“Why is everyone involved in each other’s lives?” Xander balked.
Tara shook her head solemnly as Willow answered, “You just don’t understand soap operas, Xan.”
Xander whimpered and collapsed back into his chair, “Why is this stuff even allowed on?”
Willow gave a shrug as Tara giggled quietly and went back to her book, “Student lounge, Xander…at ten in the morning,” she reminded him, “Nobody else here.”
Xander scoffed and turned his head to look outside the window. Unseasonable rain had manifested itself all weekend and was still going strong this dreary Monday morning. The young man took a moment to study the shape of the raindrops falling onto the window before a certain new voice shook off his daze.
Cordelia Chase stood in the doorway, slightly damp from the weather and had just called out to Willow. Xander, for no other reason than posturing, sat up and smoothed down his shaggy hair before gracing the tall brunette with a goofy smile.
Cordelia returned it with her own dazzling one. And took a seat on the edge of the couch where Willow and Tara were seated and began bombarding Willow with questions.
Willow felt dizzy before she managed to halt Cordelia’s frenzied interrogation with a hand to the girl’s shoulder.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Willow urged, giving the girl a nervous smile, “I only caught the first half of that.”
“Sorry,” Cordelia said bashfully, “I’m just at a total loss with this whole Shakespeare thing. Like, Shrew was easy cause it was about guys hitting on me, but this scene, I just don’t understand.”
She thrust the piece of paper into Willow’s hands and waited expectantly. Tara, to her credit just gave Willow a sympathetic smile and returned once more to her reading. Xander however, stayed riveted by the tall brunette, but never said a word.
Willow gave Cordelia an apprehensive glance before noticing her assigned piece.
“Well, it’s a monologue…” Willow started.
Cordelia nodded slowly and gave Willow a shrug, “So? That’s it? I mean, that’s all I need to know? Come on, Willow! You’re supposed to be a genius at this stuff!”
Willow sighed and turned her head, noticing Xander still obliviously drooling in his chair. The redhead rolled her eyes before gasping at a sudden brilliant plan.
Her devious subplot had backfired with aplomb. Certainly after Cordelia had divulged that Buffy now knew the two brunettes were an item…so now Willow had no sanctified schedule in which to try and weasel Xander into Cordy’s life…unless…
“Actually, Xander’s the better person to talk to about this one,” Willow said finally, giving Cordy her best resolve face.
Cordy stared at her blankly before slowly turning to regard the boy, “You’re a Shakespeare expert?”
“Boy, do I ever,” Xander said absently, nodding along unknowingly.
Without stealth, Willow smacked Xander in the chest, rattling the young man back to reality. He looked around and wiped his chin before addressing the ladies before him.
“Sorry, huh?”
Willow shook her head in unmasked annoyance with her best friend before repeating her cover story loudly, “I was telling Cordelia you’re a better person to study Shakespeare with!”
Xander’s face blanched, “What?”
Tara gave her girlfriend a smirk before sitting up and packing her books, “Umm, Willow? We s-s-should hurry if we wanna m-m-make that meeting.”
Willow shared a knowing smile with the blonde and nodded, but not before giving Cordy a friendly pat on the back, “Yeah, we really should go. But Xander can help. See ya later, Cordy.”
Cordy gave her a suspicious look but shrugged and turned back to Xander as he looked to his two friends pitifully.
“Bye Xander,” Tara said sweetly and Willow gave him a sly thumbs up.
Xander exhaled sharply and looked back to Cordy in dismay, “I just got played,” he muttered.
Cordy cleared her throat, “Xander…”
Xander looked at the brunette in earnest and laughed ironically, “Look, Cordelia, Willow’s just being a friend. We both know I’m not—“
Cordy tipped her head to one side, looking back at the boy fondly as he spoke. She couldn’t explain why, but his insecurity and honesty sparked something in her.
She laughed automatically, and motioned Xander to sit beside her on the sofa. He took a large gulp before doing as instructed and gave her another grin.
“Maybe you can help me after all,” Cordelia offered.
“I can try,” Xander said.
Cordelia handed him the monologue and gave him an encouraging smile as he began to read over the words, giggling undoubtedly at some of the more antiquated language. She didn’t mind Xander. Definitely a cutie, in that total nerdy type way…and yet, he had a pretty decent body for a dork. His arms were obviously cut, given the way his long sleeves pulled against the muscles. Unfortunately, he hid the rest of his reasonable body under a loose Hawaiian shirt and baggy cargo pants.
Cordelia felt a tinge of guilt suddenly, then quickly brushed it off. Angel was being a pest recently. After Buffy and Spike’s sexual tension-athon last Friday, all Angel could talk about was how he didn’t want to lose 500 dollars to “Captain Peroxide”, as he called his “friend”. Angel cared more about taking care of “Buffy and her attitude” than he did about her. Well that was just unacceptable. But there was no way she’d let word get out that she was beginning to believe Buffy’s opinion about Angel…even if she was starting to come around to that…
In the meantime, she’d amuse herself with Xander; the cute but awkward sorta hunky geek that had the total hots for her. It was perfect. Get the attention she deserved and drive Angel into a jealous rage that makes him notice her again. She wasn’t being a bitch, this was necessity. All she wanted was her boyfriend to pay attention to her…she wasn’t asking for the moon.
Cordelia turned to face Xander once more and put a deliberate hand on his knee, “So, wanna meet me before and after my acting class today and help me some more?”
Xander could do nothing but nod.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
“Sweetie, it’s not that I don’t think Xander deserves to find love, but do you really think you should keep forcing him on Cordy?” Tara asked carefully as they made their way down the concrete path, hand in hand.
“I said I’d help him,” Willow explained with a shrug, “And like you said, Xander deserves to have somebody special.”
“Oh I know you’re just being a good friend,” Tara amended, “It’s just…sometimes it’s not in the cards for two people to be together.”
Willow ceased their walking to look at her girlfriend pointedly, “So you think Cordelia’s meant to be with Angel?”
Tara gave her a sly smile, “I didn’t say that.”
Willow tried to conceal her own smile at Tara’s comeback as they resumed their walking, “At least our cards said each other.”
Tara giggled as Willow nudged her with her shoulder before both girls broke into laughter.
“Get a fucking clue!”
The two girls mirth was quickly stamped out by the sudden yelling. One quick survey of the grounds before them revealed the source of the noise.
“Speaking of not in the cards…” Willow muttered as Buffy came into sight, followed closely by Spike.
Buffy cut a furious path down the sidewalk, face flushed with rage as Spike finally caught up to her and grabbed her wrist, spinning her around to face him.
“Oh get off your high horse, Goldilocks. I helped you back there and you know it.”
Buffy wrenched her hand away from him, only to shove it back in his face with an accusing finger. “You got in my way, as usual.”
Spike scoffed and batted her finger out of his face, “I saw that Warren git was bothering you so I—“
“Acted like an even BIGGER git and Got. In. My. Way!” Buffy fumed.
“You’re such a bitch, d’you know that?” Spike smiled in spite of his harsh words.
“So I’ve heard,” Buffy snickered and turned to leave.
Spike once again grabbed her hand to stop her, “We’re not finished.”
“Oh, we most certainly are,” she warned, bringing her knee up to attempt a dirty hit to Spike’s crotch.
“Hey, hey, hey,” he said with a laugh as he caught her leg inches before she could rack him, “None of that.”
Buffy released a strangled groan and pulled away from him, setting her leg back down, “Leave me alone.”
“Now where’s the fun in that?” Spike asked with a smirk.
“Is that what this is?’ Buffy wondered aloud, her eyes narrowing, “You just show up in my life suddenly and decide, Woof! There’s a girl that’ll want nothing to do with me, I think I’ll terrorize her!”
Spike laughed, loudly. She wasn’t wrong…entirely…
“Oh Buffy…we both know that’s not true…”
“What? You’re not terrorizing me?”
Spike smirked, “You don’t want nothing to do with me,” he purred.
Buffy rolled her eyes as Spike took a step toward her, eyeing her up and down.
“What happened last Friday was a freak of nature,” Buffy snorted.
Spike moved in closer still, and yet Buffy didn’t back away. He smiled, reaching out enclosing both her hands in his.
Buffy swallowed nervously, but remained still in her spot as she watched Spike examine their hands together.
“It was a bloody revelation,” He said softly, turning her palm over to survey the smooth skin on the other side. Buffy watched his face in fascination as he continued to trace mindless patterns along her wrists.
It’d been a long time since she’d let a guy get this close to her. And she didn’t mean emotionally. It was a given that she’d remained guarded for close to seven years now. But physically…she’d had a couple moments of weakness back in high school, and once her freshman year…but it was just sex…followed by lots of self flagellation on why casual sex made her no better than the men that happily had it with her.
Such was Buffy logic. But this…what was happening now…she didn’t understand it. Yes, Spike had come into her life suddenly and like a fever, spread. He was everywhere! In her class, as her scene partner, at the coffee house, in the courtyard…
“In your dreams,” her brain added silently. Buffy grimaced at that thought, however true it was. So she’d had a few innocent (and not so innocent) daydreams about the bleached-blonde since their…whatever it was…in class on Friday. A girl had needs, and thankfully Buffy had learned early that those needs could sometimes be self-fulfilled.
“But why him,” her brain wondered?
“Because he is everywhere all of the sudden,” she reasoned with herself.
“Because he’s hot,” her body chimed in.
“Because you like him,” her brain added.
“Why am I even arguing with you?” She suddenly said aloud, ripping her hands out of Spike’s gentle hold.
Spike watched her for a moment before easily sliding his hands into his coat pockets. “Weren’t arguing just now, luv,” he reminded.
Buffy blushed, realizing she’d said that last thought aloud. She briefly considered apologizing to Spike, explaining that she’d meant her comment for her brain and not him.
That line of reasoning made her dizzy. She shut her eyes tightly and sighed.
“No—I just…never mind,” she muttered, rubbing her temples, “God you’re confusing.”
Spike smirked at that, tipping his head down to see her expression, “Thinking about me long and hard, are you?”
Buffy’s head shot up at his words. Spike wiggled his eyebrows at his innuendo as she groaned in delayed response, “Oh! You’re such a pig!”
Spike clicked his tongue and grabbed her elbow, “Oh come on, Kitten. If you want the real thing, all you gotta do is play nice.”
Once more, Buffy pried herself free of his touch, “What is your problem?” She practically yelled, “Why won’t you just leave me alone?”
“Don’t want to,” he said simply.
Buffy scoffed, “Well I want you—“
“I knew it,” Spike breathed, grabbing her by the arms and slamming her into his chest.
Buffy shrieked, her fists pounding on his chest, “I was gonna say I want you to leave me alone!”
“Shh,” he ignored her protests, “Don’t tell fibs, luv. It’s unbecoming.”
“I’m not fibbing,” she grunted, struggling against his hold, “And don’t call me that.”
Spike relented, sighing deeply as he released her. She bellowed in surprise as his arms suddenly dropped and she propelled backwards, catching herself before falling.
He watched her hold out a hand to steady herself and catch her breath,
“Fine. But you can’t keep this up, Buffy,” he said, pointedly pronouncing her name, “You can’t keep shutting people out because you’re afraid of getting hurt.”
He’d said it so simply, not with malice but with intent all the same. She sent him an icy glare.
“Is that what I’m doing, Spike? Is that what I do? You think you know me?” She spit back incredulously.
Spike smirked and sucked his teeth before shaking his head in resignation, “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”
Buffy’s eyes narrowed, pursing her lips together in an attempt to bite back the protest to his “protesting too much” comment.
At her silence, Spike just sighed and started to walk away but stopped after he’d gotten a few feet away and turned back to face her.
“I know you feel it,” he told her, “There’s something between us.”
“Revulsion. Disgust,” she said shakily.
Spike gave her a half-hearted smile, lips poised to say something else. Buffy found herself holding her breath to hear his last word, but it never came. He just nodded and spun around again to leave, his duster billowing behind him.
Buffy stood there a moment longer, lips still pursed in defiance. She hadn’t meant for him to hear her comment about him being confusing to her, though it was most certainly the truth. She’d led the “I hate men” crusade for this long precisely because of men like Spike. They’d done nothing but irritate each other for the past week. And now he was all with the insight and the meaningful comments about the two of them…what was he on about? She’d been exceptionally rude to Spike. Brought out her extra special biting commentary just for him, in fact. And though he’d gotten his fair share of nasty barbs in as well, he still kept coming back for more.
Spike was either a glutton for punishment, or way dumber than Buffy had given him credit for…because let’s face it, he couldn’t possibly actually be into her, right? Especially with the way she treated him. Buffy’s modus operandi was her forever litmus test…hurt them before they hurt you and if some rare squire can forego the thorns before the castle, he’ll prove his worthiness and blah blah blah…but that never happens and thus Buffy remains in her tower…
“…and why am I using fairy tale metaphors?’ Buffy groused, spinning on her heels and heading off to her next class.
Somewhere on the forgotten walkway, a dumbstruck Willow and a surprisingly amused Tara still stood, witnesses to all that had just transpired.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Sorry for the pause in updates! Here's the next chapter! A bit of intrigue and set-up for what's to come. Hope you like it! Thank you to all who reviewed, sorry if I haven't responded. Enjoy!
Chapter End Notes:
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