Over The Summer

Chapter 83

‘A Few Minutes Later’

Spike pulled into the driveway of his home and saw a small figure sitting on his front porch. Slowly he got out of his car and made his way up the footpath. He stopped just a few feet away from the person. “What are you doing here?”

“I thought we could try that talking thing again.” Buffy said standing up from the top step of the porch.

“How’d you know where to fine me?”

“Cordelia gave me the address.”

“So you talked with your mates?”

“Yeah.” Buffy said with a small smile.

“How’d that go?” Spike asked.

“Better than my talk with you. Did you talk to Mackenzie?”

“That’s none of your business.” Spike said with a bit of a tone in his voice.

“Sorry.” Buffy whispered.

“Yes I talked to her.” Spike said in a softer tone than before.

“Oh.” Was all Buffy could think of to say.

“Why don’t we finish this inside.” Spike said pulling out his house key opening the door.

“It’s nice.” Buffy said as she walked past him into the house.

“It serves it purpose.” Spike said closing the door before flipping in the living room lights. “Would you like something to drink?”

“Water would be good.” Buffy said before taking a seat on the couch.

“I’ll be right back.” Spike said than headed towards the kitchen.

While Spike was gone Buffy took the opportunity to stand up and look around the rather large room. Everything in the living room was pretty bland. ‘Nothing like the real Spike.’ The walls were a plain white with nothing hanging on them except a old looking clock. The furniture was all black, from the leather couch and chairs down to the shelves hanging on the walls along with the entertainment unit, even the mantle over the fireplace was black.

“Does the whole house look like this?” Buffy asked when she felt Spike enter the room again.

“Pretty much.” Spike said placing her glass oh water on the black coffee table. “Would you like the grand tour?”

“Do any of the other rooms have another color scheme going for them?” Buffy asked turning to look at Spike.

“My bedrooms a nice dark red with black furniture.” Spike stated.

“I think that tour should wait until after we’ve talked everything out than.” Buffy said walking back over to the couch and taking a seat.

“In that case, lets talk.” Spike said taking a seat in a chair across from Buffy.

“Good. . .” Buffy started.

Ring-Ring

“Sorry.” Buffy said pulling out her cell phone and checking the caller id. “I need to take this.”

“Go ahead.” Spike said leaning back in his chair.

“Hello.” Buffy answered.

“. . .”

“I’m at Spike’s.”

“. . .”

“No he didn’t call me.”

“. . .”

“Cordelia gave me his address when I saw her.”

“. . .”

“I know what I said earlier.”

“. . .”

“This isn’t something that could wait forever.”

“. . .”

“This has to be worked out now.”

“. . .”

“I’ll tell him when I want to.”

“. . .”

“I know how he’ll react.”

“. . .”

“It won’t be like earlier.”

“. . .”

“I’m not going to get hurt.”

“. . .”

“Is Molly still there?”

“. . .”

“Will you tell her I might be later getting home than I thought.”

“. . .”

“Thank you.”

“. . .”

“I’m not letting my feelings get in the way of my better judgment.”

“. . .”

“Giles please. Now’s as good as time as any, even better actually because it’s sooner rather than latter on down the road.’

“. . .”

“I understand you’re worried, but that’s not your job anymore.”

“. . .”

“I’ll talk to you when I get home.”

“. . .”

“I promise.”

“. . .”

“Bye.”

“. . .”

“I know.”

“. . .”

“Giles I really need to go, Spike’s sitting right across from me and I’m being very rude to him by talking to you on my cell.”

“. . .”

“Goodbye Giles.” Buffy said, hanging up her phone before he could say anything else. “I’m really sorry about that.”

Spike ed hed his head. “Who’s Giles?” He asked.

“Rupert Giles is the head guy that my father hired.”

“So that’s the guy who’s responsible for the past year-n-half?” Spike questioned.

“You could say that.” Buffy answered unsure of where Spike was going with his line of questioning.

“He’s been with you this whole time?”

“For the most part.”
got got to see you everyday?”

“Yeah. . .”

“Got to hear you laugh at something you thought was funny, and be there for you when you were sad?”

“In a total father type figure to have around to make sure I was okay and safe.” Buffy stated not wanting Spto hto have the wrong idea about Giles.

“Did you live with him in London?”

“We lived in the said building, I had my very own flat/apartment thing.”

“Do you live with him now?” Spike asked.

“No, yes, not really. He’s staying with me yes, but not in my house. He’s staying in the guesthouse for a while. He’ll be going back to England after I’ve settled in to being back in Sunnydale again.” Buffy explained.

“You have a guest house?” Spike asked in shock. “How do you have a guest house?”

“Giles used the money my father gave him to fake my death and look after me until I was safe again to buy me a house in Sunnydale. The house just happens to have a guesthouse, or actually it’s a pool house but I’m using it as a guest house for Giles so he can have a bit more privacy than actually living in the house with me while he’s staying in the States.”

“Who’s Molly?” Spike asked.

“Molly?” Buffy repeated with slightly widen eyes.

“Yes Molly. You said that name while you were talking on your cell with Rupert.”

“Oh that Molly.”

“How many Molly’s you know Pet?” Spike asked.

‘He called me Pet. I missed that so much.’ Buffy thought to herself while trying to figure out what she was going to say. “It’s not important who Molly is right now.”

“Must be if you wanted Rupert to tell her you were going to be late. She live with you?”

Buffy shook her head. “No, she’s staying with some family she has in town.”

“She from London too?”

“Yeah.” Buffy answered.

“And she came back with you and Rupert?”

“Yeah.” Buffy repeated.

“She a friend you made while you were gone?”

“Kinda.”

“What’s she do?” Spike asked.

“She helps take care of things when I can’t be at home.”

“What type of things?” Spike asked trying to figure out what Buffy was hiding.

“We can talk about that later. We’ve got other things to get through first.” Buffy replied.

“Alright.”

“Good. Now where do you want to start?” Buffy asked.

“How ‘bout the beginning? Good of place as any.” Spike stated.

“Fine. It all started the night I went to a club with a friend.” Buffy said with a smile.

“Funny Luv, real funny.”

“You told me to start from the beginning.”

“You know what I meant.”

“Fine, but you’re missin’ out on some great sex stories.”

“I was there Luv, I remember.”

“Okay, we’ll start with the first time I met Giles and go from there.”

~~~~~

“Buffy Summers?” A voice asked as Buffy walked out of one of her classes.

“Yes?” Buffy asked turning around to face the person the voice belonged to.

“My name is Rupert Giles, I was hoping to have a word with you.”

“Are you a professor here?” Buffy asked.

“No, I work for your father.”

“Oh. . .Oh!” Buffy’s eyes widened when she realized who he was.

“I was hoping we could talk in a more private place a about a few things.”

“None of my roommates are home right now, we could talk at my apartment.”

“Very well. Imeetmeet you there.” Giles said getting ready to walk away.

“Do you know how to get there?” Buffy asked.

“Of course, we’ve been watching you since your father called.” Giles told her.

“Oh, okay. I’ll see you there.” Buffy said before both of them left to go to their cars.

*****

Buffy got to her apartment a few minutes before Giles and made sure that everyone was really out of the place.

Knock-Knock

Buffy made her way back to the front door and opened it, stepping aside so Giles could walk in. “Everyone should be out for at least an hour or so.” Buffy told him.

“What I have to say shouldn’t take long.” Giles stated.

“Can I get you anything to drink?” Buffy asked as they moved into the living room.

“No thank you.” Giles said taking a seat on one of the couches.

“Alright.” Buffy said taking a seat across from him. “What did you want to talk about?”

“Your death.” Giles stated.

“What about my death? I don’t plan on having my death for about another sixty to seventy years.”

“I meant the one your father hired us to fake.”

“Oh, right. That death. What about it?”

“It’s been moved up.”

“How moved up?”

“It’s in two days.”

“Two Days!” Buffy yelled.

“There’s more.”

“What?” Buffy asked.

“No one can know about it.”

“But my father paid you so he’ll know, and my friends know what’s been planned.”

“They won’t know, and your father doesn’t know that we’ve moved the date up.”

“But. . .You can’t do this. They’ll all think I’m actually dead.”

“That’s the point.”

“I don’t think you understand I’m I’m saying. My family and friends will think I’m really dead.” Buffy stated.

“That’s the way it has to be. It has to be believable it the plans going to work, and the only way to do that is to make it real for everyone else.”

“When will they learn the truth?” Buffy asked in a low voice.

“When it’s safe for you to return.”

“Where will I be going?”

“I’d rather keep that part to myself for the time being.” Giles replied.

“I can’t tell anyone? Not even Spike?” Buffy asked.

“No, I’m sorry.”

“When will it happen?”

“You’ll get a phone call on the day telling you what to do.” Giles explained.

“I can’t tell anyone?” Buffy asked again.

“It’s for the best that the number of people who know the truth are kept to a minimum.” Giles told her.

“I understand.” Buffy whispered.

“I should be going now, I’ll see you in a few days Ms. Summers. I suggest that you use your time wisely.” Giles said before getting up and walking out of the loft apartment leaving Buffy sitting alone in the living room.

~~~~~

“That’s why you were so quiet when I stopped by that night?” Spike asked.

“Yeah.” Buffy answered.

“What happened after the explosion?” Spike asked.

“Giles took me to a safe house a few miles outside of town while they finished things up before we could leave. They made sure Drusilla was found guilty for my death, and made sure any test that my father wanted done would all come up with the same result.” Buffy explained.

“And the day of your funeral?”

“It was the day I was leaving town. I wanted to see everyone one last time, even if it was from a distance.” Buffy told him.

“A part of me died that day.” Spike whispered.

“I’m sorry, I never wanted to hurt you or anyone else that way.”

“What did you do in London?”

“Giles got me a job in an art museum close to what I was living.”

“Was that safe?”

“I changed my hair color to a dark brown so my look didn’t scream California girl quite so much, and Giles was with me everywhere I went for the first seven months.” Buffy explained.

“So that was your life for the past year-n-half?”

“Pretty much.” Buffy said, thinking about little William for a moment. “There is one more thing, but it’s something you have to see first hand.”

“What is it?” Spike asked.

“Would you feel alright coming home with me?” Buffy asked.

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”

“It’s just to show you what I’m talking about, nothing else.” Buffy told him.

“It’s really late and I have to work tomorrow, maybe I could stop by after school.” Spike said.

“That would be good.” Buffy said pulling a small card out of her purse and wrote a few things down on it before handing it to Spike. “It’s my address and phone number, give me a call when you’re done with your classes.”

“Alright.”

Buffy and Spike both stood up and walked towards his front door.

“I’ll see you toow.”ow.”

“Tomorrow.” Spike agreed as he opened the door.

“Thank you for letting me talk and explain things.” Buffy said.

“I’m glad you’re able to be here to explain things.” Spike said before pulling her into a hug.

Buffy placed a small kiss on his cheek before pulling away. “Bye.”

“Night Luv.”

*****

TBC. . .