It's Not Over
A/N Ok I was listening to this song and this scene just played out in my mind. So… I wrote it down. I hope you like it. I don't own these characters, they belong to Joss Whedon and M.E. The song is also not mine it is It's Not Over by Chris Daughtry
"Why are we here again?" Buffy grumbled. It had been three weeks since she broke up with Spike after Riley's visit. And contrary to what everyone assumed, life for her was not peachy.
"Come on it'll be fun. This place has been open for two months and we still have yet to check it out." Willow encouraged. Besides, Tara was coming with them and Willow hoped to use this time to further along their reconciliation.
Xander spoke up, adding in his two cents, "Yeah, Buff, what is better then checking out a new club?" and staying away from the Bronze that was chalked with too many bad memories. Maybe they could start new, happier memories here.
Soon, they got to the front of the club and waited in line for entrance. Tara showed up moments later and they made room in line for her. "Hi," she smiled shyly at everyone, unsure how they felt but knowing she missed them a great deal, "Did you see the sign by the door? Open mike tonight."
"That could be fun… Not that I'm planning on going up…me and audiences are very unmixy," Willow babbled nervously. She hated feeling this way. At one time her and Tara were so in sync that they could almost read each others thoughts. Now Willow had no clue what was going through the shy girl's head.
"Don't worry Will, if they try and drag you on stage I'll keep your adoring fans at bay," Xander joked as he puffed out his chest all manly like.
The girls laughed as they finally got inside. The place was crowded, with the only few remaining tables in the back. Silently, they pushed through the people to one that was kind of off to the side. While they were busy getting seated they failed to notice a figure slip in the back and speak to one of the security guys before slipping back stage.
The MC took the stage, "Welcome ladies and gentlemen. Tonight is open mike night as you know. It's our way of exposing the hidden talents out there in our community…" and a cheep way for the club to get out of paying for a band one night out of the week! The MC thought to himself. "Enjoy the show!" He took a piece of paper out. "Ok, our first up tonight is a favorite of
yours the last few weeks. Give it up for Will…" several of the tables - mostly those composed of females – clapped and whistled loudly.
"Wow, this guy must be good…" Buffy observed, sipping her drink.
Tara stared at 'Will' as he stepped out on stage holding a guitar, her head tilted to the side as she leaned over to Willow and whispered, "Hey, doesn't he look a little familiar?"
Willow peered closely at the man onstage and gasped, "Oh my goddess! No way!"
Hearing her friend's exclamation, Buffy shot a piercing glance to the figure that had surprised her friends, "What's the matter…oh! What the hell is he doing?!"
Xander - not quite caught up – asked his female companions, "What? It's just some guy with a guitar…"
Willow felt a smile creeping up, "Look closely Xander."
He still didn't seem to get it.
"Take away the blue button down shirt and replace it with a tight black one. Take away the sunglasses and hat and replace them with blue eyes and bleach blond hair. And for the heck of it throw on a black duster."
Xander seemed to be deep in concentration as he stared at the guy when all of the sudden he laughed out loud, "Spike?! Spike's gonna sing a widdle song?! Oh this is priceless… the teasing rights to this are golden!"
The others laughed with him. Except Buffy, she had a bad feeling about this.
About that time the cheers quieted down and 'Will' spoke to the audience, "Well, I wrote another song. As usual the person I wrote this for will most likely never hear it, but I hope you enjoy it anyway…."
And with that he closed his eyes and began to sing as his fingers found the strings of his guitar…
I was blown away. What could I say? It all seemed to make sense. You've taken away everything, And I can't deal with that. I try to see the good in life, But good things in life are hard to find. We'll blow it away, blow it away. Can we make this something good? Well, I'll try to do it right this time around.
Let's start over. I'll try to do it right this time around. It's not over. 'Cause a part of me is dead and in the ground. This love is killing me, But you're the only one. It's not over.
Taken all I could take, And I cannot wait. We're wasting too much time Being strong, holding on. Can't let it bring us down. My life with you means everything, So I won't give up that easily. I'll blow it away, blow it away. Can we make this something good? 'Cause it's all misunderstood. Well, I'll try to do it right this time around.
Let's start over. I'll try to do it right this time around. It's not over. 'Cause a part of me is dead and in the ground. This love is killing me, But you're the only one. It's not over.
We can't let this get away. Let it out, let it out. Don't get caught up in yourself. Let it out.
Let's start over. I'll try to do it right this time around. It's not over. 'Cause a part of me is dead and in the ground. This love is killing me, But you're the only one. It's not over.
Let's start over. It's not over, yeah...This love is killing me, But you're the only one. It's not over.
The crowd roared with cheers. Opening his eyes he merely nodded to the crowd and slipped back stage, the MC jumping back on stage to continue to the next performer.
Their table was silent. Tara and Willow were holding hands and leaning so their foreheads where touching as they whispered softly to each other. It seemed like reconciliation was well on it's way. Xander looked irritable at the fact Spike actually sounded kind of cool up there. Buffy was simply sitting quietly, staring at the spot Spike had stood moments before. A lone tear slipped down her cheek.
It was Xander who noticed the tear. He frowned, a warning lacing his tone as he spoke. "Buffy…" Even Xander - who had put in some pretty hefty hours being completely clueless - knew who Spike was singing about. And there was no way he was going to let Buffy fall for it. Obviously, this was some kind of set up. He wouldn't be surprised if Spike was behind the whole thing. The 'how' was escaping him, but give him time and he'd figure it out.
At the sound of Xander's voice, Willow broke her gaze with Tara and turned to her best friend since high school, concern clouding her eyes. "Buffy, are you ok?"
Buffy merely stared out towards the stage, refusing to look at them, answering in an emotionless voice, "Do you really care?"
"What are you talking about Buffy? Of course we care! We want you to be happy!" Willow responded in earnest.
Finally turning to her friends, they saw her blank face and empty eyes and knew she was trying to keep from letting something out. But when she spoke, her voice bursting with emotion; she seemed angry, and remorseful, and confused. "Yeah, Happy… As long as it's on your terms right?"
At that it seemed that someone had flipped an on switch that controlled Xander's temper; he looked ready to explode, "This is stupid! You think that bleached moron will make you happy?!"
Buffy looked straight in Xander's eyes, her eyes foregoing the wall that kept in emotion as she snapped, "And if I said yes? If I told you the only thing I needed to make me forever happy was him, if I told you I loved him with every fiber of my being, what would you say?"
"You can't mean that!" Xander yelled, slamming his hand on the table.
Shaking her head, Buffy merely calmly got up, "Like I said… Your terms…" She walked away without a backwards glance.
Xander watched her go with disbelief before turning to Willow, "Can you believe that? Like I'm in the wrong…"
Tara shook her head at his words and remarked quietly, "Y-you are… Her happiness should be on her terms not yours. If you really cared you would give her that." Tara hated confrontation, but she knew first hand what this was doing to Buffy. Not that she was rooting for Spike. Rather, she was rooting for Buffy… her friend.
Xander shook his head, still in denial, "Willow, I'm not doing that am I? I care about Buffy, that's why I won't let her ruin her life!"
Willow wrung her hands nervously as she looked back and forth between the two other members at the table, "Xander, I could never lie to you… I'm gonna go get coffee… Are you coming Tara?" she grabbed the girl's hand without waiting for her reply and practically dragged the girl to the exit.
Stumped, Xander remained there alone, a frown marring his face. When he saw Spike come from back stage in his normal attire with a backpack slung over his arm, Xander decided to finish this with a one-on-one confrontation. He followed the vampire out the back door and walked quietly in to the alleyway. He saw Spike halfway down, his head bent and shoulders shaking,
though no noise could be heard. At first Xander thought he was laughing. Probably tickled pink about the mess he made tonight. He had probably been watching from the back the whole time!
But then Spike's shoulders stop shaking and a moment later he lifted his head with a sigh. His hand reaching up and wiped away the last of the glistening tears that had just spilled from his blue eyes. Xander was gob smacked to see Spike had been crying. Spike shakily got out a cigarette and lit it before walking away, leaving a bewildered Xander in the alley's shadows.
Xander sighed and headed home, "Buffy's right."
Thoughts still raged through his head. When did he become such a controlling jerk? Maybe it's not too late to fix this…
A/N Well that's it. Well maybe, if you want a sequel let me know. But this was the whole of my vision. Who knows maybe I can coax a little more out of my Muse. Please review…