“This is all Buffy’s fault, ya know?!” He cried, throwing his hands in the air. “I never had this problem before that little bitch. No…no, it’s that smug looking son of a bitch that she’s fucking. If he hadn’t of wormed his way into her life, Buffy and I would have gotten back together and none of this shit would be happening!”
Lilah Morgan pulled herself up to lean back against the wooden headboard and sent an uninterested look in the direction of her raving client. Her mood was cranky, bordering on bitchy. When the judge had continued the case, to resume on Monday morning, she had walked out of the courtroom with her head held confidently high; portraying the image of an attorney who knew she was going to win a case. However, inside her emotions were churning, deep down Lilah had the distinct feeling that her client wasn’t going to scrape by on his charges with a few bumps and bruises. Instead, Lilah was now focused on trying to make sure Riley wasn’t going to be sent away to prison for the maximum sentence; that maybe she could pull of a miracle and get him community service and probation. It was unlikely, but she would still fight like hell.
Her other main concern was that she was going to lose, something she had never done before. In fact, losing the case would open up a whole other can of worms that Lilah was not ready to confront just yet. Usually, any non-business interactions between a client and their attorney would be grounds for immediate dismissal from the firm; however, due to Lilah’s stellar performance at wining all of her cases made it so that her indiscretions went unnoticed by her superiors.
“What?” Lilah asked, pulling herself back to reality and out of her own thoughts. “What did you say, Riley?”
“I said” Riley sighed and shot an irritated look towards the sultry brunette still lounging on his bed, “that I wanted you to find out everything you can on this ‘Spike’ character. You know, see if he’s got some skeletons in his closet. Something really bad that would make sure Buffy leaves him.”
“Sure. Fine, whatever you want.” Lilah inwardly rolled her eyes at her sulking lover. Tossing back the covers, she gathered her clothes from the armchair in the corner and started getting dressed.
“What are you doing?” Riley demanded. He had stopped pacing and was now standing near the foot of the bed with his arms crossed over his chest, an expression of anger and confusion on his face.
“To the office, probably,” Lilah answered, her voice filled with exhaustion. “I really need to go over some documents for Monday while this week’s events are still fresh on my mind, all right?” Sensing Riley’s frustration she sidled up against him, wrapping her thin arms around his hulking frame and brushing a soft kiss across his lips. “I’ll see you tomorrow night. We are still on for dinner, right?” Glancing up into his eyes, Lilah waited for Riley to nod grudgingly before she headed out the bedroom door. “I’ll call you in the morning. Get some rest, ok?”
After Lilah left, Riley took a long hot shower and crawled into bed like a good little boy and tried to get some sleep. Failing miserably, he gave up after about and hour and half of staring at the ceiling and decided to get up. Wandering into the living room, he grabbed a bottle of whiskey off the bar, forgoing the glass sitting beside it, and plopped down on the sofa.
When more than half of the fifth of amber liquid had been polished off, Riley pulled himself off of the couch, grabbed his car keys off the table in the foyer, and headed to his car; bottle in hand. With a destination firmly planted in his mind, he sped off down the deserted street in the direction of Malibu.
At the same time that Riley was barreling down the roadway at an alarming speed, swerving in and out of traffic in downtown Los Angeles, Buffy was relaxing on the beach with Spike; enjoying the cool night breeze with a bottle of wine. After a grueling week of listening to testimonies from psychiatrists and law enforcement, Buffy had finally been put on the stand that afternoon. Surprisingly, she had sailed through the questions quickly and almost effortlessly, tears stinging in her eyes and a shaky voice, but refraining from any emotional breakdowns. Throughout the interrogation, Buffy accredited her stable emotional state to having Spike there with her; eyes locked in his direction, she never wavered from her testimony, even when the stunning defense attorney tore into her.
What Buffy wasn’t looking forward to was Monday morning when Dawn was scheduled to testify, not wanting her little sister to have to go through what she had to. Dawn had started refereeing to the defense attorney as the “Dragon Lady” and Buffy had to agree with her. If she had been forced to endure Ms. Morgan’s chilly stare a minute longer, Buffy was sure she would have snapped and tossed the Judge’s gavel at the slender woman’s head.
“What’s going on in that pretty lil’ head of yours, luv?” Spike inquired, placing a finger underneath Buffy’s chin and tipping it up towards him. “You seem like you’re a thousand miles away tonight.”
Buffy rolled over so that the back of her head was cradled between Spike’s thighs and smiled up at him. “I’m here,” she assured, “nowhere else I would rather be. Just tired, I guess. What, with all the excitement the past couple of days I am surprised any of us are still in the land of the functioning.”
“Thankfully this whole ordeal seems to be coming to a close soon, though. After Monday’s testimonies and the closing arguments there isn’t much more to do but deliberate. If we are lucky, life will go back to normal by midweek.”
Something about Spike’s last statement weighed heavily on Buffy’s mind.‘Normal life? What does that mean?’“Yeah. It’ll be weird not having to look over my shoulder for Mr. Lurky-pants all the time.” Sitting up, Buffy grabbed her goblet and took a sip of merlot, her eyes full of sadness. Biting the proverbial bullet, Buffy turned to Spike and asked, “So, what does normal mean for us?”
“Anything you want it to mean, kitten. To me it jus’ means being with you, completely with you and not having to constantly watch our backs…jus’ me and you and no black cloud lurking around behind us all the bloody time.”
“Good to know.” Buffy smiled and leaned into Spike’s open arms. “We should probably try to get some sleep tonight, tomorrow is going to be a whopper of a day. Anya is meeting the band at Lorne’s around lunch to start on hair and makeup, the awards are scheduled to start airing live at five, do the whole red carpet what-not for about two hours before the show starts.”
“Are you tired?”
“Not really, but I do need my beauty sleep.”
“You, my luv, would still be beautiful even if you never slept again and don’t forget it.” Inwardly Spike groaned, his inner lovesick poet spilling out was something he tried to keep at bay, but for some reason being around Buffy made it difficult to keep such things in his head and heart and not out in the open.
Wriggling out of Spike’s arms, Buffy crawled to the end of the blanket and grabbed her ever present guitar. Fueled by the wine’s liquid courage, Buffy said, “Ya know when I said that thing about you being my inspiration? Well, I somehow managed to finish that song I was working on the other night and I want you to tell me what you think. No laughing, ok?” Not waiting for a response, Buffy got comfortable and started strumming the guitar.
I don't need a lot of things
I can get by with anything
Of all the blessings life can bring
I've always needed something
But I've got all I want
When it comes to loving you
You're my only reason
You're my only truth
I need you like water
Like breath, like rain
I need you like mercy
From heaven's gate
There's a freedom in your arms
That carries me through
I need you
You're the hope that moves me
To courage again
You're the love that rescues me
When the cold winds, rage
And it's so amazing
'Cause that's just how you are
And I can't turn back now
'Cause you've brought me too far
Buffy paused for a moment to look at Spike, who was listening intently and she could have sworn his eyes twinkled with tears as she sand the final chorus lines of the song.
I need you like water
Like breath, like rain
I need you like mercy
From heaven's gate
There's a freedom in your arms
That carries me through
I need you
Sitting the guitar next to her on the red and white checkered blanket, Buffy crawled towards Spike, her eyes filled with questions and insecurity. “So, whaddya think?”
Gathering her into his arms, Spike answered her with a kiss; a long, passionate embrace filled with all of his love and desire, leaving Buffy breathless.
**Lyrics are LeeAnn Rimes and not mine in any way. if I made any money off of them I would be relaxing by the ocean with a frothy beverage and not sitting in a small, airless room answering 911.**