5. Lies
"Welcome to the Double Meat Palace, may I take your order?" Buffy asked exhaustedly without looking up, to the customer in front of her. Her 8 to 5 shift was drawing to a close, and she feared she might pass out at the cash register if she didn't get out of there soon.
"Umm, yeah. I'd like one people-burger to go please… extra people, and uh, hold the onions, they give me nasty indigestion." Xander joked holding his stomach dramatically. Buffy began to look up with a smile, but it quickly mutated into a look of shock and horror when she saw her friend's face. Both his eyes were black and the left was a good deal swollen. He had a fat lip that was split down the middle, and a bruised throat. "Oh my God, Xander! What the hell happened to you??" she cried with concern.
"What? Oh, this?" Xander replied, faking ignorance. "Aw it's nothin! Just a scratch. I slipped in the tub." He attempted a goofy grin but his grotesque wounds transformed it into something more like a twisted grimace. Buffy folded her arms across her chest and gave Xander her serious worry face. He sighed, putting the jokes aside. "You just about done in here?"
"Yah." She replied, removing her cow hat irritably. "Just gotta lock the door on the way out and—Xander who did that to you?" she insisted, disregarding discussion of close up.
"I'll explain when we get outside." He said, nodding his head towards the other employees, all within earshot. "You can walk me home, and I can tell you a nice bed time story on the way." She nodded knowingly, walking out from behind the counter, and then in a few minutes, with Xander out the front door.
"Now, tell me what happened? Buffy demanded as they walked in the direction of his house.
"Spike saying 'to Hell' with anger management is what happened." Xander replied.
"Spike did that to you." she repeated doubtfully. "Xander that's impossible…I mean not that he wouldn't….but, he physically can't. He'd pass out from the pain first." She said, looking up at him, impatient for a real explanation.
"Well he did, and with the many hard punches might I add." He insisted, motioning to his wounds. "Spike is de-chipped Buffy. Whatever demon it was that gave him his soul back, took the chip too. There must have been some kinda underworld two-for-one special goin on. Ya know…they'll even throw in an extra 15 percent off your next purchase, and a free Fear Demon if you're in the doors by 6." He rambled jokingly.
"So…what, he just hunted you down and went all berserk for no apparent reason?" She questioned, ignoring his antics. "That doesn't sound right…when I left him, he could barley string together a coherent thought." She said quietly.
"Well…" he paused for a moment. He was so torn between himself that he could almost feel the little angel on one shoulder and the little devil on the other. His every natural inclination was to be truthful, but he just couldn't bear to let Spike win this. He knew how Buffy would react if he told her what really happened between him self and the vampire. She would see Spike as the victim and Xander as the bad guy, and some immature, juvenile part of him simply could not let that happen. The truth of the situation was that Xander resented Spike. He resented that fact that despite all the awful things Spike did, or had done in the past, punishment always eluded him. He was never faced with the much-deserved repercussions of his actions, and he always managed to slip by judgment, somehow finding acceptance with the scoobies time after infuriating time. While Xander couldn't find forgiveness for what he did to Anya, no matter what he did, or how awful he felt, Spike was getting away with 150 guiltless years of rape, torture, and murder, right under his nose. It just wasn't fair. Spike didn't deserve redemption. If he lied, Xander thought to himself, then perhaps Buffy would stake him, thinking him unstable.
"She'd never believe him over me anyway." He reasoned with himself. Spike would be gone or isolated from the group for good, everyone's lives would be simpler, and the scoobs would be left none the wiser to his little fib. It felt wrong, deep down inside his bones, but this childlike jealousy was fierce, and it overcame his good judgment.
"Yah." He answered. "That's basically the gist of it. Personally, I think he's off his platinum blonde rocker, and I wouldn't trust him with Dawn anymore if I were you……..God knows what kinda freaky deaky things are buzzing around inside that bleached noggin of his." Buffy looked troubled. Something just didn't jive about the way Spike was behaving. Dawn had told Buffy about her and Spike's exchange at the cemetery, and from what she understood, there had not been a hint of violence in his demeanor. 'Something doesn't make sense, or maybe he really has lost it', she thought darkly. She wouldn't be shocked if this were the case. Unleashing morality onto a creature whose very existence is rooted in evil, can be undoubtedly detrimental to its mental state.
"I'll take care of it." She said simply, as they reached his apartment. Xander nodded, feeling uncomfortable with what he'd done. As he turned to go inside, Buffy asked carefully, "How are things going with Anya?"
"Um…not so hot." He replied, looking pained. "She's sorta mad that I chose to live out the end of days with Will instead of her… apparently she's overlooked part where I save earth from impending misery and doom, but hey, you know Anya…if there's a hair to be split…" he trailed off. Buffy shook her head in astonishment at the order of Anya's priorities.
"Talk about seeing the glass as half empty." She said quietly. "But," she continued with hope. "She loves you. If she didn't, she wouldn't be so hurt, or so angry…and…I think that where there's love, there's always a chance for forgiveness." She said, giving him a small, encouraging smile.
He sighed heavily. "I just don't know how much longer I can sit around and wait like this…ya know? I mean what more does she want from me? I've given everything I have…and it's still not enough." He ranted with frustration.
"I know." She replied, looking down. They were silent with reflection for a moment, staring at there feet in thought.
"Like sand through the hour glass…" he quipped after a bit, shaking his head in amusement at the drama of their lives.
Buffy chuckled, reaching her arms out to embrace her friend.
"I better get goin." Xander said, glancing at his watch dramatically. "I've got a date with Mr. Budweiser and the good Captain that I can't be late for." Buffy rolled her eyes with a smile.
"Try not to have too much fun." She called sarcastically as he turned to go inside, raising his hand goodbye. "I'll take care of Spike…" she said to herself, turning to make her way towards the cemetery.