Chapter Five: Just Friends and Only Ever Enemies
"So he just mumbled for awhile then turned tail and didn't come back?"
"Yes! It was so bizarre. I mean, weird behavior, even for Spike."
"Maybe he forgot his wallet at home," pondered Willow. "I did that once, except I didn't realize until after I had my food. It was quite embarrassing, very traumatic."
"What'd you do?"
Willow smiled and lowered her head to hide her face from Buffy. "Tara was there. She paid for me."
Buffy laughed at her friend as the red head's face attempted to turn the same color as her hair. "Mm-hmm," she said. "But you're just friends, of course."
Willow looked up. "Well, yeah, just friends. No, no, no unfriendly type feelings." She frowned. "Or, or extra-friendly type feelings, rather. There's a complete lack of, of feelings that are other than friendship."
Buffy laughed again, but decided to let it go. A moment passed, then she frowned again. "Spike, though," she returned to the previous topic. "I don't get it. Why does he even bother? We hate each other, he knows I work there, and I refuse to believe he comes in for our oh-so-superb coffee."
Willow shrugged. "Maybe it's for the dazzling customer service."
Buffy gave her a look.
"Yeah, I guess you're right." A beat passed, then Willow gave a sly smile. "Must be that he's got a thing for you."
Buffy nearly spit out her soda in Willow's face. "Willow!"
'Paybacks a bitch, Buff,' Willow thought. "Oh, come on Buffy- all those rippling muscles? And- oh! Covered with massage oil…"
"Willow Rosenberg!" Buffy finally managed. "You, you're… Wills, you're a gay woman! You're not supposed to be noticing spike's rippling muscles and …massage oil" She blushed.
Willow grinned outright now. "Ah-ha! You're blush reveals all, my friend. Admit it- there's a definite hotness factor surrounding our dear friend Spike, and it has you all hot and bothered like."
Buffy blushed again and stirred her drink. "Okay, fine, there's…" She looked around and lowered her voice. "He's totally hot, okay, but he's Spike. Spike who… Well, just Spike, okay? Whom I hate, and who hates me. There are no feelings. Feelings are nonexistent."
"Except hate," Willow clarified.
"Yes! Exactly. No feelings except hate."
"And lust." Before Buffy could protest, though, Willow turned serious. "I don't know though, Buffy. I know he can be a pig, but I hear through the grapevine that he can also be pretty serious. Sensitive, even. If you do have feelings for him still, that's okay, you know?"
"So I have your permission to fall in love with a complete jackass with whom I have a mutual hatred, Wills?" She paused for a moment, and took a sip of her drink. "And I caught that still, by the way. There should be no still."
Willow scrunched her face. "I'm just saying, Buffy. I know you two had a fling, and you're not really fling girl, so I'm merely hypothesizing that maybe, perhaps, there might have been something there. And I hear he can be nice."
Buffy raised her eyebrows. "Oh? And where, pray tell, do you hear this? Who's the last person in this grapevine you speak of?"
Willow blushed again. "Oh, you know. People here and there."
"What people here and there, exactly?"
"Umm, I don't really remember. Maybe Xander…"
Buffy had to struggle to keep her face composed. She arched her eyebrows again. "Xander told you that behind Spike's ruggedly handsome exterior lies a sensitive soul?"
Willow turned an even brighter shade of red. "Well, maybe it was more a, a someone else thing than a Xander thing."
"Mm-hmm. And this someone else- they wouldn't happen to be a Tara McClay shaped someone, would they?"
"Well, maybe. But, you know…" she gave up at the look Buffy was giving her. "We're just friends! I mean, she's totally… I mean, wow, but, I'm just me, and how could I ever… And besides, I don't even know if she's gay," Willow finished lamely.
"You know she is," Buffy offered. "Just because you haven't heard her say outright 'I'm gay!' doesn't mean you don't know. And as for the you're just you thing, you're right." Willow frowned, until Buffy continued. "You're you, Will. You're an amazing person. And Tara would be lucky to get a girl like you."
Willow didn't look all that convinced. "I guess so," she said, "but that's the thing. I don't really want her to have a girl like me, I want her to have a girl who is me." She frowned again. "And okay, wow, that came out a whole lot dirtier than I meant it to."
Buffy grinned. "Oh, come on Wills. Can't you just picture it- warm massage oil…" She laughed as Willow blushed yet again.
"Um, yeah, that's um… the weather, huh? How bout it. It's very… weathery…"
Buffy laughed outright, and after a moment Willow joined in, until they were both laughing so hard they couldn't breathe. And that's the way they were when Buffy heard someone clear their throat to interrupt them.
For some reason, Buffy just *knew* that it was Spike, before she even turned around. It was just a feeling she had, like when she'd answer the phone and know before the person spoke who was calling. An instinctive thing.
Except it wasn't Spike. Inwardly, she shrugged. Her instincts sucked, and she used caller id.
"Hey, Tara, how are you?"
Willow was slightly more flustered. She did the blushing thing again, closely followed by the babbling thing.
"Tara! Tara who we were just talking about." She realized how the shy girl might interpret that, and quickly followed with "In a good way, of course. In, in a friends way. In a way that… Hi. How are you?"
Buffy laughed inwardly at Willow. The red head had built up her self-confidence immensely in the few years she and Buffy had been friends, but stick her in a room with a potential girlfriend, and it all went out the window. "We were just talking about how weird Spike was today, and thought maybe you might know why," Buffy helped. Sensing a setup opportunity, she followed with "unfortunately, I have to go, but you're okay chatting together, right? I'll see you around." And with that she was gone, and Willow was alone with the girl of her dreams, and pretty much the only thought running through her head was "Eek!"