Chapter 1

As she gazed down at the piece of paper, Buffy had a million things running through her head. The foremost of which was - A day in the life of Buffy Summers?

What kind of ridiculous assignment was this? Why would anyone possibly want to know what she went through every day? Looking up at their normal looking but definitely insane English Teacher, Ms.Calendar, she then glanced to her right and directed an enquiring look at her best friend, Wesley. He looked back at her and smirked. She loved that smirk. It was so akin to the one that usually graced the face of the boy, no, the man, that she loved.

As soon as the bell rang signaling the end of classes for the day, she mindlessly found herself walking towards her locker and after disposing of her books, she leant her head against the cool surface of it and sighed.

A day in the life of Buffy Summers.
Buffy was fully aware that most of Sunnydale High thought that she was strange. After all, her best friends were the most popular girl in school, the sluttiest and the smartest – Cordelia, Faith and Willow. The three of them were from totally different worlds. Cordelia was the head cheerleader, with her dark hair, dark eyes, long legs and a tongue that could blister the thickest hide– she was the girl all the others loved to hate. Faith was Sunnydale’s resident wild child, dark, overtly sexual and passionate. She liked to pretend that she was hardened and that nothing touched her but Buffy knew better and she also knew that she was one of the few people Faith loved. And when Faith loved, she loved for life. Willow was the innocent. With her auburn hair and big green eyes, she had the potential to be a real knock out if she would only muster up the confidence. Talking to her sometimes made Buffy feel old and jaded. Like her childhood had passed her by far too quickly.
But when it all came down to it, there was no one in her life that she loved as she loved Wes. They had met when she still lived in L.A. While suffering from the backlash of her first break up, her parents divorce and her mother threatening to institutionalize her if she didn’t get her act together - She had been at her favorite bar, Caritas, and when Wes had sat down next to her, she hadn’t been impressed. She had expected Wes to be another moron wanting to capitalize on her vulnerability. How wrong she had been. They had ended up talking about everything and anything under the sun and when a random asshole who had been in Hemery with her had refused to leave her alone; Wes had jumped in to defend her honor. The resulting brawl had shut Caritas down for a week and as they walked home, arm in arm, nursing a split lip and a black eye respectively, Buffy had realized that this was the start of something new. Something good.
So, yes, Cordy, Faith and Willow were her best friends, but Wes, Wes’ role in her life wasn’t restricted to ‘best friend’. He was her rock, her inspiration, her role model, her philosopher and guide… He couldn’t be defined by words. Words were so meaningless when it came to things like this.

It felt like she had been leaning against her locker for hours, pulling herself out of her musings, she noticed that the halls were almost deserted. Sighing, she headed to the library to spend some quality time with Giles while waiting for her mom to finish her weekly AA meeting.

A day in the life of Buffy Summers was a constant whirlwind of emotions.
Sometimes it took everything out of her just to get out of bed in the morning and make sure that her household functioned. She had to wake up her mother and make sure Joyce made it through the day without succumbing to temptation and drinking herself into oblivion. She had to do practically all the housework and keep up with her school work. And after school she usually worked at the Magic Box which was small gift shop that was owned by Wesley’s uncle -Spike’s father.

Spike. His name alone conjured up a maelstrom of feelings that made her head hurt just thinking of them.
She’d been in love with William Giles a.k.a Spike from the moment she saw him. She knew that it was the most hopeless aspect of her life. A recovering alcoholic mother she could handle, absentee fathers were a piece of cake, homework and housework were both doable and her part time job was semi- fun. But her love life? Pretty much non-existant. And the reason for that was leaning against Giles’ desk in the library flirting with Harmony.
It wasn’t that Spike didn’t like her. He did. They hung out occasionally, bonding over being Wes’ best friends and the fact that they both loved martial arts. But the idea of Spike seeing her as more than one of the guys was ludicrous. She had heard him say so once and had spent the rest of the day in solitary misery, crying her eyes out. And as it often did with Buffy Summers, pride won out and she acted like she hadn’t heard or felt anything out of the usual at all. Sometimes, to Buffy, it seemed like pride was all she had.

And then there was Druscilla. Spike’s Dark Princess. The woman who was everything Buffy was not. With her long raven hair and porcelain skin, she combined fraility with whimsy in a way that had half the boys in school panting after her. And she had chosen Spike. Well, She chose Spike most of the time. Dru was as famous for her indiscretions as she was for her so called ‘second sight’. She would leave Spike high and dry for some new guy every now and then. The resulting fight would be watched with bated breath by the whole of Sunnydale High, everyone wondering if this would be the last time Spike forgave her. Buffy knew better. She knew Spike adored Dru. Even though they had been together of sorts for the better part of three years, he still looked at her like she was the most beautiful woman in existence.
She knew she could never compete with that. So with all the pride she had inside her, she forced herself to go on each day. Spike never knew what kind of effect he had on her. Even if he did, all he would’ve done was pity her and if there was one thing Buffy dreaded more than anything else it was Spike Giles’ pity.

All this retrospection was giving her a headache and avoiding Giles’ enquiring looks, Buffy ignored everyone else in the library and closeted herself in Giles’ office. Maybe if she was lucky he would still have some of his ‘emergency’ scotch.

Chapter 2

Spike Giles wasn’t sure if he would ever be able to understand the enigma that was Buffy Summers. She was a total bloody mystery.

Whenever he looked at her, she always seemed so ditzy – a typical valley girl with nothing on her mind except her clothes and her nails. But now and then, he caught glimpses of desolation so deep and desperate that it tugged at his heartstrings like nothing else. Everytime he thought he had her pegged, she somehow managed to up and surprise him.

Another thing that annoyed him was really how little he knew about her. He knew she was Wes’ best friend. That she was blonde and liked karate. And he knew her address having given Wes a ride there occasionally. But other than that, he had been in the same classes as her for almost three years and he was still clueless.

Today, as she ignored his greeting and stalked into his father’s office, he realized that he was actually a little hurt by her brush off. After all, everyone knew that there was only one thing that could pierce the armour of Buffy Summers – Spike Giles.

And he was more intrigued than usual. Buffy never seemed to lose her cool. He knew from experience that the more he prodded and teased, the more she shut down.
Affecting a careless swagger, he walked towards the office, intent on finding out what was wrong with her. Cracking the door open, he was shocked to see her sitting across the desk from his father, a bottle of scotch between them. Deciding he’d find out more if he didn’t barge in, he leant against the semi-closed door and listened.

‘Things bad at home again?’ asked his father, pouring himself another finger of scotch.
Buffy waved her glass under his nose, and watched intently as he poured her some as well.
‘You know how it is’ she replied, ‘there are good days and there are bad days’.
‘She’s still going for her AA meetings?”
“I think so. Sometimes it’s just too hard to tell. She’s always so zoned out’.
‘It will get better. You have to believe that’.
‘So everyone says’, she sighed and downed her drink.
She sat quietly for a few minutes and then said ‘I’m worried Giles, I have to go to L.A for the summer. You know the terms of her custody over me – school year with mom and holidays with dad. And you know that at the first sign of anything damaging he would LOVE to sue her for custody of me’. Putting her glass down, she laughed a little bitterly and continued ‘It’s not as if he actually wants me, he just can’t stand the idea of mom and I being happy without him – it hurts his ego’.
‘Don’t say that, Buffy, your father might not be the best around but he still loves you’ said Giles, sadly.
‘So we’d like to think’ said Buffy, giving him a small smile.
Putting her glass down, she picked up her backpack and stood to leave, ‘Thanks for the pick me up, Giles’
‘Not a problem, my dear, you know you can always come to me’
‘Thank you’.




Spike rested his head against the back of the seat and looked sideways at his father. Giles was completely focused on navigating their way safely home through the post-school traffic. Wes was sprawled in the backseat, his feet up and tapping his fingers to the music that was discretely play through his earphones.

How was it that the two most important people in his life happened to be important to Buffy as well – and he still was no closer to understanding her.
Well, atleast after today’s eavesdropping session he knew a little more than he had.
And what he had learned quite frankly puzzled him. He had been Buffy’s friend – well, at the very least a good acquaintance- for awhile. How had he not known how close she was to his father? How difficult her home life was…It was all cause for reflection. Maybe there really was more to Buffy Summers than hair, make up and nails.

The sharp, shrill sound of his cell phone effectively cut through his thoughts about Buffy. Glancing at the screen, he smiled reflexively and answered.
‘Hello, Princess….’
But for some reason, even when he was chatting to Dru, Buffy Summers continued to buzz through his brain.

Hanging up, he realized that they had pulled into their drive way, he followed his father into the house and decided that he’d ask him about Buffy.
‘So, Dad…’ he started, unsure of how to really broach the topic.
‘Yes?’ asked Giles, quirking an eyebrow at him, Spike felt a sudden surge of fondness for his father – in many ways they were so alike. The eyebrow thing for instance, he remembered how it used to drive his mother mad.
‘I didn’t realize you and Buffy were so close’ he blurted out, instantly wishing he had been more tactful.
‘What do you mean?’ asked Giles, looking surprised.
‘I mean, I noticed that she was in your office for awhile and she looked calmer when she came out – so I assumed she was talking to you’
‘Yes’ said Giles, pulling off his glasses and cleaning them, wondering what on earth had brought on this sudden interest in Buffy. Perhaps William was feeling insecure in his relationship with him?
Aha! Thought Spike, he only cleans his glasses when he’s anxious.
‘Buffy Summers is a nice girl’ said Giles, quietly and firmly, ‘She has a tough life and despite having every right to be a miserable person, she continues to be truly delightful and so full of optimism it astounds me’.
Spike almost growled at his father’s subtle stab at his girlfriend’s character. Rupert Giles did NOT like Druscilla. He was not at all drawn in by her frail exterior – seeing her corseting ways for what they were – manipulation in the hands of a master.
‘Anyway’, Giles continued, ‘like I said, she is a remarkable person and I have a lot of respect for her’.
Spike regarded his father in surprise, until now, he had never discussed Spike’s friends, believing firmly that they were entirely Spike’s business. So to hear him speak so warmly of Buffy was shocking to say the least.

Buffy Summers was becoming more intriguing by the minute.