Buffy looked around the kitchen as her mind was searching, desperately, for something to say. She liked Gunn and Fred; they were both very nice, but she couldn’t help but find the whole situation kind of awkward. And although Spike clearly made an effort of being as nice and polite as possible, it was obvious that he felt uncomfortable as well. She couldn’t exactly blame him.
Sure, she could understand Gunn’s dilemma; him being willing to do anything to help his niece deal with the aftermath of her ordeal. But she didn’t like how he was pushing Spike into helping the poor girl. Of course, deep down, Buffy had a feeling that talking to someone who had been in the same situation would actually help Spike as well. It could be a break-through for them both, and that was the reason why she had encouraged him into coming here tonight.
Still, she suddenly wasn’t so sure Spike would be ready for this after all. A part of her just wanted to make up some excuse so they could leave. But she knew that wouldn’t be fair. For one thing, it was up to Spike to decide whether or not they should stay. Also, she felt bad for Gunn as well. He didn’t mean to cause any trouble, he just wanted to help his niece. She glanced at Spike and managed a small smile.
“More salad, anyone?” Fred let out a nervous laugh. “I hope I made enough. Usually it’s just the three of us.”
“I’d love some more, thanks.” Buffy wasn’t really that hungry; she just kept eating as an excuse to keep her hands busy. She had a tendency to start fidgeting when she was nervous. Stabbing a slice of tomato with her fork, she looked at Emily – who had barely touched her food – silently wondering if the girl had always been this thin, or if she had stopped eating as a result of Ethan’s cruel actions.
Suddenly, the girl pushed away her plate and got up. “I wanna go watch TV.”
Fred glanced at her husband before turning back to Emily. “But sweetie, you haven’t eaten anything. You said you were hungry, remember?”
Emily shrugged. “I’m not anymore.” A pause. “And she keeps staring at me.” She turned her accusing eyes towards Buffy.
“I...” Buffy felt her cheeks turn red and casted a helpless look at Spike, who just shrugged in response.
“Emily...” Gunn gave the girl a disapproving look. “That was not polite.”
Avoiding her uncle’s eyes, Emily mumbled an apology. Then she glanced at Fred, asking in a small voice; “Can I go watch TV, please?”
Fred got an uncertain look on her face, obviously not sure how to respond. Then she let out a sigh. “Of course, honey.” Emily left the room without another word, clearly relieved. An awkward silence filled the room.
Finally, Buffy spoke up. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to...”
Gunn interrupted her, waving his hand in dismissal. “Don’t worry about it. She’s just...” He hesitated, obviously not knowing how to finish. Instead he turned to Spike in hope for understanding; “I just don’t know how to talk to her anymore. She was always so happy, you know. And now...” He left the rest of the sentence hanging.
Spike sighed. “I’m sorry to hear that, mate. But seriously, I don’t know what you want me to do about it.”
Gunn opened his mouth, but Fred beat him to it. “We just hoped you could talk to her. Maybe if she...”
“What if she doesn’t want to talk about it?” Spike interrupted her. Fred lowered her eyes.
Gunn looked surprised. “But she has to! She can’t just...” He swallowed. “She needs to hear that there are other people out there who’s been through the same thing. If you could just tell her how you’ve been dealing with...” His voice trailed off and he stopped as Spike let out a bitter laugh.
Closing his eyes for a moment, Spike could feel a headache coming up. Sod this! He didn’t want to be rude, but these people had absolutely no idea how he had been dealing with anything. Of course, deep down, he understood their concern for the little girl, but he couldn’t help but feel that it wasn’t fair to him. He had his own issues; he wasn’t ready for playing counselor.
Besides, it was obvious that Emily wasn’t interested in talking. She had barely said two words to anyone during dinner, despite the fact that they had all – including him – tried to get her to join the conversation. Still, it felt wrong to just give up, he wanted to be able to help her. He just didn’t know how. Feeling the frustration well up inside him, he pushed the chair back and started to get up. “Need some fresh air. Excuse me.”
Buffy jumped up as well and put her hand on his arm to stop him, the concern evident on her face. “I’ll come with you.”
His face softened and he squeezed her hand, gratefully. “I’m fine, luv. Just gonna step outside for a moment, be right back.” She looked like she was about to object, then seemed to decide against it. Instead she just nodded, reluctantly releasing her grip on his arm. Spike took a deep breath before leaving the room.
When he was gone, Buffy slowly sat back down. She noticed that both Gunn and Fred seemed reluctant to meet her eyes. Putting on a strained smile, she tried to lighten the mood. “Well, dinner was really great! Thank you for inviting us over.”
“Oh. You’re welcome.” Fred hesitated for a moment before she went on; “Buffy, I’m sorry. This was a bad idea; we should never have asked...”
“It’s my fault,” Gunn interrupted, giving Buffy an apologetic look. “It was selfish of me, I admit it. It’s just that Fred and I have tried everything, and we just can’t seem to get through to her.”
Fred gave her husband a sad smile before adding; “Buffy, surely you must have felt the same way we do. How did you get Spike to open up to you?” She and Gunn both looked at Buffy, expectantly.
Buffy sighed. She felt sorry for them, knowing perfectly well how hard it was, having to watch someone you cared deeply about suffer. At the same time, her heart went out to Spike, not to Gunn and Fred. She could only imagine how hard all of this had to be for him. He probably felt like he owed it to this girl to try and help her, but the fact was, he didn’t. He didn’t owe these people anything.
Not to mention the fact that – no matter how nice and understanding they may be – Gunn and Fred were still a couple of complete strangers. Buffy had to admit that a part of her was amazed that Spike had even agreed to come here tonight. After all, not only did they know about what happened to him, but that was in fact the reason why he was here in the first place. To talk about his past. And things hadn’t exactly started off very good.
“I’m sorry, I...” Buffy hesitated. She didn’t feel comfortable talking about her relationship with Spike. That was between the two of them. She bit her lip, thoughtfully, wondering how to explain how she felt without hurting anyone’s feelings. Unable to come up with something, she finally blurted out in desperation; “I need to use the bathroom.”
“Of course.” Fred got a worried look on her face, clearly wondering if she had gone too far. “Just go through the dining room; the bathroom’s the second door to the right.”
“Thanks.” Buffy forced a smile and hurried out of the room, leaving Gunn and Fred to look after her.
TBC
[Reviews - 1696]
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Chapter or Story |
Chapter or Story | 
Chapter or Story
Has been viewed 2940 times
- Text Size +
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Chapter or Story |
Chapter or Story | Chapter or Story - Text Size +