Chapter 11.
Spike opened the mini bar and stared blankly at the contents. Cola,
lemonade, orange juice, water.
"Bloody hell, call this a bar!" he cursed.
He pulled out a can of cola and made his way back to the bed,
grabbing the remote on the way. Kicking off his boots he settled
himself against the pillows and began to flick through the channels.
The picture flickered on the screen so he jumped up and walked back
over to the television, banging it roughly on the top. This only
succeeded in producing a worse picture than before, so he struck in
again. The picture flickered into life for a second before
disappearing completely.
"For fucks sake!" he shouted, as he flung the remote across the room.
"That's it, I'm out of here!
He pulled on his boots, grabbed his coat and stomped through the door,
slamming it closed behind him.
It had been over 5 years since he had been last in Sunnydale, and from
driving around he had noticed very little had changed. There was only
one place to go of an evening then, and that was The Bronze. He had
driven past it earlier, knew it was still there, so he figured that
was as good a place as any to drown his sorrows, so that was where he
instructed the cab driver to take him.
"Buffy!" Dawn pounded on the bathroom door, "Buffy, hurry up in there,
Will and Tara are gonna be here any minute!"
Buffy leant her head against the shower wall and let the boiling water
pound her body. It wasn't that she wasn't pleased to see Willow, she
had missed her like crazy since the redhead had left for New York, and
she was dying to meet Tara, and hear all the news and gossip. She
just wished it could have been another time, she wanted to hide in her
room, pull the covers over her head and wait for things to get better
again. Buffy knew Willow wouldn't let her do that, she knew none of
her friends were going to either. She reached out of the shower and
grabbed a towel, pulling it tight around her, as she made her way to
her bedroom.
"What to wear?" She pondered as she flicked through the items in her
closet.
She turned as the door flung open and Faith threw herself onto her
bed.
"The Xan man and crazy chick just called, they got Red and her honey!"
Faith grinned. "Come on B! It's party time, wear the leather pants
girl!" Buffy pulled her red leather pants out and looked at them
closely.
"You don't think they are a bit, you know, slutty?" she said as she
looked at Faith. Faith just giggled, "Yeah that's the idea Buffy,
tonight you are gonna be 'foxy chick'."
"Hmmm," Buffy mused as she retrieved her favourite jeans, "not so
sure, I am down with the foxiness tonight, I am leaning more towards
'blend into the background Buffy'. What do you think?" She held up
both pairs of pants.
"Slutty or homely?"
Faith grabbed the jeans from Buffy's hands and ran from the room. " I
am burning these damn jeans B! I swear I will!"
"Guess it's the leather then". Buffy said to an empty room.
"So let me get this straight then," the blonde girl started, "It's a
party for Buffy, because she got a promotion, right?"
"Right." Xander replied.
"But we can't mention it?," she continued with a confused look on her
face.
"And again I say right!"
"See, that's the part I don't get Xander!"
Xander turned to the pretty blonde who sat beside him, and sighed. "Ok
one more time Anya. If you mention work, then Buffy will think of
Spike."
"And that is bad..why?" the girl interrupted.
"That is bad because.it just is," he continued, "Just trust me, it
will be a 'no fun Buffy' if we get into that conversation, and this is
supposed to be a fun night, ok." Anya nodded. Xander pulled his car
up out front of Buffy's apartment.
"Right ladies, here we are, Casa Summers!"
They were barely through the door, before Faith had the entire group
indulging in a tequila slammer marathon.
Willow watched in amusement, as Buffy knocked back shot after shot.
"So what's the plan then Faith?" she quizzed the already quite tipsy
brunette.
Faith grinned her special wicked grin. "Well Red, I thought there's
only one place to go, seeing as how we are all together for the first
time in like ages, and we have some new arrivals." she motioned to
Anya and Tara, who were sitting on the sofa watching the antics of
their friends in amusement. "I figured we gotta hit The Bronze, go
back to our roots, and shake it up in there!"
"That and Sunnydale is so lame there's nowhere else to go," Dawn
laughed. "I swear if I have to hear one more story of 'it was so much
better in our day', I will scream!"
Xander looked at his watch, "Ladies, we are wasting valuable drinking
time sitting here.drinking! What's say we head on over."
Buffy was the first to jump up and reach for her coat, "Let's go guys,
I am going to get royally drunk tonight!"
Willow pulled Xander to one side and whispered into his ear. "When did
Buffy start with the drinking? She could never hold her drink when we
used to go out before".
Xander pulled his face into a frown, "She still can't Will, I am
guessing this could be a short night!"
It was almost ten by the time the group of friends had finally managed
to get organised enough to actually leave the apartment, and get to
the club.
"Can you guys sort out the drinks, while I go to the ladies room!"
Buffy beamed before bouncing off through the crowd.
Willow looked to Xander with a look of concern spread across her face.
"She's taking this pretty well don't you think?" The redhead began,
"I mean I expected tears, or something, she just seems to be taking it
all in her stride, and that's a good thing, it's just not what I was
expecting!" Xander nodded in agreement.
"When I spoke to Faith yesterday, she said Buffy had locked herself in
her room, wouldn't come out, wouldn't talk," she continued. "She just
shut herself away. But when we get here and she is all 'Let's party!'
happy, smiley. I don't get it."
Xander handed the redhead her beer. "It must have been a hell of a
shock for her Will, I mean he wasn't exactly small heartbreak guy! He
was the full blown, ultimate I am gonna rip out your heart and stamp
on it guy!"
Willow took a swig from her bottle and nodded in agreement. "Exactly,
which brings me back to the 'don't you think she's taking it kinda
well' part!"
"Its denial!" Anya interrupted matter of factly..
They both turned to look at her.
"Its true, I saw a documentary the other day, all about people that
have big shocks and pretend like they aren't happening. Its denial I
tell you." Anya stood grinning insanely. "Deep down she's fiercely
miserable"
"Who's fiercely miserable?" Buffy came up behind Xander.
He shuffled awkwardly before Tara spoke up, "Oh mmmme... me" she
stuttered, "The barman wouldn't make me a Margherita." She smiled
sheepishly.
Willow gently squeezed her lover's hand and smiled gratefully. The
last thing she wanted was Buffy thinking they were discussing her
behind her back. A table had opened up, so the group rushed to get it
before anyone else saw.
Willow pulled up a seat beside her best friend and took her hand.
"So Buffy!" she smiled at the blonde sat beside her, "How are you
really?" She searched her eyes looking for an honest answer.
"Ask me tomorrow Will," she replied as she downed another shot of
tequila, and screwed he face as she sucked on the lemon wedge.
"Tonight I just want to pretend it's okay, I want to pretend I am ok."
Willow silently nodded and pulled her in for a big hug.
Anya prodded her oblivious boyfriend in the side. "See, denial. I
told you!" She said smiling smugly.
Spike opened the mini bar and stared blankly at the contents. Cola,
lemonade, orange juice, water.
"Bloody hell, call this a bar!" he cursed.
He pulled out a can of cola and made his way back to the bed,
grabbing the remote on the way. Kicking off his boots he settled
himself against the pillows and began to flick through the channels.
The picture flickered on the screen so he jumped up and walked back
over to the television, banging it roughly on the top. This only
succeeded in producing a worse picture than before, so he struck in
again. The picture flickered into life for a second before
disappearing completely.
"For fucks sake!" he shouted, as he flung the remote across the room.
"That's it, I'm out of here!
He pulled on his boots, grabbed his coat and stomped through the door,
slamming it closed behind him.
It had been over 5 years since he had been last in Sunnydale, and from
driving around he had noticed very little had changed. There was only
one place to go of an evening then, and that was The Bronze. He had
driven past it earlier, knew it was still there, so he figured that
was as good a place as any to drown his sorrows, so that was where he
instructed the cab driver to take him.
"Buffy!" Dawn pounded on the bathroom door, "Buffy, hurry up in there,
Will and Tara are gonna be here any minute!"
Buffy leant her head against the shower wall and let the boiling water
pound her body. It wasn't that she wasn't pleased to see Willow, she
had missed her like crazy since the redhead had left for New York, and
she was dying to meet Tara, and hear all the news and gossip. She
just wished it could have been another time, she wanted to hide in her
room, pull the covers over her head and wait for things to get better
again. Buffy knew Willow wouldn't let her do that, she knew none of
her friends were going to either. She reached out of the shower and
grabbed a towel, pulling it tight around her, as she made her way to
her bedroom.
"What to wear?" She pondered as she flicked through the items in her
closet.
She turned as the door flung open and Faith threw herself onto her
bed.
"The Xan man and crazy chick just called, they got Red and her honey!"
Faith grinned. "Come on B! It's party time, wear the leather pants
girl!" Buffy pulled her red leather pants out and looked at them
closely.
"You don't think they are a bit, you know, slutty?" she said as she
looked at Faith. Faith just giggled, "Yeah that's the idea Buffy,
tonight you are gonna be 'foxy chick'."
"Hmmm," Buffy mused as she retrieved her favourite jeans, "not so
sure, I am down with the foxiness tonight, I am leaning more towards
'blend into the background Buffy'. What do you think?" She held up
both pairs of pants.
"Slutty or homely?"
Faith grabbed the jeans from Buffy's hands and ran from the room. " I
am burning these damn jeans B! I swear I will!"
"Guess it's the leather then". Buffy said to an empty room.
"So let me get this straight then," the blonde girl started, "It's a
party for Buffy, because she got a promotion, right?"
"Right." Xander replied.
"But we can't mention it?," she continued with a confused look on her
face.
"And again I say right!"
"See, that's the part I don't get Xander!"
Xander turned to the pretty blonde who sat beside him, and sighed. "Ok
one more time Anya. If you mention work, then Buffy will think of
Spike."
"And that is bad..why?" the girl interrupted.
"That is bad because.it just is," he continued, "Just trust me, it
will be a 'no fun Buffy' if we get into that conversation, and this is
supposed to be a fun night, ok." Anya nodded. Xander pulled his car
up out front of Buffy's apartment.
"Right ladies, here we are, Casa Summers!"
They were barely through the door, before Faith had the entire group
indulging in a tequila slammer marathon.
Willow watched in amusement, as Buffy knocked back shot after shot.
"So what's the plan then Faith?" she quizzed the already quite tipsy
brunette.
Faith grinned her special wicked grin. "Well Red, I thought there's
only one place to go, seeing as how we are all together for the first
time in like ages, and we have some new arrivals." she motioned to
Anya and Tara, who were sitting on the sofa watching the antics of
their friends in amusement. "I figured we gotta hit The Bronze, go
back to our roots, and shake it up in there!"
"That and Sunnydale is so lame there's nowhere else to go," Dawn
laughed. "I swear if I have to hear one more story of 'it was so much
better in our day', I will scream!"
Xander looked at his watch, "Ladies, we are wasting valuable drinking
time sitting here.drinking! What's say we head on over."
Buffy was the first to jump up and reach for her coat, "Let's go guys,
I am going to get royally drunk tonight!"
Willow pulled Xander to one side and whispered into his ear. "When did
Buffy start with the drinking? She could never hold her drink when we
used to go out before".
Xander pulled his face into a frown, "She still can't Will, I am
guessing this could be a short night!"
It was almost ten by the time the group of friends had finally managed
to get organised enough to actually leave the apartment, and get to
the club.
"Can you guys sort out the drinks, while I go to the ladies room!"
Buffy beamed before bouncing off through the crowd.
Willow looked to Xander with a look of concern spread across her face.
"She's taking this pretty well don't you think?" The redhead began,
"I mean I expected tears, or something, she just seems to be taking it
all in her stride, and that's a good thing, it's just not what I was
expecting!" Xander nodded in agreement.
"When I spoke to Faith yesterday, she said Buffy had locked herself in
her room, wouldn't come out, wouldn't talk," she continued. "She just
shut herself away. But when we get here and she is all 'Let's party!'
happy, smiley. I don't get it."
Xander handed the redhead her beer. "It must have been a hell of a
shock for her Will, I mean he wasn't exactly small heartbreak guy! He
was the full blown, ultimate I am gonna rip out your heart and stamp
on it guy!"
Willow took a swig from her bottle and nodded in agreement. "Exactly,
which brings me back to the 'don't you think she's taking it kinda
well' part!"
"Its denial!" Anya interrupted matter of factly..
They both turned to look at her.
"Its true, I saw a documentary the other day, all about people that
have big shocks and pretend like they aren't happening. Its denial I
tell you." Anya stood grinning insanely. "Deep down she's fiercely
miserable"
"Who's fiercely miserable?" Buffy came up behind Xander.
He shuffled awkwardly before Tara spoke up, "Oh mmmme... me" she
stuttered, "The barman wouldn't make me a Margherita." She smiled
sheepishly.
Willow gently squeezed her lover's hand and smiled gratefully. The
last thing she wanted was Buffy thinking they were discussing her
behind her back. A table had opened up, so the group rushed to get it
before anyone else saw.
Willow pulled up a seat beside her best friend and took her hand.
"So Buffy!" she smiled at the blonde sat beside her, "How are you
really?" She searched her eyes looking for an honest answer.
"Ask me tomorrow Will," she replied as she downed another shot of
tequila, and screwed he face as she sucked on the lemon wedge.
"Tonight I just want to pretend it's okay, I want to pretend I am ok."
Willow silently nodded and pulled her in for a big hug.
Anya prodded her oblivious boyfriend in the side. "See, denial. I
told you!" She said smiling smugly.