Neither William nor Buffy knew that was in store for them tonight. Cordy hadn't known that they went under different names when they met at the Halloween party, but she and Xander both decided to play along with it when they found out. Buffy and William had both been talking nonstop about the other all week, talking Xander and Cordy's ears off while they promised not to say anything to their intended dates. Cordy wanted to make their date night a sort of reunion for them. They would both be happy, and they would have a good time. Or so she thought.
Buffy groaned and rolled onto her back and glared up at Cordy. “What? What is so important that you had to wake me up from my peaceful sleep?” she asked, slightly irritated. 'I was having a very nice dream of Spike, and you ruined it...'
“You have a date tonight, remember?” Cordy said, placing her hands on he hips. “You're not going to bail. I won't let you.”
“But...”
Cordy held her hand up, cutting Buffy off. “Nope. You're going, and that's final. I know you will have a good time with William. Trust me.”
Buffy arched an eyebrow, smirking at her cousin. “Well if you're so sure I will have a good time, why don't you date him?”
“Eww!” Cordy giggled. “No way. It's William, he is like a brother to me! Now, no more procrastinating. Get up, make yourself look hot, and go out with him. You only have... like 3 hours.”
Buffy looked over at the clock, and noticed it was only 3:10. “No, I have five hours. Date is at eight.”
Cordy laughed and shook her head. “Nope. Xander called, told me that William changed it to six. Something about the only reservations available.”
Buffy groaned and pulled herself out of the bed, heading for the shower. “I hate this. I want to go find Spike. Not William,” she grumbled as she rummaged through the linen cabinet for a towel. “This date is pretty pointless.”
Cordy shook her head, trying to hold in an evil cackle. “If you only knew how close you were to finding 'Spike'...”
It had been a little less than a week since William met Liz. The gorgeous bombshell of a woman he had met at the Halloween party. He'd had a blast, pretending to be 'Spike' then worshiping the Goddess he'd found on the dance floor...
The only problem was that he couldn't get Liz off his mind, and he had a date with Buffy tonight. William was going to back out of it, thinking it wasn't fair for him to take a girl out when he was thinking of a different girl, but Xander had all but used violence to convince him otherwise. William still wasn't sure if going on this date would be a good thing or not, but he couldn't just blow Buffy off either.
He would just go on the date, make nice with Buffy, but then tell her he wasn't interested in a way that won't hurt her precious girl feelings. Or maybe he could use his 'Spike' 'tude and make himself out to be a complete ass so Buffy would get the point.
Well, it didn't matter anyway. William was stuck going on a date with a girl he didn't want to be with, so he would just make the best of it. If he and Liz were meant to me, they would find each other someday.
He looked over to check the time and noticed he had about an hour and a half to get ready. They were going to a semi-expensive restaurant, so William had to make himself presentable. He got a towel from his closet and made his way to the dormitory showers.
“Buffy, stop moving. You'll smear,” Cordy chided, trying to hold her cousin's chin still.
“I don't care,” Buffy said and crossed her arms with a huff. “When is he gonna be here?”
Cordy sighed at Buffy's act of immaturity. “Soon. Now, hush. Almost done.”
Buffy rolled her eyes and hollowed out her cheeks so Cordy could put some blush on them. 'Stupid Cordy for getting me to agree to this date. Stupid William for asking me. Stupid Spike for not giving me his number, or asking me for mine...' she thought as Cordy finished the final touches on her makeup. “I don't know why you wanted to do my makeup so bad. I'm completely capable of doing it myself, you know.”
“I know, I'm just better at it,” Cordy giggled and stuck out her tongue. “Besides, you're all ready now, no use in doing it over. He will be here any minute. Wardrobe check!”
Buffy sighed and stood up, slowly spinning around to show off her simple black dress. “Why is he taking me out to such a fancy restaurant, anyway? I thought we were just going to go to a movie, or something.”
William hadn't really decided on the restaurant, Cordy and Xander had, but she wasn't about to let Buffy (or William) know that. He thought she picked it, and she thought he picked it. It was perfect. “I don't know. Maybe he wants to show you that he isn't cheap, or something,” she scoffed and waved her hand dismissively. “Men, always trying too hard. Or you know, not trying hard enough... William just happens to be of the better variety.”
Buffy laughed, then sobered as soon as she heard the doorbell ring. “Oh, shit! He is here! Cordy, I really can't do this. My mind isn't in it!”
“Buffy!” Cordy said and grabbed her cousin's shoulders. “William is a great guy, and who knows... maybe he has an inner Spike.”
“Doubt it, Spike is one of a kind...” Buffy mumbled and let Cordy lead her to the hallway.
“Now, go down the stairs, open the door, greet your date and have a good time. I won't wait up!” Cordy giggled and watched as Buffy walked down the stairs to the door.
'Don't worry, I'll be home before you know it...'
Buffy smoothed down the front of her dress, then put her hand on the doorknob. Giving it a slow twist, she pulled the door opened and took her first look at...
“Spike?!” Buffy squealed and jumped into his arms, ignoring the look of shock on his face. “How did you find me?”
“Uh...” William wrapped his arms around the woman in his arms, not knowing what to think. Liz. Buffy. One and the same? Holy crap... “Erm...”
“It doesn't matter, what matters is you're here! I couldn't think of anyone but you all week!” She she said and gave him a chaste kiss on his lips. “Oh crap... What's your phone number? I have a date to go on tonight, but I totally don't want to go with him. He's such a huge nerd. A real loser, and totally not my type. I'm only going on this date because Cordy is practically forcing me. And now I'm rambling..."
William held Buffy at arm's length, looking at her like she had two heads. She was going to date him because Cordy said so, not because she actually wanted to... She liked 'Spike' better. He was nothing like Spike, so what would she want with William? It wasn't like he could just, transform into Spike overnight and live that way for the rest of... however long she would want him. It just wasn't possible. He liked himself too much to change. Even for Liz... er, Buffy. William was trying hard not to show how much it hurt to know what she thought of the 'real' him. “Right,” he said, trying to channel some confidence into his words. More Spike-like. “How about, you give me your number and I will call you tomorrow, luv?”
“Sure!” Buffy smiled and ran into the house to get a pen. When she came back outside, she grabbed Spike's hand and scribbled her number on it. With a coy smile, she brought his hand up to her mouth and left a red lipstick kiss by her number. “I'll be waiting, handsome.”
Spike leered at her, placed his tongue behind his teeth and then pulled her flush against his body. “Tomorrow. I'll call you,” he whispered into her ear, then pulled back to leave a demanding kiss on her lips.
Buffy swooned, reveling in the whirlwind of lust he brought forth in her, then returned the kiss with just as much passion, whimpering when he pulled away. “Bye, Spike.”
"Goodbye, Buffy.”
And with that, he was gone, leaving a lusty Buffy behind. It didn't occur to her, until she saw his car turn onto the road and down the street. “Wait, I told him my name was Liz, not Buffy...”
Deciding to shrug it off and ask him when he called her, she walked into the house and waited for William to show up and take her on a date. Now that her feelings for Spike had been stirred up some more, the date with William was going to be even more lame.
Buffy bounded up the stairs and rushed into Cordy's room. “Ohmigod, you will never believe it!” she said in one breath.
Cordy laughed as she took in Buffy's smeared lipstick. “I know, I know.”
Buffy shook her head. “No you couldn't possibly know that Spike--”
“Is William,” Cordy said, then looked back down at her magazine. “I know already. Xander and I set it up. Well, we didn't know William would change his hair color like that, or change his name to Spike, but yeah. I knew William was Spike. I thought it would be a pleasant surprise to find out this way. You both have been talking nonstop about each other for the past week. Now, what are you doing up here, is he waiting downstairs for you, or something?” Cordy asked, not paying attention to Buffy's slowly disappearing smile.
It was like a bucket of cold water had been thrown on her. That would explain how 'Spike' found her, how 'Spike' showed up at the time William was supposed to, and how 'Spike' knew Buffy's real name. “Ah, crap.” Buffy pouted then slumped onto Cordy's bed.
“What? Oh no... you didn't...” Cordy said, picking up her cell phone before walking over to Buffy.
Buffy's eyes flooded with tears and she nodded her head. “If you are thinking that I made a total mess of everything, then yeah, I did.
“Oh, Buffy...” Cordy said and pulled her into a hug. “You're such a dolt.”
TBC