Changing Lives

By Mabel Marsters

Disclaimer: I'm just playing with them okay?

Chapter Thirty-Four

Spike groaned as he was awoken by his alarm clock. He fumbled to turn it off, knocking it onto the floor without managing to quiet the alarm.

"Bloody hell," he muttered, climbing out of bed and finally turning the thing off.

Spike heard Rupert coming down the stairs from his bedroom; he tensed and waited for the inevitable knock on the door. But Rupert walked by without coming in. Spike breathed out in relief. Mind you, he still had to face him, and that was something he wasn't looking forward to. He walked over to his desk and touched the pile of books he'd rescued last night. They were all well used, fairly tatty copies but whatever punishment Rupert dealt out as far as he was concerned they were well worth it. He got dressed and put his hand on the door handle.

"Okay, here goes," he said to himself as he walked out to join Rupert.

Rupert was in the kitchen. Spike walked over and leant against the doorway.

"Um…mornin'," he said.

Rupert turned to look at him. "Good morning, Spike. How are you feeling? Not too tired, I hope?"

Spike, who'd been expecting a lecture, was surprised at how laid-back Rupert seemed.

"No, I'm okay, thanks," he replied. "Look, Rupert." He cleared his throat nervously, "I'm really sorry about last night. I should 'ave just talked to you about it. I can't believe I was so stupid. Again."

"You do seem to have a knack of getting into trouble," said Rupert dryly, handing Spike a bacon sandwich and mug of tea. "Come on, let's sit down."

"Here we go. One well deserved lecture coming up," thought Spike.

They sat in their usual places. Spike munched nervously on his sandwich, waiting for Rupert to speak. He didn't have long to wait.

"Right, Spike, I've done some thinking," said Rupert, taking off his glasses and cleaning them - a sign, Spike had learned over the past months, to be a precursor to something serious.

Spike nodded.

"I've been thinking about what I should do," continued Rupert, "about you being grounded.

"I know," interrupted Spike, "Until I'm like thirty, yeah? I'll tell Oz not to come over tomorrow, okay?"

"No, Spike, that's not what I was going to say. Oz is a sensible boy and looks like he's turning into a good friend for you," replied Rupert, "So I'm going to de- ground you or un-ground you, or whatever the term is."

Spike couldn't help but snicker at Rupert tying himself in knots. "Really?"

"Yes," said Rupert with a smile, putting on his glasses. "There will be some conditions, though."

"Yeah, conditions. No problem," said Spike eagerly, delighted that he could still see Oz on Saturdays.

"You will let me know where you are at all times. I will get you a cell phone and it has to be with you and turned on so I can get in touch if I need to. If you want to go out you will organise it in advance, not just come home and expect to go out that night," said Rupert firmly. "And there is a ten thirty curfew – no exceptions – for the first month, and then we'll take it from there. All right?"

"It's more than all right, Rupert. More than I deserve, I reckon," said Spike. "How come?"

"Well, I think most of the trouble you have had is because you're isolated. By bringing you here I took you away from your friends. You haven't really got anybody to talk to and by grounding you I've isolated you even more. You have got to start to open up to someone, Spike. You obviously can't talk to me or even to Monica very well, so perhaps being able to mix with a few friends will help."

"Thanks Rupert," said Spike.

Ooooooo

Spike wasn't sure how he got through morning classes. He was so tired he almost nodded off in Mrs. Bernstein's - mind you that wasn't so surprising as she was so boring he normally had trouble keeping his eyes open. He was walking towards the library for lunch when he saw Rupert approaching.

"Spike, I'm just on my way over to Jane's house, so I'll see you back at home later."

"Okay," said Spike.

Rupert looked at him seriously, "You're sure you're alright about this now, aren't you? Did you get everything you wanted? It's not like it will all be cleared today. If you like we can go back over to the house at the weekend?"

"Thanks, Rupert, but it's okay. I've got enough," replied Spike. He really didn't want to go back there any more. That part of his life was over; he could more easily accept it now.

Oz joined them just as Rupert started to leave.

"Hello, Oz," said Rupert, "Since I'm not at the library, Spike, why don't you go to the cafeteria with Oz? Perhaps tell him your good news?"

"Um, yeah," said Spike doubtfully. He enjoyed his seclusion in the library. "See yer later."

Rupert smiled at him, nodded and walked away.

"What news?" asked Oz.

"Um…well, I'm not grounded anymore," said Spike.

"That's great!" exclaimed Oz, "Why so hesitant about it? Come on, let's go and find the others." He started to walk but stopped when he realised Spike was stationary. "Come on, what's the hold up?"

"Er…well…" stuttered Spike, "I …er…I wouldn't be in the way, would I? It's just that you guys 'ave known each other for years."

"Don't be stupid," said Oz, "They won't bite. It'll be fun. Even William got to know them a little and he was way more shy than you are. Now you can come out you'll have to get to know them. I go out with them on Fridays and it's silly for you to stay in just 'cause you don't know them."

"Okay," said Spike reluctantly and he followed Oz to the cafeteria.

Oz pushed the door open and he and Spike walked in. Xander, Buffy and Willow were sitting at a round table in the middle of the cafeteria. They all smiled as they sat down and said 'hi' to each other.

"Spike's not grounded anymore," announced Oz.

"Hey, that's great," said Willow warmly. "You'll be able to come to see the Dingoes now."

"Yeah, that'll be fun," said Spike shyly, "Got a ten thirty curfew though."

"We'll be finished by then so you won't miss anything," said Oz.

"Are you all going?" asked Spike, casting a glance at Buffy.

She caught his eye and smiled broadly, "Yeah, we're all going so you've got no excuse not to come too."

Spike flushed and returned her smile.

"So you're not stuck in the library at lunchtimes anymore?" asked Xander.

"Um, I'm not totally sure," replied Spike, "Rupert's not there today. He's got the afternoon off to see to…er…some stuff. He might want me back there on Monday."

"So how come he decided to stop you being grounded?" asked Buffy.

Spike looked at the faces around him and Rupert's words about opening up to people played through his mind. He took a deep breath…

"It's a pretty long story and a pretty stupid one," he said, and then paused.

"Aw, c'mon, you can't just say that and stop," said Willow.

Spike tried a grin. "Okay, but I'm warning you, it is stupid and" he looked at Buffy, "it includes another patrol car."

"What? Oh my God, what have you been doing?" cried Buffy, eyes wide.

"Well, it started with a stupid idea that turned into an even more stupid plan," teased Spike, enjoying having them hanging on his words, shyness temporarily forgotten.

Xander gave him a playful thump on the arm. "Get on with it," he urged.

So Spike told them of last night's adventure. When he'd finished there was a bit of a stunned silence, just long enough for him to panic that he shouldn't have told them.

"That wasn't stupid," said Buffy softly, "I think it was a lovely thing to do."

"Would've been a hell of a lot easier if I'd just told Rupert what I wanted to do though," replied Spike, "I 'ave to say I didn't enjoy sitting there handcuffed for ages."

"No, I can see why you'd not like that. Did your arms hurt?" asked Xander.

"Yeah, and look," replied Spike, offering his right wrist for them to see.

"That looks sore," observed Willow.

"It is," said Spike, rubbing at the chafed skin. "That was the one they put on first and I think they put it on a bit tight."

Buffy reached out and touched the red mark on his wrist.

"Ouch!" he yelped.

"Oh God, I'm sorry," said Buffy, whipping her hand away.

Spike chuckled and grabbed her hand, holding it for a moment before letting go. "Only kidding."

"What? said Buffy, "Oh, you pig." She laughed and the others joined in, too.

Oz smiled to himself, delighted to see Spike coming out of his shell. He knew from his Saturday visits that Spike was a good storyteller.

Ooooooo

Spike wandered contentedly home. He couldn't believe that something he thought had ended in disaster had turned out to his advantage. He grinned at the thought of how he'd joked with Buffy. She seemed to enjoy it. He was surprised to see Rupert's car outside the apartment. He had thought he would have been back late.

"I'm home," he called as he went in.

"Hi, Spike, did you have a good day?"

"Yeah, I did," replied Spike. He went into his bedroom to put his schoolbag there and stopped short when he saw Rupert in there.

"What's he doing? Checking up on me?" thought Spike. Rupert had always, up to that point, respected Spike's space and had never gone in there uninvited.

"So, what do you think?" asked Rupert.

Spike looked to where Rupert was standing.

"Oh, Rupert, that's great. Thank you." His eyes lit up when he saw what he'd done.

"I just thought since you went to quite a bit of trouble to get them that they'd better have a proper home," said Rupert, showing Spike the bookshelf he'd put up above his computer desk.

Spike walked to join Rupert. He couldn't believe he'd done something like that for him after all the hassle he'd yet again caused. Spike vowed then never to cause Rupert any more trouble.

To be continued…….