Chapter 22
Mrs. Summers never knew what hit her. Suddenly, out of the blue, her daughter materialised before her.
“Buffy!” She exclaimed surprised.
“Hey, mom!” The blonde teen replied over enthusiastically while at the same time awkwardly trying to close the door behind her. “You’re home early!” She continued, with a plastic smile on her face.
“Early? It’s 12 o’clock.” Mrs. Summers frowned.
“Oh… Yeah, b-but you said you weren’t coming home for lunch.” Buffy stuttered, anxiously digging her nails into the palm of her left hand.
“I missed you.” Mrs. Summers gave her daughter a sweet smile before asking: “Why are you still in your nightgown?”
“Hum…” Buffy looked down at herself. “I stayed up late watching movies.” She lied.
“Oh, is Spike here?”
Buffy froze at the question. To lie or not to lie… Hum… Let’s play it safe:
“Why do you think that?”
“I saw his car parked out front.” The older woman answered tilting her head towards the lower level of the house.
“Oh…” Buffy nodded slightly, but then frowned: “How’d you know that was Spike’s a car?”
It was Mrs. Summers’ turn to blush and stammer nervously:
“I-I… I just assumed. A car parked in our driveway and you and Spike being so close lately.” She tilted her head slightly and held her breath waiting for her daughter’s reaction.
“Oh… Well… yes its Spike’s car.” Buffy answered vaguely.
“So he’s here? In there?” Mrs. Summers waved a finger toward the bedroom door.
“Yes… He’s… hum… He was… hum…” Her daughter struggled for an explanation and suddenly blurted out: “He was upset and needed to talk… you know. Teen stuff! Emotional problems, identity crises and all that… teen stuff!”
“Is he having problems at school? With the rest of the students?” Mrs. Summers questioned worriedly.
“Yes!” Buffy lifted her hand towards her mother. “That’s exactly it! He’s been having problems with the guys.” She blabbed in relief.
“Is it because of Angel?”
Buffy froze up again.
“Angel?!” She repeated wide-eyed.
“You know… Angel and he…” Mrs. Summers awkwardly tried to hint.
“Hum…” Buffy’s mind raced. ‘What the hell is she talking about? Does she know about Dru? How?’ “Yes…” She finally opted.
“Oh, Buffy I’m so sorry. Poor thing, he must feel awful.”
“Well… yes.” Buffy was still kind of edgy with the direction the conversation was taking. Since when did her mother know about the whole Dru and Angel story?
“I mean, being hurt by the person you love.” Mrs. Summers continued to sympathise and Buffy continued to nod under a furrowed brow. “You know honey… Boys at your age feel very threatened by people like Spike… they don’t understand it yet, and that might make them act… wrongly towards Spike.”
Now Buffy was lost. What the *hell* was her mother talking about? To play it safe she simply proceeded with looking intently at her mother, silently listening to every word.
“Angel will eventually learn how to deal with Spike… a-and Spike will find someone else… Someone worthy of his affection.”
‘Oh. My. God! My mom thinks Spike is in love with ANGEL? Oh, my God, oh, my God! Breathe, Buffy! Breathe!’ She commanded herself.
“But it’s good that he has someone like you to talk to.” Mrs. Summers reached out to caress her daughter’s suddenly pale cheek. “Well, I’ll be downstairs if you need me.”
Buffy watched unmoving as her mother walked down the stairs. She snapped out of her daze a few moments later and turned around to enter her bedroom.
“So? Are we dead yet?” Spike anxiously asked. He was now fully dressed, except for his duster and shirt which were still bundled up on the floor.
“Not yet.” Buffy answered calmly, with a strange sparkle in her eyes.
“What happened?” Spike insisted as he watched the blonde girl slowly walk over to her bed and sit on it.
“My mom…” She started with a mischievous smile on her lips.
“Yes…”
“She thinks… hum… how do I put this in a way that will not bruise your fragile male ego?”
“Summers!” Spike angrily exclaimed as the waiting began to dig into him.
“She thinks you’re in love with Angel and that Angel hates you!” She blurted out with a peppy tone as she cocked her head sideways. She had to swallow back the chuckles as she saw the bleached teen turn various shades of purple before crying out:
“What?!”
“She thinks you’re suffering from the gay blues because of your unrequited *love* for Angel.” She let the L sound roll off her tongue in a childish tease.
“What?!” He repeated, still frozen in place, eyes wide and mouth gapping open.
“Hum… Honey? We just covered the ‘what’ part, remember?” She mocked with fake concern.
“You’re mom thinks I’m in love with that wanker?” He finally snapped out of his lethargic state of mind.
“Yep!” She smacked her lips together for the P sound as she lay back on the bed, resting on her forearms.
“With that wanker?”
She nodded.
“Personally I thought you would be more concerned with the fact that my mom actually thinks you’re gay, and not with the particular detail that you want Angel to be your hot, sex slave.” She continued to joke, but regretted it when she saw the fierce look in his eyes.
She yelped when suddenly he was on her. His hands rested on her shoulders, pushing them gruffly against the mattress, his chest crushing hers making it almost impossible to breathe.
“I thought I made it clear who I wanted to be my hot, sex slave last night.” He snarled, running his tongue over his teeth.
Buffy caught her breath as his knee brusquely pushed between hers, forcing her to spread her legs. His hand never gave her the opportunity to make a move as it snaked under her nightgown, hitching it up to quickly find her core; expert fingers parted her lips, roughly caressing the tender nub they found.
Buffy’s eyes widened her mouth opening to let out a ragged moan.
“Maybe mommy dearest would change her mind if she heard you scream out my name right now.” He purred in her ear as his hand continued to work on her.
Buffy moved her lips trying to speak, somehow the sound refused to come out. Eventually she managed to whimper:
“Spike… don’t… Ah!” She arched off the mattress as he drove one long finger into her.
“Don’t what, pet?” He asked with a lascivious tone.
Buffy struggled with the words as she felt him move inside of her, exploring and rubbing just the right spot.
“Don’t what?” He repeated this time with a less cocky voice as his own desire grew at the mere sight of her contorting under his touch.
“My mother… please… Spike… Ah!” Her trembling hand travelled down her body to reach his, still buried between her legs.
She pathetically pulled at it, not really wanting the feeling to stop.
“Please stop… please…”
She gasped when he actually pulled out of her and sat up on the mattress. Shaking her head slightly, she droopily propped herself up on her forearms. She expected him to have that annoying smirk on his face but instead, she found him looking at her under hooded eyelids.
“Better stop now. Don’t think I could if we took it any further.” He said with a faltering voice as he stood up.
Buffy sat up straight on the bed, tugging her nightgown down to cover her legs as she pulled them against her chest. They stayed in silence for a while, until Spike broke it.
“So…” He started awkwardly. “What are we going to do on Monday?”
Oh, God! The talk. They were having the morning after talk. She wasn’t ready for the talk, not now that her hormones were still raging inside of her.
“I-I don’t know… what do you want to do?” She threw the ball into his side of the court, forcing him to make a decision.
“I don’t know, either.” Spike shrugged sitting down at the chair next to her desk.
Silence filled the room again. Bad, extremely uncomfortable silence. Suddenly, Buffy stood up and started pacing around the room in front of him.
“Do you wanna…” She began. God, this was hard! Why was this hard? “… I don’t know? Do you wanna…” She exhaled sharply, letting her arms fall to her sides. “What do you wanna do?”
“I don’t know.” He shrugged again.
“You don’t know. So whatever I choose is fine by you?” A hint of anger started to creep in her voice.
“No… it’s just… It’s not like I planned this!” He sighed waving his hand at the bed.
“Fine! You know what? We’ll just go back to whatever we were doing before.” She hissed as she continued to walk around in circles. “We’ll pretend like none of this happened and-“
She stopped in mid sentence as she turned around to find him towering in front of her.
“No.” He said in a low, angry voice.
She looked up at him, swallowing as she waited for him to say something. She watched as he closed his eyes for a second, trying to gather himself, when he opened them again shaky fingers came to brush over her cheek.
“I don’t want to pretend it never happened.” He whispered.
Suddenly, a light knock on the door was heard. The two teens immediately jumped away from each other just as Mrs. Summers’ head popped in.
“Hey! Hi Spike.” She greeted.
“Hey Mrs. Summers.” He responded with little enthusiasm.
“I ordered pizza.” Turning to Spike she added: “You’re having lunch with us, right?” She asked.
“Hum…” He looked at Buffy, trying to read her expression. He was about to answer when she stepped in:
“Yes, mom.”
“Ok, pizza should be here any minute.”
“We’ll be down in a second.”
Mrs. Summers gave them a quick smile before closing the door.
Spike turned to look at Buffy as she nervously twirled her hair.
“Well… I better get dressed and… hum… take a shower.”
“Yeah… right.” He nodded awkwardly as he watched her move towards her wardrobe and take out a grey robe before closing it.
Her feet found their way into the fluffy bunny-shaped slippers she had been wearing the night before and she slowly walked towards the door.
“You can go downstairs to watch TV. I know how you love our cable.” She gave him a soft smile and left the room.
~+~
She rushed down the stairs, her wet hair framing her flushed face as she entered the kitchen.
“Hey!” She greeted a bit nervous.
Spike looked up from his cup of hot chocolate to stare at her. She was wearing old, worn out jeans and a red turtleneck sweater. His eyes widened as his stomach turned, it felt like he had a thousand butterflies flying around in it. Glancing at Mrs. Summers he quickly looked back down into the mug he held between his hands.
Buffy sat down on the stool next to Spike and nervously tapped her fingers on the counter.
“So… Did you have fun last night, Buffy?” Her mother asked when she finished putting away the groceries she’d bought on her way home.
Buffy swallowed hard and glanced at Spike for a second but he was still immersed in staring into his cup of chocolate.
“Yeah, it was fun.” She answered anxiously.
“Good.”
A ringing sound found its way into the kitchen.
“That would be the pizza. Be right back.”
And with that the older woman walked away leaving the two teens alone.
“Did you throw away the… thingy?” Buffy immediately asked.
“What thingy?” The Brit asked with a frown.
“My mom cleaned up my room and made my bed. Please tell me you threw out the…” She leaned in and whispered. “… the condom.”
A smirk settle over Spike’s lips as he answered:
“Don’t worry, luv. I was the one who made your bed. You’re mom stayed down here the whole time. Left my duster and shirt in a plastic bag under your bed. You gotta give me a backpack later to take them home without your mom noticing. And yes, I did take care of the…” He came closer to her, mimicking her actions in a jokingly manner: “…condom.”
“You made my bed?” Buffy asked surprised, ignoring his mocking.
“Sure.”
“You made my bed?” She repeated still not convinced.
“Yeah, what of it?”
“Nothing… It’s just so s…”
“Pizza’s here!” Mrs. Summers walked into the kitchen carrying two family-sized pizza boxes.
“Mom, why did you order so much. We’re never going to be able to eat that.” Buffy protested, self-consciously rubbing her stomach; it was still a little queasy as a result of her alcohol binge.
“Nonsense, of course we are. Now eat up.”
~+~
RING!RING!RING!
One heavy arm was flung out from under the covers to hit the irritating alarm clock into silence.
Buffy groaned as she sat up on the bed. She really hated Mondays. Especially the Mondays she had to go to school and face… Spike! Her heart raced at the thought of finding him in the halls. What was she supposed to do? Kiss him hello? Not kiss him? Ignore him? What? And if they did kiss, were they kissing because of the deal they had between them or was it something else?
“God, this is extremely frustrating!” She growled as she walked into the bathroom.
~+~
‘Hum… History class. Good old, boring as hell but safely Spikeless history class.’ She thought to herself as she tapped her pencil on her desk.
She had successfully avoided the dreaded encounter between them. It wasn’t as if she was hiding from him or anything. She was just intent on walking very quickly through the halls without looking up… ever again. She just wanted to get to class in time. ‘Right, keep telling yourself that…’
She felt her heart slam against her chest when the bell rang.
‘Oh, my God! I’ve got English next! Damn it!’ She grumbled mentally as she stood up and started shoving her books into her backpack.
“You ready?” Willow asked, coming to lean on the desk next to Buffy’s.
“Just a second.” She replied, throwing her pad into the large bag and flinging it over her shoulder.
The two teens walked out of the class together and down the hall. Buffy stopped dead in her tracks when she saw him. He was leaning against her locker, his eyes scanning the crowd, clearly looking for something or… someone. She didn’t know why, but the sight of him eagerly turning his head left and right, possibly looking for… her, made her throat close up, her heart rapidly race in her chest and in her stomach… ‘Oh my God! I’m having butterflies in my stomach over Spike? Since when? Oh right, since the scorching hot sex we had.’
She inhaled sharply and continued to walk towards her locker. ‘Time for the moment of truth!’ She thought as she reached him.
“Hey!” He jumped off the locker when he saw her.
“Hey, yourself.” She said with a smile trying to mask the panicky feeling that seemed to be eating her alive.
She watched out of the corner of her eyes and waited for him to move.
Spike took a step closer and she felt her heart jump to her throat. ‘Is he gonna kiss me hello?’ She thought hopeful.
But suddenly, he moved away and leaned back on the locker. He was about to say something when he felt a heavy hand come down on his back.
“Hey, bleach boy!” Xander’s enthusiastic tone carried through the entire hall.
“Hey, whelp.” Spike grumbled, his eyes never leaving the small girl that was now opening her locker.
“And how is our little Buffy? Hang over free?” Xander mocked.
“Don’t start, Xander.” Buffy answered with a little too much anger in her tone.
“Oh!” Xander put up his hands in a clear sign of surrender.
“She doesn’t want to talk about it.” Willow piped up.
“Thanks for the heads up, Will.” The brown haired boy replied sarcastically.
Buffy pushed her locker closed and leaned on it. She felt her stomach turn and the anger start to boil up inside of her. ‘He wants to ignore it? Fine. By. Me.’ She thought as she pressed her lips together.
“Hey, guys.” Oz showed up worming his arms around Willow’s waist before giving her cheek a light peck.
That only served to heighten Buffy’s growing rage.
“Hey, Oz. Buffy doesn’t want to talk about it.” Xander quickly warned him.
Oz simply gave him a nod and continued in silence.
“Where’s Cordelia?” Willow asked.
“Cheerleading practice. Big practice for big homecoming match.” Xander rubbed his hands together. “Are you guys going to the game? Please tell me you’re going to the game. I need company.” Xander practically begged.
“Xander, you know we hate going to the games.” Willow protested.
“Yeah, but it’s homecoming and… Cordy is gonna kill me if I’m not there to see her shake her moneymaker.” Xander explained with a pleading tone. “I thought this year you guys were gonna come, what with Buffy dating the star quarterback and all, but then there was the whole… hum…” Xander came to a conflicting stop, his mind racing to find a way to avoid the sensitive subject. One glance at the blonde duo gave him a clear message – nope, there was no way to avoid it, not now. He was dead meat, especially with the evil looks Buffy was currently throwing him. “You know what? Better not go to the game at all. Be my own man. Show Cordy who’s the boss in this relationship.” He suddenly changed the direction of the conversation, inflating his chest to hysterical proportions as he tugged at his jeans, pulling them upwards in a highly manly fashion. “Yep! I’m no woman’s man.” He frowned a little. “Ok, that sounded wrong. Worked much better for the bald Scottish chic.”
Willow’s brown furrowed.
“It’s from Sinead O’Connor’s song ‘No man’s woman’.” Oz explained before turning to Xander and adding: “And I think she’s Irish.”
“Oh! Good thing I have my musically-skilled boyfriend to help me out with the obscure song references.” Willow said giddily giving Oz a quick peck on the lips.
“She’s Irish?” Xander frowned. “Are you sure?”
“Pretty sure.” Oz replied monotonically.
As the debate went on, Spike desperately tried to catch Buffy’s attention, throwing various ‘what did I do wrong’ glances at her in a feeble attempt to find some eye-contact; Buffy simply crossed her arms over her chest and angrily stared at the floor. Everyone was oblivious to the tension building between the two of them as Spike nervously inched closer to her.
“Irish, huh?” Xander repeated. “I just saw the Behind the Music on Sinead O’Connor last night and she had like this weird accent. She’s gotta be Scottish.”
“The Irish have the weird accent too. Not the same, but still weird.” Oz replied.
“Are you-“
“Fascinating conversation guys, but I really have to go to class.” Buffy cut Xander off, letting her hands drop to her hips.
“The bell hasn’t even rung yet.” Willow noted.
“Buffy, you’re not becoming Miss ‘Responsible, have to be on time every time goody-two-shoes’, are you?” Xander asked cocking up an eyebrow.
“Yeah, that’s my role, remember? You’re the funny-hot-chic; *I’m* the funny-nerdy-chic.” Willow half whined.
Buffy was about to speak when she felt Spike’s hand worm its way around hers. She froze; her heart pounding erratically as he ran his thumb over her skin for a subtle caress.
“Hum… I…” She drew a blank, all of her nerve endings focussing on the circular motion of his finger.
Thankfully, the school bell rang and she was snapped out of it.
“We better go luv, don’t want to get on Mrs. Kennedy’s bad side.” Spike uttered tilting his head.
“What? Hum… Yeah… Right.” She mumbled confused.
“Bye, guys. See you later.” Spike called out as he walked down the hall dragging a stunned Buffy by the hand.