Semblance of Normality


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It was amazing how quickly her life got back to normal- or at least as normal as her life could ever be. She went out at night and slayed and spent her days searching for a job to support her and her sister. She found herself remembering those blissful days of ignorance more and more often and some days she almost wished she had never regained her memories. Things had certainly been a lot easier without them. Now things were strained between her and her friends and she just couldn’t find it in her heart to make things better.

Her life revolved around slaying, job-hunting and Dawn. She had no room for anything else… at least that’s what she tried to convince herself. The illusion faltered every time she woke from a restless sleep plagued by images of white-blonde hair and soft touches and breathtaking kisses. So far, she had successfully avoided the vampire for the week or so that they had been back to themselves, getting regular updates from her sister. She knew she was being a coward, but she was confused and had no idea what she would say to the vampire if she saw him again. Things had been so easy between them for those four days, but how could they ever be like that again?



Unfortunately, as she had known, she could not avoid the vampire forever. Especially when she patrolled the cemetery where he lived on almost a nightly basis. Not that it was intentional, she persuaded herself- there was just a lot of demon activity in his cemetery.

One night during patrol, she stumbled upon just this type of activity in the form of three slimy demons and what looked to be some sort of ritual. She jumped straight into the fight- after all, slaying was about the only thing she seemed to be able to do right lately. She was struggling to keep all three demons at bay though and when one managed to scratch her stomach with its long claws, she began to realise that throwing herself headlong into this fight hadn’t necessarily been her best idea ever.

She scanned the area, looking for something to help her out, but as she was momentarily distracted, she was tripped and went down hard, quickly rolling onto her back and kicking out at one of the demons. This was not good. She took a kick to the side and groaned, rolling again and trying to get away from the demons. She finally managed to flip herself to her feet but moments after took a blow to the face that had her stumbling backwards. She collided with something hard and spun round to take on the demon- and froze.

“Spike,” she gasped, eyes wide as she looked up into the vampire’s face.

He stared down at her and then looked up, quickly spinning her back round as the demons came at them. She moved away from him and he moved to her side, ready to fight.



When the demons came at them, they were ready and they took on a demon each, sharing the third demon. Spike soon took out his demon, leaving them with one each, and suddenly the odds in their favour were much better. She was soon able to kill her demon, breaking its neck and letting it fall to the floor.

Only moments later, Spike had killed the last demon and he kicked it aside, taking out a cigarette and lighting it before seeming to remember that she was there. He turned to her, bright blue eyes regarding her intently, and she froze on the spot, unable to move.

“Slayer,” he murmured with a slight nod and she smiled weakly. She definitely hadn’t missed being called that.

“Hi,” she got out.

She still hadn’t moved and he finally moved instead, coming up to her and stopping about a foot away.

“How’ve you been?” he asked softly, eyes searching her face.

“Okay,” she answered, “Trying to get back to normal, you know.”

He nodded and then looked away, his gaze falling to the floor. She bit her lip and turned her gaze away as well, both of them falling into an awkward silence.

“Bit tells me you’re looking to get a job,” he spoke up after a long silence.

“Yeah,” she answered, raising her head and meeting his – worried? – gaze, “My mom’s money is all gone.”

She saw his expression darken with anger and couldn’t help but be a little pleased that someone else shared her anger, irrational though it may be.

“Well, least you haven’t got the witch to support as well.”

“Wow, Dawn has been keeping you well-informed!” she commented and he shrugged, taking a drag of his cigarette. She was reminded of how she had called him Mr. Cool and suppressed a smile. He sure did know how to hide his emotions well when he chose to.

“S’good to see her,” he murmured, his eyes not meeting hers, “Missed her lately. We were close… before.”

He glanced at her and that one hesitant look sent a shock right through.



She looked away quickly, ashamed at just how much her heart sped up with that one slanted look. How did he do this to her?

“Erm, so, I should get going,” she stuttered out nervously, avoiding his gaze even as she raised her head.

“Right. Guess so.”

She risked a glance at him and was about to go, but something held her back.

“How… how are you doing?” she asked softly and his eyes darted to hers, wide with surprise.

When he saw she was serious, his whole expression softened into that look of awe she knew well.

“I’m fine, Slayer,” he murmured.

“Buffy,” she corrected and he raised an eyebrow, “I… I don’t like it when you call me ‘Slayer’. It reminds me of when… well of what we were like before.”

She saw him swallow hard and then he nodded, his eyes still wide as he watched her unerringly, his gaze burning into her.

“Erm… I really should get going.”

“Yeah,” he muttered absentmindedly, head tilting as he watched her. Her heart sped up and she couldn’t help but glance at his lips, remembering with perfect clarity just how he tasted. With wide eyes, she took a little step back and nodded, trying to force herself into motion.

“N-night, Spike.”

“Night, love.”

She turned quickly on her heel and strode away from him, her heart pounding in her chest.