The next morning, Buffy's eyes opened with a start, and she sat up quickly. She almost instantly regretted it when a dull throb started pounding at her ears. She glanced down with a groan, and noticed she was still fully dressed. She frowned in confusion, and for the life of her, couldn't recall how she arrived in the bed, or when she had fallen asleep.
She slid her legs from the side of the bed, and carefully stood up. She quickly shed the clothes, and pulled on a more casual pair of jeans, with a slight flaring at the ankle. She topped it with a modest peasant blouse in a semi sheer lavender pattern, and glanced in the mirror. Her makeup was smeared all over her face. Wrinkling her nose, Buffy left the room, and went straight to the bathroom, without taking note of the outer room, or it's occupants. It was still fairly early, she had noticed in her room. It was only about quarter to 9 in the morning, which on a normal day was early for her brother and his friends. After a party, she had to wonder just what time he'd wake.
Buffy carefully scrubbed her face clean while looking in the mirror, and put some shimmer fruit flavored lip-gloss on. Searching through the medicine cabinet, she came up with some aspirin, and took one to dull the headache. It wasn't bad, but it was present enough to be annoying. Opening the door, she poked her head out to glance into the living room. On the sofa, she saw a guy she didn't recognize, with a girl laying on top of him as if he were a mattress himself. Wesley and Fred were curled up together on the floor near the windows.
On a beanbag chair, Spike was zonked out, his arms and legs spread outward and his head thrown back. A loud snore was emitting from his wide-open mouth. She giggled, and went into the kitchen. Beer bottles littered the counters, and ashtrays were sat all around. As quietly as she could, Buffy started gathering the bottles, and placing them under the sink.
As she grabbed two more bottles, one bumped against another, which toppled into the sink with a clang. Cringing, she held still for a moment, until she was certain it hadn't woken anyone up. She heard a mumbling as Spike's snoring stopped, and held her breath as she waited. She heard someone stand, and figured it was him. He came up behind her, confirming her suspicions. With a long stretch, arms above his head, and eyes scrunched shut he smiled. One hand drifted down to scratch at his lean stomach where the shirt had lifted to reveal the pale bare skin.
"Mornin, lightweight." His sky blue eyes opened and he took her in with a teasing grin. Her long hair was still flat from the iron last night, but her face looked cleaner, more innocent than last night. She had looked great last night, no question, but he preferred this Buffy, this innocent blonde girl, who blushed at most things he said.
Buffy grimaced slightly before smiling sheepishly towards him. "I guess I was more tired than I thought yesterday. You guys have been keeping me up a lot later than I was used to before." Back in Colorado, Buffy's light was to be out by 9pm every night, or her Grandmother would complain about the electricity use, as well as about how unhealthy it is for a girl her age to be up too late.
"S'not a problem, love. You were adorable with your mouth hanging wide open, snoring away." His face held a teasing smirk as he looked over at her. "Got plans for the day?"
"Other than cleaning up this horribly icky mess? No, not really. And hey, did you know that you also snore with your mouth hanging wide open?" With a giggle, Buffy went back to quietly moving the bottles to under the sink, and dumping out ashtray's as she came to them. Spike came up beside her and helped silently while pondering on whether to invite her to see a movie that night or not.
Finally, he got up the courage, and just asked. "Buffy, love, care to go see a flick tonight?" He asked quietly, while concentrating on cleaning up a spilled ashtray from the floor. Buffy looked over at him for a moment, before smiling.
"I would like that, Spike." As she turned back to cleaning, she missed him looking up, and the shy smile creeping across his features.
Buffy and Spike were sitting at the kitchen table, quietly talking and playing cards, when the door to Liam's room opened, and a rather disheveled Willow emerged. She was wearing a long shirt of Liam's, and a pair of old gym shorts. Willow stopped short when she saw both Spike and Buffy watching her with avid interest. A bright blush stained her cheeks before she smiled awkwardly, and trudged off to the bathroom.
"Way to go Red," Spike said softly with a pleased smile. He turned to Buffy with an easy grin. "She's been after him for a few months now, but even before that, the girl had a crush on boy. Hope it works out for them."
Buffy nodded with a far away look in her eyes, and then turned to look at Liam's door again. She finally snapped out of the slight daze, and slapped down the cards she needed to win.
"I win."
Mocking a groan, Spike swiped the cards from the table, and began to reshuffle them for another round.
"When did they tear down the old movie house?" Buffy asked as they walked up to the new dual screen movie house. Her long hair was pulled back from her face with a pair of white plastic barrettes, and she had a woven shawl over her shoulders.
"Bout a year ago was all. Had quite a bit of damage from a storm that hit last spring, so they decided it was time to get bigger anyway, and just tore it down to put this place up. It's nice, though, being able to pick from two movies when we want. We get more movies into town this way, too. Don't have to wait 5 months to see em." He put a hand to the small of her back and led her into the newer place. After paying for their tickets, and getting some snacks, the two ducked upstairs into the balcony.
"God, I haven't been to a movie since that summer before I moved away. Grandmother didn't approve, and thought it was a waste of money." Buffy said softly as she looked down at the large white screen. "I used to count the days until some new horror movie was coming out. Felt like it would take forever, and then the day when we could finally see them, it seemed like the day took at least 20 hours to get through."
She turned to look at him with large eyes, and sighed softly.
"S'ok, pet. We can come here any time you want. Sides, what guy doesn't like to have a lady alone in the dark?" Spike wiggled his eyebrows as he smiled deviously and swiped a handful of popcorn from the bag she held.
"Are you ever serious?" Buffy asked the bleached man beside her. He had changed so much, but at the same time, hadn't. She found him to be a very comforting presence in her life now.
"Sure, I am, pet. I'm serious about liking to be alone with you in the dark. Can do all sorts of naughty things, and big brother won't be watching." His grin was big, like a kid standing in front of a candy store with a fist full of dimes.
"Think again, mate." A deep male voice behind Spike said, while emphasizing the word mate. Buffy looked over Spike's shoulder with a grin, and Spike turned with a grimace.
"Willow, baby, why'd you bring him? Thought we'd have the place to ourselves?" Spike asked the slightly embarrassed redhead standing behind Liam. Behind her stood Xander, then Cordelia, then Wesley, Fred, and Connor. Rounding up the rear were Jesse and Larry, carrying massive bags of buttered popcorn.
"Sorry Spike. I tried to get him to the other movie, but he's been wanting to see this one for a few weeks." The large entourage slid down the row, taking up most of it.
Spike turned towards Buffy with a groan, and laid his forehead against her shoulder. "Save me, love. Big bad brother's going to have me hung for taking the princess without his permission!" Spike said dramatically. Buffy giggled, and playfully shoved him upright.
"You poor thing. Maybe we should move downstairs, you know, where they can't see us?" She asked with a wiggle of her eyebrows.
"Sold." Spike said without a pause. He stood up, gripped her hand, and led her out the other side of the row, and down the stairs, with Liam protesting loudly from the seats. Buffy looked back at Willow with a pleading look. The red head put an arm on Liam's, and pulled him back to a sitting position, before resting her head against his chest.
"Leave em be, Liam. She's my age, and he's younger than you. You'd be a hypocrite to stop them from seeing each other. Sides, its kinda cute seeing Spike all moony over someone."
Liam muttered under his breath, and then relaxed with an arm around Willow. "Fine, but he hurts her, and he's going back to England in a pile of assorted bags."
"Of course, baby. Of course."
TBC
Please Review!