_________________________________________
Two years ago
“So I was like, yeah, totally!” Buffy giggled as she linked arms with Cordelia excitedly, “Can you believe it guys? Liam Angel!”
“Notorious bad boy.” said Darla seductively, “Buffy dear, I’m almost jealous.”
“So where’s he taking you?” Cordy asked, causing Buffy to squeal again.
“The movies,” she said; her voice still high with excitement, “I don’t know what we’re watching yet, but I know that it’ll be- Oh, there he is!”
_________________________________________
Now
“Hey- Summers!”
Buffy ignored Angel’s mocking voice; dipping her head so she could walk a little faster.
“Summers!”
He grabbed her shoulder, and she cried out a little as he span her around.
“I’m speaking to you.” he said, a sneer on his face. “That means you stop and you listen.”
Goddamit, she was trying to hold it together, but despite it all, she was still terrified of him. The sudden urge to apologise to him for not answering when he called her name was almost overwhelming, but she pushed it down into her gut.
“What do you want?” she was forcing the words out, and he knew it. It made him chuckle slightly.
“My my my Buffy,” he murmured, and she flinched away from the hand that reached for her cheek. This seemed to anger him again, and his eyes narrowed to a glare as he said. “Spike’s looking for you.”
“Spike?” she asked, desperate to understand what the hell he was talking about, just so she could get away from him, “I... What...”
“Spike Abbot.” Angel said impatiently, “You know, the new guy.”
“Oh...” Buffy said, “Right.”
Well, okay; the new guy she could deal with. In fact, she could pretty much deal with anyone these days; her new snarky attitude had seen to that. It was just Angel... He was still the only one she couldn’t face. The only one who still managed to effect her.
He rolled his eyes at her, then propelled her around once more and pushed her away from him.
“God Summers,” he muttered, “Get a grip already.”
_________________________________________
Two years ago
This had to be the awesomest thing that had ever happened to her.
Buffy could hardly believe that she was here right now; standing beneath the stars with Liam Angel’s arms warm around her slight body.
Angel...
So what if wise men said ‘only fools rush in’- she was falling in love; falling, toppling, tumbling; and she didn’t care.
All that mattered in that moment was the feel of his warm breath against her cheek.
The caress of his bare arms against hers.
She could stand this way forever. Forever and ever.
He was the only one she wanted and she knew, she knew, he was the only man she would ever love in all her life.
________________________________________
Now
Yeah, Angel had hurt her badly. But what hurt the most was that she had loved him; loved him with all of her heart, and when it mattered most; when all of her old friends were laughing and taunting her; he had turned on her too.
He’d stepped away from her.
Touched Drusilla’s hand whilst still looking into Buffy’s eyes.
Then they were all mocking her; and it was all because of him. He wasn’t just a part of it; he had started it.
Buffy wiped at a tear making a solo voyage down her smooth cheek. “God- get a grip Summers.” she muttered, repeating his sentence from earlier.
But hearing his words on her tongue made her shudder; like he was plaguing her body now.
She shuddered again.
“Buffy Summers, isn’t it?”
She turned around, and God, she’d be lying if she said her heart didn’t skip a beat when she saw Spike Abbot standing there behind her. If she hadn’t already seen him clinging onto Drusilla like some kind of leech, she might have thought that he was slightly attractive. Kinda hot even.
But no; she had to remind herself that he was the enemy.
He was already one of them; he’d made that perfectly clear.
“What the Hell do you want?” she asked; practically spat.
Spike looked down at the angry little blonde, and he almost wanted to laugh at how utterly up herself she evidently was.
“Clearly not one for small talk.” he said off-handedly.
“Look,” she snapped, crossing her arms over her small chest. “I get that you’re new here and you might not know the system, so I think I’ll take a few moments to enlighten you.”
“That so?”
She had to use her best angry voice; her hardest, coldest eyes; just so she could pretend that she truly was as strong and unfeeling as she was portraying herself to be.
“People like you-” she pointed at him angrily, “Don’t waste your time making small talk with people like me.” Spike frowned slightly when, for just a second, the wall dropped, and she looked down, murmuring, “I’m not worth it.”
“What was that?”
She glared back at him.
“If you want to be in their little crew, their stupid little posse, then the last thing you want is to be seen talking to me.” she quirked an eyebrow. “I tell you this purely for your own benefit, and not at all because I find you physically repulsive.”
Spike blinked in surprise at the insult.
“Aren’t you bullied chicks supposed to be meek and mild?” he asked eventually, to which she replied;
“Maybe I break the mould.” Then she looked away from him. “Whatever. Just don’t waste your time talking to me again, because I don’t care what you have to say. Trust me, your reputation depends on it.”
With that she span around and stalked away from him; leaving him still holding the notebook he’d intended to give back to her.
“Well, bloody screw you.” he muttered, stuffing her stupid book back into his school bag.
_________________________________________________
One year ago
Buffy stared at Drusilla; her eyes swamping with tears.
She really hadn’t just said that, had she?
Her eyes drifted to Angel, and her heart clenched painfully in her chest as he smirked at her slightly, before retreating back to stand beside the brunette.
“Angel?” she asked. How had he even found out? “You told them?”
And then she saw her other friends join him.
The best friends who had been all she had known since the very first day of Kindergarten. Now they were just looking at her with expressionless faces; portraying no emotion, no remorse.
Buffy was finding it hard to breathe.
“You brought this on yourself Buffy.” Drusilla said, and Buffy was suddenly conscious of the crowd that was gathering around them. “What did you think would happen?”
Buffy couldn’t respond; couldn’t speak. Didn’t they know she couldn’t breathe right now? How on earth was she supposed to respond?
“You are not one of us.” said Darla in a cold voice.
“You’re out.” agreed Cordelia.
“I’m just glad that Angel refused to sleep with you.” said Drusilla, making Buffy’s eyes go wide.
That was what he’d told them? But that wasn’t true; it was her who had refused. But how could she ever explain that to her once-friends, without revealing...
“You’re a slut.” spat Angel, “A dirty little slut.”
They all turned and walked away, leaving Buffy standing alone like a broken doll on the verge of collapse.
It took her a few moments to realise that Drusilla was still standing before her, and the quiet words that the dark haired girl whispered to her next were enough to transform Buffy’s tears of loss into a snarl of rage.
“How dare you?” she screamed; launching herself at the brunette and pushing her to the ground.
“Oh, I dare!” Drusilla was laughing, well aware of the crowd that had regrouped around them, loudly chanting the word ‘fight!’ over and over. “Buffy, I have everything now. You have nothing. Nothing.”
Buffy’s anger was mingled with pain, and she wept as she punched the other girl. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.” she sobbed.
Drusilla pushed her over, hitting her in return, and wrenching some of her golden hair out for good measure.
“You think anyone cares about you now?” Drusilla asked, “Everyone knows what you’re like.”
“Well then, it won’t take them long to realise what you’re like, will it?”
“Don’t try and be smart with me.” Drusilla snarled. And then a coy smirk spread across her face. “Except you’re not smart, are you? Angel told us as much.”
With that, Buffy let go of her restraint, and she let her neatly manicured nails meet Drusilla’s pale, unblemished neck.
She dug deep; causing a gash that would later become an ugly scar.
She lost the ability to care about what they thought of her when some of the other kids dragged her away from Dru.
She went home that night, a changed girl. And she swore she would never let anyone hurt her the way they had done that day, ever again.
___________________________________
Now
“She’s not going to agree to go out with me.” Spike informed Drusilla as he sat down beside her for the final lesson of his first day. Algebra; figures. “She’s seen me with you and your people.”
Drusilla pouted at him, and for a moment he thought he saw an enraged annoyance in her eyes. But the look disappeared before he had time to think about it, and was quickly replaced by her usual wide-eyed innocence.
“You’ll have to stop hanging with us.” she said simply. Then she smiled, slightly cruelly. “She’ll think your shunning us for her.”
Spike sighed, “Can’t be arsed. She’s a bloody menace of a girl, and I don’t want to spend the next month and half begging her to date me.”
Drusilla giggled slightly, “Believe me, it won’t take that long.”
At Spike’s raised eyebrow, she said, “Are you forgetting the sluttiness? Trust me, let her think you only have eyes for her and she’ll be throwing herself at your feet in no time at all.”
Spike sighed again, and eventually he nodded.
“Yeah, I guess it’s still on.”
Drusilla smiled, stroking his arm as she said, “You won’t regret it baby.” Five words, which she matched with a coy smile. Then, when Buffy walked in, taking her place at the back of the class, Drusilla’s eyes brightened. “Now’s your chance.” she hissed.
Spike followed her gaze, and he groaned, resigning himself to an hour alone with the unpleasant chit.
“M’doing this for you pet.” he said to Dru as he stood up and walked swiftly to the back of the class.
________________________________________________
Buffy sat down in her usual place without looking around.
She knew that neither Xander, nor Willow were in this lesson with her, and she could only hope the hour passed quickly, without too much hassle.
She sighed when Spike’s shadow fell over her, and she looked up at him with a glare, snapping; “What do you want now?”
Her last lesson hadn’t been the best, especially considering how angry her biology teacher had gotten when Buffy had no assignment to hand in. She’d tried to explain about losing her notebook, but had gotten nowhere, and eventually ended up with even more work to complete for the next lesson.
So yeah, she wasn’t in the best of moods.
“Thought I’d sit with you, pet.” he stated, dropping his bag down beside her and taking his seat. “There something wrong with that?”
“Yes.” she stated. “I thought I already explained that to you. What are you, idiotic?”
“Perhaps.” he muttered. “But m’also not moving. Face it Summers, you’re stuck with me.”
She gave him a mildly disgusted look, before turning away from him and settling her chin into her palm; fully prepared to ignore him for the next hour.
It was forty five minutes later when the teacher was sceptically scanning the class of blank faces; hoping someone would know the answer to the question he’d just asked. Spike was watching Buffy closely, having seen her figure out the answer on a piece of scrap paper, a good four minutes ago. He frowned when she, along with everybody else, remained silent.
Her silence seemed indifferent and superior, and after a while, it began to annoy him.
“Buffy knows the answer.” he said, smiling at her smugly when she turned with surprise. “Go on then love.”
She flinched when the whole class turned to look at her, and her eyes dropped to the desk top.
“I... I don’t know it.” she said, causing a few people to chuckle.
The teacher rolled his eyes, then pointed to a girl who had raised her hand. The girl proceeded to give the exact same answer that Buffy had written down.
“What the bloody Hell was that?” Spike demanded as Buffy scrunched up her piece of paper and dropped it into her open bag, “Why didn’t you answer? You knew it.”
She looked at him for a moment; trying to read his eyes; trying to read him. But then she simply shook her head, looking away.
“You don’t know anything Spike.” she said, dumping the rest of her things back into her school bag, just as the bell sounded. “I asked you not to get involved with my life, so please don’t.”
_______________________________________
A/N: A huge thank you to everyone who reviewed the previous two chapters. I hope you enjoyed the latest one as much! And thank you for reading :]
dee [aka] wall_flower
xxx
_______________________________________