Chapter 36
“My heart is like a singing bird/Whose nest is in a watered shoot;/My heart is like an apple-tree/Whose boughs are bent with thickset fruit;/My heart is like a rainbow shell/That paddles in a halcyon sea;/My heart is gladder than all these/Because my love is come to me./Raise me a dais of silk and down;/Hang it with vair and purple dyes;/Carve it in doves and pomegranates,/And peacocks with a hundred eyes;/Work it in gold and silver grapes,/ In leaves and silver fleurs-de-lys;/Because the birthday of my life/Is come, my love is come to me.” ~Christina Rossetti, “A Birthday”
Oz was fairly certain that dating Willow had taken at least fifteen years off of his life. There had been the time that she’d nearly gotten burned to death, then the time she’d shown up as a vampire, and now this latest debacle with Faith and the Mayor.
And that was just this school year. There had been plenty of close calls last year too.
The only reason he’d allowed Willow to go home by herself last night was because it was too late to do anything else. Late enough that it didn’t even make much sense to go to bed, since they would both soon have to get up for school.
He had band practice the next night, and so it was late evening before Oz managed to meet Willow at the school library. They were all spending as much time researching the Mayor’s Ascension as they could, especially given the fact that it seemed inevitable at this point.
Oz couldn’t regret making the trade, though. Not when Willow sat next to him, throwing occasional glances in his direction. In response, Oz entwined his fingers with hers.
“Have you gotten your dress yet?” Buffy whispered, obviously trying to avoid bringing the wrath of Giles down on them.
Willow shook her head. “I haven’t even started looking. What about you?”
Buffy made a face. “I don’t know if I’m going.”
“What?” Willow’s exclamation had Giles glaring at them.
“If you two can’t research, then don’t distract the rest of us,” he snapped.
Willow and Buffy ducked their heads, starting their conversation up again as soon as it looked like Giles wasn’t paying attention to them. “What?” Willow repeated, quietly this time.
Buffy shrugged. “I haven’t talked to Spike about it, and I don’t know if he’d even want to go.”
“But it’s our last prom!” Willow protested in a whisper. “You have to go!”
“It’s not that big of a deal,” Buffy said, trying to sound like it really didn’t matter to her.
Willow put on her resolve face. “Yes, it is. You’re going. Oz will help.”
Oz had been a silent participant up to this point, and now he raised an eyebrow. “I will?”
“Won’t you?” Willow cajoled. “You can help Spike find a tux.”
He shrugged. “As long as Spike is okay with it.”
“He’ll be okay with it,” Willow stated. Oz didn’t bother asking how she was going to make sure of that. His girlfriend was wearing her resolve face, and that usually meant she got what she wanted.
It was probably a good thing he thought that a determined Willow was adorable.
~~~~~
“Willow.” Spike stepped back from the doorway. “To what do I owe this honor?”
The vampire was apparently in a very good mood. Willow had noticed that he was usually either all business or surly when he wasn’t happy. Spike only teased when he had cause to be cheerful. Willow was glad to see it, since that would make her job easier.
“I need to talk to you.”
“Figured that.” He started off towards the kitchen. “Tea?”
“Um, sure,” she replied, trailing along behind him. “Prom is coming up.”
Spike glanced over his shoulder at her. “Prom?”
Her eyes narrowed. “Don’t give me that innocent act. I know you’ve seen enough movies to know exactly what a prom is. You’re not that out of touch with pop culture.”
Spike’s lips twitched, and he started filling the kettle. “Fancy dresses, monkey-suits, bad music, concentration of hormones. Right?”
Willow didn’t argue. She merely added, “And a teenage rite of passage. Ours is coming up. You need to take Buffy.”
“I do, huh?”
“Don’t play dumb, Spike!” Willow scolded. “Every other dance has been completely ruined for her. Spring Fling was when the Master showed up, the ghosts and Angelus pretty much killed the Sadie Hawkins dance, Homecoming was SlayerFest…” She raised an eyebrow. “Are you getting the picture?”
Spike decided that Willow was not going to react well to teasing. She was too intent on her goal of getting him to agree to take Buffy to prom. Honestly, it wasn’t something that had even crossed his mind, simply because it wasn’t on his radar screen. Since Buffy hadn’t said anything to him about it, he hadn’t thought about it.
He sat down across from her at the table. “So what do you want me to do?”
“I want you to make sure Buffy has the best prom ever,” Willow replied. “And a tux is required. I already asked Oz, and he said he’d help you rent one.”
Spike laughed. He couldn’t help himself. “I know how to get my hands on a tux, pet. This won’t be the first occasion I’ve had to go to a black-tie affair. Right before I came to Sunnydale, I—” Spike broke off, realizing that the story was probably not one he ought to be telling to an impressionable young girl. “Point is, I can get a tux.”
Willow wasn’t sure she trusted him to get it right. “You should take Oz along just in case,” she suggested.
“If you like,” Spike said, not too bothered one way or the other. The werewolf was good company. “Anything else I ought to know about?”
“Tickets,” Willow said, suddenly remembering. “You’ll need to get tickets. Or Buffy could get them, but—”
“Let me guess,” Spike interrupted. “It’s traditional for the bloke to purchase them.”
Willow nodded. “Oh, and a corsage, you know. Maybe dinner before if you can manage it.”
“I can manage all manner of things, Red,” Spike replied. “How about I get you the money, and you can get the tickets for me?”
She smiled, relieved that she hadn’t even had to pull out her resolve face to convince him. “Okay,” she chirped. Willow paused. “Spike?”
“Yeah?” he said, pouring the tea for both of them.
She frowned. “How come you didn’t argue about this?”
Spike sighed. “Buffy—she’s never going to be your typical girl, yeah? And I figure she’ll miss out on enough of the things your typical girl gets to do, including having a normal boyfriend.” He smiled wistfully. “If I can give her a nice evening—why not? Besides, it’ll be nice to be the bloke with the most gorgeous girl on my arm. Haven’t had many chances for that.”
Willow gave him a sharp look. “What were you like when you were a human, Spike?”
“Wasn’t that special,” Spike replied, and the look in his eyes made it very clear that he wasn’t giving out any more information on that front. “Let’s just say that I never made it to any fancy parties with a girl on my arm.”
Willow felt a sudden kinship with Spike. She’d often gotten the impression that he was just like her and Xander and the rest under the surface. It made her like him even more. “I’ll get the tickets for you.”
“Thanks, Red,” Spike replied. “And thanks for letting me know about this. Wouldn’t have wanted Buffy to miss this because I was a git.”
Willow just raised an eyebrow. “I’m counting on you to make it a good night.”
“Oh, I’m planning on it,” Spike replied, his expression very much like that of a cat contemplating a saucer of cream. “It’ll be a night she won’t forget.”
~~~~~
Spike gave Oz a wry look as he exited his house. “So Willow got you roped into this, too?”
The boy shrugged. “It’s not that big of a deal, and it’ll make her happy.”
“That’s what it’s about,” Spike murmured. “Making them happy.”
Oz smiled. “It’s worth it.”
“It certainly will be,” Spike said. “Xander coming?”
Oz shook his head. “He’s got his own guy he’s getting a tux from. I think they’re related somehow.”
Spike raised his eyebrows. “Is that safe?”
The only visible sign of amusement was the twinkle in Oz’s eyes, and you had to look closely to catch that. “I don’t know, but knowing his date, he’d better come up to scratch.”
“Who’s he taking?” Spike asked, more out of idle curiosity than any real desire to know. “Not Cordelia.”
“She’s got her eye on Wesley.” Oz ignored Spike’s snort of amusement. “Xander’s taking Anya.”
Spike frowned, trying to remember if he’d ever met her. “Do I know her?”
“She’s new, so probably not.” His lips twitched. “She said she found Xander less repulsive than any of the other guys at school.”
Oz knew his audience; Spike nearly lost it. “She said that? And he’s going with her? Is the boy that desperate?”
He shrugged. “It was Anya or no one. She used to be a vengeance demon or something.”
Spike lifted an eyebrow. He’d met a few vengeance demons in his time. He’d even spent a couple of nights with one back in the ’30’s. They had both been in between assignments, and it had been nice to pass the time with a woman who knew who and what he was. Since she focused mainly on lovers who were cheated on—of either sex—they got on quite well.
“Huh. Lost her powers then? Tough luck.”
Oz didn’t argue. Although he didn’t think anyone was sorry that there was one less demon to worry about, Spike had a unique perspective that the rest of them lacked. For his part, Oz wouldn’t have minded shedding his darker half. The wolf was never something he was comfortable with.
Their conversation basically ended when they reached the formalwear store. Oz had ostensibly gone along to help Spike, but the vampire was obviously an old hand. They were in and out in a little over a half hour, and Oz couldn’t resist satisfying his own curiosity when they’d left. “I thought Willow said you needed help.”
Spike smirked. “Red thought I needed help.” He hesitated, deciding that what he probably shouldn’t tell Willow could be confided in Oz. “Last job I did before I came required showing up at a black-tie event. Never pays to buy your clothes for that kind of thing because there’s always a good chance it’ll get ruined.”
“Makes sense,” Oz commented.
Spike was warming up to his story now. “Anyway, I needed a date to look authentic so I hired a girl. Didn’t have much in the way of brains, you know, but she looked good.” He made a face. “I should have asked for a smart one.”
Oz raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything.
“So I left the girl by the bar with strict instructions to wait for me there,” Spike said. “Bought her a drink to keep her occupied and went off to find my target. I had to do a bit of maneuvering to get him alone, since he was a vamp and watching somebody dust tends to rile the crowds.”
“True.” Oz well remembered watching his first vampire dust, although he couldn’t say that he was “riled.” More like interested.
“Found him, staked him, and then this screaming started up.” Spike shook his head. “Stupid bint had followed me, and she brought the whole place down on us. Had to fight my way out of there, and I had to fight her too while I was at it since she thought I was some kind of freak. Finally had to knock her out just so I could think. Ended up completely ruining that tux.” He grimaced. “Didn’t even get paid for the job. Bloody bastards said the deal was for me to get out clean.”
Oz frowned. “What happened to your date?”
“Dumped her in a hotel room with the cash for the night.” Spike shrugged. “Figured she’d explain it all away. By all rights, I shouldn’t have had to pay the chit. She was the one who cost me my fee.”
Oz didn’t think it was so strange that Spike had paid the woman, even if he grumbled about it. He had a pretty good idea of Spike’s character at this point, and he got the sense that the vampire wouldn’t leave somebody behind, and he wouldn’t cheat them out of what they were due.
At the same time, Spike would probably have no difficulty cheating at cards. It was a conundrum.
“Have you talked to Buffy about going yet?” Oz asked.
Spike shook his head. “Figured we’d get around to discussing it tonight.” He checked his watch. “I’m supposed to be meeting her about now anyway.”
Oz could see that Spike was impatient to be off, since he was bouncing on his toes. “I’ve got to get to practice.”
“Willow going to be there?” Spike asked with a knowing grin.
Oz smiled. “Yeah. I’ve got my own groupie now.”
Their eyes met in shared understanding—two men who were hopelessly in love with their girls. In the end, nothing more needed to be said.
~~~~~
Buffy shifted uncomfortably. It wasn’t like Spike to keep her waiting on his porch. She was beginning to wonder if she shouldn’t just start patrol without him. It wasn’t as though he wouldn’t be able to track her tonight.
She shook her wrist, feeling the cool silver hit the back of her hand. Knowing what she did, Buffy wasn’t about to leave it at home again. Not unless she had to for some reason, or Spike was with her.
Sighing, Buffy gave up, turning to go.
“Buffy!” Spike came jogging up the walk. “Sorry I’m late, luv. Had to run an errand.”
She smiled, relieved. “No biggie.”
“I’d have called to let you know, but you’re not the one with a cell phone,” Spike teased.
Buffy rolled her eyes at him. “Talk to my mom. She’s the one in charge of that sort of thing.”
“Might be able to arrange something,” Spike said nonchalantly. “I could point out how useful it would be in emergencies.”
“If you can talk her into that, you will be a miracle worker,” Buffy replied, falling into step next to him. “So what was your errand?”
“Had to get a tux, didn’t I?”
“A tux? What—” Buffy stopped, staring at him. “Willow talked to you.”
“She said prom was coming up in a week or so.” Spike gave her a gently chiding look. “Why didn’t you tell me it was coming, luv?”
Buffy shrugged. “I didn’t think it was that big of a deal, and I know you—I didn’t know if you would want to go. It’s a kid thing, and—”
“It’s your thing, Summers,” Spike interrupted. “That’s good enough for me. Like I told Red, it’s not like I’ve never gone to a fancy party before. I think you can trust me.”
“That’s not an issue.” Buffy hesitated. “I just didn’t want to assume you’d go, and then with Faith and everything else…”
Spike shrugged. “It’ll keep for a night.” He tilted his head and tucked his tongue behind his teeth. “Could be for a whole night.”
Buffy raised her eyebrows. “So that’s what this is? You’re going to the prom with me just so you can get into my pants,” she said, feigning anger. “Just like a guy.”
“You know it,” he shot back. “Unless you have a problem with that.” Spike leered at her. “I’ve got all the time in the world.”
“How long would you wait?” Buffy was suddenly completely serious in one of her quick changes of mood.
Spike frowned slightly, giving the question the serious consideration he thought it was due. “Dunno,” he said honestly. “Longer than most maybe. I’d like to say I’d wait forever, but—well, I may not be human, but the same principle applies.”
“If it makes you feel any better, I don’t think I could wait forever either. I’ve never been patient-girl.” Buffy slipped her hand into his as they started walking again. “Do you ever think about what the Mayor said, Spike? About being immortal?”
He pulled her in closer, putting his arm around Buffy’s shoulders. Although Spike appeared to be intent on their conversation—and he was—he was too much of a hunter to completely pull his attention away from their surroundings, ready for any hint of danger.
At the moment, though, this thing between them was more important than demon hunting.
“There are times,” he admitted. “You?”
“Sometimes.” Buffy couldn’t believe she was actually talking about this, but then again she’d developed the habit of talking to Spike long before they’d started going out. Now that they’d seemed to get most of the wrinkles ironed out of their relationship (for the moment), it was easy to talk to him again. “I have a hard time thinking that I’m going to live long enough to make it a problem.”
Spike didn’t bother to hide his wince, although he didn’t tell her not to say things like that, or something similar to shut her down. “You might surprise yourself, pet.”
“Maybe,” Buffy admitted. “I guess it doesn’t seem like that big of a concern right now, you know? Most of the time, I can’t see past next week. Thinking about actually growing old makes my brain hurt.”
“Then I guess we just don’t think of it for now, yeah?”
“Sounds like a plan.” They walked along in silence for a while, enjoying the night and each other’s company. “Spike?”
“Yeah, Buffy?”
“Have you ever been in love?”
“Dunno. Thought so at the time, but looking back I’m not so sure. Not knowing what I do now.”
Buffy didn’t bother asking him what he knew now. She had the feeling that she knew exactly what he was talking about.
~~~~~
Giles opened the door with a warm smile for the woman on the other side. “Joyce.”
Their kiss was neither chaste nor brief. “Mmm.” She smiled contentedly. “Hello to you too.”
“Does Buffy know where you are tonight?” Giles asked, taking the paper bag full of groceries from her.
“Oh, I’m sure,” Joyce replied airily. “But since she’s with Spike, neither of us are inclined to ask too many questions.”
“I do admire how you’re handling this.”
“What do you mean?” she asked, unsure what exactly Giles was referring to.
He started setting the fresh vegetables and meat on the counter, trying to decide how to frame his response. It had been his suggestion to have dinner in, rather than going out. As much as Giles enjoyed the physical aspects of his relationship with Joyce, there were many other things he appreciated about her company. Not least was the opportunity to have a conversation with another adult, not surrounded by adolescents.
Well, there was always Wesley, but the other Watcher seemed little more than a child himself at times. Really, the way he devolved to a stuttering lump when Cordelia came around. It was shameful.
That was why Giles had been looking forward to this dinner all day. He certainly didn’t want to ruin it right off by sticking his foot in his mouth. “The way you’ve handled all this,” Giles said, struggling to find the right words. “You’ve been the epitome of grace under fire these last months.”
Joyce found herself blushing like a schoolgirl. “Rupert…”
“I mean it,” he continued, seeing that she was going to brush off his compliment. “With all that you’ve had to deal with, I just wanted you to know how much I admire you.”
Joyce shook her head. “There’s nothing to admire, really. I’m just doing the best I can, just like anyone else would be.”
“Not like anyone else,” Giles said hoarsely. “Not at all.”
Needless to say, dinner didn’t get made until much later.