Just when he was about to kiss her, someone punched Cain in the face and sent him hurdling to the ground. Buffy looked up and saw Spike standing by her side. He had saved her, where had he come from? And why had he done that for her when he made it so clear how much he wanted her to suffer? Cain stood up and glared at the platinum-blonde.

"What did you do that for?"

"She told you to leave her alone, you should have listened."

"What, is she your girl or something?"

"Or something."

"Huh, well I pity her, you don't look like much boy"

"Sod off man, go back to your beer"

Cain tried to swing a punch at Spike, but missed completely and fell face-first on the concrete. He stood up again and looked back at Spike and Buffy, before admitting defeat and walking back inside the bar. Spike turned to Buffy and looked her over, making sure she wasn't too shaken up. He inspected her wrists, holding them gently in his hands.

"You ok? He didn't hurt you, did he?"

She threw her arms back, snatching it from his gentle hold. "Why would you care if he did? You shoved me into a locker and tried to strangle me"

Spike looked horrified at her aggression to him after what he had just done. "Yeah, and you threw me through a window. So I get to hate you but do you really think I want you to get raped or murdered, pet?"

"Leave me alone." She wrapped her arms around her shoulders, closing herself off from him.

"Well, fine, don't say thank you, just spit it back in my face; you've done that today already as well"

"Leave me alone!" She shoved past him and hurried into her car.

Spike was pissed off, he had done something right for once and she didn't even have the decency to say thank you or even acknowledge what he did for her. He banged his fist down on the roof of the car and started walking away.

"I hope you crash into a tree, you ungrateful bitch! He yelled over his shoulder.

Buffy cringed, she hadn't meant to react like that. She had never felt so scared in her life, she was helpless, defenceless, and after those she only had one weapon left. When she felt out of control, all she had left to use was cruelty in an instinctual attempt to scare off whatever was making her feel that way; and since Cain had left before she could use it she ended up venting her fear onto Spike. She started her car and lined it up with the exit.

"Bitch!" She heard him yell again, and then she heard the crashing sound of a beer bottle being smashed on the road behind her.

She drove out onto the road and away from the bar as quickly as she could. Pretending she hadn't heard the sorrow in his voice, mixed with a regrettably familiar sound of anger. Spike stood alone in the dark parking lot. He felt a tear gather in the corner of his eye and he couldn't help but wonder why it was there. Why was he hurt by her words? He should have expected it, she hated him and he hated her, they were the darkness in each other's hearts…but it still hurt.

He didn't get it, he hated everything about her and yet he still cared what she thought of him. Damn, he was messed up. Anger was consuming him and he felt relief in snatching up glass bottles from the ground and throwing them in the direction of the exit, where her car had been only seconds ago. He stared scathingly at the shattered glass and wished he was looking at Buffy in a million pieces.

There was a curse between them, every time they met, violence and destruction followed. They were the evil in each other's lives, the black cat; the Devil. But even though he said he hated everything about her, he wasn't sure what 'everything' really was. Her looks he certainly didn't hate, no one could hate that glorious silken hair and those gem-coloured eyes. Her sense of style was eye-catching, she had a nice body and she was very clever and very nice; to everyone else.

But her temper had no limits, one false word and she had you in a death trap. Her cruel remarks and brutal insults, he knew them only too well. Also her ability to throw a perfectly good, not to mention brave, deed out the window like it meant nothing made his heart swell with rage. He just couldn't wait for the day that they would part and never see each other again, and he would never have to hear her demon of a curse be spit from her blood-thirsty lips again.

Spike looked up at the dark sky and decided it was finally time to go home, with any luck his parents would already be asleep and he wouldn't have to listen to his dad yelling at him once again; just like every night.

-The Summers' Residence

Buffy parked her car in the twin garage; her father was on a business trip so he wouldn't need this spot until next Friday. She turned off the ignition and removed her seatbelt. She sat still for awhile, trying to wrap her mind around what had happened tonight. She felt panic stir inside her and the next thing she knew, she was crying into her hands. She cried for only a few minutes before wiping away all the tears and checking her face in the mirror. Then she opened the car door but she still didn't get out just yet.

'Maybe I should apologise to Spike, I was horrible to him. He was only looking out for me, but what does it matter anymore? The day has ended the way it began and it will be the same story for the rest of the term. I only have to put up with him for seven more days, that is unless I see him on the weekend, then I'm screwed' she told herself.

Stepping onto the brick driveway, she made sure she locked her car before approaching the back door of the Summers' house. Everything was quiet inside; it usually was. Just like every night at 11:40pm Dawn was asleep, Joyce was sitting in the lounge room with a book and a cup of tea, and Buffy was coming home from work. Dropping her bag at the foot of the stairs, Buffy proceeded into the lounge room. The fire was lit inside the grey marble fireplace, playing as the only source of light in the dark house. Joyce showed no response when her eldest daughter sat on the double couch opposite her. Things were very quiet and uncomfortable, until finally Joyce pried her eyes away from her novel and scanned her daughter's appearance.

Buffy sat up straight with her hands folded neatly in her lap, but she didn't look at all proud or confident. Joyce shut her book and placed it on the mahogany coffee table beside her arm chair. Placing her reading glasses atop the book neatly, she sighed.

"So, how much money have you cost me today? And don't try to sugar-coat anything because you know as well as I do that Principal Snyder will be calling me at the end of the week to give me all the week's details"

Buffy hung her head, she had been hoping that the money she was earning and the amount of make-up covering her injuries were sugar-coat enough. "I threw him through a window…and dented a wall with his head"

"You did what?" Joyce suddenly stood up and towered over Buffy, who looked up quickly; there were already tears of fear and shame in her eyes.

"You threw William Rayne through a window?"

"…yes." Buffy croaked.

"What in God's name possessed you to do such a thing?"

"He shoved me into a locker and kicked me in the stomach"

"And so you threw him through a window?"

"…yes"

"Elizabeth Anne Summers! Why do you continue to disappoint me with your insidious behaviour? Do you not care for the damage you and that boy are tearing all around you?"

"I'm really sorry Mum"

"'Sorry'? 'Sorry'? 'Sorry' doesn't even begin to cover it! You have used him as a human dartboard, super-glued his hands together, vandalised his car and school grounds! There is no end to this absurd hobby! Why couldn't you be more like your friends, or you little sister, or her friends? Instead you go about these violent matches and dangerous pranks! I put up with your crap when it started, I thought it was just a phase; you were simply making a point that you weren't to be messed with. But once you pulled that stupid stunt at his house in Grade 10 it became very clear that this wasn't going to end so soon"

Buffy tried to show her mother as much respect as she could, giving her full attention at all times. Her mother scared her more than Spike did, she was so much worse. She had once been the calmest, most loving mother ever, but after Buffy had been at war with Ethan Rayne's son for three years she snapped. Nothing Buffy did could impress Joyce anymore, she couldn't make her mother smile; and Joyce never comforted her as a mother should anymore. She had completely given up on her daughter. She had thought that maybe if she showed no interest in her than she might stop fighting and spend her time winning her mother's attention; but she had only gotten worse.

Tears streaked down Buffy's face, washing away the make-up and revealing the bruises on her cheeks and jaw.

"Buffy, this has to end! Your actions are inexcusable!"

Buffy suddenly stood, fighting back tears. "You don't even care what he does to me anymore! You know what he did to me today? He put his hand around my neck and tried to strangle me! I nearly choked to death today and you've got me sitting here listening to you insult and scold me about all the things I've done when he's the one who threw a math's book at my head, gave me food poisoning, poured bourbon on my head and broke my arm by dropping a brick on it! Do you even mind that he did all those things to me?"

Joyce was stunned, Buffy had never talked back to her before, and she had never told her the extent of William's actions. For some reason Buffy had always covered up or at least sugar-coated the things he did.

"Buffy, I do care, of course I care, but do you think I'm surprised? I cannot even begin to list the amount of times Ethan has called me to either apologise for his son's actions or discuss the damage you have caused. You two are Rosemary's children, you are little devils. How can I even think of defending you when you do the same if not worse things to him? I never say anything because there is nothing to say! I've already done everything I possibly can. The only reason that I haven't pulled you out of that school is because there is nowhere else to go and I don't have time to home school you," Joyce put her hand to her head, recognising the familiar headache that came from dealing with her daughter," Do you have any idea how much time and money you and William cost everyone? And by 'everyone' I mean Mr. and Mrs. Rayne, your father, Principal Snyder, the staff at Sunnydale High, the staff at Sunnydale Memorial Hospital and me!"

Buffy tried to shrink away as she sat back down, but the earth just wouldn't swallow her up when she wanted it to.

Joyce continued. "You have put a student in a coma! Do you remember her? Do you even visit her? Apologise to her parents or show any sign that you care about the fact that that poor girl may never wake up? You may have assigned her an early death because the hospital isn't going to keep her there her whole life. You may have killed a girl who did nothing wrong but try to stop your violent behaviour!"

Buffy cringed, she hadn't thought about Faith Wilkins in months. Faith had been a friend of both Buffy and Spike; one of the few. She loved being dark and exciting and had enjoyed the spat between her friends, "Keeps things in this town interesting" she had once said. But when she realised that it was tearing the school apart, she tried to talk some sense into them. One day in August, when Spike and Buffy had started another of their fights, she tried to get in and separate them. The fight had ended when a miss-placed punch sent her flying into the wall. Everyone thought that she was simply knocked out, but when she never woke up the reality of the situation was realised. But the fighting didn't stop, instead the topic of Faith became a favourite tool in the battle.

"How could this have happened?" Her mother sighed, "How could my child have become such a horrible creature? You used to be so happy, always smiling and laughing, making everyone around you so proud. You made me so proud. But as wonderful as you were then is how bad you have become now, worse"

"I'm sorry Mum, I'm really, really sorry." She was crying again.

"Buffy, I want you to promise me you won't touch William Rayne again, at least not until after you graduate. Once you're out in the world you can do whatever you want but please don't continue this riot, or you will destroy the night for everyone else. If I get one more phone call from Principal Snyder I will have to take drastic measures"

"And what will they be?" She wasn't sure she wanted to know.

"Hopefully you won't ever have to know"

Under her mother's icy stare, Buffy retreated upstairs to her room like a dog with its tail between its legs. Joyce fell back into her chair and held her head once again. If it wasn't for Dawn and her husband she would surely go insane. These headaches were becoming way too frequent.

Buffy ran into her room and shut the door. She collapsed onto her bed and let herself cry. She hated her life, there was nothing good in it anymore.

-The Rayne's Household

The door opened with a creak and Spike quietly snuck in and closed the door as carefully as he could, but somehow his father still heard him.

"William! Where have you been all night? Do you have any idea how scared your mother has been?" Ethan Rayne scolded his son from the lounge doorway.

"I was at Caritas, I didn't drink or anything, just talked to Buffy." 'Bugger.'

"Buffy? You talked to Elizabeth Summers? You can't stand to be in the same universe as her! So what did you do? You didn't tear her car apart again?"

"Ethan? Is William home?" The voice of Spike's mother drifted in from the drawing room.

The middle-aged woman walked out into the entrance hall brushing her blonde curls. She had on a red night gown and she looked rather strange without make-up. She looked her son up and down and shook her head.

"What did you do today? Did you get her to throw you into a lawnmower or did she run you over with her car; which I hope is still in one piece"

"Her car is fine and she threw me through a window if you must know!"

"Don't you dare take that tone with me! Young man, I am sick of your games. We have had this conversation so many times that I hear it in my sleep"

"Look Mum, I'm really tired, it's really late and you've only got to put up with me for a few more days so can we please not do the 'Buffy' thing. And one more thing, my name is 'Spike'"

"I'll call you William because that is the name I gave you!"

"Whatever"

Spike turned his back on his parents and started up the stairs that were only a few feet from the door. His father called him back but since he called him 'William' Spike pretended not to hear him.

"Spike!"

He jumped down the stairs and looked happily at his dad. "Yeah Dad?"

"Why do you insist on being so rude to your mother and me? Why do you show us so much disrespect?"

"Because it's not like you care one way or another what happens to me. Buffy threw me through a sodding window today and you couldn't care less"

Spike's mother stopped and considered something. "Wait, if she threw you through a window…what did you do?"

"Well, I kicked her"

"I meant…after the window"

"Oh, I kicked a bunch of desks and trapped her against the wall. I heard her scream." He chuckled at the memory, he didn't know why he did…maybe he had had a drink or two. His parents of course were shocked at his humour on the subject.

"William Ethan Rayne! I don't want to hear another word, you have ruined that poor girl's life. Do you know what her mother is planning to do if you two can't stop fighting?" Ethan scolded.

Spike felt a little fear. "What?"

"She is going to kick her out and empty her trust fund. Leaving her alone on the street, now do you really want that to happen to her? Let me rephrase that, do you really want to cause that much damage in your life? To have ruined the lives of two young girls?"

"Look, that thing with Faith was a complete accident"

Ethan hit Spike across the face, shocking everyone. "You bastard, you almost killed a girl last month and again today. Do you understand how serious this is?"

"How did you know what happened today?"

"Buffy's mother just called me!"

Spike wanted to hide, or maybe fall down a hole. His father was the only person who could make him feel so small and childish, no matter how rude or cold he was; Ethan could always break him down. He hated him, but he would never harm him like he did Buffy.

"If you don't leave Elizabeth alone we will take the same action Mrs. Summers will." His mother was very serious about this.

Spike flew up the stairs, into his room and slammed the door so loud it made the house shake. Looking around at all the items of his life he let his anger take him over.

Downstairs, Ethan and his wife sat on the couch, holding each other's hands. Mrs. Rayne was in tears. "I don't think I can take any more of this." She admitted sadly.

"Shh, Anya darling, calm down. We only have just over a week left of this, and after five years I know we can make it through then"

"Ethan, our son is the devil incarnate. I fear for his life if we kick him onto the streets"

"He can take care of himself, he won't have the best future, but he will survive"

The two worn-out parents sat in each other's arms, trying to block out the sound of breaking glass and crashing boxes that was coming from their son's bedroom.

His window was in shatters, everything in his room was in pieces. Pencils, erasers, rulers and torn paper covered his floor. It looked like his room had fallen victim to an earthquake. Spike lay on his bed, staring aimlessly up at the ceiling. His leather duster was thrown on the end of his bed and his black T-shirt was on the floor. His family had plenty of money, as did Buffy's, and it was money that would secure their futures. But if it was taken away by their parents, they would be left for dead. It was next to impossible for either of them to get a job anywhere in this town anymore.

Why was his life so messed up? No matter where she was, she was buggering up his life. Why did she hate him so bad as to want his life to be hell? He never thought that after today he would want her dead again, but right now he wanted worse. He wished he had walked away in the parking lot and left her to deal with her own mess. Maybe then she wouldn't be able to make him feel so stupid. He suddenly realised he didn't care what his parents did, but screwing things up for Buffy would be absolutely delicious.

He jumped off his bed and searched his floor for a blank piece of paper and a pen. Once he found that, he sat at his desk and began making plans, he wanted something big, something incredible, something that only she would be blamed for.

- Buffy's Bedroom

Her tears had finally stopped, but she hadn't fallen asleep yet. Why did she keep screwing up her life? It was her fault, she had pushed the bar; she had encouraged him to go further. Why couldn't they keep away from each other? Hate was supposed to repel but to them it dragged them together. She had to stop, she couldn't let her mother do this, she had to make all this end. She had to talk to Spike and make him understand. They had done it before, spoken calmly, only once but it was enough. Tomorrow this would end.

Now things start to get interesting, the next chapter is one of my favourites, it was probably the most fun to write. So what did you all think of this chapter?