Chapter Two: Conversation over Coffee
Today was going to be a very busy day for the girls. Since they didn't have any furniture in their new room, they had slept in the den. Cordy took the sofa, Buffy slept on the love seat, and the guys had rolled in one of those foldable trundle beds for Willow. So, the first errand was to drop buy a Goodwill and buy some bedroom furniture.
That morning while they ate breakfast, Buffy and Xander discussed the living arrangements and house rules. She had to write everything down because, first of all, she had told Willow and Cordelia that she would take care of all the particulars if Willow made Buffy a "to-do" and "to-buy" list and if Cordy promised not to spend all her money saved from working on clothes, make-up, and jewelry. They had both agreed.
Besides, Cordy was in the shower and Willow was still sleeping. Xander, who was the eldest of the three brothers, wanted to get everything worked out before he headed off to work at his construction company.
"So, what price did you decide on, Xander?"
He paused. "Well, it's hard to decide when I'm unsure of what exactly you plan on providing for yourselves. I mean, if you don't want to buy separate groceries and what not, you guys can just eat ours, but then rent would be higher. But it's all up to you." He smiled warmly at her.
"OK, how about this - we split the cost of food in half, the cost of heating and air in half, and the water bill in half. Then we pay a fixed rate each month for the room. I would offer splitting cable TV and telephone, but I don't think we're going to have time to watch TV, and Cordy, Willow, and I are already on a family share plan for our cell phones. Does that sound fair?" Buffy asked, hoping that he would agree, because she had estimated costs for the next few months, and even with minimum wage jobs, it was going to be tight.
"Well, actually, I was thinking about this last night," Oh, this can't be good, Buffy thought, "And, you see, we never used the bedroom you're in now, which means you're really not taking anything away from us. Also, with the heating and air, the price isn't going to change if you move in. So basically, you're only going to be using a little more electricity than we're used to.
"Seeing as there are three other bedrooms, mine, Oz's, and Spike's, one more bedroom and bathroom is then a fourth of the electricity. So you pay a fourth of the electric bill. As for water, splitting it in half sounds fair. Oh, and if you want to watch cable, go ahead. It's no big. And same with the phone. Like, if you run out of minutes on your cell, you can use ours anytime."
Buffy was astounded at Xander's generosity. Most people would have jumped at the chance of taking advantage of the "first time away from home" scenario, but he hadn't. And he'd actually made a much better deal than she could've hoped for.
"Why exactly are you being so nice to us? You could actually lose money if not break even with this arrangement. Not that I don't fully appreciate your hospitality..." she faded off.
He looked at her. He glanced over her face. He could almost see the years of pain whittled into her face. The lack of sparkle in her hazel eyes was proof enough for him that the girls hadn't come to LA to have a new experience. If they had, they would've finished high school first.
"I know you probably don't want to tell me about it, but, I know what runaways are. And, in the Waffle House, when Oz and I had walked over, our purpose had been to get your numbers. But when I noticed the duffel bags and worn out expressions, I decided that I wanted to look out for you three. And not in a pity or "you're inferior to me" kinda way. Just felt the urge to do something good. Y'know?"
Overyjoed that he hadn't tried to turn this into the 'I could always let you stay here for free if you let me have sex with you' thing, her face cracked a naturally radiant smile. "You have the hots for Cordelia, don't you?"
Xander chuckled. "It's that obvious, isn't it?" Buffy giggled and nodded happily.
"She mentioned to me that she thought you were kinda cute. So, who knows!" She winked at him playfully.
"Oh, and I think Oz has it in for Red."
"Red? Willow already has a nickname?"
"Yeah. Spike gave it to her." Why didn't Spike give me a nickname?, she thought. Umm, maybe because he doesn't know you. And would you really want him to call you "Blonde"?
"Oh. OK."
"Is 'Buffy' a nickname?" Xander asked.
"No. My parents are psycho. I swear it sounds like a porn star's name. Reminds me of 'Bunny' or something."
Xander laughed. "Yeah, we weren't sure about your's. But we figured we'd just let Cordelia go by Cordy. If you can't tell, we're big into the nicknames."
"Well, I'm guessing yours is short for Alexander, right?" He nodded. "Well, where did 'Spike' and 'Oz' come from?"
"Oz's full name is 'Daniel Osbourne Giles'. He didn't like the tameness of 'Dan' or the sophistication of 'Osbourne', so he chose 'Oz.' As for Spike... As he told you he lived in England when he grew up. He actually stayed at a boarding school in London most of the time, but whatever. So one night during a teacher's dinner or something, he snuck in to the kitchen and poured Vodka in the punch.
"When the majority of the faculty gets drunk off of strawberry lemonade, people get suspicous. Someone had mentioned seeing him leave the building, not know what it was about. Word got around that he'd spiked the teachers' punch, and people just started calling him 'Spike.' And to think, he was only in the eighth grade and he was able to get a hold of Vodka!"
Buffy laughed, seeing a preteen Spike getting the faculty of some prestigious academy completely shit-faced.
Xander looked down at his watch, noticing that it was time to head to work. He said goodbye, telling Buffy to tell the girls good luck on their shopping today.
Review Responses: Ice Blue Rose - I actually based some of this story on an idea that I found on SpuffyFantasy, but I've changed it quite a bit since I started it. To everyone else - Wow!! Thanks so much for your support!! You keep me writing :) I hope you liked this chapter, and keep reviewing!! THANKS AGAIN!!
Today was going to be a very busy day for the girls. Since they didn't have any furniture in their new room, they had slept in the den. Cordy took the sofa, Buffy slept on the love seat, and the guys had rolled in one of those foldable trundle beds for Willow. So, the first errand was to drop buy a Goodwill and buy some bedroom furniture.
That morning while they ate breakfast, Buffy and Xander discussed the living arrangements and house rules. She had to write everything down because, first of all, she had told Willow and Cordelia that she would take care of all the particulars if Willow made Buffy a "to-do" and "to-buy" list and if Cordy promised not to spend all her money saved from working on clothes, make-up, and jewelry. They had both agreed.
Besides, Cordy was in the shower and Willow was still sleeping. Xander, who was the eldest of the three brothers, wanted to get everything worked out before he headed off to work at his construction company.
"So, what price did you decide on, Xander?"
He paused. "Well, it's hard to decide when I'm unsure of what exactly you plan on providing for yourselves. I mean, if you don't want to buy separate groceries and what not, you guys can just eat ours, but then rent would be higher. But it's all up to you." He smiled warmly at her.
"OK, how about this - we split the cost of food in half, the cost of heating and air in half, and the water bill in half. Then we pay a fixed rate each month for the room. I would offer splitting cable TV and telephone, but I don't think we're going to have time to watch TV, and Cordy, Willow, and I are already on a family share plan for our cell phones. Does that sound fair?" Buffy asked, hoping that he would agree, because she had estimated costs for the next few months, and even with minimum wage jobs, it was going to be tight.
"Well, actually, I was thinking about this last night," Oh, this can't be good, Buffy thought, "And, you see, we never used the bedroom you're in now, which means you're really not taking anything away from us. Also, with the heating and air, the price isn't going to change if you move in. So basically, you're only going to be using a little more electricity than we're used to.
"Seeing as there are three other bedrooms, mine, Oz's, and Spike's, one more bedroom and bathroom is then a fourth of the electricity. So you pay a fourth of the electric bill. As for water, splitting it in half sounds fair. Oh, and if you want to watch cable, go ahead. It's no big. And same with the phone. Like, if you run out of minutes on your cell, you can use ours anytime."
Buffy was astounded at Xander's generosity. Most people would have jumped at the chance of taking advantage of the "first time away from home" scenario, but he hadn't. And he'd actually made a much better deal than she could've hoped for.
"Why exactly are you being so nice to us? You could actually lose money if not break even with this arrangement. Not that I don't fully appreciate your hospitality..." she faded off.
He looked at her. He glanced over her face. He could almost see the years of pain whittled into her face. The lack of sparkle in her hazel eyes was proof enough for him that the girls hadn't come to LA to have a new experience. If they had, they would've finished high school first.
"I know you probably don't want to tell me about it, but, I know what runaways are. And, in the Waffle House, when Oz and I had walked over, our purpose had been to get your numbers. But when I noticed the duffel bags and worn out expressions, I decided that I wanted to look out for you three. And not in a pity or "you're inferior to me" kinda way. Just felt the urge to do something good. Y'know?"
Overyjoed that he hadn't tried to turn this into the 'I could always let you stay here for free if you let me have sex with you' thing, her face cracked a naturally radiant smile. "You have the hots for Cordelia, don't you?"
Xander chuckled. "It's that obvious, isn't it?" Buffy giggled and nodded happily.
"She mentioned to me that she thought you were kinda cute. So, who knows!" She winked at him playfully.
"Oh, and I think Oz has it in for Red."
"Red? Willow already has a nickname?"
"Yeah. Spike gave it to her." Why didn't Spike give me a nickname?, she thought. Umm, maybe because he doesn't know you. And would you really want him to call you "Blonde"?
"Oh. OK."
"Is 'Buffy' a nickname?" Xander asked.
"No. My parents are psycho. I swear it sounds like a porn star's name. Reminds me of 'Bunny' or something."
Xander laughed. "Yeah, we weren't sure about your's. But we figured we'd just let Cordelia go by Cordy. If you can't tell, we're big into the nicknames."
"Well, I'm guessing yours is short for Alexander, right?" He nodded. "Well, where did 'Spike' and 'Oz' come from?"
"Oz's full name is 'Daniel Osbourne Giles'. He didn't like the tameness of 'Dan' or the sophistication of 'Osbourne', so he chose 'Oz.' As for Spike... As he told you he lived in England when he grew up. He actually stayed at a boarding school in London most of the time, but whatever. So one night during a teacher's dinner or something, he snuck in to the kitchen and poured Vodka in the punch.
"When the majority of the faculty gets drunk off of strawberry lemonade, people get suspicous. Someone had mentioned seeing him leave the building, not know what it was about. Word got around that he'd spiked the teachers' punch, and people just started calling him 'Spike.' And to think, he was only in the eighth grade and he was able to get a hold of Vodka!"
Buffy laughed, seeing a preteen Spike getting the faculty of some prestigious academy completely shit-faced.
Xander looked down at his watch, noticing that it was time to head to work. He said goodbye, telling Buffy to tell the girls good luck on their shopping today.
Review Responses: Ice Blue Rose - I actually based some of this story on an idea that I found on SpuffyFantasy, but I've changed it quite a bit since I started it. To everyone else - Wow!! Thanks so much for your support!! You keep me writing :) I hope you liked this chapter, and keep reviewing!! THANKS AGAIN!!