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Chapter 7

Buffy’s Aunt Jenny was an ER nurse for Sunnydale General, and occasionally she had to work a third shift. On those nights Buffy stayed with Dawn overnight and saw her off to school in the morning. As Buffy came rushing in the house, Jenny was pinning up her long raven hair. Buffy looked at her uncle’s widow with affection. When her uncle died unexpectedly last summer, it wasn’t really a surprise to anyone who knew the man. Ethan Raines was a brusque man, who lived a life that rarely included his estranged wife and young daughter. His, was a life full of lawless men committing lawless acts. When they found his body in the factory district, his family hadn’t seen him in months. Buffy didn’t really mourn her uncles death and she expected neither did her mom and Jenny for that matter, for he was a very brusque harsh man.

"I’m not late am I, Aunt Jen," Buffy wondered as she sat on the sofa. "Is Dawnie in bed already? I tried to get here earlier, so I could to see the little rug rat before she went to bed." Buffy got up off the couch and walked over to the kitchen. "What did you make for dinner, Aunt Jen?" Buffy stuck her head in the refrigerator. "Anything good? Ohh Pizza!"

Somebody’s a little hyped up tonight. Jenny replied following her into the kitchen. "It must be the double time, Huh?"

Buffy had unwrapped a slice of pizza and was placing it in the microwave when she turned. "The double time? Yeah, that’s it. I’m gonna be rolling in the big bucks tomorrow."

"Don’t get cheeky with me little girlie," Jenny said reaching on top of the refrigerator for a small object.

Buffy looked at her Aunt and frowning mouthed, "Cheeky?"

Jenny grabbed her car keys from the key ring and headed for the door. "I’ll be back at the usual time. I know it was last minute, so I appreciate your coming over. Dawnie really feels safe when you watch her. Here, she even made this for you in school today." Jenny handed her a small woven bracelet. Buffy looked down at the brightly colored piece of string and smiled. "There’s pancake mix already made in the refrigerator and chocolate chips in the Tupperware. She requested it for tomorrow morning."

Buffy grabbed the hot plate out of the microwave and quickly put it to the counter. "Ouch," she muttered putting her fingers in her mouth. "Well, I am going to eat this and go the bed. So I’ll be up early enough tomorrow. Oh I told Willow I’d call her." She added as a after thought. Buffy reached in a drawer and picked out a hand towel and small tray. She hummed absently as she set up her late meal. Silently Jenny watched her. She shrugged as she slipped on her light jacket.

"See you later, honey," Jenny called as she slipped out the door.

Buffy stood by the sink and watched through the window as Jen got in her car and drove off. She took out her phone and punched Willows number. After a moment Buffy said, "Hey, Wills it’s me". She picked up a pepperoni and popped it in her mouth. "So, spill." Buffy picked up the tray and walked upstairs to the guest room, the one that was hers when she stayed overnight. As she walked by Dawn’s bedroom, her eyes fell to the multi-colored bracelet on the tray. "Tell me about Oz. Is he a hottie?" Buffy sat on the bed and flicked the TV. She continued to nibble on the pizza. So he called eh? Tell me all about this Rocker dude." She settled in to listen to her friend.

"Well like I said before he’s nineteen, and he’s taking off a couple of years to tour some of the local colleges with his band. Their name is DAMB, something about babies and those Australia dogs." She paused momentarily and then continued, "they’re going to be in Sunnydale for just a month, which unfortunately started two weeks ago. But he’s taking me out tomorrow; we’re going to see that new foreign movie at the art house. So, ‘yeah me,’, I guess.

"You guess?" Buffy asked wiping her mouth on the towel. "Willow, this is so much more than ‘you guess’. All the girls he could have spoken to and asked out, you were the one he did. He likes you Wills," She finished softly.

"Well how do I know that he doesn’t have a girl in every city."

"You don’t Wills. Don’t go looking for the end before you go on your first date."

"Speaking of first dates."

Buffy played with the ruffle on the end of her pillow and smiled. "He is perfect. At first the date was not cool."

"What did he do?" she interrupted.

"Oh it wasn’t him," she quickly pointed out. "He was great. I’m the one that had a rough start. You’d think I’d never been on a date before! I was so nervous. First, I just sat there like an idiot, then I gave a 15 minute lecture on the wonders of cake. By the way, he bought me a piece of cake, I inhaled it. Then, I started talking about my dad."

"No."

"Yes. But you know what?" She paused. "He was fine with it. He kissed me and put his arms around me and I knew it was all right. He was all ‘Bugger this’ and ‘Pet that’ and, and he was perfect."

Spike stood in front of his bathroom mirror and studied his appearance. He absently noted that he had maybe a week before he needed to touch up his hair. Not for the first time he wondered about just letting the color grow out. Bleaching was hell on the scalp and the look was dated. Spike noticed the laugh lines around his eyes and mouth. "You are getting old William," he whispered to himself. Spike picked up his toothbrush as Angel’s reflection appeared over his shoulder.

"You’re in early," Angel leaned against the door frame with a beer in his hand. He smiled good-natured as he continued " What, did she send you away from the table still hungry?"

Spike spat out the toothpaste and countered, "You’re in for the night too, you Git." He put his toiletries away and turned to leave the cramped space. Angel stepped aside and let him past. He followed Spike as he went downstairs and turned on the TV.

"Anyway, who says I’m in for the night. In case you were wondering."

"I’m not." Spike said never taking his eyes off the news.

"In case you’re wondering, I’m waiting for Candi to get out of work. Or maybe it’s Brandi, whatever." He leaned in and said confidentially, "I’ll just call her beautiful and everything will be fine." Angel smiled and put his finger to his temple.

"What about the cheerleader?" Spike asked turning to A&E.

"Who? Oh, the lovely Ms. Cordelia. I don’t think I’m going to call her again. I stopped by her house yesterday. It was perfect, nice empty house, big comfortable bed, and nothing. I like a challenge, but my God, she is impossible."

Spike turned his blue eyes to his roommate and smiling said, "So the mighty Angel gets taken down by a cheerleader." He realized that he was being childish, but it was fun to pick. He put down the remote and put his finger to his temple and said, "I think the big Poof is going soft. You know," Spike stood and walked around the back of Angel, "I was looking at the back of your head the other day and I thought your hair was getting a little thin." Angel’s hand shot to the back of his head. "Wasn’t your grandda bald."

"Enough Spike." Angel stood up and started out of the room. Now it was Spike’s turn to follow him. The two ended up in the kitchen.

"I’m just saying, there are a lot of very distinguished men with less than a full head of hair."

"William."

"But you know what I find? That when one doesn’t have a full head of hair, they are always called ‘distinguished’, never are they ‘hot’ Angel, I fear your days maybe numbered." Spike smiled as Angel left the house.





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