Chapter Three

Buffy looked around the Sunnydale U campus and smiled at the normality of her day. The attractive TA who’d invited her on the picnic was slicing an apple for her, the sun was shining, there were no vampires to worry about, and she had come up with a good explanation for Riley to explain why she wouldn’t be able to meet him at the Bronze until after ten o’clock.

“Do you often help your mother with moving crates around her shop?” Riley’s raised eyebrow and the smile that quirked his mouth said clearly that he found the idea of Buffy’s mother choosing the petite blonde to help her move large, heavy boxes around a bit humorous.

“Um, yes, actually, I do,” Buffy said, a trace of indignation in her voice. She smothered the anger that his casual dismissal of her usefulness caused, telling herself that it was just another sign of how normal he was and how normal he thought she was. Forcing the huffy tone from her voice, she repeated that it wouldn’t take long and that she could meet him after ten.

To her surprise, he nodded and agreed readily. “That’s fine, Buffy. I have some patr-work to do early in the evening anyway. I’ll just meet you at the Bronze.”

“Okay”, she gifted him with one of her dazzling smiles, “we’ll meet at the Bronze after patro-I help my mother.” She smothered the guilt she felt for lying to the man she was coming to like so much, and indulged herself in the pleasure of having him feed small slices of apples into her mouth. The afternoon was marred only by the random thought that went through her mind as she returned the favor and fed slices of apple to Riley.

I’ll bet Spike would have wrapped his lips around my fingers and pulled them into his mouth to suck on…Okay…wigging now. I’m here with a potential normal boyfriend and I’m thinking about a sexy vampire. A sexy, never-to-be-alone-with-again vampire, who probably isn’t even in Sunnydale anymore. I would have seen him or seen the bodies of his victims if he was still here. He probably left to go chasing after the ho-bag again. And I sooo don’t care if he is. Good riddance. Saves me the trouble of staking him. Which I would. Absolutely. Good sex and the best kisses I’ve ever had – totally beside the point. Evil is evil and Spike is evil. Evil and---

Buffy shook her head as she realized that Riley was staring at her and waving his hand in front of her face.

“Ah, there you are. I thought for a minute that you were on another planet.” He smiled at her, enjoying the embarrassed blush that was spreading over her face. “Anything you’d like to share with the class?” he teased gently, shocked when she shook her head rapidly.

“No! No sharing. Not with the class. Not that there’s anything to share, because there isn’t. Anything to share, I mean. Nope, no sharing here.”

“You’re a very strange girl,” he murmured, cupping her cheek. “But a very beautiful one. I’m glad I met you, Buffy.”

“Oh, me too, Riley. Glad you met me, I mean.”

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After an uneventful patrol that resulted in the dusting of two fledglings that had not even brushed the dirt off their clothes, Buffy decided to drop by the gallery just in case her mom actually did need help with the big crates that had arrived the day before. She had told Buffy that she thought she was going to have all the help she needed, but knowing how large the crates were, Buffy couldn’t imagine which of her mother’s employees could be of much help.

To her consternation, she ran into Riley as she was taking a short cut through Restfield Cemetery. He seemed as unhappy about seeing her, as she was to find him there. Several minutes of awkward conversation and excuses later, he was insisting on walking her to her mother’s gallery and scolding her about using a cemetery as a short cut after dark. Buffy looked curiously at the dark clothing he was wearing, wondering briefly what he was doing in a cemetery at night.

Pushing open the unlocked front door of the gallery, Buffy called out quickly, “Mom? It’s me. I’ve got someone with me. Someone for you to meet,” she added quickly at Riley’s puzzled frown.

Recognizing the warning for what it was, Joyce didn’t say anything about helping with the crates or ask how patrol had gone, only calling, “I’ll be right out, honey. I’m just getting the last of these statues put away.”

While Riley looked around the gallery curiously, clearly having no idea what he was looking at, Joyce came from the back wiping her dusty hands on her smock.

“So, you really didn’t need me?” Buffy asked in disbelief, eyeing one of the large stone sculptures that had been displayed in the window.

“No,” her mother answered with a glance at Riley. “I had some help. Some very strong help,” she emphasized, with a glance towards the back.

Buffy started towards the storeroom, her curiosity getting the better of her, when her mother grabbed her arm and asked brightly, “And who is this, dear?”

Buffy turned to introduce her to Riley, catching a whiff of cigarette smoke as she did so. She gave Joyce a glare and shook off her arm, prepared to throw her mother’s “very strong” help out into the alley where she could stake him for daring to come near her family. Before she could move around Joyce, who had stepped between Buffy and the storeroom with an expression that brooked no argument, she heard the back door slam and resigned herself to the fact that Spike had already left.

“What have I told you about letting him in?” she demanded, forgetting, in her fear and anger, that Riley was listening.

“There is nothing to keep him out, Buffy. This is a public place; and I am the proprietor. When a willing pair of very strong hands comes in the door and offers to help me, I do not repay kindness with rudeness.”

“Kindness! From a v—from him?”

Riley cleared his throat uncomfortably, bringing the attention back to his presence and causing both mother and daughter to postpone the on-going argument over Joyce’s continued willingness to trust Spike aside for the time being.

“Mom, this is Riley Finn,” Buffy mumbled. “Riley, this is my mom; who apparently doesn’t need my help as much as I thought she did.”

“Well, to be honest, Mrs. Summers, I couldn’t imagine what a cute little girl like Buffy was going to be able to do to help anyway.” Riley carefully shook Joyce’s hand, choosing to take the smile she couldn’t control to mean she was glad to meet him.

“Oh, Buffy might surprise you,” she said, shaking his hand firmly. “Normally, I would have had her helping. It just so happens that an old…friend was in the area and stopped by to say ‘hello’. He was more than able to help me out.”

“Oh, that’s good. I’m glad you got some help. Are you sure you’re finished? Because if you aren’t, I’d be happy to help you out.”

“Well, there is one more big crate that we didn’t get to before you came in….”

“I’m your man.” Riley smiled. “Just point me at it.”

Rolling her eyes behind his back, Joyce led Buffy and Riley into the storeroom and pointed at a partially opened crate in the middle of the floor. Striding to it confidently, Riley looked at the two boards that had already been pulled free and flexed his arms. Wrapping one large hand around the next board, he grunted and pulled until it came loose with the screeching of nails pulling free.

Pausing to collect himself, the big commando looked around curiously. “Did your friend use a crowbar or something?” he asked, still searching for a tool. “Surely he didn’t pull those boards up with his bare hands? If he did, he must be a lot bigger than I am.”

“Um actually, he’s—“ Buffy stopped herself before she could describe Spike to Riley. “He’s just very strong. I think he works out a lot.”

“I work out a lot,” the man muttered. “This guy isn’t normal. He must be some kind of freak.”

In spite of herself, Buffy found she was losing patience with Riley’s insistence that no one could possibly be stronger than he was. Gesturing to her mother to distract him, she waited until his back was turned, then quickly pulled up the next two boards. Riley whirled at the sound, gawking at the now-open crate, his mouth agape with surprise.

“Okay, mom. Where do you want it?” she asked perkily, tipping the crate and gesturing for Riley to pull the sculpture out. While he wrestled and grunted, finally working it out of the crate and setting it on its base, Buffy casually held the large wooden crate and waited. Joyce pointed silently to a corner of the room and Buffy helped Riley drag the heavy sculpture across the floor, taking care that she didn’t help so much that he suspected that she could have moved it herself.

When they had walked Joyce to her car and seen her safely on her way home, Buffy and Riley began the long walk to the Bronze. Buffy was striding out as if on a mission, anger at Spike for not staying away from her family, at her mother for trusting the vampire just because he was always polite to her, and anger at Riley for being so arrogant fueling her rapid steps. If Riley wondered how a small girl could cover so much ground so easily, he didn’t ask, just extending his long legs to keep up with her and chatting about school and the next day’s classes. As Buffy’s anger wore off and their steps slowed, the conversation became easier and Riley felt that he could bring up the short argument she’d had with her mother.

“Uh, this strange guy – the one who is so strong and who helped your mother out? Why did you get so mad at her for having him around? Is he an ex-boyfriend of hers or something?”

“Boyfriend? Mom? My mom?”

“Well, if he’s not an angry ex, why don’t you want her to let him in? Who is he?”

“He’s just an old…he’s somebody I know…from school. That’s it. Somebody I’ve known since my junior year of high school. He’s not a…a…very nice person. He could be dangerous. She just refuses to believe that he might hurt her.”

“Well, she seems to be right so far. He did a hell of a lot of work there tonight – “

“He needs to stay away from my mother!” All of Buffy’s agitation came back and her pace increased along with it.

“Okay, okay,” Riley soothed, struggling to catch up. “How about if we hang out there once in a while and maybe we can catch this guy and I can ‘reason’ with him. I’m sure I can explain to him that he needs to stay away from your mother.”

“You do remember that he opened and moved all those crates of sculpture by himself tonight, right?” Buffy asked wryly. “I think your words were, ‘he must be a freak’?”

Riley stiffened. “Are you telling me I should be afraid of him?” Disbelief and a trace of amusement colored Riley’s voice. “I can take care of myself, Buffy. There’s still a lot you don’t know about me.”

Biting back a retort involving Spike’s having him for lunch, Buffy just nodded and put on her best cheerleader smile.

“I’m sure that’s true, Riley. And I appreciate the offer. Really I do. But I think I should take care of Sp- the problem myself.”

“How are you going to do that? If this guys is as bad as you say, I don’t want you trying to handle him by yourself.”

Reminding herself that Riley knew nothing about her slayer skills and strength, Buffy forced herself to look appreciative and said between tightly clenched teeth, “He has a lot of respect for me. I’ll be fine. I just have to convince him that it’s in his best interest not to visit my mom unless I’m there.”

“I still think he’ll be more likely to listen if he sees me backing you up,” Riley grumbled as they reached the Bronze and he held the door for her. “I appreciate how confident and independent you are, Buffy, but if this guy is as strong and potentially dangerous as you say he is, I’d be a lot more comfortable if you let me handle it for you.”

“I understand that, Riley. Really, I do. I just don’t think it’s necessary. Honestly. If I think I need help with him, I’ll let you know. I promise.”

Her new boyfriend suddenly stared at her suspiciously. “You said you’ve known him since you were in high school – is this guy one of your exes?”

“What? My what? Sp-that guy? Oh my god, no. No, not at all. There is no exing about it. He’s just an annoying…guy… who came to Sunnydale a few years ago and keeps coming back to irritate me.“

“Well, that’s a relief!” Riley smiled broadly. “I didn’t think you were the kind of girl who would have any dangerous exes in her life, but you never know.”

Buffy winced as she thought about Angelus, and wondered if Riley would classify a two-hundred-year-old master vampire known as the Scourge of Europe as “dangerous”. Not to mention his grandchilde, who had cut his own swath through the populations of the world and killed two slayers besides.

“Nope!” she chirped brightly. “No dangerous exes in my life. No exes at all, hardly, really. To speak of. I mean I guess there’s Parker, but…”

“The less said about him the better,” Riley growled. “I wouldn’t consider him an ex – he’s just a mistake you made.”

Buffy made a face and muttered, “You got that right”

(If I learned nothing else from that night that I refuse to think about, it’s what it’s like to make – have sex- with somebody who’s really good at it. Parker should follow Spike around and take notes.)