Chapter 42

Buffy turned off the main road and slowed down as the single track road started to steadily drop away into the tree lined valley which hid the hotel. She couldn't see the building, but knew from her directions that it lay at the bottom of the step sided dell.

She took the scenery in with a slight tinge of awe as she continued to drive downhill. The steep sides of the vale were covered in trees, giving it a secluded, magical feel – something that was added to by the carpet of bluebells which covered the floor of the woodland. The smell of the flowers surrounded her, enhancing the feeling that she was entering a world that was somehow detached from that which she had left behind at the crossroads. A sense of peace and tranquillity consumed her as she rounded a corner and the hotel came into sight.

When she started on her journey that morning, she had been unable to rid herself of a nagging anxiety about the weekend. She smiled slightly as she recalled the numerous occasions throughout the past few weeks when she'd almost picked up the phone and cancelled the whole thing. Now though, the very idea of even having contemplated doing so seemed ludicrous. As she pulled up outside the hotel, Buffy knew that this was the right thing to do. Feeling more upbeat and optimistic than she had done in a long time, she turned off the engine and climbed out of the car.

She took a moment to take in the building in front of her. For a hotel, it was tiny – and in reality, it had obviously not been built as such. It was a large house, the rows of windows giving it a look of something straight out of a Jane Austen novel – Buffy could almost picture women in empire-line dresses carrying parasols wandering aimlessly around the immaculately manicured lawn which lay to the front of the whitewashed building.

She looked at her watch and realised that she was running late. She pulled her bag from the back seat of the car and hurried into the foyer of the hotel.

"Oh, Buffy – there you are – I was beginning to worry you weren't going to show up," Jenny said with a nervous laugh as she hurried across the foyer to stop Buffy before she got too far in.

Buffy wondered if Jenny was nervous because she was late, or if she really did think she wasn't going to show up.

"Here, let me take your bag. Have you parked out the front?" Jenny asked hurriedly, relieving the blonde of her bag. Buffy nodded her assent as Jenny turned her back towards the entrance. "Go and move your car round the back of the building – William will be here any minute and he's bound to recognise that car of yours. You'll have to check in later, I'm afraid, there just isn't time now."

Buffy hurried outside and quickly moved her car round to the back of the building, out of sight of the driveway, before joining Jenny and the other guests inside.

"So, what've you told Spike then?" she asked curiously.

"Oh," Jenny laughed. "Rupert gave him a whole spiel about him taking William away on a 'father-son bonding weekend'. He really went to town and made it sound incredibly boring – William's been absolutely dreading it and begging me to get him out of it!" she gushed. She opened her mouth to say more, when she got the nod from the desk clerk to say that Giles and Spike had just pulled up outside.

The nervousness, which only minutes ago Buffy had dismissed as ridiculous, returned with a vengeance and Buffy edged her way to the back of the small group of people, praying that her small stature would hide her from sight for as long as possible. Suddenly, seeing Spike again didn't seem like the good idea she'd viewed it as since her arrival at the hotel.

Her heart began to pound so hard that she thought the whole room must hear it as she saw Spike enter the room. She knew it had to be her imagination playing up, but it seemed to her that a shaft of sunlight fell on him as he entered, lighting up his peroxide hair and throwing highlights on his impossibly blue eyes. Buffy melted as she realised that she was falling in love with him all over again.

Her eyes widened as she came to that realisation and panic threatened to overwhelm her as she realised that she couldn't allow herself to feel this way – she couldn't be in love with him – she'd promised herself months ago that she wouldn't be. Unfortunately, it seemed, her heart had other ideas.

Lost in her own thoughts, it took her a moment to realise that Spike had noticed her pretence almost immediately and was making his way to her. She swallowed nervously and smiled a welcome, not trusting herself to actually speak.

"Buffy," Spike said, with obvious joy.

"Spike," Buffy managed, secretly proud of the fact that she'd managed to get out that one word.

"I, well. I'm glad you came. This whole thing – you were in on it?" Spike asked.

"Yeah – well, surprise!" Buffy said, but the feeling that she'd meant to put into her declaration was lacking as she worried about saying too much and missed the mark by a long way.

She cursed mentally as Spike frowned, obviously hunting for something to say to her.

I knew this was a bad idea! she thought to herself as they fell quiet. It was obvious to both of them that the casual, friendly, flirtatious relationship they'd built up over the past few months over the phone didn't stretch to real life. Buffy felt the awkwardness of the situation and knew that Spike did too. She longed to be able to talk to him properly, but the more she thought about it, the more scared and nervous she became and the less her brain worked.

"Well," Jenny said, interrupting the tongue-tied silence between the two. "I think it's time we got you checked in, don't you?" she said, ushering them into reception.

The clerk behind the hotel reception desk looked down his list of names, humming slightly to himself.

"Ahh, yes, here we go – Mr and Mrs William Giles." He looked up. "Room 5," he said, before turning round to reach for the key.

Buffy looked at Spike, unable to keep a slight look of alarm off her face. Spike merely shrugged, his face a picture of puzzlement.

"Er, mate," Spike said, claiming the clerk's attention. "We're not Mr and Mrs Giles..." he tried to explain.

"Oh, I am sorry, Sir – misunderstanding. Happens all the time. And you are?" he asked, turning to Buffy.

"Buffy, Buffy Summers," she explained.

"Right. Good. Fine. Mr Giles, Miss Summers – here is your key. Room 5 is just down the hallway, up the stairs..."

"No mate, I don't think you understand – we aren't together at all – we need separate rooms," Spike insisted, looking down at Buffy with a slightly uncomfortable smile.

The clerk looked at the couple standing on the other side of the desk and sighed. "Oh, well. That's just not going to be possible, I'm afraid. As you may be aware, this is a very small hotel and, well, we don't have any other rooms – your party has taken them all. I thought I made it clear when you booked that we only have 5 double rooms," he said, having the decency to look embarrassed.

"Mum?" Spike asked over his shoulder. Jenny walked forward, biting her lip slightly.

"Yes, well, he might have said that," she admitted. "To be honest, I was so relieved to find a hotel that wasn't booked up that I didn't really listen to the logistics of the whole thing..."

Spike looked helplessly at Buffy, unsure of what to suggest. Buffy sighed dramatically and shook her head.

"Well, if you don't have another room, then we'll have to make do, won't we?" she said with a smile that wasn't reflected in her thoughts as her heart began to once more beat rapidly.

So much for always being surrounded by people, she thought.

&&&&&&&

Spike turned the key in the lock and gallantly held the door open so that she could enter first. Smiling nervously, she walked into the room and looked around.

It seemed nice enough – it was a large room with big picture windows that let in the light, giving the whole room a spacious and airy feel. She spotted a door leading to what she assumed was an en-suite bathroom and in the middle of the room was a large bed. Just the one bed.

The reality of the sleeping arrangements hadn't sunk in when the clerk had mentioned a double room – Buffy had been nervous enough about the idea of staying in the same room as Spike to not really listen any further.

Spike noticed the expression on her face and followed her gaze. He took a breath and walked into the room, setting his bag down on the floor.

"I'll take the floor – you can have the bed," he said with a smile.

Buffy almost sighed in relief, before she remembered why they were here. "I can't let you do that, Spike – it's your birthday tomorrow. There's no way I'm letting you sleep on the floor. I'll take the floor – you have the bed."

"You're being daft – no way I'm letting you sleep on the floor – your constant moaning would keep me awake all night!" Spike argued.

"That's rubbish and you know it – you're just being stubborn and doing that stupid 'gentleman' thing."

"Fine, well, if you want to have it that way then we'll just have to sleep in the same bed!" Spike declared with a smug grin, sure that she wouldn't take him up on the offer.

"Fine – we'll just have to do that then, won't we!" Buffy said triumphantly, her eyes flashing. It took her a moment to realise what she'd agreed to and as she did the light died from her eyes and she flushed and looked away. Unsure of what to say, she walked to the window and looked out, gazing across the lawns towards the blue-carpeted woods.

"I'm going to take a bath," Buffy announced sometime later, as she realised that it was almost time to go downstairs to dinner.

Spike looked up from his position on the bed as she walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind him.

He lay the book he had been reading down at his side, for the moment totally forgotten as he closed his eyes and listened. He heard her walk across the bathroom and turn on the taps, the water flowing steadily into the deep bathtub.

A smile played across his lips as he let his mind wander, picturing the scene inside the bathroom, imagining Buffy leaning over to add bubble bath to the steaming water. He shifted his position slightly as he imagined her standing back up and slowly taking off her clothes, letting them fall to collect in a pile at her feet, revealing her perfectly toned body.

He opened his eyes suddenly and shook his head, disturbing the carefully crafted image which had taken root there. He took a deep breath as he reminded himself that he wasn't allowed to think of her in that way anymore.

At least, not if I want to get through this weekend intact, I can't, he thought ruefully.

He decided that he needed a distraction. He stood and walked towards the bathroom door.

"Buffy?" he called softly after knocking.

"Yes?" he heard the reply.

"I'm, er, going out – to see my parents. I'll be back in a bit, okay?" he told her, after a moment's pause.

"Oh, right – okay. See you later then," he heard the response. As he walked out of the room, he told himself that the tinge of disappointment he'd thought he'd heard in her tone was only a figment of his wildly over-active imagination.

Buffy lay in the bath, up to her neck in hot water and bubble bath. She sighed and sank down under the water, totally submerging herself, staying down as long as she could before finally coming up for air.

She relaxed back against the tub and closed her eyes, her thoughts wandering. Her mind played back the scene only moments before when Spike had knocked at the door. Only, in her little fantasy, he hadn't told her he was going out. Instead, he'd knocked quietly and then opened the door, walking into the room, telling her that he was going to join her.

A smile played across her lips as she imagined him standing in the middle of the room and slowly taking off his clothes, letting them fall to collect in a pile at his feet, revealing his perfectly toned body as she watched him.

She opened her eyes and sat up suddenly in the bath, mentally shaking herself.

Stop it, she told herself firmly. No thinking of Spike like that! No thinking of that perfectly sculpted body, of that... she thought, slowly sinking back into the bubbles. No! she told herself after a minute, leaning forward and yanking the plug from the bath, letting the water run out.

She stood and wrapped herself in a towel, deciding that the bath was only going to lead to more naked Spike thoughts – and that was not the way to go if she wanted to get through this weekend without becoming a gibbering wreck.

She walked into the main room and seated herself at the vanity table. Picking up the brush, she gently removed the tangles from her long blonde hair, before starting to blow-dry it ready for that evening's dinner.

She was only half done when she heard the key rattle in the door. She bit her lips as she realised that it could only be Spike. Then she looked down at herself and remembered that she was only clad in a towel. Her mind wavered as to whether she should run into the bathroom and get dressed, but she decided that if she was going to convince him – and herself – that she was over him, then she would have to start somewhere. She picked up the hairdryer once more and started on another portion of her hair.

Spike walked into the room and stopped short as he took in the sight before him of Buffy sitting on a stool, wearing nothing but a large towel, her arms raised above her head as she dried her hair.

God, if I never ask for anything again, please let that towel fall loose, he prayed, before recollecting himself and blushing slightly. He turned his head and threw himself down onto the bed, propping himself up on his arm at the foot, intently staring at her.

Buffy carried on drying her hair for a few minute until she could stand it no longer. Deliberately turning off the dryer, she turned to him, arching an eyebrow. "What?" she asked.

"Nothing," Spike replied with a smirk and a twinkle in his eyes.

"You're staring," she said matter-of-factly.

"Yep, I am."

"Why?"

"To annoy you," Spike said, breaking into a grin.

"It's working," Buffy said, managing to hold back a smile.

"I know," said Spike gleefully.

"Jerk," she said, turning back to the mirror.

"True," he answered, rolling over onto his back and laughing.

Buffy suddenly couldn't hold it back anymore, and she joined him with a peel of laughter, and with that laughter, the awkwardness that had surrounded them throughout the day simply disappeared.