Growing Up

Chapter 3

Buffy walked downstairs and headed to the kitchen later that night, where she found her mom and step-father. She smiled at the older man. “Hey, Giles. It seems like I haven’t seen you in a while.” Joyce gave him a look and Giles just ignored it and turned his attention on Buffy.

“Yes, I’m sorry about that. I have something for you.” He said as he handed her a big, white box that was on the counter. Buffy smiled and grabbed it.

“Cool, I like presents.” She said as she opened the box and gasped when she saw what was inside. She looked up at Giles. “This is the blouse that I wanted. I don’t know how you knew about it, but thank you.” She said as she hugged Giles and he smiled at her excitement. “I’m gonna try it on now.” She commented as she ran upstairs. Joyce gave Giles another look when Buffy was gone.

“You shouldn’t be spoiling her.” She said and Giles turned to look at his wife.

“I’m not spoiling her, Joyce. Is it a crime to want to buy my daughter something nice?” Joyce shook her head.

“No, it’s not. I just wonder if you bought her that because you feel guilty about something.” Giles took his glasses off to clean them before he placed them back on.

“I do feel guilty. I feel guilty that I haven’t been around much. I also bought you this.” He said as he handed Joyce a smaller box and she took it and sighed as she opened it to find a beautiful, heart shaped locket inside. She looked back at Giles.

“It’s lovely, but you didn’t have to.” He nodded and took the locket out of the box.

“I know I didn’t have to, I wanted to.” He put the necklace on her and let it fall down her neck. “You look beautiful.” He told her and she blushed at his comment.

“Thank you, Rupert.” He smiled at her.

“There’s also a little surprise inside.” She gave him a look and then opened the locket to find a picture of the four of them that was taken a few years ago. It was one of her favorite pictures and it reminded Joyce of how grown up her children were now. Joyce looked at Giles, with tears in her eyes. She moved closer to him and planted a kiss on his mouth. She then pulled away and smiled at him.

“This means a lot to me, but I don’t want you to think that you have to buy us gifts whenever you feel guilty. I know you love us, honey.” Giles returned her smile and gave her a kiss of his own.

“This family is very important to me, Joyce. I don’t want you to think that it isn’t.” Joyce nodded and thought of something else.

“I know it is, but I think you need to talk to your son. I think he’s feeling more neglected by you. I have a feeling he has for a while now; he just doesn’t know how to talk to you about it.” Giles agreed.

“Is he upstairs?” He wondered and Joyce nodded again.

“Yes, he wanted to stay over tonight. He’s probably sleeping right now, so maybe you could talk to him tomorrow.” Giles nodded also and went to grab a scotch while Joyce just watched him, still wondering if everything was okay. They didn’t know that Spike was standing at the top of the stairs and heard most of their conversation. He just turned around and walked back to his room.


* * * * *


Buffy was talking to her friends at school the next day. Tara was there this time and Buffy was really getting close to the shy girl, who was Willow’s girlfriend. They were in their own world, when these three Goth girls suddenly walked into the college. Buffy rolled her eyes when she recognized one of them and just turned back to her friends. The three girls continued to walk over to them and the one in the lead gave a twisted smile. She turned to address her friends, speaking in a loud tone. “He was so pathetic. My own personal lapdog. He would do whatever I said and practically worshipped the ground I walked on. It was just sad really.” Buffy heard the girl say and she tried to ignore it as her voice got closer. The girl stopped when she was right by Buffy and turned back to her friends, making sure that Buffy heard her. “He was such a loser. He’s only cool now because of me. I made him who he is.” Buffy clenched her fists at her side and tried to control her temper. She knew who the girl was talking about. “I mean without me, Spike would still be William the Bloody. Have you heard his poetry? It’s bloody awful. No wonder he got that name. If you ask me, he should just go back to being my dog.” Buffy heard enough as she walked over to the woman and punched her right in the face. She held her face and glared at Buffy. “You stupid bitch!” She yelled and Buffy raised her fist again.

“It takes one to know one. You ever talk about him like that again and you’ll lose that pretty hair of yours, Drusilla.” She said in a harsh tone and Drusilla then attacked Buffy and pulled her hair. Buffy was fighting back with all she had in her. They were rolling on the floor, when a group of students gathered around them and cheered them on. Buffy’s friends were worried about her, but they were afraid to interfere. Spike then walked down the hall and heard what was going on. He ran to see what the commotion was all about and saw Buffy and Drusilla fighting. He ran over to them and grabbed Buffy, pulling her off of Drusilla. She was struggling in his arms.

“Buffy, calm down.” He told her and she relaxed a little. Spike kept a hold of her as Drusilla got up and glared at both of them.

“You’re a freak!” She spat out as she walked away, with her friends right behind her.

“Fuck you, slut!” Buffy yelled after her and Spike placed his hand over her mouth to stop her from saying anything else that would get her in trouble. He then grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the school, so they could talk in private. When they got outside, he turned to look at her and he didn’t seem happy.

“What the hell did you think you were doing? You could have gotten into a lot of trouble.” He stated.

“I don’t care, the bitch had it coming. She was talking shit about you right in front of me and I just wanted to shut her up.” Spike’s face softened at what she said.

“I appreciate that, but fighting still doesn’t solve anything. You should have just ignored her.” Buffy nodded and tried to calm down.

“I know, I just lost it. I just didn’t like what she was saying.” Spike smiled and walked closer to her.

“So, you were sticking up for me? You like me, you really like me.” He said playfully and Buffy hit him on the arm.

“Don’t get used to it. I only did it so we could be even.” She explained and he raised his eyebrows.

“Even for what?” He wondered.

“You know, that time you stuck up for me with Parker. You hit him when he said I was like a toilet seat. I was just returning the favor.” Spike nodded when he realized what she was talking about. Buffy then thought about something else. “Spike, could you not tell mom about this? I really don’t think she would like to hear that I got into another fight. This would be the third time, but she doesn’t need to know that.” Spike sighed and decided to give her a break.

“I won’t tell her, but no more fighting.” Buffy smiled and gave him a big hug.

“Thank you, I so love you right now.” Spike smiled also when she pulled away. He really liked the feel of her in his arms, but he shook that thought away.

“Love you, too. Now get to class.” He said and Buffy nodded as she walked back into the college, with a smile on her face. Spike watched her go and decided to wait a little before he went back inside. He thought Drusilla was done talking shit about him, but it looked like she wasn’t. He had a feeling that she only said what she did to make Buffy mad. They always hated each other. Spike and Buffy always got along even though they would fight a lot, but Buffy didn’t like the fact that he was dating Drusilla and that made them not as close. Spike would always stick up for Dru, but Buffy would never listen. He then realized that all the things Buffy would tell him about Drusilla were true, when he found out that she was cheating on him. He broke up with her even though she would tell people that she was the one that dumped him, but he didn’t care. She could say whatever she wanted as long as he never had to see her again. He was good with the avoiding, until now. Seeing Buffy fighting with Dru brought all the bad memories back and he tried to shake them off. He pulled out a cigarette and lit it as he put it in his mouth. He blew the smoke out and just stood there. He tried to quit, but seeing Drusilla again made him want to smoke a whole pack. He knew he wouldn’t though, he promised Buffy he would stop smoking as long as she did and he was going to keep that promise. Spike sighed and threw the cigarette on the ground and stepped on it. He then turned around and walked back into the school.