“Spike, please don’t leave! I’m sorry…” Dru pleaded desperately after Spike who had angrily crossed the hall with ground eating steps to make his way to the exit.
In her hurry to keep up with him, she’d neglected to see the foot that Snyder had deliberately stuck out. Losing her balance, Dru gave out a big shriek as she ended up stumbling over the large cake in front of her.
The orchestra suddenly stopped playing as all eyes turned to the icing covered girl in the middle of the ballroom.
“Oh no, my cake…” Andrew whined from the sideline. “I spent an entire day working on it.”
“Look at it this way, Andrew. Your masterpiece has actually served the greater good.” Jonathan told him in an insightful tone. “You should be proud of yourself.”
+++++++++++
“What in the world is going on here?” Quentin turned to the direction where his guests were looking at. His eyes went wide when he saw his hardly recognizable daughter emerging from the big pile of cake. “Who did this? Who is responsible for this?”
“This bloody git tripped me!” Dru complained, pointing furiously at Snyder.
“No I didn’t.” Snyder tried to cover. “It was an accident.”
Feeling angry that his daughter had been humiliated in front of his peers, Mr. Thompson quickly approached Snyder and yelled. “This is bloody uncalled for! I demand to talk to the manager of this establishment!”
“Actually, uh you’re looking at him, Mr. Thompson. ” Andrew replied.
“Then give me the soddin’ VP or CEO” he demanded angrily. “I’m gonna have this man fired!”
“Mr. Charles Gunn is in a meeting, Sir.” Fred intervened. “But you could talk to the owner since he’s already standing behind you.”
Quentin quickly scanned the area behind him then retorted, “What do you mean he’s behind me? The only one I could see standing right behind me is my daughter’s insipid boyfriend, Spike Giles.”
Quentin’s eyes went wide as soon as he was able to grasp what the young lady was telling him.“Is this some bloody joke? Truly it is an insult if you people think that I’m going to believe even for one second that -”
“Yes, I’m the new owner.” Spike told the old man firmly. “And you’re not going to have me fire anyone.”
Quentin quickly retaliated. “Then I’ll sue the hotel. I’ll make sure this gets to the media and inform them of your crew’s incompetence. If you think that I’m just gonna sit back and let you humiliate me in front of …” Quentin outbursts were suddenly interrupted when one of his bosses’ assistant came to his side.
His eyes went wide and his face paled as soon as he got the message that Glory O’ Connor happens to own a large stock of their company.
“What’s wrong?” Dru asked worriedly.
Quentin ignored his daughter’s question and quickly addressed his apology to his guests.
“Daddy! Did you not see what the bloody git did to me?!!”
“Leave the man alone, Dru…”
“But Daddy…”
“You’ve caused enough trouble for me young lady. Your inexcusable behavior had almost cost me the most important thing I ever had in my life.”
“I thought I WAS the most important thing in your life.”
**************
“I’m gonna head out, Fred.” Spike said. “You sure you can handle it from here?”
“Absotively.” Fred chirped happily.
“Don’t mind us, sir…I mean Spike..sir.” Andrew told him.
“Just do what you need to do.” Jonathan added firmly.
“Thanks.” Spike said as he ran out of the hotel and set his mind to look for…
*************
Derek was lying on his bed, reading one of the comic books when there was a loud knocking on the door. “Okay! Okay! I’ll be right down. Just quit with the doorbell already, jeez!”
“Where’s the box?” Spike asked as he came into the house agitatedly.
“My sister’s not here!”
“I know that Derek.” He hissed, grabbing the lapels of his shirt.
“Ow, watch the shirt.” the teen whined.
“Your sister has something that belongs to me and right now I’m in A crappy mood. So you’d better tell me where the bloody box is!”
“W-what box are you talking about?”
‘”The one that you were fighting over with Dru, Damn it!”
“I..it’s upstairs in my room.”
*************************
“So did you check if you got everything, sweetie?” Joyce asked Buffy as she came down the stairs.
“Yeah I’ve checked everything.” Buffy said. “Twice…Like Santa would’ve done.”
“Are you sure you wanna do this?” Joyce asked. “I mean on top of the fact that you’re gonna miss 5 days of school, I think that it would be better if you stayed just in case Spike changed his mind.”
“I’ll only be gone for a week, mom.” Buffy assured her. “About Spike, I don’t think he’s ever going to change his mind, but I’m gonna be okay.”
“Are you all set, Buffy?” Hank asked.
“Yes, daddy.”
“Then we have to go if we want to make it to LA before midnight.”
“Okay, but I just need to do something first. I promise I’ll be quick.”
***************
When Joyce went to answer the door a few minutes later, she wasn’t surprised at all to see Spike waiting on the other side of it with his hair all messed-up and his tux somewhat out place. She knew that it was only a matter of time before the boy realized his mistake. She only wished that he could’ve realized it sooner.
“Hi Joyce.” Spike greeted restlessly. “I was wondering if Buffy’s here since she wasn’t at her dorm.”
“Hi Spike. Come in.”
But Spike clearly had no time for pleasantries. “Could you please tell me where I could find her?”
Joyce sighed deeply. “You hurt her.”
Looking down, Spike admitted guiltily. “I know… that’s why I need to talk to Buffy. Do you know where I could find her?”
“I think you know where to find her, Spike. She’s where she always felt the safest.”
Spike was thoughtful for a moment before he spotted the familiar painting on the wall behind Joyce. It was similar to the one they have in their home. Only this one has the little girl looking through the window instead of sitting on the swing. It wasn’t actually the first time that he’d seen it, but it never as much captured his attention until now. “I think I know exactly where she is.”
Hank’s head popped out of the kitchen as soon as Spike left the room. “I guess I’d better head out now.”
“But aren’t you gonna wait for Buffy?
“Nah. I’ll just call her as soon when I reach LA ” Hank replied knowingly. “Something tells me that she’s not gonna mind that at all.”
*********************
With a heavy heart, Buffy climbed up tree house and lingered a while longer that she should have. She didn’t know what made her go there. It’s been a while since she’d actually set foot on the place that had witnessed most of her childhood. And now that she’s actually there, she felt strangely calm and at ease.
She closed her eyes and saw herself all over again... as kid.
“But I didn’t mean to.”
“Told your mom yet?”
“No.”
“It’s okay. I’m pretty sure she’ll forgive you.”
“You think so.”
“I know so.”
“Really?”
“I swear on my nana’s grave.”
End of flashback
A soft smile spread across Buffy’s face. The image was so vivid in her head, she didn’t notice that she’d actually mouthed out loud her next reaction. “What do you have in your other hand, Will-yum?”
“Buffy?”
Buffy opened her eyes at the sound of the familiar voice from behind her. It turned big as soon as her mind registered who it belonged to.
With her heart hammering across chest, she slowly turned to find Spike standing before her. For a while, she seemed to have forgotten where she was and just let herself get lost into the depth of his darkened eyes before she noticed something else…What was he holding with his hand?
When she saw the familiar BW etching at the bottom, her breath got caught in her throat just as a memory of her younger-self quickly flashed through her mind.
Another quick flashback
Biting her lower lip. Buffy concentrated on finishing up her letter by doodling a B and W letter at the bottom. It doesn’t really matter that she’d overdone it a bit by enclosing it with a pink girly colored heart. She wasn’t going to give it to him anyway. She was just playing with the idea of giving it to Spike since it was him who had instilled such a silly idea of expressing ones feeling in the form of a letter.
He had asked her to write one for Dru and it had completely troubled her to no end. She couldn’t understand why he could not write the letter himself. For someone who happens to be good in writing poetries, writing a simple love letter should’ve been a breeze.
She’d intended to give the letter to Spike, but after giving it a long serious thought, like for two minutes, she’d decided to hold it off for now…or forever. All right, so she hasn’t actually made her decision yet since she couldn't make up her mind.
Boy, does her head hurt! She looked at the clock and it said 3 am.
“Better get my goodnight sleep.” She said before an uncontrolled yawn overcame her. Tucking herself into bed, she read what she had written for the very first time.
Dear William,
I’m not really good with letters so you’d better read everything before you start cracking up.
Dru’s beautiful…at least that’s what you keep saying. She’s perfect (on what book?) and effulgent as you mentioned on one of your poems but, I just feel that she’s the kind of girl who will just stomp all over your sentimental heart. She’s not the right girl for you. I’m saying this because I know you more than anybody else. I care about you, William…more than you know and I don’t ever want to see you hurt.
I love you…not just as a friend. I think I have for a long time and just didn’t know what I was feeling until recently. There, I said it. I know you’re probably laughing right now, thinking that I’m just a teenager with a crush. Go ahead. Laugh all you want, but please don’t let this letter change what we already have. I believe our friendship is way too precious and far too important to be destroyed by just a mere mindless rant from your foolish best friend.
There’s one more thing I need to ask from you though. If you feel the same way or think that there’s the tiniest possibility that you could learn to love me back, please hand me a single red rose on my 17th Birthday and if you don’t, just pretend you never read my letter. I prefer that you not mention about this ever. Don’t worry about me. I’d rather have you as my best friend than not become a part of your life at all.
Love,
Buffy
Her eyes quickly caught the initials of BW at the bottom of the paper he was holding and swallowed hard.
He was just probably going to return it to her, she thought bitterly. She kept her face down, completely determined to not let him know just how close she were from breaking down as he slowly approached her…And that’s when she saw IT.
Oh God. Her hand came up to cover her mouth in shock.
It was just as red as she imagined it would be, so small and so beautiful. Tiny invisible strings tugged at her heart the moment she realized that his hand had been shaking.
“We were six.”
“What?” Buffy looked up at him in bewilderment.
“Days ago, you asked me when I fell in love with you.”
“Spike…” She whispered as tears began to well up in her eyes.
“When I saw you crying, I didn’t know why it felt like the end of the world for me then. I just met you but I already felt your pain with every sob that you made. I may not have known it at that time but now I believe… I loved you even then.” He swallowed hard before he went on, “Buffy I know that you’re furious at me and you have every right to be.”
“Will…”
“I was a jerk for not listening to you. I said all those words and I hurt the girl.” Spike saw what Buffy was looking at and sighed bitterly. “I can’t believe how Dru kept this from me.”
“What do you mean?”
“She played us, luv. I never saw this letter until now.” Spike explained to her how the letter ended up in Dru’s hands and kept it hidden from him. He also told her how she and Riley worked together so that he would think that she slept with him.
Judging from her reaction, Spike immediately realized that Buffy already found about the scheme beforehand. “You knew.”
“I figured it out yesterday,” she said, “Except about Dru hiding the letter.”
“How come you didn’t tell me?”
“How could I when you’ve made it perfectly clear that you didn’t want to have anything to do with me.” Buffy explained bitterly.
“You’re right and I’m sorry. If there’s one person that should be blamed for this, it’s none other than me. What Riley and Dru did was wrong, but I wouldn’t have fallen for it if…” His voice cracked as he took her hand in his. “ If I only trusted you.”
“William…”
“Buffy, I know that I may deserve such…beautiful words you have written in this letter but you have to believe me when I tell you that there’s no other person in this world who could ever mean so much to me as you do.” He said as he finally placed the rose in her hand. “I hope in time you’ll forgive me. And when you do, you’ll know were to find me…”
Buffy held the flower up to her nose and smiled bitterly. This was how it should’ve happened four years ago. She couldn’t help but think that if Dru hadn’t intervened, she wouldn’t have to go through all those heartaches she had endured.
The question doesn’t simply lie on the fact Dru and Riley had manipulated them, it was rather the blinding truth of whether she’d be able to forgive Spike for not trusting her.
Spike bit his lip to stop himself from making a fool of himself as he started to climb down from the tree house. After all, he had never once cried in front of a girl before so why should he start now? Because she’s the love of your life, you git! He scolded himself as his feet touched the ground. It was only then that he allowed himself to let the tears come.
“Spike!” He was already halfway to his own backyard when he heard her cry.
As he turned, what he saw nearly took his breath away for he clearly had not expected to see Buffy crying and running across the backyard to throw her arms around him. It was like a dream unfolding.
“Don’t leave me…”
“Buffy, I wasn’t leaving you I was just…” Buffy silenced his words by covering his mouth with hers.
“Please…” she begged.
Spike captured her lips this time. His instant action had caused her to moan out loud. All this time, she’d been driving him insane with those pouty lips of hers; he immediately took her bottom lip between his teeth and nibbled it over and over.
Buffy smiled into his lips then sighed. She missed being in his arms. What Spike did was wrong but she loved him too much to let her pride get in the way.
“I goofed-up, pet….Big time.” He said between pants as he rest his head on hers.
“But I forgive you.”
“How can you, after what I did?”
“Call me stubborn Buffy…or better yet head over heels in love Buffy since she couldn’t stand another single moment without you.”
Spike chuckled. “You’re unbelievable, you know that?”
“I will do anything for you, William.” She said with all her heart.
“And I will…for you. If you’ll give me another chance.”
“I thought that’s what I was doing,” She told him huskily.
“I love you so much, Buffy Summers.” He said, enclosing her face around his hands.
“I love you too, William Giles. ” Buffy said to him as her hands roamed freely from his back to insert themselves in the waistband of his pants. “Enough with the sweet talk. What l I want to know now is whether the tree house is gonna be sturdy enough to hold the both of us.”
A constricted groan managed to escape his lips before he replied. “I guess we will never find out until we try, won’t we?”
THE END
---------------------
Reference:
Painting of Buffy on the wall, flashbacks and Tree house – Chapter 1
Letter, Comic book and the rose – Chapter 37
---------------------
A/N : Finally, the last chapter. I really hope it went ok. I’m usually nervous when it comes to posting the conclusion to a story because I know that it would pretty much tell whether the story sucked or not. I really hope it’s the latter. As I’ve said before, I’ll be taking a break from writing but I won’t be gone for long. I actually have a couple of exciting sexy stories in my mind that I couldn’t wait to share with you in a few months so you’d better watch out for it .
(Sigh)I enjoyed really enjoyed writing this fic and I hope you enjoyed the journey that these two crazy kids had taken. I am surely gonna miss reading all your comments. My warmest and sincerest thanks extend to all the readers and reviewers of this story. You guys have been wonderful and I appreciate all the encouraging words and constructive criticisms that you’ve given me!
Let me also take this opportunity to thank my wonderful beta, MB . She'd been so good and wonderfullly patient with me from the very start!
[Reviews - 589]
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