A/N: Here it is...the next part (and the last part of the Friendship
phase...next up is two Distracting ones and then finally the best...Winning
Over.)
Disclaimer: Some of the dialogue in this section is taken directly from other Buffy episodes. Also, I know I got some of the dialogue from IWMTLY wrong, but I meant to because of the context (if you read it this * might * make sense ;) ) ~
Spike sat back in his couch and sipped his blood, fingering the leather folds in the arm of it. Dawn was going to be there any moment and he was getting restless. They hadn't had a real talk since the first night they had arrived. He heard a small knock and then the squeak of an opening door. Dawn walked in and sat down next to him, not saying anything. Spike finished his blood before turning to the teen.
"Well, well. If it isn't Miss Jones." Dawn rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.
"Do you have any idea how creepy that is? I cannot force myself to accept that woman as my mother."
"Ya have to. Ya don't have a choice."
"I know, but still. So, how goes your unlife?" Spike shrugged and looked around.
"Took me three bloody months for her to even consider me a friend. I was too nervous up to that point and she was trying to shake away her initial attraction. No matter, though. Cuz I know its there." Dawn rolled her tongue over her lips.
"Spike, are you sure its safe for you to try to fight Angel for Buffy's affections? He can get pretty violent when it comes to my sister."
"He'd never kill me, nibblet. Especially if it would hurt your sister." Dawn accepted this with a nod.
"It's another one of those calms." She remarked quietly.
"Yeah, I know. Something's buildin'. My demon's going mad." Spike stood up and raced his fingers over his hair.
"We've got awhile, don't we? Whistler said you had to have until the 6th month to get Angel out of here." Spike nodded in confirmation and pulled out a fag. He held it up to Dawn for the okay, who shook her head with a level of disdain.
"Fine. I'll drink then." Spike poured himself a glass of bourbon as he mused aloud, "What doesn't make sense to me is why Angel can't be around when this baddie comes. I mean, wouldn't the extra muscle do us good?"
"It probably has to do with their romance and all. It would distract Buffy too much. Angel always did that to her. Made her forget everything. You were different though. You kept her levelheaded. Possibly made her more levelheaded." Spike smiled sadly at Dawn.
"Just give me some more time, Dawn."
~
"Must you always carry on so incessantly?" Giles roared to Willow and Buffy, who were quietly discussing the possibility of a Sadie Hawkins' dance.
"Geez, what crawled up your butt?" Buffy asked, only half serious.
"Nothing. I'm just trying to work and all I can hear is 'Oh I hope Own asks me!' 'Oh I hope Xander asks me! But he won't!' 'Yes he will' 'No he won't' and so on and so forth and frankly this is neither the time nor the place for such a trite conversation!"
"We're probably not going to have one, anyway. I mean, since they're spending all the school funds trying to cover up Principal Fluties death. Plus, they need to up the new principal's salary." Willow announced, taking in the suddenly disgusted faces of Giles and Buffy.
"Stupid Snyder." Buffy muttered audibly.
"He's worse than most of the council members. And that's saying quite a lot." Giles agreed.
"Hello my fellow Scooby's!" Xander's loud voice rang through the library and he plopped in the seat next to Buffy.
"Scooby's?" Willow asked, sharing a confused look with Buffy.
"Well, I realized that our little group is sort of like the Scooby Gang. Willow is like Velma, because she's book smart and can work computers, Ambrine...oh, sorry, "Dawn" is like Daphne, because she's kinda flaky, but still contributes to the group, Spike is like Fred, because he's street smart but tends to take all the credit, Jess is kinda like Scooby, because he's doglike, only works with a reward, and is easily frightened by loud noises, I'm like Shaggy because, well, Shaggy's a fun-lovin', food-lovin' kinda guy who ends up helping the mess in an unconventional way. As for the Buffster and Giles, they can't be classified, but if the Scooby gang had an ass-kicker and a British super-genius, they'd be all set." Xander finished with a grand crescendo before collapsing his head down on the desk and panting. Buffy and Willow exchanged looks.
"You have waay too much time on your hands."
~
"Come out, come out, where ever you are..." Buffy sang quietly as she walked thorough the graveyard on a patrol, "and meet the young lady who fell from a star..."
"Wizard of Oz fan, luv?" Buffy felt a smile come to her face.
"Not especially. Just have it stuck in my head." Spike fell in step with the slayer.
"I see. Ya know, I met Judy Garland, once. Nice chit. Fucked up most of the time, but still nice." Buffy laughed at Spike's liberal word choice. He looked sheepish for a moment.
"Sorry." Buffy waved her hand and stopped suddenly when she felt something hit her senses.
"It's probably just me, luv." Spike whispered, the old feeling overcoming him. She glanced upwards and looked into his eyes. She felt a wave of attraction wash over her, as well...he had breathtaking eyes, literally. She shook out those thoughts. She was over that. She and Spike were just friends.
"Probably." They walked in comfortable silence for a few moments when Buffy sat on a gravestone in frustration.
"Nothing. This is the fifth time since last Thursday that I've had no vamps whatsoever."
"You tell Giles this?" Spike asked, feeling slightly concerned.
"Yeah. He said that most vamps hate Christmas, which I don't really blame them for, but still...I thought there'd be more." Spike nodded.
"There normally is." He paused for a moment. "You don't like Christmas?"
"It's not that I don't like Christmas, it's just that...When I was five years old, Christmastime amazed me. The days before it felt like hours and everything seemed so much brighter and sweeter." Buffy sighed and dove right in, opening her soul, "Just seeing bright house lights during those times got me excited. Every time it snowed I felt like Santa was getting closer. I was just filled with this unparalleled joy...that's what it was. Joy. And it got refreshed every time I saw a candle being lit or every time I heard a carol. But now...I'm jaded. The colors are all grayed and the candles are dimmed. I feel like everything's so dark and so fake and so cheap. Bing Crosby's voice is now annoying. Christmas cookie's are suddenly fattening. Instead of worrying whether Santa will bring me the right toys, I'm worrying if vampires are going to be around. It sounds so completely absurd, whenever I detach myself. Sometimes you have to do that. But it scares the hell outta me whenever I do."
"You never told me that." Spike whispered.
"What?"
"I said you shouldn't think that. About Christmas, I mean. You just need to change your perspective is all." Buffy crossed her arms.
"And how do you propose I do that?" Spike looked her up and down.
"First off, stop whining so much. Life isn't that awful. Look at me. Second, you just gotta remember what it was like. Indulge yourself. Spend some time shopping instead of going on a wild goose chase for vamps you know aren't gonna be there. Eat those fattening cookies, sing those carols that used to make you so excited. And stop feeling so sorry for yourself." Buffy raised her eyebrows and leaned back.
"No one has ever been that blatantly honest with me before." She whispered to herself. The corners of her mouth twitched. Eventually she broke out into a huge smile.
"I'm so lucky to have you as a friend." She remarked candidly, "No one else would have ever said that to me."
"Just give them time, luv." Spike sat down against the stone and looked up at the stars.
"Clear night." He said, half to himself.
"It's nice. A lot different from L.A."
"There's no light polluting the view." Spike said, twiddling a piece of grass between his thumb and index finger.
"It's nice."
~
Willow's phone blared. She groaned in her bed and looked at the time.
12:35
"Who died?" She groaned into the phone.
"Will, it's me. Buffy."
"Oh my gosh, who died?!" Willow repeated, sitting up.
"No one. I just- I needed to talk to someone." Willow leaned back against her wall and frowned.
"Okay..."
"Let's say, hypothetically, there's this guy who is completely and totally wrong for you, yet you still had feelings for him. What would you do?"
"Make vowel sounds?" Willow yawned.
"Will."
"I'd probably go for it. Ya know, Carpe Diem."
"Seize the fish?"
"Seize the day."
"Oh. Well, okay, again, with the hypotheticalness...what if there were two of these alleged potentially-dysfuctional-but-super-hot-boyfriendy types?"
"Are you talking about Spike and Angel?" Willow stifled a laugh when she heard Buffy flop onto her bed in defeat.
"Is there something wrong with me?"
"No way. Both of them are way hot." Willow admitted.
"With Angel...I dunno."
"He pushed your buttons."
"Yeah, but it'd be like 'Hi honey! You're in grave danger...see you next month.'"
"He is a little sporadic with his drop-ins." Willow stretched her legs out, making herself comfortable.
"And Spike...Spike is amazing. He's everything I want, but he's a vampire and he's Angel's childe, which creates huge problems. Angel would probably kill him if he ever went for me. Plus, I don't even know if he has feelings for me. He probably doesn't."
"I saw a picture of his old girlfriend when Giles made me do research." Willow heard Buffy's attention perk up.
"Oh?"
"She was gorgeous. Sort of a gothic beauty, though. He name was Droosoola or something weird like that."
"Gothic beauty? Yeah, that's the first thing that pops to most peoples mind when they see me." Willow felt a pang of pity when she heard Buffy's sad voice. She's got it pretty bad for this guy.
"Well, remember, he was evil at the time."
"That's another problem. He and Angel were both mass murderer's at one point. Spike's killed a slayer."
"Two, actually."
"Thanks."
"Sorry."
"Well, I'm tired, I think I'm gonna crash. Sorry to wake you up so late."
"Don't worry about it. It's nice to have a friend to wake me up this late." Willow could've sworn she heard Buffy smile.
"Night Will."
"Goodnight, Buffy."
~
There were flowers on the table.
A beautiful bouquet.
Buffy smiled down at them as she read the tag. They were for her mom. They were signed, Love Brian.
"Well, at least there's still some good ones left." She whispered.
"Hey flower lady!" Buffy yelled through the house. It seemed empty. But it wasn't. Long dark shadows crawled around her.
"Angel doesn't have a soul..."
"You could have died..."
"...don't even think about coming back!"
"Five by five..."
"Mayor Wilkins..."
"I'm drownin' in ya Summers, I'm drownin' in ya..."
"I love you..."
"I love you..."
"I love you..."
Her mother laid sprawled out on the couch, dead.
~
Buffy awoke with a start.
A/N: I know I said long and this is sorta long, but the next chapter (which will be up tomorrow) will be longer.
Disclaimer: Some of the dialogue in this section is taken directly from other Buffy episodes. Also, I know I got some of the dialogue from IWMTLY wrong, but I meant to because of the context (if you read it this * might * make sense ;) ) ~
Spike sat back in his couch and sipped his blood, fingering the leather folds in the arm of it. Dawn was going to be there any moment and he was getting restless. They hadn't had a real talk since the first night they had arrived. He heard a small knock and then the squeak of an opening door. Dawn walked in and sat down next to him, not saying anything. Spike finished his blood before turning to the teen.
"Well, well. If it isn't Miss Jones." Dawn rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.
"Do you have any idea how creepy that is? I cannot force myself to accept that woman as my mother."
"Ya have to. Ya don't have a choice."
"I know, but still. So, how goes your unlife?" Spike shrugged and looked around.
"Took me three bloody months for her to even consider me a friend. I was too nervous up to that point and she was trying to shake away her initial attraction. No matter, though. Cuz I know its there." Dawn rolled her tongue over her lips.
"Spike, are you sure its safe for you to try to fight Angel for Buffy's affections? He can get pretty violent when it comes to my sister."
"He'd never kill me, nibblet. Especially if it would hurt your sister." Dawn accepted this with a nod.
"It's another one of those calms." She remarked quietly.
"Yeah, I know. Something's buildin'. My demon's going mad." Spike stood up and raced his fingers over his hair.
"We've got awhile, don't we? Whistler said you had to have until the 6th month to get Angel out of here." Spike nodded in confirmation and pulled out a fag. He held it up to Dawn for the okay, who shook her head with a level of disdain.
"Fine. I'll drink then." Spike poured himself a glass of bourbon as he mused aloud, "What doesn't make sense to me is why Angel can't be around when this baddie comes. I mean, wouldn't the extra muscle do us good?"
"It probably has to do with their romance and all. It would distract Buffy too much. Angel always did that to her. Made her forget everything. You were different though. You kept her levelheaded. Possibly made her more levelheaded." Spike smiled sadly at Dawn.
"Just give me some more time, Dawn."
~
"Must you always carry on so incessantly?" Giles roared to Willow and Buffy, who were quietly discussing the possibility of a Sadie Hawkins' dance.
"Geez, what crawled up your butt?" Buffy asked, only half serious.
"Nothing. I'm just trying to work and all I can hear is 'Oh I hope Own asks me!' 'Oh I hope Xander asks me! But he won't!' 'Yes he will' 'No he won't' and so on and so forth and frankly this is neither the time nor the place for such a trite conversation!"
"We're probably not going to have one, anyway. I mean, since they're spending all the school funds trying to cover up Principal Fluties death. Plus, they need to up the new principal's salary." Willow announced, taking in the suddenly disgusted faces of Giles and Buffy.
"Stupid Snyder." Buffy muttered audibly.
"He's worse than most of the council members. And that's saying quite a lot." Giles agreed.
"Hello my fellow Scooby's!" Xander's loud voice rang through the library and he plopped in the seat next to Buffy.
"Scooby's?" Willow asked, sharing a confused look with Buffy.
"Well, I realized that our little group is sort of like the Scooby Gang. Willow is like Velma, because she's book smart and can work computers, Ambrine...oh, sorry, "Dawn" is like Daphne, because she's kinda flaky, but still contributes to the group, Spike is like Fred, because he's street smart but tends to take all the credit, Jess is kinda like Scooby, because he's doglike, only works with a reward, and is easily frightened by loud noises, I'm like Shaggy because, well, Shaggy's a fun-lovin', food-lovin' kinda guy who ends up helping the mess in an unconventional way. As for the Buffster and Giles, they can't be classified, but if the Scooby gang had an ass-kicker and a British super-genius, they'd be all set." Xander finished with a grand crescendo before collapsing his head down on the desk and panting. Buffy and Willow exchanged looks.
"You have waay too much time on your hands."
~
"Come out, come out, where ever you are..." Buffy sang quietly as she walked thorough the graveyard on a patrol, "and meet the young lady who fell from a star..."
"Wizard of Oz fan, luv?" Buffy felt a smile come to her face.
"Not especially. Just have it stuck in my head." Spike fell in step with the slayer.
"I see. Ya know, I met Judy Garland, once. Nice chit. Fucked up most of the time, but still nice." Buffy laughed at Spike's liberal word choice. He looked sheepish for a moment.
"Sorry." Buffy waved her hand and stopped suddenly when she felt something hit her senses.
"It's probably just me, luv." Spike whispered, the old feeling overcoming him. She glanced upwards and looked into his eyes. She felt a wave of attraction wash over her, as well...he had breathtaking eyes, literally. She shook out those thoughts. She was over that. She and Spike were just friends.
"Probably." They walked in comfortable silence for a few moments when Buffy sat on a gravestone in frustration.
"Nothing. This is the fifth time since last Thursday that I've had no vamps whatsoever."
"You tell Giles this?" Spike asked, feeling slightly concerned.
"Yeah. He said that most vamps hate Christmas, which I don't really blame them for, but still...I thought there'd be more." Spike nodded.
"There normally is." He paused for a moment. "You don't like Christmas?"
"It's not that I don't like Christmas, it's just that...When I was five years old, Christmastime amazed me. The days before it felt like hours and everything seemed so much brighter and sweeter." Buffy sighed and dove right in, opening her soul, "Just seeing bright house lights during those times got me excited. Every time it snowed I felt like Santa was getting closer. I was just filled with this unparalleled joy...that's what it was. Joy. And it got refreshed every time I saw a candle being lit or every time I heard a carol. But now...I'm jaded. The colors are all grayed and the candles are dimmed. I feel like everything's so dark and so fake and so cheap. Bing Crosby's voice is now annoying. Christmas cookie's are suddenly fattening. Instead of worrying whether Santa will bring me the right toys, I'm worrying if vampires are going to be around. It sounds so completely absurd, whenever I detach myself. Sometimes you have to do that. But it scares the hell outta me whenever I do."
"You never told me that." Spike whispered.
"What?"
"I said you shouldn't think that. About Christmas, I mean. You just need to change your perspective is all." Buffy crossed her arms.
"And how do you propose I do that?" Spike looked her up and down.
"First off, stop whining so much. Life isn't that awful. Look at me. Second, you just gotta remember what it was like. Indulge yourself. Spend some time shopping instead of going on a wild goose chase for vamps you know aren't gonna be there. Eat those fattening cookies, sing those carols that used to make you so excited. And stop feeling so sorry for yourself." Buffy raised her eyebrows and leaned back.
"No one has ever been that blatantly honest with me before." She whispered to herself. The corners of her mouth twitched. Eventually she broke out into a huge smile.
"I'm so lucky to have you as a friend." She remarked candidly, "No one else would have ever said that to me."
"Just give them time, luv." Spike sat down against the stone and looked up at the stars.
"Clear night." He said, half to himself.
"It's nice. A lot different from L.A."
"There's no light polluting the view." Spike said, twiddling a piece of grass between his thumb and index finger.
"It's nice."
~
Willow's phone blared. She groaned in her bed and looked at the time.
12:35
"Who died?" She groaned into the phone.
"Will, it's me. Buffy."
"Oh my gosh, who died?!" Willow repeated, sitting up.
"No one. I just- I needed to talk to someone." Willow leaned back against her wall and frowned.
"Okay..."
"Let's say, hypothetically, there's this guy who is completely and totally wrong for you, yet you still had feelings for him. What would you do?"
"Make vowel sounds?" Willow yawned.
"Will."
"I'd probably go for it. Ya know, Carpe Diem."
"Seize the fish?"
"Seize the day."
"Oh. Well, okay, again, with the hypotheticalness...what if there were two of these alleged potentially-dysfuctional-but-super-hot-boyfriendy types?"
"Are you talking about Spike and Angel?" Willow stifled a laugh when she heard Buffy flop onto her bed in defeat.
"Is there something wrong with me?"
"No way. Both of them are way hot." Willow admitted.
"With Angel...I dunno."
"He pushed your buttons."
"Yeah, but it'd be like 'Hi honey! You're in grave danger...see you next month.'"
"He is a little sporadic with his drop-ins." Willow stretched her legs out, making herself comfortable.
"And Spike...Spike is amazing. He's everything I want, but he's a vampire and he's Angel's childe, which creates huge problems. Angel would probably kill him if he ever went for me. Plus, I don't even know if he has feelings for me. He probably doesn't."
"I saw a picture of his old girlfriend when Giles made me do research." Willow heard Buffy's attention perk up.
"Oh?"
"She was gorgeous. Sort of a gothic beauty, though. He name was Droosoola or something weird like that."
"Gothic beauty? Yeah, that's the first thing that pops to most peoples mind when they see me." Willow felt a pang of pity when she heard Buffy's sad voice. She's got it pretty bad for this guy.
"Well, remember, he was evil at the time."
"That's another problem. He and Angel were both mass murderer's at one point. Spike's killed a slayer."
"Two, actually."
"Thanks."
"Sorry."
"Well, I'm tired, I think I'm gonna crash. Sorry to wake you up so late."
"Don't worry about it. It's nice to have a friend to wake me up this late." Willow could've sworn she heard Buffy smile.
"Night Will."
"Goodnight, Buffy."
~
There were flowers on the table.
A beautiful bouquet.
Buffy smiled down at them as she read the tag. They were for her mom. They were signed, Love Brian.
"Well, at least there's still some good ones left." She whispered.
"Hey flower lady!" Buffy yelled through the house. It seemed empty. But it wasn't. Long dark shadows crawled around her.
"Angel doesn't have a soul..."
"You could have died..."
"...don't even think about coming back!"
"Five by five..."
"Mayor Wilkins..."
"I'm drownin' in ya Summers, I'm drownin' in ya..."
"I love you..."
"I love you..."
"I love you..."
Her mother laid sprawled out on the couch, dead.
~
Buffy awoke with a start.
A/N: I know I said long and this is sorta long, but the next chapter (which will be up tomorrow) will be longer.
