Chapter 5
Buffy drove her Liberty into the parking lot of Sunnydale High. Seeing Willow getting out of her car, she honked her horn and waved. She climbed out, grabbing her bag and setting the alarm. She checked her face in the side mirror and grimaced. She didn't get much sleep the night before and it showed. Looking like a hag today totally makes up for it. She smiled brightly and pushed a piece of stray hair from her face.
"And what are you so happy about, Miss Summers?" Willow asked, instantly happy to see her friend looking like a grinning fool.
"Didn't get much sleep last night," Buffy answered, falling into step beside Willow.
"Why are you happy to be sleep depriv...oh never mind," Willow giggled. "I, too, love being sleep deprived."
"You are looking a little worn around the eyes this morning, Will. Late night for you, too?" Buffy asked, nudging Willow's arm playfully.
"Sure, but not in the fun sort of way. I was grading assignments. Some of these kids..." Willow trailed off.
"Anyone you want to send my way? I can give them a stern talking to...or not."
"Actually...Sean Meers is acting way out of character."
"Will, I know I'm supposed to be all open-minded and nurturing and what not when it comes to these kids...and most of the time, I am. But hearing the name Meers...it just gives me the chills," Buffy told her, shuddering visibly.
"You and me both, sweetie," Willow agreed, rubbing Buffy's shoulder lightly, trying to comfort her. "But we both need to remember that this is his brother. For all intents and purposes, we need to help him if he's having trouble."
"True, but would he even feel comfortable talking to us? I mean, Warren hurt us the most during the rampage..." They walked up the stairs to the front entrance of the school and headed straight to the teacher's lounge, waving and smiling to the kids as they walked past. "Hey, Marcus! No running in the halls."
"Sorry, Miss Summers," he said as he slowed down. Confident he was out of sight, he started to run off again. Buffy shook her head.
"I can't even get a kid to stop running in the damn hallway and you want me to sit down another who has been traumatized by his brother's actions, who is clearly rebelling, becoming a bad seed in an attempt to prove he is nothing like said brother, all the while becoming just like him? Yeah, that sounds like fun."
They put down their bags and headed to the coffee station, each grabbing their mugs. Willow poured coffee for the both of them and Buffy grabbed the sugar and cream. Willow was so deep in her thoughts that she didn't notice the coffee spilling over until the hot liquid splashed on her foot. She yelped out loud and Buffy instantly grabbed the paper towels.
"You alright?" Buffy asked, clearly concerned. Looking at her friends foot, she knew it was nothing serious, just a tad bit red.
"Yeah, I'll be fine. Screaming more out of surprise than pain. This is why I'm not supposed to pour coffee, why I never worked at the Espresso Pump...I get too distracted and suddenly, badness," Willow said, placing the cool, wet towel on her foot.
"I have to agree. You and your busy little brain constantly thinking away. You know what? Send him in. Tell him he doesn't have a choice. That he has to come and speak with me. How'd he do on his last assignment?"
"You mean the one he didn't do? Buffy, this is a kid who just two years ago had a 4.0 average and now he's barely pulling a 2. And the thing that pisses me off is that I didn't notice. I didn't see him pulling away from class. He used to be one of the lab helpers and now he's barely awake. He was just so sneaky about his decline, made it so gradual, that it totally slipped right by me."
Buffy thought for a minute, taking in what Willow had said. "Okay, so should I have you come to my office and talk to me, as well?" She smiled at Willow, trying to reassure her. "We're not miracle workers, Will. We teach, we guide, we try our best. We are not here to save the world. All we can do is help keep it running so again I say, send him to me during class, okay? If he tries to protest, refuse, point at the door and give him your best resolve face. I will expect him at my office no later than 8:30. If he doesn't show, I'll send out the brat-sniffing dogs."
"Thanks, Buffy," Willow said, gratitude displayed clearly on her face. They heard the bell ring and instantly jumped to attention. "Well, now we're late and I have to run upstairs with my scolded foot. It's going to be a grreeeaattt day!" Buffy smiled at Willow's not often used sarcasm.
"Lunch?" Willow nodded and they both headed to their destinations. As Buffy entered the front office, she smiled at the administrative assistants, noticing a vase filled with a beautiful bouquet of flowers on the counter. "Who's the lucky lady?" she asked, leaning over to smell the daisies and yellow roses.
"We don't know," Denise, the principal's assistant answered. "The card says Mrs. Young on it but we don't have anyone in the faculty by that name. We think it's a mistake."
Buffy blushed and couldn't help but smile. "Uh, that will be me in a few short months." She grabbed the flowers and waved goodbye to the ladies hearing one of them snidely say, "Well, isn't she just the fairy princess." Yes, I certainly am.
Entering her office, she instantly noticed Giles standing at the window, gazing out across the courtyard, absently cleaning his glasses. She cleared her throat and he whipped around, startled, and then a small smile came to his mouth. She put the flowers on one of the many filing cabinets she had and motioned for Giles to sit. She could clearly see that he was perplexed by something and she sighed inwardly. I don't want nor do I need a lecture right now. So help him if this is about Spike.
"Beautiful flowers, Buffy. Are they from William?" Buffy nodded. "Or should I say Mr. Young?"
"Maybe you shouldn't say anything," Buffy snapped. Instantly feeling guilty about her reaction, she said, "Giles, I know you're either going to lecture me straight out or talk around the subject but still get your point across. I don't want either. I have Sean Meers coming in here shortly and I want that to be the worst part of the day."
"Sean is coming to see you?" Giles asked, surprised to hear such a thing.
"Well, it's sort of my job. Will said he's been...apathetic would be an understatement, I think. I'm completely not looking forward to it. I mean, what can I possibly say to him? 'You shouldn't take this so hard. Your brother was a dick, but that doesn't mean you have to be'? I don't think that will work." Buffy saw Giles flinch at her use of the word dick and she snickered in her head. Ha, that's for attempting to make me feel bad for doing something nice for my man.
"Although, I do appreciate the uncomfortable nature of your upcoming meeting, I have to suggest that you try to refrain from calling his brother anything that is a body part." Despite her hardest attempts, Buffy laughed. "I'm not hear to lecture you or whatever else you may be thinking. I suppose I started the conversation off a little harsher than I meant to." He paused, taking a breath. "I'm not angry. I am fully aware of what Angel was doing when he started asking off-handed questions about William's time at Davies."
"You knew? You never said anything..."
"I wasn't going to ruin your surprise for him. Also, I wanted to see the look of shock on your face when I say, job well done, Buffy."
"I'm sorry, my ears are apparently clogged..."
"I don't know why you would think I would be disappointed about this."
"Well...well, because you were all 'he shouldn't know, it will only hurt him' blah blah British blah blah."
"I think I should be taking offense to that," Giles said, chuckling softly. "I never said anything of the sort. I only wanted to protect the boy-"
"He's not a boy anymore, Giles," Buffy interrupted. "And if he wanted to know and you knew anything...I just don't understand why you wouldn't tell him."
"Buffy, I purposefully never knew anything about his parents. I never wanted to have to lie to him if he ever asked and I didn't want to be in the position of telling him."
"Why would you lie to him? That's not like you. You're usually very forthcoming with the all the knowledge...you kind of pride yourself on it," Buffy added, teasingly.
"Yes, well, despite that...People put their children in orphanages for a reason, Buffy. In my years there, I saw the children grow up and wonder where they came from. Some found out and it hardly ever ended with tears of happiness. I didn't want that for William."
"Okay, the protection thing I get. I really do, Giles. It was part of the reason I didn't tell him what I was doing. If we couldn't find anything, I wouldn't be able to handle the look of disappointment in his eyes. But I knew he needed it. And I would think that you being this constant in his life, the only father he's ever known...that you would have realized it, too. That you would see that need beyond the wall he puts up."
"You're right," Giles agreed quietly. "Perhaps I should talk to him. Fill in any holes, answer any questions he may have..."
"He's still trying to sort through it all. Give him a couple of days but I think that would be a really good idea. You knew him when he was child, he's more open to you about his time then. Even with me, he's still guarded, which I understand to some extent. But you were there with him, saw him become the man he is, helped him become the man he is." Buffy paused, breathing deeply. She was suddenly overcome with emotions. Thoughts flooding her mind about what might have been had Spike never known Giles. "If you never moved here, I wouldn't know him. I can't imagine that. I can't see my life without him. I don't want to see it...what he's done for me, Giles...I can't even begin to..."
"I know, Buffy. Believe me, I know. William, and he would probably throttle me for saying such a thing, has an uncanny ability to make a person feel whole."
"I don't know if he'd throttle you, Giles...He might call you a 'bloody poof' but..." They laughed together and any remaining tension about Spike vanished. "You know...after a heart to heart, I like to ask a serious question."
"And what would that be?"
"Okay," Buffy took a deep breath, unconsciously tapping the desk with her hands. "Now you're under no obligation here but we've known each other for quite some time and with the wedding coming up-"
A knocking on the door interrupted Buffy. She glanced at the clock on the wall and saw that it was 8:25. Shaking her head in frustration, she told the person to enter. Buffy knew this was something she was not prepared to do. She had made it a silent mission to keep as far away from Sean Meers as she could. She didn't know how Willow could have a class with him every day and not be thoroughly creeped out. When he entered, her breath caught in her throat. He was skinnier than Warren had been but other than that, he was a spitting image. She quickly took a drink of her coffee, trying to wet her throat so that she could speak. She could feel her heart speed up and her brow break out with sheen of sweat. She hadn't been this nervous to talk to a student since her first day on the job.
"Sean, please come in," Buffy managed to get out. "Mr. Giles was just leaving. We'll talk later, okay?" Giles nodded and left the office. "Do you want to sit?"
"Do I have to?"
"No, you don't have to. Feel free to stand but I suspect we'll be here for a bit..." With an audible sigh, Sean plopped down on the chair and propped his feet on Buffy's desk. Her eyes bulged out in bewilderment. That little shit...he has no idea what he's getting into. "Please remove these." She pushed his feet off and they landed on the floor heavily. "Should we just do this straight? No pussy footing around the issue at hand?"
"What issue? I have no issues," Sean said, staring her hard in the eye.
"Oh, so then you're not the Sean Meers who was going to be valedictorian of his class this year and who may now not even graduate?" She saw him roll his shoulders back, attempting to dismiss it but Buffy saw what she was looking for. That flicker across his face of knowing what he has become. That flicker of shame. "Look, I don't want to sit here and give you a list of everything you have done wrong in the last two years. It's not really my way and having gone through the worst of times in high school and dealing with horrible counselors who thought I wouldn't make it past Hot Dog on a Stick, well, I know what it feels like."
"So this is the part where you act like you know what I've gone through? Let me save you some time, Miss Summers. I don't give a shit. And I don't have to sit here-"
"Actually, you do have to. It's either Snyder or me. Take your pick. Believe me, I'm a lot better than him. I try my hardest to be the exact opposite, come to think of it." Buffy gave him a small smile. "Here's an idea. Tell me something. I don't care what it is. I don't care what it's about. It can be anything." She saw him roll his eyes. "Just give it a shot, okay? Sometimes when you start on one thing, it can gradually roll into others."
"You're not my shrink. I have one. He doesn't work."
"Is that the thing you're telling me?" Buffy instantly saw his lips turn up in a smile and then saw that not even a second later, it went back to a scowl. "No, I'm not your shrink. I'm something better. I'm not here to nod at you, give you some drugs and send you on your way. I'm actually here to help you. To listen, to try and understand and get you to try and understand what it is that you're feeling. I'm not the best counselor ever, I am well aware of that. But, Sean, I do try my hardest. I can tell you that for certain."
"Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why would you want to help me after what that dick did to you?" Buffy smiled at Sean's reference to his brother. "What? It's funny?"
"No, no, sorry. It's nothing."
"So you expect me to spill but you can get away with 'nothing'? What a crock of shit, man."
"Fine. You want me to tell you?" Sean nodded. "I was talking to Mr. Giles about my apprehension in regards to our meeting and had said something along the lines of 'what am I going to say to him? Sorry your brother is a dick'. Gi...uh, Mr. Giles said I shouldn't say that." Buffy smiled again and was pleased when she saw Sean return it. "Okay, so striking while the iron is hot...tell me something."
"Anything and you won't get mad? Or send me to Snyder?" Sean asked, a little bit of hope coming into his voice.
"Nope, no grr and no, well, grr." A small laugh escaped Sean and Buffy suddenly forgot who he was. She let go that he was Warren's little brother and she saw Sean as himself. As a boy in serious need of something other than what he had. "This is an open room. You wouldn't believe some of the things I've been told. And everything stays between you and me."
"I'm glad he's dead," Sean said, quietly, staring at the floor.
Buffy felt her throat go dry again and she just as quietly said, "Me, too, Sean. Me, too."
--------------------------
"Buffy, you home?" Spike asked and closed the door. He heard music playing in the living room and thanked the powers that be that it wasn't Fiona Apple. He turned the corner into the room and saw that Buffy wasn't there. "Luv?" Spike heard a soft sob from the bathroom as he made his way to their bedroom. He leaned against the door, trying to confirm what he heard. When he heard her shakily take in a breath, he softly knocked on the door. Not hearing any response, he slowly opened and peaked inside. He saw Buffy in the tub, hair pulled up and knees to her chest, chin resting on her knees. Her hands were over her eyes and he could see that she was trying not to cry. He wanted to burst in, pull her out and hold her until she got whatever was bothering her out of her system but having done that before and having to suffer the wrath of it, he opted for patience. "You need anything, pet?"
"You in here with me."
In record time, Spike divested himself of his clothing and got in the tub with her. Sitting behind her, he picked up the sponge and began to stroke her back slowly, trying to comfort her as best he could. "You want to talk about it?"
"I had a meeting with Sean Meers today." She noticed that Spike had stopped his movements and she made a whining sound. "Don't stop doing that."
"Sorry, luv. What were you talking to him for? There are other counselors at that bloody school, y'know." He was trying to remain calm but he knew he was failing miserably. His left hand brought itself over the scar on her shoulder and he touched it gingerly, suddenly feeling every emotion he had felt on that day.
"Willow-"
"I'll kill her. You shouldn't be talking to him-"
"Spike, please...are you going to listen or are you just going to fly off the handle?" He said nothing but she could just picture his face. The muscles along his jaw twitching like mad, his teeth gnawing his bottom lip in frustration. "Willow asked me to talk to him. It's not easy for her, either, you know. She has class with him every day. I haven't seen him in months. Not even in the halls. I think we both ignored each other. Besides, I don't think he needed Mr. Cosgrove who would, undoubtedly, call him a loser and condemn him for life. He needed me. Someone who has been there. Do you get that?"
"Yeah, go on."
"It wasn't so bad, actually. I'm not even sure why I'm so upset. Maybe it just brought stuff to the surface. Maybe it was something that should have been dealt with long before now. We talked about Warren, mostly, which wasn't the easiest thing to do. This kid has had everyone lying to him for two years. Talking at him, not to him and so when he wanted to know, I told him what I could. What I remembered. It was actually a bit cathartic." She leaned back against Spike's chest and he moved the sponge to the front of her body. "We're going to meet twice a week during his study period. Will is going to try and help him catch up in classes. The kid has a lot of problems but he's started to open up. He just needed some honesty." She sighed, closing her eyes, letting every thing wash away as she fully gave herself over to Spike's touch. "So how was your day?"
"This is the part of the conversation when we just change directions, then?"
"You know me so well," Buffy answered, turning her head and giving his upper arm a quick kiss.
"It was better than yours, I suspect. Angel came down for an office check but other than that, good day. Little tired..."
Buffy laughed in agreement. "I talked to Giles, too. I was thinking of asking him and Anya for dinner sometime this week. He wants to talk to you, anyways...what do you think?"
"Fine, luv. Been meaning to talk to Rupes m'self, so that works out. Did you get a chance to talk to him about the other?"
"No...Sean came in just when I was about to."
"Y'know he's going to say yes. Don't know why you're getting all worked up over it."
"I could go to sleep right now."
"Stop changing the subject. I'm letting the Meers thing go, ain't I? You've known him a long time, Buffy. He'd be happy as a pig in shit to do it for you and you know that."
"I kind of didn't want to ask him when Anya was around. You know how she gets. 'Stay away from my Rupie'," Buffy said, mimicking Anya. She could feel Spike's chest move beneath her as he laughed. "I don't know...maybe I should just ask my mom to do it-"
"Y'know full well that your mum has no problems with you asking Giles."
"Or I could just do it myself," Buffy finished, completely ignoring Spike's input.
"Or just ask Giles," Spike repeated.
"I'm pruning. We need to get out of here before we shrivel up." Spike rolled his eyes out of frustration and sighed audibly. "You can stay..."
"Pet, I know today was no fun but can we please finish one bleeding conversation?" Spike asked, taking the towel Buffy was holding out for him. He wrapped the towel around his waist, not bothering to dry himself off fully. He eyed her suspiciously, trying to gage exactly what was going on in her head.
Without looking at him, she said, "Please stop looking at me like that."
"Like what?"
"You know. Like you're trying to figure me out. I don't even have to see you to know that's how you're looking at me." She wrapped the towel around her and she walked over to the mirror, shaking her hair free from the bun. "You don't have to fix me, Spike. I'm fine. Really."
He moved behind her wrapping his arms around her own, effectively trapping her against his body. He kissed the top of her head and breathed in the scent of her hair. "I'm not, luv. Whenever that day is mentioned, we brush it off like it never happened."
"We don't talk about your childhood and I don't want to talk about that day. Call it even, okay?" She struggled a bit to get out of his hold but he stayed tightly wrapped around her. "Spike...I just want to put on my yummy sushi pajamas and go to bed. I may even let you give me a back massage."
Spike barked out a quick laugh and shook his head. "You wanna know something about my time there, ask it. I'll tell you. It was nothing exciting...and it wasn't horrible. It definitely wasn't Oliver bloody Twist." He could feel her begin to move again in his arms and tightened his hold once again until he realized she was turning to face him. He gave her enough room to turn, not letting the fact that her towel was slipping to go by him.
"Okay, okay. If you let me go put on my pajamas, I'll let you rub my back and then we'll talk...you pick the subject."
"You won't last a minute if I'm rubbing your back and you know it."
"Damn, I thought that would work," she responded, smiling shyly. "Did you eat?"
"You do know it's only 6:30, right?" Buffy looked surprised and shook her head.
"I thought it was like 8 or so. I am so out of it today. How's this, then? I put on my pajamas, we cook dinner together, we'll talk and you can still pick the subject."
"That I can do...but we both know that I'm the one who'll be cooking dinner."
"Well, I will be actively watching," she smirked. He removed his arms from her body and she shivered instantly. She turned to walk out the bathroom and stopped suddenly. She whipped around, grabbed Spike's towel from his waist and ran into the bedroom, slamming the door. He could hear her laughing hysterically and he made his way to the bedroom.
"Oh my god!" he heard Dawn shriek and Spike spun around, yelling in surprise.
"Don't you bloody knock?" Spike asked covering himself as best he could. He began to kick the door behind him as best he could without being completely indecent in Dawn's presence.
"Don't you wear a towel?" Dawn asked, eyebrow raised.
"Don't have to wear one. My sodding apartment. Go in there!" He motioned his head in the direction of the living room. Dawn rolled her eyes and made her way in. Quickly, Spike turned around and banged on the door. "The Bit's here and I'm bare-ass naked. Let me in!"
Slowly, Buffy opened the door and he saw that she was bright red. "Dawn...is here?" Spike nodded and pushed the door the rest of the way open and went into the room. "She saw you naked?"
"She wouldn't have if you weren't running around stealing' people's bloody towels." He was practically growling as he slammed through the dresser drawers, looking for something to put on. He felt Buffy come up behind him, laying a hand on his back. He slammed another drawer and turned around, staring at her.
"Why are so mad?" Buffy asked, her voice shaking a bit.
"'Cause now I can't ravage you before dinner." Buffy made an 'o' with her mouth and then smiled. She grabbed her robe, putting it on and left the room. He could hear her talking to Dawn but couldn't make anything out. He heard the apartment door close and soon Buffy was back in the room.
"We're all set for a bit of ravaging and we don't even have to cook." Spike looked at her, question unasked. "Dawn...she went to get food and apparently a bottle of wine to drink away the sight of you naked."
"Oi, I happen to think I'm quite a catch."
"Hey, I didn't say it. I know how lucky I am," she said as she walked over to him. She ran one finger down his chest and he twitched in response. "She said she'd be back in a half hour or so."
"Plenty to do in a half hour..."
"There sure is," Buffy agreed, her breath catching as Spike slowly undid the sash of her bathrobe. He opened the robe and pushed it off her body. No matter how many times he saw her naked, it was like the very first time. They both simultaneously silently wondered how they got so lucky to have found each other. Buffy moaned as Spike kissed her neck and muttered, "You still owe me a back massage later."
------------------------------------------
"Boys are stupid," Dawn lamented as she passed out the take-out to Buffy and Spike.
"Yeah," Buffy agreed. She heard Spike make a "pfft" sound and quickly amended it. "Most. Most are stupid, Dawnie. Not all. That would be generalizing and that would be bad. And wrong." She looked at Spike, hopeful that she made up and he just nodded a bit, ducking his head to hide his smile.
"Whatever, boys are stupid," Dawn said again. "Let's take, oh, I don't know, Connor for instance."
"Let's," Buffy said, egging her sister on.
"He's a boy playing at being grown-up and it's annoying."
"Most," Buffy said, making sure she stressed the word, "do that, Dawnie. It sucks, I know. What did he do?"
"He's not good enough for you, Bit. I wouldn't even bother," Spike said, putting in his two cents.
"Have you even met Connor?" Dawn asked and Spike shrugged in response. "Then shut the hell up."
"Dawn!" Buffy yelled. "You are being a primo bitch lately. What is up with you?"
"I'm just annoyed."
"With Connor? Or what?"
"Everything. Isn't it supposed to get better once you get older? Aren't things supposed to just fall into place somehow?"
"Life wasn't meant to be jigsaw puzzle, pet. You can't piece it all together in a nice, tidy package. It wouldn't be any fun if you could," Spike answered.
"But I want the tidy package. It seems everywhere I go, there's some happy person running around, playing naked fun games in, let's say, the bathroom and I'm the one running out to get dinner so people can finish. I'm tired of it."
"Boyfriends do not complete you, Dawn. They don't solve problems. Some of the time, they're the cause of even bigger ones," Buffy reasoned.
"That's the thing. My life is so boring. I'd take the problems of a boyfriend any day of the week to this." She swept her arm out in front of her. "It's like...blah. It's all blah."
"And you think the answer to these problems is Connor?" Buffy questioned.
"Oh, hell no. He's more messed up than me. He's like twenty times worse than I remember Angel being when you dated. I just...I want someone to be with, to find comfort with, I guess. I want a Spike."
Buffy put her arm around Dawn's shoulder, lightly squeezing her arm to comfort her. "You'll get there. Believe me, you will. As ridiculous as it sounds, there are plenty of fish in the sea. You just have to know when to throw the bad ones away. Spike and I didn't have it so easy, you know. It took us a while to admit to what was going on."
"Not my fault you started dating that wanker," Spike added. Buffy shot him a look and rolled her eyes. "What? If you didn't know how I felt about you after that first night in the Bronze, you're dense. You chose not to believe it so you looked somewhere else."
"That is not true!" Buffy said vehemently. "You were all with the 'we shouldn't ruin our friendship' and all that other bullshit."
"Which I said only 'cause I didn't want to lose you completely," Spike told her.
"Buffy, why did it take you almost two years to get together?" Dawn asked, the curiosity dancing in her eyes.
"Why are you asking me? I was here. I wasn't the only one not admitting it."
"That's not true and you know it," Dawn said, calling her sister on her lie. "I may have been only eleven but I wasn't a sped kid. Even I could tell Spike was crazy for you when you guys used to hang out."
"You couldn't tell anything, Dawnie. You were too busy with your little girl crush on him." Dawn turned bright red and Spike raised his eyebrow, a smile slowly coming over his face. "Oops..."
"S'alright, luv, I'm irresistible. It's understandable."
"I resisted you just fine," Buffy said, indignantly.
"Ha! See? You just admitted it, Buffy. You totally knew what could have happened with you two and you chose to resist it," Dawn said, gleefully, bouncing a bit as if she had just one a prize.
"She's got you there, pet."
"Look the two of you ganging up on me isn't going to help your case. In fact, it just makes me want to get up and leave. But knowing you two, you'll sit here and talk about me and I just can't abide that." Buffy looked back and forth between the people she loved and then she groaned. "Fine, fine. I knew, okay? I didn't want to lose Spike, either. Relationships and me didn't exactly mix. I mean, look how not good the Angel thing went, then that idiotic move with Parker which didn't help in the man department...then there was Riley, who was just a nice, simple kind of guy."
"Boring," Spike huffed under his breath, bitterness on the word.
"Simple, not boring," Buffy insisted. "I thought it was better for Spike to be a friend than to lose him all together."
"You haven't lost him yet and it's been what? Eight, nine years?"
"Dawnie, I needed to get to a place where I could give all of me to him. I had to work through all the Angel issues, which granted, caused some issues because of the way I handled the already established issues, but anyways...I wanted to be comfortable with me before I started anything with him. With Spike it was going to be all or nothing. I was opting for all." Spike put his hand on her leg and squeezed her gently. "Are we good now? Can we not talk about this anymore? Weren't we talking about you and your lack of a life?"
"Hey, I have a life...sort of." Off both their looks, Dawn added, "Shut up. So you're telling me that because Angel screwed you up so badly, you thought to yourself that it was better to have a one night stand and to go out with the boring guy for almost a year than to be happy with Spike from the get go? Wow, that makes all the sense in the world."
"Simple, people! Riley was not boring. Just because he didn't brood or swagger doesn't mean he was boring. God..." Buffy knew she was more aggravated than she should be but Riley tried his best with her and she knew it. She just wasn't ready for him or what he had to offer. "The first time we went to the Bronze, do you remember that?" Spike nodded, a small smile playing on his lips. "Well, Cordy being Cordy said something about how you should watch out for being the rebound guy. Although I took great offense at the time, later on, what she said hit me and I didn't want you to be the rebound guy. If we had started dating right away, we would not be sitting here right now. I know that for certain."
"Then what you're saying, pet, is that soldier boy was the rebound guy," Spike stated, tongue between his teeth, a slightly arrogant expression on his face.
"Now you're just begging for a beating," Buffy joked.
"I do like it when you threaten me, pet."
"Is this like foreplay for you two?" Dawn asked and watched as the couple became a deep crimson color. "It's funny when you two squirm. Although I have to say it was better the other night when I had the entire gang squirming."
"Oh, yeah, that was a blast," Buffy said, sarcastically. "Are you doing Tuesday dinner with the girls' tomorrow night?"
"No, I have a date with Connor," Dawn answered, smiling.
"Oh, brother," Buffy sighed, shaking her head.
"So much for stupid boys," Spike grumbled. Buffy and Dawn couldn't help but laugh at his ignorance at the girl/boy dynamic.