Chapter 11: Seeing You Again

Angel had promised Buffy that he would visit soon, and he had kept that promise. She was woken up at 10am the following Saturday morning. Her mom and Dawn were out for the day so she was by herself, she stumbled downstairs as the bell was rung repeatedly. She opened the door and felt very self conscious when she saw a smiling Angel on the doorstep. She done a double- take feeling like her eyes were deceiving her. However, when he reached out and hugged her, she knew he was real.

"Oh my god" she yelled excitedly "Angel, I didn't expect to see you here"

"I told you I'd come and see you soon" he reminded her letting her go. She remembered that she was in just her pyjama's so she stood away from the door and ushered him inside. She leaned up and kissed him softly

"I'm glad you're here" she told him as she pulled back from the kiss

"Me too. So what are we going to do today?" he asked her as he plopped down on the couch, making himself comfortable and putting his feet on the coffee table in front of him. Buffy grimaced a little at that but she was glad that he was there so she decided to just let it go.

"How about I show you around today, and we can go to the Bronze tonight?" she was hopeful that he would agree, even though Willow and Xander had broken up they were still close, and they had welcomed her back with open arms. But now that she didn't have a boyfriend living nearby it felt good to have Angel there, he was that was only hers. Her friend, her boyfriend.

"Sure" he shrugged, indifferent, he was just happy to see her. It had been terrible not having her around this last week and he was just willing to spend time with her. And have some fun, if it was offered to him.

He waited in the living room while she went to get changed, in the last week her dress sense had changed once again. Somehow she didn't feel right wearing the clothes she wore in LA, in Sunnydale. He was surprised by what she was wearing when she came in, it wasn't the leather he was used to, she was wearing a denim skirt that sat mid thigh, and a pale pink halter and her hair was up in a ponytail. But he ignored how unusual it was to see her like that, and instead went with complimenting her

"You look ... good" he decide was the best way to go after a brief hesitation. Buffy could tell he was disappointed with the new look, but she liked it so she was going to say nothing. She smiled

"Shall we go" by the time they left it was 11:30. They drove to main street and parked the car. After getting out they decided to get a coffee.

"How about here?" Angel suggested. Buffy looked at the place they were standing outside, memories of tutoring sessions, and kisses with Spike flooded her mind when they were standing outside of the coffee house where all of her sessions had taken place. Angel saw the strange look on her face,

"Something wrong?" he asked her, he noticed that she had been preoccupied quite a few times while they had been out.

"No she lied "here's fine" he held the door open for her and she went inside. When she looked around she saw that there was only one free booth, it was the same one she always sat at when she was there with Spike. Angel began walking towards it, Buffy grabbed his arm to stop him.

"Let's sit on the couch" she motioned to the black leather couch near the counter "much comfier"

"Ok" he sounded confused, but he brushed off her behaviour and followed her to the couch, After ordering their drinks they settled on the couch. They sat in awkward silence, Buffy searched her head for something to say

"So, how was school this week?" it was the first thing that popped into her head that she had in common with him.

"Same as last week, only you weren't there" he said, running finger through her hair "It was weird, we missed you"

"Tell me about everything that happened" she insisted. She hated feeling so awkward, but part of her really did want to know

"Well, Cooper threw Faith out of Bio. Said she was rude and obnoxious. I failed my bio quiz, Faith failed her bio quiz. We skipped every day of English. I got sent to Ms. Morrison three times. And Faith got sent five" he filled her in. She let out a snort of laughter

"So nothing unusual" she observed

"Not a thing" he couldn't help his own laugh.

Things became less tense after that and they spent the next 45 minutes chatting about how their weeks had gone at their respective schools.

They left the coffee shop and started to walk down the street, she pointed out the different places like the cinema, and book store and the magic shop. While they were walking she slipped her hand into his. They walked for a few minutes in comfortable silence, as the passed a shoe store she stopped to look in the window. She admired the shoes, while Angel waited, impatiently, beside her. Finally she heard him tapping his foot and smiled sheepishly. She dragged herself away and took his hand again. She looked up and saw a head of white hair coming in the other direction, holding hands with a beautiful dark haired woman. She had to get away

"You know, I really liked a pair of those shoes back there. Let's go back so I can try them on" she tugged at his hand but he didn't budge

"We'll be going back that way later, come on I want to see what's down her" he said. He was insisted, so she took a breath and walked forward.

Spike and Dru were walking down main street, he was taking her out to lunch since he couldn't take her out that night, he had an assignment due on Monday so he had to spend the whole weekend doing it. She held tightly onto his hand. Suddenly he saw someone whom he would have sworn was Buffy, she was with a tall brunette man. As he got closer there was no disputing it, that was Buffy. He knew there was no point in trying to turn back, he would probably have to see her sooner or later. He only wished that it wasn't when their new counterparts were there. And he knew the guy must have been her boyfriend as she was holding his hand the exact same way that Dru was holding his. They were getting closer and closer to one another until they had stooped two feet from each other

"Buffy" Spike said

"Spike, how have you been?"

"Good, I've been good. You" he returned the question

"So, so" she replied

"Who is this my Spike? Aren't you going to introduce us? Drusilla asked, looking Buffy over suspiciously

"Um, Dru, this is Buffy. She's an old... friend" Buffy understood that that was the safest explanation, however, Angel didn't want to leave it at that.

"What kind of friend?" he pushed, Spike rolled his eyes at the boy's jealousy fuelled question, while Buffy sighed as she answered

"Spike was my boyfriend before I moved to LA. Happy now?" she was annoyed that she had to explain herself to Angel.

"Isn't he a bit old for you?" he went on, he didn't like the look of the guy, or more specifically the way he looked at Buffy. Buffy was his.

"Angel, I'm not going to get into this ok" she dismissed his question, and her tone told him that the conversation had come to an end. Drusilla glared at her but said nothing, so she resumed her conversation with Spike.

"So, on the phone the other day, you said something about an internship at the school?" she recalled their brief conversation the previous week. Spike's face lit up at the fact she remembered

"Yeah, I'm gonna be working as a teachers assistant for the English department. I've been thinking about teaching and next year is my last year so I thought it was a good idea. I start after the summer" he informed her

"Sounds great." She was genuinely pleased for him, she knew how much he loved what he studied and he had often talked during their sessions how he quite liked the idea of being a teacher. He really liked helping her.

Spike glanced at her and noticed something around her neck. He couldn't resist the urge to reach out and touch it. Her necklace

"You still wear it" he said the words so softly they were barely audible

"Never took it off" he raised his head slightly and looked straight into her eyes, and for a moment it was like the past three months never happened. Angel noticed their moment too and rushed to put an end to it

"Kept what?" he asked as he turned around, he saw the necklace and glared at Spike "Nice, where'd you get it?"

"I gave her it" Spike said defiantly, he wouldn't hide the fact that he had loved her, that part of him still did.

Angel pulled it from Spike's fingers and turned it over reading the inscription "Together in our hearts always. I love you. S" he read it out loud and looked at Spike "How sweet, but not so true, see she loves me now. So get over" he got in Spike's face. Spike was upset that he made the words that had come straight from his heart sound so meaningless. Buffy was just as angry, she had never told Angel she loved him, she didn't know if she did, but she did know that she still cared about Spike, partly still loved him. And those words meant something to her. She grasped Angel by the shoulder

"leave it Angel" she demanded "you may not like it but Spike and I care for each other even if we're not together anymore. He'll always be my friend. Get over it" She looked at Spike apologetically "I'm sorry. But forget him, I love the necklace, I'll never take it off" Spike gave her that sane shy smile that only she ever saw anymore

"Thanks" he said softly

She smiled warmly at him "You're welcome. Well, we better go. Nice seeing you Spike. We'll have to meet up again soon" she said

"Yeah, nice seeing you too, luv"

With a final wave she walked on, she didn't take Angel's hand again. In fact she didn't speak to him for the rest of the day. She still hadn't spoken to him by the time they reached the Bronze.

They went inside, Buffy wearing leather pants, and a blue halter. But not as revealing as what she would have worn in LA. She had only just sat down when Angel disappeared and she feared for the worst. He fears proved reasonable when he came back and sat down next to her

"Look what I got us" he said proudly, holding the pills towards her

"Thanks for the offer Angel, but I really don't think so" she turned them down and this surprised him

"Come on baby, you know you want to" he whispered in her ear

Spike walked into the Bronze, Drusilla on his arm. He hadn't been able to get any work done. Since seeing her that afternoon, she had been constantly on his mind. After trying to work for a couple of hours with no success, he gave up and called Drusilla. Of course, she wanted to go dancing. As soon as he entered he saw her. After sending Drusilla to find a table, he headed in her direction to say hi. When he was close enough he saw Angel hold out his hand and his eyes widened when he saw what lay in it. He moved closer so that he could hear what they were saying without them noticing him

"Angel, no, I just I don't. I'm trying to stop all that" she insisted, but he refused to back down

"You used to do it all the time in LA" he reminded her

"This isn't LA" she shot back

"But think of all the fun you'll have. And it'll clear your mind. Calm you down" this was what swayed her. She had been unable to think of anything but Spike since that afternoon.

Spike looked on furious as she reached out and took one of the pills from him. He kept watching as she put it in her mouth and swallowed it. He wanted to go over and shake her and tell her how stupid she was being. He wanted to hit Angel for insisting that she take it. But he couldn't. It wasn't his business, she wasn't his anymore. So he sighed and went to find Drusilla.

Angel had been right, she felt much better now. She was still thinking about Spike but not nearly as much. She was in the middle of the group of dancers grinding against Angel. As thee beat of the song got faster her dancing got wilder. She was shaking her hip, moving her head from side to side. Having a ball.

Spike made his way through the crowd, he knew what everyone was watching, but he wanted to get closer, keep an eye on her. He had slipped away when Dru had excused herself to go to the bathroom. As he got closer her could see her dancing wildly.

Suddenly her mouth went dry and she felt dizzy. It was too soon to be coming down from the high the pills had put her on, she had just taken it. She became dizzier and dizzier. The next thing anyone knew, she was flat out on the floor.

Spike saw her fall and rushed towards her, pushing people out of his path. When he got to her, Angel was leaning over her. He pushed him aside and knelt beside her. He felt her forehead, she was warm and sweaty. He tapped her shoulder to see if she would wake up

"Buffy" he said "Buffy" he repeated. He didn't get any response. She was deathly pale and she wasn't responding to him. He didn't think twice, he scooped her up in his arms and made his way to the door. Angel blocked his way

"What do you think you're doing" the brunette demanded

"I'm taking her to the hospital"

"I don't think so. I'm her boyfriend, I'll take her in my car" he sounded cocky and sure of himself. Spike laughed at the thought

"Listen here, peaches, if you think I'm gonna let some idiot who's high on ecstasy and god knows what else, who is also responsible for her being in this state, drive her to the hospital. You're crazy. Now get out of my way" he stormed by him

"Hey, get back here" Angel screamed. Spike ignored him, continuing on his way out of the club, Angel close behind. Dru also came out of the bathroom then and saw her boyfriend leaving without a word, she made her way over. As he reached the door, Willow and Xander came in and looked at Spike

"Spike what's going on, where are you taking Buffy?" Willow asked confused

"Hospital" was the only explanation he gave, as he walked right by them. It was all they needed, the followed behind him, running all the way to his car and getting in.

An enraged Angel and Drusilla stood in the car park, glaring daggers at the black Desoto as it sped away.

A/N: do you like? Review and let me know