Chapter Seven


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After a long silence that made her even more nervous, Buffy jumped to her feet, dusting down her clothes anxiously as she gave her friends a shaky smile.

“Hey guys. You missed the show. There were nerds.”

“Yeah, we, err, we saw,” Willow got out quietly, making Buffy’s heart miss a beat. But no, they might not have seen what she really hoped they hadn’t.

“Oh, you got into the cameras?!” she asked, “That’s great.”

Willow smiled weakly and Buffy returned it just as weakly.

“So you saw me totally kick ass,” she joked, forcing a wide smile and wishing to all of the gods that Xander would stop looking at her so intently.

“Oh yeah, we did,” Dawn commented lowly, a smile tugging at her lips as her eyes flicked quickly to Spike and back to Buffy again.

“Well, you know, we should probably tidy up,” Buffy got out nervously, already bursting into action – anything to avoid facing her sister and recognising that knowing - and somewhat smug – look, “Anya’s going to have a cow if she finds the shop like this.”

She was already starting to pick up fallen objects when Willow’s hesitant voice stopped her.

“Erm, Buffy… maybe we should talk.”

She placed the small skull she had picked up back on the shelf and stared at it for a long time, praying for courage. Just as she was about to turn to her friend though, a small flash of light caught her eye. A flash of light from within the skull.



She snatched up the skull and smashed it open, her eyes narrowing angrily as she discovered the camera inside.

“Those creepy idiots,” she mumbled, inspecting the tiny camera in her hand, “I’m going to… I’m going to do something really bad to them.”

She glanced up at the several pairs of eyes watching her and then threw the camera to the floor with a scowl, grinding it under her heel.

“I really hate those nerds.”

“What the hell was that?” Spike got out, staring at the small device she had just crushed.

“Nerd camera,” she replied, turning towards him, “They were spying on us.”

He raised an eyebrow in something like surprise and her eyes went wide as she threw a worried glance towards her friends.

“Well, on me,” she quickly amended, “And the gang, you know.”

She threw another worried glance at her friends and then quickly hid her emotions, turning to them with a wry smile.

“So, eww. Can we make sure they don’t spy again?”

“S-sure,” Willow stuttered, “No problem. They won’t be watching you again.”

“Good.”



Another awkward silence fell over the group and she watched her friends from under her eyelashes, wishing she had any idea what was going on. She really didn’t like the way Xander was looking at Spike though.

Suddenly, the vampire in question went into motion, shrugging his jacket into place and stuffing his hands into his pockets.

“S’much fun as this is… I got better things to do.”

He was already halfway to the door – the back one, the one in the opposite direction to her friends – when she spoke up.

“Wait,” she called out, not sure what impulse had made her do so. He turned back to her, surprise clear in his expression as he raised an eyebrow at her in question.

“Please,” she added.

He stopped and just looked at her for a moment, tilting his head in a way that somehow sent a flush of warmth through her, despite the innocence of the gesture.

“Alright,” he murmured, eyes locked on hers.

It took her another long few seconds before she could tear her eyes away from him and then she turned back to her friends, putting on a slight smile.

“So, what brings you guys here anyway?” she asked in fake nonchalance.

The three shared a look and then Xander met her gaze.

“Buffy, we need to talk.”

She recognised that tone in his voice instantly and her heart sank. It was intervention time.

“Okay,” she said brightly, hoping she was wrong, “About what?”

“Well, we could start with what the hell you were doing kissing him,” Xander remarked, gesturing towards Spike, “Or we could start with why he was able to hit you.”

“Oh,” was all she could get out in reply.



There was a long tense silence, broken only after some time by Spike’s voice.

“You know, this is obviously a Scooby thing… group pow-wow and all that… so I’ll just…”

She turned to Spike again, imploring him with her eyes.

“Please stay,” she said softly.

He swallowed hard and then nodded, blue eyes softening into an expression of affection. She took a deep breath, using the pause to order her thoughts, and turned to her friends, eyes skimming over them for a moment before she spoke up.

“I don’t know where to start,” she remarked with a tight smile, “But I… yes, we were fighting. You, err, you saw.”

She gave a slight shiver at the fact that her fight with Spike had been on show and continued uncertainly.

“You know, I… it was my fault… I mean, yeah there was that whole Anya kissage thing which we’re definitely going to be talking about…”

She gave Spike a pointed look, in the process missing the look of thunder that dawned on Xander’s face.

“The Anya whatage?”

Her face fell and she whirled round just in time to stop her friend in his path.

“How dare you touch her?!” Xander bit out at the vampire, unable to move any closer due to Buffy’s tight grip.

“Xander, it… it was a mistake. I think,” she added uncertainly, glancing at Spike.

“You know it was,” he murmured, eyes locked on hers.

She nodded and gave him a tiny smile before turning back to her friend.

“I think I’m right when I say that they were just both hurting and they… needed some comfort, I guess.”

Xander didn’t look much soothed by the explanation and she kept her hand on his arm just in case.

“She still loves you,” she whispered and his uncertain gaze flew to hers, “She’s just upset.”

“I know,” he sighed, his whole body going lax.



She finally dared to let Xander go and he took a few steps back, seemingly lost in his thoughts for a moment. She too was silent for a moment, but then she straightened up and met her friends’ gazes.

“Guys, I… I realise there’s a lot we need to talk about… a lot I need to tell you… but I, I really need to talk to Spike. Alone.”

She turned to face the vampire and met his bright gaze.

“There’s a lot we need to sort out… stuff we need to make right… I need to make right,” she murmured.

Spike said nothing but she could feel his hot gaze like a touch, burning into her. Somehow, she dragged her gaze from his and turned to her friends, searching their expressions for some sort of reaction.

“It’s important that I do this,” she said.

“Are you guys… together?” Dawn asked, eyes flicking between them.

“I don’t know,” Buffy answered honestly, “That’s one of the things we need to talk about.”

She turned and gave Spike a quick look but forced herself back again.

“I really just… I need to do this first… but then I’ll tell you everything.”

Before her friends could say anything, she turned on her heel and quickly headed towards the back door. She paused for a moment in front of Spike, met his gaze – and smiled as he fell in behind her, following her out into the night.