Chapter Three

"Buffy! Are you alright?" Angel asked as he made his way towards his fiancé.

"Oh good lord! How did this happen?" Mr. Giles exclaimed in shock while Jenny made her way towards Buffy.

"You alright love?" asked the stranger who had caught her as he gently sat her down on the sofa.

Buffy tried to reply, but that just wasn't working, so she nodded instead. She was still too stunned from the fall to find her voice. Jenny sat next to Buffy and put her arm around her in a calming manner and Buffy took an opportunity to glance up at the man who had caught her. He had bleached blonde hair that was gelled back and his clothes were all black. Over his black shirt and black jeans, he wore a long black leather coat along with black boots on his feet. Buffy couldn't help but wonder what a guy like this was doing in the Giles' house. She soon regained the ability to speak.

"I'm fine," she said, sounding more as though she was trying to convince herself. "Really, I'm okay."

"Oh Buffy. I was so worried. Angel take that ladder out of here before it causes more damage," Jenny stated. "I can't believe we have such a dangerous item around. How old is that thing anyhow?"

"That was a close call pet," the stranger interrupted with a grin. "It's a good thing I was there to catch you."

Buffy was rather irritated at this comment because it seemed to be filled smugness and that smirk was certainly not making matters any better.

"Spike, stop being an arrogant jackass," Angel said sounding extremely annoyed.

"Better a jackass than a pillock like you!" Spike retorted, angrily raising his voice.

"Enough!" Mr. Giles shouted. "I won't have any of this foolishness in my house."

Both men stopped arguing, but continued to glare at each other with fury. Buffy didn't really know how to react.

"Wait a minute. Who is this guy? Angel?" she asked with confusion etched on her face.

Angel sighed, "Buffy this is my brother, Spike. Spike this is my fiancé, Buffy."

Spike looked Buffy up and down and smirked, making Buffy terribly angry and uncomfortable. She wanted to scream at him, "What the hell are you looking at?" but decided that she didn't want to make a fool of herself in front of Angel's parents, so she gave Spike a subtle glare. He seemed to take notice though, and his smirk grew even bigger. Buffy could tell this guy was going to be a problem.

The family continued to place their ornaments on the tree, but Jenny insisted that Buffy stay right where she was, despite her many objections. She felt so useless. After all, she had come here to help place ornaments on the Christmas tree, not sit on the couch and watch like an idiot.

Angel noticed how unhappy Buffy was, so he came and sat beside her and took her hand in his, bringing it up to his lips for a kiss. Spike seemed to be disgusted by this and made gagging noises in the background. Both Angel and Buffy glared at him. He didn't seem to care, though. In fact, that only seemed to make the gagging sounds grow louder. Spike was really enjoying their infuriation.

Jenny insisted that Buffy and Angel spend the night since it was so incredibly late, and Buffy agreed happily as she was so exhausted. Unfortunately, Spike would be staying as well. This made Buffy a little uncomfortable, but she put her feelings aside and put on the nightdress Jenny let her borrow. She then said "good night" to Angel's parents. Then, both her and Angel headed up to one of the guest bedrooms upstairs, while Spike watched from the bottom of the staircase with a grin. He was going to have so much fun with these two tomorrow. After all, it had always been his life's ambition to make his brother's life a living hell, and now, Angel had a fiancé that Spike could toy with as well.

Buffy awoke in the middle of the night. Waking up in the middle of the night was no stranger to Buffy since she had started dating Angel. She knew she wasn't going to be getting any sleep for a while, so she made her way downstairs to gaze at the beautiful Christmas tree and all the decorations in the family room. To her great displeasure, she found Angel's brother, Spike, doing the same exact thing already.

"Hello, cutie," he said when he noticed her presence. This is going to be fun, Spike thought.

"What do you want?" Buffy replied seriously.

"What's the matter pet? Angel not pleasuring you enough in the bedroom? Couldn't stand being in there with him any longer? Don't worry love. You wouldn't be the first."

"How DARE you!" Buffy cried as quietly as possible so as not to wake anyone up.

"For your information Angel has no trouble pleasuring me as you say, not that that's any of your business I can't believe how rude you are! No wonder Angel seems to hate you. I'm beginning to see where he's coming from. And by the way, stop staring at me like that and calling me those stupid pet names."

"Staring at you like what? And what pet names, love?

"ARRRGGGGHHHH!" Buffy replied, her facing turning red with anger. "I'm going to bed. I don't have to put up with this."

With that, she started walking up the stairs.

"He's not the man for you Buffy," Spike said, taking a gamble.

"How would you know? You don't know anything about me."

"I know that he's not the one and I think you know it too."

"Ugh, leave me alone."

"Good night, Buffy."

But she did not reply. Instead she marched up the stairs and shut the door.