CHAPTER 2: Missing You



The next day after school, Buffy walked into the empty house of hers. It's almost like it hasn't been occupied by anyone for months. Buffy sighed heavily, already knowing that her mom would be somewhere on the other side of the country right now. She passed through the hall, entering the cold and almost too clean kitchen. Yep! Nobody had been here for a while. She picked up a yellow post-it note attached on the fridge door and started reading it while she reached for a can of diet coke.


Buffy honey, I have to go to New York for a gallery meeting. I'll be back in two days.
The money is in my dresser and call me on my cell if you need anything, okay?
Love you,

Mom


Buffy sighed again. She crumpled the note and threw it into the bin near the island. She had been trusted to be left home by herself since she was 15 years old. Joyce Summers, her mother, had never doubted that Buffy would take good care of herself, and Giles or Spike would be over to her house to check on her. Joyce had also trusted Buffy to spend a lot of nights at Spike's place, which was also an advantage because she would not have to worry about her only daughter.

Buffy slumped into the kitchen stool, taking a good look around at the empty space. The silence of the room made her cringe. This was not a family home supposed to be like. She would give anything to hear a sound, any sound at all, especially her mother's voice. She held the tears back that started welling up behind her eyes. She missed her mom for being not here with her and she yearned for the mother-daughter bonding times that hadn't been done for a while.

Finally standing up, she dragged herself upstairs to her room to get some clean clothes and toiletries, and put them all in an overnight bag. She climbed down the stairs and checked every locked door before she locked the front door at last. Then she walked on the sidewalk and before she knew it she was already standing in front of Spike's house.



Accessing his house with her own keys, Buffy walked past the living room and headed to the open dining room.

"Hi, Giles!" Buffy flashed Giles a sad smile when she saw him sitting on the dining chair, reading a newspaper as usual.

"Hi, Buffy. What's wrong?" Giles looked up at her from the newspaper, concerned.

"Nothing. Can I stay here while my mom's out of town on business?"

"Of course, you can Buffy. You've always been part of this family, you know that right?" Giles finally dropped the newspaper, giving Buffy his full attention.

"Thank you Giles. Is Spike home?" Buffy gave a smile again, still looking slightly sad.

"Yes, he is. He's probably taking a nap right now." Giles offered a warm smile.

"Well, I'll just go into his room then. Thank you again, Giles. I really appreciate it," said Buffy graciously. "You're very welcome." Buffy gave another weak smile before entering Spike's room quietly.



Buffy put down her bag near the foot of the study desk. Giles was right. Spike was sleeping soundly, so peaceful he looked quite innocent and angelic. Buffy smiled at the display, then climbed into the bed, curling up next to Spike. Spike, recognizing the vanilla scent of her, threw his arm over her slim body.

"Hey, what's up?" he asked, never opening his eyes.

"Mom's out of town for a couple of days and Giles said I could stay here with you," she answered, starting to close her eyes herself, snuggling up more to him. "Hmm...okay then." They both started to doze off.


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Buffy stirred, starting to wake up when she found the other side of the bed was empty. The bedroom's door swung open and Spike poked his head inside, grinning.

"Hello sleepyhead! FINALLY...You're awake!" Spike walked towards the bed, his hands holding the bed tray with a plate full of bacon, scrambled eggs, sausages and toast, complete with two forks and knives, and two glasses of orange juice. The smell invited Buffy to sit up straight.

"What time is it? Don't tell me it's morning already," she freaked after looking up at the breakfast meal. "Relax, pet! It's evening now, nine thirty to be exact. Here, let's eat! You must be hungry," he explained while he put the tray down in front of her.

"Oh. Why did you cook breakfast then?" Buffy lifted her orange juice, draining it to her dry throat.

"I dunno, just felt like eating breakfast is all," he replied with a shrug, starting to pick up the eggs with his fork.

"Where's Giles?" she asked again as she filled her stomach with the too-early-breakfast meal.

"Dad has a meeting with the CEO of Sunnydale University, he'll be back in about an hour or so."

"Ugh, don't you hate it when they always have meetings here and there?"

Buffy let out a heavy sigh, frowning. The word 'meeting' irritated her as it reminded her of her mother. Spike looked up at her, arching a brow.

"What's with the sudden grumble, luv?" by then, he put down his fork and knife and stopped eating. Spike had never complained about the meetings his dad had, and Giles rarely went out of town. So he was never home alone for too long, especially with Buffy coming to his house almost everyday.

"I dunno...it's just that it kinda bothers me when mom's out of town for meetings. Why don't they just do it here in Sunnydale? Why does my mom always have to be the one who flies around the country?" Buffy pouted from the frustration she felt, her bottom lip jutting out. Spike reached for her cheek, caressing it with his thumb. He really felt sorry for her, for missing her mother so deeply.

"Well, maybe your mom is not the only one who has to fly around the country. A lot of them probably come from different states. Hell, they're probably from different countries for all I know."

Buffy started stabbing the eggs with her fork, resting her eyes on them.

"I just miss her so much, Spike. And I don't think she knows that. I don't think she cares about me at all."

Sad hazel eyes met concerned blue ones. Spike held her hands with his, rubbing the back of them gently.

"I know you do miss her, pet. If you want her to know that, why don't you tell her then? After she comes back, tell her what's in your heart. Remind her that you still exist and you don't want to be ignored anymore."

She nodded softly. A smirk curled in his lips,

"In the meantime, why don't we finish this up, then we can watch my conveniently recorded Passions."

Buffy groaned loudly and rolled her eyes at the same time. Spike just chuckled at that. She gave him a smile that hadn't been real since she arrived at Spike's place.



For an hour, they talked about everything, mainly about what had been going on at school while they finished the rest of the meal up. Most of the time Buffy fed Spike more than she fed herself since she wasn't a big eater. And most of the time Spike protested to be fed as well. From his point of view, Buffy should eat more than him, what with being so skinny and bony. But Buffy wouldn't have it and won her case when Spike finally gave up and agreed to finish most of the remaining meal.

"Thank you, Spike. The meal was delicious. You really are a better cook than I am," said Buffy after emptying her orange juice.

Spike snorted and raised one brow, "And you've just realized it now?"

"Fine, I knew it for a long time. Satisfied?" She groaned with a roll of her eyes.

"I will be as soon as you finish cleaning the dishes up. Come on!"

Spike lifted the tray with one hand and grabbed Buffy's wrist with the other. As soon as they stood in the kitchen's entrance, Buffy widened her eyes and dropped her jaw to the floor.

"Wha...How..Whe..." Buffy opened and shut her mouth, no words seemed to escape her fully. Spike grinned broadly at her expression. His mind ran wildly at the thought of whether he should throw a bucket of water since she looked like a fish needing it to breathe. OR if he should put a stick to hold her mouth open since it kept opening and closing like a door whipped around by wind. He snapped out of his thought when he heard Buffy finally made a sentence come out.

"What the hell is going on here? This place is more wrecked than the Titanic!" Buffy shrieked at Spike's smug face.

"Well, you know the rule, 'Thou who eat the feast and not produce it, shall clear the dishes out.'" said Spike with pride, grinning evilly.

Buffy looked helplessly at the amount of the dishes stack in the sink, not to mention the dirt from the seasonings and small amounts of grease oil surrounding the stove. She heaved a sigh and hung her head down.

"I knew it this was too good to be true, having a nice meal without any payment back"

"Aww...now don't be too dramatic there, luv. I've put hard work into cooking the meal, you know," Spike tried to be serious now, keeping a straight face and suppressing his smile. Buffy glared at him, then looked back at the sink. Whether she liked it or not, she had to clean the dishes up. Hell, she probably would have to clean the whole kitchen since it WAS really a big greasy mess. Otherwise Giles would be freaked out and she might not be able to be allowed to stay at his house anymore.