The Mended Heart

Buffy Summers walked into Sunnydale HIgh on her first day of her senior year. Her last first day of high school. She looked around for her friends, not spotting the red-headed genius or the brunette dork.

She turned to go into the gym, hoping that Xander, the brunette dork, would be playing basketball. As she turned the corner, she almost ran into a strong body.

Looking up, Buffy saw just who she was about to run into. Sighing, she looked at the man giving her a sideways grin, "What do you want, Spike?"

Spike, a punk rock/gothic senior with bleached blonde hair, leered at her, giving her a once-over with his eyes, "Well, well, well," he said in his thick British accent, "Look who it is. Buffy Summers."

Getting aggravated, Buffy stared at him, "Move, Spike. Now."

Chuckling, he took a step closer to her, "Or what, Goldielocks?" He breathed in a husky whisper.

Giving up, Buffy just began to walk around him. When she made it halfway pass him, Spike grabbed her upper arm lightly, only to be shocked when she let out a cry of pain.

He quickly let go, taking a step back as he watched her grab at her arm in agony as Xander came rushing towards her.

Spike didn't know what had happened. All he was trying to do was say something to her before she walked off. He didn't think he had grabbed her all that hard.

When he looked to see what was going on with Buffy, he was met with a tear-stained face clutching her arm and a death glare coming from a boy stalking towards him.

Xander got right up in his face, pointing a finger at him, "Don't you EVER touch her again. Understand?"

Before Spike could even answer, Xander left, helping Buffy along with him. Spike looked around, noticing that no one was watching, thankfully. 'What the bloody hell just happened here? I didn't grab her that hard. What the hell else is going on here?' Spike thought.

He moved towards his first period, not paying attention to where he was going, when he felt a hand on his shoulder, stopping him from moving any further down the hallway. He looked up to see a red-headed girl with a stern look on her face, "Yeah?" he asked.

She removed her hand from his shoulder, crossing her arms over her chest, "Do you know who I am?"

Spike thought for a moment. He couldn't really place a name with the face in front of him, but he knew that he had seen this little spitfire before.

He was just about to answer when she cut him off before he had a chance, "My name is Willow. The girl that you just hurt is my best friend."

Spike sighed, looking down, "Look, I didn't mean to hurt her. I didn't think I grabbed her that hard. I didn't mean to."

"I know," Spike blinked, "You didn't hurt her that way. But she's never screamed that bad."

Spike looked at Willow curiously, "You telling me that someone's been doing this to her?"

Willow knew that she had already said too much, "Look, I gotta go," she said. Willow scurried off to her class without a second glance, leaving behind a very confused Spike.

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"Bloody, buggerin', carrot-top, shirty, women," Spike grumbled as he walked through the Sunnydale Memorial Park. It was well after midnight, but he didn't really care.

He couldn't get the scene that happened that morning out of his head. He had thought all day about what possibly could have made Buffy scream out in pain from him just lightly grabbing her arm.

Deciding to try, once again, to put the thought of her in the back of his mind, he decided to walk towards home, only making his trip shorter by cutting through the playground.

Coming upon the swings, he noticed the faint sound of voices, getting closer, he heard a man, "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING OUT THIS LATE?!?!?!?!"

Spike picked up the speed of his feet as he heard a girl crying out her answer. He couldn't understand what she was saying and he knew that what was going on was absolutely none of his business, but something told him to keep going. Just incase.

He heard the voice again, "You think you're worth anything?" the voice said in a demeaning tone, "You're not. You're useless. The only reason I keep you is because the damn social services make me."

Spike slowed his feet, knowing that the voices were right around the trees hiding him. He heard the girl sob out, "I'm sorry." Suddenly stopping in his tracks when he heard the distinct sound of skin being slapped. He heard it again, except more forceful, as the girl silenced her sobs.

Spike leaned his head from behind the trees, seeing the man tower over a girl, Spike heard him speak again while he tried to get a good look at the girl, 'I'm gonna leave here and I'm gonna go home. You're not to come home until tomorrow after I've already gone to sleep. Understand, girl?"

Spike heard a faint, "Yes," come from the girl, then watched as the man walked away. The girl was still kneeling on the ground well after the man was out of sight. Spike felt his chest tighten as he saw the girl lift her head. Seeing the familiar tear-stained face of a girl he saw every day. He said, "Buffy?"

TBC

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I hope you all liked this. Please leave comments to tell me what you liked or didn't like about this chapter. Or anything that you think I can improve on! Like always, reviews and criticism are greatly appreciated and taken seriously!

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