A/N Ok-I know that no one will believe this, but originally, this was just a little smut fic in my head. I can't help it, the story just keeps coming, but I promise the smut is coming. (Pardon the pun.)
******************************************************************************************
Later that evening in Buffy’s hotel suite…
Working up her courage, Buffy asks, “What was that all about at the studio today? First you say that you’re going out to smoke and the next thing I know, you’re hugging me.”
‘Knew she had been quiet too long,’ Spike did not meet her eyes. “You seemed sad after the song, just thought you needed it ‘s all.”
“I kinda did,” she caught his eyes and smiled, “Thanks.”
‘Might as well forge ahead,’ he thought. “I also thought you seemed uncomfortable being left alone with that wanker of a producer. What is the deal with you and him?”
She tried to blow it off, “He is just one of the examples of why Buffy and relationships are unmixy.”
He would not let her, “No, it was more than that. You were right pissed at first, but at the prospect of being alone with him,” he took her hands and looked straight into her eyes, “you looked frightened.”
Knowing that she could not put it off anymore, she pulled him to sit with her on the sofa “I met Parker my first day at UC Sunnydale. I had been away from home for about a year and was nervous about coming back. I started classes in the spring, so there was no one I knew with me during orientation and I hated my roommate Cathy. It was a hard time for me. I was feeling really insecure about myself and about my place with my friends and family. Parker seemed nice, he seemed to listen, seemed like he understood.”
“But,” he prodded.
“But, he was a liar,” she moved off of the sofa to pace the room, “and I was stupid.” Spike moved to get off the sofa and she waived him back down. “We had been out a few times, not dates, just out for coffee or hanging out on the quad when he asked me to go with him to a party that his frat was having. I was reluctant, but he said all the right things and flattered me endlessly, so I went. It was really crowded when we got there, so many people that I didn’t know. I just wanted to feel comfortable, so I had a couple of drinks.”
Buffy looked like she was a million miles away and Spike started to frown, afraid of where this story was heading. “All of a sudden, I started to feel really dizzy. I told him I was not feeling well and he said we could go somewhere quiet where I could lie down. That’s the last thing I remember until I woke up in his bed the next morning.”
Spike was clenching and unclenching his fists now and his mouth was closed so tightly that his teeth were grinding. “I asked him what had happened and he seemed shocked that I couldn’t remember, said that we had shared something beautiful.” Tears were slowly running down her cheeks now, “I wanted it to be true, I wanted him to be telling the truth, so I went along with it. I pretended that everything was ok and I started to date him. We went out a few times more and then he stopped calling. I spotted him outside my dorm one day, hitting on another girl. I asked him what was wrong, asked him what I did wrong…”
Spike couldn’t take any more, he grasped her hand and pulled her into his lap, rocking her and cooing in her ear, “Its ok Buffy. It wasn’t your fault,” and just let her cry.
After her sobs had quieted, Spike whispered, “I could kill him if you want.” Buffy laughed and he just knew that he wanted to hear her do that more often.
************************************************************************
After Buffy had washed her face and cleaned up Spike’s shirt, she ordered hot chocolate for them from room service and they continued to talk.
Trying to find a more light hearted subject, he started, “So, tell me something that people would find surprising about you.”
Buffy looked confused, “What people, you mean like my fans?”
“Yeah,” he answered.
She thought about it for a moment and then answered, “When my parents’ marriage was self-destructing, I became obsessed with figure skating. Begged my mom to buy me books and videos on how to do the proper moves, spent countless hours on the ice. Thought I would be the next Dorothy Hammel, make my parents so proud. I even had the haircut.” She was smiling in remembrance. “When I was skating, gliding on the ice, it was almost like flying, I felt free. Free from the arguments at home, free from the guilt.”
“Guilt?” now Spike looked confused.
“I got it into my head that it was my job to save my parents’ marriage, that if I was the perfect daughter, maybe they would not fight so much. Once the divorce was final and mom moved us to Sunnydale, the skating stopped,” she sighed. “We didn’t have the money to indulge that fantasy any more.”
He looked at her with soft, caring eyes, “You’re the hero.”
Confused again, “The what?”
“In families, where there’s dysfunction, sometimes people take on roles,” he explained. “One of the roles is hero. They are the ones who feel responsible for everyone else and try to save them, make their lives work.”
Uncomfortable with this title, she balked, “And how do you know this Mr. Psych 101?”
“Lets just say, I have my own experiences with dysfunction,” he replied.
Wanting to get off this subject, “Ok, but now its your turn on the hot seat. What’s something people would find surprising about you?”
Now he looked sheepish, “I have been known to write poetry.”
She giggled, “You what?”
Dreading this explanation, but feeling he owed her, “When I was younger, I fancied myself a poet, constantly scribbling in my notebook. I wrote about everything, but mostly about love. When I met Cecily, I thought I’d found my muse. Unfortunately, she di’nt see it that way. We were at a party when I confessed my love for her and read some of the poems I had written for her. She was appalled to say the least and told me that she could never be with someone like me, that I was beneath her.”
At Buffy’s shocked gasp, he replied, “Oh wait, it gets better. So, some of her friends overheard our little confrontation, grabbed my notebook and proceeded to read random entries aloud. From then on, I was known as William the Bloody Awful Poet.”
“Oh, God Spike that’s awful,” she commiserated. “I’m so sorry that happened to you. Girls can be real bitches sometimes. Xander dated this girl named Cordelia in high school. I thought she was queen bitch, but I have to say your Cecily sounds like she could giver her a run for her money.”
She added, then blushed, “Although, poetry aside, I don’t understand what she found lacking about you. I mean you’re not exactly hard on the eyes.”
At that comment, Spike tilted his head and studied her, “Is that a compliment?”
“No, just an observation,” she laughed.
“Well, thanks,” he smiled “but this is not the look I was sporting back then. Back in school, I looked more tweedy, kind of like a younger version of your stepfather.”
At that, Buffy burst into laughter.
“What?” a little peeved at her laughter.
Oh god, Buffy was practically rolling, “I’m just trying to picture you like that. Did you wear glasses?”
‘God, I knew I should have never started this.’ “Yes,” he stated.
“Oh and did you take off your glasses and polish them when you were nervous?” still giggling. “Giles does that, maybe it’s an English thing.”
“Ha ha, very funny. It was a long time ago and I wear contacts now,” he was starting to feel uncomfortable now.
“Clear ones, right?” as she looked straight into them. “Please don’t tell me those aren’t your own baby blues.”
Feeling slightly chuffed, “They’re mine.”
Now she was looking at him dreamily, “They’re beautiful.”
‘Ok, so loving this direction.’ He smirked, “Are you flirting with me?”
“What?” she bristled, “me no, just making an observation.”
Still smirking, “Ok, so what else might we find surprising about you Miss Giles?”
‘Subject change! Subject change!’ “After my mom died, I moved back home to help Giles take care of himself and Dawnie.” At his look of understanding, “I learned how to cook and tried my best to be there for them. Even though, it was a horrible time, I miss it. I miss cooking for them and sitting around the table together as a family. I know that sounds terribly domestic, but I had just never had that before and I certainly don’t have it now.”
“Are you a good cook?” he asked.
Now she seemed proud, “Well, I would not say that I’m Julia Child or anything and absolutely never let me bake, but I was pretty good at it. Alas, life on the road is not conducive to domesticity. No place to cook and no one to cook for.”
He smiled, “Well, if you ever feel the burning need to cook, I have an apartment full of appliances that have hardly been used.”
“Oh yeah, I keep forgetting that you actually live here in New York.” This brought up a question she had been meaning to ask, “Why is that? Rayne Magazine is from England, so why are you here?”
He got a brief look of distress and then said, “It’s a long story, but after my divorce I wanted to get away from England, get away from Dru.”
“Your ex-wife?” she clarified.
“Yes,” he sighed now. “I thought the distance would be good for me. That it would be a fresh start.”
She was on a role now, “So, you haven’t really seen her since your divorce?”
“No, I’m afraid I see her a little too much for my own good.” At her perplexed look, “We travel in a lot of the same circles, she comes to New York often, and her father is Ethan Rayne, the founder of Rayne Magazine.”
Her mouth was going faster than her brain now, “How do you think you can get her out of your life if you work for her dad?”
Feeling the need to justify himself to her, “I know it’s crazy, I just feel bad for the old man. He always treated me well, like a son, so I couldn’t just disown him when we divorced. I only work for him once in a while when he really needs it, like now.”
Mouth still running wild, “Oh, you must have really loved her if she could hurt you enough to leave the country.”
Needing to explain things to her for a reason he could not fathom, “I was quite young when I met Dru, still reeling from Cecily’s rejection, she blew into my life like a hurricane. She was like no one I had ever met, such a free spirit. I dropped anything and everything to be with her, completely changed my appearance and my life for her. I changed my major in college from literature to journalism and left William, the bloody awful poet behind.”
“Wow, what happened,” she asked, feeling jealous that no one had ever bothered doing all that for her and then reconsidering, “Oh sorry, I shouldn’t be grilling you like this.”
“No, it’s ok,” he gave her one of those sweet smiles again. “Like you and the Parker thing, I need to talk about it. We married after graduation and that’s when I got the job at the paper. I was doing local stuff for a couple of years when the middle-east job came up. I thought we agreed that it would be a good career move, but after less than a year, Dru was complaining that I was away too much and that I was not paying enough attention to her. I tried to be home more and when I was, I was the best husband I knew how to be, but it just wasn’t enough. I found out a short time later that she was involved with someone else.”
“Oh God,” now she felt really awful for grilling him.
He continued, “So, I confronted her with it and she begged me to forgive her. She said that she was just so lonely because I was always away and that if I quit the job and came home all would be back to normal.”
Feeling his pain, “And that is what you did.”
Shaking his head, sadly, “And that is what I did. I quit the newspaper and took a job full-time with the magazine. I showered her with gifts and love, did everything I could to make up for driving her into another man’s arms. A few months passed, we went to counseling, I thought everything was fine, then I came home early one day and found her in our bed with one of my co-workers at the magazine.”
Buffy couldn’t take it anymore and as he had done for her before, she pulled him into a fierce hug, “Oh Spike, I’m so sorry. What a bitch she was! is! You deserve so much better than her.”
At this point Spike was shaking and Buffy tried to sooth him further, ‘God she didn’t mean to make him cry’, but then she pulled back to look in his face and discovered that he was laughing, “What are you laughing at?”
“Nothing it-it’s just nice to have someone on my side,” he cupped her cheek in his palm “and to call a spade a spade or in Dru’s case a bitch, a bitch.”
Buffy laughed too. At that point, they both realized that they were still in each other’s arms and broke apart.
Spike was the first to recover, “So what is your schedule tomorrow?”
“Blissfully, it is pretty clear,” she smiled. “I have a late lunch-time meeting with some record label people tomorrow, but other than that, I am free. I plan to sleep very late and then maybe hit the gym. What about you?”
Another touchy subject, “I actually have an interview scheduled with your ex tomorrow morning.”
Her eyes got wide, “Riley?”
Afraid that now he was going to lose all the ground he had gained with her, “Yes, does that upset you?”
Surprising herself, “No, no it is ok. We have come to terms with what happened in our relationship and I think we are both better for it. I would appreciate it though, if the details of our break-up were left out of the article. I just think there are some things that should not be for public consumption.”
“Fair enough pet,” he felt relieved. “Do you want to get together tomorrow evening to continue all this?”
“Ok,” she replied. “On one condition.”
Wary, “What’s that luv?”
She smiled, “We have to cover much less depressing subjects.”
“Sounds good.” At her yawn, he pulled her up from the sofa, “It’s late, so I should probably get going. Give me a call on my cell tomorrow when you want to hang out,” and he handed her a card.
She looked at the card briefly, then looked up at him, “Thanks for listening Spike,” and stood on tiptoe to place a chaste kiss on his lips. As soon as her lips met his, she knew it had been a mistake. Spike’s hands came up to cradle her face as her hands went to his shoulders and the kiss deepened.
Within seconds, they both came back to their senses and broke apart, breathing heavily.
‘What are you doing, you wanker? The girl just wanted to say thank you.’ Spike knew he’d blown it now, “Oh Buffy, I’m sorry, I-I-I…”
She smiled, “It’s ok, I think we both needed that.” Buffy walked to the door and opened it for him, “See you tomorrow.”
Spike smiled as he walked past her, “OK, see you tomorrow.”
When the door closed, they both let out long breaths and touched their hands to their lips, leaning on opposite sides of the door, thinking maybe a cold shower before bed would be a good thing.
************************************************************************
London 8:00AM…
Drusilla Rayne sits at her dining table enjoying her first cup of tea as she unfolds the London Daily Mirror. One glance at the front page and she stands, throws her teacup against the wall and screams, “DADDY!!!!!!!!!!”
Reviews make me smile : )
[Reviews - 147]
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Chapter or Story |
Chapter or Story | 
Chapter or Story
Has been viewed 2506 times
- Text Size +
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Chapter or Story |
Chapter or Story | Chapter or Story - Text Size +