Chapter 14
Author’s Note: The song in this chapter is Elisa’s Dancing and I’d really recommend you to download it and listen to it while you’re reading this chapter, especially the part where it’s mentioned. 😉 Plus it’s a cool song!
Buffy repressed a groan when she eyed the alarm clock and it read: ‘Four a.m. It’s 4 am and I’m still up.’ She thought. For the third time that night, she carefully rolled over to the edge of the bed to check on her uninvited guest. ‘Sound asleep. Bastard!’ She cursed in her mind. She cleared her voice loudly and glanced at the pale boy. He never moved.
Spike kept his eyes closed, in the vague chance that sleep might come to him, but it didn’t. He was still wide awake, his mind plagued with indecent thoughts of the obnoxious blonde sleeping just a few feet from him. ‘Get yourself together, man. What the hell are you thinking? Sure, the chit’s not bad, but not worth losing a night’s sleep over.’ He mentally scolded himself as he felt his body start to react at the mere recollection of what had happened earlier that night. Sighing, he turned on his side, making sure to rest his back against the freezing wall. Maybe that would cool him off.
“Bloody hell!” He jumped up into sitting position as he felt something metallic sting his lower back.
Looking at the floor, he found a remote and picked it up. He didn’t have much time to inspect it as the lights were flipped on and an apparently sleepy Buffy moaned: “What was that?” She forced her voice to sound drowsy and hoarse.
Spike blinked a couple of times as his eyes adjusted to the strong light that now filled the room. Before he could answer, Buffy snatched the remote from his hands and piped up, suddenly wide awake:
“That’s where it was.” She said as she placed the remote on her nightstand. “I was looking for that.”
Gradually, the sound of a piano filled the room. The two blondes turned to see the stereo – it was lit up.
“Must have turned it on.” Spike explained as slowly a soft female voice flowed in key with the instrument:
Time is gonna take my mind
and carry it far away where I can fly
The depth of life
will dim
my temptation to live for you.
The two blondes stared at each other for a glimpse of a second and then Buffy jumped and reach for the remote.
“No!” Spike called out.
She stopped and turned to face him. She found him with a serious look on his face.
If I were to be alone
silence would rock my tears
’cause it’s all about love
and I know better
How life is a waving feather
“I wanna hear it.” He said.
Buffy cocked up a perfectly shaped eyebrow.
“You? Wanna hear this?” She asked suspicious, pointing at the stereo with the remote in hands.
“Why not?” He questioned innocently.
“Mr.-Bad-Ass-Billy-Idol-wannabe wants to hear a sappy song?” She chuckled.
“I can do sappy. There are many layers to me, luv.” He explained.
“Oh! Tons, heaps of layers!” She said sarcastically shaking her head.
“And what’s that supposed to mean?”
“Come on, Spike. You’re a guy! You only have layers when you wanna convince girls that you’re sensitive.” She mocked while the song grew in intensity in the background.
So I put my arms around you
Around you
And I know that I’ll be leaving soon
Spike furrowed his eyebrows in a clear sign of hurt.
“I’m just being honest.” She said with a smile.
“Ok, so maybe you are right.” He finally admitted with a grin of his own.
My eyes are on you, they’re on you
And you see that I can’t stop shaking
The two blondes froze, staring intensely at each other, as they realised that they were having a civil conversation without the usual banter or sparing. The music continued to play in the background and a chill ran down Buffy’s spine. She shook her head as the moment became too much and looked down at the sheets avoiding his piercing gaze. She regretted it the moment she did it as the lyrics wheeling around them described her actions.
No, I won’t step back but I’ll look down to hide from your eyes
’cause what I feel is so sweet and I’m scared that even my own breath
Oh could burst it if it were a bubble
And I’d better dream if I have to struggle
Awkwardly, Buffy sat up straight and started playing with the remote in her hands while the frail voice coming from the stereo soared haunting heights.
So I put my arms around you around you
And I hope that I will do no wrong
My eyes are on you they’re on you
And I hope that you won’t hurt me
“So…” She started never daring to glance up at him. She froze when she realised he was standing up and coming to sit on the bed next to her. She remained still, holding her breath has he reached for a loose strand of her hair and slowly pushed it behind her ear.
I’m dancing in the room as if I was in the woods with you
No need for anything but music
Music’s the reason why I know time still exists
Time still exists
Time still exists
Time still exists
As he leaned in something inside of her snapped. She jumped up and was standing by the bed in a flash, her voice over enthusiastic and high-pitched: “Ok! I think we’ve practiced that enough for tonight!”
The Brit teen stared at her under a furrowed brow until he understood what she meant.
“Well, we-we better get some sleep, tomorrow being a school day and all. And-“ She spoke quickly and awkwardly as she searched for the remote, which had somehow slipped from her hands and was lost between her sheets. “Ha! Found it!” She said triumphantly, standing up straight and holding her prize.
So I just put my arms around you around you
And I hope that I will do no wrong
My eyes are on you they’re on you
And I hope that you won’t hurt me-
Silence once again filled the room as she pushed the off button. Buffy set the remote on the nightstand and stood beside the bed looking at him with a plastic smile on her face. Clearly embarrassed, Spike stood up to take his place on the floor once again.
“Well… Goodnight.” She piped up as she snuck under the covers, but she had no answer.
She felt something tug at her racing heart, but ignored it, closing her eyes and forcing herself to fall asleep.
The hours passed and soon it was seven am and the alarm clock rang. Buffy’s hands reached up and pressed the off button. She yawned audibly, pretending to have slept the entire night, as she moved to the edge of the bed. There he was, laying on the floor, curled up into a little ball pulling at the blanket to cover himself as much as he could.
“Spike…” She called softly, but had no answer. “Spike…” She whispered once again, this time reaching for him and lightly pushing him.
“Hum…” She heard him mumble as he turned his back to her.
“Spike… Wake up… My mom’s gonna be here any minute.” She said climbing off the bed and sitting on the floor next to him.
Her hands rested on his arm, pulling at him to turn him around as she spoke. Eventually, he did but he was still fast asleep. She watched as he nestled his face against her thighs. He looked so peaceful, so… non obnoxious.
Instinctively, she ran her fingers over his sharp cheekbones leaving her thumb behind to caress the amazingly soft skin there. She caught her breath as he nuzzled against it, his lips curling slightly up for a lazy smile. She heard him mumble something in his daze and she leaned in to hear him whisper in a drooling tone: “Dru…”
Her eyes grew wide as she felt her stomach twist in disgust. In a flash, she was up and shaking him gruffly: “Wake up!”
“Hum… What?” The Brit blinked wildly as he tried to ascertain where he was. A deep furrow marred his eyebrows as his sight focused on the petite blonde violently walking around in circles. “Oh, God… It wasn’t a nightmare.” He grumbled with a hoarse voice.
“Get up, get under the bed and don’t get out of there until I tell you!” She said simply before she opened the door and walked out of the room, leaving a dumbstruck, sleepy teen behind.
~+~
The moment the front door closed and she was sure her mother was out of the household, Buffy raced up the stairs. She stopped abruptly when she reached her bedroom. Taking in two deep, long breaths, she turned the doorknob and entered the room.
“Spike?” She asked when the bleached teen was nowhere in sight. “Spike?”
She walked in and headed for the bed, bending down to check under it. Nothing.
“Spik-“
“Bah!” Two jabbing hands were on her waist as a loud voice filled the room.
“AHH!” She screamed off the top of her lungs, twisting around suddenly, her right knee hitting its target right on the spot.
It was Spike’s turn to howl – in throbbing pain. Buffy’s fingers automatically went for her mouth, her eyes widening as she watched the bleached teen laying on the floor wailing while his hands were buried between his legs.
“I-I’m sorry.” She stuttered, frozen in place, her eyebrows wrinkled in a painful frown.
“Bloody hell, woman!” He yelled, still lying on the floor, his face the picture of agony.
“I-I..” She stammered as she kneeled next to him.
Immediately, he jumped back, fear coming over him.
“Just stay away from them!” He ordered between howls.
“Well… “ She said outraged as she stood up. “You-you shouldn’t have grabbed me like that.”
“It was a joke.” He protested as he tried to get up to his feet but failed. “I think I’ll just stay down here for… a while.” He said as he sat back down, leaning on her table.
“Suit yourself. I’m going to take a shower.” She replied as she stalked out of the room.
~+~
Spike waited patiently on the floor, still nursing his sore parts when he heard the door squeak. He turned to see Buffy’s drenched head pop in.
“Turn around.” She ordered.
“What?! I can barely move here, luv, and you want me to turn around?” He asked, cocking up an eyebrow.
“Well then… Close your eyes.” She insisted.
“It’s not like I haven’t seen a girl wrapped up in a towel before, you know?” He said sarcastically, annoying smirk on.
“Do you wanna get kicked again?” She questioned innocently as she put on her sweetest, fake smile.
A hint of fear flashed in the teen’s eyes before he closed them. He heard sloppy footsteps entering the room and a faint scent of vanilla hit him. Instinctively, he inhaled a little deeper and the aroma surrounded him. He was about to attempt to open his eyes when he heard: “You open your eyes and I swear you will leave this room with a vocal tone higher then ten Michael Jackson’s put together.” She threatened.
Swallowing hard, he kept his eyelids closed shut, patiently waiting for her signal. He listened carefully to the shuffling; the sound of the wardrobe door opening and closing a few times and then there was silence.
“Buffy?” He asked as a frown settled on his eyebrows.
“Keep your eyes closed.” She commanded..
“They’re closed!” He replied shrugging.
He heard more shuffling and then felt heavy covers being dropped on him.
“Hey!” He protested.
“Don’t peep!”
The minutes crawled by and nothing.
“Are you ready?” He finally asked.
“No.”
“You haven’t even picked out your clothes, have you?” He questioned, a hint of exasperation in his voice. There was a pause. “Buffy?”
“No, I haven’t.” She finally said in one breath and the teen under the covers groaned.
“Will you hurry up, woman?”
“Stop calling me that!” She snapped.
“What? Woman?”
“Yes! I have a name, it’s Buffy!”
“Whatever, pet.”
“Grrrr…” He heard her growl.
Another ten minutes passed and Spike restarted the conversation.
“So… What was that whole thing with your mom?”
Silence.
“Buffy?”
“I don’t wanna talk about it.” She growled.
“Her first date after your da?” Having no answer he continued. “It’s ok to feel kinda weird about it.”
A furious stomp broke the silence.
“It was kinda strange for me too when my da first started going out.”
The stillness returned and Spike was about to continue when Buffy mumbled: “You’re parents are divorced?”
“My mom died when I was a kid.”
“Oh…”
An uncomfortable silence returned but was soon broken by the Brit still hidden under the covers.
“It’s normal, you know? For your mom to want to go on with her life.”
“I know.” Buffy admitted reluctantly.
“You’ll get used to the idea. Who knows, you might even like the guy.”
“Never!” Was the petite blonde’s immediate response.
Spike couldn’t help but chuckle.
“It’s not funny!” She protested with a pout.
“You’ll-“ cough “You’ll-“ cough “Can I come out from under this thing? Breathing is becoming a problem.”
His answer came when the covers were swiftly lifted off him. He blinked as his eyes adjusted to the light, after a few seconds his sight focused on the short blonde girl standing in front of him. She wore low cut jeans and a light-blue turtleneck sweater.
“All that time for that?” He frowned as he got up.
“What’s wrong with this?” She protested as she opened the wardrobe door and looked at herself in the mirror.
“Nothing. It’s fine!” He immediately jumped in between her and the mirror. “Let’s go!” He continued as he dragged her out of the room by her arm.
The first thing the bleached Brit did when he stepped out of the house was light up a cigarette, which immediately earned him a look from the short blonde who walked next to him.
“Don’t look at me like that.” He warned her as the smoke flowed out of his mouth.
“That’s disgusting.” She retorted, making a face. “I’m not kissing you today.”
“A-ha! I knew you’d chicken out! Gotta say- good excuse, luv.”
“It’s not an excuse, I just don’t want to have a bad taste in my mouth.” She explained as she looked down at her feet.
“How do you know it tastes bad?” He asked her with a smirk, his eyes on her.
“It smells bad, it tastes bad. That’s my motto.” She replied pushing her lips together. The weight of his stare starting to get to her.
“You’ll never know till you actually taste it.” He said as he suggestively ran his tongue over his lips.
“I already did, remember!” Her face contorted for a disgusted look.
“Tell you what, I’ll buy a pack of breath mints before lunch. Happy?” He suggested as they continued to walk down the street.
“How about we just postpone the kissing scene for tomorrow and you don’t smoke till then?” She looked up at him with hope in her eyes.
“Nice try, pet. It’s today or never.”
“Hum… Never?” She quickly opted giving him a plastic.
“Come on, luv. We’ve talk about-“ “Ok, ok. No need to bring on the whining skills, I know you’ve got them..” She grumbled.
“That’s my girl.”
“I’m not your girl, William.”
“Don’t call me William.” Seriousness dawned in his voice.
“Don’t call me pet or luv or woman.”
“Deal.” He agreed.
They continued to walk in silence for a couple more minutes till Buffy sighed and grumbled: “Why didn’t you bring your bike?”
“It’s in the shop.” He answered.
“I hate walking.” She continued to protest as the high school finally came into view.
“Gotta say I agree with you on that one, pet.”
“Thanks… William.” She said with a fake smile as he looked at her from under a frown.
They walked up the steps to the main door of the teen-filled building and entered the halls. They reached class 209 and the two teens stopped.
“This is me.” She said as she played with the cover of her history book.
Spike awkwardly nodded as he shoved his hands into the back pockets of his jeans. Buffy’s gaze bounced off the walls and scanned the entire hall as she tried to avoid the bleached teen standing in front of her. She froze as she saw Angel and Dru walking towards them, the quarterback’s heavy arms draped over the black clad teen. Spike followed her eyes and swallowed hard as the couple quickly approached them.
“Well… bye.” She uttered quickly as she turned around to enter the classroom, when she felt herself being pulled backwards by her left arm.
Before she could register Spike’s arms around her or her chest pushed against his, his lips came down to crush hers in a demanding kiss. She froze, feeling his hands slip under her sweater to caress her lower back for a split second before he pulled away from her.
“Didn’t taste that bad, did it, luv?” He whispered in her ear before he walked away.
Buffy was left behind, completely dumbstruck, staring at the parting teen as he strolled pass Angel and Dru.
“Dru. Angel.” She heard him greet them before Mrs. Finch’s high-pitched voice pierced its way through the haze that engulfed her.
“Miss Summers are you planning on joining us anytime soon?”
~+~
Buffy yawned loudly as she walked out of the classroom after Oz and Willow.
“Buffy, I knew you didn’t like Spanish, but I had no idea the subject bored you so much.” The redhead noted as they walked down the hall.
“I just didn’t get much sleep last night. That’s all.” Buffy explained in a low voice.
“Bummed over your mom going out on a date, huh?” Willow gave her best friend a sympathetic look.
“I’m adjusting.” Buffy mumbled.
“Hey guys!” They heard Xander’s booming voice as he approached.
“Xander, you don’t have to shout.” Cordelia grumbled as they all walked towards the cafeteria, suddenly, Buffy stopped.
“What’s up, Buffster?” Xander asked.
“I-I don’t think I’m hungry.” She stuttered awkwardly.
“Are you going on one of those stupid ‘eat nothing and get anaemia’ kind of diets?” The boy questioned.
“No, you guys just go along and I-I’ll join you later.”
“Buffy, you really should-“
Before Willow could say anything else, Buffy had whirled around and was steadily walking down the hall. Willow and Xander exchanged a concerned look.
“What’s up with the Buffster?”
“It’s her mom.” Willow began as they entered the cafeteria. “She- Spike!” The redhead jumped up as the bleached teen appeared in front of her out of nowhere.
“Hey, red. Where’s Buffy?”
“She wasn’t feeling well. She doesn’t want to have…” She wasn’t able to finish her sentence as the Brit turned around and left. Willow instantly pouted. “Why’s everyone running from me?”
“I won’t.” Oz piped up, worming his arm around his girlfriend.
~+~
Buffy walked idly down the hall as she made her way to the football field when someone grabbed her by her arm and dragged her into an empty classroom.
“Spike.” She jumped when she saw him and asked nervously: “What are you doing here?”
“You’re not getting off the hook that easy..” He said tilting his head as he leaned on the door, blocking her way out.
“Wh-What are you talking about?” she stuttered.
“Buffy…”
“Well… We already kissed, so… no need to do it in front of the whole student body anymore.” She blurted out.
He remained silent giving her a disapproving look, watching as she tried to excuse herself: “I-I mean, we’ve achieved our goal, right? We kissed, people know we kiss. We are officially perceived as a kissing couple. Goal achieved. No more kissing required. End of kissing talk.” She ended her rambling taking a deep breath and waited for his reaction.
Without a word, he walked over to her and she instinctively stepped back until the back of her legs hit the edge of a desk and he was able to close the distance between them. He towered over her as he questioned in a low voice, a smirk on his lips: “Why does the thought of kissing me make you so nervous?”
She froze for a split second, before jumping up and awkwardly slipping away from him to quickly put the table between them.
“Nervous? I’m not nervous.” She tried to sound as sure of herself as possible, but failed as her voice came out in a squeak.
“Just admit it.” He said plainly, leaning over on the desk.
Buffy immediately stepped back.
“Admit what?”
“That you’ve got the hots for me, pet. It’s only natural.”
“Ha! You’re funny!” She chuckled, but the uneasiness was still clear in her voice.
Spike remained in place, just smirking at her.
“Stop that!” She protested.
“Stop what?”
“That grinning thing. It’s disconcerting.”
“Oh! A big word!” He mocked widening his eyes while she narrowed hers.
She stood up straight, crossing her arms around over her chest.
“What do you want?” She grumbled.
“Why are you afraid to kiss me?” He finally asked seriously.
“I’m not afraid, just disgusted.” She retorted.
“Come on, Buffy…” He sighed audibly plopping onto a nearby desk.
“Oh, fine, let’s do it.” She said crossing the room and sitting on the table opposite to him, her eyes closed as she pushed her lips together.
She waited and nothing. Finally, she opened her left eye to find Spike shaking his head at her.
“What?” She asked bringing her shoulders together.
“You…” He started pointing at her, before turning his finger on himself. “Kiss me.”