Firstly I'd like to say a big thank-you to all my reviewers, especially
SpIkEs AnGeL1. Your reviews have meant so much to me.
Also, I'd like to say that as I live in Australia and am only in Year 11 I don't know how the American University system works, hell I don't even know how the Australian Uni system works. I'm kinda making it up as I go along, so if I get anything really really wrong, please tell me and I'll try and fix it.
Chapter 5
A light knocking came at the door and Buffy lifted the pillow off her head hear Willow calling through the badly made plasterboard.
'Buffy! Get up, you're gonna be late if you don't get up.'
Buffy moaned and moved the pillow back over her head.
'Oh no you don't, missy.' Willow had come in. 'There is coffee in the pot in the kitchen and you are gonna get up right now.'
She ripped the covers off the bed to reveal Buffy curled up in a ball.
'Ten more minutes, mom. Don't have to be at work for ages.' She turned sleepily back to the pillow.
'Buffy, if you don't get up right now I am gonna get the cold water. You promised me that you would talk to.'
Another sleep induced groan filled the room, but Buffy sat up groggily and pulled a blanket about her shoulders.
'Coffee?'
'It's in the kitchen, hurry before it all goes.'
*******************
Spike looked up when he heard the door open, clutching protectively at his coffee from his seat at the small table in the corner of the kitchen.
A tiny figure was standing at the door, leaning on the doorframe as she squinted around the room. She may have been wearing pajama's, Spike couldn't tell as she had a huge blanket wrapped around her shoulders that trailed on the ground as she staggered to the bench.
She opened her mouth to let loose a huge yawn, blinked a couple of times and looked around the room. 'Coffee?'
Spike looked around the room for the pot, before remembering it was in front of him.
'It's over here, luv.'
Buffy jumped, clearly not realizing anyone was in the room with her. 'Huh?'
Spike smiled, she looked so cute when she was all confused and rumpled. She looked like she had just staggered out of bed, her sheets were probably still warm. Mmmmm, warm Buffy sheets.No! No warm Buffy sheets. Buffy sheets were not a good thought to pursue. 'Bloody hell,' he muttered under his breath. 'Buffy, the coffee is on the table, over here.'
Buffy moved to the table and sat down, pulling a mug down the table towards her. Spike pushed the pot her way and she greedily poured the bitter smelling liquid into the mug. She looked around again, her nose scrunching as she tried to put what she was feeling into words.
Spike watched her as she opened and closed her mouth a few times, clearly searching for the words that would most aptly convey her thoughts.
'Milk?'
Spike sighed and got up from the table, opening the miny fridge to pull out a carton of milk.
He moved back to the table and pulled her mug towards him, pouring the creamy liquid into the black.
'Here you go, pet.'
Buffy raised the cup to her lips and gulped down half the contents of the mug as Spike replaced the carton in the fridge.
'Well, I'd better get goin', luv. Gotta find my way around this joint, before class starts.'
'Wait,' Buffy raised her hand and waved him back. 'We have to talk.I can't actually remember why at the moment, hang on.'
She filled her now empty mug with just black coffee this time, as Spike took a seat opposite her. He watched as she slowly began to sit up straight and the fog lifted from her eyes.
'Ahhhhh, that's better.' She gazed over the rim of her mug at the figure sitting opposite her. Spike looked pretty tired himself, there were light bags under his eyes and his hair was all rumpled from sleep.
Cute, was the first word that leapt to her mind as he sat looking nervously at her in a pair of old sweat pants and a soft grey tee. No! Not cute.well. Ok, he's cute, you couldn't be a girl and not think he was cute. but you know him and his personality is not cute. No cuteness there. Why are you trying analyse why you think he is cute?
Spike watched as a small look of confusion spread across her face, but she shook her head slightly and looked back up at him.
'Sorry, coffee was taking it's time. What were we saying.oh yes. I was talking to Willow last night and she. well she is the type of person who hates fighting and bickering and lives in this world of her own where everything is hugs and puppies.'
Spike raised an eyebrow at her. 'Is this going anywhere, luv, cause as much as I'm enjoying this chin-wag I do have things to do.'
Buffy glared at him, and Spike tensed, waiting for her to yell, he knew his tone had been less that nice. However, he was surprised when she took a few calming breaths and smiled at him.
'Yeah, sorry. Um, well, I was thinking. for Willows sake. do you wanna, I dunno, start again or something? Clean slate? I know we've had our differences over the past few weeks, but if we're gonna live together. well not together, but you know: close together. Or not. if you don't want to.er ok I'm babbling. Stopping now.'
She took a deep breath, looking anywhere but Spike who she was sure would be smirking. When she finally did look at him, he was staring at her, his gaze penetrating so deeply that she had to glace away.
'I know what you mean, luv.'
'You do?' she squeaked, mentally berating herself for her sudden inexplicable embarrassment.
'Course, luv. You want us to stop our little tiffs in front of Red.'
'No.'
'No?' Spike cocked his head at her, trying to fathom her meaning. She couldn't mean what he thought she meant. That would be to good to be true.
'I.' Buffy cleared her throat and started again. 'In was kinda hoping we could, you know. be friends.'
She stared hard at the table as if it she believed it held the meaning of life, thus missing the pure joy that lit up in her bleached companion's eyes.
'Course we can be friends, luv.' He reached across the table, squeezing her hand. He could tell she was embarrassed in case he had turned her down.
She looked up at him, a slight smile gracing her features. 'Ok, then, if you're sure.'
'Course I am.'
'Um, ok. If you want, as a first act of friendship I'll show you around campus. I'll go and dress. are you taking the freshman classes?'
'Yeah, when I spoke to the professors they said to find someone to catch me up in all the important stuff, and if I don't do so well this semester I can just retake the course's next year.'
Buffy nodded. 'Well, give me you're timetable when we're dressed and I'll show you where all your classes are for today. Only me and Xander are taking freshman courses, but you may end up in one of our classes if you're lucky. and there are all the courses that don't have specific years groups that take them.'
'Sure, luv. You go and get ready, and I'll get my things.'
Spike watched as Buffy gathered up her blanket around her shoulders and left the room. There was no denying it now. perhaps when he thought that was never going to see her again he could deny it, but not anymore. When you found someone's yawn a sweet and sexy act then it's kinda hard to deny that you are attracted to them.
Spike wasn't a fool, though. He knew that she couldn't feel anything like that for him.hell, she was only trying to befriend him for the sake of her best friend. Oh well, good things come to those who wait.
And as Spike made his way from the kitchen toward the showers he could tell he was in for a very long wait.
********************
Buffy stood up from her position of peering under the bed, a bottle of shampoo raised triumphantly in the air. She grabbed the bag of toiletries and her towel from the dresser and marched down the corridor to the bathroom. She pushed on the door, and finding it unlocked, quickly slipped inside.
The room was steamy; someone had recently been in there. She placed her bag on the side of the basin and her towel on the hook by the mirror, pulling off her tiny pajama top and reaching into the shower to turn on the water.
A noise from behind startled her and she turned to see Spike, wearing nothing but a towel push open the door she had forgotten to lock.
'Spike!' she screeched, reaching for her towel. 'Close your eyes.'
Spike, who hadn't even noticed that she was in the bathroom when he entered, immediately looked up and his mouth fell open. Standing in front of him was Buffy.
Not just any Buffy, but a half naked Buffy. His eyes were drawn automatically to the tanned expanse of skin before him. His eyes seemed to have a will of their own as they traveled up her body, taking in the slim form of her hips, the taught trimness of her stomach, and up until he was able to see the underside of her breasts, bobbing, as she stretched up for the towel above her head.
Cursing himself for being the gentleman that he was, Spike closed his eyes before they could roam any further. Thankfully, Buffy had been to embarrassed to look at him as she reached for the towel and hadn't noticed his momentary lapse. He was suddenly aware of the slight tenting of the towel that was hanging precariously around his waist.
Bugger.
He turned to face the door, under the pretense of giving Buffy some privacy to fix the towel around her.
Buffy looked up, her face flushed, to see the back of Spike as he seemed to be adjusting his towel.
She opened her mouth to scream at him. 'What th.'
Her indignant protests were cut off as Spike, who had gotten his masculine urges under control turned around to face her again.
Woah.
Buffy ran her eyes up and down his body, taking in the finer points of his figure. He wasn't as skinny as she had always thought he was. He had fine bones, yes, but they were gift-wrapped in perfectly toned muscle. Those sinewy arms that Buffy found herself suddenly wishing were holding her; his lean torso without a single scrap of fat to be seen. Those muscles rippling beneath his skin, his gorgeous six pack of abs and. Oh God, that chest! Smooth and slightly glistening from the steam. Her eyes drifted lower to where the towel hung from his hips. She wondered what he would do if she suddenly ripped the towel from him.
Abruptly remembering where she was, she looked back up at his face, distracted slightly by the water droplets that dripped from his still damp hair and ran down his neck to the hollow at his throat.
Spike had a slight smirk on his face, although he did look shaken. He raised an eyebrow cockily at her, 'Like what you see, luv?'
Buffy hesitated for a split second, heat rising to her face, before disregarding the question. 'What the hell are you doing in here? I'm kinda trying to have a shower.'
Spike shrugged. 'Sorry, you didn't lock the door and I forgot my razor.'
Buffy suddenly remembered that she had left the shower running hot water as she looked around the now extremely steamy room. She reached into the shower and turned off the tap and as she pulled back she spotted the razor in shower. She picked it up and handed it to him, careful to avoid touching any part of his skin.
He looked at her briefly, a small smile touching his lips. 'Sorry, pet. I'll be going now. Don't forget to lock the door.'
He turned away again, this time Buffy noticed his muscled back and arms, and for the second time wished she could pull the towel from his body. She fought to hold back a small sigh of longing, but the door clicked shut, pulling her back to her senses.
Bad Buffy! So what if he has a good body? He's an annoying British bleached blonde whom you are only being nice to for Willows sake.
*An annoying HOT British bleached blonde who just happens to sleep across the hall from you. Directly opposite in fact*
'Shut up.' Buffy muttered to herself, before remembering that she was the only one in the room.
*Talking to ourselves now are we?*
'Shut up,' she repeated. Reaching for the shower.a pair of blue eyes suddenly floated into her vision quickly followed by a pair of chiseled cheekbones and soft full lips.
'Better make that a cold shower'.
*****************
Buffy was fixing her earring in her when an impatient knock sounded at the door.
'Come in.'
The door swung open and Buffy looked into the reflection in her mirror to see Spike standing in the doorway.
'Bloody hell, woman. The Queen could get ready quicker than you.'
'Hey! That's cuz she has all attendanty people and stuff.'
Spike sighed and thrust his hands deep in his pockets as he hovered awkwardly outside the door.
Buffy smiled slightly, 'You can come in, Spike. You don't need an official invitation.'
Spike nodded and entered the room.
'Sit down, I won't be too long. This damn earring doesn't like going in this hole.'
Again, Spike nodded. He sat gingerly on the end of her bed, watching her play with the earring.
'Ow, dammit. Stupid earring, what did I ever do to you?'
Spike chuckled as she pouted into the mirror. 'Look, luv, about before.'
Buffy glanced over her shoulder at him before lifted the earring again to her ear.
'It's no biggie, I'll just lock the door next time.' Buffy smiled inwardly. That hadn't been so hard.
Spike nodded, looking slightly relieved. 'Ok, luv. I'll knock next time.'
'Deal.Ow!' She dropped the earring to the dresser with a curse, holding her ear with her finger and thumb.
'I don't know what's going on. maybe it's the light. Forget it.' She jumped slightly as she felt a hand on her shoulder.
'Here, Summers, let me try.'
Buffy looked up at him doubtfully before nodding and pointing to the earring. She held her breath to stop herself from shivering as Spike stepped into her personal space and bent over slightly to squint at her ear. She could feel his breath ghosting over her neck and tickling the stray hairs, before she felt a slight jab and the earring slid home.
'Thanks,' she breathed.
'No problem.' Actually it was a problem. Being at such a close proximity to her was affecting his body in ways he wished it wouldn't. The smell of vanilla lingered around his nose as he subtly inhaled her fragrance and his hands suddenly felt clammy.
Buffy turned and smoothed her bed, oblivious to the reactions she invoked in him.
'So,' she piped up chirpily. 'Hand over your timetable.
Spike reached into his pocket and pulled out he crumpled document in question, handing it to her silently.
'Ok, let's see. Hmmm, well.oh. Um. that's. interesting. Yeah. well this all seems pretty simple.apart from a small hitch.'
Spike looked up at her, 'Hitch?'
'Um, I think. that is, you're probably gonna be pissed, and you don't have to say you know me, or acknowledge me or anything.'
'Spit it out, pet.' Spike closed his eyes briefly at the mental images that conjured. No, he'd much prefer swallowing.
'Um, we kind of have a few classes together.'
Spike looked up, trying to conceal his sudden cheerfulness. 'Which ones would those be?'
'Er. Psychology, Art and History.'
'Hmmmm. Well, pet, I guess we're gonna be stuck with each other for a while.'
Buffy looked up at him timidly. 'Are you sure you don't mind, it's not like we have to talk or even acknowledge each others presence if you don't want to.'
'Luv, it's fine. Stop worrying so much. I'm not gonna bite you.
'You'd better not try, Mister, cuz they don't call me the Sl.damn. I'm, er, we're gonna be late for Psych if we don't leave now, and Professor Walsh will kick us out if we can't get to class on the first day on time.'
She grabbed her bag and ran for the door.
'Wait, luv. I've gotta get my stuff.'
'It's too late for that, we've gotta run. You can borrow mine.'
******************
'Please finish reading Chapter Nine by tomorrow. Class dismissed.'
Buffy stretched and yawned as Willow looked down at her. 'First day of classes and you're already gracing us with your snores.'
Buffy looked up embarrassedly at her best friend. 'Um, well I wasn't exactly asleep. I was just resting my eyes. I may need glasses you know.'
'U-huh. So the little snoring sounds coming from your direction were.'
'Um, wheezing. I may have asthma you know.'
'Yeah, asthma.' Willow rolled her eyes at Spike who stepped back with his hands in the air as Buffy turned toward him with a pleading look on her face.
'Hey, I'm keeping my sexy ass outta this debate. I'm on no-ones side.'
Buffy mock glared at him, before her expression changed to one of horror.
'What's the matter, Summers?'
Buffy raised a trembling figure to gesture at something behind him. As she did, Spike heard Willow gasp and grab Buffy's arm.
'We gotta go.'
'Huh? Wait a minute. Where are you going?'
Buffy stopped and turned around, grabbing Spikes arm.
'Come on,' she hissed. 'I'll explain later.'
However it was too late.
'Buffy!'
'Shit,' spat Buffy. 'Come on. Move it.'
Spike halted. 'Someone was calling you.'
Willow was hovering on the verge of indecision, clearly wanting to run but not wanting to leave her friend.
'Buffy! Wait up!'
Buffy's shoulders slumped in defeat. 'You go on, Wills. No point in us all suffering.'
Spike looked between the two in confusion. 'Do you want me to go, luv?'
'No! I'm gonna need some support here with.Hey Riley.' Spike looked up to see a short necked man jogging up to them, a goofy grin of adoration spread across his face. He felt Buffy cringe as she moved closer to him.
'Hey Buffy.' The man stood in front of her, his smile never wavering. He reminded Spike of a puppy sitting in front of its master, tail wagging and tongue hanging out.
'How was your vacation?' Buffy tried to smile but her face felt locked.
'Good, it was. good. I tried ringing you, but I must have copied your number down wrong. The lady had never heard of a Buffy.'
Buffy's smile became slightly plastic, 'Is that a fact?'
'Yeah,'
.
'So. who's your friend?'
'My. what? Oh, Spike this is Riley, Riley this is Spike.'
'Spike?'
'It's a nickname.'
'Oh.'
. Spike felt like throwing up as the boy continues to stare lovingly at Buffy, who was shifting from foot to foot.
'So, Buffy.I was wondering.'
'Um, yeah?' Buffy squeaked as her eyes darted left and right, looking for an escape.
'Well, there's a party on in my frat house this weekend. and I was kinda hoping that.'
'Buffy!'
'Hey, B!'
Spike felt Buffy sag slightly in relief beside him as two girls skidded up to them.
'Anya, Faith. you'll never guess how glad I am to see you.'
'Huh?' The blonde girl raised her eyebrows before being nudged by the brunette.
'Well, lookie lookie here, Anya. It's Riley.'
'Oh Fuck.'
'Anya,' Buffy's voice held a warning tone.
'Oh, I mean it's very very nice to see you again, Riley.'
Spike was feeling completely and utterly bewildered when the darker girl, Faith, moved in between Buffy and Riley.
'Well, Rye, I hate to break up a party, but Anya and I really need to see B urgently.'
'Um, sure. I guess I'll see you later, Buffy.'
'U-huh.'
Anya and Faith each grabbed on of Buffy's arms and dragged her off. When they were around the corner Buffy shook herself free of the pair and turned to check that Spike was with them.
'What the bloody hell was that?'
Anya looked Spike up and down appraisingly. 'Hmmm, you're well crafted, aren't you?'
Faith nudged her. 'Oi, you got the Xand-man. This one is B's.'
Buffy blushed. 'He is not B's anything.'
Faith raised an eyebrow. 'Can I have him then? He looks like a hunk of salty goodness.'
'No!' Buffy exclaimed. 'Er, I mean.no.'
Anya and Faith exchanged knowing looks.
'Oh, come on you guys. Reflex action, only. Faith, you can have him, just don't bruise him. He's kinda fragile of late and I promised Willow I'd be good, which I guess means protecting him from the evilness that is you.'
'So, if I don't break him?'
Buffy swallowed as she stared into Faith's smirking face. 'He's all yours.'
Spike looked from Anya's smirking face to Faiths smug one to Buffy's red one. 'Um, luv, what's going on?'
Anya turned to him. 'Well, we just rescued you and Buffy from Riley Finn, who we call BP, short for Boredom Personified. Honestly, that man could bore a sleeping turtle to death. He has been obsessed with Buffy ever since the day he met her, and has been chasing her since then.'
Spike turned to grin at Buffy, 'Ooooh, Goldilocks has an admirer.'
'Shut up! It's not my fault, I'm as mean to him as I can be. I guess I'm just to nice to be mean.'
'Um, pet. It's me you're talkin to, you can be a soddin bitch if the mood takes you.'
'Only to jerks like you. Riley is a nice guy, unlike some assholes who beat girls up, yell at them for trying to be nice and then ring them up at 2 in the morning to apologise, thus causing sleep deprevation.'
'I have apologized for every single one of those things, luv, plus I got you a day off from old Rupes.'
'But you didn't have to call me in the middle of the night to tell me.'
'Will you give it a rest, luv? I said I was sorry.'
Anya turned to Faith. 'I guess you're out of the running. They've got it bad.'
'Hey! I have not got anything bad for anyone. Faith is welcome to him.' Buffy glared up at her female comanions.
'Now what are you blatherin about, Summers?'
Anya jumped up and down, waving her hand in the air. 'Oh, oh. I know the answer to this one.'
Buffy glared at her. 'Anya. I am warning you.'
'Pfft, what can you do? Faith and I think you are, as Faith so aptly puts it, one hunk of salty goodness, although what makes salty good? Anyway. Faith said I couldn't have him, because I am dating my beady-eyed, large upper-armed Xander. The Faith asked if she could have you. and Buffy became unusually defensive of Faith's claim to you, before becoming all stuttery and changing her mind, saying that she was protecting you from the man- eater that is Faith. Then you two argued like a couple of old womem, and I told Faith that it didn't look like she had a chance of competing with her for you.what?'
Spike looked at Anya for a while, as he processed that information. Then he began smirking evilly and Buffy mentally winced as he turned to her.
'Stakin a claim, luv? Can't keep your hands off my hot tight body?'
'As if. Ego much? I was protecting you from Faith.'
'Oh, so you were purely concerned with my well-being?'
'Yes, Faith is known for spitting out her guys as fast as she chews them up.'
'Hey!'
The aforesaid guy spitter placed her hands on her hips, although she was grinning as she did, 'Standing right here, B.'
The two blondes ignored her. 'So, you are feeling this need to protect me from the big bad chits?'
'Well you don't seem to take being dumped very well, so I thought I would save you the second humiliation in a row. Sorry, I wont do it again.'
'Don't speak about Dru like that! She was twice the girl you'll ever be.' Spike shot back reflexively, before thinking about what he was saying.
'Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot your lying cheating ex's name was sacred. How dare I befoul it in your presence! You know, this friendship thing was never going to work. I'm surprised we lasted as long as this, but that's it. Not even staying on Willows good side is worth putting up with your bull.'
Buffy whirled on the spot and stormed off in the direction of the dorms.
'Come on, pet, don't take it like that.' Spike called after her.
'Oh, bloody hell.'
Spike nodded briefly to the two smirking girls and began jogging off after her.
'Summers! Wait up!'
***************
Buffy dumped her bag on the floor and plonked herself down in a seat. Bending to pull her books out of her bag, she prayed that Spike would get extremely lost and not be able to find their history class.
As the rest of her classmates began filing in, she kept her eyes fixed firmly on the desk in front of her, avoiding making eye contact with anyone in the room. She heaved a sigh of relief as it seemed like the last of the class had entered and there was no sign of Spike.
Then a flash of platinum caught her eye, contrasted with the black of his duster and Buffy closed her eyes in frustration.
When she opened them, she found that he had seated himself at the desk next to hers, and she could feel his eyes boring into her as she continued to stare avidly at the desk.
Determined not to look at him, she bent down to her bag, which was thankfully placed on the side opposite of Spike and made a pretense of looking for her pen, which she knew she had left in Psyche.
Straightening up, she ignored the pen that Spike was holding out to her and turned to the girl behind her.
'I'm sorry, I seem to have left my pen in my last class. You wouldn't happen to have a spare, would you?'
The girl looked quizzically from Buffy to Spike, who had placed the pen on her desk, but smiled and handed her a spare.
'Keep it, I've got plenty.'
Buffy smiled at her gratefully and, whilst twisting back toward the front, managed to brush Spike's pen off the desk without appearing to have noticed its presence.
Spike sighed, and picked the pen up from the ground as Buffy continued to ignore his presence, her eyes following the professor who had just entered the room.
Buffy knew she was being petty and childish, and cursed the fact that she was acting this way. She had no right to be this upset that Faith had a thing for Spike or that Spike still had a thing for his ex. She was being irrational and jea. no not jealous. Sure, she was acting in a way that could be construed as jealousy but she wasn't actually jealous. No Way!
'Auurggh.' Buffy banged her head on the desk in frustration, causing the teacher to pause in concern. 'Are you feeling unwell, Ms Summers?'
Buffy blushed, 'Sorry, I just remembered. something I had forgotten.'
'Well, try to keep your frustrations to a minimum. Well, where was I? Ah, yes. It was the Jewish terrorist Vladimir Jabotinsky who stated "the Jew learns not by way of reason, but by way of catastrophe" who can tell me what he meant by that? Jessica?'
Spike watched out of the corner of his eye as Buffy fumbled around with the papers on her desk, causing them to flutter to the ground. Looking flustered, Buffy leaned over and picked them up, knocking her newly acquired pen to the ground as she did so.
Buffy quickly stacked all her papers and placed the pen on top, then placed her hands in her lap to prevent any further accidents. She caught a movement out of the corner of her eye, and glanced across to see Spike place a piece of crumpled up paper on her desk.
Ignoring the voice at the back of her mind screaming at her to ignore it, her curiosity got the better of her and she picked up the piece of paper, smoothing it out to see two words penned neatly on it.
~What's wrong?
Frowning for a moment at the query, she reached for her pen.
~Nothing.
The note came back just as quickly as she had sent it.
~Bull-shit. What's wrong?
~Nothing that concerns you.
~Oh, I think it does. You've been like this since I brought up Dru. Look, I'm sorry for going off about her. It was a reflex built up over many years of blind adoration. I don't care about her anymore.
~You don't need to defend your lovesick actions for a skanky ho. You are still in love with her, I don't care. I was only trying to warn Faith off you. I don't actually care about your pathetic excuse for a lovelife.
~ What does it take to convince you? I don't love Dru anymore. Do you get it?
~And what does it take to convince you that I don't give a damn who you love.
~Then why have you been such a bitch since we had that conversation?
~I have not been a bitch since then.
~So yelling at me for talking about my ex, and storming off, ignoring me, is completely nice and normal behavior?
~Not everything is about you, Spike. I have had a bad day.
~Seemed pretty fine until that conversation.
~No. Actually it was fine until Riley. I am stressed because he has asked me out and I don't want to hurt his feelings so I am going to have to say yes and spend one whole night of my life being bored out of my skull.
~Don't go with him, then
~And what am I supposed to say to him? I'm sorry, you are too boring!?!?!
~No, say you are going with someone else.
~Yeah, and then turn up solo. No thank-you. I'm gonna have to grin and bear it.
The note didn't return for a while and Buffy was sure that he had given up, and was just relaxing, when he hesitantly placed the not back on her desk, a look of unease on his face.
~Well, I could take you, if you want. Nothing serious, just to give you an excuse to not go with him. If you don't want to, that's fine. You can ignore me the whole night, if you want. But you don't have to, that's ok.
Buffy glanced across incredulously at Spike. He sounded so. as crazy as it seemed, shy. She shook her head. He was probably just protecting himself from her thinking it was a serious date. And after Anya and Faith's performance, she didn't blame him.
She glanced across the aisle at him, where he was nervously biting his lip.
*Awwwwww, he looks so cute*
Shut up! She berated herself, as she smiled at him and mouthed thank-you.
Spike looked relieved and his whole posture relaxed as he turned back towards the teacher, a small smile hovering on his lips.
Buffy smiled and shook her head. She would never understand men.
Also, I'd like to say that as I live in Australia and am only in Year 11 I don't know how the American University system works, hell I don't even know how the Australian Uni system works. I'm kinda making it up as I go along, so if I get anything really really wrong, please tell me and I'll try and fix it.
Chapter 5
A light knocking came at the door and Buffy lifted the pillow off her head hear Willow calling through the badly made plasterboard.
'Buffy! Get up, you're gonna be late if you don't get up.'
Buffy moaned and moved the pillow back over her head.
'Oh no you don't, missy.' Willow had come in. 'There is coffee in the pot in the kitchen and you are gonna get up right now.'
She ripped the covers off the bed to reveal Buffy curled up in a ball.
'Ten more minutes, mom. Don't have to be at work for ages.' She turned sleepily back to the pillow.
'Buffy, if you don't get up right now I am gonna get the cold water. You promised me that you would talk to.'
Another sleep induced groan filled the room, but Buffy sat up groggily and pulled a blanket about her shoulders.
'Coffee?'
'It's in the kitchen, hurry before it all goes.'
*******************
Spike looked up when he heard the door open, clutching protectively at his coffee from his seat at the small table in the corner of the kitchen.
A tiny figure was standing at the door, leaning on the doorframe as she squinted around the room. She may have been wearing pajama's, Spike couldn't tell as she had a huge blanket wrapped around her shoulders that trailed on the ground as she staggered to the bench.
She opened her mouth to let loose a huge yawn, blinked a couple of times and looked around the room. 'Coffee?'
Spike looked around the room for the pot, before remembering it was in front of him.
'It's over here, luv.'
Buffy jumped, clearly not realizing anyone was in the room with her. 'Huh?'
Spike smiled, she looked so cute when she was all confused and rumpled. She looked like she had just staggered out of bed, her sheets were probably still warm. Mmmmm, warm Buffy sheets.No! No warm Buffy sheets. Buffy sheets were not a good thought to pursue. 'Bloody hell,' he muttered under his breath. 'Buffy, the coffee is on the table, over here.'
Buffy moved to the table and sat down, pulling a mug down the table towards her. Spike pushed the pot her way and she greedily poured the bitter smelling liquid into the mug. She looked around again, her nose scrunching as she tried to put what she was feeling into words.
Spike watched her as she opened and closed her mouth a few times, clearly searching for the words that would most aptly convey her thoughts.
'Milk?'
Spike sighed and got up from the table, opening the miny fridge to pull out a carton of milk.
He moved back to the table and pulled her mug towards him, pouring the creamy liquid into the black.
'Here you go, pet.'
Buffy raised the cup to her lips and gulped down half the contents of the mug as Spike replaced the carton in the fridge.
'Well, I'd better get goin', luv. Gotta find my way around this joint, before class starts.'
'Wait,' Buffy raised her hand and waved him back. 'We have to talk.I can't actually remember why at the moment, hang on.'
She filled her now empty mug with just black coffee this time, as Spike took a seat opposite her. He watched as she slowly began to sit up straight and the fog lifted from her eyes.
'Ahhhhh, that's better.' She gazed over the rim of her mug at the figure sitting opposite her. Spike looked pretty tired himself, there were light bags under his eyes and his hair was all rumpled from sleep.
Cute, was the first word that leapt to her mind as he sat looking nervously at her in a pair of old sweat pants and a soft grey tee. No! Not cute.well. Ok, he's cute, you couldn't be a girl and not think he was cute. but you know him and his personality is not cute. No cuteness there. Why are you trying analyse why you think he is cute?
Spike watched as a small look of confusion spread across her face, but she shook her head slightly and looked back up at him.
'Sorry, coffee was taking it's time. What were we saying.oh yes. I was talking to Willow last night and she. well she is the type of person who hates fighting and bickering and lives in this world of her own where everything is hugs and puppies.'
Spike raised an eyebrow at her. 'Is this going anywhere, luv, cause as much as I'm enjoying this chin-wag I do have things to do.'
Buffy glared at him, and Spike tensed, waiting for her to yell, he knew his tone had been less that nice. However, he was surprised when she took a few calming breaths and smiled at him.
'Yeah, sorry. Um, well, I was thinking. for Willows sake. do you wanna, I dunno, start again or something? Clean slate? I know we've had our differences over the past few weeks, but if we're gonna live together. well not together, but you know: close together. Or not. if you don't want to.er ok I'm babbling. Stopping now.'
She took a deep breath, looking anywhere but Spike who she was sure would be smirking. When she finally did look at him, he was staring at her, his gaze penetrating so deeply that she had to glace away.
'I know what you mean, luv.'
'You do?' she squeaked, mentally berating herself for her sudden inexplicable embarrassment.
'Course, luv. You want us to stop our little tiffs in front of Red.'
'No.'
'No?' Spike cocked his head at her, trying to fathom her meaning. She couldn't mean what he thought she meant. That would be to good to be true.
'I.' Buffy cleared her throat and started again. 'In was kinda hoping we could, you know. be friends.'
She stared hard at the table as if it she believed it held the meaning of life, thus missing the pure joy that lit up in her bleached companion's eyes.
'Course we can be friends, luv.' He reached across the table, squeezing her hand. He could tell she was embarrassed in case he had turned her down.
She looked up at him, a slight smile gracing her features. 'Ok, then, if you're sure.'
'Course I am.'
'Um, ok. If you want, as a first act of friendship I'll show you around campus. I'll go and dress. are you taking the freshman classes?'
'Yeah, when I spoke to the professors they said to find someone to catch me up in all the important stuff, and if I don't do so well this semester I can just retake the course's next year.'
Buffy nodded. 'Well, give me you're timetable when we're dressed and I'll show you where all your classes are for today. Only me and Xander are taking freshman courses, but you may end up in one of our classes if you're lucky. and there are all the courses that don't have specific years groups that take them.'
'Sure, luv. You go and get ready, and I'll get my things.'
Spike watched as Buffy gathered up her blanket around her shoulders and left the room. There was no denying it now. perhaps when he thought that was never going to see her again he could deny it, but not anymore. When you found someone's yawn a sweet and sexy act then it's kinda hard to deny that you are attracted to them.
Spike wasn't a fool, though. He knew that she couldn't feel anything like that for him.hell, she was only trying to befriend him for the sake of her best friend. Oh well, good things come to those who wait.
And as Spike made his way from the kitchen toward the showers he could tell he was in for a very long wait.
********************
Buffy stood up from her position of peering under the bed, a bottle of shampoo raised triumphantly in the air. She grabbed the bag of toiletries and her towel from the dresser and marched down the corridor to the bathroom. She pushed on the door, and finding it unlocked, quickly slipped inside.
The room was steamy; someone had recently been in there. She placed her bag on the side of the basin and her towel on the hook by the mirror, pulling off her tiny pajama top and reaching into the shower to turn on the water.
A noise from behind startled her and she turned to see Spike, wearing nothing but a towel push open the door she had forgotten to lock.
'Spike!' she screeched, reaching for her towel. 'Close your eyes.'
Spike, who hadn't even noticed that she was in the bathroom when he entered, immediately looked up and his mouth fell open. Standing in front of him was Buffy.
Not just any Buffy, but a half naked Buffy. His eyes were drawn automatically to the tanned expanse of skin before him. His eyes seemed to have a will of their own as they traveled up her body, taking in the slim form of her hips, the taught trimness of her stomach, and up until he was able to see the underside of her breasts, bobbing, as she stretched up for the towel above her head.
Cursing himself for being the gentleman that he was, Spike closed his eyes before they could roam any further. Thankfully, Buffy had been to embarrassed to look at him as she reached for the towel and hadn't noticed his momentary lapse. He was suddenly aware of the slight tenting of the towel that was hanging precariously around his waist.
Bugger.
He turned to face the door, under the pretense of giving Buffy some privacy to fix the towel around her.
Buffy looked up, her face flushed, to see the back of Spike as he seemed to be adjusting his towel.
She opened her mouth to scream at him. 'What th.'
Her indignant protests were cut off as Spike, who had gotten his masculine urges under control turned around to face her again.
Woah.
Buffy ran her eyes up and down his body, taking in the finer points of his figure. He wasn't as skinny as she had always thought he was. He had fine bones, yes, but they were gift-wrapped in perfectly toned muscle. Those sinewy arms that Buffy found herself suddenly wishing were holding her; his lean torso without a single scrap of fat to be seen. Those muscles rippling beneath his skin, his gorgeous six pack of abs and. Oh God, that chest! Smooth and slightly glistening from the steam. Her eyes drifted lower to where the towel hung from his hips. She wondered what he would do if she suddenly ripped the towel from him.
Abruptly remembering where she was, she looked back up at his face, distracted slightly by the water droplets that dripped from his still damp hair and ran down his neck to the hollow at his throat.
Spike had a slight smirk on his face, although he did look shaken. He raised an eyebrow cockily at her, 'Like what you see, luv?'
Buffy hesitated for a split second, heat rising to her face, before disregarding the question. 'What the hell are you doing in here? I'm kinda trying to have a shower.'
Spike shrugged. 'Sorry, you didn't lock the door and I forgot my razor.'
Buffy suddenly remembered that she had left the shower running hot water as she looked around the now extremely steamy room. She reached into the shower and turned off the tap and as she pulled back she spotted the razor in shower. She picked it up and handed it to him, careful to avoid touching any part of his skin.
He looked at her briefly, a small smile touching his lips. 'Sorry, pet. I'll be going now. Don't forget to lock the door.'
He turned away again, this time Buffy noticed his muscled back and arms, and for the second time wished she could pull the towel from his body. She fought to hold back a small sigh of longing, but the door clicked shut, pulling her back to her senses.
Bad Buffy! So what if he has a good body? He's an annoying British bleached blonde whom you are only being nice to for Willows sake.
*An annoying HOT British bleached blonde who just happens to sleep across the hall from you. Directly opposite in fact*
'Shut up.' Buffy muttered to herself, before remembering that she was the only one in the room.
*Talking to ourselves now are we?*
'Shut up,' she repeated. Reaching for the shower.a pair of blue eyes suddenly floated into her vision quickly followed by a pair of chiseled cheekbones and soft full lips.
'Better make that a cold shower'.
*****************
Buffy was fixing her earring in her when an impatient knock sounded at the door.
'Come in.'
The door swung open and Buffy looked into the reflection in her mirror to see Spike standing in the doorway.
'Bloody hell, woman. The Queen could get ready quicker than you.'
'Hey! That's cuz she has all attendanty people and stuff.'
Spike sighed and thrust his hands deep in his pockets as he hovered awkwardly outside the door.
Buffy smiled slightly, 'You can come in, Spike. You don't need an official invitation.'
Spike nodded and entered the room.
'Sit down, I won't be too long. This damn earring doesn't like going in this hole.'
Again, Spike nodded. He sat gingerly on the end of her bed, watching her play with the earring.
'Ow, dammit. Stupid earring, what did I ever do to you?'
Spike chuckled as she pouted into the mirror. 'Look, luv, about before.'
Buffy glanced over her shoulder at him before lifted the earring again to her ear.
'It's no biggie, I'll just lock the door next time.' Buffy smiled inwardly. That hadn't been so hard.
Spike nodded, looking slightly relieved. 'Ok, luv. I'll knock next time.'
'Deal.Ow!' She dropped the earring to the dresser with a curse, holding her ear with her finger and thumb.
'I don't know what's going on. maybe it's the light. Forget it.' She jumped slightly as she felt a hand on her shoulder.
'Here, Summers, let me try.'
Buffy looked up at him doubtfully before nodding and pointing to the earring. She held her breath to stop herself from shivering as Spike stepped into her personal space and bent over slightly to squint at her ear. She could feel his breath ghosting over her neck and tickling the stray hairs, before she felt a slight jab and the earring slid home.
'Thanks,' she breathed.
'No problem.' Actually it was a problem. Being at such a close proximity to her was affecting his body in ways he wished it wouldn't. The smell of vanilla lingered around his nose as he subtly inhaled her fragrance and his hands suddenly felt clammy.
Buffy turned and smoothed her bed, oblivious to the reactions she invoked in him.
'So,' she piped up chirpily. 'Hand over your timetable.
Spike reached into his pocket and pulled out he crumpled document in question, handing it to her silently.
'Ok, let's see. Hmmm, well.oh. Um. that's. interesting. Yeah. well this all seems pretty simple.apart from a small hitch.'
Spike looked up at her, 'Hitch?'
'Um, I think. that is, you're probably gonna be pissed, and you don't have to say you know me, or acknowledge me or anything.'
'Spit it out, pet.' Spike closed his eyes briefly at the mental images that conjured. No, he'd much prefer swallowing.
'Um, we kind of have a few classes together.'
Spike looked up, trying to conceal his sudden cheerfulness. 'Which ones would those be?'
'Er. Psychology, Art and History.'
'Hmmmm. Well, pet, I guess we're gonna be stuck with each other for a while.'
Buffy looked up at him timidly. 'Are you sure you don't mind, it's not like we have to talk or even acknowledge each others presence if you don't want to.'
'Luv, it's fine. Stop worrying so much. I'm not gonna bite you.
'You'd better not try, Mister, cuz they don't call me the Sl.damn. I'm, er, we're gonna be late for Psych if we don't leave now, and Professor Walsh will kick us out if we can't get to class on the first day on time.'
She grabbed her bag and ran for the door.
'Wait, luv. I've gotta get my stuff.'
'It's too late for that, we've gotta run. You can borrow mine.'
******************
'Please finish reading Chapter Nine by tomorrow. Class dismissed.'
Buffy stretched and yawned as Willow looked down at her. 'First day of classes and you're already gracing us with your snores.'
Buffy looked up embarrassedly at her best friend. 'Um, well I wasn't exactly asleep. I was just resting my eyes. I may need glasses you know.'
'U-huh. So the little snoring sounds coming from your direction were.'
'Um, wheezing. I may have asthma you know.'
'Yeah, asthma.' Willow rolled her eyes at Spike who stepped back with his hands in the air as Buffy turned toward him with a pleading look on her face.
'Hey, I'm keeping my sexy ass outta this debate. I'm on no-ones side.'
Buffy mock glared at him, before her expression changed to one of horror.
'What's the matter, Summers?'
Buffy raised a trembling figure to gesture at something behind him. As she did, Spike heard Willow gasp and grab Buffy's arm.
'We gotta go.'
'Huh? Wait a minute. Where are you going?'
Buffy stopped and turned around, grabbing Spikes arm.
'Come on,' she hissed. 'I'll explain later.'
However it was too late.
'Buffy!'
'Shit,' spat Buffy. 'Come on. Move it.'
Spike halted. 'Someone was calling you.'
Willow was hovering on the verge of indecision, clearly wanting to run but not wanting to leave her friend.
'Buffy! Wait up!'
Buffy's shoulders slumped in defeat. 'You go on, Wills. No point in us all suffering.'
Spike looked between the two in confusion. 'Do you want me to go, luv?'
'No! I'm gonna need some support here with.Hey Riley.' Spike looked up to see a short necked man jogging up to them, a goofy grin of adoration spread across his face. He felt Buffy cringe as she moved closer to him.
'Hey Buffy.' The man stood in front of her, his smile never wavering. He reminded Spike of a puppy sitting in front of its master, tail wagging and tongue hanging out.
'How was your vacation?' Buffy tried to smile but her face felt locked.
'Good, it was. good. I tried ringing you, but I must have copied your number down wrong. The lady had never heard of a Buffy.'
Buffy's smile became slightly plastic, 'Is that a fact?'
'Yeah,'
.
'So. who's your friend?'
'My. what? Oh, Spike this is Riley, Riley this is Spike.'
'Spike?'
'It's a nickname.'
'Oh.'
. Spike felt like throwing up as the boy continues to stare lovingly at Buffy, who was shifting from foot to foot.
'So, Buffy.I was wondering.'
'Um, yeah?' Buffy squeaked as her eyes darted left and right, looking for an escape.
'Well, there's a party on in my frat house this weekend. and I was kinda hoping that.'
'Buffy!'
'Hey, B!'
Spike felt Buffy sag slightly in relief beside him as two girls skidded up to them.
'Anya, Faith. you'll never guess how glad I am to see you.'
'Huh?' The blonde girl raised her eyebrows before being nudged by the brunette.
'Well, lookie lookie here, Anya. It's Riley.'
'Oh Fuck.'
'Anya,' Buffy's voice held a warning tone.
'Oh, I mean it's very very nice to see you again, Riley.'
Spike was feeling completely and utterly bewildered when the darker girl, Faith, moved in between Buffy and Riley.
'Well, Rye, I hate to break up a party, but Anya and I really need to see B urgently.'
'Um, sure. I guess I'll see you later, Buffy.'
'U-huh.'
Anya and Faith each grabbed on of Buffy's arms and dragged her off. When they were around the corner Buffy shook herself free of the pair and turned to check that Spike was with them.
'What the bloody hell was that?'
Anya looked Spike up and down appraisingly. 'Hmmm, you're well crafted, aren't you?'
Faith nudged her. 'Oi, you got the Xand-man. This one is B's.'
Buffy blushed. 'He is not B's anything.'
Faith raised an eyebrow. 'Can I have him then? He looks like a hunk of salty goodness.'
'No!' Buffy exclaimed. 'Er, I mean.no.'
Anya and Faith exchanged knowing looks.
'Oh, come on you guys. Reflex action, only. Faith, you can have him, just don't bruise him. He's kinda fragile of late and I promised Willow I'd be good, which I guess means protecting him from the evilness that is you.'
'So, if I don't break him?'
Buffy swallowed as she stared into Faith's smirking face. 'He's all yours.'
Spike looked from Anya's smirking face to Faiths smug one to Buffy's red one. 'Um, luv, what's going on?'
Anya turned to him. 'Well, we just rescued you and Buffy from Riley Finn, who we call BP, short for Boredom Personified. Honestly, that man could bore a sleeping turtle to death. He has been obsessed with Buffy ever since the day he met her, and has been chasing her since then.'
Spike turned to grin at Buffy, 'Ooooh, Goldilocks has an admirer.'
'Shut up! It's not my fault, I'm as mean to him as I can be. I guess I'm just to nice to be mean.'
'Um, pet. It's me you're talkin to, you can be a soddin bitch if the mood takes you.'
'Only to jerks like you. Riley is a nice guy, unlike some assholes who beat girls up, yell at them for trying to be nice and then ring them up at 2 in the morning to apologise, thus causing sleep deprevation.'
'I have apologized for every single one of those things, luv, plus I got you a day off from old Rupes.'
'But you didn't have to call me in the middle of the night to tell me.'
'Will you give it a rest, luv? I said I was sorry.'
Anya turned to Faith. 'I guess you're out of the running. They've got it bad.'
'Hey! I have not got anything bad for anyone. Faith is welcome to him.' Buffy glared up at her female comanions.
'Now what are you blatherin about, Summers?'
Anya jumped up and down, waving her hand in the air. 'Oh, oh. I know the answer to this one.'
Buffy glared at her. 'Anya. I am warning you.'
'Pfft, what can you do? Faith and I think you are, as Faith so aptly puts it, one hunk of salty goodness, although what makes salty good? Anyway. Faith said I couldn't have him, because I am dating my beady-eyed, large upper-armed Xander. The Faith asked if she could have you. and Buffy became unusually defensive of Faith's claim to you, before becoming all stuttery and changing her mind, saying that she was protecting you from the man- eater that is Faith. Then you two argued like a couple of old womem, and I told Faith that it didn't look like she had a chance of competing with her for you.what?'
Spike looked at Anya for a while, as he processed that information. Then he began smirking evilly and Buffy mentally winced as he turned to her.
'Stakin a claim, luv? Can't keep your hands off my hot tight body?'
'As if. Ego much? I was protecting you from Faith.'
'Oh, so you were purely concerned with my well-being?'
'Yes, Faith is known for spitting out her guys as fast as she chews them up.'
'Hey!'
The aforesaid guy spitter placed her hands on her hips, although she was grinning as she did, 'Standing right here, B.'
The two blondes ignored her. 'So, you are feeling this need to protect me from the big bad chits?'
'Well you don't seem to take being dumped very well, so I thought I would save you the second humiliation in a row. Sorry, I wont do it again.'
'Don't speak about Dru like that! She was twice the girl you'll ever be.' Spike shot back reflexively, before thinking about what he was saying.
'Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot your lying cheating ex's name was sacred. How dare I befoul it in your presence! You know, this friendship thing was never going to work. I'm surprised we lasted as long as this, but that's it. Not even staying on Willows good side is worth putting up with your bull.'
Buffy whirled on the spot and stormed off in the direction of the dorms.
'Come on, pet, don't take it like that.' Spike called after her.
'Oh, bloody hell.'
Spike nodded briefly to the two smirking girls and began jogging off after her.
'Summers! Wait up!'
***************
Buffy dumped her bag on the floor and plonked herself down in a seat. Bending to pull her books out of her bag, she prayed that Spike would get extremely lost and not be able to find their history class.
As the rest of her classmates began filing in, she kept her eyes fixed firmly on the desk in front of her, avoiding making eye contact with anyone in the room. She heaved a sigh of relief as it seemed like the last of the class had entered and there was no sign of Spike.
Then a flash of platinum caught her eye, contrasted with the black of his duster and Buffy closed her eyes in frustration.
When she opened them, she found that he had seated himself at the desk next to hers, and she could feel his eyes boring into her as she continued to stare avidly at the desk.
Determined not to look at him, she bent down to her bag, which was thankfully placed on the side opposite of Spike and made a pretense of looking for her pen, which she knew she had left in Psyche.
Straightening up, she ignored the pen that Spike was holding out to her and turned to the girl behind her.
'I'm sorry, I seem to have left my pen in my last class. You wouldn't happen to have a spare, would you?'
The girl looked quizzically from Buffy to Spike, who had placed the pen on her desk, but smiled and handed her a spare.
'Keep it, I've got plenty.'
Buffy smiled at her gratefully and, whilst twisting back toward the front, managed to brush Spike's pen off the desk without appearing to have noticed its presence.
Spike sighed, and picked the pen up from the ground as Buffy continued to ignore his presence, her eyes following the professor who had just entered the room.
Buffy knew she was being petty and childish, and cursed the fact that she was acting this way. She had no right to be this upset that Faith had a thing for Spike or that Spike still had a thing for his ex. She was being irrational and jea. no not jealous. Sure, she was acting in a way that could be construed as jealousy but she wasn't actually jealous. No Way!
'Auurggh.' Buffy banged her head on the desk in frustration, causing the teacher to pause in concern. 'Are you feeling unwell, Ms Summers?'
Buffy blushed, 'Sorry, I just remembered. something I had forgotten.'
'Well, try to keep your frustrations to a minimum. Well, where was I? Ah, yes. It was the Jewish terrorist Vladimir Jabotinsky who stated "the Jew learns not by way of reason, but by way of catastrophe" who can tell me what he meant by that? Jessica?'
Spike watched out of the corner of his eye as Buffy fumbled around with the papers on her desk, causing them to flutter to the ground. Looking flustered, Buffy leaned over and picked them up, knocking her newly acquired pen to the ground as she did so.
Buffy quickly stacked all her papers and placed the pen on top, then placed her hands in her lap to prevent any further accidents. She caught a movement out of the corner of her eye, and glanced across to see Spike place a piece of crumpled up paper on her desk.
Ignoring the voice at the back of her mind screaming at her to ignore it, her curiosity got the better of her and she picked up the piece of paper, smoothing it out to see two words penned neatly on it.
~What's wrong?
Frowning for a moment at the query, she reached for her pen.
~Nothing.
The note came back just as quickly as she had sent it.
~Bull-shit. What's wrong?
~Nothing that concerns you.
~Oh, I think it does. You've been like this since I brought up Dru. Look, I'm sorry for going off about her. It was a reflex built up over many years of blind adoration. I don't care about her anymore.
~You don't need to defend your lovesick actions for a skanky ho. You are still in love with her, I don't care. I was only trying to warn Faith off you. I don't actually care about your pathetic excuse for a lovelife.
~ What does it take to convince you? I don't love Dru anymore. Do you get it?
~And what does it take to convince you that I don't give a damn who you love.
~Then why have you been such a bitch since we had that conversation?
~I have not been a bitch since then.
~So yelling at me for talking about my ex, and storming off, ignoring me, is completely nice and normal behavior?
~Not everything is about you, Spike. I have had a bad day.
~Seemed pretty fine until that conversation.
~No. Actually it was fine until Riley. I am stressed because he has asked me out and I don't want to hurt his feelings so I am going to have to say yes and spend one whole night of my life being bored out of my skull.
~Don't go with him, then
~And what am I supposed to say to him? I'm sorry, you are too boring!?!?!
~No, say you are going with someone else.
~Yeah, and then turn up solo. No thank-you. I'm gonna have to grin and bear it.
The note didn't return for a while and Buffy was sure that he had given up, and was just relaxing, when he hesitantly placed the not back on her desk, a look of unease on his face.
~Well, I could take you, if you want. Nothing serious, just to give you an excuse to not go with him. If you don't want to, that's fine. You can ignore me the whole night, if you want. But you don't have to, that's ok.
Buffy glanced across incredulously at Spike. He sounded so. as crazy as it seemed, shy. She shook her head. He was probably just protecting himself from her thinking it was a serious date. And after Anya and Faith's performance, she didn't blame him.
She glanced across the aisle at him, where he was nervously biting his lip.
*Awwwwww, he looks so cute*
Shut up! She berated herself, as she smiled at him and mouthed thank-you.
Spike looked relieved and his whole posture relaxed as he turned back towards the teacher, a small smile hovering on his lips.
Buffy smiled and shook her head. She would never understand men.