Buffy had never driven so fast in her life. Unfortunately her driving
skills left a lot to be desired and along the way she was close to hitting
two squirrels, an old man with a cane trying to cross the road, a dog and a
parking meter. She had hoped that her friends wouldn't be too upset with
her for just leaving them there and taking the car but, knew they weren't
too far from home so they would be all right. She just couldn't bring
herself to stick around and explain everything that had just happened. She
was too shaken at the moment and knew if she didn't get out of that store
and run over to Angel's as soon as humanly possible, she would simply
burst.
She sped into the driveway of the hotel and screeched to a halt. Preparing to go inside and meet her fate, she pulled the keys out of the ignition. A sudden feeling of panic stopped her and she froze still seated behind the wheel. Her heart started racing and she felt as if she could barely breathe, suddenly realizing she had no idea what she was doing. What if Spike wasn't even here? What if he was? What would she do? What would she say? But it was the biggest question of all that made her finally step out of her car. Why was she never told that Spike was still alive? She wondered who had kept him from her and why. She wondered if Spike even wanted to see her. Maybe him begging her to be found in her dream was just a fluke.
"There's only one way to find out." She whispered to herself as an answer to about a dozen questions still floating in her mind.
Buffy took so many deep breaths before reaching the door that she thought she would pass out. Her hands were shaking. Her head was spinning. Her life was about to change dramatically in a matter of minutes either for the worse or for the better. Not knowing was just about killing her and she finally opened the door and stepped into the lobby.
The lobby looked empty. There was no one in sight and no sound that would make her think anyone was there at all. She walked up to the front desk and peered into Angel's office, which was behind it and slightly off to the side. He was sitting at his desk quietly working.
Buffy cleared her throat to get his attention and he finally looked up at her. He instantly smiled at her but then his smile was quickly lost and replaced with wide eyes and fear. All it took was that one expression on his face to let her know that he was definitely hiding something.
Angel walked up to Buffy, the smile returning to his face. "Buffy! What are you doing here?"
"I just thought I'd stop by. I wanted to say hello and see how things were going." Buffy said, deciding to play it cool.
"Everything is great." Angel said quickly. "I'm glad you stopped by. I really am, but it's not really a great time. I'm working on something mighty important."
"Anything I can help with?" Buffy asked, her eyes searching the area around her.
"Uh, no. I really don't need any help with it. Maybe we could get together in a few days. We could meet up somewhere." Angel started to get shifty and his eyes traveled up toward the second floor.
Buffy's eyes followed the direction of his but quickly traveled back to his face. "Are you trying to get rid of me?"
"No, of course not. I just thought it would be better to get together when I had a little more time."
Angel walked over to the door and opened it, hoping Buffy would get the hint and leave.
There stood Angel staring at Buffy, holding an open door and waiting for her to walk through it. Slowly, she made her way toward him. When she got closer to the door he backed off a little. Heading for the door, Buffy gave one last look at Angel and thought she saw him breathe a sigh of relief at the idea of her leaving. Instead of crossing the threshold, she grabbed the door, closed it, leaned back against it and remained inside.
Buffy looked up at him seeing confusion in his eyes accompanied by a bit of panic. She finally decided to cut the crap and get right to the point.
"So, where is he?" Buffy asked, pursing her lips in anger.
"Where is who?"
Buffy sighed and rolled her eyes. "Spike. That's who."
"Buffy, what are you talking about? Spike died in the last apocalyptic scare. Have you lost your memory again?"
"Don't play dumb." Buffy snapped.
"I'm not playing.."
"DON'T lie to me!" Buffy angrily interrupted. "I know he's here."
"Buffy, I swear.." Angel started but was interrupted by the sound of clanging metal.
"Stupid sodding plumbing! Doesn't anything work in his place?" Spike appeared at the top of the stairs holding a wrench. "I don't know why I have to fix every bloody thing around here." Spike started descending the stairs completely oblivious to what was going on around him. "I expected to be treated like Mr. Fix-it by Xander but I thought you knew I could be more useful than that. I'd like to get into the fight. Shake things up a bit but no, instead you have me playing the role of the bloody Irish Plumber."
As Spike reached the bottom of the stairs he finally saw that Angel wasn't alone. He saw Buffy standing there, staring at him as if she'd never seen him before.
A sudden gentleness appeared in Spike's eyes as he tilted his head and assessed the situation.
Buffy simply stared at Spike, who was wearing his traditional black jeans and T-shirt. She was surprised to find that even though she came here expecting to see him, it didn't do anything to lessen the shock of him actually standing in front of her.
She suddenly got very nervous and had to look away from Spike for a while to regain her composure. She looked at Angel instead, with venom in her eyes.
"So, how long has he been here?" She asked with a clenched jaw.
"Not too long." Angel answered shortly.
"How long?" Buffy repeated in a partial yell, getting very impatient.
"Three months." Angel answered, looking down at his shoes.
"Three months." Buffy stated in a huff, flailing her arms dramatically. "He's been here all that time and you couldn't even let me know! It's not as if I hadn't talked to you since then."
"Wait a second." Spike chimed in. "You said you called her! You said you told her about me!" He looked at Buffy, then pointed at Angel. "He said he called you!" He repeated, wanting badly to convince Buffy that this wasn't his fault.
"Why didn't YOU call me?" Buffy finally spoke to Spike.
"Angel here said he thought it would be better if you heard it from him, less of a shock and all. He made it sound like you didn't want to see me so I figured I'd just stay out of your way."
Buffy looked over at Angel with anger boiling in the pit of her stomach. "You told him what?" Buffy narrowed her eyes.
Angel just stared at her with his mouth opening and closing, unable to form words.
"You son of a bitch!" Buffy yelled, extending her arm back, swinging it forward and hitting Angel across the face with all her might, sending him flying into the weapons chest in the back of the room.
Angel landed with a grunt of intense pain. When he looked up, he saw Buffy with a remaining scowl and Spike with a smirk of satisfaction.
Buffy walked up to a now bleeding Angel with dangerous violence and betrayal in her eyes.
"How could you do that to me? How could you keep something like this from me? I trusted you!"
"Buffy, I thought I was doing what was best for you." Angel stood up, wiping the blood from his mouth.
"What was best for me?" She asked incredulously. "Why can't anyone ever let me decide what's best for me? Did you actually think you were doing me a favor? Did you actually think I would never find out? Or is there something else you're not telling me?"
Angel looked down and took a step toward Buffy. Spike waited in the wings and watched the battle unfold, not entirely sure what to do.
"Ok. Maybe there were some selfish reasons behind me not telling you." Angel admitted, still not looking at her face.
"Such as?" Buffy waited, desperately trying to hang on to the tiny bit of patience she had left.
"The last time I saw you, you spoke of the future and not being ready to choose that one person you wanted to be with. You said you weren't ready."
"Yeah, go on." Buffy wondered where he was going with this.
"I couldn't help but try and convince myself that I was what you needed. But I knew there were so many things I couldn't give you. I guess I just got scared. When Spike came back, I realized that he could give you all the things I couldn't. He has everything that should have been mine." Angel sighed and clenched his teeth at the realization that he was admitting all these things with Spike just 15 feet away.
"Angel, what are you saying? You aren't making sense."
Angel finally looked up at her, glanced over at Spike who was still patiently staying out of the way, then looked at Buffy again, making eye contact.
"Buffy." Angel sighed. "Spike came back human."
Buffy jumped a little as if she were stung. She tried to let the information sink in but still couldn't bring herself to face Spike.
Buffy's hands started to shake. "Oh boy. I think I need to sit down." To Be Continued..
She sped into the driveway of the hotel and screeched to a halt. Preparing to go inside and meet her fate, she pulled the keys out of the ignition. A sudden feeling of panic stopped her and she froze still seated behind the wheel. Her heart started racing and she felt as if she could barely breathe, suddenly realizing she had no idea what she was doing. What if Spike wasn't even here? What if he was? What would she do? What would she say? But it was the biggest question of all that made her finally step out of her car. Why was she never told that Spike was still alive? She wondered who had kept him from her and why. She wondered if Spike even wanted to see her. Maybe him begging her to be found in her dream was just a fluke.
"There's only one way to find out." She whispered to herself as an answer to about a dozen questions still floating in her mind.
Buffy took so many deep breaths before reaching the door that she thought she would pass out. Her hands were shaking. Her head was spinning. Her life was about to change dramatically in a matter of minutes either for the worse or for the better. Not knowing was just about killing her and she finally opened the door and stepped into the lobby.
The lobby looked empty. There was no one in sight and no sound that would make her think anyone was there at all. She walked up to the front desk and peered into Angel's office, which was behind it and slightly off to the side. He was sitting at his desk quietly working.
Buffy cleared her throat to get his attention and he finally looked up at her. He instantly smiled at her but then his smile was quickly lost and replaced with wide eyes and fear. All it took was that one expression on his face to let her know that he was definitely hiding something.
Angel walked up to Buffy, the smile returning to his face. "Buffy! What are you doing here?"
"I just thought I'd stop by. I wanted to say hello and see how things were going." Buffy said, deciding to play it cool.
"Everything is great." Angel said quickly. "I'm glad you stopped by. I really am, but it's not really a great time. I'm working on something mighty important."
"Anything I can help with?" Buffy asked, her eyes searching the area around her.
"Uh, no. I really don't need any help with it. Maybe we could get together in a few days. We could meet up somewhere." Angel started to get shifty and his eyes traveled up toward the second floor.
Buffy's eyes followed the direction of his but quickly traveled back to his face. "Are you trying to get rid of me?"
"No, of course not. I just thought it would be better to get together when I had a little more time."
Angel walked over to the door and opened it, hoping Buffy would get the hint and leave.
There stood Angel staring at Buffy, holding an open door and waiting for her to walk through it. Slowly, she made her way toward him. When she got closer to the door he backed off a little. Heading for the door, Buffy gave one last look at Angel and thought she saw him breathe a sigh of relief at the idea of her leaving. Instead of crossing the threshold, she grabbed the door, closed it, leaned back against it and remained inside.
Buffy looked up at him seeing confusion in his eyes accompanied by a bit of panic. She finally decided to cut the crap and get right to the point.
"So, where is he?" Buffy asked, pursing her lips in anger.
"Where is who?"
Buffy sighed and rolled her eyes. "Spike. That's who."
"Buffy, what are you talking about? Spike died in the last apocalyptic scare. Have you lost your memory again?"
"Don't play dumb." Buffy snapped.
"I'm not playing.."
"DON'T lie to me!" Buffy angrily interrupted. "I know he's here."
"Buffy, I swear.." Angel started but was interrupted by the sound of clanging metal.
"Stupid sodding plumbing! Doesn't anything work in his place?" Spike appeared at the top of the stairs holding a wrench. "I don't know why I have to fix every bloody thing around here." Spike started descending the stairs completely oblivious to what was going on around him. "I expected to be treated like Mr. Fix-it by Xander but I thought you knew I could be more useful than that. I'd like to get into the fight. Shake things up a bit but no, instead you have me playing the role of the bloody Irish Plumber."
As Spike reached the bottom of the stairs he finally saw that Angel wasn't alone. He saw Buffy standing there, staring at him as if she'd never seen him before.
A sudden gentleness appeared in Spike's eyes as he tilted his head and assessed the situation.
Buffy simply stared at Spike, who was wearing his traditional black jeans and T-shirt. She was surprised to find that even though she came here expecting to see him, it didn't do anything to lessen the shock of him actually standing in front of her.
She suddenly got very nervous and had to look away from Spike for a while to regain her composure. She looked at Angel instead, with venom in her eyes.
"So, how long has he been here?" She asked with a clenched jaw.
"Not too long." Angel answered shortly.
"How long?" Buffy repeated in a partial yell, getting very impatient.
"Three months." Angel answered, looking down at his shoes.
"Three months." Buffy stated in a huff, flailing her arms dramatically. "He's been here all that time and you couldn't even let me know! It's not as if I hadn't talked to you since then."
"Wait a second." Spike chimed in. "You said you called her! You said you told her about me!" He looked at Buffy, then pointed at Angel. "He said he called you!" He repeated, wanting badly to convince Buffy that this wasn't his fault.
"Why didn't YOU call me?" Buffy finally spoke to Spike.
"Angel here said he thought it would be better if you heard it from him, less of a shock and all. He made it sound like you didn't want to see me so I figured I'd just stay out of your way."
Buffy looked over at Angel with anger boiling in the pit of her stomach. "You told him what?" Buffy narrowed her eyes.
Angel just stared at her with his mouth opening and closing, unable to form words.
"You son of a bitch!" Buffy yelled, extending her arm back, swinging it forward and hitting Angel across the face with all her might, sending him flying into the weapons chest in the back of the room.
Angel landed with a grunt of intense pain. When he looked up, he saw Buffy with a remaining scowl and Spike with a smirk of satisfaction.
Buffy walked up to a now bleeding Angel with dangerous violence and betrayal in her eyes.
"How could you do that to me? How could you keep something like this from me? I trusted you!"
"Buffy, I thought I was doing what was best for you." Angel stood up, wiping the blood from his mouth.
"What was best for me?" She asked incredulously. "Why can't anyone ever let me decide what's best for me? Did you actually think you were doing me a favor? Did you actually think I would never find out? Or is there something else you're not telling me?"
Angel looked down and took a step toward Buffy. Spike waited in the wings and watched the battle unfold, not entirely sure what to do.
"Ok. Maybe there were some selfish reasons behind me not telling you." Angel admitted, still not looking at her face.
"Such as?" Buffy waited, desperately trying to hang on to the tiny bit of patience she had left.
"The last time I saw you, you spoke of the future and not being ready to choose that one person you wanted to be with. You said you weren't ready."
"Yeah, go on." Buffy wondered where he was going with this.
"I couldn't help but try and convince myself that I was what you needed. But I knew there were so many things I couldn't give you. I guess I just got scared. When Spike came back, I realized that he could give you all the things I couldn't. He has everything that should have been mine." Angel sighed and clenched his teeth at the realization that he was admitting all these things with Spike just 15 feet away.
"Angel, what are you saying? You aren't making sense."
Angel finally looked up at her, glanced over at Spike who was still patiently staying out of the way, then looked at Buffy again, making eye contact.
"Buffy." Angel sighed. "Spike came back human."
Buffy jumped a little as if she were stung. She tried to let the information sink in but still couldn't bring herself to face Spike.
Buffy's hands started to shake. "Oh boy. I think I need to sit down." To Be Continued..