Part Twenty-One:

Spike stopped his car in front of the house, turning his head to look at Xander's window warily. He'd come over a couple of times before to talk to Xander, but Xander would conveniently be out of the house. Xander didn't want to talk to him. Message received. But Spike wouldn't have his relationship with Xander be wrecked too soon after it had been mended. He was going to try again, and he would be patient about it, he couldn't lose Xander's friendship.

Spike tried as hard as he could not to make a sound when he used his key to open the front door. He was on the verge of paranoia, thinking that just the slightest hint of a sound would send Xander flying out of the house without Spike noticing.

As he walked in, he heard the sound of TV blaring from the living room. He tiptoed his way toward the stairs, trying to reach Xander's room as quiet as a mouse.

"William?"

Bollocks.

Spike turned his head slowly to the living room's direction. His father was standing by the door with a newspaper tucked under his arm, eying him up and down.

Spike looked down at himself, not doubting that he looked like a thief sneaking into the house. With an uncomfortable laugh, he ran his hand over his gelled hair. "I came to see Xander."

Rupert's eyebrows met in confusion. "You didn't call."

Spike nodded awkwardly. "I know, I was just…"

"Xander isn't here," Rupert cut him off urgently.

Spike's eyes widened to the popping point. "What?" he exclaimed angrily. "How does he do it?"

Rupert frowned. "Do what?"

Spike bit his lip. "Never mind. Where is he then?"

"Sleepover at Jesse's."

Spike gaped, hands planted on his hips. "Sleepover on a school night?" He shook his head, expecting better from Rupert.

Rupert raised an eyebrow. "Today is Saturday."

Spike went back to biting his lip, and then scratched his temple. "Oh."

Rupert looked at him suspiciously, taking a few steps ahead. "What's the matter?"

Spike shook his head. "Nothing." At Rupert's look, he lowered his head helplessly. "We just… fought."

"About what?"

"It's, uh, silly. Don't worry about it. I'll take care of it."

"William," Rupert's voice held a bit of a warning that forced Spike to look up, meeting his father's stern gaze. "I've noticed things aren't going well for some time now."

"Oh, you've noticed," Spike said, twitching nervously.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I've noticed it since Angel came back to your life."

Spike's heart dropped. "Huh, what? No, it's not related to Angel at all."

"William." Now Rupert's gaze softened, and he regarded him with understanding. "I know you two are trying to make up for lost time, but… Xander considers you a close friend." Rupert placed a hand on Spike's shoulder and squeezed gently. "Try to spend more time with him like you used to do before."

Spike glanced at his father's hand tentatively and then nodded.

Spike hit his head against the wheel several times until it honked. He sat back immediately, frantically looking at the front door. Luckily, Rupert didn't come out. He slid down his seat into a lazy position and looked at himself in the car mirror. He appeared worn-out, lifeless and there were dark circles under his eyes. Last night he couldn't sleep, awful ripping guilt kept him up all night. Actually, he hadn't been able to sleep for days, lost in anguish thoughts, blaming himself for everything that went wrong.

He released a weary sigh, squeezing his eyes shut. God, Xander, don't do this to me. He knew Xander was hurting, he knew Xander's self-indulgent attitude was him acting out. Spike had screwed up, and he kept screwing up. It seemed that whatever he did, Xander ended up more hurt. But he didn't know what to do to make it better, he wanted things to stop being weird and hurtful. He wanted everybody to be happy. He especially wanted Xander to be happy.

He felt his mobile vibrating in his pocket, and his ringtone started to play. Spike stuffed his hand idly in his pocket bringing out the mobile, and then checked the name. Embarrassment washed over him when he read Tara's name on the screen. He couldn't remember the last time they'd talked.

Licking his lips, he brought the phone to his ear. "Hello, Tara," he said, a bit too cheerful.

"Hey there," she sounded cheerful herself, but her voice was more natural. "Haven't heard from you in days."

Spike winced. "Sorry about that. A lot is going on at the moment."

"Really? Like what?"

A lopsided smile crept to his lips. "Like I got me a boyfriend."

"Really?" He grinned at her happy squeal. "How is he like?"

"How about you tell me instead?"

"You're gonna introduce me to him?"

"At a fancy restaurant," Spike said, pulling himself up to sit straight. "My way of apologizing for neglecting a dear friend."

"Apology accepted." He could picture her with a sunny smile on her face, and he felt warmth inside. Tara knew how to lift his spirits up when he was down.

Tara smiled again at the waiter, pretending to nod her head to the non-existing beat of a very slow ballad. The waiter poured her more water and left without returning her smile. She looked at her watch again in annoyance, Spike was fifteen minutes late. Had she gotten the name of the restaurant wrong? She hadn't been to a lot of fancy restaurants. She could only remember Oz taking her to Chilies three times, if one would call it fancy. With their food prices, she considered it one.

Oh, finally Spike and his boyfriend arrived. Tara jumped to her feet, grinning joyfully at Spike. Her gaze went to check his boyfriend out. Wow, tall, dark and handsome. Spike doesn't play around.

"Sorry, we're late, Tara," Spike said bashfully, giving her a peck on the cheek.

She shook her head politely. "It's all right."

Spike took a step back to introduce her to his boyfriend. "Tara, this is Angel. Angel, this is my friend Tara. I've known her since high school."

Angel's lips curled into the most charming smile she'd ever seen. His big hand enveloped hers, shaking it gently. It felt hard, yet oddly tender. Tara released her hand right away, giving an awkward smile. Being single for too long wasn't doing her any good. She needed to find a man instead of crushing on Spike's boyfriend.

Angel pulled a new chair for her. She blinked at it, glancing at her old chair, but eventually she sat on the one Angel prepared for her. The butterflies in her stomach fluttered pointlessly; this was a gay man. A taken gay man. Get a grip, Tara.

"So, how's work?" Spike asked with a smile.

"Spent every hour of yesterday grading math papers. So, work is boring."

Spike nodded. There was something off about him, but Tara couldn't tell what.

"You teach math?" Angel asked.

Tara gave a shy nod.

"I suppose the children give you a hard time."

"Not all of them, but most of them. Yeah." Tara grinned. "I've stopped eleven students from sneaking out this month."

"I've noticed more than twenty," Angel said with a chuckle. "But stopped no one, they're adults, they know better."

Tara's eyes sparkled. "You're a teacher?"

"College professor. I was William's poetry professor when he was in university."

"Wow, that's how you two met?" Tara asked Angel, turning enthusiastically to Spike.

Spike was playing with his fork, wearing a grim face. He obviously hadn't heard a word they said.

Tara's excitement melted into concern, noticing Angel's hand moving across the table to hold Spike's. Spike startled, looking at Angel who gave him a warm smile. Spike smiled, even though it didn't reach his eyes. He looked back at her. "Sorry about that."

"I was telling Tara how we met," Angel said, his hand squeezing Spike's.

"Ah, not the happiest story," Spike replied.

"But it's got a happy ending," Tara said, pointing at their joined hands.

"Yeah," Spike whispered halfheartedly.

This time when the waiter arrived with their menus, Tara flashed a smile at him, and he returned it. She opened her menu to the main courses. Her smile vanished when her eyes caught the pricey prices.

She glanced warily at Spike. He'd insisted on paying, but she couldn't order something expensive. She checked the appetizers section, but hung her head in disappointment, even those were pricey.

"Tara." She lowered her menu and found Spike smiling. "I've got cash. You don't have to worry about it."

"Who's worried?" she said with a chuckle, setting her menu on the table. "I'm just searching. Can't seem to decide on anything."

"How about I decide for you?" Spike handed her his menu, pointing out a certain dish. "Try the aragosta mousseline."

Tara read under the name: lobster cubes with shrimps and hollandaise sauce with cream sauce. Before she could check the price, Spike pulled the menu back and snatched hers.

She narrowed her eyes at him. He smirked at her. Eventually she relented. "Okay, if you say so."

A tone ring played at that moment, and Angel stood up. "You'll have to excuse me, I need to take this."

"What are you going to have?" Spike asked.

"Same as yours." He winked at Spike, throwing a smile at Tara, and then walked further away from them to a corner.

Tara leaned forward to smile at Spike. "He's a keeper."

"Thank you." Spike smiled back, but it faded away quickly and he was back to the grim face.

"Spike, is something wrong?"

He pretended to be confused. "What do you mean?"

She pointed with her chin at him. "Sad face."

Spike looked away. "It's nothing."

"Sad face doesn't say it's nothing."

Spike stared at her for a while, looking like he was going to deny it. But he set his menu down, his gaze downcast. "It's Xander. We're not getting along well lately."

Tara nodded. "Is that why he's been slipping in school?"

Spike looked up with a frown. "Slipping?"

"He got an F on the last quiz."

"Oh." Spike looked quite upset about that, looking down at his plate.

"He's been spacing out in class, not paying attention to the lesson, and not doing his homework." Tara bit slightly on her lip, watching the lines of pain on Spike's face. "That big?"

"What?"

"Your fight."

Spike heaved a sigh, glancing Angel talking on the phone. "Yeah, it is."

Tara cast Angel a fleeting look before placing a hand on Spike's. "Can you talk to me about it?"

He shook his head. "I'm not sure Xander would like it if I did."

She drew her hand back. "I hope everything works out well."

"I hope so, too."

Angel came back to the table at this point, pulling his chair back and smiling at Spike. "That was my sister. She's going to visit next weekend to meet you."

"Wonderful," Spike said, forcing a smile.

Tara looked back and forth between the two and wondered if their relationship had something to do with Spike's fight with Xander. Angel seemed to know what was bothering Spike, judging from the way he held Spike's hand in support. But Tara couldn't help sensing some tension. Spike wouldn't give her the details, and Tara couldn't help if she didn't know.

She just hoped everything would work out in the end. Angel holding Spike's hand again made her optimistic.