The next morning the quiet of her dressing room was a welcome relief for Buffy after the chaos that had passed the day before.
Not that it had been her fault of course. The culprit was Spike.
Of course that bleached menace would cause trouble from the moment he walked through the door. That was his classic trademark.
She had managed to avoid him for the rest of the previous day, seeing as they hadn’t had any scenes together yet, but she already knew that today would be a different story.
Her mind briefly flickered back to the last time she encountered him several years earlier, but before her thoughts wandered that way, she suppressed them and turned her reflections to the scenes she had to endure later that day.
This episode of ‘Murder Most Strange’ was set around three main characters: Jim, his girlfriend Shell and Shell’s younger sister Kelly. Having just inherited a diamond ring from a distant relative, Kelly is financially set for life, which causes the wheels of deceit to start turning in her sister’s head. The tale was one of pain, betrayal, and heartbreak.
Buffy scoffed as she realized that pretty much echoed her actual life.
Unfortunately her nemesis, Spike playing Jim, and therefore was the guy she was supposed to spend the next few days playing kissy-face with. The scenes that she was scheduled to act out with Spike were peppered with sensual kisses and seductive gestures.
Even the thought of kissing him sent shivers through her body but she easily convinced herself that they were the bad kind of shivers. They’d locked lips once before the last time they encountered each, but that didn’t bring her any memories of the good kind. Anyway, she was a woman now and not the naïve girl she was back then.
Before she could delve any deeper into her musings about Spike, a knock on the door shocked her out of her reflections.
She heaved herself to her feet with an exhausted sigh and opened the door to a pink haired studio runner.
“Hi!” the young girl grinned cheerily, popping her gum. “You’re needed on set.”
“Right now?”
“Uh huh.” Pink-hair popped her gum again, and ushered Buffy out of her dressing room. Somehow, the walk back to the set felt like she was walking the green mile. Even though Buffy had some other scenes to film before she would be forced to endure Spike, in some ways that just prolonged the agony.
Spending time with Captain Peroxide was best done in the same way as pulling off a band aid.
The worst thing was that Buffy didn’t want to give Spike this kind of power over her or over her emotions but she just couldn’t help it. It was like he loosened something deep within her and in her unhinged state her feelings were given free rein to go crazy.
Her mind flashed back to their first meeting all those years ago and the cruel words that followed. She wished she could erase that memory, but it was impossible.
Buffy had spent the best part of her life schooling herself to be cool, calm and composed. She was, after all, one of the most successful actresses in the continental USA. However, Spike Price was like an ice pick, chipping away at her until she crumbled into hysterical pieces.
No one else in the world was able to burrow as deeply under her skin as the annoying blond. He should be forced by law to wear a sign labeled: ‘Irritant.’
As soon as Pink-hair left her alone in the green room a dark haired teenager came bounding up to her, seemingly brimming with excitement. The teen was dressed in jeans and a roll neck sweater. Her long hair was draped over her shoulders in long waves and she looked every inch the fresh faced young girl that Hollywood would just love to corrupt.
“Oh my God!” she young girl cooed, “You’re Buffy freakin’ Summers!”
Buffy took a subtle step back from the girl and nodded. “Well my middle name is actually ‘Anne’, but ‘freakin’’ works too.”
The way she was feeling right now ‘freaking’ actually fitted her perfectly.
The bouncy brown haired teenager grinned, “Sorry, I’m sorta wiggin out. I’m Dawn Keyes. I guess we’re sisters now…kinda. I’m playing Kelly.”
Buffy nodded. She vaguely recognized the younger girl from some commercial or other, and guessed this was a big break for someone like Dawn.
“I’ve been totally excited since I found out I was gonna be working with you,” Dawn gushed. “You’ve been my idol since like forever. I’m totally serious.”
“Not sure I should be anyone’s idol,” Buffy smiled modestly, but Dawn didn’t even seem to hear her as she was suddenly staring off into the space behind Buffy. The blonde glanced over her shoulder to see what Dawn was staring at, and hissed out a breath when she caught sight of him.
Spike.
Ah, apparently there was someone that Dawn idolized even more than Buffy.
“Oh, isn’t he dreamy,” Dawn whispered to herself.
“Who? Spike?” Buffy sneered, stepping to the side to purposely obscure Dawn’s view.
“Yeah! Hello! Total salty goodness right there.”
“Dawn!” Buffy exclaimed. Although she didn’t know this girl too well, she felt a protective instinct for her. The brunette couldn’t have been more than eighteen years old, and in Hollywood that made her lion-food. “He’s…not the kind of guy you want to hang around with. If you knew about his past…”
“Oh, come on, Buffy. He’s sex on a very long stick. And I mean *long*.” At Buffy’s glare she clarified. “I know he was a porn star. I’ve even seen some of his movies.”
“You so shouldn’t be watching anything like that,” Buffy chided her younger companion. God, she suddenly felt like her own mother.
“I’m not a kid,” Dawn bit back insolently, a very child-like pout forming on her lips.
“I know, Dawn,” Buffy said gently. “But I’ve been in this business a long time, and I’ve seen other girls get chewed up and spit out. I wouldn’t want to see that happen to you.”
Dawn looked thoughtful for a moment but finally nodded and smiled at Buffy. Well, at least one person around here listened to her.
“So I can look, but no touchies?”
Buffy sighed. Or maybe not.
Lindsey’s arrival broke up the girl-talk and the rest of the morning passed by quickly. The scenes with Dawn flew by in a haze of giggles. Buffy really warmed to the younger girl. Even though her onscreen character would have to betray Dawn’s onscreen character, as people they’d definitely bonded.
Unfortunately, she couldn’t say the same for her other co-star. He was still as insufferable as ever.
By the time the morning’s scenes were all wrapped up, Buffy was starving. She practically vaulted into the green room and over to the food table, feeling her stomach grumbling angrily about the lack of food inside of it.
When she reached the table, she noticed that the goodies had already been virtually decimated by the crew. However, Buffy spotted the solitary muffin on one of the trays and licked her lips. She knew that she probably shouldn’t indulge in something so calorific, but after the stress of the past few days…scratch that…after the stress of her whole damn life, she deserved a little luxury.
She was just reaching for the yummy hunk of chocolate-y goodness, when another hand, with tacky black tipped nails, swooped down seemingly out of nowhere and closed around the treat.
Buffy looked up just as Spike snatched the final chocolate muffin from the plate.
That rat bastard!
“Hey!” she exclaimed.
“What can I say, pet?” he chortled mockingly, waving the muffin at her and enjoying the small victory over the little firecracker. Sure, it was petty, but he was a petty man sometimes. “Finders keepers.”
“That’s mine!” She tried to grab for the muffin, but he held it just out of reach, laughing as she jumped for it. Spike had a few inches in height on Buffy so it wasn’t hard to keep it away from her.
“Give it!”
He simply shrugged, bringing it sensually to his plump lips, and ran his tongue over the top of it, smiling wickedly at her gasp of outrage.
“Did you just lick my muffin?” she demanded, glaring fiercely at him.
His eyes took on a sparkle as he bit into the moist cake and hummed in pleasure. “Not yet,” he drawled. “But give me time.” He leaned in toward her, running his fingers down her hairline. “I can guarantee that if I was licking your…muffin, it’d put a smile on your face, the likes of which you’ve never felt before.”
Realizing what he was doing, Buffy flinched away from him. “You could never put a smile on my face.”
“Yeah, seems like bloody hard work to make a miserable chit like you happy, doesn’t it?”
“God, why do I even talk to you?” She threw her hands up in frustration.
“Because of my indomitable spirit, stunning good looks, and hot, tight bod?”
“Actually I was thinking more of a mental aberration on my part.”
“Not gonna argue with you there,” he laughed, drawing another angry grunt from Buffy.
Apparently Spike was the only person who was better at verbal sparring than she was. And that grated on every single one of her nerves.
Before she could say anything else, a hyperactive Dawn distracted the pair of them, bouncing up and striking up a conversation with Spike.
“Oh my God!” Dawn clucked, like a chicken in heat. “I’ve been so excited about meeting THE Spike Pryce.”
“Well now, I’m sure you have love,” Spike drawled, a glint flickering in his eyes.
With Dawn hanging all over him, it seemed like Buffy was old news. Suddenly feeling snubbed, Buffy began to rethink her earlier ideas about a striking up a genuine friendship with Dawn.
The younger brunette was all over him like a bout of mono, touching his shoulder playfully and laughing overly loudly at his unfunny jokes. Buffy suddenly felt sick. It wasn’t that she wanted Spike to pay attention to her, because hello…she hated the asshole. But to be slighted for some teenage bit of fluff pissed her off.
She absently wondered where his vapid blonde girlfriend was. Buffy didn’t think that bimbo, Harmony, would be happy to see Spike flirting with someone else. Hey, maybe the blonde would castrate him when she found out. That thought brightened Buffy’s mood a little bit.
After what seemed like an eternity, Dawn and Spike finally finished flirting and Dawn smiled coyly at Spike before skipping away. The teenager was clearly lovestruck and Buffy couldn’t help but roll her eyes at the ludicrousness of the situation.
“Corrupting young girls? Buffy sneered. “That’s kind of your thing, isn’t it, Spike?”
Spike gave a snort of annoyance. “You think I’d bloody well touch that little bit? I’m not that much of a wanker. She’s a kid, love. Too young for me.”
“I wasn’t much older than her when…” Buffy stopped herself before she could finish, but from the guilty look on Spike’s face, she knew that he realized what she was referring to.
She couldn’t be talking about anything else other than the last occasion that they encountered each other. A painful memory for Buffy and one that still stirred up guilt for Spike.
“We didn’t do anything though, pet,” he said, more softly than she was used to from the brash blond. “Not in the end.”
“No we didn’t, and the whole world knew that we didn’t, that I ‘wasn’t worth a go.’ Thanks to you.”
His mouth flapped open and closed several times but no sound came out. Apparently he didn’t have any words for her on that subject.
Luckily, it was time for them to film their scenes together and so they didn’t have time to delve deeper into the past. They took their marks in silence, adopting the personas of their characters.
“Okay…and…action!” Lindsey shouted.
Shell smiled at Jim with beaming white teeth as he took her in his arms and hugged her hello. It was easy for Buffy to become someone else, which was one of the reasons why she adored acting so much. When she was Shell, she didn’t have to be Buffy, the girl who always ended up in shreds whenever she got within ten miles of a creature with a penis.
“I’ve missed you,” Jim told her and Shell smiled at him again, but didn’t verbally return his affection.
“I’ve had the worst day. That little bitch Kelly has totally screwed me over.” Shell informed her lover without anymore preamble, placing her hand provocatively on her hip.
“I’d much rather hear about you than your sister,” Jim replied trying to pull her closer to him but failing when she smacked him away. “But I guess I’ll have to hear about her.”
“I’m serious, Jim,” she insisted. “Aunt Tamara died.”
“Commiserations,” he said half-heartedly.
“Ugh, I didn’t care about that old bat. She smelled funny and she was totally nutballs. But she did leave a will and her most valuable possession went to my sister.”
Jim’s ears perked up at the word ‘valuable.’ “Oh really?”
“Yep. Goddamn Kelly gets a five million dollar diamond ring, and I get zip. Isn’t that so unfair?”
Jim nodded vigorously in agreement. “Old bitch must have been crazy to give anything to that irritating little chit instead of my beautiful Shell.” He pecked her on the lips but she pulled away before he could deepen it.
“That’s why I have a plan,” Shell grinned. “Kelly has always been a thorn in my side. Ever since we lost our parents I’ve had to take care of the ungrateful little brat. She was a mistake anyway. My parents didn’t even want her. And now she gets everything and I get nothing. I’m planning on taking back what’s mine by rights.”
“And how do you plan to do that?”
“We’re going to steal the ring,” she explained with a gleam in her eyes. “It should be mine anyway, so it’s not even really stealing.”
“Won’t she go to the police?” Jim asked. “Cops would be all over us in days unless we flee.”
“I already considered that, and I think we should leave. There’s nothing left for us here anymore. We can get south of the border and live like royalty. And also…Kelly won’t be able to tell anyone. She’ll be dead.”
Jim gasped dramatically. “Dead?”
“Uh huh. You’re going to kill her.”
Jim looked shocked and began to pace. “I’m not sure that I can kill anyone, Shell.”
“Come on, baby,” she cooed, stilling him and wrapping her arms around his neck. “Won’t you do this for me?”
“We’re talking about murder here, love.”
“Ah, murder schmurder. We’re talking about reclaiming what’s mine and getting rid of a girl who’s nothing more than a parasite.” She affected a pout and let the tears start to run down her face. “If you loved me you’d do this. I can’t do it without you.”
Jim flopped down into the nearest chair and put his head in his hands. “Okay, love. You win. I’m on board.”
Shell squealed happily. “I knew you’d do the right thing.”
Prowling toward Jim, Shell moved slowly. Although Jim didn’t know it, she was the hunter and he was the hunted.
She climbed into his lap and straddled him. Buffy slipped out of character for a fleeting moment as she endeavored to ignore the bulge that was now cradled between her slender thighs. However, she was a professional and determined to ignore Spike’s clear lack of ability to be as proficient as her.
“So, is that all settled then?” Shell asked, getting back into character and leaning forward to bite Jim’s neck with small, sharp teeth. She heard him hiss beneath her touch and smiled.
“Y-Yes,” he stuttered. “We steal the ring, dispose of Kelly and live happily ever after.”
“Mmm,” Shell agreed. “Sounds like paradise.”
“It’s always paradise when I’m with you, Shelly.” He caressed the side of her face with gentleness, trailing his fingers down to her chin. Clasping a hold of her delicate chin between his fingers, he guided her lips to his for a slow, steamy kiss.
As the kiss deepened, suddenly it was no longer Shell and Jim kissing, but Buffy and Spike.
For some reason when their lips touched, neither of them could maintain the pretence any longer. It was like drawing back a curtain and leaving just the raw, untainted truth. The façade slipped away from them both and was replaced with a haze of lust. All the animosity was totally forgotten. They moaned unconsciously as she writhed on his lap, running her fingers through his short curls with wanton abandon.
“And…cut!”
Lindsey’s voice penetrated her foggy brain and she leapt off of Spike as if he was suddenly made of hot coals. Bile rose in her throat at the thought of what had just happened.
She’d been kissing Spike!
And not just because it was what the script dictated. Buffy had wanted him at that second. She knew that if he’d laid her down on the ground and taken her she would probably have been powerless to refuse him.
As an actress Buffy Summers had kissed a lot of men on screen, and nothing like that had ever happened before, much less with someone she loathed and despised.
Buffy was thankful that was her last scene of the day. She couldn’t wait to get back to the hotel, soak in a hot bubble bath and hit the hay.
The ride back to the hotel was quiet. Giles asked more than once if she was okay but she just nodded and resumed her new favorite pastime of staring out of the window. She didn’t actually want to look at Giles right now anyway, because the big glaring bruise on his face was a reminder of just how much her life sucked right now. Everything was going wrong for her, and maybe she was having a pity party, but she felt it was definitely needed.
The limousine pulled up outside the front entrance to her hotel and she took a deep steadying breath. Giles clasped her hand to reassure her that he was with her all the way and she smiled at him gratefully.
As she climbed out of the limo, a lake of reporters flooded the space around her. They were like vultures, mercilessly descending on the flesh of their victims, unwilling to quit until their prey was gnawed down to the bone.
She pushed through them, guided by the unwavering hand of Giles, and kept her head down. Questions hit her like bullets in rapid fire, each one tearing at her restraint a little more. For a moment she felt like she was about to snap, and balled her hands into tense fists.
When they finally reached the hotel lobby, after what seemed like an eternity, Buffy breathed a sigh of relief. She felt like she was safe again, but for how long?
She really wasn’t sure that she could contend with his kind of hounding from the press for much longer. Although Giles had repeatedly assured her that the extreme interest had only been piqued by her very public break up with Finn and that it would eventually fizzle out, she had her own doubts. Although Giles would never tell her, he had his own worries about Buffy’s mental stability should the hounding continue.
As they stood wordlessly on the elevator together, Buffy and Giles both had heads full of worries, and neither of them were willing or able to share with each other.
Saying goodbye to Giles for the evening when she finally reached her room, Buffy darted inside and closed the door behind her, making sure to double bolt it. There was no way anyone could invade her retreat now.
She had never been so relieved to find refuge from the outside world. The reporters, of course, were just part of the problem, but the other troubles were something she was definitely not going to think about.
As soon as that thought crossed her mind, the memory of Spike’s lips on hers reappeared inside her head and she dived face down onto her bed.
She was doomed.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Well, it's been a while because I've been very busy for the past few months, but now I'm back and I'm hoping to update this story and my other WIPs regularly.
I'm sorry it's been such a long time, but I promise to make up for the delay with lots and lots of Spuffy goodness. :)
Enjoy!
I'm sorry it's been such a long time, but I promise to make up for the delay with lots and lots of Spuffy goodness. :)
Enjoy!
Chapter End Notes:
I hope you enjoyed it, and please review. :)