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Never Ever Tell by Lilachigh
 
Chp 14 Celebration
 
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NEVER EVER TELL by Lilachigh

Chp 14 Celebration


The video shop was busy; the whole of Sunnydale’s population seemed to be in there, renting films for the evening. Buffy couldn’t be bothered to wait in line any longer. She was sure Xander would have got enough videos for them to watch anyway.

She was glad to get out into the cool dusk of the evening air. The
rest of the gang were due at her house in half an hour. She almost wished they weren’t coming. She was so tired! She couldn’t remember when she’d last felt so bone weary.

The excitement of fighting and defeating Adam had drained her of every ounce of energy and all she wanted to do was curl up in her bed, without Riley, and sleep and sleep and…

“Slayer!”

Absolutely the very last person she wanted to see was leaning against a
tree as she cut through the cemetery on her way to Revello Drive.

‘Spike. I thought you’d be a long way away from here by now. What is
it with you? Do you have some sort of permanent death wish? If so, I can oblige. Just say the word!”

“Tut, tut, pet. That’s not a very nice remark to someone who risked bloody life and limb, fighting on your side in the big battle with the Initiative wankers. You’d all have been toast if it hadn’t been for my help.”

“Spike, if it hadn’t been for you, I wouldn‘t have had to sort out the
arguments between Willow, Anya Xander, Tara and Giles. You tried to split up friendships that have existed for years. You told lies to - well, to
everyone! What do you expect me to say…thank you and do come over and spend the evening with me and the gang!”

Spike glanced at her from under absurdly long eyelashes. For a second he looked hopeful, almost as if he’d thought she was being serious, then his usual mocking expression came back.

“Vampire here, pet. Thought you and your Scoobie friends were in danger of forgetting that fact. Not completely harmless, you know, even if I do have this soddi’ chip in my brain!”

“Spike, face facts, you are completely harmless! You don’t even raise a
single blip on my worry radar screen. You’re blipless, blip minus, the
most negative blip you can imagine!”

The vampire pulled out his cigarettes and lit one, blowing the smoke
straight into her face. “Me thinks the lady doth protest too much,” he
said, angry with himself for feeling hurt.

“What? I’m not protesting, I’m not dothing, I’m just telling you,” Buffy said crossly, waving the smoke away.

“So where’s Captain Cardboard this fine evening?” he said, falling into step beside her as she headed for home.

Buffy sighed. She wished Spike would go away. She was irritably aware that their strides matched as they walked along. She’d always had to skip every other stride to keep up with Angel and Riley was even worse. By the end of a hundred yards she was usually running to stay by his side.

“Not that it’s any of your business, but he’s at an Initiative debriefing,”
she said tersely.

“So the bloody cover-up’s started already has it? What are they going to call this one - Adamgate?”

Buffy threw him a startled glance. She’d been thinking the very same
thing, ever since Riley told her where he was going. Everything would be smoothed over; it would be as if Maggie Walsh and all those scientists, soldiers and even the demons, had never existed.

She wondered briefly what the Army would tell their families. Killed in
the line of duty? And heard herself saying, for some absurd reason, “Do demons have families?”

Spike stopped in the dark shade of a big tree that overshadowed the
sidewalk yards from her home. Effortlessly, it seemed to her, he
understood what she was thinking. And that annoyed her so much!

“Some do, pet. My mate Clem’s got a big family. Brothers, sisters, nice
parents. His dad reminds me a lot of your Watcher. Except he’s got lots more skin and doesn’t wear glasses. But he collects books and likes the odd glass of Scotch from time to time.”

“So if your friend had died in the Initiative cages - ?”

“I’d have had to go and tell his family - yes. And there will be other
demons doing just that all over Sunnydale in the next few days.”

There was a long silence. Buffy stared up the road towards her house. She could see the lights were on in every room, the moving shadows on the blinds told her her Mom was there, and probably the rest of the
Scoobies as well. Their celebration evening was about to begin.

So why was she standing here, in the dark, with the evil undead, talking about demons? ‘I’m tired, that’s why,’ she thought swiftly. But the house seemed a million miles away and walking there an unbearable task.

The more she gazed at it, the further away it appeared. Like a mirage, it hovered there, as if it had no substance. The house, the people in it, all seemed to exist in a dream. Reality was here, in the dark, with the gritty sidewalk under her feet, the faint smell of leather and whisky and blood surrounding her and an aggravating, back-stabbing vampire at her side.

It would be noisy indoors, lots of talking and laughter, food and drink.
Her friends were feeling so happy - and so was she. Of course she was! She’d slain Adam, saved the world, had a cute boyfriend who was cool with the whole Slayer thing. What else did she need?

She forced herself to walk out from under the tree, then hesitated and
turned. Spike was still standing there.

“What…what are you going to do for the rest of the evening?” she asked. “Get drunk, I suppose.”

Spike tilted his head to one side and smiled gently. He could see that she
was so tired she could hardly stand up straight. It was tempting to
continue the battle, but this wasn‘t the time or place. “I’ll leave what I’ll be doing to your vivid imagination, pet,” he said suggestively and laughed as she wrinkled her nose in disgust and walked away.

He watched over her until the small figure turned into the driveway. For a second she paused, turned and looked back at him. Her hand lifted, just slightly, as if she was about to wave, and then she opened the door and went inside.

“Oh Buffy,” he muttered, “You think you know what’s to come. What you are. You haven’t even begun.”

To be continued




 
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