A/N : Hey guys! Thanks to SpIkEs AnGeL, LunarFaerie, Spoiler Babe, fictionfreak2 for continuing to read and review, it means a lot. Not much else to say so...here's the next chapter...
(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)
Chapter 14 - One Week Later
A week passed and despite Xander's positive words, things did not get better for Spike. It was Sunday, exactly one week since he'd woken up at Buffy's side, since she'd told him their night had been only for comforts sake, since she'd walked out of his apartment and out of Sunnydale and his life, for now at least.
As much as he tried nothing shifted the depressing thoughts of Buffy's lack of romantic feelings for him from his mind. He needed, at the very least, to know where she was, what she was doing...
Spike shook his head in frustration. After a week of fitful sleep, tears and sorrow, emptiness and nothingness, he'd taken every day off work, and only spoke to Willow and Xander when he really had to. They worried about him, he knew it, but he couldn't face them, couldn't pretend to be okay when it felt like he was being physically ripped apart from the inside out.
Today had to be different, he told himself as he wandered into the kitchen and got a glass of water from the tap. He gulped it down, as if to drown the feelings he had inside, before slamming the glass onto the counter and sighing deeply, the tap still running slightly by itself.
Silence reigned in the apartment as it had a lot these past seven days and nights. Everything completely quiet except for the quiet swoosh of the water from the tap and one other thing Spike realised.
Why he suddenly found it so annoying was a mystery to him, but the constant dripping sound made by the leak somewhere beneath the sink, was driving him insane. Normally, he barely paid attention to it, hence the fact that three months after noticing said leak, he had still not bothered to fix it. He'd meant to of course, he figured it would be a simple enough job, something he could do in an hour or less, one weekend when he wasn't too busy or too lazy, but that weekend never came, until today.
Thinking of Buffy, worrying and wondering and going over and over things in his mind was making Spike crazy and he needed something, anything to take his mind off the topic of her.
In the problems of the apartments plumbing, he would find his escape, a small job was all it was but it would require concentration on something other than Buffy, so it was all good.
Turning off the tap, Spike opened up the cupboard doors underneath the sink and began to empty it so he could gain access to the pipes, carefully standing the contents of the cupboard on the floor to the side of him.
It wasn't long before the top half of Spike's body was hidden inside the formerly full cupboard, his legs sticking out across the kitchen floor as he tried to ascertain exactly where the leak was coming from and what he might need to do in order to fix it.
As he ran his hand along the pipe, he found no cracks or holes and realised the leak must be coming from a loose joint rather than a break. Knowing now the job would only require the wrench he was sure was hidden somewhere and some of that brute force he knew he definitely had, Spike crawled out of the cupboard and lifted himself off the floor to go find the tool he required, tripping over a bottle on the way and spilling bleach all over the kitchen floor.
The air turned blue with a few of Spike's favourite curses as he attempted to clean up the yellow/green goop that wanted to engulf the entire tiled surface of the floor. After many attempts with various implements, the floor was clear of bleach, but one patch of tiles were distinctly whiter than the rest.
It shouldn't bother him, a guy in his early twenties, living alone, a free agent, the last thing he needed to worry about was the state of the kitchen floor, but it bothered him. It bothered him not because he'd spilled something, not because the floor was two different shades, not because he cared about it himself, but because he knew Buffy would notice and she wouldn't like it.
'No' he reprimanded himself, inside his head, 'no thinking about her' he thought as he went to look for the wrench he needed to fix the leaky pipe. A couple of minutes of digging in his toolbox and there he found what he needed and returned to the kitchen to take up his previous position, half in and half out of the cupboard beneath the sink.
As it turned out, the joint that required tightening had rusted itself in the wrong position and despite Spike's best efforts to fix the problem, it just refused to budge. His anger rising at his failure, Spike pulled the wrench one final time, as hard as he could, completely wrenching the pipe so hard he pulled the joint clean off and sent water spraying everywhere!
"Bloody buggering hell..." this and much worse curses flowed from his lips as the bleach blond escaped from beneath the sink, desperate to force back the water that was firing at him, before he completely drowned.
Taking a deep breath and trying to lean to one side of the spray, Spike pushed the joint back into place and tightened it with the wrench, as quickly as he could. The speed was however somewhat in vain as the floor was already covered with water which now soaked through his blue jeans as he knelt on the floor. His lesser worn white T-shirt clung to his body, completely soaked through, and it was difficult to tell if the droplets on his face and in his hair were sweat from the exertion of the task or water from the pipe he'd been working on.
Breathing somewhat heavily, Spike slumped down in the puddle on the kitchen floor, staring at the now fixed plumbing beneath the sink, figuring he was so wet now it didn't really matter if he got a little bit wetter. It was a warm day and the water was cold, almost pleasantly so and even if it were uncomfortable, the young man would probably not have noticed, especially when he heard a sound behind him. He swivelled around and came face to legs with a woman in his kitchen doorway, before he even glanced up he knew who's face he would see.
"Kind of a mess in here" Buffy attempted a smile as Spike scrambled to his feet, unsure whether to speak or laugh or cry or if he might dare to hug his friend that he'd missed so much, been so confused by his feelings for.
"Yeah" he nodded, in answer to her comment, taking in the sight of her, as beautiful as ever, if not looking a little tired and almost as uncomfortable as he felt. She blushed, he noticed and was unsure why until he remembered the state of himself.
Buffy glanced away from him, she'd had a tough time this last week trying to figure out her exact feelings for this man, whether it was just physical attraction and friendship she felt, or whether it was something more.
Walking in to see him standing there, his wet clothes clinging to his gorgeous body, droplets of water running from his currently slicked back hair, rolling down his perfect face. Trying to find another place to look was complicated, the kitchen was small and he was right in front of her. In a moments madness her gaze landed on his own, those bright blue eyes that used to bring such comfort to her were either trying to drown her or burn a hole into her, she wasn't sure which, she wasn't sure whether she minded either...
Spike made a sound of realisation as he glanced away from her and down at himself. He must look a strange sight, he realised, soaked through from head to toe, like he'd showered in his clothes or something, well in essence he supposed he had, even if it was unintentional.
The idea that Buffy's silence and embarrassment were caused by her attraction to him in that moment, never crossed Spike's mind. He could think of nothing but the fact she was back, he felt equal parts thrilled to see her, pained as he remembered she did not feel the same as he did, and embarrassed at the state she had found himself and his home in.
"I should, er..." he stumbled on what he meant to say. The sentence that he managed to form in his head seemed unable to get out of his mouth correctly. Unable to be verbal at all, Buffy only nodded, looking at her feet which shuffled nervously until Spike had disappeared from view.
It was going to be an interesting afternoon.
To Be Continued
A/N2 : If you need a little bit of happier fic, check out my new humour/romance Spuffy fic - Spell Bound :-) Oh and please review!!!