Chapter 11

Buffy was outside the school smoking a cigarette, when Spike walked over to her and raised his eyebrows. "Since when do you smoke?" He asked and she then threw the cigarette down as she looked at him.

"Since I realized that poisoning my lungs is a good way to kill myself." She said harshly and Spike wasn't amused.

"That's not funny." Buffy glared at him.

"It wasn't supposed to be. What, you're the only one that's allowed to smoke?" Spike shook his head.

"Are you okay?" He asked with concern and she laughed.

"Yeah, I'm great. Let's just get out of here, alright?" She said as she walked away from him and over to his car. Spike sighed as he followed after her. They both got into his car and drove home in silence.

When they finally made it home, Buffy got out of the car and slammed the door behind her as she walked to the front door of the house. Spike caught up with her and grabbed her arm to stop her. "What's wrong, love?" Buffy pulled her arm out of his grasp and glared at him.

"Fine, you wanna know? I think this thing with us is stupid. We should just end it before things go any further." Spike didn't like the sound of that.

"You want to break up?" He asked her and Buffy rolled her eyes.

"We're not even really dating. All we seem to do is make out and that may be enough for you, but I'm getting sick of it. I'm tired of you pretending that you care about me when I know that you don't. You don't think I notice you checking out other girls? I'm sure you're just waiting for the perfect time to get rid of me, so you can go back to your precious Drusilla. I hear a lot of stories about you two. How you were so madly in love, I refuse to believe that you would dump her for me. This is probably all a joke to you. I don't like to get close to people, especially guys. That never ends well and I don't even know why I decided to let you in. You're probably just like all the others, so I'm ending it. I'm sure it's no great loss to you." She said as she felt tears in her eyes. She walked into the house, without even waiting for him to say anything. Spike didn't believe a word she said and went in after her. He stopped her before she went upstairs.

"I know you don't mean that, Buffy. I will never give up on you. You have to realize how much I care about you. This isn't a joke. I've never felt this way before." Buffy shook her head as the tears streamed down her face.

"No, you don't mean that. No one falls for me. I'm nothing now; I'm just a screw up. You should just go back to ignoring me. I'm sure things were easier for you then." She stated and Spike shook his head this time.

"Nothing was easier for me then. Nothing seemed to matter, until you came into my life." Buffy closed her eyes and touched her head. She was starting to feel dizzy. She opened her eyes after a few seconds to look at Spike. Spike looked at her with concern again and suddenly their conversation was forgotten. "Are you feeling alright?" He asked her and she shook her head, which started to hurt.

"I feel tired." She said quietly as she suddenly fell down and Spike caught her before she hit the floor. Spike felt her head and noticed that she felt fine, he figured that she just passed out. He picked her up gently and carried her to her room. He placed her on the bed when they got in there. He gave her a kiss on the forehead and headed back downstairs.

Spike entered the kitchen just as Giles walked in the back door. He stopped when he saw the worried look on Spike's face. Spike then told him everything that happened with Buffy and Giles cleaned his glasses as he looked at his son. "You say she fainted?" He said and Spike nodded.

"Yeah, I think everything has just been too much for her. Do you think she'll be okay?" Spike asked his father and Giles noticed how much he seemed like a young boy when he asked that. He would love to tell his son that everything would be okay, but he wasn't so sure himself.

"I wish I knew. She's been through a lot and I would imagine that being abandoned by her father was the last thing she could handle. That little girl loves her father. I know from the stories that Joyce told me. She would tell me how close they were when Buffy was younger and how Buffy idolized him. Things fell apart after she died which would be understandable, but I imagine things weren't so great even before that. With everything that has happened between Buffy and her father, I know that she still loves him very deeply. She's still very much hurting because of his departure, even though she tends to hide it. We just have to be there for her anyway we can." Spike nodded and thought about what his father said.

"I'm trying to be there for her. She doesn't think I really care about her." He explained.

"Do you care about her?" Giles asked and Spike looked at him like that was a stupid question.

"Of course I care about her, but it's so much more than that." Giles had a feeling he knew what his son was talking about, but he wanted to hear him say it.

"What do you mean?" He asked and Spike thought about it for a few seconds before he spoke again.

"I think I'm in love with her." He said like he was just realizing it and Giles had a small smile on his face, but he didn't say anything. Spike looked at him. "I'm gonna make her something to eat for when she wakes up." He said as he then heated up some soup for Buffy. Giles watched him and really hoped everything would work out for his son and the girl he considered to be like a daughter.