A/N: Sorry for the delay. Breakups, school starting, spending 16 hours working in the hospital (med school), taking the medical board exam, lots of stuff going on and I apologize I haven't updated this story in nearly 8 months. Thanks to everyone for their reviews and emails and support and every little thing you guys say about my work. It means so much. It's amazing when fans email or IM you and say they're a fan. It's one of the most amazing feelings in the world. From the bottom of my heart, thank you all for being participants in my little Spuffy world. BTW, sorry this is un-beta-ed. I just wrote this in about an hour. I finally had a day off today (for the first time in 2 weeks) and just wanted to get something finished before I had to work again.
Battle of the Bands
by: Fashiongrrl
Chapter 7: The Gig Part DeuxThe previous night at the Bronze (a continuation of the Friday in Chapter 5)...
The Scoobies got ready to perform what was to be a tremendous set. It was so exciting, a real concert with real people and real applause and real sweat, tears, and hard-earned cash. It was the most amazing feeling in the world, getting paid to do what you love.
Buffy took the stage and felt a power surge through her veins as she picked up her guitar, Mr. Pointy as she liked to call it. In the background, she heard Anya hit her sticks together and go "1, 2, 3, 4" and Faith's exclamation of "let's do this!" next to her. Buffy took a deep breath as struck up the chords to their first song and felt something almost electric course through her body. And no, it wasn't a short circuit in her electric guitar.
The happiest moments of Buffy's life were spent on stage: the "America Rocks" play in second grade where she got to play Betsy Ross, the LA Prep summer camp production of "Romeo and Juliet" where she was Romeo quite naturally since it was an all girls day camp, her performance as Kate in their high school drama production of the musical "Kiss Me Kate," and every single time the Scoobies got a chance to play. It was magical, like every single ounce of her soul was poured out in golden, liquid words, falling -- no -- flowing from her mouth anytime she burst into song. The melody, the harmony, the riffs, the chorus, every single second of it, every single syllable, it was mysterious and sexy and perfection wrapped up into one little moment. Nothing else in her life could spark her the way music did, and she forgot that the Scoobies hadn't had a gig in a while or that they were thinking of breaking up because they weren't going to make it big, because none of that mattered at that moment. She was Buffy Summers. She was a performer. To hell with tomorrow and the uncertainty of it all, she had tonight and she was going to make every moment on the Bronze stage last because that's all she could do right then.
"I want you, I need you
I think I melt without you
I'm suffocating, anticipating
Breaking, falling off the ledge
Someone catch me
Before I hit the edge
Of the world
Of space
Of time
Of this place
I hate you, I need you
I think I die without you
I'm not myself, I'm no one else
Feel the wind rushing past
Someone catch me
Before I cry and crash"
The Scoobies struck the final notes of their opening song and looked up to see a crowd transfixed by their music, their melody, and their power. Everyone in the audience had music singing through their veins after the band's energetic opener, and were dancing like they were on fire. For Anya, Buffy, Faith, Tara, and Willow nothing could compare to the feeling of being on stage. Absolutely nothing. It was the most amazing, perfect few minutes away from real life and jobs and bills and death and taxes and broken relationships and drowning dreams. It was sheer bliss, nothing more and nothing less. With renewed vigor the band jumped right into the rest of their set, pounding drums, strumming guitars with clever fingers, and singing like there was no tomorrow.
All the while, in a corner, someone watched. He watched Buffy jump across the stage with her guitar, he watched Faith grab the mike in a death grip and croon into it, he watched Tara's finger fly across the piano keys -- nothing but a blur of black and white, he watched as Anya took out any rage over lost pennies on her drums, pounding out crescendo after decrescendo, and he watched Willow's brow furrow in concentration as she made musical love to the bass guitar cradled in her hands, every bit on par with Oz's skill and passion. In a quiet corner, a stranger sat and watched.
"Thank you Sunnydale!" Buffy screamed out.
"Sunnydale, you guys know how to rock!" Faith screamed.
"We are the Scoobies, and we hope we've earned a place in your hearts tonight," Tara said.
"Buy our CD! On sale here at the Bronze for $10!" Anya added.
"All right, now lets hear it for the Dingoes Ate My Baby!!!" Willow finished.
The band took a bow and the curtains closed around them. They clamored off stage, an aura of happiness permeating the air, already thick with smoke. Joyce and Dawn were busy in the audience, seeing as people were flocking towards them eager to buy the Scoobies self-produced CD. They'd all take it home, put it in their stereos on repeat, and never take it out for the next year. Of course that seemed like a pretentious guesstimate, but it was the truth, the Scoobies weren't going to be hanging out in small town clubs for a long time. This was their night, and every empty promise was about to be fulfilled.
The Dingoes and a couple of the Scoobies friends ran up to give them hugs and congratulate them. Oz gave Willow a quick kiss before he and his bandmates jumped onstage for their set. They threw on headphones, so they could tune up with the sound going through their speakers. The crowd at the Bronze was enjoying the 20-minute intermission, mingling with the Scoobies, getting drinks, and dancing to the latest helter-skelter, fabulous pop song.
"You guys were amazing!" Dawn gushed as she ran up to the Scoobies. She gave her sister a huge hug.
"Absolutely perfect as usual, girls," Joyce said, beaming at her daughter and her friends, their faces still shining with post-performance high.
"Thanks, Mom! This was an amazing set," Buffy replied.
"It was very fortunate that the Troika was taken ill," Anya said.
"Anya!" Tara replied, slightly horrified.
"Hey, it's true! We got lucky, I don't think any of our CD's will be left by the end of the night," Faith said, backing up Anya.
A voice came booming over the speakers. The house DJ was on stage. "How about a hand for the Scoobies! They can help me solve a mystery any day! Now let's hear it for our other hometown sensation. Sunnydale, give a big welcome back to the Dingoes!" The crowd roared, and they were entranced by more music. But one had to note that several were clutching autographs and CD's with the Scoobies emblazoned on them. Sunnydale had a new hometown sensation that night.
The girls turned to watch the show, admiring the grace and talent of their rocker friends. Suddenly Buffy felt a movement at her hip. It was just her cell phone. She picked it up and quickly made her way to the back, to the dressing rooms. They had some soundproofing, so she could at least hear something.
"Hello?" she said.
"Hey, Buffy. How's it going?" a distinct voice said over the line. Buffy's heart dropped to her stomach. She hadn't been expecting this."It's going great, Angel. How about you?" she said, in as flat a tone as she could muster. Must not show any emotion! she reminded herself.
"Fantastic! I just wanted to see how you were doing."
"Oh, you had a free night? That's nice. It's very polite that you thought of me," Buffy said flatly. She was getting good about saying sarcastic things without a sarcastic bent in her voice. Angel didn't deserve any emotion. Not after the 4 years of hell he put her through, not liking her music, not liking anything she did, her believing he was the one true love she needed, assuming he'd change and be supportive for her and telling everyone he had so much good inside but he just didn't know how to show it. Basically she'd been an idiot. But every girl is at one time or another in her life.
"You're so funny, Buffy!" Angel laughed. The man was far too dense to understand the effect a phone call had on Buffy. Especially a phone call from Mr. I'm So Fucking Perfect That I've Got A New Girlfriend Two Weeks After We Broke Up And She's Perfect And I'm A Big Whore.
It'd been a few months now, but every now and then Angel called and every time Buffy tried to tell him she couldn't be friends and talk to him now, he'd whine and say "whyyyyy????" Obviously all human emotion and understanding how other people felt were not his strong suit. He was after all a moron. She'd tried to break up with him several times before, but he kept coming back and she kept letting him. She'd tell him they needed to break up and he'd given an "okay!" and continue their conversation. He was never serious and he never listened to her. Of course it didn't help that he lived in Sacramento, a good several 100 miles away from Sunnydale. He had to move last year for a job, and it'd been torture.
Buffy had thought that would be it but was elated when he said he didn't want to break up. She'd been an idiot. It had been her opportunity out of a dead relationship and she never took it. A few months ago, he finally got tired of her not being able to visit him because she was busy with a job too. He'd gotten sick of the fact that she was apparently complained too much, even though she didn't, he just didn't listen to a thing she said because he was an ass. He'd broken up with her in the most cowardly way.
Angel had IM-ed Dawn, someone he rarely talked with, to get an idea if he should break up with Buffy. Little did he know that Buffy had been logged onto AIM as Dawn for a moment, and the entire conversation was carried out with Buffy pretending to be Dawn and seeing Angel's every word. Buffy, still posing as Dawn, had asked Angel an all-important question.
Now, it should be known that Buffy wasn't a big believe in love or saying the "L" word because even though she was a writer, words were just words and if a person loved another person their actions should show it. But Buffy was also a girl, and after going 4 years without hearing Angel ever say the "L" word, and not minding, Buffy had to ask pretending to be someone else, to see if Angel's answer would be different. So as Dawn she asked Angel, "Do you love her?" and Angel had replied, "I don't know." And Buffy (still posing as Dawn) probed further, "Then why are you with her if you can't tell after FOUR years if you love her?" and his reply came back as "Well it's like we're on the same plane and she really gets me." Of course Buffy got him, he was a self centered, egotistical, shallow, bastard who never cared about her a day in his life. It didn't matter, and at that moment Buffy knew someone so cowardly had to be dealt with. And so they broke up finally and she was free.
Less than two weeks later, well more like 10 days, Angel had a new girlfriend. Not that Buffy believed Angel would cheat because he wasn't that kind of a guy. Jerk, yes. Asshole, yes. Fucking stupid goatman, yes. Cheater, no. But that's how men are. They toss out the old and bring in the new so they don't have a chance to grieve, don't have a chance to realize how much they really lost, no time to really be hurt because they don't want to be, they just rebound and fall into bed with the next available thing, no matter who it was. Because that's how men are. At least Buffy could take comfort in the fact that Darla was an idiot. Angel had commented a few times about how he wished she were a little smarter, and Buffy felt a little sorry for this new girl since she hadn't had a chance to got to college yet, so how could Angel get upset with her if she didn't possibly understand the complexities of economics theory or read up on corporate law, because who's going to pick that up off the street?
Buffy shook her head, taking the bad thoughts out of her mind. She heard Angel say, "You're so funny, Buffy!" to which she replied "Yes, I suppose I am."
"So what's up?" Angel said.
"Nothing. I'm out at the Bronze. We just finished playing a killer set."
"What you and the Scoobies? Oh you guys are still together, that's good," Angel said absentmindedly.
"Of course we're ... no, no, I'm not going to do this. I see what you're doing Angel. You're just trying to make me mad as always because you think it's funny. But not this time, I don't have to deal with you anymore. Let her deal with you. But anyways, our set was great. We're thinking of going on tour," Buffy said (of course lying her ass off about the "on tour" part).
"Cool. Guess what I did today? I went cave crawling. It was pretty cool. You should try it, even though I know you never want to. It's like the most fucking awesome thing ever," he said, his definitive Irish brogue coming clear across the phone. It had been that damn sexy accent that had hooked Buffy in the first place, but of course it was meaningless now. Wasted on a lousy human being.
"You mean spelunking?" Buffy said, tossing in a fancy word. Angel always had to be the smartest at everything or at least pretend to.
"Yeah sure, whatever," he said, dismissing her intelligence as usual. "Anyways, it was awesome."
"How lovely. Did she go with you?" Buffy said.
"Yeah, she did. And her sister and her boyfriend," he said.
"Well aren't you just part of the family now?"
"More than I was of yours," he said.
"Well I can't help it if Dawn hated you," she said.
"Pffft, she didn't really hate me. How can anyone hate me?" Angel laughed.
"You want a bet," Buffy muttered. "Whatever, anyway so how's life?"
"Great! I think I'm going to be heading down to Sunnydale in a few weeks, so I'm going to come visit you!"
"No."
"No?" Angel asked.
"That's right, no. I don't want to see you. Besides what would she say?"
"I'm not going to ask her or tell her. She doesn't own me."
"Oh so you're just sneaking around to see your ex? I'm not going to do that. You're going to make her miserable too, and be in a whole lot of pain if she finds out and you never told her. I have a feeling that even though she's kind of stupid like you've said before, there's no way she can be that stupid."
"It's my life and I'm going to see you," he said stubbornly.
"No, you're not. It's my life too and I don't want to see you. Angel, look every time we talk all we do is start fighting. I don't think we're ready to be friends yet."
"You say that every time and then you call me," Angel said.
"Okay, how many times in the past two months have I called you? You're the one calling me," Buffy said.
"That's right, I'm still calling you. How else we going to be friends?"
"No, no, no, no Angel Liam Fitzpatrick. Don't you turn this on me. I'm not the one doing this, calling up your ex when you're got someone new in your perfect life. I'm no the one doing this. It's easier for you, you know that? I wish it was easy for me, but it's not. I'm happy for you, but I need time to heal."
"So what you don't want me to call you again?" Angel said, anger seeping into his voice.
"Yes! No! I mean YES! Don't call me for a while," Buffy said.
"Well I'm still going to see you when I'm in Sunnydale," Angel said firmly."No you won't. Why would you want to? What's it going to do?" Buffy asked.
"I don't know," Angel said lamely and quietly.
"What, you want to check up on me and ensure that I'm miserable?" Buffy asked.
"I didn't say that!"
"But you implied it," she said. "Besides what if I'm dating someone new!""You can't!"
"I don't think it's up to you Angel, I'm not your property."
"You're not allowed to date anyone new! That's not how it works!" Angel said.
"So you want me to grow old, be 80 and single with a bunch of cats?" Buffy said, wishing she could reach across phone lines and get her hands around Angel's fat neck. Even when they were dating, only he could make her angry like no one could. "Because I won't, Angel. I've been moving on, but you're not helping. Look, I really care about you and I know that maybe one day in the future we could be good friends since we spent so much time together," Buffy said.
"But I don't want to burn any bridges," he said.
"We won't be, I promise. If something catastrophic arises, we'll be here for each other. But right now, that stupid girl, as much as I think she's a whore, she deserves a chance to get to know you and to be in your life, and I'm not going to do this to her or to myself. I might not like her, but I'm not going to be the other woman in your sick little game. You can't have your cake and eat it too."
"What? I can't have pie a la mode?" Angel said, not even being a bit serious.
"Cake, not pie, moron," Buffy sighed, laughing slightly. "Look, I don't hate you, you don't hate me. We both know that. If we're supposed to be friends one day we will be, okay? And that's that. I'm sorry I just can't talk to you. Don't call me, don't email me, don't contact me, and I will do the same for you. Please, if you really claim to understand me, if you really claimed that you cared about me in some sick, twisted way you'd know why I needed this, and you'd do this for me, okay?"
"Buffy, why does it have to be like this? Who says we have to follow those stupid breakup rules?" was all that Angel said.
"I do. This isn't for you, it's for me, Angel. I'm sorry, but that's the way it has to be. Okay? Look, maybe one day in the future we'll be better friends for this. But right now, we aren't. And we're just going to end up killing each other if we keep trying."
"But," Angel began.
"Here, I'll give you two options. Either a) you call me in a month or b) I'll call you when I'm ready. Take your pick, if this is so hard for you," Buffy compromised.
Angel returned, "I don't care," as was his usual apathetic and fed-up nature when any talk of relationships arose. He was always like that, God help his new girlfriend, stupid as she was.
"Fine, I'll call you once I'm ready. It won't be anytime soon, but I promise, we'll always be friends on some level," Buffy said. At least she could end this peacefully and make herself feel better in the process so she wouldn't reach for the phone 2 days later thinking she'd been really mean to Angel, even though she hadn't been. She was just that kind of a person, always thinking about others' feelings.
"Whatever," Angel said, emitting a harsh sigh.
"Okay then. Goodbye Angel," Buffy said, hanging up her cell phone without giving Angel a chance to respond. She set the phone on the table in front of her, put her head in her hands and began to cry. Quiet sobs wracked her entire body as the band played on. What a cliche if there ever was one.
She never heard anyone else walking up and knocking at the dressing room door. The music did tend to be overpowering. She didn't see the doorknob turn, she didn't see the door open, and Buffy didn't see someone walk into the room until they spoke.
"Buffy Summers?" a voice asked out of the blue. Buffy gasped, very startled. Her heart jumped out her stomach and up into her throat.
As she looked up, she was unable to believe who stood before her. Her hands flew to her mouth, and she blinked as if this was some kind of mixed up dream. Finally her voice came back to her and she said the first thing that came to mind.
"Oh my God," she breathed softly. "Oh my God."
A/N: Those lyrics were made up by me, of course not my best work, they were just something to put in for the moment. That's not meant to be an entire song, just the opening of a song. Just so you know. I know it doesn't really matter, but it was more FYI stuff. :)