diary movie. Already she could picture herself as the princess in a beautiful gown dancing in the arms of a handsome prince.
The last thought had prompted Buffy to steal a quick glance at Spike who appeared to be as equally enthralled as she was.
“If you think this looked great, wait till you see this.” Lorne told them excitedly as he opened one of the doors that led to a huge veranda, overlooking a cascading waterfall.
“Oh wow!“ Buffy covered her mouth in amazement.
Without thinking, Buffy grabbed Spike’s hand and led him towards the captivating scenery. She giggled excitedly. “ Oh Will, I bet that you haven’t seen anything this beautiful in your entire life!”
Spike took in the awesome sight and found himself being drawn to her more than ever. The warm feeling and the light fluttery sensation within his heart had nothing to do with the amazing view before him at all.
Like a movie in slow motion, the number of emotions flickered on her face had him frozen to his spot - amused and mostly intrigued. He couldn’t figure which had him fully captivated the most. Was it the way the sun shone brightly against her long wavy blond hair? Or the way the way her eyes twinkled and smiled at the scene before her? Simply beautiful, his brain mused. It was at that very moment that he realized that he could watch her forever like this. It’s been a while since he’d seen her really happy.
“I beg to differ, luv.”
There was something in the way that Spike said that made her turn.
Spike tried to gauge her reaction as her expression turned from happy to stunned in a second.
Buffy quickly recovered as an innocent girlish grin had suddenly overcome her features. She gave him a playful slap. “Stop messing around, Spike. I’m serious!”
At the sound of someone clearing his throat, they froze. The couple looked-up and found Tara with brunette-haired man looking at them with knowing grins.
“This is Warren.” Tara introduced. “ He’s the photographer who works for Something Blue Magazine. He and I will be working with you on those sample photo shoots.”
“Does that mean that your hotel manager is done for the day?” Buffy’s question earned a disapproving look from Snyder.
“He is.” Tara told them. “I’ll be taking over. ”
“ Good.”
************
Spike sat on one of the tables in the ballroom while the photographer took solo shots of his Buffy by the veranda.
“Tell me William, why do you need to lie to her?”
Spike reluctantly detached his attention from Buffy to look into his grandma’s questioning eyes. He glanced at Lorne and Gunn having a chat by the bar. When he was sure that they were beyond earshot, he replied, “So what gave me away? Was it the funny American accent? And oh, please don’t tell me that I remind you of my da because there’s no way I’m gonna accept that. “
“The scar on your left eyebrow.”
“The scar? How did you-”
“The year before your mom died.” Glory began “We happened to talk about regrets in the past. She mentioned to me that the one thing she had never gotten over was the time when you were 5 years old and she forgot to turn off her curling iron in her bathroom.”
A hesitant grin began to form on his lips.” Mom told me how I used to drive her crazy all the time when I was a kid.”
“ Well you were just a curious little beaver back then. Tried to imitate your mom by curling your own hair as if it wasn’t already curly enough.” She added with a laugh.
Spike was going to ask what her regret was, but held it back instead. Even if he has tons of questions on his mind, he’d decided to let it slide. He can’t risk an argument with his grandma not when there are so many people are around.
Awkward silence filtered between them before he spoke, “You know what? It depends.”
“Huh?”
“You asked me a while ago why I lied and the answer to your question is- it depends.”
“Depends?” She cocked an eyebrow.
“Depends on which lie you were talking about.”
“I see…” Glory chuckled.
“Honesty doesn’t seem to run pretty well in the family, does it?”
At that, her smile immediately faded. “William.”
“I’m sorry.” He apologized. “I just don’t wanna change the way she sees me.”
“But that’s where you are wrong. Most girls would-”
“Buffy is not most girls.” He quickly intercepted, not liking the fact that he’s already revealing too much to a person who’s practically a stranger to him, even if they’re related. He attempted to change the subject.“ I didn’t know that you own this hotel.”
“This happens to be one of the first ones our family owned. You will find that the staff is easy to manage. Gunn is a nice young fellow who will assist you-”
“I don’t mean to be rude but why are you telling me all this?”
Glory chuckled. “Let’s not talk about that right now. Tell me, what other lie have you told your lovely fiancé “
“See, that’s the thing. She’s not my fiancé “
“What?”
Spike went to explain about their charade.
“So you’re not actually getting married?”
“We’re not.”
“But you wish you were.” Glory asked, sensing the sadness in him.
“Yes. I-I mean no.” He stuttered.
“So which one is it. Yes or no?”
“It’s complicated.”
Another chuckle. “If you say so.”
“I bloody well know so.” Strange. Is it me, or did I just had the similar conversation with Anya a few days ago.
“Hey, not arguing here.” Glory told him with her hands up in the air. “ I may be an old lady but I could still tell if my words of advice are not wanted.”
“ Look, I’m sorry...again.” Spike looked at her guiltily. “Is it okay for me to call you Grams when we’re alone?”
“You could call me grams anytime you want.”
Spike smiled at that. “Does that mean that we’re out of the ad campaign?”
“I guess so.” Glory told him. “ Where are you going?” she asked when she saw him stand-up.
“To end the photo shoot. There’s no point wasting your time and the rest of the crew's when we’re obviously not the couple you're looking for."
“Wait!” Glory approached him. “ It’s okay. Just go along with it. Technically this hotel will be yours weeks from now anyway. And besides, there’s no point avoiding the inevitable.”
Spike’s eyes went wide. “Grams, about the inheritance, I already told your lawyer that I don’t want to have anything to do with it.”
“I know. I’m still giving you some time to think about it, but that's not the ‘inevitable’ that I was telling you about.”
Spike followed the object of her stare, a ghost of a smile forming on his lips when it landed on Buffy.
TBC
A/N: I’m deeply moved from the number of reviews I received from my last chapter. You guys are really awesome. Thank you sooo much. All I can say right about the upcoming chapters is that things will start to get really interesting. When I say interesting, I meant to say Spuffy interesting.
I hope you guys liked my latest update. Please don’t hesitate to leave a review. They truly inspire me to write faster.
Thanks to my beta, Hotmomma M.B. for once again working on this chapter with me!
[Reviews - 589]
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Chapter or Story |
Chapter or Story | 
Chapter or Story
Has been viewed 3529 times
- Text Size +
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Chapter or Story |
Chapter or Story | Chapter or Story - Text Size +
Author's Chapter Notes:
N/A