Author: Kelley (beanyb1999@hotmail.com)
Rating: Uh, PG-13? Don't really know what to rate it. No naughtiness in the story.
Disclaimer: Spike's mine. ALL mine! Ok, not really. I'm still working on it, but Joss is being rather selfish. So, he owns all the BtVS characters still.
Dedication: Once again, for Christy. For Shelley, the Keeper of the right half of our combined muse. For Bridgett, who always gives positive reviews. For Sarianna, Lami, and Mary Anne for the great reviews as well. Ok, shutting up now.
Note: I'd like to thank dreamcoat for telling me how to get rid of the evil numbers!
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Buffy stared at the three figures in front of the Magic Box. She was standing across the street in a dark, hidden corner. Once her eyes had completely focused she noticed Tara talking to Spike. They were both holding books, discussing something Buffy could not hear. There was a third figure standing to the other side of Spike. She couldn't see who it was, but the presence seemed familiar. Only when Spike stepped towards Tara did Buffy figure it out.
Drusilla! That ho! What was she doing there?
As if her sudden presence wasn't bad enough, Spike put his arm around her as they walked off.
What? Buffy's brain was screaming. She glared. Tara was obviously working with them.
But why?
And why was Drusilla in town?
Spike is full of shit, she thought angrily. If he loves me, what is he doing with his ex-ho?
She was going to follow them but decided against it. She'd beat it out of Spike tomorrow.
When they were out of sight, Buffy stomped over to the Magic Box.
"Hello, Buffy," Anya said cheerfully.
Buffy stopped and glared at the ex-demon. Anya frowned.
"Buffy, rudeness is not an attractive quality in a woman. You should really look into anger management."
"You're one to talk," Buffy snapped.
"You know what, Buffy? I'm tired of you walking around all mopey and being all bitchy. Get over it!" Anya cried.
"Whoa. Lots of tension here, ladies!"
Anya turned to look at Xander who had just walked into the shop. She smiled. "Hi!"
"What's going on?" he asked with a concerned look on his face.
"Buffy's being a bitch," Anya put it bluntly.
"Now Anya. Be nice. That's just rude," Xander scolded.
"Xander. She is! She glared at me when I was trying to be nice to her. That's the second time today," Anya protested.
"Well, maybe she's having a bad day. Calling her a bitch is not going to make her feel better," Xander said calmly.
"Thank you, Xander," Buffy said. She smiled at him.
"I don't understand this," Anya said in frustration. "If I'm having a bad day, I'm supposed to try and be nice to people so I don't cause them to have a bad day too. But if Buffy's being a bitch because of her bad day, causing me to have a bad day too I might add, I'm still supposed to be nice even though she isn't making an effort to be nice too? Xander, that's stupid. I shouldn't have to stand here and take it. I'm standing up for myself!"
Xander stared at his future wife. He couldn't really argue with her. That did make sense to him.
"Sorry," Buffy said quietly. "I didn't mean to upset you." She mustered the best smile she could. "I'm going to the training room now." She walked off.
After she was gone, Xander looked at Anya. "Oook, that was strange. Buffy's acting totally weird."
"Xander, she has been acting weird ever since we brought her back. I'm telling you, she's broken. We broke her."
"She's not broken, Ahn! She's just got a lot to work out."
"Oh, please! You and Willow are both so blind. She IS broken."
"Why do you think she's broken? She still slays the bad guys."
"First of all, she was pulled from Heaven. Secondly, she never laughs anymore. Thirdly, she'd rather be around Spike than us." She nodded her head, making her point.
"Ok, Spike thinks he's in love with Buffy. He follows her around. Spike can't love though. He's an evil soulless demon," Xander said, going off on a tangent.
"Oh, I see. You think because he's a demon he can't love or feel any emotions? I guess you'd look at me the same way if I was still a demon, wouldn't you?" Anya asked, tapping her foot.
"No, of course not. It's vampires I don't like."
"Yeah, right. I'll have you know that demons have feelings too," Anya retorted.
"Not Spike," Xander grumbled.
"Yes, even Spike," Anya replied. "Especially so."
"What do you mean by that?" Xander asked.
"Spike acts very human for a vampire. He eats our food, watches television, loves very passionately," Anya added with emphasis.
"But he doesn't have a soul like Dead Boy does." Anya looked at Xander. "You know . . . Angel," he replied.
"Angel has a human soul because of a curse. Am I right?"
"Well, yea. A major happy takes that away though."
"Spike HAS a soul, but it's a demon soul. I had a demon soul. I had emotions. Spike has emotions. He's a very unusual vampire, yes, but humans have always believed that vampires are soulless just because they don't possess a human soul."
"So? I still don't like him," Xander remarked.
Anya smiled. She'd gotten through to Xander a little bit.
She put her arms around his neck and kissed him.
Downstairs, Buffy relentlessly took out her frustrations on the punching bag before stopping altogether. She slumped to the ground and began sobbing instead.