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Chapter Six

Spike could hear the music from the party before he even made it to the front door. Apparently, it was an outdoor barbeque as he could hear them all outside and he could definitely smell the scent of food being grilled in the air.


He knocked on the door, wondering if he should have done that or just gone through the house and outside when the door flung open and a flushed Buffy answered the door. She was glowing and Spike had a flash of her in high school when she seemed to glow every time he came round.

"Hi!" She said brightly, wiping her hands on the apron he noticed she was wearing. "Come on in. I was just helping
Xander out by making burgers. He's manning the grill." She stepped aside to let him in.

He pointed to the case of beer under his arm. "I brought beer."


"I see that," she giggled and he smiled in response.
"Come on. Xander and Willow are DYING to talk to you."

"They don't hate me?" Spike asked, a trace of doubt and fear
in his voice.

"No. They're. . . curious. Besides, I've talked to them. It's
good."

Leading him into the kitchen, she took the beer and set it in
the fridge after arranging some things around. "Go on
outside," she encouraged, her head still in the fridge.

"You mind if I stay in here for a bit?" He asked.

She shut the fridge. "Only if you help me with the burgers."
She pointed to the cutting board which had a heap of raw
meat and next to it was a platter of rounded patties, ready to
go.

"Sure," he shrugged and started washing his hands in the
sink.

"Need to work up the courage to go out there?" She asked
slyly as she began working on the meat.

He grinned sheepishly, "yeah. You know how hard it was to
talk to you the night I saw you?"

She smiled. "Not like the first time you talked to me back then
huh?"

He chuckled at the memory of how courageous he'd been
back then. "Not at all. I saw you, I went after you. That was
pretty much all I knew."

"I always envied that about you. I think that's what first drew
me to you."

He cocked his head to the side as he observed her. "Really?"

She nodded. "You were the bravest person I knew. You
made me feel as if I could do anything, be anything, go
anywhere."

"You can," he told her gently.

She shrugged. "It's something I've never really come to terms
with I guess. My power. I'm still wielding it. Haven't used it
yet."

"You used it to get here, didn't you?"

"That wasn't bravery. That was. . . necessity. I had to get
away from my parents because. . . well, you remember."

"I know how it feels to need to escape," he murmured as he
placed a patty on the platter.

"How often do you escape?" She asked, placing a patty
down and starting on the next one.

"As often as I can," he let out a short laugh. "No, I just go
when it's time. When I feel I've worn a place out or if I don't
feel as if I fit."

Now she cocked her head to the side. "You haven't found
home yet."

He shook his head, "no, I haven't."

"You will one day."

He didn't say anything to that.

"So, who is the bravest person you know now?" Spike
asked after all the patties were made and Buffy was ready
to take it outside.

"Wesley," she said without thinking.

"Why?"

She grinned. "He's with me. That takes some big balls."

He laughed, ignoring the spark of jealousy at feeling
replaced. "Just call him scrotum?"

Buffy laughed heartily. "Something like that. Come on."

Spike allowed her to lead him outside and he took in the
scene of Xander manning the grill with Wesley standing next
to him, a drink in his hand. Willow stood by the table talking to
a short, orange haired fellow and some bird Spike didn't
recognize with blond hair was munching on a carrot stick
while talking to a brunette that he didn't recognize either.

Willow stopped talking, broke into a huge smile and started
for him. Planting herself in front of him, she threw her arms
around him in a friendly hug. "Hey there, stranger," she
greeted him warmly. Spike closed his eyes as he welcomed
her hug. It had been too long since he remembered what it
was like to actually have friends that cared about him. Willow
had always been one of his favorites, aside from Buffy of
course. She had always fought on their side and for that
Spike was indebted to her.

"How've you been?" She asked, pulling back and taking him
in.


"I've been good. How are you?"

"Good. Come here, I'd like for you to meet my boyfriend."

"Someone was lucky enough to capture Willow Rosenberg's
heart?" Spike asked. "I must meet the special guy."

Willow laughed lightly and led him to the orange haired fellow
she'd been talking to when he came outside. "Spike this is Oz
my boyfriend. Oz this is Spike."

Oz nodded to him, a smile tugging at the corners of his
mouth. "Hey. Nice to meet you."

"You too. You're in the band aren't you?" Spike asked,
pointing at him.

"That I am, my man. Guitar. You like?"

"I do. Great sound you guys have."

"Thanks. We try."

Spike chuckled at the short, noncommittal sentences of Oz.
Anyone else and he would have felt put off, but there was
something about the guy that made Spike feel welcome and
accepted.

"Yo Reeves! You gonna help me with the barbeque today?"
Xander shouted across the yard and Spike started to laugh. It
was nice to know that some things never changed.





It was as if time hadn't passed and things had stayed the
same. The way Spike fell into his relationships with Willow
and Xander was as if they'd just seen each other the day
before. He helped Xander man the barbeque as they shot the
shit and he kept a close eye on Buffy and Wesley. She had
her arms wrapped around him and their heads were bent in
close conversation. He wondered if his presence was
causing Wesley unease. He couldn't help but feel a stab of
pleasure at that, quickly dismissing it, he decided he had to
make a point to talk to the man. He had nothing against him
really. Not as long as he treated Buffy well. He didn't want to
cause Buffy any trouble, God knew she'd had her share of
that already. No, he would talk to Wesley, perhaps befriend
the man so that he wouldn't feel as if he were trying to
invade upon his relationship with Buffy.

So when Buffy went to the kitchen to get something and
Wesley was left alone, Spike took that time to approach the
man.

"Don't worry. His bark is worse than his bite. He's got that
cold English reserve, but he's a pussycat," Xander
encouraged him.

"Thanks, man."

"I'm here in a clinch."

Spike laughed and approached Wesley who stood there,
watching him approach with a distant look in his eyes.
English reserve all right. Well, Spike knew all about that and
he could play that game too, but he wasn't going to. For
Buffy's sake.

"Hi Wesley. Thanks for letting me come."

Wesley looked him in the eye. "I didn't ‘let' you. I'm not Buffy's
keeper."

"Fair enough. Listen Wesley, I'm not here to cause problems
with you and Buffy."

"Why are you here Mr. Reeves?"

"Name's Spike. I moved here to try my hand at some of the
bigger music magazines. I'm a rock journalist."
"I see."

"Seeing Buffy was a fluke."

"I see."

Spike ran a hand through his hair. "You know, I'm trying to be
a big man right now and come over here and make nice with
the guy Buffy seems to think hung the moon. You're making it
hard for me to understand why she thinks that."

Wesley's cold demeanor softened and he shook his head. "I
apologize Mr. er, Spike. You have to understand from my
perspective. . ."

Spike nodded, "I think I can. I would feel the same way."


"Buffy tells me you've been talking about what happened.
Trying to work through it."

Spike nodded, "we have. Ten years is a long time to keep
something like that to yourself."

Wesley's eyes met his. "Buffy's spoken to me all about it. It
was something she needed to do."

"I don't doubt it. I'm glad she had you to listen."

"She'll always have me," Wesley promised.

"You've been talking to everyone here but me. I demand to know who you are," Spike turned round to see the brunette he hadn't recognized before. She was an attractive bird, long wavy brown hair, dark eyes and ruby red lips. She wore a smirk that spoke of trouble. Warning bells were going off in Spike's head but he smiled at her nonetheless. He was here to make nice with Buffy's friends—and his.

"I'm Spike."

"Name's Faith. You're British too. Are you taken?"

Spike nearly choked on her forwardness. "Uh, no."

Faith's smirk widened as she looked him up and
down. "Good thing."

"I see you've met Faith," Buffy said dryly as she finally made
it back outside. "Faith is a friend of Anya and Xander's. Has
Xander had a chance to introduce you to Anya yet?"

"Nope."

"Allow me," and Buffy led Spike away from Faith. Spike
tossed the girl a smile and followed Buffy wondering if it was
his imagination or did Buffy seem to not want Faith near him?
He shook his head. It had to be him.

TBC....





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