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A/N The look I describe for Buffy/Liz in this chapter was inspired by a picture I saw on Sinister Attraction of SMG looking like a rock star. The food comments at the end are from an interview I saw with SMG.

Let me no if you like, but be nice, pretty please.

Spike arrived at the midtown address Liz had given him at 10:00AM. He waited to show up, because he was not sure what kind of a reception he was going to get and wanted to make sure he was wide awake enough to deal. The building was a non-descript brownstone that made him wonder if he was in the wrong place. Once inside, he realized that the building had been remodeled to provide a multilevel entry with a reception desk. Spike walked up to the desk and told the receptionist what he was there for. She asked his name, indicated that he needed to show his proof of ID, compared what she found to a clip board, then told him with a bright smile that he could take the stairs to the 4th level, studio two.

Spike made his way up the four flights of stairs, cursing the lack of elevators along the way. He made his way down the hall to studio two, opened the door and stepped inside. The room was bright white with high ceilings and skylights. There were numerous people milling about, but no one that he recognized. He noticed some couches off to the side, where two young women sat looking bored. He figured they must be part of the band’s entourage.

The girls were both quite pretty. One looked very young, had long brown hair and large blue eyes, the other looked a little older. She had shorter, dark blond hair and a very animated look on her face.

As he approached, both women looked up at him, then turned to each other, said something, and giggled. Spike was somewhat taken aback and surreptitiously glanced down at himself to make sure that his fly was not open. Just then, the younger of the two women stood, presented her hand and said, “You must be that reporter from Rayne magazine, Spike is it?”

“Yes, but I would say you have me at a disadvantage,” answered Spike, “and you are?”

“Oh, sorry,” she blushed. I’m Dawn, the other Ms. Giles and this is Anya Jenkins, Andrew’s sister.

“Don’t forget Xander’s fiancé,” Anya piped up, putting out her hand to Spike.

“Nice to meet you both,” Spike greeted. “Where are the not so pleasant Ms. Giles and her band?”

“Oh, they are getting dressed and made up. These things always take forever. The boys hate it,” Anya stated. “Actually, I think Andrew kind of likes it, he would probably let them do his nails if they wanted to.”

“Well, while the band is busy with this, maybe I can talk with the two of you, get some background information on the band and your sister,” Spike suggested.

“OK, talk to Dawn first, I am going to go make sure that the hair and make-up women know that Xander is mine and that they will not be getting any orgasms from him,” Anya said as she walked away.

Spike coughed, “Is she always like that?”

Dawn smiled after Anya, “Yes, for as long as I have known her. You get used to it after a while.”

“So…”, they both started at the same time and laughed.

Dawn started again, “What is it that you would like to know about my sister?”

“Well, I am ashamed to say that I really do not know anything about your sister or her band. I was handed this assignment last minute, so what ever you can tell me would be helpful,” Spike said giving his best shy little boy look. “Just start from the beginning.”

Dawn thought for a moment and then spoke “Ok, well, lets see, ok Buffy and I grew up in California…”

Confused, Spike blurted out, “Sorry to interrupt, but Buffy?”

“Oh yeah, that is Liz’s childhood knick name,” Dawn explained. “I am five years younger and when I was little, I had trouble pronouncing Elizabeth, so mom found out that Buffy was a knick name for Elizabeth and so that is what I started calling her. Pretty soon, everyone called her that. She stopped using it after she got back from England four years ago.”

Again confused, Spike asked, “She was in England?”

‘Oh good one Dawn, just spill all of Buffy’s secrets to the press.’ Dawn recovered, “Yeah, for about a year, but that is something that if she wants you to know, she will tell.”

Spike started again, “Ok, so you grew up in California, what about your parents, do they still live there?”

“We were born in LA, but after our parents divorced, we moved to Sunnydale with our mom,” Dawn stopped to calculate in her head. “I was nine, so Buffy was 14. That is where she met Xander and the rest of the band.”

Digging further, Spike asked, “Your dad stayed in LA?”

“Yeah, I guess,” Dawn frowned. “After the divorce, we never saw him much, he was always off with his latest conquest. I was younger and really close with my mom, but Buffy was always a daddy’s girl, so she really took it hard. At first he would promise trips to see us and then cancel last minute, but pretty quickly he just stopped promising. Neither of us has seen him in four or five years.”

Disturbed by the thoughts of a man abandoning his children, Spike continued, “What about your mom? Are you still close with her? Is your sister close with her now?”

“She was, we both were, but our mom died a couple of years ago,” Dawn visibly saddened. “She had a brain tumor that she was recovering from, the doctors had given her a clean bill of health, but then one day Buffy came home from class and found her on the sofa. They told her that there was nothing that she could have done, it was an aneurysm. Happens sometimes after brain surgery…that it happened quickly,” Dawn spoke quietly as tears formed in her eyes. “I do not know what Giles and I would have done without Buffy, she was our rock. She arranged all of the funeral, quit school, so that she could move back in and take care of us. She is so strong.”

“I am so sorry to make you relive this. I did not know,” Spike grasped her hand in his, upset for these girls, both left in the world without their parents. “Who is Giles?”

“Oh, it is ok. I just had not thought of all that for a while. Giles is our stepfather, actually adoptive father now. Mom and he married a few years after we moved to Sunnydale, then he adopted us when Buffy was 17 and I was 12,” Dawn explained. “I still live with him, except, I am starting UCLA, so now will be moving into the dorm.”

Just as she finished that explanation, there was noise from the back of the studio and out marched the band with Anya in tow. Spike noticed everyone looked a little uncomfortable, and then his eyes fell on Liz. Like the night before, her blond hair was blown straight, but fire engine red pieces had been painted in, along with a small braid here and there. Her eye make-up was dark, smoky black kohl rimming them. Her lips were glossy, kissable perfection. She was wearing a gauzy, off the shoulder white blouse, that looked as if it had been ripped at the waist and neck, so that it hung off her shoulders and bared her belly. To top if off she had on low-rise black leather pants, that zipped up the back, hugging her cheeks, making them look succulent. She looked rock star/heroine chic and decidedly disgruntled. Spike could feel his pants getting tighter, just staring at her, but he wasn’t sure if he was getting turned on by the show of skin or the pissed off look on her face.

As Spike stared at Liz, Dawn took a moment to observe him a little closer. Buffy had described him to a tee. He was gorgeous, no not gorgeous, beautiful. If not for the scar in his eyebrow and the swagger, he would look almost feminine in his beauty. No wonder Buffy had been so pissed off when she got back to the hotel last night. She had spotted this hottie and then found out he was only there to interview her, plus she had to spend the next seven days glued to him for said interview. Buffy had been muttering to herself about stupid management and that reporters should have to wear signs on their heads when she walked in the night before. Dawn had asked what her problem was and after Buffy explained about who Spike was and what he was there for Dawn had asked why she was so mad at him, he was just doing his job. That only seemed to piss Buffy off more. Now she realized why and if she was not mistaken, Spike was experiencing the same attraction to Buffy. She almost laughed out loud, ‘This is going to be an interesting week!’

As the photographer told Anya to get the hell away from him, Spike snapped out of his trance, “so, where were we Dawn?”

Dawn sniggered, “Well, I was telling you that I was about to start UCLA and you were ogling my sister.”

“No..no-not ogling,” Spike looked down and stammered.

“Oh come on,” Dawn barreled on, “it is pretty obvious, but let me tell you riling her up like you did last night is no way to win her over. You know she’s not involved with anyone.”

“She isn’t?” He looked up, “No, no you have it all wrong, I am just here to do this story.”

“Sure you are,” Dawn said with a wise-ass look on her face. “Don’t worry, you are not the first guy I have seen go all mute around my sister. There is something about her that guys are really drawn to. It has been that way since she was 15.”

“So, she must have left a lot of broken hearts along the way,” Spike hinted looking slightly insecure.

Almost too quietly for him to hear, she said, “No, sadly the few times that she has let someone in, she is the one that ended up getting hurt.”

At his incredulous look, she continued, “Buffy does not have the best luck in love. Her last relationship ended badly and the worst part was that every aspect of their relationship, from getting together to breaking up was documented in the press.”

Well, that explained her attitude change towards him last night when she found out who he was. “Was he famous too?” he asked.

“Yes, although when she started dating him, he was not.” Dawn blabbed, “I think his relationship with her is what got him on the charts. His name is Riley Finn and he started out with some kind of boy band thing, but is now doing the bubble gum stuff on his own. I could not stand him. He was just so corn fed and boring, I don’t see how she stood him as long as she did, but my sister is way stubborn. She tried really hard to make it work, but in the end, they just were completely wrong for each other.”

Just then Anya came back to join them and whispered something to Dawn. Dawn got a troubled look on her face and immediately looked towards the group. They had stopped taking photos and were talking, heatedly. Spike could not hear what they were saying, but Xander seemed really upset with Liz trying to placate him. As Spike looked at her with her back to him, his eyes traveled down her body to rest on her butt. It looked bitable clad in black leather with that zipper running up the middle. He then noticed her shirt was riding high and that there was something on her lower back. He squinted a little to make out a tattoo of what looked to be a pair of dragonflies. ‘Oh God, that is so sexy’ Spike thought. His fingers itched to touch those insects, and then of course his mind wandered to whether she had other tattoos and where they might be.

He was broken from his reverie, by the ever-increasing volume of voices from the group. “Xander, please don’t be upset,” Buffy was pleading, “I did not mean for this to happen.”

Xander threw up his hands and yelled, “Buffy, I know it’s not your fault, but I just can’t take this today. Finish the shoot, I will see you tomorrow at the recording studio.” He grabbed Anya and stalked out the door.

The photographer then spoke up, “Everyone take 15 minutes.”

Oz and Andrew spoke to Liz for a couple of minutes and then left as well. As they walked away, Liz looked down at her feet and sighed heavily. She then lifted her head in Spike’s direction. She seemed startled to see him there and immediately spun on her heel and headed back to the dressing room area.

“Come on, lets go back and see how she is doing,” Dawn said as she pulled him towards the room.

As they walked in Liz was sitting in a chair with her head in her hands. At the sound of the door shutting she looked up. There were tears running down her face and Dawn bent to wrap her in a hug.

“Oh Buffy, what happened?” Dawn cooed.

Liz looked up to respond and noticed Spike standing there looking very uncomfortable, “What is he doing here? You know he is just loving this just like all of those blood sucking tabloid reporters when Riley and I….”

“Stop it Buffy, he’s not like that, just give him a chance,” Dawn admonished. “Now what happened with Xander?”

Liz wiped at her eyes and spoke quietly, “Well, after we did the shots with everyone, the photographer said he wanted a wardrobe change and told the guys they would not be needed. He just dismissed them. With everything else that’s been happening, it was the last straw for Xander, he blew, I tried to tell him I did not know, but I don’t think he believed me. I don’t want all of this Dawnie, I don’t want all of this outside attention, but it is all spiraling out of control.”

Dawn soothed, “Buffy, Xander will be ok. You know he just has to go blow off steam and then he will be fine. He has been your best friend for ten years. He will not let this tension come between you guys.”

Liz smiled, “When did you get so smart?”

“While you were off traipsing around the country,” Dawn smiled back. “Now, don’t you think you owe Spike an apology?”

Buffy walked up to him, “I’m sorry for being such a bitch. I did not mean the blood sucking comment, I’ve just been really stressed lately and you were convenient to lash out at. Again, I’m sorry.” Buffy stuck out her hand and graced him with a watery smile, “Truce.”

Spike was completely shocked by the apology, “Apology accepted, truce.” He took her hand tilted his head to the side and gave her a genuine smile.

As soon as they touched, it was like a bolt of electricity through both of their bodies, causing them to look at their joined hands and then back up to each other before parting.

Dawn spoke up, breaking the spell, “Ok, you get changed for the next part of the shoot and I will continue putting my two cents in about you to Spike. Oh, and I told Giles we would meet him for lunch. You can come too if you want, Spike.”

Spike cleared his throat from the lump that had formed, “Actually, I have some other people I need to talk to today, but if you two do not have plans maybe I could buy you dinner? Whatever you want.”

At that Buffy’s eyes lit up, “Could we have sushi?”. Buffy shot Dawn a look as she started to speak, effectively cutting her off.

Spike looked between the two confused, but answered, “Sure, I like sushi.”

At the delighted look on Buffy’s face, Spike smiled. When she walked away, Spike looked to Dawn, “What?”

“I hope you have a healthy bank account,” she laughed.

Spike’s confusion grew, “What are you talking about? Are you telling me that taking the two of you out for raw fish is going to break me?”

“No, not me, Buffy. She can really put away some food, particularly food she really likes and let me tell you, she loves sushi,” Dawn was really laughing now.

Spike was incredulous, “That little thing, she can’t weigh more than a hundred pounds, soaking wet.”

Dawn warned, “Wait and see, but I hope your credit cards are paid up.”

Dawn and Spike continued to talk while Buffy changed and her solo photos were taken. Spike was able to keep most of his concentration on Dawn, but every now and then, he would catch a glimpse of swirling blonde hair out of the corner of his eye. The second outfit was less leather, but not any less distracting. When Buffy emerged from the back in a black tank top, a micro-mini, plaid, Catholic school-girl skirt, black fishnet hose, and black combat boots, he thought he was going to swallow his tongue. He quickly shifted his gaze, but not before, he moved the pad he was writing on to cover the raging hard on he was sporting. ‘This is going to be a long week filled with many cold showers,’ he thought.





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