Chapter 11 - If Music Be The Food Of Love...

"Oh, honey, come here" Cordy smiled as she pulled Connor back as he made for the front door, "I made you something for lunch" she told him, handing him a brown paper bag, "Gotta keep my boys well-fed and healthy" she smiled, kissing his cheek. Connor blushed as she wiped lipstick from his face, before he followed his seething brother out of the door.

"What is going on?" Angel demand to know as he pointed his keys at his car and clicked the button to unlock it.

"I don't know" Connor shrugged, "Sometimes Cordy is a little weird" he said awkwardly, not willing to tell his brother the truth.

Saturday night had started out great, being with Dawnie and all. He'd hated having to leave her to go home, but Cordelia had sounded so upset on the phone. She'd been kind to him, a good mother these past few months, he owed her. He hadn't expected to find her in her nightwear when he got home, telling him how lonely she was. He hadn't expected to end up in her bed experiencing things he'd never felt before. Most of all he hadn't expected her to encourage him in his pursuit of Dawn, so long as he didn't forget about her.

"So, anyway" Angel said as the brothers approached the school, "Homecoming dance is coming up. You gonna ask Dawn?"

"I'd love to" Connor sighed. Despite his experiences with Cordelia, he still cared a lot for the youngest Summers girl, "Problem is, I can't take Dawn if Spike doesn't take Buffy" he told his brother sadly as they both got out of the car and Angel locked it.

"He'll take her" he promised, flipping his keys into his pocket and grabbing his wallet instead.

Connor smiled and thanked his brother before spotting Dawn across the quad and running to catch up with her. She grinned as he approached her. Despite the events of Saturday night, Angel was quite proud of his brother for the way he'd got Dawnie to forgive him for abandoning her at the Bronze. The kid was learning fast, but then he had the best teacher in his older brother.

Angel walked in the opposite direction to his brother, seeking out a guy he loathed but that he needed right now. Spike should have been easy enough to spot with his black outfit and bleached blond hair, but Angel walked right past him as he leaned back against the wall around the corner from where tall, dark and forehead was going.

"Lookin' for me?" he asked, smirking as he blew out smoke and dropped his spent cigarette on the ground, stubbing it out with his booted foot.

Angel covered well for the fact Spike had made him jump, but didn't bother disguising his annoyance.

"You get a kick out of being a pain in the ass?" he asked angrily.

"Only when it's you I'm winding up" Spike shrugged, "You're too easy, Peaches"

"I don't have time for this crap" Angel shook his head, checking no-one was looking and pulling a bundle of bills from his back pocket. He pulled two twenties and a ten from the bunch and held the out to the bleached blond.

"Need me to take out the bird again?" Spike checked with a tilt of his head, not yet taking the money.

"I want you to take her to the Homecoming Dance" Angel explained, "Connor wants to take Dawn, so you're taking Buffy"

"Yeah, one small problem with that, mate" Spike told him, pushing away from the wall and turning to walk away, "'M not dancing to your tune anymore, Angelus" he said simply, taking a few steps before stopping as Angel called behind him.

"How about double the cash?" he offered, as Spike turned back to look at him, "C'mon Spikey" he smirked, "Who turns down a hundred dollars for the sake of spending one evening with a gorgeous young woman?" he challenged and Spike had never felt so conflicted about anything, except possibly when he'd been in that car Saturday night, with Buffy all drunk and pouting at him. On the one hand he wanted to be with Buffy, and taking her to the Homecoming Dance might not be so tragic, plus the money would come in handy for doing up his bike and maybe investing in a new guitar. His last one had got buggered on the trip from his mother's house to his uncle's and Buffy was just the inspiration he needed to start writing songs again.

"Okay" he nodded, hating himself for it already, "You got yourself a deal" he agreed as Angel handed over one hundred dollars with an evil smile. It was worth the cash to get Connor out of his life a little more, but also to see Buffy end up a little hurt and humiliated. She had made him look stupid long enough.

Spike turned and walked away, pushing the money he'd gotten from Angel into the inside pocket of his coat. He had a woman to win over now, for more than one reason. He'd been paid for a service he must perform, he'd made a promise to the little boy, Andrew, to do the same, but Spike knew the main reason he was chasing Buffy was because he wanted to, because he liked her too much already, because just maybe he loved her already.

"Buffy" Spike was outside the classroom when she emerged, eager to talk to her, but she barely glanced at him before walking away down the hall, "Luv, would you just listen to me for a second?" he called after her, but she didn't turn back, just called over her shoulder.

"I'm not your love! Leave me the hell alone!" she said angrily and Faith laughed.

"Crashed and burned, huh, Spikey?" she smirked as she made to chase after her friend. Spike caught her arm and pulled her back.

"You know her better than most, Lehane" he said with a tilt of his head, "She really hate me?"

"Maybe, maybe not" Faith shrugged, "but you lay a hand on her she might just break every bone in your hot little body" she smirked before calling for Buffy to wait up, and hurrying down the corridor after her.

"Spike!" Andrew called, looking worried as he and Xander approached, "Are things still not good with you and Buffy?" he checked, "Cos I reeeeaaally wanna take Dawnie to the Homecoming Dance"

"Don't want to screw up your plans mate but 's not lookin' promising with Big Sis right now" Spike shook his head, "She's mightily pissed still, and unless I can find a way to make it up to her without actually laying a hand on her..."

"There has to be something you can do" Xander interjected, "We got all this info, something has to be useful"

"You think of anything, Harris, make sure you let me know, alright?" Spike sighed, pushing off of the wall he'd been leaning on and walking away. Right now he needed a drink and a cigarette to calm his nerves, the giving up thing really hadn't gone too well. Buffy Summers was a right infuriating bint, but he had to think of a way to win her over. Despite their best attempts, he was fairly certain Andrew and Xander would be no use. This was something he'd have to fix alone.

Buffy was bored and not very happy. Yesterday Spike had followed her around like a lost puppy, and as annoyed and angry as she professed to be, she still kind of liked the attention. The absolute truth was, she liked Spike, a lot more than she'd ever admit, and she missed him today when he wasn't there to bother her.

There were just two hours left before the school day was over, and though she'd caught glimpses of the bleached blond, he hadn't tried to come near her or speak to her all day. Faith had made comments about him, rude and dirty comments that Buffy would rather not have heard, and the two had a bit of a falling out about it. The brunette was convinced her friend felt more for Spike than she was admitting, and pushing the point only made Buffy more mad.

As the English teacher rambled on about some boring Shakespeare play, Buffy doodled on her notebook, wishing the time away. A strange buzzing and crackling from the speaker in the corner of the room startled her slightly and caught everyone's attention. They were well used to the Principal making announcements over the intercom, and everyone groaned as they waited for the inevitable list of names who would be in detention today or the latest rule or regulation that was being imposed about smoking or litter or some such.

Nobody was expecting the voice they actually heard or the words he said.

"Hello, Sunnydale High" said the rough English accent, "This is quite obviously not your Principal speaking, but possibly the last person you were expecting to hear. In case anyone's not playing proper attention, listen up, cos this is Spike Jackson and I've got somethin' that needs sayin' and fast" Spike explained as he glanced towards the door of the Principal's office. He had just a few minutes before Wood figured out Andrew and Xander were creating a false diversion and came back to catch him.

"See, there's this girl, some of you might know her, her name's Buffy Summers" he smirked as he pictured the stunned look on her face in his head, "She's not exactly my biggest fan of late and she's not keen on listenin' to what I have to say. Figured this was one way she was guaranteed to hear me out. So anyway, this is what I've been tryin' to say for the past couple of days" he said, adjusting the guitar in his hands and beginning to play a song he'd written the night before, especially for Buffy Summers.

"I'm so sorry if I dented your pride, girl
Didn't wanna use you, like those other men
I never knew another girl like you, babe
And I guess I never, ever will again"

"Wanna tell you what I mean now
But it's not easy as it seems
You're the only one I want, girl
So won't you please believe...
When I say I'm sorry"

All eyes were on Buffy in Room 107 where her English class was taking place. Miss Summers herself was stunned and shocked, but in the best possible way by what Spike was doing for her. He'd written a song especially for her, and by performing it this way was risking possible expulsion if Principal Wood caught up with him. Her last shred of resolve to hate him started to slowly melt away as he continued to sing.

"C'mon baby, tell me your not mad no more
Cos your loves the only thing I'll ever need
You might think I'm not good enough for you, girl
But I swear I'll try to be just what you need"

"Wanna tell you what I mean now
But it's not easy as it seems
You're the only one I want, girl
So won't you please believe...
When I say I'm sorry"

As the song ended, the sounds of applause and cheering rang out through the halls of Sunnydale High and Spike grinned to himself. He'd impressed the student body it seemed, he only hoped he'd impressed Buffy. He turned suddenly when he heard someone clapping behind him and realised there was at least on person who was less impressed with his performance than they might have been.

"Bravo, Mr Jackson" Principal Wood said flatly, "I'm sure you've impressed your young lady friend"

"Bleedin' hope so, sir" Spike replied, not at all bothered about being caught it seemed, and finding it amusing that the switch on the microphone was still set so that the whole school could hear this conversation.

"I only hope you didn't make plans to meet her after school" Wood told him, "Because you're going to be in detention, for a very long time"

Buffy frowned when she heard that, hating the fact Spike had got into trouble for this. It was so sweet and perfect what he'd done for her and now he was in trouble with Wood. She was only glad it was mere detention he'd got as punishment and not expulsion, she needed a chance to talk to him now.

As the intercom was clicked off Spike hopped off the Principal's desk, looking less than pleased about his fate and the fact he'd got caught.

"Bugger it"

To Be Continued...