Angel had picked her up every day before school since she didn’t drive herself. No Angel meant no ride – and her mother seemed to think it was more of an inconvenience for her to “go out of her way” to take Buffy to school when Buffy could walk up the block and wait for the bus. No matter how much Buffy had begged, her mother simply hadn’t understood how forcing a senior to ride the school bus constituted child abuse.
So when Spike drove up in his monstrosity of a car and stopped at the curb in front of her, motioning from behind the window for her to get in, Buffy didn’t hesitate to join him. Sure, riding around in an old, boat-sized car was embarrassing, but nowhere near as embarrassing as being in the bus.
“Thank you so much,” Buffy said as she buckled herself in. “Angel used to give me rides, so…”
“Yeah, I figured as much,” Spike said. “I used to hear him honking every morning. I would’ve offered to start taking you already if I’d known you were forced to taking the big yellow taxi.”
“It’s been awful. Some freshman hit on me yesterday. He had Pop Tart in his braces.” She shuddered at the memory.
“So I’ll be your chauffer from now on,” Spike replied. “Only fitting, since you’re my girlfriend and all. Well, as far as the school knows.”
“Right,” Buffy replied. “As far as they know.”
Spike risked a glance her way, thinking about the fantasies he’d had about her once she’d gone home and he’d been alone to relieve some of the tension watching porn with her had caused. She could be his naughty nurse any day of the bloody week…
“Oh!” Buffy turned towards him suddenly, and Spike had to fight to keep from swerving, her sudden outburst startling him. “I forgot to tell you yesterday that I have cheerleading practice this afternoon.”
She’d yelled about that? God, this girl was high strung… “Until when?” Spike asked.
“Five. Do I need to find another ride home? I could just come by your place afterwards. Unless it’ll be too late, and you’d rather just wait for tomorrow.”
“No, it’s fine. I can still give you a ride home, pet. I’ll just meet you at five.”
“Okay. We’ll be practicing in the gym. If you want, you can come watch for a bit. It would be, y’know, a boyfriend sort of thing to do.”
Buffy wasn’t sure what had possessed her to ask Spike to come watch her practice, except maybe she wanted to prove to herself she was still attractive, even if Angel had ditched her. Would Spike enjoy watching her cheer – and more importantly, did she want him to?
She looked him over, her teeth worrying her bottom lip, and realized she did. But not because she wanted him or anything. Just because it might be fun to make him be the one to squirm for once.
Spike had never given cheerleaders a lot of thought. He got the flexible thing, but being a teenaged boy himself, he was constantly surrounded by young nubile flesh without it being wrapped in blinding yellow. And then there was all the screaming and the over-peppiness. All in all, he could take a pass.
But if Buffy wanted him there, he’d be there. He’d go to the sodding ballet if it could bring him any closer to getting in her pants. “Yeah, all right. I’ll swing by for a bit.”
“Okay. Cool.”
Silence fell over the car again, and Buffy turned to look out the window as Spike drove. Even with the space between them, she was overly aware of his presence, her skin prickling at the memory of his touch. It was her dirty little secret that she’d never admit to anyone – barely even herself – but she was excited about it being another school day. With school came Spike kissage. And as vile as Spike the man may be, his lips were another story entirely.
He kissed way too well for a teenager…
Buffy decided she wasn’t going to feel guilty for wanting to mack on a hottie. For all Spike’s annoying traits, he was physically attractive. In a weird, punk sort of way. If you went for bleached, spiky hair, leather and ripped denim, a penchant for eyeliner, perfect cheekbones, six pack abs, and gorgeous blue eyes, that was.
Oh, those eyes…
“Right, so we’re early. I think we should make out.”
Buffy whipped her head around towards Spike, realizing sometime in the middle of her daydreaming they’d gotten to the school, and he’d just said…
“Wha?”
“I think we should make out,” Spike repeated casually, like he’d just made a comment on the lack of clouds in the sky today. “I mean, if we sit here in my car and go at it in front of everyone, it’s bound to get back around to Angel.”
Well, that sounded like a good enough excuse…er, reason…to her. Buffy slid across the bench seat and climbed in Spike’s lap.
Spike’s eyes widened as her lips went immediately to his neck, sucking on the pulse point. He hadn’t expected her to response to his suggestion so enthusiastically, but he certainly wasn’t going to complain now that she had. Instead, he reached out and took two handfuls of her firm ass, moaning as she continued to give him a hickey.
Spike decided it was now official. Angel was a moron. This woman was bloody amazing…
Buffy licked his neck before nibbling on his earlobe, then traced his smooth jaw with kisses. Soon, her mouth found his, and Spike moaned as she parted her lips for him, letting him slide his tongue forward.
What he wouldn’t give to be able to throw her down on the seat and have his way with her right there…
Testing the waters, he pushed up her skirt, bringing his hands under them to massage her bottom. She was wearing a thong, giving him free access to her ass, and Spike knew she had to feel his erection poking into her. All that hot, firm skin right beneath his fingertips – there was no way he could keep from being aroused.
He was so tempted to slide his fingers under the lace of her panties and do something naughty, but he didn’t think it was a good idea to push things so soon. He didn’t want her running again.
But then, her mouth had moved from his lips to his ear, and she was whispering to him, “I wouldn’t say no if you wanted to touch me.”
Spike’s breathing grew heavier as he dug his fingers into her bottom, trying to gain some control before he moved forward.
Would she say no if he popped the buttons of his jeans and stuck his cock into the warm, wet place currently grinding against him? Would that qualify as “touching” or would it be taking things just a smidge too far?
He never got to find out. He jumped as something smacked against the trunk of his car, and Buffy let out a shout, falling backwards and smacking into the horn. Her face flaring, she hurried off his lap.
A moment later, Devon was knocking the driver’s side window, Amy snickering at his side. “Did I interrupt something, Pratt?”
“Wanker!” Spike yelled before opening the door and getting out. “What’s your problem, mate?”
Amy peeked in past Spike at Buffy, chuckling at the sight of the other girl’s red face. “Aww… Did we embarrass the poor cheerleader?” she asked in a baby voice.
“Oi!” Spike exclaimed, moving Amy out of the way and slamming the door. “Leave her alone.”
“Geez, Spike, you don’t have to be such a dick,” Amy said, rolling her eyes. “Dev and I were just playing around.”
“Yeah, well, you’re not funny,” Spike snapped. “Why don’t you two just get out of here.”
Devon and Amy shared a look before rolling their eyes. “Damn, Spike, when did you turn into such a douche?” Devon asked. “Getting all worked up over some piece of tail. Just bang the little bitch and get it out of your system.”
Spike grabbed Devon by the front of his t-shirt and slammed him against the side of the DeSoto. “You shut your mouth, MacLeish. You don’t know the first sodding thing about Buffy.”
Amy jumped into the fray, waving her hand between Devon and Spike to get him to drop him. “Whoa, whoa. We’re all friends here. Let’s just go our separate ways, all right?”
Spike’s jaw ticked, and for a moment, all he could think about was pounding Devon’s face in. But then he realized that was probably overreacting and let him go. “Yeah, all right.”
“Come on, Dev,” Amy said, taking hold of Devon’s arm. She looked back over at Spike as they started to walk off. “Dude, you really need to just chill.”
Spike took several deep breaths, then turned towards the crowd that had gathered to watch the potential fight. “What the fuck are you lot looking at, huh?” he yelled, causing the group to quickly disperse.
The attention on them dwindling, Buffy came out of the car. Spike ran over to her, grabbing her arm before she could get away. “Hey. Slow down. I’m sorry about that, okay?”
Buffy shook her head. “Look, Spike, things got out of hand there, and I… I just need to go.”
Spike understood that, though he didn’t like it. He’d much preferred it when she was writhing in his lap and letting him have grabby hands. Still, he dropped her arm and ran his hand through his hair. “Okay. Are we still on for this afternoon?”
Buffy knew if she had any sense, she’d end this right then and there. Things kept spiraling out of control, her hormones moving faster than her brain, taking her to places she didn’t think she should be. Not with him. Not with a man who wasn’t Angel.
She nodded. “Yeah. We’ll be in the gym.”
“All right.” Spike knew he probably shouldn’t, not with how skittish she was at the moment, but he took her and pulled her into his arms all the same. “I’m sorry,” he whispered to her, relieved when he felt her embrace him back. “They had no right to do that.”
Buffy was surprised at how much better she could feel with a hug from Spike. He had such strong arms, and a good, solid chest. And, god, the way he smelled… She wanted to bury her nose against him and just breathe…
“It’s okay,” Buffy said, looking up at him. “I mean, we were doing it to get noticed, after all, and that called plenty of attention to us.”
Spike chuckled lightly, glad to see she didn’t seem to be running anymore. “Yeah, it did.” He put his hand against her cheek. “Mind giving them a little something else to watch?”
Buffy swallowed nervously, but shook her head no.
She tried not to think about how much it didn’t feel like acting when Spike kissed her.
When lunchtime rolled around, Spike opted to go out to the courtyard and sit alone. He didn’t see Buffy around anywhere, and the thought of having to sit with Devon and Amy at the moment held no appeal to him.
He hadn’t been sitting down long when Faith approached the table, sliding into the bench across from him. “Hey, Pratt. Heard you got into it this morning with Devon and Amy.”
“Hey, Faith.” He shrugged. “We had a bit of a row, yeah. They were rude to Buffy.”
“Ah. Little Miss Buffy, huh? Is it true you two were totally getting busy in your car?”
“We were kissing a bit, yeah. Amy and Devon came by, started acting like jerks, and I got angry, is all.”
“From what I heard, you looked about ready to kill Dev.” Faith popped a French fry in her mouth. “What’s up with you and Buffy anyway? She doesn’t seem like your type, what with the moral center and all. I mean, I can see why you’d want to get a piece of that cause damn, if I swung that way I’d be all over that, too, but I never saw her walking on the dark side.”
Spike looked around to make sure they wouldn’t be overheard, then leaned in closer to Faith. “You promise to keep a secret?”
Faith crossed her heart. “Needle in my eye, the whole bit.”
“I convinced her we’d only be doing it as a ploy to make her hulking forehead of an ex jealous.”
“And she fell for it?”
“Yeah.”
Faith burst out laughing. “Oh, that is rich. Damn, Spike, you are a fucking genius.”
“I guess,” Spike replied, although something about the plan didn’t seem so ingenious this morning. He’d almost call the emotion he was feeling “guilt,” only he worked very hard not to feel any of that, so it couldn’t be.
“Man, I can’t believe she’d be stupid enough to even consider you were doing anything but trying to tap that ass. What an idiot.”
Spike bristled. “Well, she’s had a rough time of it, what with him humiliating her around the school with Harmony. I can’t blame the girl for wanting to get a little of her own back.”
“Yeah, and I can’t blame you for taking advantage of that,” Faith replied.
Spike started to protest and say he wasn’t taking advantage of her, but he knew it would be a lie. That was exactly what he was doing, and suddenly, it didn’t feel so good.
Buffy walked out onto the courtyard then, and the sunlight hit her, illuminating her golden hair like a halo. One of her friends said something that made her laugh, and Spike could hear the sound floating in the air. She was gorgeous, so vibrant…
It hit him like a flash, and he knew why he couldn’t quite stomach the notion of taking advantage of her.
This wasn’t about sex. He liked her.
Liked her…
With that realization, Spike’s entire world flipped over on its head.