Chapter 11
She let out a soft groan when the sharp sunlight filtered thought the blinds to burn her closed eyes. It was just too early to get up, especially on a Saturday. Forcing an eyelid to open she glanced at her alarm clock. It read 10 am.
“Just five more minutes.” She thought to herself, letting her eyes close shut and turning on her side.
But it was too late. The sun had filtered in and the annoying responsible part of her brain was already nagging her about her assigned reading for Monday. She tried to ignore it but when she felt the familiar anxiety building in her stomach and making it turn painfully she sighed and forced her eyes open.
She lay on the bed for another couple of minutes before she pushed the warm comforter aside and flung her legs over the edge of the mattress. She hissed a bit when her bare feet touched the cold floor. Squinting, she scanned the area for her slippers and put them on.
She dragged her feet across the room, automatically reaching for her towel as she made her way to the bathroom.
She frowned bit when she heard water running in the bathroom.
“That’s strange…Harmony’s up at this hour?” She wondered before pushing the door open as she spoke:
“Harmony why are you- Ah!” She screeched jumping at the sight of the bleached Brit standing stark naked right in front of her.
She froze in place for a few fragments of a second, her eyes wide and glassy instinctively scanning his naked form and inevitably fixing themselves over his crotch. She gulped unconsciously before her brain jump-started and the socially groomed part of it took over.
“Oh, God, I-I’m so sorry, I-I didn’t- I’m-Oh, God!” She stuttered incoherently as her eyes squeezed tightly shut and shook her head as if trying to erase the recent image from her mind.
As the picture of his nude body flashed behind her closed lids, she impulsively opened them again, regretting it instantly as she was once more met by him… still butt naked. She forced her eyes shut once more and *again* the mental picture was there and seemed to now be permanently burnt in her retina.
The struggle lasted for a few more intensely awkward seconds until she finally settled for closed.
“I-I’m really sorry.” She stammered nervously as she started blindly patting the sink, trying to exit the room.
“No worries, luv. I was just going in for a quick shower. Don’t mind if you wanna join in.”
She froze at his words -the embarrassment instantly being replaced by outrage.
“What are you-” She stopped what promised to be a long angered rambling when she made the mistake of opening her eyes.
Her cheeks, which had quickly turned pink the moment she had entered the godforsaken bathroom, now gained a frightening shade of red, as mortification and anger mixed inside her.
Awkwardly, she shook her head and closing her eyelids one last time, she growled as she blindly turned around to leave.
“Guess I’m not gonna have company.”
She could actually hear the smirk in his voice as she stumbled her way out and slammed the door closed behind her.
She burst into her bedroom, huffing and mumbling a series of colourful curses under her breath as she threw the towel onto her bed and started pacing around the centre of the room. She couldn’t figure out if she was mad because of the ever-present cockiness in his voice or because of her pathetic lack of a quick and witty comeback.
“Hell, any comeback would’ve been good.”
Her hands ran wildly over her morning hair while she struggled to erase the image that insisted on flashing before her closed eyelids.
“That little annoy-“
‘Well, actually not that little.’ Her mind silently corrected.
“Grr.” She growled. “I have to get out of here.” She said to herself, getting out of her pyjamas and into the first pair of jeans and sweater she could find.
Within five minutes she was on her way out of her bedroom, her dishevelled hair wrapped up into an improvised ponytail. She was effectively storming her way across the corridor when she heard the bathroom door open. For an instant her mind debated between stopping and turning to face the bleached blonde or quickly making her way out of there, with her tail between her legs.
“Pity you didn’t wanna join in, luv. It was fun.” She heard him say.
‘Well, so much for option number two,’ she thought as she turned on her heels to find him standing just outside the bathroom, his bleached hair wet and tussled, a white towel riding dangerously low on his narrow hips.
She tried to ignore his state of undress, silently gulping before she started haughtily.
“I really don’t know what your game is, but let me just be straight with you. I *do not* have, nor *will* I ever have any inclination whatsoever to join you in that-” She pointed at the bathroom as she spoke. “or any shower on the face of this planet. Not for make out sessions, not for groping fest, sex or whatever other twisted fantasies that over-bleached brain of yours might have.” She paused. “I do not jump in the shower with my roommate’s boyfriends – just not my style. And even if I did… you’re not my type.” She inhaled once she finished.
‘Yay. You did it. No stuttering or gulping and with a minimal amount of bare-chest-oggling. Good for you.’ Her mind congratulated her.
In the meantime, her heart skipped a couple of beats when she saw the smirk spread over his lips and he started to walk towards her until he stood almost toe-to-toe with her. He was so close Buffy was actually worried that he might get her clothes wet.
“Got you all hot and bothered, haven’t I?” His tongue slid over his upper teeth, lingering on one sharp canine.
Buffy opened her mouth to protest but he continued.
“Don’t worry, Summers.”
Buffy suddenly frowned inwardly.
‘He knows my surname? I never told him my surname. Maybe Harmony told him. Why are he and Harmony talking about me? And was that a stomach flop? Since when does my-‘ She stopped her hysterical train of thought when he continued to speak:
“I wasn’t inviting you for a… what did you call it?” His eyebrows came together for a mocking frown. “Groping fest? That it?”
She nodded unconsciously.
“Well, you can breathe out now. I was just pulling your chain, wasn’t making any indecent proposal.” He paused. “Believe me, when I do…” He leaned in closer and she could feel his breath on her flushed skin. “…you’ll know it, pet.”
And with that she was left standing in the middle of the corridor, frozen in place as he brushed past her and entered Harmony’s bedroom.
~+~
Buffy sat at one of the various table in the Espresso Pump, tapping her nails angrily onto the smooth surface while she stared into her cup of coffee.
“Hey.” Willow’s drowsy voice snapped her out of her thoughts and she looked up to find the redhead taking a seat opposite her. “What’s up?” She asked with a yawn, but before Buffy could reply she added: “Buffy, what’s wrong with your hair?”
The blonde’s right hand self-consciously reached for an unruly string of hair and placed it behind her ear. “Didn’t shower.”
“Oh.” Willow paused for a second before asking: “What did Harmony do this time?”
“Not Harmony. Harmony’s evil boinking-machine.”
“Kept you up all night again, huh?” The redhead asked, muffling another yawn.
“No, I was actually able to get some shuteye last night. I seriously thought that things were starting to look up, you know?” Willow nodded and Buffy continued sarcastically: “That was until I woke up today and decided to take a shower only to find boink-boy standing stark naked in the middle of my bathroom.”
“Stark naked as in-“
“Comfortably wearing his birthday-suit.” Buffy cut in.
“He was completely naked?”
“Yes, that’s the meaning of the expression ‘wearing his birthday suit’.” Buffy replied grumpily.
“Sorry. It’s still a bit too early for my brain.” Willow fought against the urge to stretch out.
“Early? It’s eleven. You’re usually up and solving algorithms by nine.” Buffy noted with a frown.
“Yeah, I know. It’s just that since-” Willow stopped herself for a second before continuing: “Since college my internal clock is kinda… broken.”
Buffy paused a little before leaning in on the table and looking her best friend in the eyes and asking
“Willow? Are you ok? You’ve been strange lately.”
“S-strange? Me? Why would you think that? I-I’m fine. It’s just… college life. That’s all.”
The blonde seemed unconvinced.
“So, what about naked boink-boy?” Willow said, trying to change the course of the conversation.
“Oh, don’t remind me.” Buffy growled, burying her face in her hands. “That man is the single, most excruciatingly annoying creature in the universe. I mean, there I was awkwardly trying to look away and he just stood there, like everything was just… peachy! And then he goes all like: ‘No worries, luv. I was just going in for a quick shower. Don’t mind if you wanna join in.'” Buffy sighed audibly and returned to her normal tone of voice as she growled: “Grrr! I hate him.”
“Oh, my God! He invited you for a shower?”
“Yes!”
“And you went?”
“NO! Willow?!” Buffy cried out.
“Sorry.” The redhead mumbled up, sinking into her chair.
“Ew! Just the thought of it makes me wanna hurl.” Buffy shook her head. ‘Stupid flashy image. Go away!’ She mentally screamed.
There was a moment of pause before Willow hesitantly leaned in and asked:
“And?”
Buffy frowned, not understanding her best friend’s question.
Willow sighed at that and elaborated:
“Are Harmony’s annoyingly orgasmic screams true?”
The furrowed brows remained for another three second on Buffy’s face before her eyes went wide and her eyebrows rose high on her forehead.
“Willow!” She scolded.
“What?!” The redhead piped up innocently.
“You’ve been spending time with Anya, haven’t you?”
Willow shook her head and set her lips in a straight line while the blood rushed to her cheeks.
“Actually, I can’t blame her this time. Haven’t seen her in weeks. I think Xander’s hiding her until she is properly socially groomed.”
The two girls laughed but, as Willow’s eyes remained fixed on Buffy, she was forced to mutter:
“He’s not *that* big. He-he’s… um… above average.”
Willow remained silent, simply arching a perfect eyebrow in an effort to make her friend elaborate on the subject.
“*Well* above average.” Buffy caved in and then instantly shook her head. “God! I can’t believe I’m having this conversation.”
Willow giggled at that as she watched a flushed Buffy pick up the cup of coffee and mumbling: “But he’s still thorn at my side.” before taking a sip.
“A *well* above average thorn.”
“Willow!” Buffy cried out.
~+~
She prayed a silent prayer as she turned the key in the lock and pushed the door open to find the apartment swallowed in flickering darkness, the only light coming from the partially closed blinds and the small TV set.
She felt hope rise in her chest. It wasn’t the first time Harmony left the house with the TV on. Slowly, she made her way to the living room and found the couch empty.
Buffy let out a sigh of relief.
‘Thank God! They’re out.’
She just didn’t want to deal with facing the blonde duo.
After a quick lunch with Willow, she had spent the rest of the day in the library, just to avoid coming home and finding… him.
Letting her backpack drop along her arm from her shoulder to her hand, she reached for the remote and turned off the TV. The horizontal threads of light coming from the blinds of the two large windows were the only lighting in the room.
“Hey, I was watching that!”
“Ah!” Buffy yelped, jumping up, her heart racing as she turned around to see Spike coming from the corridor, holding a pillow against his chest.
She was frozen in place, her eyes were wide, following him as he walked past her, snatching the remote from her hand and literally dropping his weight on the couch. It screeched under the sudden burden, but he ignored it turning the TV back on and staring at it intently.
Buffy remained still for a few more seconds, waiting for her heart to slow down and for her mind to absorb what was happening.
“W-what are you doing here?” Buffy mentally slapped her forehead at the stupidity of the question. Of course he was there, lately he was always there. “I mean, where’s Harmony?”
“Went out to get us something to scoff.” He replied, his eyes never leaving the TV set.
She frowned, but seeing as he wasn’t looking at her she spoke:
“And the translation to English would be?”
“Eat, luv.” He replied.
“Don’t you have a home? Don’t they miss you there?” she questioned annoyed.
This time he looked up at her; he narrowed his eyes, his tongue coming out to moisten his lips as he ignored her reply and asked: “Wanna join in?”
“Ugh!” Buffy replied, her eyes closing; her nose instantly wrinkling up in disgust. “You’re revolting.”
“Maybe it’s just your mind that’s not all wholesome and clean. Ever think of that?” He rebutted raising his scarred eyebrow at her.
“My mind is perfectly clean. I don’t know if I could say the same for yours, though. God knows what’s going on in there.” She continued with her sickened expression.
“Bet you’d like to know, wouldn’t you?” He said lasciviously.
“No, thank you. I like sleeping at night. Not a fan of nightmares.” She retorted, forcing a closed smile onto her lips before she turned on her heels and started to leave but stopped in her tracks when she heard him:
“How’s Mr. Sensitivity?”
With a frown, she turned around. He was still sprawled on the couch, bathed in the flickering light coming from the TV but his eyes were now focused on her.
“Who?”
“Lover boy.” He explained.
It took her a few seconds to comprehend what he meant.
“Parker?”
“Yeah, him.” He sneered.
“Not that that’s any of your business, but I wasn’t with him today.” She replied.
His eyes widened in ridicule.
“Could’ve sworn you would’ve gone running back to good, old college boy after this morning.” He narrowed his eyes: “Get that nice ‘I’m-in-control’ feeling back.”
“What are you talking about?” She asked, finally walking back into the living room to stand next to the TV set.
“You know what I’m talking about, Summers.”
Buffy froze when she felt her stomach turn.
‘Oh my God! Not the stomach-flopping again! Why does it keep doing that every time he says my name? Stupid stomach!’ She pouted inwardly before her attentions returned to the man practically lying on the couch.
“No, actually I don’t. But then again, that wouldn’t be a surprise, seeing as you rarely make any sense.” She retorted, raising both her eyebrows, setting her lips in a straight line and crossing her arms over her chest.
His response was a smirk as he slowly sat up straight.
“What happened to you, Summers?” He asked. Strangely enough, he seemed genuinely interested in the answer to the question.
“What happened to me? Hmm… That’s kinda vague. Gonna have to elaborate on that one.” She said sarcastically.
“To make you so afraid.” He explained, looking up at her with narrowed eyes, as if he was trying to read her.
She didn’t like it. She didn’t like it one bit.
“Afraid?” She forced out the word hidden in a chuckle. “I’m not afraid. Why would I be afraid?”
“Right, that’s why you’re going out with pseudo Mr. Nice-guy.” He contoured.
“I happen to like run of the mill, *non-psychotic*, nice guys.” She replied.
“You like them because they’re safe.”
She was about to reply when he rose to his feet and walked around the table to stand before her. Looking down, he tilted his head, as if he had read something in the way she held herself, the way her arms tightened over her chest, maybe the hesitant expression in her eyes. She didn’t know but her entire body seemed to freeze up when he uttered:
“Because you’ve been burnt.”