Finding Love

Eight and a half hours. That's how long they had been at the Espresso Pump. They had talked about everything from Rock 'n Roll, her life, and to how many licks it would actually take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop. And the weird thing was, she wasn't completely bored out of her mind.

Buffy had left the school with Spike, slightly expecting to be bored to death by the first ten minutes were up, but nope, she was still interested. He still caught her eyes with every little movement, every little word, every little gesture of kindness and affection that he gave towards her. She still wanted more.

She had never met someone in her whole life that made her feel so alive. He was so jubilant, so moving, so alive. She never wanted to stop talking to him or simply stop being around him. She knew she had found a new friend, but it seemed, to her, that she wanted more than just a friendship with Spike.

On more than one occasion, he had grabbed her hand and held it for a while. She had always felt this slight spark when he touched her. She wasn't sure if he had felt it, but she knew that she had. She didn't know what it meant, but she was sure that she wanted to find out, and fast.

Buffy looked down at her watch, checking to see the time. '5:16' it read. "Wow, we've been here almost nine hours," Buffy pointed out. She glanced at him, seeing the shocked expression on his face.

"Really? Doesn't seem like it has been that long," he smirked, "Or maybe it was just the beautiful company that I had to occupy me."

She blushed and looked towards her lap. He had been doing that a lot, making her blush. She hated and loved it all at the same time. No one had made her blush quite this often, and she was rejuvenated by it.

Spike chuckled, he loved to see her blush like that, it made her look so innocent, so pure, so totally adorable, "You know, I've really had a good time today."

She looked up at him, "Really?" He nodded, "Me, too." Pausing, she wandered if she should make the first move. She wanted something more, and the simple fact of not knowing if he did or not was not going to stop her from taking the chance.

She was preparing herself to ask to see him again, outside of school and on a non-friendship basis, but never got the chance. Spike grabbed her hand, breaking her out of her reverie, "Buffy, I really like you. Would you...would you like to go out with me? Not on some spur-of-the-moment-nine-hour-coffee-break either. Like a date?"

She smiled, deeply glad that she didn't have to embarrass herself, and glad that now she knew that he felt the same way, too. She squeezed his hand, reassuring him, after having seen the look of worry cross his face, "I would love to go out with you, Spike. You have no idea."

Smiling at each other, they decided that it wouldn't hurt to sit and talk some more. Buffy started, "You know, we have been sitting here, talking all this time, and I feel like I don't know anything about you. Tell me about you."

"Well, what do you want to know, luv?" Spike asked, rubbing small circles on the back of Buffy's hand with his thumb.

She thought for a moment, really pondering the question of what she wanted to know about him, "How about where you were born and where you grew up? What was that like? Who was there? Who wasn't there? Did anything really important happen to you while you were growing up? Anything life altering? Anything."

He sighed, "Wow, you really know how to pick the good questions don't you, pet? Well, let's see. I was born and raised in Oxford, England. I lived with my mum and sister. My father wasn't around much, he worked a lot. Or at least that's what mum told me. Found out later that he was just some tosser that had mistresses coming out his arse. He came back to the house once to talk to mum when I was about fifteen, I acted like I was older than that, mum said, when I told him to get the bloody hell out of our home and never come back."

Buffy's shocked look on her face, made him smile just a bit, "You really told your dad that? Wow, I haven't even been able to tell my dad that I don't want to go to his house for the summer. How did you do it?"

"Well, I just thought about what he was doing to my mum. She was cryin' every night and I got fed up with him doin' it to her. He never came back either. So, it worked out for the better, I like to think that anyways."

She gave him a small smile, "Okay. What about all the other questions I had?"

He sighed, he was scared to tell her this part of his life, but he wanted her to know. Wanted her to know what she was getting herself into, "Well, my mum, sis, and I moved her about two years ago," he hesitated, "My mum got sick last year, pretty bad. She had cancer, and they couldn't cure her. She past last year, about April."

He barely chocked out the last words. He missed her, and he could tell that Buffy knew when she gently squeezed his hand. He looked up at her, "I bet your mom is very proud of you. She did an amazing job in raising such a great guy."

He smiled at her, "Thanks, luv," he sighed, "Well, after that, I pretty much took care of my sis. She goes to Sunny High, too. She's just a freshman though. She's been a handful. I'm not sure how me and Dawn are even related, but, we are. I think she was found under a rock though, but mum never told me the truth."

She giggled, "I bet she's great. Probably just like you." Buffy's cell phone rang before she could finish talking, "Sorry, hang on." She pulled her phone out, "Hello?"

Buffy's mother was on the other line, "Buffy, where are you? You're supposed to be home by now. Is everything okay?"

Buffy sighed, "Yeah, mom, I'm okay," she glanced at Spike, "Sorry, something came up. I'll be home soon, promise."

"Okay. I want to hear all about your day before I go to work, alright?"

Buffy scrunched her eyebrows together, "Work? I thought you were supposed to be home for tonight?"

"I was, but then the boss called and said that Denise called off and wanted to know if I could do her New York trip. Is that alright, honey?"

Buffy smiled, excited for her mom, "Of course it's alright! You've been wanting to do the New York trip ever since you heard about it! I'm so excited for you! I'll be home soon so we can talk before you leave."

"Okay sweetie, see you then."

Buffy smiled, "Alright. Love you, bye."

"Love you, too, bye."

With that, they both hung up their phones. Buffy gave Spike an apologetic smile, "I'm sorry, but I've got to go. Mom's freaking out that I'm not home yet."

Spike smiled back, "It's okay, sweetheart. I can give you a lift home if you like?"

"Sure. Let's go," Buffy said, standing up from the table. She grabbed her purse and waited while Spike laid a couple dollars on the table.

He grabbed her hand as soon as he reached her, pulling her towards his car. He opened her door for her, helping her in the car before safely shutting the door. He ran to the other side of the car, getting into the driver's side.

Spike looked at Buffy and smiled, then reached for her seat-belt, making sure it was strongly fastened before he put his own on. He glanced towards the street, making sure it was okay for them to pull out. When he saw it was safe, he pulled out, listening to Buffy's instructions on how to get to her house, making sure that he drove as slowly as possible, just to draw out their time together.