Disclaimer: I bow down to the God of Joss, I own nothing , but a serious slice of James would do!
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Chapter Two
The alarm rang and Buffy tried to ignore it. Her eyeballs ached and her tongue was furry. After Spike had left she had drunk much more than her usual and now she was paying the price. She switched the alarm to snooze. Ok just ten minutes more. But she didn't sleep. She thought about the fact that Spike was her family now. Spike and his Mom and Dad. Her own Mom had died five years ago and she had been alone. She sighed and worried her bottom lip. She had made Spike her whole world and she seriously wondered whether that was such a good idea.
The phone rang and without having to look at the caller I.D. she knew who it was.
"Hi, Anne."
"Sorry Buffy, but Spike's not been home all night." Spike's mom worried, and this was a conversation they had at least twice a week, Buffy usually calming her down with a little white lie.
"Sorry Anne.He stayed here again.We got in late and didn't wanna disturb you. I'll get him to call you later." With a bit of general chit chat,Anne went off the phone happy and Buffy immediately called Spike's cell phone. It was voicemail.
"If your mom asks you,you stayed here." She paused."Next time,Spike,make up your own fuckin' excuses."
The anger in her voice was evident in the message. She slammed the phone down. Normally it didn't bother her, but this morning she was pissed off at picking up the pieces of his life and sorting it out for him. He was taking it all for granted, taking her for granted. Whilst he was off "shagging" he assumed she would always be here.
The alarm went off and she threw it across the room.
"I can book the car in on Friday, Mr Stevens."
Pencil in hand she caught sight of herself in the mirror in the office.She had a black oil mark across her forehead and her hair looked like shit. No wonder she never received any male attention.
"Ok then." she said pencilling it in the diary. "See you at ten on Monday.Nah, should only take a couple of hours."
Putting the phone down she glanced again at the clock.
9.50am.
She had opened up at 8am and had thrown tools around for a while. The anger she felt this morning had intensified to almost boiling. She had left several more messages on his cellphone, none of which were nice and still he hadn't shown. She paused to look around at their small business with pride. Her and Spike were both qualified mechanics, but she had the business degree and ran that side of the business. She couldn't remember a time when they had not tinkered about with cars. Buffy had never been academic at school and with Spike's persuasion had helped him to do up his beloved Desoto. It became her after school 'thing' and her holiday 'thing' and,eventually, they had qualified together. It had been a normal progression to open up a garage together. It had always worked well and they did well.
Today she felt like shoving the car jack up his butt.
Buffy poured herself another black coffee and she heard the outer door slam.
"What the fuck is your problem?" He attacked as soon as he entered the office.
"Go fuck yourself." She replied.
"Don't give me your shit,Buffy." He growled. She glared at him,fists clenched.
"My shit? You wanna sort out your own shit! I am fed up with always sorting out your mom for you! In the middle of your shag fest you couldn't just call her and tell her you wouldn't be home?" She glared at him,temper boiling over now. "You're supposed to be an adult. Act like one! I'm not doing your dirty work any more."
"I don't ask you to sort out my life!" He shouted at her, his face pale with temper.
"No," She screamed."You just expect me to do it!" They hadn't had a massive fight like this for ages, since they were teenagers. But it had started now and Buffy couldn't stop.She threw her coffee cup onto the floor, the cup smashing and the black liquid staining the floor. She was so mad she wanted to cry, but she bit her bottom lip hard.
"I've got work to do." She kicked the chair and moved to the door to go past him.
He stood in the doorway, blocking her exit.
"Oh come on,luv,don't stop there." He spoke through gritted teeth. "C'mon,hit me, you know you want to." He moved closer to her, so close she could feel his breath. She raised her hand to hit him.
"Don't push me,Spike." Spike grabbed her wrist to stop her. Buffy gasped, the electric shock between them catching her breath. Spike held her close to him and she saw that he was breathing hard. She felt the goosebumps run up and down her body and she felt like someone had physically kicked her. She looked into his blue eyes and the anger left as quickly as it had arrived.
"I've got work to do." She repeated,and pulled her wrist away.This time he let her pass.She glanced at him, wondering if he felt what she had.
She whispered to him softly. "Sort yourself out.", and went out to work on the car that she had finished ages ago.
She stayed away from him, impossible in the small workshop, as occasionally she would catch him watching her. Buffy was scared by the emotion she had felt. was feeling. She decided the best thing to do was to ignore it, in true Buffy style. They had probably been spending too much time together. Finally,after what seemed like the longest day ever,she decided to give it up. She was washing her hands,Spike watching her from the doorway.
"I'm going." She said quietly, looking at him as he leant on the door.
"Buffy,luv," He said softly. She looked directly into his blue eyes and felt that jolt once more."I'm sorry." He ran his fingers through his hair.
She sighed.
"It's ok."
"Coming for a drink?" He queried, tilting his head at her. She wanted to,desperately, but needed time to herself.
"Not tonight.Girly stuff to do." She smiled, a little too brightly.
"Listen, Buffy-"
"Spike, it's ok, we're ok." She tried to give her biggest smile,tried not to show that she felt anything but ok.
"See you tomorrow."
She left without a backward glance, and she felt the pain of loss immediately.
She didn't like it one bit.
