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A hospital visit, an uncomfortable talk with Giles, and one day later, a disheartened Buffy and Willow gathered in their dorm room to discuss the situation.
Buffy collapsed on her bed and fumed, "I can't believe we don't have anything on Parker. How could no trace of drugs have been found in my system?"
"I was afraid that might happen," Willow admitted. "Like the doctor said, who knows what kind he used. Some of those drugs are undetectable in the blood within just hours of ingestion. And that Parker's got a nerve--saying you're lucky he didn't press charges against you for assault. Well, not actually 'saying' because of the broken jaw, but you know what I mean."
"Yeah, the only bright spot of the past two days has been the sight of him with his jaw wired shut." Buffy smiled faintly at the memory. "At least he probably can't do much to anyone while it's healing. Now, if only I could put Spike out of commission for at least that long."
"Speaking of Spike...." Willow sat up. "I've been thinking, and I came up with a different approach you could take with him. But I'm going to warn you ahead of time, you might not like it."
Buffy waved a hand to denote permission. "Go ahead, tell me. I'm getting desperate. The last thing I need is a lovesick vampire chasing me around. How did I get so lucky?"
"Okay, here goes." Willow took a deep breath and plunged in. "You aren't making progress the way you've been handling things so far so maybe if you play along with Spike a little, you can figure out what he's up to. Before you start saying I'm crazy, listen: You don't have to suddenly become best buddies or jump in bed with him, but at least try to be polite and have a reasonable conversation. Maybe he'll let something slip. You have a class with him. That would be the perfect time to start. He won't suspect a thing."
Buffy was silent for a moment, thinking, before she replied. "I hate to admit this, but I think you're right, Willow. Only, I can't believe I have to be nice to *Spike*. That's gonna hurt. But he must have been telling the truth about taking out Sunday's gang, he helped me with Parker, and now I'm totally confused. Just answer one question: Why do I only seem to attract the undead, and total creeps?"
"Xander, too," Willow reminded her.
"Like I said... no, just kidding. Besides, if even I was interested, which I definitely am not, I think Xander's already spoken for. He's been spending an awful lot of time with Anya lately."
"See, Anya is proof that not all demons--or former demons--are bad."
Buffy rolled her eyes. "Trying to make a case for Spike?"
"Not really, just pointing out that if he's really in love with you then he's pretty much harmless, which is of the good."
"You have one thing wrong, Willow: It isn't love on his part, it's obsession, and it won't last. I won't let it." Buffy had already decided; she would put on an act to trick Spike, but that was *all* it would be.
*****
On Friday, Spike anxiously waited for Buffy to arrive in the composition classroom. He hadn't attempted to approach her since the disaster on Wednesday in his lair, and he wondered how she would react to seeing him again. Should he apologize? Probably. He'd done that a lot when he'd been with Dru, even when he hadn't understood why, and it had usually made things at least a little better. Maybe it would this time, too. Spike figured he needed all the help he could get with Buffy.
He really did regret losing his temper and yelling at her. In fact, it was part of the reason he'd gone to have his little talk with Professor Walsh. After Buffy took the makeup test, surely she couldn't remain quite so angry with him. Maybe she'd even appreciate the efforts he'd taken on her behalf and start to realize his feelings were sincere.
Spike checked the clock again, then glanced back at the doorway, and this time Buffy was there. She caught his eye and instantly looked away, but she still picked her way across the room toward her usual seat beside him. Spike looked at her more closely. What was that on her finger? It looked like... yes, it was the ring Spike had sent her. Pitiful as the thought was, the fact that she was wearing it was the first real sign of encouragement Buffy had given him.
He prepared himself to grovel as she reached her desk, but Buffy started talking before he had a chance. "Look, about the other day... I was in a bad mood because I'd missed my psych test so I took it out on you. I know it was mostly my fault and I'm sorry."
Spike was struck speechless. He had never expected to *receive* an apology. He quickly regained some of his wits and asked, "But the professor allowed you to make that test up, didn't she?"
Buffy shook her head. "She wouldn't give me a chance because it's against policy. Once you miss a test in her class, that's that. She doesn't seem to like me much anyway so she was hardly going to make an exception for me. I even got a 'D' on the assignment she handed back today."
"How could she do that?" Spike snarled. "That wasn't what was supposed to happen!"
Buffy looked at him with wide eyes. "Um, Spike, your confidence in me is appreciated, I guess, but I'm hardly the world's best student. To be fair, I did go into that class knowing the testing policy. Plus, my other work isn't all that good. I mean, I don't think I deserve to get 'D' after 'D'--maybe 'C' after 'C' with a 'B' once in a while--but I can't do much about it except keep trying."
'Maybe you can't, but I can,' Spike thought. Professor Walsh obviously hadn't listened to his friendly warning. He would give her one more chance before he took serious action.
"Hello? Spike?" Buffy called. "You still in there?"
"Yeah, Slayer." He shoved aside thoughts of Professor Walsh for the time being. After all, Buffy was being nice to him; actually treating him almost like an equal. Her sudden turnaround was almost too good to be true, but Spike decided to enjoy the situation now and worry about that niggling doubt later.
TBC
Yes, Buffy will start to soften toward Spike soon. Also, in this chapter I used btvsbaby75's suggestion that Buffy wear the ring to class. It worked well with what I'd been planning. :)
One more thing: I definitely will finish this story. It might take me a while yet, but it will get done.