I'm clumsy, and my head's a mess
Cause you got me growing taller everyday
We're giants in a little man's world
My heart is pumping up so big that it could burst

Been trying so hard not to let it show
But you got me feeling like
I'm stepping on buildings, cars and boats
I swear I could touch the sky

Ohhh ohh ohhh
I'm ten feet tall
Ohhh oh ohhhh
I'm ten feet tall

~ Afrojack featuring Wrabel ~

Chapter 5 – Ten Feet Tall

After the girls hugged it all out, Willow introduced the sisters to Xander, followed by strategically making Dawn sit beside him, which meant that Buffy had to sit with her back to the stage while she was sandwiched between Willow and Dawn. For a moment, Willow was afraid that Buffy might've complained about getting the lousiest seat, but oddly enough, she didn't seem to mind it at all.

"This is quite the shindig, Will! Oz must be super thrilled with the turn out tonight." Buffy chirped in an unusually cheery mood. Without even going to the dance floor, she was already boogying on the spot to the progressive house cum dance-pop track that was playing, bobbing her head to the beat and lip syncing the lyrics.

"Thanks Buff, and yeah, Oz tries not to show or say too much about it, but I know he's pretty optimistic about tonight." She smiled with pride at the mention of her boyfriend. It had been a few months since the band played anywhere due to their lead vocalist, Devon's sudden decision to leave.

"I mean, it's been a while since they've been back on stage but I'm happy to say that the revamp and change in front man has been for the better. Because, let's be honest, Devon is definitely no Beyoncé, so that whole I'm-going-solo prima donna stunt he pulled? Ugh, so not appreciated." Willow commented with a tilt of her head and flip of her red hair, in her best diva impression. It helped that her satin green shift dress gave her a bit of glam factor.

Buffy laughed and nodded in agreement, but Dawn just gave a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. Willow frowned at the slightly despondent brunette, "What's wrong, Dawn?"

The younger Summers simply shook her head, "Nothing. I'm fine, Willow." The red head noticed Dawn and Buffy exchanging a brief look and decided not to pry further, at least for the time being.

"So who's the new front man?" Dawn asked, falsely cheerful, steering the subject away from herself.

"Oh, just wait till you see him." Willow raised her eyebrows in eagerness. She fanned herself with one hand for emphasis.

"A total wake up and smell the hottie type, huh?" Dawn grinned, eyes widening in anticipation.

Xander rolled his eyes and silently prayed that Spike wasn't Dawn's type.

"Is it always this packed with the hordes of natives?" Xander yelled over the music and the other people surrounding them on every side.

"Not usually, no!" Buffy shook her head and shouted back, wishing that Dawn hadn't had the sudden urge to go to the little girl's room earlier. At least her sister was tall enough to see above this crowd. Buffy felt like she was being drowned by the sea of bodies crushing her in every direction. Both of them had to push and shove their way through just to get to the bar.

Once they neared the counter, she clung to the back of Xander's striped blue and white shirt like a lifeline while he fought the other patrons to get his order through to the bartender. The Dingoes had a relatively loyal fan base in town and it appeared that they were all out in full force to show their support tonight.

While they tried to get drinks for the rest of the group, the band started to come on stage. The petite blonde breathed a small sigh of relief as the crowd gradually began to shift, and some of them started to move away from the bar as they gathered on the dance floor just in front of the stage.

Xander turned around suddenly and shoved a drink in each of her hands, preventing Buffy from even attempting to look over her shoulder to where the stage was. "Hold these and wait here while I get two more. Be careful not to spill them, 'cause I really don't want to reorder these!"

"Good evening everybody, we're Dingoes Ate My Baby and we're totally stoked to be here tonight!" Oz's voice rang out across the club loudly and clearly over the mike. In response, there were appreciative hoots, cheers, and applause from the audience.

Buffy held the two glasses obediently and tried not to let all of the pushing and shoving slosh out too much of the liquid. Since she couldn't see the band, she keenly focused her attention on Oz's voice.

"As some of you know, we've had some changes to the band, so I'd like to sincerely thank those who've stuck by us and given us your encouragement and love during that time. And now that the crisis is over, I'm glad to introduce to you the Dingoes' new front man. Give it up for Spike, people!"

Buffy could hear the crowd go wild. The ladies especially were screaming their lungs out. She tried to twist her head around to catch a glimpse and sighed when she realized that she was still too far to see much of the figures on stage and unfortunately her height, despite the high heels, still put her at a great disadvantage.

At this time, Xander turned around with two drinks in his own hands and signaled with a twitch of his head in the other direction. She let him lead the way and followed him back on the hazardous path to their table. While she concentrated on protecting the precious cargo, she heard a mellifluous and vaguely familiar voice speak over the mike.

"Evenin' everybody, let's start off with something a little fun, shall we?" His rich baritone and the way he said the words made her feel like she could be soaking herself in bathtub full of comfortingly warm and gooey dark chocolate, all indulgent and deliciously sinful. "This is our version of the classic record, In The Summertime by Mungo Jerry."

Buffy figured that he must've done something after he said that because the crowd, particularly the female portion of it, were cheering and screaming even louder than before. The music started to play with the keyboard, guitar and drums falling into the easy rhythm and she found herself already liking this upbeat rock version of the song.

And just when they managed to make it back to their table, it hit her. She knew who that voice belonged to! Granted, she never got his name, she knew without a doubt they had met before! That British accent combined with that deep tone and intensity. She distinctly remembered how he'd called her kitten and gave her that annoyingly cheeky wink before casually strolling off. Slamming the drinks down on the table, she whipped around and easily spotted the platinum blond she had bulldozed into earlier playing the guitar at the front of the stage with the mike stand right in front of him.

"Oh. My. God…" She deadpanned in astonishment. From her better vantage point at the table, she could even see the bruise on his cheek so generously given by her textbook. She found it rather funny that the shiner didn't stop him from looking like a sexy rock star. If anything, it made him look like a badass. Well, that and the way his all black tee shirt, jeans, and boots combo was showing off his lean physique as he swaggered and moved about on stage, like a tiger on the prowl. Now she knew what all the girls were screaming about.

Buffy watched with wide eyes as he sauntered back to the mike stand. Grabbing the mike with one hand, he sang into it, repeating the sound effect several times in tune with the song, "Chh, chh-chh… uh. Chh, chh-chh…uh."

She gulped nervously. Somewhat stunned at how she presently found the expression "uh" to be one of the most erotic things she'd ever heard. She had no idea how a person could make that sound so raw and sensual. The way he sang that line like a suggestive sexual grunt, and each time it was accompanied by a subtle thrust of his hips.

"I…I thought this was supposed to be like a fun, happy, sunny song." She heard Dawn murmur in shock somewhere nearby.

"Oh, this is certainly fun, alright," Willow replied knowingly.

She couldn't tear her eyes off the stage, until she felt Willow come up beside her. Being mildly smug about it, the red head asked her best friend, "He's certainly a change for the better, huh?"

"Uh huh." Buffy nodded dumbly. "And I actually met the guy this morning."

"What?" Willow yelped indignantly. "You met a hottie and didn't tell me?"

"Well, more like I injured him to be honest." Buffy cringed as she looked over at Willow briefly.

Her eyes widened in mild surprise, "You gave him that nasty bruise?"

Spike started to sing and Buffy turned her attention back to the stage quickly, leaving the question unanswered for the time being.

"In the summertime when the weather is high
You can stretch right up and touch the sky
When the weather's fine
You got women; you got women on your mind
Have a drink, have a drive
Go out and see what you can find."

He ended the first verse with a wink and a leer, running his tongue along his front teeth before strumming his guitar.

Buffy gulped again, not liking the warm feeling that was blooming in her chest.

After the roaring success of their first set, the band took a break and the regular club music started to play again. Willow made Xander and Dawn go out on the dance floor, while she and Buffy waited for the Dingoes to come over to their table. She watched from the corner of her eye whilst some of the audience, many of them female, approached the band members in hopes of getting to meet and greet them. As long as none of these fans got too friendly with Oz, Willow was fine with the bit of celebrity attention they received, especially after a performance.

"Are you trying to set them up?" Buffy chuckled at the obvious awkwardness between Xander and Dawn on the dance floor.

"Truth be told, our new friend, young Xander here, has a little crush on Dawn. So I thought, y'know let's get them to spend some time together and see if there's any sparkage."

Buffy raised a skeptical eyebrow. "So either you forgot the no-dating rule or you're attempting to torture poor Xander."

"Well, the thing is, when you and Xander were getting drinks, Dawnie told me that there was a little change in that rule so I was thinking that it might actually be okay to let our two lovely lovebirds give it a try." Willow turned her gaze away from the dance floor to face Buffy, hoping she would share more about this new development.

A sigh escaped the blonde, "I assume she gave you the full run down in the change of terms and conditions?"

Willow shrugged in response. "I wouldn't know for sure, but why don't you tell me about it?"

Buffy nodded and explained the changes to the no-dating policy along with what had transpired earlier in the day.

"Woah, talk about drama." The red head remarked once Buffy had finished her story.

"Yeah, tell me about it. That being said, I would like to declare that it's not going to matter much to me because I'm not planning on dating anybody for the rest of the year. Especially not since that last time I got…you know…" She left the words hanging there, not wanting to rehash the pain of that old memory. "Plus, I might be doing the Study Abroad thing in a few months, so with that on my plate, there's no point really." She shrugged her shoulders a little dejectedly..

Willow pursed her lips and gave her best friend a quick hug, immediately feeling guilty for bringing it up. "Not everyone's like him, Buffy." They pulled away and regarded each other with meaningful looks. "I mean, look at Oz. Not that I want to brag, but he's been a pretty solid boyfriend thus far."

"I doubt I'm going to be that lucky, but thanks Will." She smiled wistfully.

"No problem, my bestie. And just a heads up, the boys are coming over." Willow tilted her head back to indicate they were behind Buffy.

The blonde looked over her shoulder and found a pair of wide and bright blue eyes staring at her in amazement.

"Well, I'll be damned," Spike drawled effortlessly, despite the surprise. "This must be the work of kismet. I hope you didn't bring that textbook with you tonight, gorgeous."

Buffy was sure her face went as red as a tomato right then. Meanwhile, the rest of the band had gathered around the table and all eyes turned to Buffy in puzzlement.

"Can we not talk about that right now?" She asked Spike through gritted teeth, more embarrassed than angry.

"So I guess we don't need to introduce you two?" Oz interrupted with a clearing of his throat.

Before Buffy could comment, Spike replied coolly, "Actually, we've met briefly, but I never got the chance to know her name." After a beat, he added with a casual shrug and arrogantly cocked his head to one side, "Although I'm pretty sure she knows mine by now."

"Oh shut up, Spike." Buffy spat irritably, fighting the strong urge to punch that perfect nose of his.

"See, she does know my name." He smirked with raised eyebrows.

"Okay, this is very interesting," Oz mused quietly; a quick glance towards his girlfriend's subtle shrugging told him that she had no real clue as to how the two blondes had met either.

"Do you want to tell them the story of how you gave me this bruise with your textbook, luv, or should I?" Spike tilted his head towards Buffy and gave her an impish Cheshire cat grin.

All Buffy could do was narrow her eyes and glare at him, wishing laser beams could shoot out of her eyes at that moment. "Look here mister, my name is not luv and I swear it was an accident! That lousy textbook is just plain ol' evil, an...and it's got a mind of its own!" she pouted sullenly.

The two of them stared at each other for a brief moment before Spike looked away first. "Right then, since she doesn't seem too keen on it, I guess I can tell the story if you guys want." He grinned mischievously at the rest of group, clearly ignoring Buffy's wrath.

"Oh yes, please do tell!" Willow squealed excitedly.

"Willow!" yelped Buffy, turning to her with eyes widened in shock at her betrayal.

"Sorry, Buffster, I can't help myself! And I'm sure the rest of us want to know as well." Willow bit her lower lip and shrugged apologetically at her best friend.

Buffy's face crumpled as she slapped a hand over her forehead and groaned.