A/N: Hey, guys! I'm surprised at myself; I actually wrote this chapter all in one night when I set myself to work! Normally they aren't that easy to write, but this one just seemed to flow once I got started. –lol- Not that I'm objecting. I just wish that happened all the time, or at least more often. Well, enough of me rambling, here it is!
Chapter 5: Friendships, False and True
Tuesday night had ended for Buffy about an hour after the kitten had been named. Spike had explained things to her, like his vampire status and the fact that vampires were indeed real, and then he'd left. Buffy had taken William upstairs with her to go to sleep. She still had no idea where her father was, but she didn't really care anymore.
When Wednesday morning came, she was still in bliss. She had set up food and water for the kitten before she left, but she was really hoping it wouldn't need a bathroom anytime soon. Buffy reminded herself to get one on her way home as she walked into her first class.
She was so deep in thought that she didn't notice everyone who had been staring at her as she walked into the school and her class. She was all ready beginning to feel at ease in her new clothes, from the low tops down to her heeled shoes. Everyone else, however, was still very shocked.
Buffy could barely pay attention in any of her classes. She was floating on cloud nine all day, still reminiscing over the previous day's events. When her last class rolled around, Buffy was once again sitting with her book, but now she was just resting her chin on her fist, smiling softly as she simply stared uncomprehendingly at the words in front of her.
"Look at her," Cordelia whispered harshly from her spot behind Buffy.
"Who? Buffy?" Harmony asked.
"Yeah," Cordelia said as her glare at the back of Buffy's head intensified. "Buffy," she confirmed with distaste. "She's thinks she's all high and mighty now just because she got a make-over and some guy to take her out of class yesterday. Well, I'll bet he wasn't really interested or anything. I mean, it is still Buffy. She probably just found some guy on the street and paid him, or he's her cousin or something," Cordelia ranted, her jealously clearly shining through.
"Yeah, totally," Harmony agreed as she flicked her hair over her shoulder. "Come on, you saw him! There's no way that Buffy Summers, super-freak of the world, could get a guy like that interested in her."
"Exactly," Cordelia nodded. "And if there is a guy like that walking around Sunnydale, he should be mine."
"Yeah, sure," Harmony agreed. Personally, she would have liked to have him for herself, but there was no way she'd ever beat out Cordelia when it came to getting a guy's attention.
"So we just have to find him somehow," Cordelia said, becoming confident. "And in the meantime, make Buffy's life even more of a living hell," she said with an evil grin.
Harmony giggled beside her. "Definitely. We haven't done anything to her since Friday night at the Bronze. Which by the way, I still can't tell you enough how awesome that idea was!" Harmony gushed.
Cordelia smiled. "I know. After all, I am the best."
Harmony nodded enthusiastically. "So what are we going to do now?"
Cordelia thought it over for a minute, staring at Buffy as she did so. Her eyes narrowed as the perfect thought came into her head.
"Be her friend," she smiled, never taking her eyes off the unsuspecting blonde.
"What?" Harmony asked, beyond confused. "But I thought we were going to-"
Cordelia interrupted her. "We are going to make her miserable, just remember how Friday we made her think Angel liked her?"
Harmony nodded, her eyes wide as she waited for Cordelia to explain it to her.
"Well now, we're going to make her think we all like her. You know, because of how she's changed and could be seen as something cool now. That is, if no one knew her. So we can pretend to take her in, then after she thinks we're all her friends, and she's popular, we ruin her!" Cordelia finished happily happily.
"Ooh!" Harmony squealed. "Cordy, you really are a genius!"
Cordelia just smiled. Right then, the bell rang, signaling the end of the day.
"Time to put the plan in action," she said before getting up and going after Buffy as she walked out of the room.
"Buffy! Hey, Buffy, wait up!" Cordelia called with Harmony trailing behind her.
Buffy stopped and turned around, quizzically looking at Cordelia as she stopped in front of her.
"Hey, um, I just wanted to, you know, apologize," Cordelia started off sweetly. "I mean, for the other night at the Bronze and just everything all this time," she smiled. "I just never knew you could be so cool! But then, you did move from LA," she said.
Buffy nodded. "Yeah, I did. And, um, thanks. I guess. For apologizing."
"Yeah, no prob. Hey, what are you doing?"
"Now?" Buffy asked as her mind trying to catch up with what was going on.
"Yeah. Harmony and I were going to go shopping. You wanna come?" Cordelia offered.
"Oh, uh, actually I have to go get something and take it home right away…" Buffy said, her mind still slightly reeling.
"Oh no prob, we could go with, right?" Cordelia smiled.
"Yeah, totally," Harmony nodded with a smile of her own.
"Um, I guess. But it's the pet store. I just got a kitten last night, and it needs a litter box," Buffy said with a smile at the memory of how she got the kitten.
"Oh, well, sure! We could totally do that. Come on, I'll give you a ride," Cordelia said.
"Oh, uh, ok," Buffy said. With that, the three exited the building and went to Cordelia's car.
"Will! I'm home again!" Buffy called out as she opened her front door.
"Will? Just who would that be?" her father asked as he came out of the kitchen.
Buffy's eyes opened in shock. "Dad? I thought you were-"
"Is he that boy you were with yesterday?" Hank demanded.
"No, well, yes, but-" Buffy tried, but her father interrupted her again.
"I don't want you hanging around him, Buffy. He's bad news," her father ordered.
"Dad! You don't even know him! And the Will I was talking about is the cat," Buffy stressed, irritated with her father.
"Cat? What cat?" Hank asked suspiciously.
"My cat," Buffy said, and breezed past him to the stairs.
"You don't have a cat," Hank said, starting to follow her up the stairs.
"I do now," Buffy said as she walked into her room, setting her shopping bags on her bed.
"Since when?" Hank continued.
"Since yesterday, when I got him," she responded, turning to face her father who was standing in her doorway.
"Yesterday? And you named him after that boy you were with?"
"Yes, dad, I did," she crossed her arms over her chest as she told him.
"Where have you been all afternoon? With him?" Hank refused to let up.
"No, I was with some new friends, we were shopping for stuff," Buffy told him.
"What kind of stuff? Are you doing drugs, Buffy?" Hank pressed.
"What? No! We were shopping for a school dance that's coming up soon! And you know, even if I were, you wouldn't care," she muttered the last part angrily.
"I wouldn't care? Buffy, you're my daughter! Of course I'd care! What would people say if I had a daughter who did drugs?" Hank yelled, getting angry himself.
"Oh yeah, that's all you care about!" Buffy yelled back. "What people think of you! I don't matter to you, dad! Not really! You don't care about me at all! You just care about your stupid reputation!"
Buffy's head snapped to the side, and she quickly covered her cheek as tears began to fill her eyes, the sound of the slap her father had given her still ringing in her ears.
"I will not have my daughter doing drugs or anything else inappropriate. You are my family, Buffy, and you will do as I say. You are not to see that boy again, and that's final," Hank said before leaving her room.
Buffy stared in shock at her door, her hand still covering her cheek. She heard the front door open and close downstairs, and then heard his car start up and leave. She wished she had been more observant and seen it in the driveway when she got home.
Slowly, Buffy walked to her mirror and moved her hand away from her cheek. She cringed as she saw the bright red handprint that marred her face. A single tear rolled down her face as she trudged down the stairs to get some ice to put on it before it started to swell.
That night, Buffy was sitting miserably on her couch watching television when she heard a knock on the door. With a sigh, she stood and walked over to answer it. Whoever it was, she just wished they'd go away and leave her alone. At least the handprint had gone away at this point so she wouldn't have to suffer any embarrassment.
When she opened the door, she couldn't help but smile a little bit though.
"Hey, Spike," she greeted, stepping aside to let him in.
Spike smiled as he stepped in. "Pet, you remember Dawn, right?" he asked, tilting his head to the doorway.
"Oh! Yeah, hi," Buffy greeted the girl in the doorway with a smile. "Come in," she said.
Dawn smiled also as she walked by Buffy. Buffy shut the door and the three walked into the living room. Dawn sat on one end of the couch while Spike sat on the other, pulling Buffy down with him.
"So what's up?" Buffy asked him with a grin.
"Just figured we'd drop by. You don't mind do you?" he raised an eyebrow as he asked.
Buffy shook her head. "Nope, perfectly fine. Just watchin' TV," she gestured to the set as it continued talking in front of them.
Spike smiled.
Buffy turned her head to Dawn to say something, but she froze with her mouth hanging open as she heard a car pull up to the house.
"Shit," she muttered beneath her breath, eyes widening. "Come on," she grabbed Spike's hand and pulled him up the stairs. Dawn followed the pair up to Buffy's room.
"Crap, crap, crap," Buffy said as she paced the room once the door was shut.
"Buffy!" she heard her father's voice boom once he entered the house. Buffy's head shot up towards the door; she looked like a deer caught in the headlights.
"Uh, hold on, dad!" she called through the door.
Spike looked at her oddly. She had never been afraid of her father before. She seemed to have more of a bitter acceptance towards him.
"You gotta get outta here," she said to Spike. Frantically, she looked around her room. Spotting the window, she walked over to it. Buffy yanked it open and looked outside.
"Okay, climb down that tree," she said to Spike. We'll meet you out there in five minutes, tops," she said. Spike looked at her oddly, but did as she said, sliding the window shut behind him.
"Buffy!" her father yelled again.
"Coming!" she shouted back. "Come on," she said to Dawn. Dawn followed with a confused look.
"Are you not allowed to have guys over?" she whispered as they descended the stairs.
"I'm not allowed to see Spike," Buffy whispered back over her shoulder.
Dawn's eyebrow quirked when she heard that.
"Buffy," Hank said as Buffy and Dawn reached the bottom of the stairs. He was standing in the living room doorway.
"Dad," she nodded. "Um, this is my friend, Dawn. We were about to go to the, uh, the Bronze."
Her dad narrowed his eyes at her, but nodded. "Okay. Don't get in trouble," he said.
Buffy nodded, started to the door. "We won't, dad," she said. As she walked past him, she saw a woman behind him in the living room. She nearly blanched. And it seemed it wasn't even the same one from yesterday.
"Um, actually, I think I'm going to stay the night at Dawn's," she said. Dawn looked at her in surprise. Buffy pleaded with her eyes, and Dawn gave a slight nod.
"Fine," Buffy's dad said.
Buffy's hand rested on the doorknob as she stared at him while he turned and walked into the living room. A bit forlornly, she opened the door and the girls went outside.
"Thanks for letting me stay with you tonight. I can stay, right?" Buffy asked Dawn as they went down the front walk.
Dawn smiled. "Sure. It'd be fun to get to know someone here. I don't really know a lot of people yet in Sunnydale, besides Spike," Dawn said.
Buffy smiled.
"Hey, pet," Spike said, as he seemed to materialize out of the shadows.
Buffy jumped. "Oh! Spike, you scared me!" she said.
He smirked at her, taking her hand in his own. "Sorry, love."
"It's ok," Buffy assured. "Wait a minute," she stopped walking. Dawn and Spike stopped also.
"What?" he prompted her.
"If you're a, a vampire, then… how is Dawn your sister?" Buffy asked quizzically.
Spike stared at her, unsure what to say. He glanced over at Dawn, who had a look on her face that seemed to say, "It's up to you."
Buffy took their looks the wrong way, though. "Oh no… It was a dream. It, I, I mean, if…" she stuttered as she tried to figure out what to say. "I knew it couldn't be real," she shook her head.
Spike chuckled. "No, pet. Was all real," he confirmed for her as he squeezed her hand.
Buffy stared at him. "It's still just all so, so weird! It kinda wigs me out," she said.
Spike laughed at her wording. "I know, pet. And Dawn is my family, in a sense. Though, not a sister as much as an aunt if you think about it, I suppose," he said thoughtfully, staring at Dawn.
"Yeah that's right, I'm higher up than you," Dawn teased.
Buffy laughed. "So, wait, how's it work?"
"Well, let's see," Spike thought as the three started walking aimlessly again. "When someone is a vampire, they can turn other people into vampires. The wanker who turned Dawn, also happened to turn the woman who turned me," Spike explained. "Get it?" he asked.
Buffy's brow furrowed as she thought about it. "I think so," she said. "So, it's like, your grandfather, is her dad, so, yeah, she's your aunt-type person. Ok, I get it," she nodded.
"Vampires don't normally work with a system like that though. Relating it to humans and everything. We just sort of go with the Sire and Childe thing and maybe Sire's Sire or whatever," Dawn shrugged as she explained further.
"Sire?" Buffy looked at Dawn questioningly.
"Yeah, like a parent. The vamp that makes you a vamp," Dawn told her.
"Oh," Buffy nodded her head in understanding.
The three walked silently for a few moments before Dawn spoke up.
"So where are we going?"
"Um, good question," Buffy said.
"What's that place you mentioned to your dad?" Dawn asked her.
"What, the Bronze?" Buffy questioned.
"Yeah, that place. Let's go there," she suggested. "Is it like, a club or something?"
"Oh, yeah. The only one in Sunnydale actually," Buffy said.
As the two were talking, Spike was thinking about Buffy's dad. He wondered why she had seemed so afraid of him when he got there. It could have been that maybe she wasn't supposed to have guys over when her dad wasn't home, but he doubted it was only that. Her father didn't seem to care enough for that to be the reason from what Buffy said and what Spike had seen.
"Sound good to you, Spike?" Buffy asked, her voice pulling Spike out of his thoughts.
"Wha? Oh, yeah, sure, pet," he smiled at her, completely unaware of what she was asking him. The smile she gave him though, was more than worth whatever it could possibly be.
Dawn smirked, realizing Spike had no idea what he had just agreed to. If he had known, he wouldn't have agreed, or at least not so easily. Dawn had no problem however, with forcing Spike to watch a bunch of chick flicks all night long, as he had just agreed to.
As the three headed to the Bronze, they chatted happily amongst themselves. Buffy and Dawn were getting along great, and Spike never once let Buffy's hand slip from his own.
A/N: Man, can you believe Hank slapped her! I don't know what happened, but suddenly, Hank was home and they started yelling, then boom! –lol- I'm telling you, it's like these guys almost write themselves sometimes. This chapter was kinda filler-ish, but it had to be done, with the explaining and what all. But anywho, the Bronze and many girl-y movies are next! –lol- Poor Spike. Well, as always, review, everyone!
