[Reviews - 12]
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Microsoft Word Chapter or Story | ePub eBook Chapter or Story | Printer Chapter or Story

Has been viewed 1686 times

- Text Size +




Author's Chapter Notes:
A quick explanation before the next chapter: this is my version of Buffy. She has gone through emotional hell for the last 6 years and thinks she finally deserves some happiness. I had someone contradict my characterization of her somewhere else & it almost made me quit writing this story. So please be kind. Coming soon, some steamy Spuffy goodness.
Chapter 6

Buffy looked over at him after handing the phone back. She noticed his grin and decided to burst his bubble.

"Don't know why you're grinning there, Tony Robbins, I'm still mad at you," she said, concentrating on her food. His smile faded quickly and he clenched his jaw. "Look, pet, I've apologized. Not much more I can do here, unless you want to be a complete sadist and watch while I beat myself up some more."

He glanced over at her. She continued to eat her food in silence. He slammed his chopsticks down and stalked toward the stairs.

She looked up as he ascended the stairs. He didn't look back. If she was going to play games with him, fine, he'd play. He hastily packed up her things in his room and threw them on the bed in the room across the hall. Its contents scattered out onto the bed, but he didn't care. He went back to his room and slammed the door.

She hopped down from the counter and packed up the food. The small fridge by the office only held a single bottle of blood, so the leftover containers fit in with room to spare. As she was finishing cleaning up, she heard the distinctive sound of loud rock music emanating from upstairs.

She grinned deviously and decided to let him pout for awhile longer. She wanted to check out the hotel. Her self-tour first led her to Angel's office where ancient books and scrolls were spread out on his desk. She flipped through them and found a notebook filled with his handwriting. He had written down all of his visions and whether or not they had come to fruition or not. One page only had a few words written down on it: Spike = human. Not Shanshu.

"Hmmm, wonder what 'Shanshu' is?" she pondered aloud.

She was wondering what he hadn't written down about that particular vision. She mentally reminded herself to ask him when he returned. She left the office and found herself peeking into rooms along the narrow passageway off the lobby. She found the industrial kitchen and the former lounge. She marveled at its size and wondered what it had looked like back in its heyday.

Suddenly she heard the sound of thumping boots on the stairs. The boots stomped out of the hotel and she heard the roaring of a motorcycle. He had left her there alone. She knew she had upset him, but hadn't thought he'd actually leave. She just thought he'd pout for a little while and then he'd be OK. She slowly climbed the stairs. She reached the end of hallway and noticed the door to the room across from his was opened.

She peeked in and noticed her bag had been thrown onto the bed, its contents spilling out, and her dirty clothes had been tossed onto the floor. She frowned and entered the room, carefully closing the door behind her. She picked up her dirty clothes and laid them down on the bed next to her bag. When she had arranged everything, she ripped open the curtains to the room and opened the balcony doors. She sat cross-legged on the balcony and meditated. She sat there for a few minutes but couldn't concentrate. She got up and leaned against the railing, looking out at the neighborhood.

She heard a faint knock on the door across the hall and went to investigate it. She opened her door a crack and saw a tall, good-looking black man standing in front of Spike's door.

"He's gone. Don't know where he went," she said to him. He turned around, startled.

"Oh, hey. Figures, when I need him to go out patrolling, he takes off." He extended his hand to her. "I'm Gunn by the way. You must be Buffy. Angel said you'd be dropping by. Sorry I wasn't here earlier to meet ya. Got a little tangled up with an informant."

He grinned, remembering his negotiations with the demon he had been meeting with earlier in the day. She shook his hand.

"Nice to meet you. You mentioned patrolling?" She was itching for some good slayage.

"Yeah. We've been going out, doing the rounds. Checking to see if anymore Wolfram & Hart nasties are after us. There're still a few out there, but mostly underground or overseas." He leaned against the door frame and crossed his arms across his chest. "After five years you'd think they'd get the point and leave, but demons are dumb."

He chuckled lightly and looked up at her. He noticed the sadness in her eyes. "Are you OK?" he asked her. She shook her head lightly.

"Uh, yeah, I guess. Sorry, you were saying something about dumb demons?" He looked at her and cocked his head to the side.

"You're not fooling anyone, ya know? You wanna talk about it?"

She invited him into her room and sat on the bed. She clasped her hands and wouldn't look up at him.

"No one bothered to tell me he was back and I don't know how I feel about it and I'm really confused because I missed him but I'm also really angry at him right now and I know he still loves me but I'm not sure how I feel about him because I thought I loved him but that was when I thought he was dead," she blurted out quickly.

It took him a minute to process the jumble that had come out of her mouth. He put his arm around her and she leaned against him.

"A little confusing, huh? I get it. But you wanna know something about our boy? It didn't matter which hell dimension we went to, he always talked about you when we were relaxing after a fight. I remember the first big fight, after we brought down Wolfram & Hart. I was still getting used to the whole 'being a vamp' thing and he sat down next me with a pint of blood. He told me some stories about how the two of you fought together and how much he missed you. He showed me this ratty picture of you that he kept in his coat. He'd take the thing out when he didn't think anyone was looking."

He shook his head and chuckled. "I think I even heard him say 'good night' to it once. That boy is seriously in love with you. And now that we're human again," she turned around quickly to look at him.

"Yeah, I was helpin' him out when we ran into the Mohras. Both of us got turned back, which was alright by me. Couldn't have taken an eternity of Angel whining about his curse. And if you hadn't shown up when you did, I don't think I could have taken much more of angsty-boy's pacing. Ever since he found out there was a reason he was human, he's been wanting to get back to you." She looked at him, eyes slightly glistening.

"He's... he wanted to see me?" she asked quietly. He nodded his head.

"Oh yeah, bad. He's been drivin' Angel up the wall. One of the reasons boss man went to England. Get him his papers so he's all legal so he could get him out of here."

She grinned, thinking about how irritated Angel must be. He hated the fact that Spike loved her and must have been irate when Spike became human and could be with her in a way that Angel only wished he could. She remembered her conversation with Angel in the cemetery before Sunnydale became a crater about cookies and baking. Was she ready? It had been six years and she had shut herself off from feeling anything or growing emotionally during that time. Hearing what Gunn had to say had helped alot, but she had a lot of thinking to do about her cookie doneness before she could talk to Spike again.

Gunn noticed her sink into her thoughts. "Ya know what? I'm gonna go track him down and make sure he's not getting himself into trouble that he can't get out of." He got up and left the room, closing the door behind him.

She sat on the bed, letting her mind wander. How did she feel about him? Was it love or just a lust-thing like last time? No, not lust, she surmised. She had grown closer to him during their last months together, before her world went boom.

She lay down on the bed and curled up, wrapping her arms around herself. She had looked him in the eyes and told him she loved him. Did he refuse to believe her in order to keep her safe or was it because she hadn't given him a reason to believe her? She felt queasy from the tumult of emotions raging within her. So many questions swirled in her head. Did she truly love him? Could they have a 'real' life together?

She could have given up being the Slayer years ago, but a normal life would have driven her insane from the guilt that had been haunting her the last few years. She wasn't sure when she fell asleep but she awoke to the sound of thumping music across the hall.

She slowly arose from the bed, thinking about what she was going to say to him. She still wasn't sure, but she had to talk to him. She walked to the door, put her hand on the doorknob and stopped, thinking about what she was about to do. She opened her door and walked across the hall.





You must login (register) to review.