Spinning the Wheel 11 - Shoping Guy
This was ridiculous. No… more than that. It was insane. A ridiculous insanity. But still he was doing it.
He was here at the Sunnydale Mall - as far as this rather small establishment could be considered a mall compared to the standard-size of the shopping domes - and made his way through the pre-weekend crowds.
Being with so many people at once was hell on earth. He had the constant feeling of being watched. Although he knew probably not even half the people who's way he crossed noticed him. He was out of their sight and they were occupied with their own business.
But those who shot an open glance at him were all too visible. When they were sitting on one of the various benches or in the cafés they had a better view and he knew that they were looking.
Spike gritted his teeth, setting his jaw, and continued on his way. He didn't know what he was looking for, he just came here to... yeah, to do what exactly? To buy a present for Buffy.
God, this was so stupid. Why was he even thinking about it although he had already told her that he wouldn't come? He didn't know or didn't want to know. There was something nagging in the back of his mind that told him the real reason why he was here, why he wanted to buy her something. But he constantly tried to ignore that fact, that he actually started liking her. It wasn't much, just a small flicker of sympathy he'd developed since he had let her touch him, let her get close.
Suddenly, Spike stopped dead in his tracks, tilted his head to one side and approached the broad window of a shoe-shop. It wasn't the rather expensive stuff laid out in the window. It was the small blonde girl sitting in one of the chairs, one of those strapy little things in her hand one could possibly never walk on without breaking an ankle.
Beside her was the redhead he'd seen in court and at the shelves close by stood another young woman with long light brown hair and a pleasant smile on her face.
The redhead... what was her name? Something like a tree... Willow... was saying something to the blonde and she smiled one of those bright sunshiny smiles that seemed to cheer up everyone.
Spike blinked. What was he doing here? He sat there watching Buffy through a shop window as if he was some crazed stalker.
But still… he found it had some sort of fascination to it. Seeing her and her friends in an ordinary situation shopping, and he couldn't draw his eyes from her.
Yeah… he did like her. In some weird way.
It wasn't supposed to be like that. You don't start liking the person who nearly killed you, who keeps wading in your personal space and who makes you smile out of no particular reason.
"Buffy?" Willow asked, waving a hand in front of her friend's eyes.
Buffy flinched and sat upright again after she'd fastened the tiny strap around her ankle. "What?"
"That's what I was going to ask. You were pretty zoned like you haven't been listening to the epic story I was telling you just now." the look on Willow's face told the blonde that her friend wasn't serious. "What's wrong? Something eye-catchy?"
"Huh? No, I was just... I just though I saw someone."
"Well... that's quite usual when you're in public. Unless you're blind, that is." Willow shrugged but Buffy shot her an annoyed glance.
"I know, Willow. I thought… I thought it was Spike." she shook her head as if she was talking to herself about something totally ridiculous.
"You sure? After what you told us he's doesn't seem to be the shoppy-kind-of-guy." Tara said, taking a seat opposite the other two girls.
"Yeah, he isn't. Guess is wasn't him then." Buffy shrugged, stood and made some careful steps down the aisle, trying her upcoming new shoes.
Thank the lord. He almost got caught watching her though that window. When Spike saw her bending down and turning her head towards the window he'd made his way away from the window as fast as possible.
The last thing he needed was her catching him looking at her.
What would she think of him? That he was completely going around the bend already? In her twisted way of thinking she's possibly assume that he was going to kill her the next time she showed up at his place like in those stupid teen horror flics he'd watched in the last three years during his long and dreary evenings at home.
His thoughts drifted back to that evening when Buffy had come up with a weird arrangement of pizza and they had just talked. Nothing more but nothing less, too. It had felt more than nice to have somebody around to talk to.
He shook out of his reverie and continued his way to one those slightly trashy jewellery shops.
God... this was so stupid, he scolded himself, but here he was and he had to go through with it.
"God... this is so needed." Buffy slurped from her iced caramel macchiato and plopped down on one of the benches. "Caffeine gets an exhausted Buffy up and running in no time. You'll see."
"What else is on your list?" Willow and Tara sat down beside they're friend and the redhead looked over her friends shoulder to look at the small paper the blonde had produced from her purse.
"Ehm... let's see. I need some flippy decorations. Dawn loves them, so I buy them to get away from a total decoration disaster."
"Shouldn't be that hard, I guess."
"Nah. I just need a little recovery and than I'm up to another round." Buffy sighed and took another sip from her drink.
Spike juggled the little package in his lap. He just wanted to get out of this place, away from all those people. Maybe he was paranoid but this was just too much. He wasn't used to so many people and the sweat started accumulating on his temples.
And it did even more when he saw Buffy and her friends sitting on one of the benches, drinking something in the coffee-family and chatting over something.
He had tried to avoid exactly this situation but now there was no place to hide. God, he was acting like a total idiot.
"Hey." he heard Buffy's voice and rolled his eyes.
When he looked up at her, he saw the blonde approaching him. Quickly, he slipped the package underneath his jacket out of her view. "Hey." he greeted her with a little less enthusiasm.
"I didn't expect you here of all places." Buffy beamed at him. But inside she was frowning. When he was here, was it possible that she had actually seen him through the window before? But why would he watch her? That was ridiculous.
"Yeah, I'm just... I just had to get out a little." he lied.
The frown on Buffy's mental forehead deepened. He wanted to get out? In a mall? Yeah... right.
"Mhmh." she made instead and nodded.
God, she hated this situation. Why did she go over to him? This was one of those conversations you actually didn't want to have but you wanted to be polite and say something. But now, neither of them knew what to say.
"You know..." Buffy began, the awkward silence thickening between them. "I think I should go back to my friends." She pointed back towards Willow and Tara who desperate tried not to look at the couple. "I... have some shopping to do. With the party coming up and all."
"Yeah... right." Spike nodded. "Go on then."
"Okay. See you." With that she smiled one last time, turned on her heels and went back to her friends.
This was probably one of the weirdest conversation they ever had, Spike thought and watched the blonde motioning her friends to rise and continue their shopping tour. Both didn't know how to deal with it and it just felt awkward.
He shook his head over the little small talk and made his way through the crowd back home.
"What did he say?" Willow chirped when they were far enough away.
"Wow. What's all the excitement about?" Buffy asked and looked at her friend with confused eyes.
"Nothing. We're just curious."
"It was nothing, okay? I just said hi, so did he. End of the story." she shrugged, ignoring the meaningful glance Tara shot at her girlfriend.
Something was nagging in the back of her mind. This conversation... it just didn't seem real.
He had to get out? That was a lie. For sure it was.
About a week ago he had told her that he wasn't good with people, didn't like to be around them and now he was in a mall of all places. He was up to something, she just didn't know what it was.
