A/N : Slayergirl1212, RoleModelGirlie, wicked-angel3, sheilamarie, spikes-slayer29590, AnononA, Demonica Mills, gypsy-jin, jEnNiFeR - thanx to all of you for the great reviews. I loved writing the previous chapter and am really glad you all liked it so much. Here's the next part...
(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 11

Buffy crossed over the street from the Espresso Pump, tears finding their way down her cheeks out of both anger and grief. She'd loved William more than life itself but what he was now...she wanted to hate him, but she was still attracted to him and that made her so angry at herself and at him.

When she was playing him, controlling the situation between them, it was fun and she really enjoyed herself, but what disturbed Buffy was how not in control she really was. When she was leaning into him that way, lips almost touching his, it had taken every shred of willpower she had to pull away and tell him to leave her alone. A large part of her longed to feel his lips on hers again, his hands on her body, making her feel things that no-one else could ever make her feel. Still her good sense over-ruled any other emotions and reminded her what Will had done to her, how he'd left on their wedding day and not even called her for the following four years.

Buffy had moved on, she was happy, she didn't want or need William Anderson back in her life. She was marrying Riley in six days and she was going to get a happy ever after ending like she deserved. At least that was the plan. Now everything was less clear and Buffy realised that talk she was going to have, originally with Willow, had become very relevant again. She set off in the direction of her best friends' apartment and the red-head was pleased to see her.

"Will, I can't take this much longer" Buffy shook her head, as she stormed past her friend and into the apartment.

"Come in" Willow said, a little sarcastically since the blonde was actually already in the room. Buffy didn't seem to notice.

"It's William! He's just...I can't even...My God Will, it's just impossible with him here" she rambled mostly incoherently, before dropping down into the armchair completey defeated.

Willow sighed, thinking how strange it was that where once William had sat declaring love for Buffy, now it was the other way round and with the opposite emotions at this point in time.

"Hey Buff" Xander yawned as he appeared from the bedroom, "Y'know you got a big voice for a little woman" he smiled slightly and her face went red as Willow's hair.

"I'm sorry Xand, I didn't mean to wake you" she apologised and he nodded as he came further into the room and shared the couch with his girlfriend, just as he had a couple of hours ago to talk to William.

"No problem" he assured her.

"That's just it, I have a big problem" Buffy sighed tiredly, "And apparently he's called Spike now"

"What did he do" Willow wondered if all this was her fault for encouraging William to talk things over with his ex, but that wasn't long ago so exactly how much talking could they have done for Buffy to get this upset?

"He took me to the Espresso Pump" she explained, "He got me all reminiscey about stuff and he was trying to...you know" she said uncomfortably and Xander shared a look with Willow.

"Buff, why were you at the coffee shop with him" he said, trying not to smile too much. There was no way she'd be so frustrated by Spike's behaviour if she didn't like him a whole lot.

"Er, because he asked me" Buffy told him like he was deficient in some way, "He said he wanted us to get along and I figured it's better than the arguing so I went for coffee"

"So you don't hate him" Willow checked. Buffy looked away.

"I could never hate him, Will" she said sadly, "Even when he left I couldn't really...when you love someone that much, those feelings can't just go poof and disappear" she ran her hands over her face in exasperation before exploding with an angry sound.

"Why is he doing this to me" she complained loudly, "I mean, why now? Why six days before my wedding to Riley" she wanted to know, though she wasn't waiting for actual answers to any of her questions, "I mean if he'd come back before I got together with Riley or after we broke up or something, I might've..."

"Woah, woah, woah" Xander interrupted, suddenly very awake, "Rewind for a second there, and freeze-frame" he told his friend, "After you broke up with Riley" he echoed, "You said it like a when not an if"

"So?" Buffy shrugged, hoping to pass it off as nothing, but she knew it was something.

Basic psychology courses covered Freudian slips and that seemed to be precisely what this was, she only hoped her friends wouldn't make a big deal. It was true though, she knew it. If Riley was not in her life, she'd probably forgive William in time and get back with him, however stupid it might seem to others.

As she glanced between her friends faces she saw the look Willow gave Xander to make him let it go, she loved the red-head for that.

"Buffy, don't go all crazy-shouty on me again" Willow said cautiously, "but are you sure you still wanna marry Riley"

"Of course I do, I love him" was the blonde's instant reaction, but it came too fast and too flat like she'd been planning to say it, rehearsed it til it was perfect. She sighed.

"Riley is just so solid" she went on to say, "I know he'll never cause me heart-ache. I'm not changing my whole life around just to put William Anderson back in it" she said firmly, "He left me and we both moved on. We can't go back to how it was"

Though both Willow and Xander would love to have given their opinion on the subject, they both knew better than to try. When Buffy made her mind up it was not always certain it'd stay made up, but no outside influence would make a difference. Only she could change her own mind, everyone else's attempts were futile, to the point where she would actually do the complete opposite to what you advised, just to prove she could.

"I should go" Buffy said into the silence, feeling better for having vented but still wishing the odd and awkward situation she found herself in was over"I told Riley I was just going to the store for a few things, that was over an hour ago" she realised a she checked her watch.

After making her swear she was truly okay, Willow allowed her friend to leave. She worried about her immensely, and whilst Buffy appreciated it, she didn't like to cause panic for her best friend. What was there really to panic about, since Buffy had now quite made up her mind that she would not be affected by William's return to Sunnydale. It was unlikely it was permanent in any case.

"Oh penis" the unlikely curse word was loud and harsh in the generally peaceful surroundings of the small town on a Sunday afternoon.

Buffy spotted the woman who was still cursing as she knelt down on the pavement and attempted to pull the stiletto heel on her shoe from the grate over a drain. She'd been in that position herself before, it was not at all fun.

"Hey, you want some help with that" she said as she approached the other blonde.

"Oh, yes, thankyou" came the reply as the woman got to her feet again, "I was trying to see if the ridiculous bus was coming and I got stuck" she explained.

"Happens to us all" Buffy smiled as she expertly twisted and pulled til the shoe was free, "There you go" she said as she handed it back to it's owner.

"Thanks, er..." she paused, waiting for the helpful girl to fill in her name.

"Oh, I'm Buffy" she smiled, shaking hands, "and you're welcome"

"You're Buffy" the woman smiled strangely as she forced her shoe back on her foot and stood straight again, "Huh"

"What, huh?" Buffy looked confused, which would probably be because she was, "Do I know you?" she checked, feeling pretty certain she would remember this woman had she ever met her before.

"I'm Anya" the other woman explained, "but you wouldn't know me. We have someone in common though, my star performer has left me to pursue you"

Buffy's mouth dropped open in shock, her jaw moving up and down without sound til she resembled a landed fish of some kind.

"Your star...to pursue...oh God" she semi-rambled when her vocal chords began to work again.

"Spike no longer works for me" Anya said slowly, as if explaining to a small child, "He wants to stay here and probably have sex with you"

"What?" Buffy gasped in even more shock than she previously had been.

"I know, it's insane" Anya waved her arm in an emphatic gesture, agreeing with what she thought Buffy meant, "I mean, these past three years working for me, we've travelled all over, he's had more women than you could count, I don't see why he suddenly thinks he has to stop"

Buffy really had no idea what to say to that, but Anya wasn't done yet anyway.

"Of course he got bored of waking up unsure of his location and it was too much like hard work to be careful I guess, so he started giving orgasms to only me a few months ago"

"You and Spike were..." Buffy found a few words could be forced out of her mouth but the sentence soon disappeared. She just could not believe what she was hearing.

"Sex partners" Anya filled in, "Yes, we were...apparently not anymore though" she added almost bitterly, making Buffy frown.

"Were you in love" she asked, not really sure why she wanted to know, it was really none of her business but curiosity got the better of her.

"Oh no" the outspoken blonde shrugged, "Although he does give very good orgasms, I'll miss that. I don't think love is a very sensible or profitable way to spend time" she shook her head, "and anyway, Spike only ever loved you"

"He did once" Buffy said sadly, "but now..."

"Even now" Anya interrupted, "Just a couple of weeks ago he called your name when we were together...he pretends it's something else but I know it isn't. He did it in his sleep too" she admitted.

Buffy was just trying to think of something to say when the bus Anya had been waiting for appeared. She felt she ought to apologise or something but how could she be held responsible for William's feelings for her?

"This is me" Anya nodded towards the large vehicle that approached, gathering up her large bags and suitcase, "Have a nice life, Buffy. I wish you a man that will give you lots of money and good sex" she smiled as she climbed up onto the bus.

A moment later it pulled away and Buffy watched it disappear around the next corner.

-

"Hey sweetheart" Riley smiled as his fiancée came in through the front door, "You get everything you need" he checked, not bothering to move from the couch and one eye still on the TV.

"Er, yeah" Buffy nodded absently as she went into the kitchen to put away the few groceries she'd bought. She'd gone to the store after standing for several minutes by the bus stop, replaying her conversation with the strange woman called Anya in her head.

It seemed Spike really was a long way from being William. He'd slept with more women than it was possible to keep a count of. He'd used Anya terribly, though it seemed to Buffy that the woman didn't care so long as she got her 'pleasures' regularly. The man that gave them to her seemed to be irrelevant.

"You were gone a long time" Riley said from the kitchen doorway where he'd come to lean, "I almost sent out a search party"

"I got talking" Buffy snapped a little too harshly, "Is that a crime now"

"Of course not" Riley said carefully, as he watched his fiancee put the groceries away, slamming a cupboard door as she did so. He walked around the counter and stood behind her, rubbing her shoulders with his hands.

"I don't like you getting all stressed out over the wedding Buffy" he wrongly assumed that was her problem, but she shrugged him off, not even bothering to answer as she put away the rest of the items from the plastic bags she'd brought home.

With a sigh, Riley slipped back into the living room to watch football, hoping Buffy would have calmed down by the time it was over.

-

In his room at the local hotel, Spike leant back in his chair and re-read the note Anya had left for him.

'Spike, Your services as a performer or an orgasm-buddy are no longer required' it said, 'Have fun in Sunnyhell, hopefully we won't be seeing each other again. Anya'

She had a way with words did his former boss, Spike smirked, but he had sort of liked her in some ways. In others he hated her for what she'd done to him, what she'd helped him to become. Buffy had made one point in that coffee shop that was true enough, he wasn't the same man that left town four years ago. The thing that did remain the same though were his feelings for the blonde he'd left behind, and that he planned to do something about.

Spike pulled a cigarette from the packet on the table, placed it in his mouth and lit it. He left the lighter burning as he got hold of Anya's note once again. Holding the flame to the corner he watched the small piece of paper get consumed by fire, dropping it into the ashtray at his side, when his fingers were in danger of being burnt.

"The end of an era" he said, blowing out smoke from his cigarette, "Watch out Sunnydale" he grinned, "The boy is back in town"

To Be Continued...

A/N2 : If you like it, please review it, so I know that I'm actually writing something good! Thanks.