CHAPTER 6
Willow pondered for one minute if it was still necessary to do research on Riley. Considering what had happened – or was still happening – between Buffy and Spike, she doubted her friend would pursue her relationship with Prince Boring. She had tried to call Buffy earlier to see how things had gone between Riley and her after the publication of the article, but nobody had answered.
She had nothing else to do anyway for now. At 4 pm she was supposed to go pick up her wedding dress. Until then she was free, so she might as well check it out. The information could still be useful someday…that is, if she found something. Riley could be as innocent as a newborn lamb after all.
The difficult thing was to find a good excuse as to why she called. And there was also the risk that those people were still in touch with Riley. If he happened to find out she was investigating behind his back…
She had to do this for Buffy. There was definitely something about that guy that was disturbing her. She dialed the number to his former university in Iowa.
“University of Northern Iowa, how may I help you?”
“Hi, my name is Wi…Winifred Jenkins. I’m calling from California. I’m a…friend of Riley Finn, and I was looking to get in touch with some of his former friends for a birthday party we are organizing here…” she said, wincing at the lameness of her excuse. She didn’t sound convincing at all.
There was a silence on the other side of the line before the woman said,” Miss Jenkins…I don’t think that any of Mr. Finn’s previous classmates want anything to do with him anymore.”
“What? Why is that?”
“I’m sorry, I’m not allowed to discuss that kind of thing. But…I suggest you stay away from Riley Finn, Miss Jenkins. He’s a dangerous man. Have a good day.”
“Wait! Don’t hang up!” Willow heard the woman was still on the phone. “Ok, then I’ll be honest. There’s no birthday party. I just wanted some information on Riley Finn cause he’s dating my best friend and I…for some reason I don’t like him. So please if there’s anything, just tell me. It’s important.”
The other woman sighed and lowered her voice. “I can’t talk with you about that here, and I don’t know everything. If you want more information…you’ll have to call the Mc Lay’s. Hold on. I’ll give you their number.”
Willow wrote it down. “Thank you, Mrs…”
“You never heard anything from me. Bye, Miss Jenkins.”
“Bye…” she said, but the woman had already hung up.
Willow replaced the receiver slowly. She didn’t know what she had expected, but not that. Maybe to hear about some stupid things he had done, a wild youth or whatever. But not that blunt declaration ‘He’s a dangerous man’. That simple sentence, given with no explanation, scared the hell out of her.
§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§
“Willow, hey. What…isn’t that your wedding dress?”
Willow walked into Buffy’s house and put the dress on the banister. “Yes, I came directly from the store.”
“Ooh, can I see it?”
“No. It’s bad luck. Believe me, you don’t need that at the moment.”
“It’s bad luck only if the future husband sees it. Wait…you have ‘Very Worried Willow’ face. Why?”
“I called Riley’s former university.”
“You did? Why?” Buffy asked, confused.
Willow suddenly remembered that it was Spike who had asked her to investigate, and that Buffy didn’t know about it. “Uh, remember our conversation, the other day? I know you didn’t want me to check on his past, but…I talked to Spike about it and he asked me to do it. Now before you get angry, let me add that I was right to do it.”
“I’m not angry. I know you are just concerned about me, and Spike…well, let’s not go there for the moment. But it’s ok. Riley was furious when he discovered the pictures, and he broke things up between us.” She frowned. “Or I think he did. It was not very clear. Anyway, It’s over. I can’t go out with him anymore after…after what happened.”
“I’m glad to hear this – and by the way you still have to clarify what happened exactly, missy. But that’s not my point. I called his university and the woman there became very cold when I mentioned Riley’s name…she said he was a dangerous man, Buffy.”
Buffy was tempted to laugh, but she changed her mind when she saw real concern on Willow’s face. Her friend was taking this very seriously. “That’s all she said? That he was a dangerous man?”
“It’s not so much what she said, but more the way she said it…and she gave me this phone number.” She handed the paper with the McLay’s phone number to Buffy who took it.
“What is it?”
“She told me to call these people if I wanted to have more information on Riley.”
“Oh God…Willow…what should I do?”
“Uh…Call them?”
Buffy took a deep breath. “I’m not sure I want to hear what they have to say.”
“Did anything happen when Riley saw the magazine? Did he become…violent?”
“Well he…he slapped me in the face.” Instinctively she brought her hand to her cheek, where Willow noticed a fading bruise.
“Oh my God! I didn’t even see…Did you go to the police?”
Buffy looked embarrassed. “Not exactly. I went to Los Angeles…to Spike.”
“Oh…Oh! That’s why I couldn’t reach you. You spent the night there?”
Buffy nodded. The memory of what had occurred between her and Spike was making her both ecstatic and miserable. She sat down on the couch and Willow sat next to her. “You want to talk about it?” asked the redhead softly.
Buffy sighed. “I’ve been in love with Spike for several years now. I never told anyone because…because I thought it would pass, and that there was no chance for him to see me as something else than his sister. But lately…something changed. The way he would look at me…until we kissed on the back porch. Right in front of that paparazzi.”
“And when you went to LA…?”
Buffy smiled sadly. “He was very nice. He told me he loved me. But that he would still marry Darla. And that’s the end of it.”
Willow put her arm around her friend’s shoulders. “Oh, Buffy, I’m so sorry….”
“I try to convince myself it’s the best decision…but I can’t! It just doesn’t make sense…if we love each other we should be together, right? I know he gave me a lot of good reasons as to why it wouldn’t work but still…I’m not sure I can accept it so easily. I love him so much, Willow,” she said, letting tears run free down her cheeks. She hadn’t cried since she had gotten back from LA, but now, in her best friend’s arms, she needed to let it out.
Willow rocked her gently, profoundly unhappy to see Buffy so miserable. How could she have been so blind and not seen or guessed Buffy’s feelings for Spike? What kind of best friend was she?? “I’m sorry,” she said. “I wish you would have told me earlier…you kept all this for yourself for years, and that’s not good. What did Spike tell you?”
Buffy dried her tears and reported her conversation of the previous morning to Willow.
“Yes…I can understand his motives,” Willow said. “This…the two of you…would lead to a very complicate situation. And there’s Darla…and your Dad…ok, I guess you don’t need to be reminded again, sorry.”
Buffy shrugged. “It’s ok. I just need to get over this…the next ten years should do it,” she added with a half smile, before asking “You’re not grossed out by it, right?”
“By what?”
“Spike and me…together. Because that was most people’s reaction,” she said in a bitter tone.
“Of course not! You’re both my best friends! I would love to see you happy together. There’s nothing gross about that.”
“Thank you,” Buffy said, hugging her best friend. Then Willow pointed to the paper.
“So…Will you call?”
Buffy looked at it for a moment before saying,” No. I won’t. Things are over with Riley, and I don’t think it would be correct to get all nosy about his past…it’s not really my business anymore.”
Willow looked concerned. “But the woman said he was dangerous.”
“Well, maybe Riley did something violent, or stupid, and thus she thinks he’s dangerous. But I mean, if he truly was, and if he had done something serious, he would have been arrested, right? Or there would have been charges against him. I doubt the university here would have hired him if he had a criminal past, right?”
“Maybe,” Willow said, but she was not totally convinced. “Do as you like. I understand if you don’t want to have anything to do with him anymore. But I think you should tell Spike.”
“Ooooh, absolutely not! The last thing I need is Spike investigating Riley. He would probably take a plane to Iowa or something. I don’t want to worry him with that. Not that there’s anything to worry about anyway.”
“Ok, but remember Spike asked me to do this in the first place. If he asks me if I found something, I won’t lie to him, you know that.”
“I’m not asking you to. Just…don’t mention it deliberately, ok?”
Willow sighed. “Ok. But I don’t like that. So I hope he’ll ask me,” she said with a defying stare.
Buffy laughed. “Don’t worry Will. And don’t you have much more important things to think about? Like your wedding?”
At the reminder, an excited smile appeared on Willow’s face. Nothing better than bringing up her upcoming wedding to change the subject.
While listening to Willow’s babble, she put the small paper in a drawer. Maybe she would change her mind and call. But she doubted it.
It was better to keep Riley definitely out of her life.
§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§
Darla put her cell phone in her bag with a sigh. Spike was not at home and there was no answer on his cell. Sure they weren’t supposed to see each other tonight, but her plans had been cancelled at the last minute, and she had hoped they could spend some time together. She had come to a small bar near his apartment, but he wasn’t there. So she had sat down and ordered a drink.
He was probably out with some friends. The thought that he could have gone to see Buffy in Sunnydale crossed her mind, but she put it away. He had to work early tomorrow so she doubted he would drive 4 hours just to share a quick moment with Buffy. She had to trust him. She knew he loved her. After all, he had asked her to marry him.
She wasn’t sure now if he had asked her for the right reasons though. And considering what had happened lately…
Strangely, that was not the most disturbing thing. When she had seen the pictures and Spike’s apparent confused feelings – he was doing his best to hide them, but she was not stupid – she should have been…horribly sad, or even devastated. It was a rather humiliating experience.
Only she hadn’t felt that at all.
It hadn’t pleased her, of course. It had even hurt her. But she had expected more pain or heartbreak, and it never came.
She had been thrilled when he had proposed to her. She loved him, and they were getting along so well…for the first time, she was having doubts about marrying Spike.
“Hey Darla. You’re on your own?”
The young actress raised her head and met a brown gaze she knew well. “Hi David,” she greeted Spike’s cast mate. “Yes, I’m alone tonight it seems.”
He smiled. “That makes two of us then. Mind if I join you?”
“I’d love to.”
He sat down next to her and ordered two drinks.
“Where’s Spike?” he asked.
“I wish I knew. Probably somewhere with some friends,” she shrugged casually, trying not to sound too concerned about it.
David frowned. He knew Darla better than that. “I see. So, how about you? How are you doing?”
She was grateful he didn’t insist on the subject of her fiancé, but it didn’t really surprise her. David was the sweetest guy she had ever met. When she had gotten that small role in the show, they had had a great time together. But he had never asked her out, and then Spike and her had gotten serious, so…Each time she met him she wondered why he was still single. He was so gorgeous and sweet. Surely he was the perfect boyfriend. The kind that would not cheat on his fiancée.
Banishing the thought, she concentrated on him. “I’m fine. It’s been what? 2, 3 days. People have moved on to the next scandal already. Spike and I talked and we’re good.”
David nodded. “I’m glad. I don’t like to see you miserable.”
“Don’t worry, I’m ok. Let’s talk about you. Is it true that you’re going to get your own show?”
While he was talking, she was looking at him in the eyes. She realized that David hadn’t looked at her with pity, like other people had done. In his eyes, she only read friendship and compassion.
And right at that moment, something else that made her heart beat a little faster.
§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§
After Willow left, Buffy went to take a shower before starting to prepare dinner and eat it in front of the TV. It was Wednesday, Smallville was on and Tom Welling was too cute for words.
She walked into the kitchen and stopped dead in her tracks. “Oh God, Spike! You scared the hell out of me!”
“Sorry, love.”
He was standing near the kitchen island, drinking orange juice. He put his glass in the sink and came closer.
“I should have given you a ring. I heard the shower and waited for you here.”
She waved her hand. “It’s ok. I wasn’t expecting you, that’s all. And you don’t have to ring. It’s your house too.”
He smiled and put a lock of hair behind her ear. She shivered at his touch and didn’t conceal it. “What are you doing here?”
His fingers were now caressing her cheek. “I just wanted to check if you were ok.”
She laughed slightly. “You drove 4 hours from LA to see if I was ok? Did you ever hear about that great invention called the telephone? Much faster and less expensive,” she joked, though her heart was swelling from the thought that he had come all the way to Sunnydale just to see her.
“I needed to see it for myself.” He watched her more closely and frowned. “Were you crying?”
“Oh…yes. But I’m fine. I just had a girl talk with Willow this afternoon. No biggie.”
“You sure?”
“Positive.”
He sighed, opened his mouth but she interrupted him. “Please don’t say you’re sorry. Please.”
“I won’t. And I’m not. That’s the problem.” He was still caressing her face. “I didn’t tell Darla I was coming here. And I cowardly left my cell at home. If she asks me anything, I’ll probably lie to her. And a part of me hates this situation and myself. But the other part doesn’t give a damn. Because when I’m with you, nothing else matters. Nobody else matters,” he finished softly.
“Oh, Spike…”
He took her face in his hands. “I tried to stay away but I can’t. I know it’s not fair to you, I just can’t help it. I had to see you, hold you, kiss you…” And suiting his action to his word, he covered her mouth with his.
Buffy moaned, holding tightly to him. She knew as well as him that it wasn’t wise to start this. But no powers in this world could pull her away from him. She pressed herself against him, eliciting a groan. His mouth left hers and wandered along her jaw and neck.
“I love you,” she whispered fervently, invaded by a maelstrom of emotions that were making her dizzy.
He tore himself from her but didn’t let her go. They were both panting heavily.
Spike looked at her flushed face, her sparkling eyes. He smiled. “You’re beautiful.”
She blushed. “Thank you,” she said, unable to think of a cleverer thing to say. She felt like her brain was a pile of mush. So was the rest of her body.
He kissed her softly once more. “I have to go back to L.A. I’ll call you tomorrow, ok?”
She nodded, enjoying his presence for just another few second, breathing in his scent.
And then he was gone.
Her swollen lips and shaky legs the only proof that the entire scene hadn’t been a dream. Even if it had felt like one.
The kind with a very rude awakening.
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