A/N: It’s been forever, I know. If you’ve read my livejournal, you know why. But I just want to tell you that I’m back now, and pretty consistently. So, without further ado, here’s the next chapter. There’s not too many left to go, so I hope you enjoy them. Oh yes, mild violence in this chapter, with some of the not so nice sexual references, but it’s minor, and if you can bear through it, it gets fluffy and good next chapter (which is already written!) :). Read and review! It’s a long chapter to apologize for my long break!
Cocktail
Chapter 16
Spike shut his eyes and took a deep breath as the night’s cool air hit his face, surrounding him with a blanket of calm. It was taking all of his willpower to not run back inside of the Bronze, sweep Buffy off her feet and kiss her senseless- then shake her hard and make her see what precious time she’s causing them to miss together. Shaking his head to clear unwanted Buffy-like thoughts, Spike decided getting pissed at Willy’s would be the best thing for him.
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Dawn sighed as she closed Buffy’s door. She let her head thunk hard against the heavy wood as she leaned her back against it. It took two hours after Spike’s grand exit to get Buffy’s sobs to calm down enough for Dawn to be able to walk her home. After fixing her some hot tea to soothe her, Dawn helped her up the stairs to bed, where as soon as Buffy’s head hit the pillow, she was out like a light- the exhaustion of the day and her emotions finally causing her to rest into a deep sleep filled with dreams of a certain peroxide blonde.
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One Week Later
Spike trudged slowly down main street Sunnydale, his feet feeling like they weighed 100 pounds each. It had been a week. One whole week- seven soddin’ days since he sang to Buffy in the Bronze. ‘She has to know it was to her, we held eye contact the whole bloody time.’ Needless to say, in those seven days, Buffy had made no attempt to contact him. None. Neither did Dawn, who he at least expected to tell him how her sister was; he thought they were becoming friends.
Coming up to the local convenience store, Spike went in to buy cigarettes and a few other items before making his way to the Bronze for his paying performance.
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“Buffy puh-lease!” Dawn whined to her sister through the door.
“No Dawn!” Buffy yelled back with a sniffle. Shaking her head as tears entered her eyes for what seemed like the millionth time in the last minute, Buffy sighed. There was no way she was going to the Bronze. Not after making a fool out of herself last time. Not after he made a fool out of her last time. Not after he rejected her.
Dawn sighed. It had been a week. One whole week- seven freakin’ days since Spike sang to Buffy in the Bronze. Buffy of course was too much of an idiot to realize that Spike meant that she had the choice of deciding if she wanted to be with him. Spike understands her- but no, Buffy can’t understand that. Instead, she thinks that Spike was singing that she may think it’s her move, but he’s moving on without her. ‘God, that’s it! I’m going to get these two together if it kills me!’
“God damnit Buffy!” Dawn tugged at the ends of her hair in frustration. When she didn’t hear her sister scold her for her language, she decided that enough is enough. Grabbing the emergency key from the top of the doorframe, Dawn unlocked Buffy’s bedroom door. She scrunched her nose up as she walked in. “Jeez Buffy, have you even showered?” Dawn asked. The room was a mess, with empty soda cans and bottles of water thrown carelessly on the floor, dirty dishes stacked on the dressers, and a huge pile of tissues on the bed. Buffy had been living out of her room. For an entire week.
Buffy shot Dawn a look that clearly told her to shut up. Inwardly, Dawn smiled. ‘My sister is still in there, now it’s just time to bring her out.’ “I thought you didn’t even like Spike. Remember all the ‘he’s not my boyfriend’ speeches you gave, practically every day?”
‘Bingo.’ Dawn thought as Buffy’s head snapped up.
“I don’t like him!” Buffy yelled in defense. She really didn’t at the time. He hurt her- badly. “I mean- I don’t know what I mean. I just know that I can’t trust guys. I don’t have a stellar track record Dawn. Angel cheated on me with Cordelia. Fine. I could’ve gotten over it, but then Spike doing the same thing? I just can’t survive that.”
“How did he cheat on you, if you were never together?” Dawn asked skeptically.
‘Smartass.’ Buffy fumed. “You know what? You’re right,” She admitted, as she got out of bed, angrily pushing the tissues into the trashcan. “I didn’t like him. He wasn’t my boyfriend. He didn’t cheat on me. So what if he embarrassed me? I embarrass myself all of the time. That’s it, I’m going with you to the Bronze.”
‘I just outsmarted her and she doesn’t even realize it,’ Dawn inwardly smirked. “Yippee!” She cheered, jumping up and down while clapping her hands. “We’re going to have a killer time. I think Willow and Xander will even be there! Of course Gunn will too. He’s working tonight. He’s been asking for you, I’m sure he’ll love to see you!”
Buffy smiled. She had to admit, Gunn was a great guy. Not her type, but a decent guy none the less, and a great friend. “Dawn, breathe. Besides, I have to shower and clean up this hellhole I’ve been stupidly living in the last week. I’ll just meet you there okay? Tell everyone I’ll see them in about an hour.”
Dawn squealed and ran over to hug her sister. “Will do. Thanks for coming Buffy; it means a lot to me. I’ve missed my sister.”
Buffy hugged her back and smiled. She had to admit that she was neglecting her responsibilities and her sister over the last week, while wallowing over nothing. ‘Nothing,’ Her mind told her. Then why was her heart saying otherwise?
----
“Dawn, Buffy is going to be so upset with you. You know that Spike’s performing tonight!” Willow scolded Dawn. “Whether she wants to admit it or not, she feels something for him, and I’m sure she decided to come tonight, thinking he wasn’t going to be here.”
“Willow, don’t worry, it’s for the best. I mean, we don’t want smelly, depressed Buffy anymore, do we?” Dawn asked, raising an eyebrow in question.
“A definite check in the no column from me,” Xander said, taking a sip of his drink.
Willow scanned the Bronze. “I guess you’re right Dawnie. Besides, Spike isn’t even here yet. Maybe he won’t show.”
“Oh he’ll be here,” Gunn said, appearing over Dawn’s shoulder and sitting down on the chair next to her. For the past few nights, he’s been joining the group during his breaks and before and after work at their table. Quickly, he became good friends with them.
“Gunn’s on my side!” Dawn gushed. “He wants Spike to stop bitching and whining over Buffy, and I want Buffy to stop bitching- well, more whining, over Spike. So, therefore, if we get them together, all is good.”
“Dawn, language!” Willow scolded her.
Dawn rolled her eyes. She would always be a little kid to them. Not responding to Willow, she took a sip from her coke and looked at her watch. Buffy should be here soon, and Spike should sing shortly after that. ‘Well, I did what I could do. I’ll just have to hope fate steps in,’ Dawn told herself.
---
Buffy grew angry with herself the closer she got to the Bronze. ‘Tell yourself again dumbass, why it was smart to dress like you did when you were in high school and going to the Bronze? I don’t want a guy, so there’s no one to impress. I guess you wanted to show your friends that you’re still the same ol’ Buffy- and better off without a guy,’ Buffy carried on a conversation with herself. She was wearing a dark emerald dress that attached to her curves in all the right places, and had a v-neck that showed off a decent amount of cleavage. She had on silver heels to make her about four inches taller. ‘I really do wish that I brought a jacket though.’
While arguing with herself over what she was wearing, she unknowingly turned down the worst alley in Sunnydale, because it was a quicker route to the Bronze, and subconsciously she knew that it would get her there before she froze to death.
Stopping short when she heard footsteps behind her that brought her attention back to the real world, Buffy froze when she realized where she turned. Gulping, she turned to look around behind her, seeing nothing but darkness, barely illuminated by a streetlight from Main Street. ‘Not panicking. Not at all. There’s nothing there, stop imagining things Summers.’
Quickening her pace, Buffy wrapped her arms around herself tightly to ward off the chill and to comfort herself. Hearing footsteps again, she refused to turn around, believing that her mind was playing tricks on her. She could see the Bronze’s neon sign up ahead, and walked as fast as her heels would allow her. Feeling a strong and overpowering hand grip her upper arm in a vice-like grasp, Buffy screamed- or she would’ve if it wasn’t muffled by the another strong and overpowering hand.
“Didn’t your mother ever teach you not to walk alone down an alley at nighttime?” A deep and harsh voice whispered in her ear, before the owner of the voice roughly pushed her so her back slammed against the brick alley wall roughly. Buffy squeezed her eyes shut tightly in an attempt to stop the mind-numbing pain that was surging through every bone and vein in her body.
Buffy squeezed her eyes shut even harder if at all possible when her attacker pinned her to the wall using his large and bulky body. When the hand that was gripping her arm tightly moved to roughly cup her breast Buffy again tried to scream- and failed when she realized a hand was still covering her mouth. ‘Please God, not again,’ Buffy’s mind begged.
Buffy decided that if she made it out of this alive, she’d want to be able to identify her attacker. Opening her eyes, she inwardly gasped when she met two familiar hazel ones. Riley.
“There’s my Buffy. Miss me honey?” Riley sneered, running a finger lightly down Buffy’s face. “You’re even more beautiful than you used to be.” Taking a chance that she was smart enough not to scream, he removed his hand from her mouth.
“Riley you son of a bitch!” Buffy yelled at him venomously. “I’m not your Buffy. Let me go!” She tried to wiggle out of his grasp.
“Sorry sweetheart, but that isn’t going to happen. I mean look at you in this tight little dress. You’re just begging for some guy to jump your bones. Well no guy touches what’s mine. Angel’s lucky he’s still alive.”
“Yeah, because you knew you couldn’t beat him up. He’s stronger than you.”
“Shut up you whore,” Riley backhanded Buffy across the face.
Buffy’s head flew to the side- the entire left side of her face felt like it was on fire, and tears sprang to her eyes, but she quickly blinked them back down. She refused to let him see her cry, or let him know that he was hurting her.
“Riley, please let me go,” Buffy asked him, pleading to him with her emerald eyes that were drowning in unshed tears.
“Yeah, right,” Riley laughed, raising his hand to backhand her again for wanting to get away from him. He frowned when he found his hand in a strong grip, causing him to be unable to move and hit Buffy.
“I believe the lady asked you to let her go mate, so I suggest you do it.”
---
TBC!
Please review :). I’ll post the next chapter soon!
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