Chapter Five: Life Cereal
Angel and Buffy walked slowly down the path. They were in a secluded area right off the highway at the Now leaving Sunnydale sign. Fitting really, since that’s all Angel ever did. Leave. Come back. Leave again. It was all one major routine. One long, agonizing, painful routine. They hadn’t really said anything and Buffy was starting to fidget. Angel noticed and stopped walking. Turning to her and putting his on uncomfortably on her shoulder.
“Buffy, are you um…ok?” Angel asked. The question went two ways. The first noting her obvious nervousness and the second being her recent resurrection.
Buffy smiled a little at Angel’s uncomfortable concern. It was a pained but understanding smile. They could never go back to how they were; they were just too different now. They couldn’t be friends either, because that honestly never worked out. No, Angel was part of her past and she knew that. She reached up and took his hand off of her shoulder and held it in hers.
“Angel” she began softly “I’m great” she answered sincerely.
Angel was shocked to say the least at her answer, and was a little suspicious. People didn’t just come back from hell and be “Great”.
“Are you sure? Cause if you want to talk…”
“Angel” Buffy said more sternly “I’ve never been surer. For once it feels like I know what I’m doing” she said
He narrowed his eyes at her, really not understanding what she was saying.
“Angel, listen to me” Buffy began
He nodded and waited for her to continue
“You can’t come back here, you have a life, I have a life, and it’s too…” she broke off noting the hurt expression on his face
“Painful” Angel finished. Sure, the revelation hurt but he knew she was right. They both had to move on. He managed a weak smile at her and she smiled weakly back.
“So this is it” Buffy said softly, just saying out loud gave her more peace than she had ever felt before. She loved Angel, she really did, but she was in love with someone else.
“Yea” Angel said, sounding less than convincing.
Buffy noticed she was still holding Angels hand and she let it drop. He sighed and they started walking back to the highway.
“So how’s LA?” Buffy asked trying to make conversation
“It’s good” Angel replied “Sunnydale still the same?” he asked
“Slaying, good ol’ scoobies, overprotective watcher, and annoying little sister? Yea, still the same” she said forcing a smile
They reached the rode and Angel turned to his car and then back to Buffy
“It’s weird isn’t it? Us trying to talk like normal people?”
“Oh yea” Buffy answered with a laugh. Angel laughed too.
Angel moved in to hug her and she didn’t resist. She rested her head on his shoulder and knew that this was a goodbye hug. She felt tears sting at her eyes but promised herself she wouldn’t cry.
“Good bye Angel” she murmured against his shoulder.
Angel smiled and exited the embrace “Bye Buffy” he replied smiling a little. He turned to his car and got in. the engine roared and he took one last look at the girl, who was the love of his life. She smiled at him and he smiled back before driving off back to LA.
Buffy watched until his car was out of sight and sighed. She turned around with a renewed sense of purpose. She could get on with her life now. And she would. It would be totally great…
A vampire jumped out of the shrubs on the side of the road and growled at her threateningly.
Buffy looked heavenward and sighed “You’ve got to be kidding me”
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Buffy entered her house and put her coat on the rack. “I’m home” she called out. She walked into the dining room to see everyone sitting at the table with a bucket of chicken in the middle of it. Buffy pouted holding up her bucket of chicken she brought with her. She forgot the last time this happened they’d already eaten then too.
Dawn giggled and took the bucket from Buffy setting it next to the one already occupying the table. “It’s ok Buff, haven’t started” Dawn assured sitting back down.
“Yes, Dawn informed us she called you and asked you to get more chicken, we’ve been waiting for you to get home” Giles supplied
Buffy looked to Dawn with a raised eyebrow and Dawn shrugged in response.
“Yes, she called me…I just thought you guys started without me” she lied.
Willow and Tara smiled and shook their heads
“Nope, chicken at the late hours of the night is perfect” Willow assured
Buffy smiled and they all dug in. once they started Giles took a drink of his wine and cleared his throat. “Um, if I may” he started, trying to get everyone’s attention. Once he had it he looked to Willow expectantly.
Willow ducked her head and smiled “Um, Giles and I were talking and um, he says…I mean we think that it would be best for me to go to a coven”
Giles nodded “Yes, there is one, in England, it would help her control her powers”
“Not that I’m out of control” Willow defended
Giles gave her a weary glance and continued “No, but it’s better to learn how to control them sooner than later”
“Tara’s coming too” Willow said smiling. Tara smiled back and squeezed Willows hand reassuringly.
Buffy sat at the end of the table mouth agape. “Wow” was all she could say.
Dawn cut in where her sister left off “So you guys are leaving?” she asked
Giles nodded in response along with Willow and Tara
“But we’ll be back, it’s just for a couple of months” Tara said softly
Dawn smiled “Well this is great. I’m so happy for you” she said, getting out of her seat and going to the other side of the table to hug them.
Buffy stared at the scene not knowing what to think. She was happy for Willow, and Tara not being here when Warren went nuts, if he went nuts this time, was defiantly of the good. But Giles.
She looked back to Giles who was looking at her. “Will you be coming back?” Buffy asked in a low voice.
Dawn, Tara, and Willow stopped hugging to listen to the watchers answer.
Giles took off his glasses and fidgeted with them. “I may, um, I haven’t really thought that far”
Willow and Tara wore shocked expression and Dawn and Buffy looked at him with understanding sadness. This had happened last time, they all but expected it.
Dawn returned to her seat and resumed eating. Awkwardly everyone at the table followed suit and the rest of the meal was eaten in silence.
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Buffy and Dawn sat across from each other on Buffy’s bed.
“So you just told him not to come back?” Dawn asked
Buffy nodded solemnly
“You miss him huh?” Dawn asked knowingly
Buffy smiled a little “Yea, but surprisingly not as much as I thought I would, I mean I guess I’ve always missed him, but I knew he’d always come back, now it’s just really…over” she said
“And you’re not bent out of shape about it” Dawn finished
Buffy nodded and smiled meeting her sisters’ eyes “exactly, it’s like, I know deep down, everything will turn out better this time, I haven’t felt this way since I was in…”
“Heaven” Dawn finished softly
Buffy smiled “yea”
The Summer girls shared a smile and then went back to thinking.
“So Spike is coming tomorrow to fix the pipes? I thought he was going to do that today?” Buffy asked
Dawn smiled mischief “He was…” she began
Buffy raised her eyebrow at her expectantly
“I told him he could do it tomorrow cause you wanted to make sure he didn’t screw anything up” Dawn admitted
Buffy laughed “And what did he say to that?”
“He just kinda shrugged and then we played cards until Willow and Tara came home from school” Dawn said smiling “And now, you get to see yummy no shirt Spike” she added proudly. “Not that you haven’t already or anything…”
“You are so not going where I think you’re going” Buffy said warningly
Dawn giggled and jumped off the bed moving to Buffy drawers.
“What are you doing?” Buffy asked craning her neck to see her sister
“Picking out an outfit for you to wear tomorrow” Dawn answered nonchalantly
Buffy jumped off the bed and grabbed the clothed out of Dawns hand shoving them back into the drawer haphazardly “Oh no, no teenage slut wear for me, I can dress myself”
“Oh come on!” Dawn whined
“World of no” Buffy answered sternly shutting the drawer quickly
Dawn pouted “Party pooper”
Buffy smiled appreciatively and Dawn rolled her eyes. They resumed their seats on the bed.
“So this whole thing with Will, Tara, and Giles will be ok right?” Dawn asked “I mean, Tara not being here to um… and Willow being good with magic, it will all help right?”
Buffy scrutinized her sister and shrugged “I don’t know” she sighed “It seems kinda too good to be true, I mean Warrens out of the picture hopefully, Willow going cold turkey, Tara’s going with her, what else did we face this year?” she asked “I mean that’s all that occupied my time then, and now all the sudden the problems are solved, just like that”
“I know, it doesn’t feel right to me either. The woman I told you about the night we first came back here, she said something about me changing something, maybe it was supposed to be harder because it was just supposed to be me” she guessed
“Maybe” Buffy replied “I still don’t get it though, all this stuff happened that year, are you honestly saying all of our problems are fixed now? There had to have been something else…”
Dawn fidgeted in her seat nervously “Well, there was the whole thing with you and Spike…” she said quietly
Buffy nodded and sighed “Yea, I forgot about that”
“Really?” Dawn asked surprised
“No” Buffy admitted “I tried to”
Dawn nodded in understanding.
“Well how’s it going now? Are you two…you know” Dawn asked
“No, but I want to be” Buffy looked up at her sister then “I mean, not just that…” she covered “I mean, I want to tell him… but I can’t yet”
Dawn nodded again, her sister was one stubborn girl but she was also just that. A girl. Dawn knew all too well what it was like to be that.
“Well that’s one of the two problems we have yet to overcome” Dawn stated
Buffy narrowed her eyes “Two?” she asked
Dawn nodded “Xander and Anyas wedding” she sighed
Buffy pouted “How do we go about fixing that?”
Dawn smiled proudly “I have a plan”
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The next morning Dawn and Buffy gathered in the kitchen. Tara and Willow had gone to school and Buffy and Dawn were tossing cereal into each others mouth giggling. Giles came into the kitchen wiping the sleep from his eyes and they turned around saying ‘good morning’ in unison. Giles smiled and nodded in response moving to the stove to make pancakes.
“So, um, when are you gonna leave? For England, with Tara and Will?” Buffy asked trying to sound casual.
Giles didn’t turn to look at her “Two days, they’re collecting their work from school today and packing tomorrow, the plane leaves at 4”
Buffy’s face fell “Oh”
Dawn looked on with equal sadness. Giles turned away from the stove and extracted an envelope from his jacket. He handed it to Buffy who took it with a confused look.
Giles cleared his throat and began cleaning his glass “Willow and Tara wanted me to give that to you, it’s um, it’s their rent, they also paid for the months they will be in England” he said. It was a lie; the money was purely from him. But knowing Buffy wouldn’t take money from him he had come up with another plan of getting it to her. A lie, but a plan none-the-less.
Buffy’s mouth open at the amount of money in the envelope. “Wow, I really need to thank them” she said
Dawn came to stand next to her sister and ogle the money “Where did they get all that, and why is it all in cash? Wouldn’t checks be more, um, I don’t know, but isn’t it weird to have that much money?” Dawn asked
Giles cleared his throat “They didn’t want me to tell you it was from them, it’s just a way to help out” he lied.
Buffy and Dawn nodded in response.
Spike burst through the kitchen door then making Buffy and Dawn turn around. He threw the flaming blanket on the floor and stomped it out before running a hand through his hair. He smiled awkwardly at the group looking at him. Dawn started giggling and soon Buffy joined in. Spike looked around to see what they were laughing at and couldn’t find anything, realization hit that they were laughing at him and he looked back to them with a scowl on his face. Giles had even started laughing at Spikes entrance. Once they stopped he let out a chuckle himself and it started all over. Once everyone caught their breath (excluding the vampire who didn’t require oxygen) they went their separate ways. Giles out to the Magic Box, Dawn to her room beings it was Saturday, and Buffy and Spike alone in the living room.
“Um, Xander brought tools” Buffy said moving to the little toolbox that was located on the coffee-table
Spike nodded
“Um, if you need any help or anything…”
Spike nodded again
Buffy sighed “Ok this is totally weird”
Spike sighed and nodded again
“But when has my life ever not been weird, we can do this…it’s just fixing pipes right?” Buffy said, ranting to herself
“Um, we?” Spike asked confused
“I mean, how hard can it be? You and me in a dark confined space…fixing…stuff” she broke off suddenly scared
Spike narrowed his eyes at her in utter confusion
Buffy turned to face him and thrust the tool box into his hands “We need to get this over with” she said frantically, running to the door to the basement.
Spike looked down at the tool box and then back up at Buffy. He shrugged and followed her down the stairs. Once down, Buffy sat at the bottom stair and Spike moved to the leaky pipe. He shrugged out of his duster and put it over the railing noting Buffys wide eyed stare at the jacket. He went back to the pipe and looked to the toolbox he had sat down next to Buffy. He pointed to it “Hand me the monkey wrench” he said
She stared at him for a second before shaking her head and opening the toolbox. She peered inside of it for second before coming up blank. Ever since he took of his duster coherent thoughts went out the window. Dawn came down the stairs with a bag of popcorn and noticed Spike waiting for something. She reached into the toolbox and pulled out a monkey wrench handing it to him. He looked at her funny before turning back to the pipe. Dawn sat down next to Buffy on the stairs and offered her popcorn. Buffy smiled and reached her hand in never taking her eyes off of the vampire.
“Isn’t he supposed to be shirtless?” Dawn whispered to Buffy
Buffy smiled “He practically is, I mean, can a shirt get any tighter?” she whispered back.
Dawn noted the shirt and nodded in agreement
Spike smiled to himself and shook his head “I can hear you, you know” he said causing Buffy and Dawn to stare wide eyed at him.
Dawn giggled while Buffy looked mortified.
Spike began twisting the pipe with the wrench
“Uh, Buffy already tried that, it had a bad ending” Dawn warned
Spike turned around scrutinizing them “I thought you said you didn’t try to fix it?” he asked
Buffy elbowed her sister in the knee “On-on a movie, that we saw… it was bad, the pipe…” Buffy struggled to find a good cover up
“Yea, um, the movie, with the pipe” Dawn piped up
Spike frowned at them and looked back to the pipe.
Buffy and Dawn let out a sigh of relief and went back the popcorn.
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It had been one hour and Spike finally finished fixing the pipe. Surprisingly with no mess ups. Buffy and Dawn were shocked to say the least. A little disappointed he didn’t take off his shirt but happy none-the-less. Spike was just washing his hands, while Dawn was watching TV in the living room. Buffy leaned up against the kitchen island silently. Spike wiped his hands on the hand towel and turned around. He sat in the stool across from Buffy and smiled. She smiled back nervously.
“Hey, we should go somewhere to celebrate” Buffy said trying to sound un caring
Spike narrowed his eyes at her “Like, where, I’m not stepping into some bleeding Nancy boy mall” he warned
Buffy laughed and shook her head “No, like the bronze or something” she offered
He smiled and nodded. Still a little confused she would invite him somewhere of her own free will.
“Great, I mean good, and you should pick me up” she said
Spike was taken a back by the request and his mouth practically hit the counter
She smiled at his reaction “I like the bike” she explained.
All Spike could do was nod and get up to leave the house before his head exploded. He made it to the kitchen door and was about to run out when Buffy called after him “Around 8 ok?” she said. He nodded and was about to leave again “And Spike!” she called. He finally turned around and she tossed him his blanket. He looked embarrassed but nodded his thanks and left.
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8 pm rolled around…really freakin slowly! Buffy was so antsy she even scared Dawn, who was an actual ball of energy. But she couldn’t help it. Dawn kept calling it a date and even when Spike had finally arrived she called it a date and Buffy could’ve have killed her right then and there. The bike ride was…fun… ok let’s be serious, it was sexy, the way she had to hold on real tight, oh yea. But now they were finally at the Bronze and the fun had sorta withered down. Xander had a huge cow that Spike was there, Willow looked concerned but kept her mouth shut, and Anya didn’t look like she could give a damn. In fact Tara was the only one that was even nice to Spike. They were seated around their usual table and a fast song was playing.
Anya could sense the tension in the room between her fiancé and the vampire and decided to drag Xander off onto the dance floor.
“I should go” Spike said standing up to leave
Buffy grabbed his arm and tugged him back down into his seat.
“No!” she said sternly “We are going to have a fun, this is a celebration, Cel-e-bration! Meaning FUN! So we are going to have fun! Meaning no going…away…you stay!” she ordered
Spike shrunk back down into his seat and Willow gave him a small smile. She remembered Buffy having the same reaction when she wanted to give them a prom. Willow was a little confused she was directing her ‘Fun wanting’ at Spike but who was she to argue.
“Me and, um, Willow and I are going to England with Giles in a couple of days” Tara told Spike, trying to make conversation.
“Yea?” Spike asked interested
Tara smiled at him and nodded, and Willow got the hint to join in on the convo-making. “Yea” Willow piped in “It’s this witches coven, so we can learn how to um, control out power, it’s supposed to help”
“I’m sure it will” Spike said awkwardly, still surprised they were trying to talk to him. They smiled and he smiled back before looking around distractedly.
An awkward silence fell between the group and they sat trying to avoid eye contact with each other.
“Hey, I’m gonna call it in early” Buffy said getting up and grabbing her coat
Willow and Tara nodded and said goodbye.
Spike was trying desperately to find a way out of staying. First Buffy makes him take her there, he says he’s gonna leave, she doesn’t let him, and now she’s leaving, this night couldn’t get any weirder.
“Yea I’m just gonna-
“Spike are you coming?” Buffy called waiting at the door
He looked to her for a minute and then back to Willow and Tara who nodded their goodbyes. He sighed relieved and went to meet Buffy at the door.
Once they were back on the bike Buffy finally relaxed. Bringing Spike along for a night with her friends wasn’t such a great idea. She wanted them to like him, Tara seemed to. And Willow was close. But Xander, she had no idea how to get through to him. She unknowingly sighed against his back and he snuck a glance back at her.
“You ok?” he asked
She laid her head down on his shoulder “Yea” she said smiling.
If she kept acting this way he was going to have to pull over.
Her fingers started trailing a line up and down his stomach and he turned the bike over and stopped at the side of the rode.
Buffy jumped off in fighting stance ready to fight whatever Spike had sensed. Spike got off the bike and turned her chin so she was looking at him.
“What?” she asked “Why did we stop?”
“Buffy, what are you doing?” he asked removing his hand from her chin.
“What do you mean?” Buffy asked confused
Spike ran his hand through his hair in frustration “You keep… you’re being nice to me” he explained questioningly
“What?” Buffy asked crossing her arms “You stopped the bike, because I’m being nice to you?” she asked incredulously
Spike sighed “Well…yea”
“Spike, what are you trying to say? That I’m not usually nice to you?” she asked
Spike raised his eyebrows at her looking like ‘Duh’
Buffy shrugged “Right” she looked away from him “Well, why does it matter?” she asked
Spike tried to hide his disappointment “So it doesn’t mean anything?” he asked slowly
Buffy looked at him wide eyed “Whu-What? What would it mean?” she asked frantically
Spike sighed “Nothing just thought you might be… I don’t know what I thought” he said giving up and heading back to the bike
Buffy tried to hide her pout at his non-ability to explain and hopped back on the bike.
They reached her house and he practically sped off once she was at her door. She walked inside the house only to be bombarded by an over excited Dawn.
“Guess what!!” Dawn said bouncing up and down
Buffy hung her coat up and looked back to Dawn not too excited
Dawns face fell and she frowned “What’s wrong? Did it not go well?” she asked knowingly
“No, it went horribly, I think I actually made Spike feel like an outsider, and you know how is when he gets like that, it’s kinda cute, but it’s sad too” Buffy sighed plopping down on the couch.
“Well you can invite him over for a movie or something, just me you and him, or maybe not me, you and him?” she suggested.
Buffy smiled at her sisters attempt to cheer her up “So what did you want to tell me?” Buffy asked
Dawn resumed her early bouncing
“You have a job!”
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A/N: Please R&R and thanks for the reveiws so far!
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