Disclaimer: Nope, still not mine.
A/N: Hey, you still with me? You know I love you all – especially when you review, it really does inspire me to write more quickly! Okay this chapter contains some unpleasant imagery. It isn't graphic but there is an instance of violence towards a minor. If you do not wish to read this feel free not to, I will make a vague reference to it in the next chapter so you wont miss much. Not a long chapter because I didn't want to go overboard on the angst – it depresses the hell out of me!
Chapter 9: Goodbye Sunshine…
She had been ten when he first showed up. Aunty Dru had introduced him as her 'special friend'. Now Dru had had lots of 'special friends' before, but something had told Buffy that this one was going to be around for a long time, and that from this day on things were going to get even worse. He had that same look in his eyes as Dru had had when she'd come to live with her a year and a half ago, but never before had Buffy seen eyes that she would describe as evil. She was already Dru's slave. Her life consisted of getting up to do her chores, going to school, coming back to do more chores before she would be sent to her room in the basement to wait for Dru to yell for her. What Dru would order her to do would vary. Sometimes it would be as simple as having to stand in the corner and face the wall without making a sound – Dru would always claim Buffy had been making too much noise and her punishment was to stay silent and not move until she was excused to go to bed.
It was during punishments such as this that Buffy had become certain that Dru wasn't exactly sane. She knew for a fact that she hadn't made any noise. She was usually too afraid to move a muscle just in case. The noise had to be in Dru's head. Everything changed when Liam came. He'd been nice to her at first, asking her questions about school, about her friends, about her mommy. Buffy had happily told him about the nice boy at school called Pike, and she'd told him about her special friend William who she had met on holiday and spent most of the week with – she still remembered him even thought it had been so long since she had seen him! It had been pleasant having someone to talk to. Most of her friends at school didn't really want to listen to the girl who lived with the crazy lady – Oh yeah; Dru was famous in the neighbourhood! And Dru certainly didn't want to listen to her. But Liam had heard all her stories; Liam didn't get cross like aunty Dru…
As Buffy stood in front of the bathroom mirror on her eleventh birthday she watched the tears as they rolled down her face, ignoring the sharp sting when the salty fluid seeped into the gash on her cheek. She could already tell that her left eye was going to swell up even more. She was already having trouble keeping it open. Buffy hadn't meant to make Liam angry. All she had done was run up to him to show him the birthday card she had been given at school, but she had accidentally tripped and knocked over his glass, spilling the nasty smelling amber liquid all over the carpet. Buffy had rushed to clean it up but she hadn't been fast enough. She hadn't seen the fist coming as she scrubbed at the carpet until it had already connected. She was just glad that she was too numb with shock to feel the blows that followed, and that Liam had gotten bored quite quickly.
Buffy sadly began to wash away the dried blood from her cheek and split lip. She knew she wouldn't be going to school tomorrow, or even until she had healed properly. She knew that aunty Dru would probably be angrier with her for spilling the drink than at Liam, or 'her Angel' as she'd started calling him, for hitting her. Dru wasn't beyond giving her a slap herself. Dru just wasn't as strong as Liam. Even as she cleaned her wounds she continued to cry. What a way to spend your birthday! Buffy knew she should try and stop the sobs from escaping, if she made much noise she would only be in even more trouble but she couldn't hold them back. As she began to wail in earnest she could hear footsteps coming along the hall towards her, footsteps too heavy to be Dru…
Spike would have missed it if the song on his CD player had started a few seconds earlier. He played his music so loud that he could block out disturbing noises from his mother and Rupert's room, or any other sounds for that matter. He played it even louder when they were out of town like they were this weekend. But in the few moments it took for a new song to start after the previous one had finished he had heard the muffled cries coming from the room next door to his own – Buffy's room! He was on his feet in an instant, glad that he hadn't bothered to strip for bed yet and ran as fast as he could, nearly knocking her door off its hinges in his haste.
From the noise she was making, which in itself was unusual, he was expecting an attacker of some sort to have climbed through the window. All he saw however was Buffy curled up in the foetal position in her bed shaking and sobbing. Quickly running over to her side Spike could see she was still asleep. Whatever was causing her distress was obviously in her dreams. Leaning over the bed he gently placed a hand on her shoulder to try and rouse her, shaking her slightly when it didn't work, calling her name. Suddenly her eyes shot open, locking with his, and in them Spike saw unadulterated fear. He knew in that instant that she hadn't just been having a nightmare, she had been remembering, he knew that whatever had happened to her was far worse than he had imagined.
Instinctively he climbed onto the bed next to her and pulled her against him, not caring that her continued sobs were soaking the front of his shirt. He gently rocked her until she began to calm and didn't let her go once she had drifted back to sleep, hoping that his presence would be enough to ward off any further unpleasant dreams for the night. He didn't care if when his mother and Rupert came back the next morning they found him there and jumped to conclusions, all he cared about was protecting her as best he could. But for the first time since he had met Buffy he wondered of perhaps people had been right when they'd told him that maybe he wouldn't be able to help her, that maybe she needed more than he was able to provide. He shook the thought off as quickly as he could. Even if he couldn't help Buffy on his own he wasn't going to hand her over to some uncaring stranger. He had made a promise to her in the hospital that he would take care of her and he intended to keep it, even if it meant he'd need to ask for people to help him. When morning came he was going to make a few phone calls.
A/N: Sorry if that was depressing, please don't hate me, but I thought it was about time I started to properly look at Buffy's past. Don't worry though – it wont all be doom and gloom – I promise! Love you all and your lovely reviews!