~~~~~~~From the previous chapter
Spinning on her heel she looked straight into Anya’s eyes, her jaw slack with shock. Blinking rapidly in an effort to focus on the other woman through the tears now streaming down her cheeks she could only repeat the last thing she heard. “Move away?”
~~~~~*~~~~~
Buffy’s head was spinning and her hands held on to the bench behind her so hard her knuckles were white with the effort to keep her grasp on reality. She could see Anya’s lips still moving, but barely registered the perplexed expression on the woman’s face, as the only sound that reached her ears was that of her own blood pounding inside her temples.
*Move away? Move. Away?* Anya couldn’t actually be blackmailing her, could she? Asking her to move and never see Spike again in exchange for not telling anyone about her ‘sordid’ affair with the underage boy, *who is more of a man than many double his age*?
Anya was now holding her shoulders and shaking her rather hard, a not-so-concerned look on her face as she leaned in closer to try and get through to her. It was the look, not the shaking, that managed to break through Buffy’s daze enough for her to hear parts of what the brunette was saying.
“…big deal is…”
*Big deal? It’s a huge deal! I’m in love with him!* Buffy tried to speak, but her tongue felt numb in her mouth.
“…other part of town…spring…”
Anya shrugged and Buffy frowned, something in the older woman’s nonchalance seemed decidedly ‘off’ about the topic at hand, even for Anya who never seemed to lose her cool, *except for that one time when Xander had brought her a bunny for—Gah, FOCUS Buffy.*
Gathering her wits, Buffy managed to get a grip on her emotions and a grasp on Anya’s upper arms, stilling them both. “What exactly did you say?”
“Do you want a word by word replay, or just the gist of it?”
Despite herself, Buffy chuckled. Anya was the only person she knew with such a great memory, and Buffy knew she’d never want to piss her off… with that memory, the woman might as well be a vengeance demon, since she never let go of a grudge. That last thought made Buffy’s mirth disappear as fast as it arose. *Guess I royally pissed her off now.* But she didn’t appear pissed off, just perplexed and slightly amused. “Let’s go for the short splainy.”
“Well, I asked what the big deal was-”
Buffy desperately wanted to interrupt, but didn’t, sensing Anya’s point wasn’t about what she thought at first.
“-I mean it’s not like you’ll be far away. You find a place on the other side of town, and you have till spring to do so.”
She shrugged and Buffy waited for her to continue, but she seemed to be done speaking.
“Spring?” The question was curt, not indicating curiosity, but more like disbelief. It was like Buffy was trying to will Anya to remember it wasn’t even fall yet.
“Huh. You really didn’t hear a word I said before, did you? I read somewhere an article about selective hearing. That must be the case here. Your preconceived notion about my reaction led your subconscious only selecting to perceive what you-”
“ANYA!” Buffy managed to sound commanding although her voice was low. *Yeah, now I remember my mom is here! Can this day get any worse? Oh-no! Jinx! You never ask such questions! Unless it doesn’t count when it’s too myself… and could I be any more of a scatter-brain right now?* She shook her head, clearing it of her inner rant. “Why spring?”
“Because-” Anya said really slowly with a grin spreading on her face.
The woman obviously took pleasure into torturing her, *yup, sooo could be a vengeance demon,*
“-Will is going to need some tutoring in Art if he’s going to get into college next year, and I think you could ‘tutor’ him until spring.” Her own inability to grasp subtle innuendos made Anya hasten to explain. “You understand that means I can cover for you giving each other orgasms under the pretence of you giving him lessons – I mean Art was your major – but only until spring. After that you will have to find a place of your own and he will have to get a real tutor.” Then she scrunched her face up momentarily, as if trying to solve a math equation. “Rent can be expensive,” she said more to herself and frowned. “It’s not like you could do much with your degree, because you didn’t study economics or business. Basically, you have no real work experience, do you?” Buffy shook her head. “We’ll just have to find something for you then I suppose. I believe William will want to attend Sunnydale University after high school, so if he tells his father he wants to move into the dorms next year, you two will be able to be regular lust honeys…”
Buffy was slack jawed; wheels turning in her head, exploring all the wonderful possibilities of what Anya suggested and too shocked to take offence at the berating of her degree or lack of work experience. But she still caught the mistake of her cliché and absentmindedly corrected her. “Lust bunnies.” Anya shrieked, *and how did she manage that in a hushed voice?*
“Why would you bring that up when I’m only trying to help you?”
Anya seemed genuinely hurt and Buffy really tried to respect her irrational fear, but could hardly stifle a giggle at the look of horror on her face. She was feeling light headed after the emotional rollercoaster she’d just ridden, but managed to pull herself together to apologize. “I’m sorry, really I am. It was inconsiderate of me. Do you—do you really think your idea could work?”
“It will work!” She nodded enthusiastically, smile back in place. “I’m most capable of making well laid plans.
“And you’re alright with me and Spike? Er… William I mean.”
“Spike?” Anya grinned, a wicked gleam in her eye. “Now I wonder where that nickname could have possibly stemmed from.” The fact she didn’t pursue the matter - or made any comment on the Giles’s genetics - but merely giggled when Buffy blushed really was a first for her, and she could tell the blonde more than appreciated it. “Well, never mind. I’m more than ok with it, honest. Rupert is my senior by many years, Buffy, and we’re both really happy together. I wouldn’t take that away from Will or you.”
“You’ve just made me the happiest I think I’ve ever been!” Buffy couldn’t help but throw her arms around the woman and kiss both her cheeks.
“Happies’ than ever, huh?”
Still holding Anya, her head snapped towards the doorway, where a slightly pouting Spike was leaning on the doorframe right outside the swinging kitchen doors.
“Your mum sent me to see what was keepin’ the coffee. An’ it was you two, of course.” Spike was trying to make sense of why the women were hugging. Neither was much for showing affection in that way, especially without good reason.
“Yu-P!” Buffy popped the ‘p’, letting her lower lip jut out just a fraction of a second too long. “Happier than even you make me, and that’s hard to accomplish. I’m all happy-Buffy now!” She grinned at his shocked expression over her ‘slip’ in front of his stepmother. Anya gave her one last squeeze before letting go and switching on the coffee machine.
“Bring the coffee upstairs when it’s done, please. And try to tone the lust down when you join us. Especially you… Spike.” She brushed by him with a devilish glint in her eye, leaving him to gawk at her back as she walked to the staircase.
“Wh… how, what, how-” Spike kept opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water, making choked sounds among the half-formed questions. He’d never resembled his dad more than in that moment.
Buffy chuckled. “If you wipe an imaginary pair of glasses clean, I am so breaking up with you.” She grinned at him and he started sputtering again, so she pulled him into the kitchen in order to silence him with a kiss. “She knows and she’s going to help us stay together,” she whispered against his lips, “I’ll tell you the rest later. Now wait for the coffee and then get your cute little ass up there. I’ll go catch up with mom and Dawn.”
With a swat on said cute ass she left the room, the bounce in her step making him smile as he still tried to wrap his mind around that piece of information.
~~~~~*~~~~~
By the time Spike made his way upstairs, carefully balancing the tray with the coffee mugs while sporting a silly smile, Buffy had removed the piece of glass from her foot. *Thank God it wasn’t on the sole, that would hurt like a bitch.* She put a band-aid on the tiny wound then helped Dawn finish unpacking. All the clothes were either in the washer or the closets. The two girls had done some sharing and squee’d together in joy when Buffy let Dawn know that Anya knew about her relationship and was more than fine with it. Even Xander had partaken in a less than manly squee’ing session when he was let in on the source of their glee.
After they’d only had a few sips of what Tara deemed a ‘really fine blend’, Joyce began getting jittery with the near physical need to vacuum the house – despite it being spotless – and wanted them all out of there in order to do it. As she couldn’t just admit to wanting them out of her way however, she urged them to go help Tara unpack and clean up over at her home.
It didn’t take them as long as Joyce expected to finish with their chores at the other house, since Tara never possessed the compulsive need for tidiness like her sister-in-law did, and then Buffy, Spike, Xander, Dawn, and Anya were off to the Giles’ new place. ‘To clean up’, they’d said and make it more homey. What they didn’t say was that what they wanted to do the most, was to make plans for Buffy’s move.
Well, at least all except Anya. What she had in mind was free labor to help her unpack the myriads of boxes the movers had just left laying around.
And as usual, that woman’s will was done first. After the second floor was finished with relative ease because the furniture in the bedrooms couldn’t be placed differently, she had the two young men move – “Lift it boys, don’t drag, you’ll ruin the marble!” – a heavy leather couch all around the living room twice before she decided she liked it better where it was in the beginning. She had them unpack everything, going up and down the staircase for what felt like a million times, but was at least nice enough to order them pizza once they were done and pay for it, which was huge for the money loving Anya. Still, she’d done the math and saved more money by not paying the movers to do it instead.
Xander wouldn’t stop grumbling about how his dad and uncles had gotten out of the entire thing, but Spike pointed out that ‘Red would appreciate a man that did housework without the whinin’ and he shifted the focus of his grumble to Spike and how the blond had accused him of whining. Dawn watched the entire thing with amusement, not missing the loving looks exchanged between her sister and Spike, feeling so happy for them that she vowed to do everything in her power to help them stay together.
When they finally all collapsed from exhaustion in the living room, Xander asked if he could invite Willow over and once she arrived, the ‘meeting’ officially began.
By the time Giles came home and let the girls and Xander know their folks were at their respective houses, waiting for them, decisions had been made, plans had been laid and two lovers had to spend the first night in almost three months under separate roofs without so much as a kiss goodnight.
~~~~~*~~~~~
Each blond spent the evening with their immediate family, catching up on the last few months, both having to skip over the parts that made them the happiest. Joyce had the distinct feeling that the ‘kids had a really boring, quiet summer’ and felt a little guilty for having had so much fun while her eldest daughter was obviously doing nothing more than babysitting. When she tried to voice her feelings, Dawn burst into uncontrollable laughter, leaving Buffy to come up with an excuse for her giggles. It was a lame excuse, involving something about the word ‘quiet’ triggering an inside joke between the sisters.
Buffy knew it was too close to the truth, but their mother would never have to know.
Before she went to bed in the room she and Dawn shared, she told her mother that the past three months had helped her realize that she really valued her independence, and that she wanted to find a job and a place of her own.
Both Joyce and Hank were ecstatic at the maturity of their daughter’s thinking and offered to help her on both accounts.
~~~~~*~~~~~
Having answered all of his father’s questions about his endeavors during his vacation, Spike explained his scar in a way that had the wicked bathroom door be the culprit that hit him because he’d opened it too roughly. Then with an opening by Anya, who helpfully supplied, ‘Rupert, William has been visiting the College Library here in Sunnydale and was impressed by it,’ ignoring Spike when he rolled his eyes – he went on to pitch the idea to his father about attending the local college once high school was over. Giles seemed enthusiastic for his son’s choice, he had some more prestigious schools in mind for him, but was extremely pleased with the fact that William hadn’t spent the summer ‘frolicking and wasting his youth away like the colonials did’. This time, Anya joined her step-son as both rolled their eyes at Rupert’s comment.
Having settled that matter, it was time for part B of the plan.
Anya brought her husband a glass of scotch he hadn’t asked for and when he looked at her questioningly, told him it’d been a long day and he needed to relax. After he’d taken a couple of sips, she motioned for Spike to go to bed and he left the room with a polite ‘goodnight’ aimed at his dad and a kiss to Anya’s cheek.
“Rupert, I’ve been thinking…” she paid no heed to his groan; he always had that reaction when she said she had an idea. If she took him seriously every time, she’d never get anything done. “We have to somehow thank Buffy for taking such good care of William the entire summer. I’ve never seen the boy more relaxed or happy.”
Giles was pleasantly surprised at his wife’s thoughtfulness, but surely she didn’t mean to pay the girl. If she did, he would have to take her to the doctor immediately. “Really, darling, how thoughtful of you. And what do you suggest we do?”
“The poor girl has been looking for a job, but hasn’t found anything, so I thought since the museum is currently under-staffed and she is an art major…”
“But of course, Anya, that is bloody brilliant! I’ll ask her to come and work for me as soon as I settle there.” He was so proud of her idea, he completely missed the fact that her smile was rather smug when she leaned in to kiss him.
On the staircase, hidden by the wall that separated the living room from the kitchen, Spike let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d held and finally snuck upstairs to his new bedroom.
~~~~~*~~~~~
Both he and Buffy were smiling when sleep claimed them, only moments apart from one another.
tbc.
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Thank you darlaslilgirl for the awesome banner!Author's Chapter Notes:
*sniffles* Two more to go, and I can't thank you all enough for being with me so long! You all deserve cookies to say the least!!!Thank you to Tina (IBE) for being an awesome beta and friend and Sarah (SpikesGoddess) for making me giggle uncontrollably, and reading everything in advance.
Chapter End Notes:
Just a few things wrap up now! Please let me know what you think!