When Spike got home, he found Buffy standing by the stove, trying to read the recipe and stir the contents of a pan at the same time. She had yet to notice him, so he sneaked up behind her and whispered in her ear; “You know, I’ve always loved to watch a beautiful woman in the kitchen.”
Jumping a mile, Buffy dropped the ladle. She spun around, glaring at him. “God, Spike! Why did you have to do that?!”
Spike chuckled. “Sorry, luv. Couldn’t resist.”
Buffy rolled her eyes. “Right. Couldn’t resist scaring me half to death.”
“Said I was sorry, didn’t I? Now, come here.” Spike pulled her into his arms and gave her a long, deep kiss before pulling back. “You cooking? What’s the occasion?” He had to smile as Buffy wrapped her arms around his neck and stole another kiss before answering.
“No reason, just thought I’d surprise you. Where have you been? I missed you.” She pouted a little.
He smiled at her. “Had to work. My boss called this morning, asking me to take the day shift.”
Buffy’s frown disappeared, and her face lit up. “So, you’ve got the night off?”
“That’s right. And I intend to spend every minute of it with you. Got it all worked out, we won’t have to leave the bed until morning.” He gave her a sexy grin, which made her knees go week.
Then she remembered something. “Um, Spike…”
Spike interrupted her before she could finish. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. I didn’t mean…”
Buffy raised her hand to stop him. “No, it’s not that. I’d love to spend the whole evening with you, and whatever you wanna do is just fine, but…” She hesitated, hoping that Spike wouldn’t be too upset with her. “Spike, your father was here earlier.” Holding her breath, she waited for his reaction. When he didn’t say anything, she started to get nervous. “Don’t you wanna know what he wanted?” He still didn’t answer, so Buffy took a deep breath, deciding that she’d might as well get it over with. “Never mind, you can ask him yourself, he’s coming back tonight for dinner.”
Finally she got a reaction. Spike stared at her in disbelief. “What?”
She shrugged, doing her best to look innocent. “He came here looking for you, and you weren’t here. I suggested that he’d come back later and join us for dinner. It’s no big deal.”
“No big deal?” Spike snorted. “Buffy, why? I don’t want him here, you know how…”
She interrupted him. “Actually, Spike, I don’t know. I don’t know, because you won’t tell me. I don’t know what’s up with the two of you, but it’s starting to get ridiculous. He’s your father, and he wants to see you. You may not get along, but he’s still your family, it should mean something.” She stopped, suddenly afraid she’d gone too far.
Spike nodded. “You’re right.”
Buffy frowned. She hadn’t expected that. “I am?”
“Yeah. Family should mean something. Unfortunately, he didn’t care about that when he left my mother.”
She put her hand on his arm, almost expecting him to pull away. He didn’t. “I’m sorry about that. My parents split up too, remember? It’s sad, but these things happen sometimes. It’s been years now, maybe you should…”
“She was dying, you knew that?” Spike didn’t wait for her to answer before walking over to the kitchen table, Buffy following. They sat down, and she waited for him to go on. “You know she was sick?” She nodded. “Well, it turned out that my father couldn’t handle it. So instead of staying with her, helping her when she needed him the most, he just left. Took off one night and didn’t come back. Not until after…” He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. When he opened them again, a tear rolled down his cheek. “Don’t tell me to forgive him, ‘cause I can’t.”
Buffy suddenly felt terrible. Sure, Spike had never told her, so she couldn’t possibly have known, but she should have realized that Spike had a reason for not wanting to see Giles. She’d just wanted to help, inviting Giles over so he and Spike could talk, but now it seemed like she’d just managed to make things worse. If only she’d stayed out of it, minding her own business. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t know.” She swallowed, taking his hand. “Please don’t hate me, if I’d known, I never would’ve asked him to come back.” Giving him a pleading look, she silently begged for him to understand.
Spike sighed. “Of course I don’t hate you. It’s my fault, I should’ve told you…”
“No.” He looked at her in surprise, and she went on; “You didn’t have to, some things are just…” She hesitated, searching for the right word. “…personal. I want you to be able to talk to me, but I don’t expect you to tell me everything.”
Spike looked away, but didn’t let go of her hand. “But I don’t want you to feel like I’ve been lying to you.”
Buffy frowned. “You didn’t. Sometimes there’s a difference between lying, and not telling. I asked you about your father years ago, remember?” Spike nodded. “Right, and you were always very good at changing the subject, but you never lied about it.” He seemed to be thinking about it for a moment, then nodded again. “Spike, there are some things about me, that I’ve never told you, either.”
He looked at her then. “Really?”
She nodded. “Sure. You need to keep some things about yourself in private, even from your best friend. And it’s not because you don’t trust them, but because if you don’t, if you always tell everything, then there will be nothing left of you.”
Spike raised his eyebrows. “I’m impressed, luv, that was deep.” Buffy blushed, looking down. He gently cupped her cheek, forcing her to look at him again. “Don’t, I was just teasing you, I know what you mean. I guess I just never thought about it that way. I thought…” He stopped, suddenly seemed to be deep in thoughts. Then he snapped out of it, and leaned over to kiss her softly on the lips. “Love you, pet.”
Buffy smiled happily as she returned the kiss. “Love you too.” For a moment they just looked at each other. Then Spike opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the door bell. Buffy looked confused for a moment, then realized who it had to be. “I think your father has arrived.”
TBC