Spike stared down at the slip of paper Buffy had given him earlier that day, with her address scrawled across it, and then up again at the huge house looming before him.
He frowned slightly as the eternal Buffy-puzzle confused him once more. He’d been so certain that she wasn’t very well-off, considering how badly she had taken it when she had lost her job, and yet… Her house looked like some kind of mansion before him. She couldn’t possibly need that job as badly as she had told him.
He shrugged to himself, then glanced down at his watch.
Bloody… Damn it! Ten thirty. He was two and a half hours late. He only hoped she was still awake so he could finally explain everything to her.
He wanted to explain everything after all, not just the reason why he was so late. [Which was in fact, the result of an utter wimp-out that he had only recovered from after a stern talking-to from his angry mother.]
”If you don’t tell her William Abbot, then I’ll damn well tell her myself, because I will not have one of those smug idiots you’ve been hanging around with, breaking her heart.”
It had only taken him those two hours to understand that she was right. He had to be the one who told her, because anyone else would be telling her out of spite, and he couldn’t stand the idea of her being hurt anymore than she already had been because of him.
God, why had it taken him so long to realise that she was the one who was better than him, and certainly not vice-versa.
”I’ll tell her mum. Calm down. She’ll be okay, as long as I can explain and apologise.”
“She had better be young man, because I won’t see her quitting her job over you. She needs this money far more than you could ever know.”
Spike had wondered what his mother meant at the time, and he wondered it even more now as he stood outside Buffy’s little mansion.
He knocked on the door, not allowing himself time to hesitate.
The house was dark, and Spike began to fret as the door remained unanswered. Maybe she had decided to go out anyway on her own. Maybe Drusilla or some of the others had tricked her into leaving with-
The door opened and Spike was surprised to see the vaguely familiar red-head on the other side of the door.
“Spike?” she asked. He was even more surprised that she knew who he was. “Are you looking for Buffy?”
“You’re a friend of hers?” he asked, wondering what the red-head was doing at Buffy’s house so late at night, considering Buffy was supposed to be out on a date anyway.
God, he hoped the pretty blond hadn’t called her friend in a fit of tears, looking for comfort after being stood up.
“Is Buffy in there?” he asked, “I need to see her.”
“No.” the girl replied, and she frowned. “She left over an hour ago. She didn’t think you were going to show up Spike.”
Spike bit his lip. He hoped she hadn’t gone to the Bronze alone. “Do you know where she went?” he asked cautiously, “Or what time she’ll be back?”
The girl looked even more curious now. “She was crying Spike. Crying a lot- you’ve hurt her really badly.” She looked at him a little strangely. “Anyway, she went home so I don’t think she will be back.”
Now it was Spike’s turn to frown, and his eyes narrowed with confusion. “What do you mean home?” he asked, “Doesn’t she live here? This is the address she gave me.”
“Oh…” Buffy’s friend looked as if she was finally beginning to understand. “No Spike, this is my house. Buffy’s place is a little bit more…” she didn’t know how to finish the sentence so she said instead, “Anyway, I don’t think she wants to see you right now so if I were you, I’d just leave her well alone until Monday. She’s gonna need to take a time-out before she’s ready to talk to you.”
Spike’s mind was still stuck on her first comment.
“Buffy doesn’t live here?” he said, slightly astounded, “Then why did she give me this add-”
“Maybe because she wasn’t ready for you to see the real her.” The girl replied, “And by all means, I think she did the right thing by playing it safe. You clearly have no respect for her.”
Spike looked down, because it was even worse than the girl in front of him knew.
“I need to talk to her.” He said, and the girl shook her head. “Please?”
“No. You need to give her some time to cool down.”
“Can’t you just tell me where she lives? This is really important!”
“You had your chance.” She told him, crossing her arms. “And you blew it. I’m not going to let you hurt my best friend William Abbot.”
Spike was momentarily alarmed by how very much this girl sounded like his mother, but he refrained from telling her so, instead saying;
“I swear to you…”
“Willow.” She informed him.
“Willow.” He repeated. “I swear I don’t want to hurt her anymore than she’s already been hurt. I just want to set things straight with her, let her know how sorry I am and that things will be different now that-”
“Now that what?” Willow asked, and her eyes looked almost black with anger. “Don’t tell me, you were new at school and you heard the rumours about Buffy. People told you that she’s a slut, a little piece of trash and you, what? Just believed them? Didn’t take the time to get to know Buffy- just thought you’d join in with the rest of them.”
“No- not at all.” He wished it wasn’t a lie.
“So you weren’t just trying to humiliate her?” Willow asked, her eyes dangerously narrow, “Because, d’you know what? That’s what she thinks- what she believes.”
Spike’s eyes dropped to the floor and he felt more worthless than he ever had before.
“I just want to tell her that I’m sorry.” He murmured. “That I was wrong. So wrong.”
“Yeah?” Willow asked, severely pissed at the guy who Buffy had been so excited about. The guy who had led her on and broken her heart. The guy who hadn’t even given her a chance to show him just how wonderful a person she really was. The guy who had judged her, just like everybody else. “Well Spike, you’re not worth it. You don’t deserve her forgiveness. So just stay away from her.”
Spike flinched as Willow stepped back into her house, slamming the door soundly in his face.
“Stay away from her.” The words echoed in his mind like a threat.
But he couldn’t stay away from her. Maybe Willow was right, in fact, she probably was. He really didn’t deserve Buffy’s forgiveness. But she really did deserve an apology. A sincere apology.
Spike pulled out his cell phone, scanning for Drusilla’s number.
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“Hello?”
“Dru? It’s Spike.”
“Oh, my dark prince, I’ve been looking everywhere for you and your date. Where have you gotten to?”
“Not particularly far. Listen, you wouldn’t happen to know where Buffy lives, would you?”
Drusilla let out a peel of laughter which Spike tried his best to ignore.
“Oh, my silly darling.” She cooed. “What an imbecile she must truly be, for not giving you her address. It’s obvious how long it’s been since that girl went on a date; she can’t even remember the correct etiquette.”
“Yeah.” Spike muttered, “Sure. Do you know it?”
Drusilla giggled again.
“Yes.” She told him. “Buffy and I were quite good friends for a few weeks, back in the day. You know how it is.”
“That’s great, but it’s getting late and I-”
“Of course. Do you have a pen?”
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Spike stood outside her real home, feeling even more confused than before.
If he’d been impressed by Willow’s home, then it was nothing, nothing at all compared to Buffy’s.
The walls stood high and proud and the house held three stories, with an infinity pool slipping out as if to nowhere from behind. Each window was sparkling, even in the darkness of the evening, and Spike had to squint his eyes half shut to imagine ever living with such wealth.
Okay, so Buffy hadn’t wanted him to know that she was rich. That was fair enough, maybe she thought if he knew about her money, he might be dating her just for that reason.
Of course, that still made his mother’s “She needs this money far more than you could ever know.” comment completely redundant, but he figured maybe Buffy had given his mother the same ‘poor’ vibes that she’d given him. He made a mental-note to ask his mother what she had meant, later on.
He glanced at his watch, alarmed to see that it was already 11.15. Buffy might be asleep by now, especially considering what Willow had said about Buffy leaving her house in tears. It would make sense that the pretty girl would just go straight home to bed.
For a second he considered leaving her to get some well-deserved sleep, but quickly told himself that the sooner he set things straight with her, the better.
Besides, there were lights on inside so at least that meant someone must be up.
He went to knock on the door, before noticing the fancy looking doorbell, which he pressed on second thoughts. A sweet melodic tune rang out, and Spike waited patiently as he heard movement on the other side of the door.
He really hoped it was Buffy that answered, since he didn’t quite fancy explaining to her parents that he was the jerk who had sent their precious daughter to bed in tears, and that he wanted to be allowed in so that he could apologise. At least if Buffy answered the door, any confusion on her parents behalf would be saved, since she would probably just slap him; letting them know precisely everything that they needed to.
He wasn’t certain which was the better option, and he began to wonder whether he should have taken Buffy’s advice after all, since she did know the girl far better than he himself did.
Maybe he would have turned away, but the door was answered before he had even finished thinking it through, and he forced a bright smile onto his face when he was greeted by a short blond woman.
“Hi.” The woman said brightly, though he could see her glancing at her watch suspiciously, then regarding him with slight worry. “Can I help you?”
She must have been about forty, though her near-immaculate face did nothing to give her age away. If he hadn’t already realised that she must be Buffy’s mother, he could well have mistaken her for a woman in her late twenties, early thirties.
She wore her hair much in the same way that Buffy did, though hers was a few shades lighter and a little more cared for.
Spike could imagine this woman chastising her daughter for letting her hair get dirty, or for wearing the grungy clothes that she had been wearing when he first met her. She looked like the kind of woman who liked everything around her to be perfect, and Spike suddenly understood how Buffy had been that false, smiling girl in the yearbook photograph.
“Hello.” He responded comfortably, thinking that perhaps making a good impression with her mother was a good step to take. “My name is William Abbot.”
He hoped he wouldn’t have to say anymore than that; that perhaps the older woman would already know his name from her daughter, and would react adequately.
Unfortunately, the woman just stared blankly back at him, and Spike felt a rush of disappointment that Buffy hadn’t mentioned him to her parents.
“Good evening William.” The woman replied, before adding. “I’m Isabella Summers. Can I help you?”
Spike smiled pleasantly.
“I’m looking for Buffy.” He told her, holding the smile.
The woman looked momentarily confused, and she repeated the name “Buffy?” as if it were some kind of foreign word. Then suddenly, her eyes darkened, and she looked very angry indeed. “You mean Elizabeth?” she asked, her voice all of a sudden venomous. “Why on Earth would you come looking for that girl here?”
“Isn’t she your daughter?” Spike asked, genuinely confused by the woman’s reaction.
Isabella Summers stared at him; her eyes poisonous in the low light.
“That girl is no longer a daughter of mine. Hank!” she called, visibly tensing. “Hank!”
An annoyed looking man appeared behind Isabella, placing a hand on her shoulder as he glanced out at Spike.
“I hope you’re not upsetting my wife.” He said in a dangerous voice.
He had Buffy’s nose. Buffy’s anger-filled and defiant eyes.
“He’s asking after Elizabeth.” Buffy’s mother snapped, clutching at her husband’s hand, where it rested on her shoulder. “As if we would know anything about that vapid little-”
“Alright Izzy,” Hank interrupted. “Calm down.” He looked again at Spike. “We don’t know anything about her.” He said in a stern voice. “If the girl has screwed you over then it’s nothing at all to do with us. The girl is nothing at all to do with us.”
Spike was speechless for a second or two.
This was new, this was not at all what he had been expecting.
The mother who just moments ago had looked beautiful and caring, like a grown-up version of her daughter, now looked enraged and hateful.
He wondered what on earth could have happened to make these parents so… Indifferent?
“She doesn’t live here?” he asked.
Drusilla had told him that this is where Buffy lived, which meant that Drusilla didn’t know about this. Drusilla didn’t know that Buffy’s parents hated her so obviously, and so very much.
“No she doesn’t live here.” Isabella all but snarled in reply.
“She hasn’t lived here in over a year.” Hank added, his eyes still dark and deadly.
Spike was beginning to panic, “Then where does she live?” he asked, hoping against hope that they would tell him.
But they didn’t.
“How on earth should we know?” asked Isabella, “Do you honestly think we would have anything to do with that little beast after what she did to us?”
Spike’s mouth was hanging open- what on earth was going on here?
“We haven’t seen her since we kicked her out last year with that brute of hers.” Hank told him. “Harrison I think his name is. The whole business is utterly disgusting.”
“Harrison?”
“A ridiculous name.” Isabella was muttering as she turned away from the front door and made her way back into the house. “That girl is no daughter of mine.”
Spike found himself alone with the man whose face held the same nose and the same eyes as Buffy’s face.
“I’ll tell you this once young man, and once alone.” Hank said, his voice dropping to a dangerously low pitch. “That daughter of ours, she’s bad news. I know that first hand- that’s why we kicked her out, disinherited her. For your own good son, stay away from her.”
The door was slammed in his face, and instead of wondering what Buffy could have done that was so terrible; Spike found himself wondering how he was ever going to be able to find her so he could apologise.
Whatever she’d done, whatever she hadn’t done; it was in the past now. He needed to leave it there, and so did everybody else.
The only thing he needed now was to find her so he could set his own mistakes right again.
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A/N: Ahh, even more mysteries to add to the pile.
Guys, I have to tell you that I’m SO sorry about the delay in updating. As I said earlier in a few review-responses, my computer broke last Friday [which was a complete trauma- I can tell you][but luckily I have most things saved on my memory stick so I didn’t lose too much] But that meant a huge delay in the writing and updating of this story. Hopefully, since my new computer seems to be working just fine, I’ll be able to get back to updating regularly [I know you love it when I update every day!!] So thank you very much for bearing with me [and not assuming I’d disappeared of the face of the earth!] and I really do hope you enjoyed this chapter!! Thank you for reading, and please leave a review if you enjoyed the update!
Thanks guys, Love Dee xxx
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