Chapter 13 - Falling In

Buffy was vaguely starting to wonder where her sanity had gone to as she walked from the Sunnydale Mall towards her house. In one hand she grasped a bag that contained a couple of CDs, one of which was to be her prize possession from now on. Buying Vamp Attack music from the mall was sane enough for Miss Buffy Summers, what worried her was that her other hand was currently held in that of a young man named Spike whom she could see even now was grinning like a Cheshire cat as she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye.

She couldn't help but smile herself as she thought of the last few hours, breaking this guy out of detention and running off to the mall where they behaved like a pair of lovesick teens, running around and kissing in the music store. Maybe that was exactly what they were, lovesick teens, they were the right age at least, but it was a long time since Buffy had ever let herself get this close to a guy. Whether she was in love or not, she didn't know, for now she was just enjoying the fun while it lasted.

"Come on then, pet, next question?" Spike prompted her when she was quiet too long. They'd started a little game on the way to her house from the mall. It was kind of like Truth or Dare, but neither could be bothered to go for the option of a forfeit. Both were eager to out do the other by asking questions the other would surely refuse to answer, but so far both had been terribly honest with amusing results at times.

"The accent" Buffy said, sparing him a glance, "Is it real?"

"Real as I am" Spike smirked at her, "My parents are English, I was born and brought up there. Dad pissed off when I was a nipper, Mum raised me best she could, til I got to be too much of a handful and got shipped out her to live with her brother, my Uncle Giles" he rolled his eyes.

"Huh" was all Buffy could find to say to that. She hadn't really thought much about Spike having a family or a life, beyond what she saw at school when he was following her around like a black clad, bleached blond lost puppy of some kind.

"So, ultimate question for you, luv" he said with a mischievous twinkle in his eye as they turned into Revello Drive, "Why the attitude? Some bugger must've hurt you I reckon, for you to be so anti fellas in general"

Buffy thought about her answer for a while and then sighed before she spoke.

"I guess it's my Mom" she admitted, looking down at the ground as they walked, "My Dad left before I was born, and then Dawnie's before she was hardly a year old, then there was... other stuff" she said vaguely, still very uncomfortable talking about Angel, even with Spike whom she knew she trusted and liked more than most people she'd met in her life, "There's kind of a lot of evidence to suggest the average man is non-trustworthy" she shrugged.

"On behalf of my gender, thank you very much, pet" Spike said sarcastically, but smiled when she looked over at him to show he was joking and not really offended. He wasn't exactly a fan of his father either, and since Buffy was here right now, and he was the one she'd been kissing all but senseless more than once in the past few hours, he figured she didn't count him in with the louts she and her mother had dealt with before.

"Your turn" Spike prompted when the thoughtful silence went on too long. He didn't want her to be uncomfortable like this, he hadn't meant to upset her at all, and figured putting the attention back on himself was the best plan. She smiled as she thought of her next question.

"Did you really attack a teacher at your old school with pruning shears?" she checked and Spike laughed.

"Thought you of all people would know better than to listen to those rumours, pet" he said as they reached her gate and he opened it for her.

"That's not answering my question" she pointed out as they walked down the path and sat down together on the front porch step.

"No, I didn't attack the teacher with pruning shears" he said solemnly, before a smirk broke through his serious expression, "Just said I would if he kept pissing me off" he admitted, making Buffy bust up laughing. Some of the things he'd done were not so dissimilar to her own crimes, and with his Dad having left when he was a kid too, it seemed she and Spike had quite a bit in common really.

"Okay then, what about you?" he said, tilting his head as he stared at her, "These tales I've been hearing about you burning down a school building"

"That is sooo not true" Buffy denied, still smiling as she explained, "That was all Faith, telling me I should start smoking when I started hanging with her"

"Thought you hated smokers" he said without thinking, and she nodded her head.

"After that incident I do" she agreed, "We were in such a hurry to dump the cigarette when the bell rang, we didn't put it out properly. The corner of the gym was ablaze before any alarms went off and apparently someone had seen me around there a few minutes before, so I got the blame"

"Well, you're one up on me, pet" Spike smirked, "Been done for crimes enough, but I never went for arson"

"It was not arson" she protested, shoving him playfully in the shoulder, "It was an accident. Anyway, it's my turn now and I have something I wanna know" she told him, leaning in incredibly close.

"What's that then, luv?" he asked, eyes flickering between her own and her lips as she got closer to him. She knew what he was thinking, but she was just teasing him because it was fun.

"Spike" she said softly, before her ordinary tone returned and she sat up sharply, "What's really in that black book you carry around at school?" she asked, hopping off the steps onto her feet and laughing at his confused expression that she hadn't kissed him and asked him if he wanted to come inside like he'd expected.

"You're a bloody pain in the ass, d'you know that Summers?" he told her with faux-annoyance. In all honesty, he liked her like this. Sure the fighting was fun, and she really got him going when she was threatening to kick him into next week, but having her like this, all laughter and smiles, that was nice too, in a different way. He could almost love her like this, in fact he was fairly certain he did already.

"Answer the question, William" she emphasised the real name she knew he would despise her using and waited for his response. There was a playfully evil glint in his eye as he jumped from the porch with feline grace and made a grab at her. She ran from him laughing as he gave chase and soon had her pinned to a tree in the yard.

"You just gonna stand there staring all day or are you gonna kiss me already?" Buffy asked him, breathing a little more heavily than usual, partly from the sudden movement, but mostly from the anticipation of being kissed by this man again.

Playing her at her own game, Spike leaned in incredibly close as if to put his lips to hers, but stopped just short and moved to whisper in her ear.

"The book" he smirked, "is nothin' more sinister than you learn in English class, pet. It's poetry" he told her, finding her stunned expression highly amusing for a few seconds, before he did what she'd been waiting for and a kissed her with a passion. He'd just destroyed his reputation with Buffy, but she had done the same, and somehow it felt nice to have someone to share secrets with. Of course he still had one secret he couldn't share and that was why he asked Buffy out in the first place. Angelus and his bloody money, daft little Andrew and his obsession with a girl too good for him. Those were the reasons Spike had first chased after Buffy Summers, but over the time he'd realised he had genuine feelings for her, that maybe now he really loved her.

"You're frowning" the girl in question noted as they parted for air, "Something wrong?" she checked, half afraid it was her, or something. Wondering if maybe this was the part where Spike said today had been fun but he had other girls to see, better, prettier ones, that'd go further than she would...

"Not so as you'd notice, pet" Spike told her, managing a smile as he looked down at her. She was beautiful, it was all he could think as she stared up at him with bright eyes and a nervous smile. She pretended to be so hard and tough, she was just a girl underneath it all, a girl he was falling a little more in love with everyday.

"I was... I wanted to ask you another question" he said eventually, hating himself because it would seem like he was doing exactly what Angelus and Andrew wanted, but also really wanting to do it for himself too, "'S about Homecoming"

"No" she said sharply, face hardening as she pushed him aside and headed towards he house.

"No?" Spike called after her, "You didn't hear the bloody question yet" he pointed out.

"Maybe not, but I don't need to" she snapped as she turned back to look at him, arms folded firmly across her chest, "I don't do school dances, Spike, and I don't see why you would want to either"

"Well, normally I wouldn't" he admitted, "but I never had such a gorgeous and special lady to go with before" he smiled, stepping towards her and reaching for her hand, but she backed away further.

"I'm not... I don't want to, okay?" she said defensively, "Why are you making a big deal out of this?"

"Just thought you'd want to, is all" he snapped back at her, not really understanding her attitude. She liked him, he knew it, and she'd certainly proved it today, what with the break out from detention and then spending all afternoon with him, kissing and all.

"Yeah, well, maybe you don't know me as well as you thought" Buffy told him, still looking angry, "Maybe you shouldn't presume that you know me at all"

"Oh fine, bloody marvellous, pet" Spike half-yelled, quite annoyed by her attitude and by the fact she was not only screwing up his plans but also poor little Andrew and Dawn. The Angelus lads, well, he was happy to put their noses out of joint, but he had been paid for a service and Spike Jackson was not one to go back on his word, "Y'know I sometimes wonder why I bother with bints like you" he sighed, and Buffy hated him for it.

He'd really made her feel like she mattered today, like she was special to him, and when he'd kissed her, she didn't have words for how good it made her feel. Now he was spoiling it all by talking about school dances and implying she might not be worth his efforts. When Buffy was hurt she lashed out, it was the only way she knew to react.

"You're a pig, Spike" she snapped, "And if you're not out of my yard in ten seconds, I'll throw you out myself"

The look in her eyes told Spike she was deadly serious and whilst he was fairly certain he could hold his own if she came at him in any kind of violent way, the last thing he wanted to do was fight with her anymore. He opened his mouth to speak but changed his mind, turning towards the gate with a sigh. He didn't see the tears come to Buffy's eyes and spill down her cheeks as she watched him walk away.

Joyce was not exactly happy when a young man named Andrew showed up on her doorstep on Wednesday evening. Of course, Dawn had told her he was coming and why - to help her with her algebra study. Since it was for school work, her mother couldn't really argue and they'd promised it work at the table right by the kitchen door so she could see and hear everything they did, should she wish to.

They'd been working for an hour when Joyce realised she would have to go out to the store. She entrusted Buffy with the task of watching her sister but the blonde was soon bored of that task and locked herself in her bedroom with her new Vamp Attack CD playing full blast. Now alone with Andrew, Dawn couldn't stop smiling. She was sure he'd been waiting for an opportunity to ask her to the Homecoming Dance, but after ten minutes in which he continued to go over and over the math they'd been studying she was getting annoyed and wondering if she was wrong.

"Er, Andrew" she interrupted, "My Mom is out and Buffy's locked in her room... Didn't you have something to say to me?"

"Um... about math?" he asked, looking nervous. He really liked Dawn and he so wanted to ask her to Homecoming, but since the kiss he shared with her that night after the party at the Bronze, they'd seemed to be nothing more than friends and he'd seen her talking and laughing with Connor Angelus a couple of times.

"No, about other stuff" Dawn prompted, "Maybe about Homecoming?" she said hopefully. Connor had asked her but she'd not given him a definite answer. She'd come so close to saying yes when she'd spotted Andrew across the quad and realised she really liked him too, and would probably be more thrilled if he asked her to Homecoming. Connor seemed different somehow since their semi-date at the Bronze before. As wrong as it was, she was keeping him hanging on, just in case Andrew had decided she wasn't worth the trouble anymore, but she really, really hoped he'd ask her.

"I don't think... I don't know..." he rambled nervously, looking away, "Could I maybe have a cool, refreshing Zima?" he asked and a storm cloud seemed to pass over Dawn's previously sunny expression as she stormed through to the kitchen. Hating that she looked upset, Andrew went after her, asking what might be wrong, making the youngest Summers laugh humourlessly.

"You really don't get it, do you?" she said, shaking her head, "The first time I actually get to date and the guy I like doesn't even..." she stopped when she realised she'd just admitted to liking Andrew. It came as a slight surprise to herself as well as to him that she really cared that much.

"So, um... You wanna go to Homecoming with me?" Andrew said quickly, fiddling with the edge of a pile of dishtowels on the counter top. Despite the fact Dawn had practically told him she wanted him to ask, he was still ridiculously worried she'd say no. He was a little surprised when he glanced up and found her standing right in front of him.

"Yes, Andrew" Dawn smiled, "I would love to go to the Homecoming Dance with you"

"Neato" was his silly response that made her giggle.

To Be Continued...