Chapter 7

“I need to bloody talk to her!”

Giles sent the vampire a glare. “Buffy doesn’t want to speak to you right now. I don’t know what you did to her, but I told you that I would make you pay if you ever hurt her.”

Spike tried to keep control of his temper. “I just got out of line and said some things I shouldn’t have, I need to apologize to her. You could at least give me that. I promise not to be longer than five minutes.”

Giles thought it over, then agreed when he figured it would be the only way to get Spike out of his house. “Five minutes, but you are to leave if she asks you to.”

Spike nodded and headed up the stairs, knocking on the door that he assumed was Buffy’s. When he got no response, he slowly opened the door to find her sitting on her bed, a stuffed pig clutched to her chest. As he got closer, he realized how very familiar that animal was. “Mr. Gordo,” he said, causing the blonde to stare up at him in surprise.

“How did you know that was his name?” she wondered.

“I gave him to your mum; I can’t believe she actually kept it. I figured she would have tossed him after I never came back.”

Buffy shook her head. “She gave him to me when I was a baby; I used to sleep with him every night.”

Spike smiled at the thought of her sleeping with the pig, it quickly faded when he remembered why he was there in the first place. “I wanted to apologize for earlier. I didn’t mean what I said, Buffy. I just got so bloody crazy seeing you with that wanker.”

She nodded. “I wasn’t so thrilled to see you with Harmony, either. She’s such a bitch to me at school.”

He sat down on the edge of her bed, figuring that it was safe. “I really can’t stand the bint. I guess I was trying to get my mind off of you.”

“Did it work?”

Spike shook his head. “No, all it did was make me want to kill her. I haven’t had the urge in years.”

Buffy laughed at that. “If it helps, I’m not really interested in Scott. I realized how very boring he was tonight. The guy can’t even dance without making it look like he’s having a seizure.”

Spike chuckled and felt very relieved by that, but tried not to show it. “I should go, my five minutes are almost up and I wouldn’t want Giles to come charging up here with a crossbow.”

Buffy nodded and lay down, holding the pig closer to her body.

Spike watched her for a moment, smiling at how innocent she was. The poor girl had gone through more than anyone her age should have to, and she didn’t even have the burden of being a Slayer. “Night, love, I’ll see you tomorrow.” He left the room and made his way back downstairs, raising his hands when he noticed Giles waiting for him. “I come in peace; your girl is still unharmed.”

Giles rolled his eyes. “I’m not worried about you hurting her physically.”

Spike walked by him and to the front door, turning back to Giles one more time. “You won’t need to worry about me hurting her at all, Rupert. I can’t explain it, but in the short time that I’ve known her, she’s come to mean a lot to me.”

“And you expect for me to believe that it has nothing to do with her mother?”

Spike glared at him. “This isn’t about Liz, all right? Did it ever occur to you that maybe I happen to care about her? About whom she is and not who her mother was? I like Buffy as a person. I would still think that, even if Elizabeth wasn’t her mother. I’m not saying that anything will happen between us, but I am saying that you should get used to seeing me around more often. I’m not going anywhere, not this time.” He walked out then, not bothering to wait for a response.

Giles headed into the kitchen, desperately needing a drink.

From the top of the stairs, Buffy gazed at the spot where Spike was once standing, a small smile on her face. She quietly walked away and back to bed, cuddling Mr. Gordo and placing a kiss on the top of his head. It wasn’t long before she finally let sleep claim her.


* * * * *


Spike was awoken by someone barging into his crypt. He groaned and sat up, putting his pants on and heading to the upper level, only to see that it was Buffy. He rubbed the back of his neck.

“Isn’t it a little early for sparring? In fact, shouldn’t you be in school right now?”

Buffy barely heard what he said; too busy staring at his shirtless chest. The man was built like a Greek God; she thought and licked her lips at the sight of him.

Spike caught her appraisal and gave her a leer. “See something you like, pet?”

She snapped out of it at the sound of his voice. “No, I mean, yes, I mean, I don’t know why I’m here.”

Spike smiled, finding her absolutely adorable when she got all flustered like that. “Hopefully not just to check out my naked body. Although, I wouldn’t really blame you if you did. I’m a damn sexy bloke.”

Buffy rolled her eyes. “How would you know? It’s not like you have a reflection.”

He shrugged. “I don’t need one. I get enough chits checking me out to let me know that I’m damn sexy.”

“How is it that you can possibly fit your ego in here? This crypt isn’t that big.”

Spike gave her a scowl, moving to his chair and putting on the shirt that was draped over it. “Was there something you wanted?”

She almost pouted when he put the shirt on, but got right to the point. “I just wanted to thank you, for what you said to Giles last night. I might have overheard.”

He nodded. “I knew I sensed another heartbeat by the stairs. You know, eavesdropping is really beneath you.”

“Yeah, but I couldn’t resist. I’m a teenager, it’s what we do. It means a lot, though. Knowing that you just see me and not my mom, I’m worried that I’ll always be in her shadow. She was pretty well known in this town, everyone loved her. Yet I only really have two friends and am considered to be a social outcast at school. She was popular, a cheerleader, everything I’m not. So yeah, it means a lot.”

Spike didn’t know what to say to that. “You don’t give yourself enough credit, love. You have a lot to offer. How many lives have you saved?”

Buffy thought about it. “Not enough, but I’m doing it for all the wrong reasons. I’ve been so hung up on vengeance, that’s all I could see. I let it take over my entire life, too focused on that to care much about anything else. School, friends, boys, I avoided all of it. Willow and Xander are the only ones that ever really understood me. They didn’t freak when they found out about my mom, or that vampires actually exist and I’ve decided to slay them almost every night. I guess I never realized just how much I’ve missed out on. This isn’t what my mom wanted for me, I know that. Giles tells me that all the time, but I honestly don’t know if I could be anything else. This is all I know. She would probably be really disappointed in me.”

Spike took her into his arms, without giving much thought to it. “Your mum would be so bloody proud of you, Buffy. You’ve accomplished so much and don’t even realize it. There is no part of you that’s not amazing.”

She looked up at him to see how sincere he was. “You mean that?”

He smiled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t.”

Buffy pulled away after a moment. “I should get to school now. Will I see you tonight?”

“Yeah, you can count on that.”

Buffy nodded and was about to walk away, when she decided otherwise, heading back to him and touching her lips to his in a soft caress. It lasted all of a second, but as far as first kisses go, they couldn’t get better than that. She blushed and avoided his gaze. “I’ll see you later.”

Spike watched her leave, touching his lips and letting a smile form on his face. He knew going back to sleep wasn’t an option, instead deciding to take a nice walk in the sunlight. Maybe he would pay another visit to her school.