Chapter 2:
As he drove his Desoto out of the University parking lot a couple of the football jerks made cross signs in his direction and then proceeded to fall over themselves with laughter. Bloody Buffy Summers, this was her handy work. When they were sixteen after an argument in which he had called her on her snobby attitude she had called Drusilla, his then girlfriend and fruitcake, and announced in front of half their class that they were both vampires. That one had stuck, hence the latest display proving football players need better padding in their helmet.
In her defense, Dru clearly had problems but in hindsight Spike truly cared for her even though she treated him so badly. He had always been love's bitch, the big bad sitting there while a psycho Goth chick publicly berated him for his apparent failings. Everyone must have known she was sleeping with half the basketball team and most the football players but there was something he saw in her that had him enthralled. No, Dru was a nut and a tramp to boot. Once upon a time Spike would have sworn that he loved Dru. Now he just felt sorry for her. She left a fair amount of damage in her wake and more then her fair share of scares. It was all part of growing up, though he suspected that Dru was an extreme case.
Throwing his keys on the coffee table Spike flopped down on the couch in his empty living room like he did most afternoons. It was like that for more years than he cared to remember. His good for nothing old man walked out on them nearly a decade ago, taking every cent they had. Joyce worked twelve or sometimes sixteen hour shifts at the "Sunny Side Up" Diner. Willy, the owner was an okay guy and the customers were seldom bothersome.
Spike did his fair share and after years of working odd jobs, he was sort of a jack of all trades. He worked at the garage down the street and as an odd jobs handyman. Also, though he kept in under wraps to protect his bad ass reputation Spike worked as a catalogue updater and junior assistant to Mr. Giles the University librarian and Student Advisor.
Rupert Giles was a strange one. He moved from England many years ago but still maintained his British-ness. He was the kind of man that you could miss entirely but once you got to know him he was quite possibly the most knowledgeable man Spike ever met.
Not counting his mother, Spike didn't have much family growing up. There was one uncle, his father's brother, whose entire involvement in
Spike's life consisted of one large payout just after his dad took off. He suspected that it was a guilt payout but it had been enough for them to pay to keep their modest but well loved home. For that much Spike was grateful. For years now Giles had been like a father to him though he was never able to express this in words. It seemed that at emotional times Giles would take to cleaning his glasses and Spike would scuff the floor with the toe of his boots. They were an odd pair, Giles in his tweed and typical librarian attire and Spike in his Billy Idol look topped off with a long leather duster.
Though Joyce and Giles worked hard to hide their growing affection for each other Spike knew it was only a matter of time before they realized they were in love. It could not happen soon enough. They were dating for almost three months on the sly but Spike knew about it. It was about bloody time his Mum had some happiness.
His mother's heart was shattered at the departure of his father. Later she found someone new. Warren moved in for a short time. The guy turned out to be a real wanker. Spike shuddered as his hand instinctively moved to his ribs and the few scars that his chest bore. Shaking his head to clear the memories, Spike focused on happier things. Warren only lived with them for a couple of months before Joyce found out and booted him to the curb. After that she didn't date for a long, long time. The last few months were the happiest he had seen her in years.
Smiling Spike noticed that there was a note on the coffee table trapped under his boots.
Spike,
Working late tonight, there's chicken in the fridge. Eat some vegetables. Crisps and salsa dip will not count young man! And take your feet off my coffee table...I mean it William!
Don't wait up, sweet dreams,
Love Mom.
She really amazed him sometimes and though the rebel inside him knew it would be chicken, crisps and salsa for tea, a little voice in his head did make him plant his feet firmly on solid ground.
Deciding to go upstairs to listen to some music, Spike's mind wandered. Tara announced today that she was transferring to UCLA and would be leaving Saturday. They all knew it was coming but it would be sad to see her go. Apparently she became 'close friends' with a girl named Fred. Spike smiled, it was always the quite ones. It was only right that Tara should find someone to look out for her the way she looked out for others. Friday night would be a big send off party for her at his place.
He turned his thoughts to his other friends. Willow, a bright and bubbly red-head and Xander, a clumsy, slightly nerdy but golden-hearted guy were his best friends. He had known them since their first day of high school. They helped him through rough times and he in turn did the same. Now at the tender age of twenty they were likely to be life long friends.
Their second year of school, Anya suddenly stopped sitting with her rich snobby friends and sat down with the three of them in mid conversation. She began her first conversation with them by asking if any of them had lost their virginity yet. Though often extremely embarrassing, Anya's abrupt and direct nature was part of her charm and even though she didn't look it she was loyal and good at keeping a secret.
A few months later Oz, a fairly quite and reserved guy transferred to UC Sunnydale. Though no one except the gang knew, he was only supposed to be staying with his aunt for a couple of weeks while his mom took care of some business. She never came back to get him and he seemed ok with that especially since he and Willow had been dating for almost a year now. In their senior year Tara, the most caring and softest soul Spike ever met moved with her family from Canada and they all became fast friends.
'The Misfits' had been together as a whole for three years now. Last summer Spike found out that he had a little half-sister. Dawn, a bubbly seventeen-year old had quickly been taken under the wings of his friends. Dawn had a quite childhood while her mom had been having an affair with his dad even while he was still with Joyce. After six years he split on them too. When Amy, Dawn's slightly unhinged mother, realized that Spike and his mom existed she moved them to Sunnydale so Dawn could get to know her brother. It had been 'wiggy' as Dawn would say but it turned out they were good together and though neither of them splashed their blood relationship around the two had cultivated genuine affection for each other.
The final and most recent group member was Dawn's boyfriend of four months, Connor O'Neil. Though he reserved the right to hate the kid, he and Spike actually became mates. Connor was friendly and unassuming and he treated Dawn well, unlike his crap-tacular brother, Angel. Ever since that first day years ago when Angel intentionally destroyed Spike's bike and picked on Buffy, Spike hated him. They had been enemies since second grade and though Spike had grown to tolerate his existence, Angel was still a world class creep in expensive clothing with way too much gel in his hair.
Angel's gang of snobs were mean and vindictive. They cheated on each other, stabbed their friends in the back and gossiped without any thought of the feelings they might hurt. Everyone except for Buffy. Even though they had not been friends for years now and the transformation from Elizabeth to Buffy left her bitter and mean Spike still harbored hope that deep down the real Buffy was still there. It was just buried really, really deep.
It was ultimately Buffy's choice to distance herself from Spike. In some ways he couldn't blame her. He knew better than anyone how desperately she wanted to be noticed and to be accepted. She grew up to be a very pretty young girl and won the attention of Angel and his gang. Cordelia and Harmony leached themselves onto her and Elizabeth suddenly began to disappear. He tried a few times to talk to her but she was preoccupied with winning the approval of her so-called friends. It was when she started to share personal details and stories about their childhood in order to fit in better that he stopped counting her as a friend.
His bedside phone rang and Spike was jarred from his contemplations realizing it was now six and he had to leave for work in fifteen minutes. He quickly reached for the phone.
"'lo...hey Tara...sure you can invite someone Friday, it's your party luv...okay, I gotta get ready for work...bye."