With some sorrow, the girls finished early for the night, as there was another band booked to play at 10:30pm. The crowd cheered in applause when the girls finished their last song and Spike seized his chance. Walking up to the blonde he had brought with him, he could see she had already moved on.
“Listen Harm, it’s been,” he paused, trying to think of the right word to use. “It been real interesting, but I’m off.”
“Whatever,” she replied in an off-hand tone, not even looking at him.
Spike shrugged his shoulders and walked away. That went easier then he thought. He turned his thoughts back to Buffy and with a small smile he knew the girls would be almost finished packing up the van.
Spike casually strolled out towards the front of the club, his hands stuffed in his pockets as he headed around the back, his suspicion confirmed. He wasn’t at all surprised when he saw all the girls pile into the van, except for Buffy. He stood back silently, watching the scene unfold before him.
“Are you sure you don’t want a ride?” Willow asked, leaning out the passenger window.
“I’m sure, Will. See you tomorrow,” she waved her friends off, stepping back, her eyes intently watching the van as it drove away. She didn’t turn around to leave until the taillights disappeared around the corner. As she turned, her body connected with something solid.
“Oomph!” Buffy looked up to see Spike standing in front of her. He looked so hot. “God, lurk much?” she snapped instead, her eyes blazing. She had to remember she was still mad at him.
“I wasn’t lurking, I was standing. Totally different vibe you know.”
“Whatever,” Buffy retorted, stepping around him and walking out of the alley towards the main street. Spike mentally kicked himself for not being more thoughtful in his approach with her.
“Buffy, wait!” he called, running after her. Spike made contact with her shoulder as he reached her. She spun around, hatred seeping from her.
“What?” she snapped.
“What’s up with you tonight?” Spike asked, wounded. Buffy looked at him defeated.
“Nothing. Look, I’m sorry. I’m tired and irritated and I just want coffee, okay?” She didn’t wait for an answer; she just turned and kept walking. Not willing to give up easily, Spike walked beside her.
“Mind if I join you?”
“Don’t you have a date?” she almost spat the words out at him.
“Who Harmony? She’s dumb as a post, I ditched her a while back,” he replied, shaking his head at the very thought of her.
“I could have told you that,” Buffy grumbled.
“Summers, if I didn’t know you any better I would say you were jealous,” he joked, laughing lightly.
“I don’t get jealous,” she snapped back and Spike raised his hands in defeat.
“Okay, okay not jealous. I take it back. How ‘bout we step in here and have a nice, calmcup of hot coffee?” Spike gestured to the shop they were standing in front of.
A distinct smell of coffee filled the cool air even at this late hour and Buffy couldn’t help but savour the smell. She loved the Espresso Pump; it was her favourite place in the entire world to have coffee. Not that she had been many places.
“Fine,” she mumbled, trying to sound uninterested. They walked in together before Spike broke away from Buffy’s side, going to the counter to order. Buffy went to find a table for the two of them and found one with two armchairs unoccupied.
Gratefully, she sat down and lounged in one of the chairs. She could feel her tense muscles relax into the soft cushioning and Buffy closed her eyes a little, enjoying the feeling. Spike came back with two hot, steaming coffees, placing them on the small table before sitting back in the other armchair.
Buffy opened her eyes at the sound of the cups touching the table. She leaned forward and took a cup, cradling it in her hands, staring into space. Spike kept his gaze locked on her, trying to figure out what she was thinking.
They sat in silence for the longest time before Spike finally said something.
“So, since I have this opportunity, how ‘bout you tell me a little bit about yourself.”
Buffy looked up from her coffee confused.
“Like what?”
Spike was glad for the break in the silence so he dug for anything he would give her.
“Oh I dunno. How about where you grew up or what your family is like? You know, stuff like that.”
“Okay … um… I was born in Sunnydale almost 20 years ago…”
“Almost huh? So, your birthday would be coming up then?”
Buffy cringed at this little slip in detail.
“It’s in May so it’s about two months away,” Buffy paused, looking across the room before she continued, “I have a younger sister, Dawn and she’s in her last year of high school. She’s turning 18 in about three weeks so God help us all. Mum owns the local art gallery in town, which I’m sure she has told you about. My dad lives in L.A with his 22 year old wife. She was his secretary before my mum divorced him when I was 16.” The information of her entire life just seemed to roll off the tip of her tongue without thought or care. Sitting there with Spike made her feel safe, secure.
“Oh Buffy...”
“She sent his arse packing when she found he was cheating on her,” she finished, trying to get Spike to understand that it didn’t mean a great deal to her. “Um …. I grew up here in Sunnydale with Willow and Xander. In 10th grade, Angel, Cordy, Oz and Anya all showed up. Cordelia and Anya then made it their mission to beautify me …. Not sure if it worked but ….”
“Well I think you look wonderful just the way you are, luv,” he smiled sincerely.
Buffy flashed him a smile before continuing, trying to ignore his comment.
“That’s when we got the band together. Gotta love music class. I graduated at the top ten percent of my class…”
“So why did you stay in Sunnydale?” Spike leaned forward, resting his forearms on his thighs, his gaze intently locked on Buffy as she talked.
“Well, when I finished high school was about the time my mum was having all her health problems. She needed help, not that she would ever admit it. Plus, I didn’t want to leave everyone here. So the decision wasn’t hard really.”
“And your mum, she’s okay now?” Spike asked, concerned.
“Yeah she’s great; you wouldn’t even know she was sick. The doctors were able to remove the tumour she had in her brain successfully and she had no complications afterwards. We just past the one year mark of her operation.”
Spike could see the relief in Buffy’s eyes.
“I’m glad to hear that your mum is ok, she is a nice lady,” he smiled, sitting back in his seat. Buffy took a sip of her coffee, wrinkling her nose slightly. Spike realized that he hadn’t even touched his and it would probably be cold by now.
“And that’s me in a nutshell.” Buffy set her cup down on the table. It made a dull clunking sound on contact, the only sound between them now. Spike was still trying to process everything she had told him when suddenly he realised she hadn’t said anything about Parker or in fact, anything about college.
“Hang on luv, what about the last year and a bit?” Buffy shot him a warning glance before answering.
“Nothing to tell really, just been doing the college thing.”
“Come on, Buffy, don’t hold back on me,” he pleaded, wanting for her to let him in.
“Look Spike, I don’t want to talk about…about that.”
“Buffy-”
She cut him off before he had a chance to say anything else, her anger boiling to the surface.
“What are you, dense? Did your mum drop you on your head as a kid? I told you I don’t want to talk about it... Jesus,” she snapped. Buffy then proceeded to rip out a few bills from her purse before slamming them onto the table with a loud slap.
“Here coffee’s on me,” she retorted before standing and storming out. Spike sighed and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and cradling his head in his hands. He had done it now; he had pushed her too far and he didn’t know how to undo the damage he had done.
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