CHAPTER SIX - Friendships and Flashbacks
Eight months later.
"Look, Brianna, I want to talk to you about something." Angel said to her. It was all coming together. They were in a nice restaurant, and they had a nice relationship and he had a nice engagement ring in his coat pocket. It would work out.
"Yeah, I think I need to talk to you also."
"Okay, you can go first."
"All right." She had been meaning to bring this up for a while. "I know that you and Spike haven't been on the best of terms for the past eight months.actually, you haven't been on any terms, given that you haven't seen each other or talked to each other for that long.but I have, and I really think that you should also."
"I should what?" Angel asked her, now bitter.
"Talk to him. See him. Try to work things out, maybe?"
"I don't think so."
"Give me one good reason why you shouldn't."
"Okay, the reason that he stopped being friends with me was because he blamed me for something out of my control."
"You're being so immature right now. Stop it." She sighed. "I just don't think that you can let one little misunderstanding and one little bar fight ruin a friendship that's lasted for how long? Kindergarten to senior year of college? I mean, you're not in the first grade where if Spike stole your Tinkertoy then he automatically wasn't your friend! You have a history together of being the...Bert and Ernie-"
"Who are Bert and Ernie again?"
"Will you stop interrupting me? You know damn well who Bert and Ernie are! They're the dynamic duo! That's you and Spike, okay. So just get over yourself and talk to him, okay! He wants to talk to you. He's got a lot of stuff to tell you and he really wants to make things right. And you'll never see me naked again if you don't do it."
"I guess I could just talk to him."
"Good. Now tell me what you wanted to tell me."
"Brianna, um, you know I had a whole speech prepared but it was too stupid for me to repeat any of it. So screw it. Will you marry me?"
"No."
"What? Was this too soon? I knew it was too soon. I should have waited or-"
"Angel."
"Yeah?"
"I'm kidding."
"Oh. Ha ha. So funny I forgot to breathe. Oh, shit, I forgot the ring." Angel reached into his pocket and took out the ring. "So is that a yes?"
"Yes."
~
"Mommy where did you go? Xander?"
Eight-year old William Giles walked through the alley. They had been there a minute ago. And Xander was carrying his new baseball bat. Their new baseball bat. And he was going to get to have the first turn if William didn't show up soon.
"Stupid bat," William said as he kicked a cardboard box near his foot. It made a noise. It was a very little noise. "Who's in there? I don't believe in you, leprechauns! You're not real! You can't scare me!" He inched forward to see what was in the box. It was a baby. Why was the baby playing in the box? Sometimes he and Xander made forts with boxes, but babies couldn't do that.
He picked up the baby and remembered that he had no idea where he was. "Ok, I'll just go back that way." As soon as he got onto the main street he saw his mom looking around frantically.
"Mommy! Look what I found!"
Joyce gasped when she saw the infant he was holding.
"Can I keep it? PLEEASE? I'll take good care of it! It won't be like the gerbil! I'll feed it and everything!"
"I don't think so William. Where did you find her?" Joyce took the baby from him.
"In a cardboard box in that alley!"
"Oh my God. Well, I have to talk to your father. Let's go home. And don't ever run off like that again!"
"I get to play with the baseball bat when we get home. Mommy said." Xander stuck out his tongue.
"Sod off."
"William! Watch your language!"
"But Daddy says it."
"But that's for daddies to say. Not good little boys."
"Well now I'm a daddy cause I have a baby. She's all mine." William turned to Xander. "Don't touch her, you're got chocolate on your fingers."
~
"Sod off." Spike grumbled as he woke up to the ringing phone. "This had better be good to be callin me so early." He said sleepily into the phone.
"It's three in the afternoon." Suddenly Spike felt awake.
"Peaches? That you, or am I stoned?"
"No, it's me. Brianna said I should give you a call. She said you wanted to talk to me."
"Oh, yeah. Catch up on the times and that. You up for it?"
Angel looked at Brianna who was standing next to him so she could hear the conversation. She nodded her head yes as Angel pleaded with his eyes. Then she kicked him in the shin.
"I mean what I said last night!" She hissed and walked out of the kitchen.
"Ow."
"Peaches? You there?"
"Yeah, I'm here and in pain. Where do you want to meet?"
~
"So, basically, I go to Brianna, tell her I need help, she gets me an appointment with her dad, and I've been going to therapy twice a week since." Spike said as they walked through the park.
"Have you gotten any better?"
"What do you mean by that?"
"Huh?"
"Define better."
"I mean, have you gotten through your problems and crap?"
"Lotta problems to get through, Peaches."
"Where I'm confused is why you needed therapy in the first place. I mean sure, you screwed up, but tons of people do that every day and they don't need therapy."
"Well, Wes and I talked about a lot of different reasons why I could've done what I did that night, and I get overprotective of Nibblet, in short."
"Overprotective of Dawn you are." Angel commented.
"No shit, Yoda." The two smiled, remembering their last encounter with the Yoda voice.
"So what happened to make you that way?"
"Long story."
"I have time."
Spike recalled the memory of finding his little sister in the alley, and retold it to Angel.
"You just found her there?"
"Yep." Spike threw a rock at a tree.
"That's kind of."
"Yep." Spike threw another.
"Does she know?"
"Uh, yeah. Told her bout a month ago. She reacted with the infamous, 'get out, get out, get out' so I got, but she came around. So, how about you, Peaches? What've you been up to?"
"It's funny you should ask."
"Hilarious. What'd you do this time?"
"Proposed to Brianna." Now it was Angel's turn to throw a small rock at a tree.
"What? Are you off your rocker? When did this happen?"
"Last night."
"Holy.sorry. I'm just in shock. Wow that's weird."
"You know, we haven't talked about the wedding much. At all, actually. But, when the time comes around.maybe you could help out, you know? Be the best man or something." Did I actually just ask him that? Angel wondered.
Spike shrugged. "Oh, uh, yeah. It's no big deal. That would be cool. Yeah, that'd be cool."
"Okay, cool."
"Cool."
"See you around, then?"
"Yeah."
"So you wanna hang out tomorrow?"
Spike shifted. "I, er, have a prior obligation."
~
"Oh. My. God! Look at that red one!" Dawn squealed. Spike groaned through the huge pile of dresses he was carrying. Doesn't she have enough by now?
"Don't you have enough by now?"
"No, silly, I'm not buying them ALL. I just need one."
"Then pick your favorite and let's get on with it then."
"Spike. You said that you'd take me dress shopping for the prom. And that means you can't complain or be a cheapskate or-"
"A cheapskate? I'm getting my pretty little Nibblet whichever pretty little dress she wants. But not a little one." Dawn sighed and turned back to the dress rack.
"Oh, yes! They have my size!" With that, the red dress was thrown on the top of the pile. "Hey, check out that one!"
"Platelet?" Spike mumbled. "Can you help? I, uh, I can't see."
"Oh, sure." Dawn pushed the pile of dresses down so that Spike could see over the top.
"Can we move to the picking of the dress?"
"No. First I have to try them all on! Come on, the dressing room's over there!"
"Bloody hell."
~
"I think this one's good." Connor said, looking in the mirror.
"You haven't tried on any of the other ones." Angel replied.
"But if this one works, then why do I need to?"
"Because another one could quite possibly work better."
"Who cares?" Connor asked.
"Dawn will, for one thing."
"Yeah, but she's not the one helping me pick out a tux, you are. And you don't care. Besides, I think this is one of the cheaper ones."
"You don't want to be a cheapskate."
"I'm not. I just don't wanna blow all my money on this stupid prom. I have to rent a limo and everything. Why can't I just take the bus, like Xander did with that psycho Anya?"
"Because your date is not a psycho, and therefore you can't be cheap."
"Xander said she was afraid of bunnies."
"That doesn't surprise me. And speaking of relationships I have something to tell you."
"Me too."
"Well, you go first."
"Never mind. I forgot. What did you have to say?"
"Oh, I forgot."
"Seriously?"
"No, I'm just joking."
"Oh. What then?"
"Well, uh, Brianna and I are sort of-"
"You're getting a puppy?"
"No."
"Knocked her up?"
"No."
"Adopting an orphan from Somalia?"
"No."
"Getting a bonsai?"
"No! Where do you come up with this, anyway?"
"Bonsais are cool, what are you talking about?"
"I'm trying to talk to you about the fact that Brianna and I are engaged and all you can talk about is orphans and small trees!"
"But don't you want an adopted kid or a small tree? OH MY GOD YOU'RE GETTING MARRIED??"
"Uh, yeah. You're slow."
"Well, so are you! I mean, wait, gimme a minute."
"Exhibit A."
Eight months later.
"Look, Brianna, I want to talk to you about something." Angel said to her. It was all coming together. They were in a nice restaurant, and they had a nice relationship and he had a nice engagement ring in his coat pocket. It would work out.
"Yeah, I think I need to talk to you also."
"Okay, you can go first."
"All right." She had been meaning to bring this up for a while. "I know that you and Spike haven't been on the best of terms for the past eight months.actually, you haven't been on any terms, given that you haven't seen each other or talked to each other for that long.but I have, and I really think that you should also."
"I should what?" Angel asked her, now bitter.
"Talk to him. See him. Try to work things out, maybe?"
"I don't think so."
"Give me one good reason why you shouldn't."
"Okay, the reason that he stopped being friends with me was because he blamed me for something out of my control."
"You're being so immature right now. Stop it." She sighed. "I just don't think that you can let one little misunderstanding and one little bar fight ruin a friendship that's lasted for how long? Kindergarten to senior year of college? I mean, you're not in the first grade where if Spike stole your Tinkertoy then he automatically wasn't your friend! You have a history together of being the...Bert and Ernie-"
"Who are Bert and Ernie again?"
"Will you stop interrupting me? You know damn well who Bert and Ernie are! They're the dynamic duo! That's you and Spike, okay. So just get over yourself and talk to him, okay! He wants to talk to you. He's got a lot of stuff to tell you and he really wants to make things right. And you'll never see me naked again if you don't do it."
"I guess I could just talk to him."
"Good. Now tell me what you wanted to tell me."
"Brianna, um, you know I had a whole speech prepared but it was too stupid for me to repeat any of it. So screw it. Will you marry me?"
"No."
"What? Was this too soon? I knew it was too soon. I should have waited or-"
"Angel."
"Yeah?"
"I'm kidding."
"Oh. Ha ha. So funny I forgot to breathe. Oh, shit, I forgot the ring." Angel reached into his pocket and took out the ring. "So is that a yes?"
"Yes."
~
"Mommy where did you go? Xander?"
Eight-year old William Giles walked through the alley. They had been there a minute ago. And Xander was carrying his new baseball bat. Their new baseball bat. And he was going to get to have the first turn if William didn't show up soon.
"Stupid bat," William said as he kicked a cardboard box near his foot. It made a noise. It was a very little noise. "Who's in there? I don't believe in you, leprechauns! You're not real! You can't scare me!" He inched forward to see what was in the box. It was a baby. Why was the baby playing in the box? Sometimes he and Xander made forts with boxes, but babies couldn't do that.
He picked up the baby and remembered that he had no idea where he was. "Ok, I'll just go back that way." As soon as he got onto the main street he saw his mom looking around frantically.
"Mommy! Look what I found!"
Joyce gasped when she saw the infant he was holding.
"Can I keep it? PLEEASE? I'll take good care of it! It won't be like the gerbil! I'll feed it and everything!"
"I don't think so William. Where did you find her?" Joyce took the baby from him.
"In a cardboard box in that alley!"
"Oh my God. Well, I have to talk to your father. Let's go home. And don't ever run off like that again!"
"I get to play with the baseball bat when we get home. Mommy said." Xander stuck out his tongue.
"Sod off."
"William! Watch your language!"
"But Daddy says it."
"But that's for daddies to say. Not good little boys."
"Well now I'm a daddy cause I have a baby. She's all mine." William turned to Xander. "Don't touch her, you're got chocolate on your fingers."
~
"Sod off." Spike grumbled as he woke up to the ringing phone. "This had better be good to be callin me so early." He said sleepily into the phone.
"It's three in the afternoon." Suddenly Spike felt awake.
"Peaches? That you, or am I stoned?"
"No, it's me. Brianna said I should give you a call. She said you wanted to talk to me."
"Oh, yeah. Catch up on the times and that. You up for it?"
Angel looked at Brianna who was standing next to him so she could hear the conversation. She nodded her head yes as Angel pleaded with his eyes. Then she kicked him in the shin.
"I mean what I said last night!" She hissed and walked out of the kitchen.
"Ow."
"Peaches? You there?"
"Yeah, I'm here and in pain. Where do you want to meet?"
~
"So, basically, I go to Brianna, tell her I need help, she gets me an appointment with her dad, and I've been going to therapy twice a week since." Spike said as they walked through the park.
"Have you gotten any better?"
"What do you mean by that?"
"Huh?"
"Define better."
"I mean, have you gotten through your problems and crap?"
"Lotta problems to get through, Peaches."
"Where I'm confused is why you needed therapy in the first place. I mean sure, you screwed up, but tons of people do that every day and they don't need therapy."
"Well, Wes and I talked about a lot of different reasons why I could've done what I did that night, and I get overprotective of Nibblet, in short."
"Overprotective of Dawn you are." Angel commented.
"No shit, Yoda." The two smiled, remembering their last encounter with the Yoda voice.
"So what happened to make you that way?"
"Long story."
"I have time."
Spike recalled the memory of finding his little sister in the alley, and retold it to Angel.
"You just found her there?"
"Yep." Spike threw a rock at a tree.
"That's kind of."
"Yep." Spike threw another.
"Does she know?"
"Uh, yeah. Told her bout a month ago. She reacted with the infamous, 'get out, get out, get out' so I got, but she came around. So, how about you, Peaches? What've you been up to?"
"It's funny you should ask."
"Hilarious. What'd you do this time?"
"Proposed to Brianna." Now it was Angel's turn to throw a small rock at a tree.
"What? Are you off your rocker? When did this happen?"
"Last night."
"Holy.sorry. I'm just in shock. Wow that's weird."
"You know, we haven't talked about the wedding much. At all, actually. But, when the time comes around.maybe you could help out, you know? Be the best man or something." Did I actually just ask him that? Angel wondered.
Spike shrugged. "Oh, uh, yeah. It's no big deal. That would be cool. Yeah, that'd be cool."
"Okay, cool."
"Cool."
"See you around, then?"
"Yeah."
"So you wanna hang out tomorrow?"
Spike shifted. "I, er, have a prior obligation."
~
"Oh. My. God! Look at that red one!" Dawn squealed. Spike groaned through the huge pile of dresses he was carrying. Doesn't she have enough by now?
"Don't you have enough by now?"
"No, silly, I'm not buying them ALL. I just need one."
"Then pick your favorite and let's get on with it then."
"Spike. You said that you'd take me dress shopping for the prom. And that means you can't complain or be a cheapskate or-"
"A cheapskate? I'm getting my pretty little Nibblet whichever pretty little dress she wants. But not a little one." Dawn sighed and turned back to the dress rack.
"Oh, yes! They have my size!" With that, the red dress was thrown on the top of the pile. "Hey, check out that one!"
"Platelet?" Spike mumbled. "Can you help? I, uh, I can't see."
"Oh, sure." Dawn pushed the pile of dresses down so that Spike could see over the top.
"Can we move to the picking of the dress?"
"No. First I have to try them all on! Come on, the dressing room's over there!"
"Bloody hell."
~
"I think this one's good." Connor said, looking in the mirror.
"You haven't tried on any of the other ones." Angel replied.
"But if this one works, then why do I need to?"
"Because another one could quite possibly work better."
"Who cares?" Connor asked.
"Dawn will, for one thing."
"Yeah, but she's not the one helping me pick out a tux, you are. And you don't care. Besides, I think this is one of the cheaper ones."
"You don't want to be a cheapskate."
"I'm not. I just don't wanna blow all my money on this stupid prom. I have to rent a limo and everything. Why can't I just take the bus, like Xander did with that psycho Anya?"
"Because your date is not a psycho, and therefore you can't be cheap."
"Xander said she was afraid of bunnies."
"That doesn't surprise me. And speaking of relationships I have something to tell you."
"Me too."
"Well, you go first."
"Never mind. I forgot. What did you have to say?"
"Oh, I forgot."
"Seriously?"
"No, I'm just joking."
"Oh. What then?"
"Well, uh, Brianna and I are sort of-"
"You're getting a puppy?"
"No."
"Knocked her up?"
"No."
"Adopting an orphan from Somalia?"
"No."
"Getting a bonsai?"
"No! Where do you come up with this, anyway?"
"Bonsais are cool, what are you talking about?"
"I'm trying to talk to you about the fact that Brianna and I are engaged and all you can talk about is orphans and small trees!"
"But don't you want an adopted kid or a small tree? OH MY GOD YOU'RE GETTING MARRIED??"
"Uh, yeah. You're slow."
"Well, so are you! I mean, wait, gimme a minute."
"Exhibit A."