Strolling outside, whistling, Spike plunked himself down on the front stoop, and commenced with the eavesdropping.
“How about tonight if that’s all right? I could take you to this little Italian Bistro, and maybe after we could hit the The Bronze for some dancing,” Riley said.
Spike nearly fell from where he was perched. Buffy was going out on a date with Riley?! With Finn. Oh, hell no.
“Now, I know you can’t hear the music,” Riley continued, “but I read that deaf people can feel the beat to dance if it’s loud enough. Is that right?”
Buffy smiled, “Yes, it is. I rather like to dance.”
He smiled broadly, looking as if she had just given him the world. It would have been almost touching if he didn’t feel like heaving.
“What time should I be ready for?” she asked.
When they’d finished making definitive plans, Riley went back to the car, and Buffy sauntered over to her flowerbed. Jumping down from his spot on the stoop, and waiting until Riley was out of earshot, Spike went immediately over to Buffy.
Grabbing her arm, he all but yanked at her to look at him. “What was that?” he demanded, gesturing toward Riley.
She blinked, “He came over to talk to me.”
“He asked you out and you accepted.”
“Yeah, imagine that. I gave him a chance.”
“You’re doing this to spite me,” he said, pointing at her.
She yanked her arm free of his grasp. “I’m not doing anything to spite you, you jackass. You’re the one that doesn’t want me—“
“I told you I did –“
“But we can’t, and we shouldn’t, and you have to go to Anya to get relief. Well, you know what?” she got in his face. “I have needs to, and if you’re not willing to do anything about them after I’ve practically thrown myself at you, then maybe Riley will.”
“You’re playing with fire, Princess,” he said warningly.
“Well, at least I’ll be playing with something.”
“Everything all right out here?” Angel asked, standing in the doorway, looking down at the pair with eyebrows raised. He looked straight at Spike, questioning him. Putting up his hands, Spike stalked off, going around the back of the house.
Buffy started to well up in tears. So, yeah, maybe Spike hadn’t been so far off in his accusation. Maybe she was doing it partly to spite him, as well as be kind to Riley.
What a little hypocrite she’d become. Her intentions had started out well enough, and now she wasn’t sure anymore.
Damn that Spike.
“Buffy, what’s going on?” Angel asked her, concerned.
She looked up at him, “I just seem to have tragic taste in men.”
After Angel spent most of the rest of the afternoon goading her into telling him what was going on, Buffy finally cracked and told him. They sat together in her bedroom just a few hours before her date, talking. Spike was…around.
Angel listened, his expression unreadable. If there was one person on the planet Buffy had a hard time reading, it was him. Even if he was her brother. When she finally finished, Angel said, deadpan, “You want me to kick his ass?”
Buffy couldn’t help but laugh. “No.”
“I mean, he’s probably quick and all, and a cop, but I could take him I’m sure.”
Buffy continued to laugh, “No, be serious.”
“I’m at least sixty percent serious here, Buff. He hurt you and you’re my sister.”
“But …am I being a hypocrite for going out with Riley?”
“Little bit, yeah. But…I don’t blame you for wanting to do it. However…Riley?”
Buffy shrugged, “He’s not so bad. Kind of awkward and bumbling…large and…but he’s sweet. He’s been good to me.”
“Gratitude is not a reason to agree to go out with someone.”
“I felt sorry for him.”
“Neither is pity, either.”
“Oh, shut up.” Buffy said, getting up from her bed. “You know what? I don’t care, okay? I don’t.”
“Yes,” Angel said on a sigh, “You do. But what is it you care more about? Riley or Spike?”
“You know what will just be nice?”
“What?”
“Going out with someone who actually likes me. Not someone that is later going to screw my best friend, and not someone who is later going to find someone else to ‘relieve the tension’ I cause him, or get hung up on the whole professional thing as some kind of buffer. Screw that. I’m going out tonight, dammit, and I’m going to have a goddamn good time!”
Angel smiled broadly. “Now that’s what I like to hear.”
It was determined that Spike wouldn’t have to go since she was going to be with a cop after all, and Gunn would be fine all by his lonesome. Spike figured that at least by the following day, Gunn and Riley would be set free since the robbers were found, and they, so far, were not linked to the murder.
Spike was seething by the time Buffy came down the stairs to greet Riley. She was so out-of-this-world gorgeous in a “swingy” knee length lavender dress, that crisscrossed in the front before it flowed out, giving her an almost fairy like look. She wore strappy silver sandals that tied up around her ankles; her makeup was light and yet dramatic enough for an evening out. She had a matching purse and a cardigan on hand if need be. She had pulled her hair back with sparkling barrettes, with tendrils coming down in curls and framing her face.
His hands itched to touch her. Instead, he smiled tightly, and wished them a good night through clenched teeth. He considered the idea of following them, but if either were to see him, there would be hell to pay. He also entertained the idea of just going out for a while, but really, he wanted to be sure he was there in case she gave Riley the boot early. He wanted to see her face as soon as she walked through that door.
Once they were gone, Spike headed for the fridge to see what kind of liquor she had besides wine.
Dinner had gone pretty smooth, and all Buffy was hoping at this point, was that Riley would loosen up enough with her to have a good time. She hated to see him trying so hard. She didn’t consider herself as hard to impress, or hard to talk to, and it made her feel that perhaps she was doing something wrong with his inability to relax.
He was nice enough, but she felt it hard to really draw him out and get to know him. The truth of the matter was, she didn’t see it going past friendship and hoped that Riley was in tune enough to the situation to realize that as well.
When they made it to The Bronze, Buffy made Riley get a drink in the hopes that he’d relax.
Riley frowned, “I’m not a good ‘fast’ dancer, but I can slow dance. If you’d like to dance, please feel free.”
“You sure?” Buffy asked, gazing longingly at the throng of bodies moving on the dance floor. She could feel the beat under her feet, and she wished she could hear it.
“Positive. I’ll just go say hi to a buddy of mine at the bar.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll come find you in a few.”
“All right,” Buffy said standing.
“If you need me –“
“Riley, I’m all right.”
He smiled, “Of course.”
Jumping into the throng, Buffy set about proving that you didn’t actually have to hear to dance. It was all about the beat…
Buffy understood why Riley felt self-conscious when he ‘fast danced’, he wasn’t really good. He wasn’t all that great at slow-dancing either. She counted three times he’d stepped on her feet.
Who am I to judge? she thought as the beat picked up once more and she was once again, lost in her own world. Riley excused himself to get them drinks and she figured she couldn’t be rude, and decided once the song she was dancing to was over; she’d use the facilities and then join him.
On the way to the bathroom, Buffy had the uncanny feeling she was being watched, possibly followed. She hated that feeling, always hated people behind her. She felt since she couldn’t hear, she was an easy target, and so it made her paranoid to feel people behind her. It had always been a thing, so she didn’t put that much stock into it. Turning down the dim, winding hallway to the bathroom, she looked over her shoulder and found nothing in the shadows. Girls filed out of the bathroom as she entered, and she shook the feeling off as being ridiculous.
Going about her business, she wondered what Spike was up to. Was he mad? Hurt? Did he not care? Maybe he invited Anya over…Blech. No, he wouldn’t stoop that low.
Heading to the sink to wash her hands, she looked up to check her makeup and froze. Behind her, staring at her was a man dressed in black with a ski mask.
The Murderer.
She felt the wind knock out of her, her knees were buckling and she forced herself to face him, trembling hard all over.
“Cock tease,” he said and it took her a minute to comprehend what he was saying through the slit in the mask where the mouth was.
She started to make a dash for the door when he grabbed her arm and slammed her up against the wall. Her back slammed into the wall, and she felt her breath leave her.
He leaned in close to her and she shut her eyes until she felt him move back, terror gripping her. She got it in her head to reach up and yank the mask off, and her hands moved slowly, so paralyzed by fear she was.
Stepping back away from her, he spied her hands reaching up and backhanded her, sending her to the floor from the force of it.
In a flash he was gone.
Girls burst through the door, chattering so fast, Buffy couldn’t make out what they were saying, and nor could she focus.
She couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t do anything really; except pass out.