Over-confident… impertinent…vile…malicious …asshole!” Buffy angrily listed Spike’s flaws. Each word was punctuated with a removal and sequential throw of a piece of her outfit. Now her clothes were flung around her apartment and Buffy was standing in her living room in only a pair of socks and matching underwear and bra set.
“Oooooo…he gets me so mad!” Buffy started to pace around her apartment. Too wired to sleep, too angry to relax, and too sexually revved up to focus.
“I need a long shower…preferable a cold one.” With that she shed the remainder of her clothes and headed for her bathroom, for some one on one time with her battery-operated friend. ‘Shit…. I’m going to need more batteries again at this rate.’ Buffy inwardly sighed as she headed to the bathroom for some ‘me’ time.
ACROSS TOWN…
BANG…BANG…BANG….”Clem, open the bloody door!” bellowed Spike as he pounded on Clem’s door at one in the morning.
BANG…BANG…BANG…”I know you’re not shaggin’ some tart, so you better get your arse up and open this bloody door!” Spike yelled.
In mid knock, Clem opened his door and a flustered Spike stormed past. Clem quietly closed his door, and still in a sleep-induced haze, tried to evilly stare at his friend. “One time friend if I have any say.” Clem silently corrected.
“About bloody time you pillock!” Spike sneered.
Clem stood in his darken living room in his favorite Stewie boxers and his slightly worn gray Red Sox tee shirt that said ‘Yankees Suck’ across his chest. His usually hairless dome sported a five o’clock shadow that was typically gone after his morning shave. Clem just glared at his friend in silence until Spike’s speech broke it.
“What the bleedin’ ‘ell you starin’ at?” Spike growled.
Clem slowly shuffled over to Spike and gave him a rough titty twister right through his black cotton tee shirt.
“Ouch! What the bloody ‘ell did you do that for?” Spike yelped as he placed his hand over the injured area.
“Just wanted to see if I was still sleeping and this was just a terrible nightmare…no such luck.” Clem huffed.
“Right…so I’ve got a dilemma…”Spike started to explain.
“No shit…really…I mistakenly thought that you were standing in my living room, after waking me up…rather rudely I may add…to shoot the shit!” Clem snarled.
Spike ignored his friend’s outburst and continued,
“It’s Buffy. (Clem responded with a slight head shake and eye roll) Tonight during our date, everything was perfect. Spike ran the date and she took to him like duck to water. We drank, laughed, played a little billiards and then it finally happened…I tasted her. She tasted of sweet candy and sunshine. It was bloody amazing!” Spike recalled as he sat down on Clem’s couch and turned on the lamp located on the end table.
Clem’s eyes squinted and he blinked rapidly trying to disperse the dots that now filled his vision. Once he got his bearings, he slowly walked to the love seat and sat down.
“First, may I say that when you refer to yourself in the third person like Elmo… it kinda creeps me out. Secondly…how did you fuck it up…again?!?” Clem asked boldly.
“Who says I bollocks it up… (Clem arched his eyebrow to contest) Right…after some intense lip lock, that almost lead to a knee trembler… well until some bint interrupted us…” Spike started to explain.
“Is this story going somewhere or should I call into work…which I have to be there in…oh like five more hours!” Clem snarled.
Spike continued as if Clem didn’t speak for the second time,
“We left the bar and after some more intense lip lock she invited me to take her home. We even gave a little PG-13 show to the cab driver, well until I opened my gob. Just let’s say that it was not in a good way,” Spike explained as he ran his hands through his now extremely disheveled hair.
“And…” Clem responded in attempts to prod his friend to finish his story.
“I told her that I knew that the only thing better than beating her in court was to shag her!” Spike blurted out.
“Nice…and the asshole of the year goes to… ”Clem proclaimed.
“You told me to be Spike!” Spike complained.
“Ohhh…no…no you don’t buddy! You’re not going to pin this on me! I merely gave you suggestions. It’s your fault if you didn’t read the fine print on the bottom that states that I’m not a stud…I only play one on TV,” Clem joked.
“Very bleedin’ funny! What am I to do? I think that this time I’ve bollocks it up enough that I’ll never get back into her good graces!” Spike griped.
“Look, all I can tell you is that you just need to be yourself. Women truly admire a man that is not afraid to be just that,” Clem explained.
“You think that will work?”
“Well, at (Clem looked at the clock and sighed) two in the morning that is about as fortune cookie as I’m going to get. Good night Spike.” With that Clem turned the lamp off, walked down his hallway, entered his room and quietly shut the door.
“Thanks mate,” Spike said to the darkened room as he got up and left Clem’s condo.
FRIDAY MORNING…
Buffy awoke around 10:30 after an evening of little rest. She stayed in bed until 11ish and then finally decided to get up and start her day. Her plan was to do to as little as possible. It was her day off and tonight she and the girls were attending the annual St. Patty’s Day bash at her ‘bar’. Buffy plopped herself in front of her TV and mindlessly flipped through the stations in attempts to find something that she could stare at until nap time.
Around noon, a knock on the door stopped her mid stride as she walked down her hallway to her bathroom to shower. Buffy was in her white tank-top and comfy shamrock lounge pants that she wore to bed last night. Since she wasn’t expecting anyone and due to her attire, she was slightly wary of the knock. She approached her door and looked out the peephole. On the other side was an awkward looking older gentleman dressed as a leprechaun holding a large bouquet of fluffy purple flowers pulled together with a long emerald green ribbon. Buffy warily opened the door to her visitor.
“Can I help you?”
“Ey lass…yew may. (the man stated in a heavy fake Irish brogue) Are yew Buffy Summers?”
“Ummm…ya,” Buffy responded hesitantly.
“Then these lass, are for yew. Good day.” The leprechaun handed her the lovely bouquet of flowers and with a tip of his green top hat he was on his way.
Buffy smiled brightly as she brought the flowers into her apartment. She sat on her couch, smelled the heavy sweet aroma of the beautiful flowers, which she now recognized as purple hyacinths.
After she enjoyed the fragrance for a spell, she then pulled the envelope from among the flowers. She slowly opened it and pulled the card from inside. In beautiful flowing writing, all it said was,
“I’M SORRY, WILLIAM”
At first Buffy was overwhelmed with joy that he apologized and in such a romantic and thoughtful way. Then Buffy’s inner skeptic came forward to let her feelings known.
“He’s doing this because he knows he fucked up on his case. What better way to lull you into letting your guard down again, than by trying to schmooze your womanly side?’”Buffy quickly agreed with ‘the skeptic’, then she yelled loudly.
“That bastard!” Buffy then marched straight to her trash and threw away the exquisite bouquet. Buffy proceeded to stomp into her bedroom in an attempt to get some rest. An hour later there was another knock on the door. Even though she couldn’t sleep, she hated to be interrupted.
Buffy walked to her door, looked out through the peephole and saw another person. Now a woman, dressed as an Irish maiden, she held another arrangement of flowers. This time there were small pink tea roses with sprays of baby breaths held in a round glass vase.
Buffy slowly opened the door. The woman asked in a clearly phony brogue with a heavy Bostonian accent, if she was indeed Buffy Summers. Buffy confirmed that she was and then took the vase from the woman and carefully closed the door behind her. She walked into the kitchen placed the vase on the counter and pulled the envelope. Again the same writing appeared on the card,
“I’M SO SORRY, WILLIAM”
Buffy left the beautiful arrangement on her counter, and then proceeded to pull the bouquet out of the trash and place it next to the new arrival. Buffy returned to her bedroom, to change into something more presentable, since this might not be the end of her visitors.
Another hour passed, with it came another knock at the door. Buffy walked to the door, looked, and noticed that it was another delivery. This time she was prepared with a tip for the deliveryman…well leprechaun. This deliveryman held a large bunch of daffodils bundled in another large emerald green ribbon. Buffy took the flowers, thanked the leprechaun with a tip and a smile. Buffy brought her flowers into the kitchen with the others. She pulled the small envelope from the bouquet, even though she already knew whom it was from. The card read:
“FORGIVE ME, WILLIAM”
Buffy’s earlier anger had almost dissipated. She started to question if he would really go through all this to just win a case. If that were his strategy, then he would of just sent basic red roses. But he didn’t. He took the time to make each arrangement especially for her. There has to be a reason why he picked each flower. Buffy called Willow to ask her what she thought.
“Hello?” Willow answered.
“Will, it’s me. I have a question for you. Remember during college when you spent the holidays and summers working at that florist?” Buffy inquired.
“Yeah, why?” Willow questioned.
“It’s just…William AKA Spike has sent me three deliveries of flowers. I wonder if each of them means a little more than an attempt to kiss my ass.”
“What did he send you?” Willow inquired.
Buffy proceeded to tell Willow about each arrangement. In the middle of the phone call, there was another knock. Perhaps another delivery.
“Hold on Will, there might be another one.” Buffy said as she placed the phone down to answer the door and receive the newest addition. This was the largest arrangement yet. A large crystal vase was filled with white and purplish-blue flowers. Buffy thanked the deliveryman and entered into the apartment with her newest gift. Buffy proceeded to set this amazing display of flowers in the middle of her kitchen table. After admiring the arrangement briefly she picked up the phone and spoke,
“Will, you still there? Can you come over and look at these flowers. Bring that book that you have that tells you all the meanings of what each flower represents. See you in fifteen?” Buffy asked
“Ya. See you in fifteen.” Willow agreed.
After Willow arrived and smelled all the beautiful flowers, she opened her book and started to look up each flower. She told Buffy that purple hyacinths meant ‘I’m sorry, please forgive me’. Pink tea roses meant ‘please believe me’. The daffodils signified ‘respect’. When Willow finally started to name and give the meaning of each of the flowers in her newest assembly, Buffy was on the verge of tears. There were six different flowers in the vase and each had their own special meaning. Blue salvia meant ‘thinking of you’, white violets ‘let’s take a chance’, blue bells signify ‘humility’, white gardenias were ‘you’re lovely’, white calla lilies meant ‘beauty’ and lavender signified ‘devotion’. Then once Willow pulled the card and read:
“PLEASE FORGIVE ME, WILLIAM”
Buffy finally broke down.
“Oh Willow, what am going to do? Everything was going so good last night. Well, until he said something that I rather not repeat. I stormed out of the taxi and vowed that I would never talk to him again. That was less than 24 hours ago! How can I not talk to him after all he has done?” Buffy whispered through her fallen tears.
Willow stood up and wrapped her friend in a warm embrace. After several minutes, their hug was interrupted by another knock on the door. Willow pulled away, handed Buffy some tissues and headed for the door. Willow opened the door to another fully green suited deliveryman. He had another bouquet, two-dozen red tulips, cinched with a familiar large emerald green ribbon. Willow thanked the man and brought the newest addition into the apartment.
Buffy’s tears started to flow faster.
“See! How can I push him away after this?” Buffy sniffled as she tried to dry her tears.
“What does your heart say?” Willow asked as she sat next to her friend.
“My hearts not the problem. It’s my head. It’s telling me to take all of this at face value. See it as he fucked up and is now trying to fix it with flowers. But my heart is saying that it is so much more than that. Willow, do you realize how much time and money he has spent on all these flowers?” Buffy asked in bewilderment.
“Buffy, I don’t think he cares. It seems to me that his thoughts only lie with you. Especially since all these flowers are declaring how sorry he is and how much he adores you,” Willow responded
“So what do red tulips mean?” Buffy questioned.
“I don’t need to look that up. It means ‘believe me’ and they are a ‘declaration of love,’” Willow said softly.
“Will, do you mind if I catch up with you later? I’m going to give him a call,” Buffy asked her friend.
“Sure. Not a problem. See you tonight.” With that Willow hugged her friend again, gave a small wave and left the apartment.
Once Willow left, Buffy approached her ever growing array of flowers. The memory of Willow reading off the meanings of each of these flowers blazed in her mind as she carefully studied and smelled each one.
Another knock broke Buffy from her thoughts that flowed through her mind about William/Spike and what she should say to him. Buffy walked to and gently opened her door. At first she didn’t see anyone there, until a small voice ascended from below her eye level.
“Bufty Summersss?” There stood, a small girl that spoke with a lisp, dressed head to toe in green, probably around the age of five. She had bright red hair that framed a round cherub face that was smothered with freckles. Buffy quickly poked her head out and looked down the hall to see whom this little girl was with. Approximately two doors down, a thirtyish man was standing and watching the interaction between her and Buffy. Due to the resemblance of a round race and fiery red hair, she assumed that this was her father. With a quick head nod he acknowledged her and she followed suit.
Buffy immediately leaned down in an attempt to be eye to eye with this sweet little girl.
“Are you looking for me?” Buffy asked.
“Ya. You Bufty?” she responded. It was now evident the reason for her lisp. She was missing his two front teeth. With a nod, Buffy confirmed that she was indeed ‘Bufty Summerssss’. The child held out a medium size bag, smiled shyly and then ran over to her father. Buffy called ‘thanks’ and she stepped back into the apartment, sat on her couch to see what was inside.
Buffy pulled the tissue paper from the elegant silver bag and exposed two eloquently wrapped boxes in silver paper that was donned by the infamous emerald green bow. Buffy proceeded to open the first box.
Inside were ten large chocolate covered strawberries. She immediately removed one large chocolate smothered berry and sunk her teeth into the sweet fruit. Buffy instantaneously hummed her approval. After several more delectable bites she remembered that there was another box. Buffy licked the smudged chocolate and strawberry juice from her fingers then proceeded to open the other box. Inside was a six inch by six inch patch of very green grass.
As she ran her hand over the soft, lush patch, her cell phone rang. She gently put down the box and retrieved her phone. Private, flashed on the phones screen. Buffy warily answered the phone
“ummmm…hello?”
“Hello Buffy,” The smooth baritone voice reached out from the other line.
“William? Hi. I was going to call you. I wanted to thank you for all the stunning flowers. There’re utterly amazing,” Buffy stated in awe.
“Do you like them?” William inquired.
“Like them…I absolutely adore them,” Buffy admitted.
“I’m pleased to hear that. So does this mean that I’m forgiven?” William asked shyly.
“Yeah. Yeah it does. But you do realize that when you screw up in the future, it’s going to take a lot to top this,” Buffy joked.
“No plans in bollocking up like this again. If I can help it,” William replied
“Your wallet probably hopes so!” Buffy chuckled. Another knock sounded from her front door. Buffy walked towards the door to answer it, while still talking to William.
“More prezzies?!?” Buffy squealed like an excited child at Christmas.
“I hope you like this one,” William avowed.
Buffy opened the door and on the other side stood William, still on his phone. William gently hit the ‘end button’ on his phone and placed it into his jacket pocket. Upon seeing his handsome face that now housed a bashful smile, Buffy beamed a smile in return.
Then she swiftly lunged forward, dropping her phone and gave William a fierce embrace. William immediately wrapped his muscular arms around her and pulled her close. They held each other for several moments, and then slowly broke their bodies apart, until their hands were the only things touching.
“Would you like to come in?” Buffy asked.
“Yeah. Yeah, I would,” William responded. Buffy turned to lead him into her apartment still holding one of his hands. While she moved forward, Buffy noticed her fallen phone she leaned down, picked it up and then placed it on the nearby entranceway table. William gently closed the door behind him as he continued to follow her into the apartment. She led him over to the couch. Buffy then sat and guided him, with a slight tug of his arm, to follow. They stared at each other briefly, and then Buffy asked him a question that hummed in her mind.
“William, I get the strawberries, but why the grass?” Buffy inquired.
“Well, strawberries mean ‘perfect goodness’.” As William explained his eyes soaked her in. Buffy was caught up in his deep azure pools. Like a whirlpool they swirled with a myriad of emotions; remorse, fear, happiness and hope. Buffy quickly blinked to pull her focus from his eyes and continued with the other part of her question.
“And the grass?” Buffy asked is a slightly wobbly voice.
William gaze deepen and his eyes seemed to become stormy, they seemed to crackle with another emotion…desire.
“Grass… symbolizes ‘submission’.” His smooth voice coated the word like honey. Buffy inhaled sharply at his admission. Her heart started to pound, her blood rushed and she started to breathe out shakily before she responded.
“What does that exactly mean?” Buffy asked in an attempt to rein in her overwhelming feelings.
“It means that I’m going to give myself to you, fully and completely. No more hiding, no more facades…the real me. Well, if you’ll have me?” When he spoke Buffy looked into his eyes again. “The gateway to his soul” Buffy thought.
“That’s all I ever wanted,” Buffy whispered.
Neither one knew who moved first, but they passionately met in the middle of the couch and deeply kissed one another. The kiss was consuming and overwhelming. Against her bodily protest, Buffy pulled away from him and his tempting mouth.
“No,” Buffy stated.
“No?” William echoed.
“Yeah, no. Well not no. It’s… just not like this,” Buffy tried to explain.
“Do you mean on the couch or…?” William asked cheekily.
“No, I mean I don’t want to start our relationship like this,” Buffy stated clearly.
“So, we’re in a relationship?” William asked with a blinding smile.
With a small shrug and coy smile Buffy answered,
“Well, yeah. Yeah, we are. And being one half of said relationship I feel that we should take things slow. Get to know each other. Enjoy each other…. in a non-sexual way,” Buffy clarified.
“It would be my pleasure Ms. Elizabeth Summers, to court you right and proper,” William said in a formal British presentation, complete with a small kiss placed on the top of her hand.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Thank you to Sanityfair in being my beta on this chapter