Chapter Twenty-Three – Peopley

Spike twitched and glanced over his shoulder as one of the servers passed the table. When he'd turned back and resumed looking at his menu, Buffy asked, "Do you want to come sit on this side?"

Spike looked up and nodded. "If you wouldn't mind, luv. Bit skittish, not havin' a wall at my back. Just feel very exposed, sittin' with my back to everyone."

Buffy slid over and patted the bench next to her. "It's not a problem." Spike sat down beside her, and she reached up and pulled him into a long, slow kiss. When they parted, he seemed more relaxed, if a little breathless, as he looked around the restaurant. Buffy asked, "Better?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Just like knowin' where everyone is."

"And if they're about to sneak up on you and shank you or something?" Spike nodded and Buffy leaned close and said quietly, "That's probably not going to happen in a Perkins at lunchtime on a Tuesday. I think you're safe here."

"I know that up here…" he tapped the side of his head, "…but it's still ingrained to be fully aware of my surroundings at all times. Cons who don't develop hyper fixated situational awareness are usually the ones who end up bleedin' out on the floor."

"I get that, so from now on, you choose where we sit when we go out to eat, and if none of the tables work for you then we'll go somewhere else. Okay?"

"Hopefully I'll get used to bein' around so many people, but right now, it's just… a bit overwhelming." He sighed and waved vaguely at the restaurant. "Feel like they're all starin' at me 'cause they somehow know I'm a convict."

Buffy looked around the restaurant then smiled at Spike. "Do you mean those two women in the booth by the hostess stand?"

Spike nodded. "Mostly, yeah. They've been eyeballin' us since we came in."

Buffy laughed quietly then motioned to the women in the booth to come over. Spike's eyes were a bit wide when she looked at him. "They've been looking at us because I know them. I work with them at the hospital."

The two women slid into the booth across from them and Buffy motioned to the one on the right and said, "This is Cordy. She works intake and triage." She motioned to the one on the left and said, "And this is Fred. She's head of the lab." She motioned to Spike and said, "This is Spike, my boyfriend."

Cordy reached over the table and shook a very surprised Spike's hand. "You are a slice of salty goodness, aren't you?"

Spike blinked then stammered, "Uh…thank you, Miss."

Buffy laughed. "He's my slice, Cordy, so don't get any ideas."

Fred shook Spike's hand and said, "Buffy's told us a lot about you."

Spike looked at her warily and asked, "Such as?"

"You robbed a bank and just got out of prison."

Spike blinked again. "You don't seem all that bothered."

Fred shrugged. "Why would I be? You made a mistake and you paid for it. There's nothing to be bothered about."

Cordy added, "We're big believers in second chances around here. The whole pull yourself up by your bootstraps and get shit done mentality, so as long as you stay away from the tweakers and handle your business, you'll get along fine."

Spike looked at her. "Is there a lot of meth here?"

"I don't know that I'd say there's a lot, but there's enough. Were there a lot of drugs in your prison? I've heard it's easier to get drugs in prison than it is on the street."

Spike said, "I didn't see any in the first one, but the second one was rife with illicit substances. At least one bloke a week would overdose. Usually three or four."

Buffy asked, "Why weren't there drugs in the first prison?"

Spike shrugged. "The size and the way it was set up, I suppose. Might have been due to the types of inmates, as well. None of the blokes on my pod had ever been involved with drugs, so I guess they didn't see the need to start while behind bars. The pods didn't intermingle, so there may have been drugs in other pods, but the only drugs I saw in that place were the ones you gave me."

Fred asked, "Did you use drugs at the second prison?" Buffy looked at her sharply and Fred said quickly, "You don't have to answer if you don't want to. I'm just curious."

Spike shook his head. "No, Buffy's not going to have to deal with an addict. I've never taken any drugs that weren't administered by a medical professional. Just never had any interest in them, and once you've seen a bloke foamin' at the mouth as he convulses and dies on the floor, it puts a reasonable person off ever tryin' 'em."

Fred was about to ask something else when the server came over and said, "Sorry for the wait. What can I get you folks?"

Cordy said, "We've already eaten and just need our check. We were sitting over there." She pointed to the booth they'd vacated.

The server looked where she was pointing and nodded. "I'll let your server know."

Spike had read through the menu before he'd moved to the other side of the table, but he'd been lost in the many choices and had no idea what he wanted. He'd had no choice at all for the past seven years and had just eaten what was provided, and he couldn't decide if he wanted breakfast food, or a burger, or chicken, or maybe even pasta. He picked up his menu and started reading through it again, his brow furrowing as he tried to quickly choose something so he wouldn't keep the server waiting. Buffy noticed him struggling and looked up at the server. "Can we get two of the sunrise skillets with scrambled eggs?" She looked at Spike. "Do you want a side of bacon, Spike?"

Spike looked over at her, relief flooding his features, and nodded. "Yes, please."

The server wrote it down then asked, "What to drink?"

Buffy said, "I'll have orange juice and coffee. Spike, you want coffee, orange juice, or both?"

"Both, please."

The server nodded and said, "I'll have the drinks out in a few minutes."

Buffy smiled and said, "Thank you," then took Spike's menu and handed them both to the server.

Spike said quietly to Buffy. "Thanks, pet."

She smiled over at him. "You're welcome. Next time we'll give you time to read the whole menu so you can pick something you want."

Spike chuckled, "That's just it, luv. I still don't know what I want. Everythin' sounds good."

Cordy asked, "Was the food good in prison?"

Spike shrugged. "It was all right in the first one, again, likely due to the size, but the second one… I wouldn't really call it good, but it was mostly edible."

Fred asked, "Is there something you were looking forward to eating when you got out?"

Spike shook his head. "Not really. When you have no choice in what you eat, you don't bother choosing favorites."

Buffy reached for his hand and twined their fingers together. "I guess we'll have to try a bunch of different things so you can choose some favorites."

Cordy said, "My favorite meal, at least right now, is brisket with red-skinned mashed potatoes and bacon green beans."

Buffy looked over at her and laughed. "That's only because you're dating the owner of a barbecue place. When you were dating the manager of the Pizza Hut, your favorite food was pizza."

Cordy shrugged with a small chuckle. "That's why I said right now."

Fred said with a laugh, "My favorite is tacos. Always has been, probably always will be, no matter who I'm dating."

A different server walked up and laid a check down on the table. Cordy nodded at her then said, "Thanks." She looked over at Buffy. "We need to get back to work." She smiled at Spike. "It was nice to meet you, Spike."

"Nice to meet you as well."

Fred stood up and said, "If you want the best tacos in this town, go to that little food truck that parks at Tractor Supply."

Buffy laughed. "Maybe we'll do that for lunch tomorrow."

Fred smiled as she pulled her coat on. "They don't open until three. That's why we came here for lunch, but I stop and get tacos almost every day after work."

Cordy slid out of the booth, picking up the check as she did. "Didn't you work last night, Buffy? I thought you were supposed to be on vacation."

Buffy nodded. "Yeah. Mike was sick or something, so I covered his shift. Hopefully nobody else gets sick this week."

Cordy smirked. "Yeah, I imagine you'll be a little busy, now that Spike's here."

Spike blushed and looked down at the table as Buffy said, "You guys should come over for dinner sometime this week. Cordy, bring barbecue, and Rob, too, I guess."

Cordy laughed. "He might be able to get away from the restaurant tomorrow or Thursday. I'll find out and let you know."

Buffy looked at Fred. "You're still dating that coal miner, right?"

Fred nodded. "Yeah, but he's on nights right now, so he can't do dinner. I'll be there, though. I'll bring the stuff for daquiris. You have a blender?"

Buffy smiled. "Yeah, and I can probably get Wils to bring hers, too. We can drink and play a game or something."

Cordy smirked. "Good thing we're all still young enough to handle getting shitfaced and then going to work the next day."

Buffy laughed. "I'm such a lightweight that I can get buzzed just by smelling alcohol."

Fred chuckled as they started for the front, "I'm gonna feed you so many daquiris."

When they were gone, Buffy asked, "How much does it take to get you drunk?"

Spike shrugged. "Don't know. Never had anythin' alcoholic."

Buffy's eyebrows went up. "Didn't you rob a few liquor stores?"

Spike nodded with a smirk, "Yeah, but liquor wasn't what we were after. The dosh in the till was our main goal. Angel and Darla usually nicked a few bottles, but they never shared any of it with me." His expression turned thoughtful. "How difficult would it be to find out if Darla and Dru were pinched? Angel told me he thought they had been, but he wasn't sure."

Buffy blinked. "When did you talk to Angel?"

"The day Xan came to visit me. The guard escorting him to his cell stopped outside my cell to talk to someone and he saw me." Spike chuckled, "We didn't talk long, and he ended up havin' to be moved to a different block because we committed crime together. Didn't see or hear anything from him the rest of the time I was there because he got himself tossed into the hole before he'd even seen the inside of his cell."

"Okay, um… I could ask Faith to check into it."

"Would you? Knowin' that twat is rottin' in prison is comforting, but I'd like to know if the other two are as well."

"Yeah, okay. I'll text her." Buffy pulled out her phone and sent a text to Faith. Her phone beeped a few seconds later and she said, "She's in the middle of something right now, but she'll find out and get back to me."

XXXX

Spike eyed the entrance to the grocery store then took a deep breath and opened his door. Buffy met him in front of the car and twined her fingers with his. "Do you want to wait in the car? I could get just a few basic things to hold us for a few days and we could try the shopping thing another day."

He tore his gaze away from the people walking in and out of the store and looked at her. "I'd love to stay in the car, pet, more than you know, but I think I need to go in there. I'm not gonna get used to people if I hide in the car."

"Okay, but let me know if you need to get back outside."

"I will, luv."

They started across the parking lot and Spike tried not to flinch when people got close, but he was as nervous as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs as they stepped into the building. Buffy let go of his hand and pulled a cart out of the row then pointed it at the inner door. She took his hand again and guided it to the handle of the cart then wrapped her arm around his waist and said quietly, "I've got your back, Spike."

Spike nodded and started pushing the cart into the store. Buffy pointed off to the right, "Head for the back corner over there." Spike steered the cart in that direction, trying not to let the noise and lights and colors and motion overwhelm him. The inside of the store was barely controlled chaos, with people pushing carts every which way, small kids darting around, store workers stocking shelves or pushing tall carts full of bags and boxes, teenagers walking in groups as they talked and laughed loudly, beeping registers, and announcements over the loudspeakers. Buffy leaned up and said into Spike's ear as she waved at a group of teenagers walking in front of them. "I forgot about the lunch period at the high school, so it's way more peopley in here than usual. Do you want to leave and come back after they all go back to school?"

Spike shook his head. "No. We're here, so might as well do what we came to do." He glanced over his shoulder at a loud laugh from somewhere behind them. "I'm tryin' to focus on our immediate area instead of keepin' track of everyone I can see, and that seems to be workin' all right. What are we after first?"

"Go to aisle twenty-one. We'll get drinks first. Do you want soda? Lemonade? Sparkling water? Gatorade? Juice?"

Spike chuckled, "I'll be fine with water from the tap, pet."

"The tap water here tastes weird, so I have a water cooler in the corner by the fridge. Remind me to stop by the water place and get a couple bottles when we're done here."

"All right." He looked at her. "Do you have a kettle?"

"Like for tea?" Spike nodded and Buffy shook her head. "No, but the water cooler has a hot spigot. It's not boiling hot, but you could put it in the microwave, I guess. Will that work?"

Spike nodded with a slight frown then said, "Yeah, I suppose that'll do."

They entered the drinks aisle and Buffy picked up a couple twelve packs of soda and three two-liter bottles of lemonade. "What do you want to drink for your lunches?"

Spike blinked. "My what now?"

"Your lunches at work. They don't have a cafeteria or anything so most of the guys pack a lunch."

"Oh, um…"

"Xander keeps a bunch of Gatorade in the break room and just swaps them into the fridge when he takes one out for lunch. You could do that, or we could get you a big water bottle if you don't like Gatorade."

"I like Gatorade, so I suppose I could do that. Where is it?" Buffy led him over to the shelf along the back wall and Spike's eyes widened. "Bloody hell, what's in those bottles? Liquid gold?"

Buffy laughed. "Yeah, they're a little spendy. Almost everything is freaking ridiculous these days." She waved at the sodas in the cart. "Those used to be like four bucks. Now they're eight."

Spike turned the cart away from the Gatorade. "I'll just get a water bottle. Where are those?"

"We'll hit them a few aisles down. I usually go up and down each aisle so I don't have to backtrack."

"Okay, so aisle twenty then?"

They made their way through the store and Buffy kept up a nearly constant stream of questions about the food on the shelves to try to distract Spike from the other store patrons. He seemed to be a little more relaxed as they moved toward the middle of the store, not flinching every time someone suddenly appeared at the end of the aisle they were in, for example, but she could tell he was still hyper aware of everything going on around him. And even though he was aware of each person's position in relation to his, he hadn't seemed to notice the appraising and sometimes lustful looks he was getting as they moved through the aisles. Buffy had smirked at a few of the looks he got from some of the guys they passed. Those had been full of jealousy that she was with Spike, she guessed, and she wondered if Spike would be jealous that she was being checked out, too.

They entered the aisle that contained dishes, utensils, and small kitchen appliances, and Buffy stopped then motioned to the shelf. "What kind of kettle do you want? They have on the stove kind or plug in kind."

Spike glanced at the shelf then looked back down the aisle at the two people walking toward them. "I don't need a kettle, luv. I can make do with the microwave."

Buffy reached up and cupped his cheek, turning his face to hers. "I don't want you to make do, so I'm getting you a kettle. What kind do you want?" He started to shake his head and Buffy leaned up for a quick kiss, stopping the motion, then she smiled at him. "You're getting a kettle." She turned his face to the shelf. "If these don't work for you, then we'll go somewhere else and get one that will. Okay?"

He nodded with a quiet laugh as she dropped her hand from his face. "All right, pet." He reached out and plucked the electric kettle off the shelf then put it in the cart. "That one will do quite nicely. Thank you."

The two people who had been walking toward them were about five feet away when Buffy turned and scowled at the look the woman was giving Spike. Buffy muttered, "Stare much?" then rolled her eyes and wrapped her arm around Spike's waist again, nudging him forward as she said, "Water bottles are down at the end."

Spike looked at her then glanced over his shoulder at the woman Buffy had glared at until she'd passed them. He asked, "What was that about, pet?"

Buffy looked up at him. "You didn't see the look she was giving you? Like she wanted to throw you down and ride you into the sunset?"

Spike blinked then blushed and shook his head. "Uh… no. Don't really look at people's faces."

Buffy stopped walking and turned to face him. "Why not? Is it a prison thing?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Makin' eye contact could be taken as a challenge, so I usually don't look at anything above the shoulders, especially if I don't know the person. I check body language and what they're doing with their hands to decide if they could possibly be a threat, but I don't look at faces unless I know them and we're on friendly terms."

Buffy leaned into him and wrapped her arms around him. "So you haven't seen any of the looks you've been getting?"

He chuckled, "No, luv, I haven't. How many stink eyes are we up to?"

She leaned back and smiled at him then giggled, "Eight. And we're only halfway through the store." She tilted her head slightly and said, "Some of the looks have been aimed at me. Guys checking me out."

Spike raised an eyebrow. "Do you want me to be upset about that?"

Buffy shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe?"

Spike wrapped his arms around her. "I think I'd be more upset if they didn't appreciate how lovely you are, pet. You're beautiful, so of course blokes are gonna notice. I quite enjoy lookin' at you, and as long as lookin' is all they're doin', then..."

"You're not worried that some other guy will snatch me away?"

"Of course I am, but… I don't own you, Buffy. I'm only here because you're allowing me to be, so if another bloke catches your fancy and you feel like you'd be better off with him…"

Buffy scowled, "Nine months, Spike. I waited for you for nine months. And I got hit on and asked out more than a few times in that nine months, but I turned them all down because I want you." Spike dropped his gaze and Buffy ducked down enough that she could look him in the eyes. "And I'm not just 'allowing' you to be here. I want you here. I know it's probably going to take you a little while to believe that, to believe that you… deserve me or whatever, but no other 'blokes' are going to catch my fancy. You're my 'bloke,' and I'm your girl or bird or whatever term you use for girlfriend. I'm that. Okay?"

Spike nodded, lifting his gaze, and smiled slightly. "Stubborn little chit, aren't you?"

Buffy laughed, "I feel like this is where I'm supposed to say something like, 'Pot, meet kettle.' You're just as stubborn as I am." Her expression turned serious. "But I need you to not be so stubborn about thinking that you don't deserve to be here. You do."

Spike nodded again, and said quietly, "I'll work on that, luv."

"Okay." She kissed him then nodded toward the cart. "We should probably save the heart-to-hearts for home instead of in the middle of the grocery store."

Spike glanced at both ends of the aisle and chuckled, "We seem to have found a pocket of privacy here. Bit odd that no one else needed anything from this aisle, innit?"

Buffy shrugged as she let him go and turned toward the cart. "Maybe they saw that we were having a moment and left us alone."

Spike smirked. "Or that bird you glared at let everyone else know to leave us be or face your wrath."

Buffy laughed, "I'm not big enough to be that scary."

"You have a rather fierce glare, pet. A person would have to be monumentally stupid to engage you when you're lookin' at 'em like that. If you were glarin' at me, I'd leg it until I'd reached minimum safe distance."

Buffy lightly pushed against his chest with another laugh. "And how far away is that?"

Spike shrugged with a laugh of his own, "I've not worked out the numbers, but it'd be a fair distance."

Buffy chuckled and said, "Dork," then slid her arm around his as he took hold of the cart handle and continued down the aisle. When they'd reached the end, Buffy waved at the selection of water bottles. "Which one do you want?"

"Will I be able to refill it at the warehouse?"

"I think so. Pretty sure they have a water cooler."

"All right, then I don't need an overly large one." He picked a blue insulated water bottle. "This one should do." He put it in the cart then motioned to the selection of lunchboxes next to the water bottles. "Do I need one of those?"

Buffy shook her head. "Nope. You have one at home. I got you the same lunchbox Xander has."

"Thank you, luv."

He started pushing the cart into the next aisle and Buffy asked, "What kind of stuff do you want for lunch?" She waved at the cart. "We already have chips and snacks and cookies, but do you want lunchmeat and cheese for sandwiches or peanut butter and jelly or some weird English food like bangers and mash?"

Spike laughed. "Bangers and mash is sausage and mashed potatoes with gravy. Not really a lunchbox sort of food."

Buffy shrugged. "It could be. I have a bunch of storage dishes and there's a microwave in the breakroom."

He shook his head with a chuckle, "Sandwiches and crisps with a piece of fruit will do me just fine, luv."

"What kind of sandwiches?"

"Ham or turkey with cheese would be fine."

"Okay." They turned into the next aisle and Buffy waved at the shelves of mouthwash. "What flavor do you want?"

"I'm fine with whatever flavor you prefer, pet."

Buffy picked up a large bottle filled with green liquid and put it in the cart. They continued down the aisle and she pointed to the razors. "What kind of razor do you need? I didn't get any because I didn't know if you wanted five blades or two blades or electric or whatever."

"Don't need one at all."

Buffy turned and blinked at him. "You don't need to shave?"

He shook his head. "No. I don't grow facial hair. Never have."

"Why?" She motioned toward his body. "You're very obviously male, with the muscles and the prominent Adam's apple and everything, and you have armpit and groin hair, so it's not a lack of testosterone."

Spike chuckled, "It's genetics, luv. None of the males on either side of my family grow hair on their faces, aside from their eyebrows."

Buffy stared at him for a few seconds then smiled. "I guess that explains why you didn't have a full beard after being in the hole for three months."

"That would explain it, yes."

"I didn't even realize it until just now." Buffy laughed and wrapped her arms around him. "So I guess this means you won't be leaving beard hair in the sink."

Spike laughed, "Not beard hair, no, but I shed terribly, so you'll likely find my hair practically everywhere."

"I already have a drain filter thing in the shower because I shed so much I'm surprised I'm not bald, so we'll probably be pulling enough hair out of it to build a small furry creature every time the bathroom gets cleaned."

Spike smirked, "Are we allowed to have pets?"

Buffy laughed, "I don't know. We'll have to ask Xan."

They continued their trek through the store and a few aisles past the razors, Buffy suddenly stopped and clapped her hand to her mouth. She giggled as she reached out and plucked a small box off the shelf and held it out to Spike. He took the box and said with a quiet laugh, "Ah, a box of Buffy knees," then put the box of Jell-O in the cart.