Buying the ring was a mistake. Spike knew it before he even got it home. Now the damned thing called to him like the beating heart in that Poe story. Ask her. Ask her. Ask her before she realizes that she can do so much better. Don’t screw this up!
He buried it deep in his sock drawer.
*****************************************
Buffy watched Spike drive. He was being weird...and not just Spike weird, weird for Spike. She tried again. “It’s only like 6:30, why don’t we go back to your place and order some take-out?”
Spike glanced at her for a quick second before focusing back on the road.“ Yeah. Thing is, I’ve got to do some work tonight. Best I bring you home now. Maybe you and your mum can have supper together. Sure she’d like that.”
“You have to work on a Saturday night?”
“It happens.”
It hadn’t in the three and a half months they’d been together or in the couple weeks she’d spent trying to get his attention before that. She fought the urge to pout. Spike spent nearly every evening with her, it was ridiculous to get upset because, every once in awhile, he had something to do that didn’t involve her.
The problem was that he was being so vague. She just knew he wasn’t being entirely honest.
It made her feel a little sick. She wondered if she should tell him--just admit that she could read him too well for secrets and knew he was hiding something. Would it help?
“Call me when you get done?”
He flashed her a big grin. “‘Course, love.” Was that relief in his eyes?
He parked on the street in front of her house. “I’ll walk my girl to her doorstep.”
“You don’t have to. I know where it is.”
He chuckled and came around to unlock her door anyway. “Yeah, but porch-kisses are one of my ten favorite types of kisses.”
Buffy slide her hand into his and stepped out of the car. “And you’re sure you’ll be getting porch-kisses?”
“Certain.”
The front door swung open as soon as they reached the porch and a chorus of voices rang out. “Surprise!”
Stunned, Buffy scanned the crowd for a moment before looking back at Spike. “You don’t really have to work tonight.”
“On a Saturday night: Of course not.”
She shook her head and stepped in to hug Cordelia and Anya. “You guys are--”
“Did we really surprise you?” Willow came towards her with a shy smile.
“Yes!” Buffy yanked her into a quick hug. “I can’t believe you guys did all this.” She took a quick survey of the room. They’d hung yellow streamers and a cute glittery sign that said Happy Birthday. The card table was set up in the corner with pretty tablecloths, a big vase full of daisies and several trays of what smelled like her favorite Thai dishes. It was sweet, totally sweet, but after all the weirdness with Spike in the car, the relief was almost too much . She blinked back a couple tears.
“Hey, none of that. There’s no crying on your birthday.” Xander, the first friend she made in kindergarten, slung his arm over her shoulder.
She laughed. “Really?” Xander was well aware of her birthday track record.
“That’s fair. I should have said there will be no birthday crying this year. Seriously, look around, Buff. There’s no bouncy house, so there’s no way you can fall off a bouncy house and break you arm and we absolutely do not have any ponies coming.”
“So I can’t get bit again?”
“Exactly. I’ve also brought my tool kit in case we break anything and a fire extinguisher in case...well just in case.”
“Well aren’t you a boy scout? All prepared and what not.” Spike was frowning slightly and looking at Xander’s arm on her shoulders.
His jealous-look was silly, but Buffy pulled away from Xander and stepped toward her boyfriend anyway. “You two haven’t met yet. Spike this is Xander. He sat next to me on Mrs. Steven’s rug in kindergarten.”
Spike’s eyebrows inched up. “Best mates ever since?”
“Pretty much.” She glanced up at Xander and smiled. “He’s kind of like my big brother who just happens to be three months younger than me.”
Xander chuckled. “Those three months used to suck. Buffy’d be all ‘I’m eight and you’re only seven so I get to decide what movie we watch.’ ” He held out his hand. “Nice to finally meet you, man. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
Spike shook Xander’s hand. “You too.” His tone wasn’t entirely convincing, but Buffy decided to let the matter lie.
Later, Buffy caught Spike in a corner alone. “I knew you were lying. It was awful.” It had her so sick to her stomach, she was still struggling to enjoy her curry.
“Tell me about it. I almost puked up brunch a half-dozen times. I’m rubbish at keeping secrets from you.”
She melted a little. “You really are.”
He nodded and the last of the tension in her stomach dropped away. She rose up on her toes and gave him a quick kiss.
********************
He wasn’t entirely sure what the birthday curse entailed, but Spike was feeling pretty good about the current festivities. His girl was glowing.
Anya’s clever thinking had set things up perfectly. She’d arranged for a little brunch double-date for Buffy and himself with herself and Gunn. She’d said it was so that Buffy would be wearing a dress and not feel under-dressed at her own party. But Spike had seen her inhale a startling amount of pastries and Eggs Benedict, so he couldn’t be certain about her motives.
Still, it had worked out well. He’d picked Buffy up at ten, giving Joyce and a few of her friends the whole day to set up. They’d met up with Anya and Gunn for a couple hours then Spike had taken her to a movie while Anya and Gunn joined the party committee. It had been almost smooth until he’d had to come up with a reason to bring her home.
That had been tough. Still, seeing her surrounded by her friends and well on beaming, made it all worthwhile. They’d ordered enough Thai food to feed an army and had a little mountain of adorably decorated cupcakes. Spicy and sweet. Just like his girl.
He dropped down on the over-stuffed, beige couch and watched Buffy and Xander play a video game that seemed to involve bouncing around and pretending to ninja-chop fruit. He was more of a Halo kind of guy, but they were clearly having a blast.
A brunette with a big smile perched on the other end of the couch. He’d met her at the barbecue, but couldn’t remember her name. He tipped his head in her direction, then turned back to watch the game.
“You’d think all the cheerleading and Tai Chi would give Buffy an advantage, but she misses way more than she hits.”
Spike chuckled. ‘I think she skips the cuter fruits--like the strawberries.”
“That sounds about right.” She gave a throaty chuckle and held out her hand. “We’ve met once before, but it was quick. I’m Cordy.”
Spike sat up and took her hand for a quick shake. “Nice to meet ya again, Cordy. Now... did you say, Tai Chi? Don’t know if I can picture that.”
“Yeah--we took a few lessons last year. That’s how I met Liam, my boyfriend, though I thought he was into Buffy at first.” She grinned. “Actually, I still think he was into Buffy at first. He was always showing her the correct way to position her arms then lingering. But I showed him the error of his ways.”
The image made his stomach tense, his hand clenched. “Was Buffy ever-- was she interested in--”
“Oh no! I mean, there’s a girl code. If she’d wanted him, I wouldn’t have made a move.”
“Right.” Spike nodded.
Cordy laughed gently. “And that’s not why you were asking.--She wasn’t interested. I’ve never seen her particularly interested in anyone before you.”
“Yeah?” The knot in his gut loosened. He was probably grinning like a fool.
“Yeah. She’s crazy about you.”
“That’s mutual.” He couldn’t help glancing over at his girl as he spoke. She grinned back and headed toward him.
“I can tell.” He couldn’t tear his eyes away from Buffy. She was...enchanting.
“What can you tell?” Buffy wrapped her arm around his shoulder and dropped into his lap.
He slid his arm around her waist and hugged her closer. “Havin’ fun?”
Her smile could brighten his darkest day. “I am. This is really great.”
Anya sat on the coffee table. “I suppose next year we’ll have to celebrate in Paris. Unless we can find a cheap flight home.”
What? “You plannin’ a trip, love?”
“No.” Buffy shook her head but kept her gaze on her hands. “I’m not.”
Anya’s forehead wrinkled. “Yes, you are. We’re going to study abroad. A semester in Paris during our junior year. It’s why we took three years of French in high school. We’re supposed to eat croissants and flirt with guys trying to write novels in coffee shops.”
Buffy shot him a quick glance before looking at Anya. “I’m sorry, An. We haven’t talked about it in ages. I guess I thought you’d changed your mind too.”
“Why would I change my mind? Why would you? We’ve been planning this since we were fourteen. It’s going to be amazing, Buffy.”
“I know, but--”
“But what? You have a boyfriend now so you’re going to just drop everything--change your whole life?”
“It’s not like that.”
Anya’s eyes were glossy. She bit her lip. “Isn’t it?” She shrugged. “I have to go.”
Buffy stood up. “Anya, please-I didn’t mean to--”
Anya turned to Gunn. “Can you bring me home now?”
He nodded. “Sure, yeah.” He met Spike’s eyes for a second and shrugged before following Anya toward the front door.
The rest of the party broke up pretty quickly after that.
*********************************************
“You know that I’m not going to go, right?” Buffy knelt on the couch beside Spike. He seemed upset; she wasn’t sure why.
“Yeah. Heard that. Just not sure why.”
“Why I’m not going?” Buffy laughed. “Because I changed my mind. It was something we talked about years ago...I just changed my mind.”
“Sounds like a good deal. See the world...use that French of yours.”
Buffy cupped his cheek. “Yeah, but I’d miss you like crazy.”
Her words appeared to have the opposite effect than intended. He swallowed hard and nodded without meeting her eyes. “So it’s me then. I’m why you’re not going?”
Understanding hit slowly. “No. I mean I’d miss you, of course, but that isn’t the only reason. It was just a silly thing we thought of when we were kids. It doesn’t make sense now. I’m working on a counseling degree. When my...when my father died, the school counselor, Mrs. Sharply, she was a big help. I didn’t want to let her help at first, but she kept trying and...I think that’s what I want to do too. I know it is.” She sighed. “If I go to Paris, I’d really only be taking electives-- art and history. It would fun, but I need to be here to take my psychology and childhood development courses. It’s just not practical.”
“You’re saying that, even if I wasn’t in the picture, you’d stay here? You wouldn’t go study art and flirt with French guys?”
Buffy shook her head. “I don’t think so. I think I’d be staying here, either way. Maybe, maybe I’d go just so that I wasn’t letting Anya down, but that isn’t a great reason.”
He didn’t respond.
“Spike?”
“Alright--just don’t want you missin’ out on something because of me.”
Buffy snuggled up against his side. “I’m not. I’m happy because of you.”
“Me too, kitten. Me too.” He pressed a kiss onto the top of her head.
[Reviews - 131]
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Chapter or Story |
Chapter or Story | 
Chapter or Story
Has been viewed 1190 times
- Text Size +
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Chapter or Story |
Chapter or Story | Chapter or Story - Text Size +
Author's Chapter Notes:
The indescribable Minx DeLovely gave this a read and has probably helped me chat out my thoughts on this story a dozen times over the years. She's amazing like that. Any mistakes are most certainly mine.