Chapter 9
Ow! Spike grabbed at his eyes with both hands, using the palms to soothe them. This could not be happening…not now, not tonight! They burned like fire, and the culprits sat idly on the bathroom sink in their saline.
“Damn contacts.” He muttered. Without them, he was virtually blind, and the alternative was too unbearable….
He was really going to have to stop wearing those disposable, he had used up the whole box and the last pair was too old, extremely old as he had found out once he put them in. Had he done something wrong? Was he being punished for some past action, some grievance he wasn’t aware of? He sighed loudly, walking away from the sink.
There was no way he was going to wear his glasses, not on a date…wait a minute, this isn’t a date. He caught himself, shaking his head to clear away the thought. It’s just Buffy, just annoying, irritating, stress inducing, beautiful, witty…and okay now he was losing his mind! Spike brought a heavy hand up to rub his sore eyes again. He could do this just fine without his contacts or glasses, yeah, he didn’t need either one, his eye sight wasn’t that bad…
Spike cried out in vain as his nose met head on with the wall. On second thought, maybe he’d just bring his glasses along incase he really needed them…
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“So, you’re making time with the little brother.”
Buffy rolled her eyes as she juggled the phone, while trying to shave her leg. “I’m not ‘making time’ with Spike. Angel’s hurt, and there’s only so much of my dad I can take…”
“Uh-huh. You little tramp, you.” Willow giggled.
“Wills, you’re lucky this conversation’s taking place over the phone, or else you’d have to remove my stylish yet affordable heels from your ass.” Buffy said, ever so sweetly. The sound of the doorbell ringing, caused her to jump, effectively nicking her knee.
“Shit!” Buffy called out, clutching the cut, while still trying to hold the phone up to her ear.
“Something wrong?”
“Not only did I just take off the entire top-layer of skin on my knee cap…”
“Well, that’s a hard area to shave.” Willow quipped.
“But he’s here! I’m not even dressed yet!”
“It’s fine, Buffy, take a deep breath…call me later.” Buffy hung up in a fevered desperation, the phone, slipping from her hands and into the sink. She quickly washed off the blood and shaving gel and rushed out of the bathroom, her bedroom door slamming loudly in her wake.
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Spike tucked the glasses in his pocket as the door flew open. He smiled at Buffy as she walked out, squinting a bit to get a good look at her. He couldn’t exactly see, but he was sure she looked amazing…
“You look great.” He said, might as well take his chances. Buffy smiled in response, at least he thought it was a smile…
“How do you feel about driving?” Spike asked, giving her a rakish grin.
“That depends on how you feel about that shiny paint job on your car.”
“You can’t drive?” He asked, stopping dead in his tracks. Oh please let this chit know how to drive…
“Well, I took the class, I watched the filmstrips with the blood and the death till I wanted to puke.” Buffy smiled, shaking her head. “Buffy and cars are like…oil and water, or maybe some combustible elements that shouldn’t be put together…”
Spike sighed heavily, running his hands through his hair. “Bloody great!” He mumbled.
“What’s wrong? You know, I heard driving is kinda like riding a bike, once you learn you never really forget.”
“It’s not that.” He sighed. “Dammit!” Spike growled in frustration as he reluctantly yanked the glasses out of his pocket, slipping them on. Here it comes…he was sure she had some glasses joke left over from childhood just itching to get out.
A smile slowly crept across Buffy’s face at the sight of him. He seemed so flustered, so embarrassed that it was actually…adorable. The small frames fit his face perfectly and if possible, made him even more handsome…okay, she’ll mentally kick herself for thinking that later but for now…
“I like the glasses.” She smiled, opening the passenger door.
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“Angel, I want you to rethink this…”
“What’s there to rethink, dad? I love Buffy.” Angel smiled. “I’ve never felt this way before in my life.”
Giles massaged his temples, sighing loudly. He was beginning to wish that he’d gotten his tubes tied the moment his ex-wife said she wanted to have children. “Liam, Buffy’s only been here for a few days and already you ‘love’ her?!”
“I think I’ve felt this way since we were kids dad, it just took years of time and separation to make me realize it.” Angel paused, a dreamy look coming over his face. “Meant to be since childhood…kinda poetic, don’t you think.”
“Yes, very.” Giles sighed, disinterested. “I just think that maybe you should give this whole thing a little more time.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean…don’t be so quick to call off your wedding to Cordelia.”
“But, I love Buffy.”
“Yes, and while that’s bloody good, I’m saying son, why not bide your time between both women. Just in case things don’t go well with, um Buffy, you’ll still have Cordelia. You know, wait maybe a month or two and then make your decision.”
Angel looked over at his father, for the first time actually having paid attention to what he said. Maybe he should give this idea serious consideration….
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“Do you…wanna come up?” Buffy smiled as she nervously clutched the doggie bag, the butterflies that had been fluttering around in her stomach all night, suddenly turned into bats. ‘Come up?’ what the hell was she thinking…stupid, stupid, stupid…
“Sure.”
The words rolled so casually off of Spike’s lips, and he breathed in deeply, wondering how he managed to pull that off. He followed Buffy inside and up the stairs, obviously Hank and Tammy were missing in action, and he couldn’t help but feel like a teenager who was sneaking up to his girlfriend’s bedroom while her father was out.
“We could watch a movie or something.” Buffy said as she opened her bedroom door.
The room had definitely changed since he was eleven years old, for one the ALF posters were missing. He had only been in the room once when he was a kid and that was during some very stealthy breaking and entering. He had snuck away from the gabbing adults downstairs and made it up to little Buffy’s room, with the hopes of either nicking or dripping snot on a few of her toys. Once Spike had gotten there, though, he found himself completely fascinated with the room of his mortal adversary, and for a time had developed somewhat of a crush on her. Of course, that went away for good the day she sneezed on him…
“Just make yourself comfortable.” She smiled nervously. God, proving to Spike that he didn’t make her nervous was really…making her nervous. “Do you want?” Buffy asked, gesturing to the box of left over fettuccine Alfredo.
“Um, yeah, sure.”
Spike sat on the edge of the bed and kicked his shoes and socks off, trying to make himself as comfortable as possible once Buffy disappeared out of the room. He used to be really smooth and calm when it came to stuff like this, maybe his dad was right and the four years he had spent in that awful relationship with Dru had left his dating skills less than sharp.
He sighed loudly as he grabbed the remote, turning on the TV. Dru had not only managed to suck out his soul but his dating skills right along with it.
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“Oi! Cut that out woman!” Spike laughed, jerking his foot away from her and the evil nail polish. “You trying to make me a total poof?!”
Buffy rolled her eyes, grabbing for his foot again. “Oh come on, it’s black, a very manly color.” She smiled.
He shook his head, smiling, he must be completely insane. “I must be completely insane.” He sighed. “Black only. If I see anything remotely pink, I’m ringing your pretty little neck.”
Buffy looked up from her ‘work’, giving him a big grin. “Hold still, you’ll make me smear it.”
“Do you miss home?” Spike asked, taking his eyes off of the TV, focusing them on her.
“What, Ithaca? I do actually.” She chuckled softly. “I miss my mom and my friends…god, I even miss school right now.”
“My company’s that horrible, eh?” He teased.
“Well, yeah at first.”
“Gee, thanks a lot.”
“Now, you’re not so bad.” Buffy smiled. “Gimme your other foot.”
“Yeah, now that I’m letting you play bleeding makeover with me.” Spike said, rolling his eyes. “So, what’s it like up there. I’ve never been upstate.”
“All those times you’ve gone to New York on business and you never took the time to go upstate?”
He shrugged. “Never really thought about it, never had a reason to go.”
“It’s beautiful, especially in the fall, and it’s nothing like the city.” Buffy smiled. “For one there’s lots of cows and Amish.”
“That so.” Spike laughed. “Maybe you could…show me around some time, give me the grand tour.”
“Maybe.” Buffy said simply, screwing the top back on the nail polish, and crawled up the bed settling down next to him. “Quick question.”
“Ask away, luv.”
“That kiss last night, was that…also courtesy of Angel?” Spike could feel his breathe catch in his chest, suddenly he was painfully aware of how close she was. His mouth had gone completely dry and he struggled to find his voice, all the while appearing cool and calm on the outside.
“Yes, well you know…all in the family.” He smiled, stumbling over the words a bit. Buffy brought a hand to his face, slowly stroking his cheek as she leaned in, planting a soft kiss on his lips.
Buffy cleared her throat softly, smiling, her hand still resting on his cheek. “My thanks to Angel.”