[Reviews - 147]
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Microsoft Word Chapter or Story | ePub eBook Chapter or Story | Printer Chapter or Story

Has been viewed 2207 times

- Text Size +




NA CRACH CROI


Chapter 17: ‘Treig’ (Abandon)


Spike woke up, just as the dawn began to break and the birds started to sing their good morning songs. He bolted up from the Priest’s divan and glanced about him.

‘This is wrong,’ he muttered as he shook his head to clear it. ‘I should be at home, in bed with Buffy.’

“Buffy,” Spike whispered sadly. Every horrible detail of the day before came back to him in waves.

“Oh shit,” he exclaimed, ignoring the fact that he was in Holy man’s house, “I’ve got to get home. Buffy, she’ll be worried. Or will she?” That was debateable, for sure. Either his wife would be worried sick that her husband had spent the night away from home, or she would be relieved. Especially if she did not love him, as he feared.

Spike bolted from the divan and searched about for his shirt and boots. Once he found them, he dressed and rushed to the front door of Father Giles’ home. Before leaving the house, he crossed himself, twice and decided to leave a ‘thank you’ note to the old man.

By the time he’d ridden Iarann at a break neck speed and made it home, Spike was less ‘remorseful’ then he’d been an hour earlier. It had not helped that the parrish gardener had given him a nasty smirk when he left the Father’s house.

The smug look of the gardener had reminded Spike that probably the whole town of Balleycastle and most of Northern Ireland knew about his wife’s past by now. It turned his stomach, made his head hurt and angered him, again.

Spike unsaddled Iarann and stumbled up to Angel and Tara’s house. He pounded on the door, insistently.

“Are you a complete arse,” Angel answered the door with a grumble. “What do you want Spike?”

“I need you to keep an eye on Buffy, today. For a while, too,” Spike muttered, his head hung low. “She’s ready to bolt and I’m not sure if that’s what I want in the long run. I…..”

Angel gave his brother a once over and sighed in disgust. “What did you do, brother?” he asked, warily.

“I did something, bad, Angel,” Spike admitted with shame. “But I was angry, hurt and wronged. I did what other men might do if they’d found they’d been lied to by their wife.”

The younger O’Hara seemed to consider this for a moment, then shrugged and nodded his dark head. “I’ll keep an eye on your wife, brother,” he mumbled. “Tara needs to be there, too, she……”

“No!” Spike spat out, “they’ve talked enough, the two of them. I’ve a feeling our sister knows more then any of us. About Buffy, her past and all. If you think Tara should be around while you watch my wife, so be it. But do not leave them alone, at all. Send Tara to cook and whatever it is you can. But do not leave the two women alone.”

“I’ll take Xander with me, to do the work today. Stay with Tara at the main house. Buffy’ll probably hide out in the bedroom all day anyway. But the girl needs to eat, so have Tara fix something at your place, if she’d rather. Tara can talk Buffy into eating something, those two are thick as thieves.”

Angel nodded, an odd look in his lovely brown eyes. “I’ll watch both your wife and our sister, brother,” he assured Spike. “I’ll keep an eye on Buffy especially. But I wonder,” he paused momentarily, “are you sure you don’t want Buffy to leave? Wouldn’t it be easier for you both?”

Spike gave his brother a sour look, “no, I don’t want Buffy to leave. Even if she wants to go, I’ll make her stay, I insist she does, but she’ll have to tow the line. For a long while, before I ever trust her again.”

With that, Spike turned and strode from his brother’s small house to his own. He quietly entered the back door and passed by the bedroom. ‘Still shut in there, Princess,’ he mused. ‘You’ll have to come out, someday, but for now….’

“Oh fuck this,” Spike snarled and marched into the kitchen. He pulled something to eat out the cupboard and ate hastily. There was work to be done, a lot of work and it was probably a good thing. He could stay busy, out of the house for the day and Tara could fix the dinner meal herself. If Buffy wanted to hole up in the bedroom, so be it.

‘I warned her,’ he hissed as he washed his face in the basin. ‘No fucking lock will keep me out, of our bed and…’ he then remembered that he’d broken the lock last night. Spike shuddered in horror when he was reminded of the way he behaved the night before.

“Oh, God, Buffy,” he groaned with sorrow, “how can we fix this fucking mess?”

Buffy heard Will stomping around in the other part of the house, but she just lay still in the bed and pretended to still be asleep. Part of her wanted to go out to the other rooms, find him, try to talk to him. But, she also knew it would probably be futile.

‘The hell with him,’ she muttered to herself, ‘he couldn’t even come home last night. Not after what he did and said and what he…’ She began to weep, quietly again, trying her best not to let him know she was quite awake.

‘I hate him,’ Buffy hissed silently, trying to convince herself. Unsuccessfully, of course. The truth was, she did not hate her husband at all, try as she might. She loved him, still.

Her chance to actually face Will slipped through her fingers, she realized, when she heard the back door slam once more. William was so angry, still, that his footsteps could be heard all the way to the barn.

“Hmph,” Buffy sniffed, “wonder where he’s gone to now?”

Twenty minutes passed, maybe thirty, before Buffy heard the back door open once more. She knew full well it was not Will, come back and assumed that her husband had gone to work on the farm somewhere.

“Let him stay gone all day,” she mumbled angrily, “hope he stays gone all night again. Bastard!” Buffy felt all hope inside of her seep away, and her heart felt like it was breaking. Again.

“Buffy, lass,” came Angel’s strong voice through the bedroom door. “You okay, dear?”

“Fine,” Buffy said evenly enough. The last thing she needed was Angel O’Hara trying to get any information out of her.

“Won’t you come out, luv,” Angel purred, “William’s left for the day and I know that should please you.”

“Is Tara with you?” Buffy whispered. She would so love to talk to Tara right now, truly.

“No,” Angel responded coolly, “William’s asked that Tara stay away from you and she readily agreed. I’m sorry, darlin’ but my stubborn brother and sister are a bit put out with you right now.”

Buffy felt her heart crack in two and she began to cry, softly again.

‘He’s turned them all against me,’ she wept bitterly, ‘even Tara. And she said she understood.’ Buffy felt so sick by now that she thought she might faint, again.

“Come out, dear,” Angel cooed gently, “I’m here for you little one. I don’t hold to gossip dear sister. Come out and we’ll talk of what my wicked brother has done to you. I will listen to you, sweet, just come out where we can talk together.”

Angel’s words were so soothing that Buffy relented and stood up from the bed. She wiped the tears from her cheeks with the back of her hand. After straightening her little dress, she stumbled to the bedroom door, still weak from fitful sleep and lack of a decent meal.

When she opened the door of the bedroom, she found her husband’s younger brother leaned up against the doorframe. He had the most tender, angelic smile on his face.

“What’s he done to you lass?” Angel murmered, taking in Buffy’s disheveled appearance. Buffy followed him to the living room divan and sat down next to him. She began to tell her brother-in-law ‘most’ of what Will had said and done to her the night before.


It was now almost sunset, and Spike realized he couldn’t stay away from his own home and his wife all night, again. He brought Xander back to the O’Hara home to clean up and have a drink.

“Better this way,” Spike explained to Xander. “I hope it’s fine with your family, but I think you better stay and have supper with us, Angel, Tara and me. I doubt if Buffy’ll join us, she’s probably been holed up all day and I did instruct Angel to have Tara feed the poor thing.”

“Oh,” Xander snorted, “you mean you had Tara care for Buffy. Rather like a pet?” The taller dark-haired man’s sarcasm was not lost on Spike.

Spike flinched at the stinging tone in his best friend’s voice. He had thought Xander understood, perhaps agreed somewhat with his employer.

“She lied to me, Xander,” Spike grumbled as they rode side by side back to the house. “She lied by omission and with her spun tales.” His own tone was bitter, yes, but almost weak, for him that is.

By the time they reached the O’Hara home, the two men were barely speaking to each other. Xander reluctantly followed his employer into the house.

When they entered the living room, both of the men stopped in their tracks. Dumbfounded.

Sitting in the little rocking chair, totally alone in the room, sat Tara, rocking back and forth. Tears streamed down her pretty, but puffy face and she almost seemed to be groaning. Xander immediately bent down to check on the woman.

“Tara?” Spike gasped in shock. “What is it? Where’s my wife?”
He looked about desperately searching for Buffy, finding the bedroom door wide open and able to see the empty room inside.

“Gone,” Tara whispered sadly, “bolted the first chance she got.”

Spike felt like the walls were closing in on him and he had to shake his head to clear it. He was beginning to see red from anger and without thinking, he began to storm about the living room, looking for Angel.

“Angel!” Spike roared, desperately, at the top of lungs, “get out here, boy!”

“Don’t bother, brother,” Tara murmered harshly. “Angel’s gone too. It was Angel, took Buffy away from this nightmare.”

Spike felt like he’d been kicked in the gut. Nothing had ever made him feel like this, not even the events of yesterday. He felt as if he was falling into a deep abyss that he’d never come out of.
An overwhelming sense of pain and loss enveloped him and he found it impossible to speak.


“I suppose,” Tara began harshly, her blue-eyed glare was vicious and hateful, and aimed right at her oldest brother, Spike. “I suppose,” she continued angrily, “that since you harmed and abandoned Buffy last night? She felt justified in abandoning you this morning. Wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if the two of them were halfway to the Western shore by now.”

Spike heard a wail of pain echo through the O’Hara house. He was shocked to realize it as his own miserable howl.

“Buffy…” he roared again.


A/N: Well, did anyone see that coming? Yes, Buffy fled, but please, don’t be worried, Angel is just an escort, nothing more. At least not to Buffy, that is. However, Angel did set up that little escape, totally.

Let’s have a show of hands? Who thinks Spike is going to say ‘good riddance’ to the both of them? And…who thinks Spike is going to track them down and bring Buffy back?



I’ll try and update as soon as possible. Thanks for reading, please review, luv Spuf





You must login (register) to review.