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Chapter Five

Crash and Burn


It had been three weeks since the incident with Spike, and Buffy had yet to see him in all that time. He never said “hello” any more, he didn’t even answer the door if she went to the house, he ignored her banging and her pleading him too at least let her know he was okay. The incident had answered a lot of questions Buffy had about Imogen’s mom, but it had erupted to even more unanswered questions about him, and strangely enough even more about her. Where did the Summers’ family fit, where did she fit, and where did he fit into the jigsaw, that had become her life? And why in the hell where there still missing pieces?


She thought about all the tension in his life; losing his wife, his self blame in an impossible situation, being a single parent, and yet something else loomed under the surface, something that she couldn’t put her finger on. Great conflict swirled within him, its origins where certainly unclear, and their potential outcomes unpredictable. Just where this was leading she was unsure of, but one thing was clear, he needed people around him at the moment, whether he liked it or not.


He would speak to her mother and Dawn but not her, and that hurt. The fact that she knew, that she was beginning to have feelings for him was irrelevant. The fact that she felt ignored was the worst feeling that you could give to anyone else, intentionally or not. The avoidance was just as bad, in some ways even worse, he seemed to leave before she even got up, and was never home before dusk. He would come home and soon after send Dawn on her way, with a fist full of cash for babysitting Imogen. She had tried the old, ‘I’ll catch you letting Dawn out’, but the look he had on his face said it all.


Leave me alone!!!


Buffy was stumped over why he was treating her this way, and she had refused to tell anyone about what he’d said to her that day in his bedroom. But it was ridiculous. How long could he keep it up? They had to come to stumble upon each other eventually, ‘~and how awkward was that going to be? ~’.


But life had to move forward even if he didn’t……………….




~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~




Life resumed its normal patterns over the next few weeks, and Buffy had given up at trying making sure everything was alright next door. The events still worried her, as she made her way around her college classes, sometimes even interfering with her concentration, which on more than one occasion had her being caught out ‘lost in space’ by her teachers. Her friends began to wonder what was worrying the girl, that it interfered with her studies so much, she hadn’t been like this for over a year, and they feared that she was reverting back to unwanted behaviours.


“So Buffy what’s the deal, I mean……….. You’ve been real quiet lately?” Willow asked of Buffy, as the friends sat on the greens of the college’s gardens, having lunch waiting for the others to arrive.


“What do you mean Will?”


“Well you’ve been, you know, all ‘Miss Quiet’ and ‘Miss Universy’ the last couple of weeks.”


“‘Miss Universy’, that’s a new one even for you.” Buffy laughed at Willow’s attempts to describe her over the last couple of weeks.


“Um I mean………well I kinda mean…..um…..you know you’ve been kinda ‘out there’ in class, like you’re in another universe or something,” Willow began to stumble on her words, “An alternate universe if you like, and you haven’t been paying much attention in class sometimes. So what gives?”


Buffy was silent for awhile contemplating whether she should tell her what had been plaguing her mind, and maybe it might make things easier for her if she did. Maybe she should lay her cards on the table and show her hand. Willow was a good friend and had always been there, when she really had needed her.


“Okay let’s say hypothetically, that I have a crush on a man and he’s ignoring me for something that he told me in confidence, okay. And I don’t know what to do about it?”


“Hypothetically you say, or do you mean for real, because if its for real then that would be okay you know. Especially after last year, they would be good feelings, even if the guy was ignoring you. And ohhhhh gossip, what did he tell you that makes him all the ‘I can’t face her’ type?”


“Will, this is all hypothetical you know!” Buffy became very self conscience not being to be able to look at her in the eye.


“What’s hypothetical??” A male voice came from behind the girls, they turned to see both Tara and Xander a few feet behind them, looking quite interested in their conversation.


“Buffy has a hypothetical man in her life, whose ignoring her,” Willow burst forth the little details, being unable to keep a secret from her friends. Since the incident last year that had caused so much bleakness in her life, she was happy that at last someone had caught Buffy’s eye and was starting to break down the walls.


“Wow Buff, that’s just great! Does this hypothetical man have a name?” Xander asked of his friend, plonking his backside next to her.


“Buffy?” Tara asked her in her soft voice, not really wanting to push the issue, but being more sensitive to the other girls’ needs.


“Yeah, its Mr Gordo who else?,” Buffy was just a little irate at Willow at that point, but the ‘cat was out of the bag now’, and she felt the redness begin to creep into her face.


“Since when did Mr Gordo inspire such creative colours in your face Buffy, come on, spill!” Xander wanted to know all.


“Well mayyybe Buffy doesn’t want to. Do you Buffy?” Tara tried to stand up for her. “It’s her decision if, and when she wants to tell us.”


All three set of eyes focused on her, looking at her in hope that she would say or indicate something to them that she had indeed moved on. Buffy felt like a corpse in a morgue being made ready for an autopsy, all sliced and diced ready to be examined. She knew that they meant well, and they were all concerned for her, but …….and there was always a ‘but’. It was that ‘but’ that made the words stick in her throat, she couldn’t explain why she felt a hesitation; maybe it was self survival, and she didn’t want to put anyone’s
hopes up.

“Ummmmm………I don’t know what to say? I don’t know if I can!”


The look of hurt screamed off Xander in silence, he didn’t have to say anything; his hurt was plastered all over his face. He’d always been a little sensitive where Buffy had been concerned; he treated her like family, especially since his own hadn’t really given a damn about him. His friends had become his family, in fact she’d kinda of become the honorary sister he never had, since he knew that she’d never see him any other way, except in a brotherly fashion.


“So you can tell Willow. But not us, is that what you’re saying?”


“Look I don’t know what I can say, or not say…………….” Buffy was beginning to go as white as a ghost. She didn’t want to hurt his feelings, but she just didn’t want to gush everything out of her system, at this point in time. Xander reacted by getting up and brushing off his pants from the grass.


“Look Xan, it’s just probably a girl thing at the moment,” Willow was trying to calm the man down, and yet at the same time come to the defence of her friend.



“So….. secret women’s business?” Xander quickly retreated back, the one thing he didn’t need was a ‘Crabby Buffy’, as she was likely to turn into ‘Cave-Buffy’, and hit him over the head with her bag, if he wasn’t careful.


“Looks like its no more ‘hypothetical guy’ discussion.” Willow just grinned towards her friends.


“Right no more discussion!” Xander conferred with Willow, looking at Buffy’s embarrassed facial expressions.


“So what are we going to do after class today?” Tara asked the group, trying to deflect the subject away from Buffy, and refocus the group on more pleasant conversation.


“I have a huge assignment to write that’s due in tomorrow, so count me out. And I think I promised Anya I’d be home early for a change?” Xander replied.


“Xander please tell me that it isn’t your Modern English essay that’s due!!!” Willow looked shocked that he hadn’t done it.


“And.”


“And that’s a 10,000 word assignment and you haven’t written it! How on earth are you going to finish it before tomorrow?” Shock was written all over her face.


“I will, I will. Doesn’t the Xan Man always get the job done?”


“Yeah Xander, just don’t ring me at 4.30 in the morning like you did last time, because you’ve got writers block!!” Buffy commented on his lack of doing assignments on time, and ringing her at awful times of the night in need of help.


“Me either!” Tara added, she didn’t need the interruption either.



“But Tara I never ring you?”


“No you ring Willow and wake me up, remember the phones on my side of the bed.”


“Don’t worry sweetie, we’ll disconnect the phone when we get home, ok!” Willow said putting her hand into Tara’s reassuringly, “And turn off all the cell phones too!”


“Hey what, no ‘Phone a Friend’ options! Please people don’t desert me!!!” Xander pleaded.


“Sorry Xander, you’re on your own! And speaking of studying, I better get to the library, I have a big paper to write, and so little time.” Buffy got up and began to brush her skirt, “Anyone coming?”


“Me,” Tara said as she moved off the grass, “See you later Xander. Will see you at home, ok?”


“Bye,” a chorus followed the two girls as they moved off towards the library on campus.



~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~



“Hey Dad,” Spike addressed his father in the dark corner of the library repository, as always his father had his head stuck in some book or another, “What’s it this time, Keats or Yates?”


“Hmmm yes, what did you say son?” Spike's father addressed his son, never taking his eyes of the book.


“Dad !!”


“Umm, sorry!! How are you William?”


“Okay I suppose.”


“And Imogen, hows my little grand daughter?” he finally took his eyes of the book and looked at his son, “And pray tell when are you going to bring her to see her Grandfather?”


“She’s good Dad, teething, but good?”


“Good to hear it,” putting the book back into its place on the shelf, “But you never answered my question. When are you going to bring her to see me? I have yet to see your own home, yet you’ve been in Sunnydale how long now?”


“Okay, okay Dad point made, we’ll come over on the weekend.” Spike offered to appease his father, “Hope you can put up with Imogen crying and howling!!!”


“I think I could put up with a few tears from the little angel, and that’s not going to get you out of visiting young man!”


“Yeah okay, okay!”


“Have you heard from your mother yet?” the Professor asked his son.


“Last week, she’s having a coronary about me moving over here, taking her granddaughter away from her. Reckons that she has no female role models, for her to mould herself on.”


“Hmm your mother would say that,” he stated shaking his head from side to side. “I think that you could find a better role model for your daughter, than your mother!!”


“Dad! Just because you two aren’t married anymore, doesn’t mean that you cannot get on with each other!”


“Well that remains to be seen! If your mother could just warm up, from the icicle that she is! Maybe even just to room temperature!”


“Dad! Please!”


“Alright, alright. I’m sorry, I take it back. But I still think that you could find a better female influence in Imogen’s life, than your mother.” Spike’s father looked sharply at his son, “Speaking of which, I know that it’s only been awhile since she died, but……….”


“But what??”


“I mean, well…………”


“Well, what Dad?”


“Well, have you met any young suitable ladies?”



“You mean ‘Am I moving on with my life?’ is that what you mean Dad?” Spike turned his eyes away from his father, unable to make eye contact at him, the look in his sons’ eyes gave it all away.


“You have, haven’t you!” the Professor’s smile beamed from cheek to cheek. He’d liked his daughter-in-law, but his son had to move on with his life, and build his family again. The hope that he’d found someone was just what he needed to hear, “Where did you meet her? What does she do? How old is she? What…………….”


“Dad please, it’s not that simple, I…….we………she…..” Spike interrupted his father.


“Well that’s just what I hoped, that you would move on, get on with your life. I know you loved your wife, but life goes on with the living.”


“Dad it’s complicated.”


“How? How could it be complicated?”


With some reluctance Spike filled him in on his ambiguous feelings for a particular young lady, leaving out certain details like her age and occupation, because he knew his father would plainly object. So he told a few white lies, to make it look not so bad and get his father off his back. It was bad enough his mother was trying to get him back to England, a place he never wanted to return too, because of the memories it held for him. One parent nagging him was enough.


His father absorbed all that his son was willing to tell him, but he knew that William was not telling the whole truth about the young lady. At least his son was beginning to move away from his deep sorrow, and hopefully would rejoin them in the light of day, out of his night of pain and torment.




~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~




“Professor Giles are you there?” A quiet female voice inquired behind the stack that the two men stood in front of.


“Yes Tara I’m in Y section, next aisle.”


Spike watched as a pretty student move towards his father, with a pile of books in her arms, which threatened to spill at any minute. Putting them down on a nearby table, she finally turned to face the two men in front of her, looking at them, one couldn’t help but feel the tension in the air; she could feel the vibrations crash over her.


“I’m sorry Professor, but if I’m interrupting?”


“No Tara, what can I help you with?”


“I need to find that text you where talking about in class Monday.” Tara asked.


“Really, no ones ever even looked at it, even though I’ve talked about…..” the Professor was interrupted again, as another person scuttled around the opposite corner that Tara had approached, right into the path of his son, crashing into each other.


“Buffy!”


“Spike!”


The look of shock recognition was blatantly over both individuals’ faces, Buffy’s mouth hung in mid air and Spike’s’ face tightened in apprehension, his face reddened as if caught out. And he was caught out…..by his father. As soon as his father saw his son’s reaction to the young woman, things clicked into place.


Both Tara and the Professor helped the two from the floor, and to their feet. Spike’s father was astonished at his sons’ lack of honesty, and hurt at the realisation that he couldn’t tell him the truth. Tara was looking a little lost at the man with her professor, reaction to her friend, leaving her intrigued and bemused. It didn’t take Tara long to figure it out.


“Buffy are you alright?” Tara asked her, once she was back safely on her feet.


“Um yeah, excuse me.” Turning to Spike, all she could say was, “Sorry.”


The look of hurt was written all over her face, the unexpected meeting had caught her off guard, and she felt out of place, not sure what to say to him. The fact that he had been ignoring her had caused her nothing but grief. He’d told her something so profound that day in his house, then to only block her out had shown what little regard, she thought he had for her. With that Buffy quickly turned and ran.


“William, I think that you have some explaining to do young man!”


“Not now Dad!”



Spike turned, moving in the direction that Buffy had taken out of the library, following her as quickly as he could. He had felt like the total wanker that he was, he’d been avoiding the inevitable for too long, and it now had blown up in his face. He thought to himself ‘~my life happens on occasions like this, to suck beyond the telling of it~’. It was time to face the consequences of his actions, and pray that at least she would forgive him, because he couldn’t forgive himself.


Seeing her run out the front doors of the library, he quickly pursued her across the lawns and into one of the many buildings of the University. He lost her as soon as she ran into one of the buildings, standing in the foyer he looked around, hoping she would be hiding in one of the corners off the room.


“Hey, she ran that way!” One of the male students pointed towards the stair case.


Nodding his head in thanks, he ascended the staircase like a bat out of hell, taking the stairs two by two, dodging people in the staircase, nearly toppling a few as he went. At the top of the stairs, all he could see was a swarm of occupants chatting and hovering in the corridors. And what seemed one hundred and one doors, the thought of having to look in everyone just made him shudder.


Out of the corner of his eye, he caught site of her flying down the corridor, making a sharp left, in an attempt to foil his plan of catching up with her. Picking up his feet, he quickly ran down in pursuit of his quarry, and caught up quickly with her. Grasping her arm, he turned her around and halted her further progression down the corridor.


“Buffy!”


Buffy refused to turn around and face her capture, bowing down her head, preferring to look at the ground, rather than him. She tightened her hold on her bag, until her hands turned white with the pressure of her grip. Spike turned to place himself in front of her, lifting his hand to grasp her chin in his hand.


“Buffy, please. I’m so sorry.”


“For what?”


“For everything!”


“Not good enough!” with that she finally turned to look at him, the anger that had replaced the shock of running into him at the library, hardened her face. She attempted to remove the hand that held her face with her own, but he refused to let his grip go.


“Please take your hands off me!!!”


But he still wouldn’t let her out of his grasp, so she did the only thing that she could think of. She lifted her foot off the floor, aimed, and struck with great force.


“Ouuuuuccccccchhhh!” Spike relinquished his hold on her, as his hand went down to his shin that she’d whacked with her heeled boot, “Bloody Sodding Hell!”


The smile of satisfaction that was on Buffy’s face was absolutely priceless, “I asked you nicely, mister!”


With that retort, Buffy turned and continued down the corridor swaggering her way down, with a conquering sway in her gait. Not to be left behind, Spike hobbled in the wake of her departure, and not wanting her to have the last word, he went in for the kill.


“Buffy, wait please, we have to talk!”


Buffy turned to see him in great pain, and discomfort from her attack, with her guilt getting the better part of her, she stopped and waited for him to catch up. She had also noted that the students around them had also stopped, to watch the impromptu show that had started before them, and that they were enjoying the front row seats.


“We have nothing to talk about.”


“Yes we do Buffy, we have a lot to talk about, and I have a lot of grovelling to do!”


“Well I don’t want to hear it!”


“Well your gonna hear it, whether you like it or not.”


“What your reasons for ignoring me, not speaking to me, not answering you door, and treating me with contempt every time you see me! No way am I going to put up with that! I don’t care what your reasons are, they aren’t good enough, and you have no excuse to treat me that way……..” Buffy’s voice became louder and louder.


She was about to continue her folly with insults, when he did something that she didn’t expect him to ever do……..he took two steps in front of her, grabbed her by her waist and slammed her into his body.


“Maybe this will shut you up!”


Spike placed one hand in her hair, and moved his head down upon hers, brushing his lips along her own, gently at first, tasting her ever so gently, brushing his lips by the side of her own, so close that sometimes they barely touched. Buffy was just stunned, she felt the shivers run down her spine, the hairs on her arms begin to raise in goose bumps, a heaviness cover her chest, then her throat tighten in anticipation, and her mind begin to dull with the sensation of it. Buffy’s grip on her bag loosened, as it fell to the floor, she moved her hands up to his chest to push him away, but they ended up around his neck, her hands entwining in his hair, gently creating pressure at the back of his skull. He took this as surrender to his kiss, and his mouth now lay on her lips. Gently he began delving into her mouth with his tongue, exploring the recesses of it, tasting the hard and soft textures within.


Spike pulled her in closer too him, tightening his grasp on her, he wanted her as close to him as psychically he could, he needed to burn his impression on her, like she was doing to him. He could feel her body respond to his kiss, he moved a hand to her neck, tilting her head so he could delve deeper into her mouth, his tongue battling it out with her own for dominance. Buffy moved her other hand to his waist pulling him closer in response, pushing on his head with her other hand, making him increase the pressure of his mouth upon her own. Her heart beating so hard and fast she thought it would explode and burst its way out of her chest, her breathing intensifying with the heat that the two were generating. So much that they both burned with it…………..


A niggling feeling of being watched, found its way eventually into Buffy’s’ head, hitting her with the realisation of just where they where. Buffy quickly pulled away, and pushed Spike with such a force he nearly lost his footing, the look on her face was a mix of embarrassment and absolute horror. Spike was just as dumb founded and stunned at his behaviour, all he could do was look at her, the regret was written all over his face for the world to see.


“Buffy, I’m sorry.”



Buffy just didn’t know what to do or say, and so she did the only thing she could.


She ran.





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