Rebuilding Your Life in Ten Easy Steps

Part 4

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            Buffy stood in the cold and shivered.  Will had gone in to talk to his family before bringing her in, and despite her fuzzy coat, she was freezing.  She missed southern Californian weather, she really did.  There were footsteps behind her and she turned to see Will clomping back out through the small.

            "What's up?" She asked, shaking slightly.

            "You look freezing," he said in quiet concern and she was soon wrapped in both his coat and his arms and feeling much warmer, "Well, two of my cousins should be here any minute, so we'll be waiting for them.  That all right with you, pet?"

            "Oh, sure.  I'm all toasty now. Tell me about them."

            "Well…that reminds me.  I don't want you to be offended by Liam, he's-"

            "A selfish bastard with no respect for a woman's mind or morals?  A self-righteous son a of bitch who should be put down like the filthy dog he is?" An Irish accented voice suggested from somewhere to her left.  Turning, she saw a laughing young man with a darkly handsome face and slightly spiked hair.

            "Liam!" Will laughed and shook his head, breaking away from Buffy to embrace his cousin.

            "It's been a long time, Will."

            "Did you bring Darla?" Will asked.

            "But of course, but of course, she's around here somewhere," Liam waved his hand vaguely behind him towards the car he had apparently arrived in.  Then he turned his attentions to Buffy, "And who might this morsel be?"

            "Buffy Summers. And hands off, she's mine."

            "You imply I would put my hands on," Liam said pretending to be shocked, "You cut me to the quick!"  He then turned and his eyes quickly flickered up and down Buffy's frame, "I take it back, you have every right to imply. Definitely a hands-on exhibit."  Buffy blushed and Liam, his goal accomplished, grinned roguishly at her.

            "I honestly don't know why Darla puts up with you," Will said, shaking his head.

            "Sometimes I don't either," a pretty blonde who had just walked over agreed.  She grabbed the hood of Liam's jacket and yanked it hard.  He fell backwards into the snow and she put a high-heeled foot on his chest.

            "Darla! My love, my lady, my abuser!" Liam cried dramatically from his rather compromised position.  Darla pretended to ground the point of her heel into him and smiled at Buffy.

            "I don't think I know you."

            "That, my precious flower, is Buffy. The Buffy. The wonderful and exalted Lady Buffy, paramour of the cruel and uncaring man who calls himself my cousin and yet allows me to lie here in the snow, getting frostbitten."  Darla shook her head and leaned forward to gently kiss Buffy's cheek.

            "It's nice to meet you, and please ignore anything my loud and obnoxious Liam, Lord of Uncalled for Dramatics, says."

            "Ah, a crippling wound! A stake through my heart!  I think I shall shrivel up and die, denied even a crumb of affection from the woman of my dreams, the wonderful and terrible Darla, Queen of Ice," Liam shuddered and died, tongue lolling out and collecting snowflakes.  Buffy was overcome by giggles.

            "What are you doing now?" A quiet voice that sounded extremely familiar asked.  Buffy looked up and did a double take.  It wasn't possible…

            "Hail!  Might you aid me kind sir?" Liam asked, coming back to life rather quickly and holding his hand up.

            "Hello Angel," Will said, shaking the newcomer's hand warmly.  Buffy was still blinking with confusion.  There were two of them?
            "This is Buffy," Will continued, "Buffy, this is Angel, Liam's brother."  Buffy shook Angel's cool hand.

            "Pleasure," Angel said solemnly before continuing forward to go inside.

            "Ignore him!" Liam was talking again, "He is tortured and brooding and absolutely no fun at all!  Pay no attention to him…his twin is in dire peril in case you have forgotten."

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            Buffy walked nervously into the cavernous dining room.  Meeting the parents.  This was the stuff nightmares were made of.  As if sensing her discomfort, William slipped his arm around her waist.  She leaned closer to him gratefully.  She needed all the extra support she could get.  At the end of the fairly long table sat a man and a woman.  The man was older, with glasses.  Will's father.  The woman looked much fresher, if not younger, with dark hair and a smile.  Jenny.

            "Hello, Buffy.  It's so nice to finally meet you face to face," Jenny smiled at her and Buffy settled down a tiny bit.  At least someone was happy to meet her.

            "It's nice to meet both of you," she replied with a smile.

            "I'm sorry to say I haven't heard very much about you," Mr. Giles said, with a mild challenge in his eyes.

            "Well, she's here now," Will cut in abruptly.  He ushered Buffy to a seat while Liam, Angel, and Darla were greeted.

            "What's up with you?" Buffy hissed at him.  He looked away, at his hands, at the ceiling and cleared his throat slightly.

            "I, well, I haven't told them that…they don't know you're still in high school, pet."

            "So?  Why would that be a problem?"

            "Think about it, luv," he said tensely, "Would your family be jumping for joy if they found out you were dating someone five years older than you?"

            "Oh."  She understood now.  When he put it that way, it did sound very…cradle-robbing-ish.  She didn't usually think about that.  But yeah…Will was 21.  And she was 16.  That could seem pretty bad to an outside eye.

            "So, Buffy, how did you and William meet?"  Mr. Giles was talking again.

            "Well, a friend and I went to one of his band's shows and we got to talking when he was taking a break."

            "So you're still playing that…music?"

            "Yeah.  I am."  His father's barely contained distaste was matched by Will's defiance.  They glared at each other until an opening door distracted everyone.
            "Hello all!  We're here!"  A young man with glasses and dark hair was escorting a shyly smiling brunette who was very slightly built.

            "Wesley," Mr. Giles smiled brightly, "And this must be Winifred."

            "Fred, please." Fred said with a nervous grin.

            "Oh, I don't believe I know you," the beaming Wesley turned to Buffy.

            "This is Buffy Summers, my girlfriend.  Buffy, this is my half-brother Wesley."  Buffy shook the offered hand with a careful smile.  Wesley headed down to be embraced by his father and Fred slipped into the chair next to Buffy.  Darla gave a quick kiss to Liam and headed over to sit on Fred's other side.

            "We girlfriends need to stick together," she whispered conspiratorially to them.  Fred laughed quietly and Buffy smiled.  She liked Darla.

            "So, Liam.  How is the acting going?" Wesley, who had settled on Mr. Giles's right turned to his cousin.

            "Oh, lovely, just lovely.  I played in 'Bye Bye Birdie' earlier this year, and I'm a shoo-in for Hamlet in spring.  Of course, Father still disapproves as strongly as ever.  I've been having an absolutely corking time."  Everyone rolled their eyes at Liam's enthusiasm and Wesley turned his attention to the twin.

            "What about you, Angel?"

            "Oh, he's still the masked crusader, protecting the streets from those vicious brigands who would no sooner look at a gum wrapper than drop it," Liam cut in, not giving his brother the benefit of any air time.  Wesley laughed gently.

            "And how is the band doing, William?" He asked diplomatically.

            "It's just peachy keen," Will said with a very wide, very fake grin.

            "Tell us how you are, Wesley.  What have you been doing?  Where did you meet this lovely young flower?" Mr. Giles smiled fondly at Fred who blushed.  Wesley drew himself up a bit and cleared his throat.  He never got the chance to begin.

            "Oh yes," Will drawled, tilting his chair back on it's back legs, "Regale us Wesley, with tales of your fascinating life."

            "William," his father's eyes flashed, "I thought we had been over this."

            "Right, right.  What's the rule again, pops?  Sit down and shut up and listen to ickle Wesley's drivel with a smile?"

            "Now see here, I will not have you-"

            "Have me what? Hmm?  Ruining your lovely little gathering?  Interrupting your perfect little life?  Well, guess what," He slammed down the knife he had been playing with and rose from his chair, "I'm not going to just be shunted to side so I can listen to the brat prattle on about his "life adventures" and the wonderful times he's had with his horsy little bitch."  With that, he spun around and stormed out of the room.  Fred looked close to tears, Mr. Giles was very red-faced, and Wesley was thunder-struck.  Liam, for once, did not comment and his brother was, as always, silent.

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            "Go away." Buffy scowled at the door and knocked harder, "Shove off!"

            "You don't let me in and I'm going back to Salus right now!"  There was a grunt of disgust from inside, footfalls, and the door opened.  She marched in, not giving him another chance to tell her to leave.

            "What?" He asked defiantly, raising his eyebrows high, daring her to ask him more.

            "How about you start about what happened down stairs?"

            "You were there, pet.  You saw what happened."

            "Yeah, I did, and I don't like what I saw.  I don't know where the friendly, caring man I agreed to spend Christmas with went, and when his cruel, heartless evil twin moved in."  William opened his mouth to respond then looked away.

            "About the time he saw his father, I'd wager."

            "What's going, Spike?  You can tell me.  Just talk to me."

            "Wesley is on his second year of 'sabbatical' after high school.  He has no means of supporting himself, he still lives here, and to top it off he's a pansy.  And he's still the favorite.  He's still the son my father always wanted.  Because I could throw away everything that makes me Spike.  I could let my hair grow out, quit the band, marry a prim and proper British rose, become William Giles, English Literature professor at Oxford…and the man would still treat me like I'm the outsider in the family.  I was sitting there, and it made me sick.  Miss Winifred, scrawny little southern chit, immediately beloved cuz she's here with the great Wesley.  She's stuck right up there with blood relations, because Wesley likes her. While you're treated like some filthy trull that just wandered in off the street.  And if the places were reversed, it would be you, Buffy.  If I was dating the twig, and Wesley was dating you, you would be the one treated like a princess.  And she would be the one feeling like she was too dirty to sit at Rupert Giles's table.  I couldn't stand it, Buffy.  I just couldn't."

            "Know what Spike?  You aren't mad at Fred.  I don't think you're even mad at Wesley.  Because you know it isn't his fault that his father was your father first.  It isn't his fault that you aren't treated as well as you should be.  You're mad at your father."

            "Thanks for the newsflash Ms. Freud," Will said with a wry smile, "Now what do you prescribe?"

            "First, you," Buffy seized his arm, "and I, are going to go apologize to Fred for how extremely rude you were to her."  He groaned and she tightened her grip.  He was going to apologize whether he liked it or not.

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            "I was angry about other things, and I took it out on you.  I have issues," William screwed up his nose, trying to recall Buffy's anti-pep talk in the hall on the way, "I am a…bad, rude, nasty man and can you ever forgive me?"  Fred blushed profusely at the kneeling and penitent form of her boyfriend's brother and nodded quickly.  This was embarrassing.  He got up quickly and dusted off his knees, "Glad that's over."

            "Spike!" Buffy cried with a horrified jab to his ribs.  He rubbed his side with a hurt look.

            "Ow…"

            "Serves you right!  You don't say something like that after an apology!"

            "It's fine, really," Fred laid a hesitant hand on Buffy's shoulder, "I don't mind."

            "You need to stand up for yourself, Fred!  Guys like Spike need someone to put them in their place."

            "And where would that place be exactly?" Spike asked, with an almost perfectly straight face, goading her into saying something she would regret.

            "Beneath me of course," Buffy said, not yet grasping the cause for his amusement.

            "Buffy…you know it's quite rude to talk about that in front of other people," he said with the sexy smirk he always saved for her.  Buffy looked at him in confusion for a few moments before clapping a hand over her mouth in sudden comprehension.

            "Spike!!"

            "Are you going to punish me now?" He asked hopefully, pressing his tongue against the back of his teeth and tilting his head lazily.  With a squeal of apology to Fred, she escorted her boyfriend rather firmly out of the room.

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Told you this one would be longer.  I always keep my promises.  Remember that. RR