| No Glass Slipper by Demonica Mills |
| Chapter #6 - Chapter 6 |
| A/N: Feeling kind of sad today. Cheer me up and leave a review Chapter 6 Spike I’m still stuck on the whole lost month issue. What was I doing for the past month? Was I really unconscious in that hotel room the whole time? My thoughts drift to the Slayer and the Bit. My girls have been starving and alone. Again I think about wanting to kill the Scoobies and that leads me to my almost slip up tonight when the Slayer tried to hit me. I hadn’t lied when I said that I hadn’t hurt her. Buffy’s punch was so weak that any fledgling could have avoided it. I know that Joyce is turning in her grave. Seems the Slayer hasn’t been patrolling too much either. Quite a few vamps that needed to be staked tonight. I stopped by Willy’s and had my suspicions confirmed. The Slayer has only been patrolling once or twice a week and even then it’s hardly more than a quick sweep. The only good thing about my visit to Willy’s is that I managed to get a job lined up. All I need to do is hold onto some merchandise for a local black market trader and I’ll get $5,000. I know that the Slayer won’t outright take it, but maybe I can sneak some of those bills away the next time ‘m over and send the payments out. Yeah, ‘m a pathetic excuse for a vamp alright. XXX Tara I smooth down my skirt and check my watch. Buffy hadn’t really given me a time, but she had said that Dawn needed company while she was at work. I think she was trying to avoid the word babysitter. She told me to show up whenever and not to worry if I had to leave, but I think she just felt guilty about asking me over on a Saturday. I tried my best to silently reassure her that I didn’t mind. I had always liked Dawn. Quickly I glance around to make sure that no one’s watching. When I’m sure, I reach down and pull out the spare key that Buffy had hidden for me. She said that Dawn wouldn’t answer the door if I knocked. I open the door and walk in. “Dawn? Dawn, its Tara…Willow’s girlfriend.” The house is silent and I decide that she must still be sleeping. I flick the kitchen light, but it doesn’t go on. Frowning, I walk farther into the kitchen and see a note on the table. Tara- Thanks for coming over today. I really appreciate it. We’re having a little electricity problem right now, but don’t worry I’m working on it. There’s pizza in the freezer if you guys are hungry. I think the stove is gas, so it should still work. Call me if you need anything. ~Buffy I don’t really want to open the fridge or freezer if the power is out, so I open the cabinets instead and find the empty except for eight boxes of Cookie Crisp cereal. I bite my lip and open the fridge. It’s empty except for a gallon of milk which has gone bad. Someone must have opened the fridge after the power had gone out. I open the freezer slowly, afraid of what’s in there. It holds several bags of melted vegetables and a few boxes of soggy frozen pizza. None of the food is edible, but I don’t want to throw it out since it’s not my house. I do, however, make up my mind to take Dawn out to brunch as soon as she wakes up. XXX Dawn I wake up to weird noises from the kitchen. I wonder if Buffy has let Spike stay the night. Quickly, I throw some clothes on and run downstairs to find…Tara? She spins around and looks at me nervously. “H-hi,” she gives a little wave. “Um, Buffy m-mentioned that you m-might like s-some company while she was at w-work.” I stare at her a moment. “Where’s Willow?” I ask. She blushes and looks at the ground. “No Willow, j-just me.” “She’s still avoiding Buffy, isn’t she?” There’s anger in my voice and I make no attempt to hide it. Tara twists her hands together tightly. “I don’t…know w-what’s going on with W-Willow. I’m sorry that she h-hasn’t been here for you and Buffy. I’m sorry that she’s been a b-bad friend, but…I want to help…and be your friend…if you’ll let me…” Half of me wants to throw her out, but the other half of me thinks about how lonely Buffy has been…how lonely I’ve been, especially since I can’t talk to anyone about what’s going on…well, anyone except Clem…and now Spike. I smile slowly. I’ve always thought that Tara was nice and God knows that Buffy and I need more nice people in our lives. She smiles back brightly. “If you’re hungry, I thought that it might be nice to go to lunch? My treat as a token to our new friendship?” My smile gets larger. “Sure, lemme just grab my shoes.” When I come back down, Tara and I head out to the House of Pancakes. We order a huge breakfast, so big that even with how hungry I’ve been lately, I can’t finish it. We box up the leftovers and Tara suggests that we take them to Buffy at work. I decide that I absolutely love Tara. XXX Buffy I managed to get the early lunch break and I ran to the bank. The lady at the desk was nice enough to help me set up a checking account with direct deposit so I don’t have to worry about getting to the bank to cash my paychecks anymore. Then she helped me to set up an account for Dawn and I silently thank myself for remembering to grab the paycheck that Dawn left out on the counter. She’s been hinting about setting up her own bank account for awhile now, so I feel accomplished. I keep enough money to get the electricity back on and quickly run to the hardware store to pay the bill. The guy at the counter tells me that they won’t get the money until Monday, so my electricity probably won’t be on until Tuesday. There’s nothing I can do about it, so I pay the bill, thank him and leave. There’s ten minutes left on my lunch by the time I get back to work and I’m so hungry that I have a headache. To my surprise, I find Tara and Dawn waiting at the picnic bench outside with a box of food. I start to say no, but Dawn reminds me that the food will go to waste since she can’t store it in the fridge anyway and Tara says that she doesn’t want to take it home because Willow would be curious. I instantly feel guilty because I know that Tara paid for this food and that she lied to Willow on top of it, but she puts her hand on my arm and squeezes gently. I smile and open the box. “Thank you,” I say softly. “Eat quickly because Manny says you have to be back on the clock at noon, so you’ve only got, like, seven minutes,” Dawn says. I nod and start to eat while Dawn and Tara keep a light conversation going between them. The food is delicious and I finish it all before I even realize it. Ha, I even got two minutes to spare. Go me. Dawn and Tara start to say their good-byes and I remember Dawn’s new checking account. I give her the information and she’s super excited, wanting to know when the checks will show up and everything. She asks about the electricity and I tell her that the problem will be fixed by Tuesday. They take off and I clock in…one minute late. “You’ll have to make that up, Summers,” Manny snaps. God, I hate my life. |