Chapter Five

“Buffy! Mrs. Kroeger will be here soon and the kitchen’s a mess!”

Buffy grimaced. She had completely forgotten about the Social Services visit until she’d been looking for a pen in the desk drawer and found the notification letter. Now, she and Dawn were racing around the house trying to make everything presentable for the visit, knowing that if it didn’t go well there was a very good chance Dawn would be taken away.

“You get started on cleaning that, I’ll push the vacuum around the living room,” she called back, but the doorbell rang before she could make it to the closet. “I’ll get it!”

She swung open the door, expecting to see the Social Worker standing on the doorstep, but it was someone else entirely. It was Ned.

“What the hell are you doing?” Buffy hissed, stepping outside and closing the door behind her. She’d definitely heard the doorbell ring, and so Dawn would have heard it too.

“I’m your Social Worker for today,” Ned grinned, holding out an identification card.

“What?” Buffy frowned, and only then did she take in his appearance. Gone were the brightly coloured plaid pants and orange-shirt combo, replaced with a slightly more conservative suit in a dull grey. He wore a tartan fedora on his head, presumably to cover up the little blue horns that sat atop his forehead.

“I swung by the offices downtown,” Ned explained, eyes bright with mirth. “Used some… influence to convince them that I was the one they wanted to take this case. Thought it would kill two birds with one stone – keep you off their radar and I’d get to talk to your little sister, see how things are going between you two.”

“Things are going great,” Buffy said, feeling as though she should be angry with the little man but knowing that if the meeting had gone ahead with Mrs. Kroeger, it would likely have been a disaster. “Fine, come in. But you upset Dawn in any way…”

“Hey,” Ned held his hands up, “I’m here to help.”

Buffy opened the door and ushered him in, wondering how Dawn would react to her new Social Worker, Mr. McNabb.

***

“And everything’s going all right at school?”

“Yeah, it’s fine,” Dawn answered, “my grades got kind of low for a while, but they’re picking up.”

Ned nodded, noting something down on his clipboard. “Good. Now, how often do you and your sister go to the movies?”

“What?” Dawn frowned, “Erm, we haven’t gone in a while…”

“Well, that won’t do!” Ned exclaimed, looking over to Buffy. “You need to take her to the movies more often. And buy her lots and lots of ice cream and popcorn.”

Buffy raised an eyebrow, but nodded and sat back in her chair, arms folded. She bit her lip to keep from giggling, Dawn looked utterly perplexed.

Ned asked Dawn a few more questions about having friends round for sleepovers, days out at the beach and whether Buffy let her watch the latest episodes of American Idol.

Dawn, despite her confusion, answered all the questions politely, and Ned scribbled notes down. Whether he was actually writing anything on the paper remained to be seen.

He soon stood up and announced that everything seemed fine, and that the department would not need to visit for at least another six months. Buffy showed him to the door, knowing that as soon as she went upstairs he’d be waiting for her, undoubtedly perched on top of her dressing table.

“Well, that was weird,” Dawn said, once Ned had left. “I don’t understand why all he asked me about was movies and TV and ice cream. Are you sure he was from the Social Services?”

“Yep, he showed me an ID card,” Buffy nodded. “I’m just glad the interview is over and he thinks we’re doing okay.”

Dawn put her arm around Buffy and leaned her head on her shoulder. “I’m glad we’re doing okay, too.”

***

Sure enough, when Buffy went back up to her room a little while later, Ned was there waiting for her. Not sitting on her dresser as she’d thought he might be, but lounged on her bed, ankles crossed and arms folded beneath his head.

“So, how’d I do?” he asked.

“Okay, I guess,” Buffy sat on the end of the bed, pushing Ned’s legs to one side. “I think you confused Dawn with your weird questions. And hey, what was with you telling her that I should take her out more often? Cos, not so much money to spare right now.”

“You need to spend more time with her,” Ned shrugged, then sat up and pulled a crumpled sheet of paper from his pocket, which he handed to her. “And besides, I think I’ve got your money problem solved.”

“Huh?”

“Take a look,” he said, nodding towards the paper. “Got you an interview lined up for tomorrow.”

Buffy looked at the sheet, and read it through quickly. It was a typed-up job description, advertising an assistant position at the local gym.

“It’s not the most glamorous of jobs,” Ned was quick to add, “but look, you get free membership to the gym and the possibility to take training courses to become an instructor in the future.”

Buffy was surprised, she’d never have considered this kind of job. To be honest, she’d thought that she’d end up working at the Doublemeat Palace if the money situation didn’t turn itself around soon.

“How did you get me an interview?” she asked, “It’s not like my resume is anything to shout about.”

“Pulled a few strings,” Ned replied.

“Oh, like you did with the Social Services? Thanks for that, by the way. I’ve met Mrs. Kroeger a couple of times before, and she’s a real demon. And not of the nice, slay-friendly kind.”

“It’s my job, darlin’,” Ned smiled, then took out his notebook. “So, can I cross number two – ‘sister issues’ off my list?”

“Yup, all is good there. And if I get this job, you can cross number whatever off your list, ‘cos I know you wrote money issues on there somewhere.”

Ned drew two lines across the page of his notebook, then held it out for her to see. Sure enough, near the bottom of the list, was:

7. Has barely enough money to sustain herself and family

“Hey, I didn’t say cross it out right now, I haven’t got the job yet, remember?”

“You’ll get it,” Ned said confidently.

“Oh?” Buffy raised an eyebrow, “You going to pull me some more strings?”

“Nope, I just have faith in you. You’ll get the job.”

“Oh,” she frowned, not feeling the self-confidence in herself that Ned obviously saw. “If you say so.”

“I say so, and I’m always right.”

“Always?”

“Always.”

***

As it turned out, Ned was right about the job, and Buffy walked out of the Sunnydale Gym and Health Club as a newly hired member of the staff.

She half-expected Ned to pop out of a bush somewhere and say ‘I told you so’, but he was nowhere to be seen as she made her way home, a smile on her face and a lightness in her step that hadn’t been there since she was brought back.

She thought about turning in the opposite direction and heading towards the Magic Box, one or more of her friends would likely be there and she could share the good news. But then she realised that the one person she really wanted to tell was Spike and oh my god how weird was that?

Buffy turned and headed towards Restfield.

It was the middle of the day but Spike was weird for a vampire, so she figured that he might be awake, and if he wasn’t, well, she’d just wake him up. Throw a candle or something.

What she hadn’t bargained on was that he would be asleep in a bed. A big, comfy looking four-poster bed. Naked.

She stared. She hadn’t realised he was hiding that body under all the leather. Broad shoulders that tapered down to a slim waist, a flat stomach with lickable abs and… damn, the sheet that lay low on his waist stopped her from further perusal.

She shook her head and tried to remember why she was here, ‘cos she was pretty sure that her purpose in visiting Spike hadn’t been to sit and ogle his naked body. But that sure seemed like a good idea right now…

No. She was here to tell Spike about her new job, and that was what she was going to do, damn it!

She approached the bed cautiously, wondering whether it would be better to wake him up slowly or quickly. If she shocked him into waking up perhaps he’d jump out of bed in surprise and she’d get to see the full monty…

She settled for reaching over and hesitantly tapping him on the shoulder, which moved to patting a little bit harder, then full-on shoving when he refused to wake.

“Spike! Damn it, wake up!”

He sighed and mumbled something in his sleep, rolling over away from her and giving her a very nice view of his strongly muscled back.

This is getting ridiculous. She picked up one of the heavy white candles from his bedside table and was just getting ready to chuck it at him, when he rolled over onto his back and stretched his arms out over his head, back arching and muscles rippling.

Buffy dropped the candle.

Spike’s head snapped to the side and he narrowed his eyes, frowning slightly as if trying to work out why she was there, but then the confusion slid from his face and was replaced with a knowing smirk.

“Like what you see, Slayer?” He settled back on his pillows, making no effort to cover up nor to retrieve the sheet which was sliding lower and lower down on his hips.

“I… er… shut up.”

“Eloquent,” Spike grinned. “So, what brings you by?”

“Clothes!” Buffy blurted, then inwardly cringed. “I mean, clothes. You should get some. And wear them.”

Spike said nothing, but continued to smile at her. He slid across the bed and started to stand up.

“No! I’ll er… be upstairs.” She hurried to the ladder and climbed out into the upper level of the crypt, cheeks burning with embarrassment. Stupid naked Spike and his hotness.

A few moments later, a fully-clothed Spike appeared in the crypt. He sauntered over to the fridge and took out a bag of blood, neatly ripping into it with a pointed fang and consuming it all in a matter of minutes.

Buffy watched, slightly repulsed but at the same time kind of fascinated. It didn’t repulse her as much as she thought it would.

When he had finished, he came and sat next to her on the couch, looking at her expectantly.

“Well?”

“Oh!” Buffy smiled, remembering the reason she’d come by in the first place. “I got a job!”

“You did?” Spike smiled, his eyes lighting with happiness, “Good on you, Slayer. What’s the job, then?”

“Nothing glamorous,” Buffy said, smiling ruefully. “It’s just an assistant job at the gym, but the manager said that I have good potential and if I take some courses, I could work towards becoming a personal trainer, or an instructor. But hey, a job’s a job.”

“That’s bloody brilliant, Slayer, really. I’m happy for you.” He made a movement as though to hug her, but stopped suddenly and ran his fingers through his hair instead. He glanced at her quickly, blue eyes reflecting that he really was happy for her and wasn’t just saying it, but just as quickly looked away.

Buffy smiled to herself and took pity on him, reaching out and taking one of his hands in hers. She squeezed gently, and looked into his eyes.

“Thank you.”

***