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Over a week had passed, and Buffy did everything in her power to not see or talk to Spike. He had left several messages on her answering machine for the first couple of days, and then he reduced it to two calls after that. Buffy couldn’t bring herself to answer the phone when she saw his name appear on her Caller ID, and returning his calls wasn’t much of an option for her, either. It hurt to think that she was the reason things fell apart between them, but when she remembered what he had said that night, her guilt was replaced by hurt.

‘You should’ve known it wasn’t going to end well, Summers,’ she thought to herself. ‘Does anything ever go well for you anymore?’

When her father’s secretary had called Buffy to schedule a lunch date for them, Buffy hesitantly agreed to meet him at a restaurant a block away from the law firm, praying that Spike wouldn’t decide to have lunch there at the same time.

‘For that matter, I wonder how Dad’s going to approach the Spike situation with me. I have a feeling he wasn’t too pleased seeing me at the party with him. But then again, I wasn’t stoked to see him there with Harmony, so if he brings up Spike, I’m definitely going to retaliate. I mean, Harmony? Has my dad gone completely crazy? Or maybe it’s just a mid-life crisis.’ She sighed. ‘Nonetheless, there is no excuse he’s with her. The thought alone makes me want to throw up.’ She looked at the mirror in her bedroom, staring at her sad expression. ‘I’m going to face my father and prove that I’m not the girl everyone else thinks I am.’

* * *

When Monday afternoon arrived, Buffy got dressed up conservatively, wearing a nice khaki skirt, a light green blouse, and matching sandals, her hair down and cascading over her shoulders. She put on a little make-up and grabbed her keys and a purse, leaving her apartment and taking a taxi to the restaurant.

When she walked in, she was slightly surprised to see her father sitting at a booth, waiting for her.

‘I don’t think he’s ever been on time before,’ she thought. ‘I know he definitely wasn’t whenever I was in a school play or when I played soccer in grade school. In fact, the few times he even bothered showing up, I know he was at least late by half an hour. Mom always apologized for him. I still can’t imagine why. It was always his fault, never hers.’ She took a deep breath and approached the table. Her father looked at her and smiled before standing up, hugging her.

“Glad you could make it,” he said, motioning for her to sit down across from him. “I didn’t know if you had off from work.”

“I took the day off after your secretary called,” she shrugged. “She said that you wanted to talk about something.”

“Actually, yes, there are a few things I’d like to address,” he replied, clasping his hands together and resting them on the table. “But I figured we could at least order first.” She smiled slightly.

“Okay,” she agreed, looking through her menu, trying to decide on something cheap.

‘Because knowing him, I’ll have to cover my own meal,’ she said to herself.

“So, are you and William dating?” he asked. Buffy raised an eyebrow, looking at him. “William Giles?”

‘I always forget that his real name is William.’

“No, him and I were just friends,” she answered, focusing on the menu again.

“‘Were’?” Hank asked, confused. “You’re not friends anymore?” Buffy shook her head, hoping he wouldn’t question the topic further. “Did you two have a fight?” She nodded, thankful she had the menu to look at instead of at her father’s inquisitive eyes. “I guess that would explain why he’s seemed so distant this week.” Buffy put the menu down, looking at her father, suddenly wanting to hear more about Spike. “He lost a case the other day. I suspected it was because he was preoccupied with something. I guess he was.” Buffy averted her gaze. “His work has been very sloppy this week. You’re the reason for it then, I’d assume.” She frowned. “Well, thanks to you, Buffy, the firm lost out on a good sum of money because you distracted one of our head lawyers due to your selfish choices.” She stared at him, outraged and shocked that he’d say something like that.

“What the hell are you talking about?” she hissed, trying to keep her voice down so other patrons couldn’t hear her. “You’re blaming the fact that Spike lost a case on me? I didn’t have anything to do with it! If he lost, it’s because of him, not me. Him being ‘distracted’ is his own problem. I refuse to take responsibility for something that I didn’t do.”

“You played a part in him being mentally off this week,” he replied. “That’s something you should take responsibility for. You’re an adult now, Buffy. Act like one.” She felt rage spread throughout her body as she clenched her fists tightly, her nails digging into her palms.

“Is that why you invited me here?” she asked sharply. “Because you think it’s my fault Spike lost a case? Because you and your precious company lost money?” Hank nodded, not backing down from her angry stare. “Screw you!”

“Buffy, calm down,” Hank said in an even tone. She scoffed, looking away. “That’s not the only reason I asked to meet up with you today.”

“What’s the other reason then?” she asked. “Blaming me for your divorce from Mom? Because Dad, you’ve discussed that with me before, and I don’t need to hear it again.”

“No, Buffy, I wanted to talk about you,” Hank replied. She raised an eyebrow. “Your mom contacted me when you left Sunnydale, hoping you had come to L.A. to live with me, and her and I talked a bit about you.” He hesitated. “Honey, according to your mom, you’re sullen, and you’ve been rude to me, and you’re not nearly as bright as I thought you’d be.” Buffy froze, feeling herself pale. “I thought you’d turn out differently.”

“Is that right?” she asked, willing herself to not start crying in front of him. He nodded, his expression neutral. “Yeah, I bet you thought I’d amount to something more, didn’t you, Dad? I’m sure the thought of your only child not going to college right away was sheer torture for you.” A thought struck her, and she smiled widely, seeing it as the perfect time to fess up to something. “Do you know what Miss Kitty’s Boudoir is?”

“Yeah,” he answered, his gaze quizzical. “The owner donates a lot of money to the firm. Why?”

“Because I worked there for two months,” she admitted proudly, wanting nothing more than to piss him off. His eyes widened, apparently letting the new information sink in. “Yep, I was a slut professionally. But I bet that doesn’t surprise you, now does it, Dad? You used to tell me before the divorce that you thought that I’d grow up to be a whore. Well, guess what? I did! I worked at Miss Kitty’s to get by, and here I am in L.A. All because Spike brought me here to put me on the right track, something you would’ve never offered to do.” She stood up and took a deep breath again. “You never were much of a father, Hank.” Before he could say anything, she walked out of the restaurant, finally letting tears fall as she dialed the number for a cab.

* * *

After Spike’s lunch break, he went to Hank’s office to discuss the case he had lost a couple days prior. The door was locked, so he went over to Hank’s secretary Lilah. “When is Hank returning?”

“Whenever he finishes up his lunch date with his daughter,” she answered. Spike’s eyes widened.

“Hank is with his daughter right now?” Spike asked. She nodded, looking at the appointment book in front of her.

‘Oh God,’ Spike thought, becoming worried about Buffy. ‘Why did she ever agree to meet him for lunch?’ It was moments later when Hank walked off the elevator, heading over to them. Spike stared at the man, becoming even more concerned,

“Well, hello, William,” Hank said curtly. “How can I help you?”

“You just had lunch with Buffy?” Spike asked, deciding against beating around the bush.

“Yes,” Hank answered, looking at Lilah. “When is my next meeting?”

“About an hour,” she answered. “You must’ve had a short lunch.” Hank nodded dismissively, going to his office and closing the door behind him.

‘Now why does that not strike me as being a good thing?’ Spike thought.

“When were they supposed to meet?” Spike asked Lilah. She looked at the book again.

“At noon,” she answered. Spike looked at his watch, noticing the time.

‘It’s not even 12:30. There’s no way they had lunch in that amount of time.’ He paused, frowning. ‘Bloody hell.’ He walked to his office, grabbed his car keys, and went to the parking garage, getting in his car, speeding towards her apartment, not caring if he got in trouble for cutting out of work early.

When he got there, he let himself into her building with the key she gave him and knocked on her door. When she didn’t open it, he unlocked it and walked in, seeing her sitting on the couch, her face buried in her hands. His heart instantly sank.

‘Just as I suspected- Hank did something to hurt her,’ Spike thought, noticing that her shoulders were shaking as the sound of her sobs finally hit his ears. ‘Bollocks.’ He slowly approached the couch, not wanting to scare her. One of the floorboards creaked, and Buffy turned around quickly, staring at him. He saw how red and puffy her eyes were and felt anger course through him. ‘I’ll kill him.’

“What’re you doing here?” she asked quietly, her voice cracking slightly as she wiped off her eyes.

“I found out you met up with Hank for lunch,” Spike answered, crouching down in front of her. “Something didn’t seem right, so I thought I’d come over to check on you.”

‘And I’m glad I did,’ he said to himself, pushing a strand of stray hair behind her ear and off of her face.

“What happened, luv?” he asked, trying to sound more concerned than angry.

“Dad…Dad said I was stupid, and rude…and he blamed me for you losing your case,” she said before sobbing again. Spike frowned and pulled her into a hug, letting her cry against his shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, stroking her hair. “But Hank was wrong. You’re not stupid or rude, and it’s not your fault I lost, baby. Don’t even think of believing what he said to you.” She pulled away from him to wipe off her eyes again.

“I know, but it just hurt to hear him say all of that,” she replied, frowning. “He’s such a jerk sometimes.”

“That he is,” he agreed, looking at her, tilting his head.

“I told him about Miss Kitty’s,” she said quietly, averting her gaze from his. He raised an eyebrow. “I figured it’d be a good time to tell him and blame him for calling me a whore when I was younger.”

“What?” Spike asked, not bothering to mask the rage that flooded him.

“When I was about twelve or thirteen and began hanging out with guys, even if I wasn’t dating them, he called me a whore,” she said, shutting her eyes as she remembered nights when she’d come home and have to deal with him. “He always said I’d grow up to be one, that I was a cheap slut.” Spike stood up, his jaw and fists clenched tightly. “What?”

“I need to go somewhere,” he said, heading towards the door. Buffy jumped up, stopping him before he got to it. “Don’t, I need to do this.”

“Where are you going?” she asked quietly, seeing how dark his eyes had gotten.

“I have to take care of some business,” he answered, wrenching open the door and leaving before she could stop him again.

‘That bastard is going to pay,’ he thought, getting into his car and driving off.
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A/N A part of what Hank said to Buffy was from the episode "Nightmares" (season 1). I wanted to establish more that Hank was a horrible man, and I'm sorry for leaving you all with a cliffhanger, but I think the next chapter is going to be well worth the wait. Please leave reviews to make me smile and feel like I'm doing somewhat of a good job with this!:) (Or if I'm not doing well, point that out, too)





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