"Willow?" Buffy said softly.
"Hmm?" I asked sleepily.
"It’s three in the afternoon, I think you should get up…."
I sat up quickly, "Three in the *afternoon*?" The blood rushed quickly to my head. I put my hand to my forehead in pain.
"Big night last night?" she asked with a grin, "why didn’t you come to the party?"
"I *did*," I said gritting my teeth.
"Oh," she said, "well, did you have a good time?"
"The best," I said sarcastically.
She obviously couldn’t detect my sarcasm though, because she smiled and said, "Great."
"What time did you come in?" I asked, "I didn’t hear you."
"I didn’t, hence the not hearing part. I spent the night at Riley’s," she went to the mirror and applied some lipstick.
"Oh, well-" I started.
"You don’t mind if I go out, right? I’ll be back later, and we can do something."
"I… I… guess."
"Thanks."
She walked out and slammed the door behind her.
"Some great friends I have…"
Four hours later the phone rang. I picked it up.
"Will?" the voice on the other end asked.
"Yeah?"
"It’s Buffy."
"Yeah, what’s up? I was thinking maybe we should go catch a movie or something…"
"Umm…." She paused, "I kinda forgot that I promised Riley that I would go see that new Disney movie with him. Don’t ask why he wants to see that…."
"Oh," I swallowed, "well, I’ll just call up Xander and see if he wants to do something."
"Umm, sorry to disappoint you, Will, but he’s out for the weekend with Anya. Some weird sex thing. Who ever knows with them…"
"Oh. Well, I’ll just go rent a movie or something. Do my nails…" I managed to get out without crying.
"That sounds great!" Buffy said cheerfully, "well, I’ll see ya tomorrow, Will. BYE!"
I sat there listening to the dial tone until the operator came on. <Some friends I have…> I hung up the phone, tears wetting my face. I had to get out.
*****
I just needed to think. I sat in the cemetery, holding my bag of movies in my hand, and my six-pack of beer in the other. <God, I’ve become an alcohol junkie in the past few days, what’s wrong with me? Maybe it’s because all of your friends don’t even care about you anymore. They’re so damn busy that they can’t even see that I’m unhappy… They can’t see that I struggle every single day. Buffy’s so in love with Riley, she’s dizzy. Xander’s so whipped, he doesn’t even pay attention to himself anymore…> I opened one of the beers and took a swig. <Yum, that helps.>
Then, someone or *something* came up from behind me and put their hand over my mouth. I struggled against the body, but it was too strong. I threw my beer in my struggle. Then I realized that my eyes were squeezed shut, I opened them to find a smiling Spike enjoying my struggle. He noticed me notice him, released his hold on me, and took his hand from my mouth. He had a smirk on his face. <I’ll wipe that smirk off his face.> I hit him hard on the shoulder.
"THAT WASN’T FUNNY!" I yelled angrily, "YOU SCARED THE SHIT OUT OF ME!"
He looked at me calmly, "I told you that you never know what lurks in the dark. Lucky for you, it just happened to be the most handsome guy in Sunnydale…" He smiled.
"And who would that be?" I asked sarcastically.
"Me, you twit," he said with a smile. He noticed my glare. "I was just kidding around…"
"You see me laughing?"
"Umm… no?" he said, squirming. He looked at me with a concerned look on his face, "Look, Willow, I’m sorry that I scared you. You just looked so cute sitting there, I just had to do something…"
<He said I’m cute!>
"I *am* sorry though. It was immature and…"
I started to laugh hysterically.
"What’s so funny?"
"Watching a big and bad vampire apologize for scaring someone…" I continued to laugh.
"HEY!"
I couldn’t stop.
"That’s not funny! I was just trying to be polite!"
I finally settled down, and noticed the scowl on his face.
"Spike, look, I’m sorry. It was just cute watching you apologize…"
He started to laugh.
"What?" I asked simply.
"Come on, Red," he said grabbing my arm.
"Where are we going?" I asked, trying to keep up with him.
"I dunno, I was just tired of apologies…" He smiled at me.
"Yeah…"
"What’s in the bag, Red?" he asked, indicating my bag of movies.
"Well, I rented some movies to watch."
"By yourself?"
"Yeah, Buffy’s busy …" I said trying not to tear up again.
"Too busy to notice that her best friend is upset and she just needs someone to talk to?" he asked, looking at me.
"I guess," I said, a tear running down my cheek. He touched my arm to stop me, and turned to face me. He gently wiped the tear from my face.
"I’m here for you, Red," he said soft and sincere. He put his arm around my shoulder and we started to walk again. "Need a movie partner? I’m not doing anything," he said in a pleasant tone.
I looked at him, a big smile on my face, "That’d be nice."
*****
I unlocked my door and invited Spike in. I flipped the lights on.
"Make yourself comfortable," I said. He sat down on my bed.
"What movies did you rent?" he asked casually.
"‘Three to Tango’, ‘Scream 3’ and ‘Stigmata’."
"I’m in the mood for something happy. How bout ‘Three to Tango’? That’s the one with Chandler from Friends right?"
"Yeah."
"How bout that then? If that’s alright with you, of course?"
"Sure is," I said, smiling at him. I put the movie in and sat on Buffy’s bed.
Fifteen minutes passed and Spike was loving the movie. <Who would have thought he liked Matthew Perry…> I grabbed a bottle of beer, opened it, and took a sip.
"Pet, you really shouldn’t drink to relax," he said, concerned, "it’s not your style. Let me show you how to relax." He patted a seat on my bed, next to him. I got up and sat down next to him. He turned me around so my back was to him. He put his hands on my back. I jumped, surprised.
"Relax," he said soothingly. He began to give me a massage. I could feel the tension and the pain flow away with his touch. He just brought me happiness. He stopped and I relaxed against him, tucking my head under his. He brought his arms around me and his hands rested in my lap, covering mine. I felt so happy. That was the last thought I had before I drifted off to sleep.