They stood on the moving sidewalk running through LAX after they got off the plane, not really speaking. Spike turned to her after a while and asked, "So, you staying over?"
"Yes."
"Would you like to have dinner?" Buffy looked at him suspiciously and he covered with, "What? Just as friends."
"Thought you said men and women couldn't be just friends," she countered saucily.
His brows knit. "When did I say that?"
"On the way out to Vegas that night."
"No, no… Wait, yes, now I remember…" He thought for a moment, then began speaking, trying to work it all out believably. "…Unless both of them are with other people. Then they can. It's an amendment to the rule, you see. If the two people are in individual relationships then the pressure of becoming involved is lifted…" He thought again. "Although that doesn't really work either. What if the person you're involved with accuses you of being secretly attracted to the person you're 'just friends with'? Which, of course, you are, but would never admit, so that brings us back to the original rule that men and women can't be 'just friends'… so where does that leave us?" he finished, having completely confused himself.
"Spike…" Buffy started.
"Yes, Buffy?"
"Goodbye," she smiled softly and walked away.
"Okay." He nodded, shoving his hands in the pockets of his duster.
One year later, back in Vegas…
"So I just happened to see his American Express bill…"
"Willow," Buffy interrupted her best friend, who was prattling on about her crush on a married man in the middle of the Personal Development aisle of the local Barnes & Noble. "How do accidentally see someone's credit card bill?"
"Well, he was shaving. And I was all, 'Hey, look! He left his briefcase open.' So yeah, it was there in the open briefcase." The redhead blushed as she scanned the shelves in front of them.
"Wills," Buffy admonished, "what if he came out and saw you going through his briefcase?"
Willow Rosenburg waved her hands in the air and sighed. "You're missing the point. I'm telling you what I found… He just spent $120 on a nightgown for his wife…" She frowned. "I don't think he's ever going to leave her."
"Willow, honey…" Buffy hugged her friend around the shoulders. "No one does."
"You're right. And when you're right you're right." Willow scanned the shelves before something caught her attention from the other end of the aisle. "Buffy, there's somebody staring at you from the poetry section."
Buffy glanced over to where her friend's line of sight was focused and saw Spike sitting there looking at her. She turned back to Willow and smiled sarcastically, saying with a little too much pep, "I know him. You'd like him. He's married."
"Who is he?"
"William Benton. Or Spike. Whatever. He's an agent."
Willow raised her eyebrows and leaned over to say softly, "He's sexy."
Buffy darted a glance to Spike before turning to face Willow. "Really? Sexy?"
"Yummy. How do you know he's married?"
"Because the last time I saw him he was getting married."
"When was that?"
"A year ago." Buffy waved her hand dismissively. "Give or take a few months."
Willow fixed her with a knowing look. "So he might not be married anymore."
Buffy rolled her eyes again. "Also, he's annoying as hell."
"This is just like in the movies, remember? Like in 'The Lady Vanishes', where she tells him, 'You are the most obnoxious man I've ever met…'" She trailed off at Buffy's blank look. "Okay, so maybe I'm the only one that likes that movie."
"She said 'the most hateful'," Buffy corrected nonchalantly.
Excited, Willow continued, "And then they fall madly in love…"
Buffy sighed. "Also, he never remembers me."
Her surprise registered on her face as she heard his voice drawl, "Buffy Summers…"
Spinning, she smiled. "Hi, Spike."
He fixed her with his patented smirk. "Thought that was you."
"It is. This is Willow…" she turned to introduce her friend's rapidly retreating backside. "Er, was Willow." She turned back to Spike and shrugged.
"So," he laughed quietly. "How've you been doin', luv?"
"Fine. You?"
"That's great. How's good ol' Captain Cardboard doing?"
"Riley?" Buffy winced inwardly. "I hear he's doing fine."
Spike perked. "You're not with him anymore?"
"We just broke up," she muttered, not meeting his eyes.
"Aw, hell, that's too bad," he said with what he hoped sounded like sympathy.
"Yeah, well, you know… So… How 'bout you?" she asked, turning the conversation around. "How's the married life?"
"I'm getting a divorce," he shrugged.
"I'm sorry, I'm really sorry." She met his gaze. "When did this happen?"
"A couple of weeks ago," he said softly.
"Really?" she frowned. "That's when Riley and I broke up."
He raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that amazing."
"Yeah, coincidence. Of course, it could just be the Halloween season, never knowing what to go as…" She smiled. "So what happened?"
He kicked at imaginary dust bunnies on the floor. "She left me for a bloody writer."
"An 'Angel'," she smirked.
"Angel? Oh yeah," he laughed. "Right. Well, actually it was a 'Parker', but it's basically the same thing."
"I'm sorry, Spike," she murmured, feeling really guilty for saying those things about him to Willow.
"Yeah, well," he was saying, "what about you? What happened with you and your boy?"
"We grew too far apart. We each wanted different things." She sighed and shrugged, heading out of the store, him following on her heels. They walked together a while before she broke the silence. "At least I got the apartment."
He chuckled. "You know, everyone's been saying that to me, too… It's like when someone dies, they should just put the obituaries and the real estate ads together. Save typing and all that. You know, 'Mister Smith died, leaving his wife, two kids, and a spacious three-bedroom apartment with wood burning fireplace…"
Buffy laughed and they shared a moment together, for the first time, with nothing but humor. It was completely free of useless chatter and snarky comments.
As the laughter died down, he looked at her thoughtfully. "You know, when we first met, I didn't like you that much…"
Buffy smirked. "I didn't like you."
"You did too," Spike insisted. "You just had your knickers in a twist. Now you're much softer."
"I hate that kind of a compliment," Buffy replied vehemently. "It sounds like a compliment, but really it's an insult."
"Okay," Spike said easily. "You're still tough as nails."
"You just didn't like the fact that I didn't want to sleep with you. So you wrote it off as some character flaw instead of thinking that it might possibly have something to do with you," Buffy explained.
Spike glared at her good-naturedly. "What's the statute of limitations on apologies, pet?"
"Six years."
"Oh, good. I just made it, then."
Buffy smiled, meeting his gaze and getting lost in his eyes momentarily. Finally, she shook her head to clear the daze and said quietly, "Would you like to have dinner with me sometime?"
Spike raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Are we becoming friends now?"
"Well, I…" her voice trailed off as she thought about it. "I guess we could."
"A woman friend," he mused, hiding his elation. "This is amazing. You may be the first attractive woman I have not wanted to sleep with in my entire life."
Stung, Buffy nodded slightly. "That's… wonderful, Spike."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
TBC
