A/N: Please Review. I don't know if I will continue this fic after the first chapter. Tell me what you think.

Buffy Summers looked around the old hardware store. It was located on the main street in the middle of the town, but hadn’t been occupied for twenty years. The building was nothing but one long room with a storage room off to the side. The front half of the store had long shelves on either side of the room that were waist high. From the top of the shelves up to about two feet from the ceiling were small 1ft x 6in shelves, with glass doors on each, built into the walls. Along the ceiling were bars that held tall ladders, so you were able to access all shelves. She knew it would be perfect.

“I’ll take it.” she said with a smile knowing that her dream was finally coming true.

“That’s great. I’m glad we finally sold this place. It’s a very hard sale. There is also a two bedroom apartment upstairs that I forgot to mention.” the agent said looking around the place.

“I think I’ll still take it, but I would like to look at the apartment too.”

“No problem.” he said leading the way up the stairs. He opened the door. “It’s not the best I’m sure but it’s part of the building, so....”

“It’s perfect. I’ll still take it.” she said.

They walked back downstairs and walked out the door, stopping to let him lock it, before walking to his car. After making their way back to his office, she signed all of the appropriate paperwork.

“So Miss Summers, what exactly do you plan to do with the building?” he asked curious as to what the young woman might be bringing to their town.

“I’m opening a coffehouse and bar.” she said confidently.

“How are you going to do that?” he said not believing in her idea.

“You’ll see.” she said with a nod.

“Well the best of luck with that. I hope everything goes well for you. Thank you for taking that building off of our hands.” he said shaking her hand.

“And thank you for allowing me to. Have a nice day.” she said then turned and left his office.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Mom!! Are you home?” Buffy yelled.

“In the kitchen sweetie.” Joyce answered back.

“Mom. I did it. I bought that old hardware store downtown. I’m going to finally own my own bar.” Buffy said practically glowing.

“That’s great news.” Joyce said giving her daughter a hug. “So have you thought about a name for this special dream of yours?”

“Well I thought about coffee and then I though about people getting off of work and came up with the perfect name” Buffy said trying to explain her decision.

“And..?” Joyce said encouragingly. Buffy looked at her mom for a moment before answering.

“The Grind.”
 

Chapter 1:

Two months later...

The old empty hardware store had been transformed into Buffy’s vision of The Grind. A small kitchen had been added to the back of the building. In the middle of the room was a small wooden dance floor. A long bar had been built in front of one of the shelving systems. The small glass doors on the small shelve had been individually painted and was backlit, creating a huge mural on either side of the building. The final touches that had been added were the forty high tables with chairs and the heavy curtains that would be open in the morning and closed at night to give a more intimate setting to the bar.

“I actually did it. It looks exactly like I always wanted my bar to look like. Now all I need are people to work for me. Did you bring that help wanted sign?” Buffy asked her mom who had been helping her throughout the renovation.

“Yeah, I put it on the bar. This place really looks great. I know that it'll do business. People have been wondering what you are doing in here.” Joyce said.

“Really? Maybe that'll bring people in.” Buffy said amused. “Now, I want to put out an ad in the paper for bartenders, waitresses and kitchen staff. I’ll go down to the paper to do that today. I want to open soon.”

“Honey, you have your bartenders licence and you’re a great bartender. Why are you hiring more?”
Joyce asked.

“I love to bartend, you know that, but I am going to have to run this place too. I'll still bartend I just want to hire some people to know that I am covered if I can’t be here.”

“Good, at least your not giving it up. Look, I need to go. I have my own business to attend to.” Joyce said giving here daughter a hug.

“Okay, mom. I’ll see you later. Are you going to help me move in up stairs?” Buffy asked.

“Of course. Have a good day honey.” Joyce said and left the building.

Buffy took the Help Wanted sign and put it in the window, then wrote out her ad. She took it down to the paper.

A week later, Buffy had hired Clem to run things in the kitchen. She also hired Anya as the manager. She found Anya very amusing because she was so blunt and she had an obsession with money. Buffy hired two girls as waitresses in the bar : Willow and Tara. She hired a few coffeehouse waiters too: Harmony, Dawn, and Kendra. Xander, Willow’s friend, had come to interview for the bartending job. He had no experience, but he looked like he had potential. But Buffy still wanted to hire one more bartender to make up for Xander’s inexperience.

“Mom I need you and Anya to help me. I have to go to LA to see a guy about a sound system. I have a guy coming to interview for the other bartending job. I really need you to interview him for me. Will you?” she said practically begging them.

Joyce and Anya shared a look before answering. “Honey of course we’ll interview him for you.” Joyce said.

“Oh my god. Thank you so much. I need to go. He’ll be here in a little bit.” She said giving them both a hug then rushed out the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spike looked at the address that was in the ad then at the building. He thought for a minute that he had the wrong address. Finally he walked through the door and was greeted by two attractive women.

“Hello, luvs. I’m looking for Buffy Summers.” Spike said.

“Hello, I’m Joyce and this is Anya. Buffy had to go to LA on business. We will doing the interview.”

“You are good looking. You would draw women into the bar.” Anya said.

“Um, Thank you.” Spike said.

“Why don’t you tell us about yourself.” Joyce said knowing that she would end up doing the interview anyway.

“Well, my name is William Hart, but people call me Spike. I’m 26 years old. I just moved here from London. I worked at a bar there. I was the best there. But I moved here so I could see more of my mom and stepfather. I’m living with them for right now until I find a place of my own.” he finished wondering if there was anything else they wanted to now.

“Well you seem to be a really nice guy. But we need to know if you can bartend. Would you mind showing us? We would give you our order and you make it.” Joyce said wanting to hire him.

“Sounds good. Let me get behind the bar.” Spike said moving around the bar. He looked around for a few minutes studying where everything was situated before turning to the women. “Alright, let’s have it.” he said with a cocky grin.

“Okay, let me have a Rolls Royce” Joyce said. He nodded and looked at Anya. “I'll take a Maiden's Prayer” Anya said.

Joyce and Anya looked at Spike in amazement. He flipped the bottles with confidence and poured the liquid into the glass without spilling a drop. He handed them their drinks and wiped his hands off with a towel.

Joyce smiled at him. “Good job. I think your hired. I just have one more question.”

“Ask away.” he said leaning on the bar.

“Are you afraid of heights?” she asked.

“That’s the question?” he asked confused. Joyce nodded. “Well, no.”

“Good. Because some of our liquor is stored in those shelves at the top, you would need to climb that ladder. Would that be a problem?” Joyce said knowing that she was going to hire this man. She liked him he was polite even though he looked tough.

“No.” he said simply

“Great. Then your hired. My daughter left the decision to myself and Anya and I think you would be perfect. What do you think Anya?”

“Yeah, I would love for you to work here” Anya agreed.

Joyce took over again. “I’ll tell Buffy that I gave you the job. She’ll call you sometime this week. Right now though I need you fill out some paperwork. Please follow me.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buffy got back to the apartment late that night and called her mom.

“Hey mom. How did the interview go?” Buffy asked.

“I hired him. He is a great bartender. Spike will definitely bring women in. I left his paperwork on your desk in the apartment.”

“Thanks mom.” Buffy walked over to the desk. “Mom did you just call him Spike?”

“Yes, honey, but it is only a nickname.”Joyce laughed.

“Mom I’m going to go. I’m really tired. I got the sound system though so everything is good.”

“That’s great. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Get some sleep. I love you.” Joyce said as she hung up.

Buffy went to sleep that night thankful that everything was under control.

 

Chapter 2:

Buffy was having a meeting at the bar a few days before the bar opened. She had called everybody except the man that her mom had hired. She looked trough his paper work to find his phone number.
She picked up the phone and dialed the number.

“ `ello?” answered a British accent

“Hello, may I speak to William Hart?” Buffy said trying to sound professional.

“That’d be me, and I prefer Spike, luv.” he answered.

“Well, Mr. Hart, this is Buffy Summers. I’m having a meeting at the bar on Friday night. All staff members will be there to meet each other and get the starting hours.” Buffy said trying to remain professional.

“I can’t make it. I’m moving into my new apartment then. And I said that I prefer Spike.” Spike said hating to have to repeat himself.

There was something that she didn’t like about him. “If you don’t come to the meeting, Mr. Hart, then I will have no choice but to put you on training duty. I have an inexperienced man who wants to become a bartender. I’m giving him the chance to do that. I was going to train him myself even though I would rather be at the bar. Now you’re going to train him instead while I head up the bar.” she said.

“Look here, I didn’t take this job to train some inexperienced whelp how to mix. And for the last time I said I prefer Spike.” he said letting his anger out.

“As long as you want to get paid, you will do exactly what I tell you to do. And as long as I’m your boss I will call you whatever I want. So do you train the man or do you start looking for another job? And before you answer let me remind you that there aren’t anymore bars in Sunnydale.” she said knowing she had the upper hand.

“I’ll do it as long as I get to head the bar at least one night.” he said trying to negotiate.

“I think I can arrange that. I’ll send you all the information you need. See you soon, Mr. Hart.” she said then hung up.

“Bloody hell.” he yelled when he heard a dial tone. ‘What the fuck have I gotten myself into.’ he thought.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On Friday night, Buffy found herself facing a group of employees, minus a certain Brit.

She began her speech. “I’ve invited you all her to meet each other and our hours. First of all, the coffeehouse will be open from 8am to 5 pm on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday because the bar won’t be open on these days. The rest of the days the coffeehouse will be open from 8 to 4. At four, the Grind will close down. The bar staff will come in and we will transform the place into a bar. The bar stays open until midnight on Thursday and Sunday. I’ll stay open until two on Friday and Saturday. I think that covers the hours. Oh yeah and we open on Monday. Do you have any questions?”

Xander spoke up. “Yeah when will I train?”

“The other bartender will be training you during your work hours. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday you’re free to come here and practice, since I live upstairs.” Buffy said.

“Okay,” he said disappointed that he wasn’t going to train with the beautiful blond.

“Any other questions?” she asked. Everyone just shook there head. “Well I guess you are free to mingle.” Everyone got up and started talking excitedly.

“Anya could I talk to you?” Buffy asked startling Anya. She nodded her head. “Well, I have an extra bedroom upstairs and I was wondering if you’d want to be my roommate?”

“Well,” Anya thought for a minute, “okay. I guess I could do that. You can’t be worse than my current roommate. I’ll tell her tonight that I’m moving out tomorrow. Is that too soon?” Buffy just shook her head. “The only thing I have to say is that I will be having sex while I’m living there and I scream sometimes. Will that be a problem?”

Buffy just shook her head at the woman’s ability to be so open. “No, that’s okay just don’t do it all the time.” Buffy laughed.

“Don’t worry. Most guys just give me the normal orgasm.” she said causing them both to laugh.

“Oh! I have one other favor to ask. I need you to deliver some papers to the new bartender. I’d do it, but I think I should stay here and talk to my employees.” Buffy said handing Anya an envelope.

“Sure no problem. I guess I’ll go deliver these to him, now. Is this his address?” Anya said looking at the envelope.

Buffy nodded. “Yeah, he was moving in today.”

“Okay,” Anya said grabbing her coat. “I be going now. See ya tomorrow.” She was out the door two seconds later.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Knock, knock, knock.

“Who the hell could that be?” Spike said getting off of the couch. He had been moving all day and was exhausted. He opened the door and smiled when he saw Anya standing there.

“Hey there.” she said.

“Hey what are you doing here?” he asked.

“I have some papers that you need.” she said hoping he would invite her in.

“Oh, okay.” He moved out of her way. “Come on in. Do you want something to drink?” he asked going over to an enormous bar.

Anya knew she wanted this man so she took a chance. “A Comfortable Screw.”

Spike smirked at her and began to make her drink. “Great drink with a great name.” he said. He took the drink to her and sat down on the couch next to her. “So why did you come here tonight? Was it just to deliver those papers?”

She smiled, put her drink down on the table and straddled Spike. “No, I was horny and I thought you would be able to give good orgasms.”

“Well, I don’t want to brag but..” he was cut off by Anya kissing him hard while pressing him into the couch. Spikes hands went to her waist, kneading the exposed skin he found. Slowly he moved his hands up to her breasts, pinching her nipples through her bra. Anya started to tug at his shirt. He kissing her long enough to remove his shirt while she removed her shirt and bra as well. He started kissing her again. His hands once again found her nipples, making her moan into his mouth. Anya reached down and unzipped his pants. He shuddered when he felt her touch his cock. She started stroking him making sure he was ready. She reached over into her purse and pulled out a condom. She rolled it on slowly, making him moan loudly. He under her skirt, rubbed her center. She quickly stood removing her skirt and panties. She straddled him and was about to sink onto him when he stopped her. She looked at him confused but he just smirked at her. Starting at her neck, he ran his hand down the front of her body all the way down to her center. He entered her with one finger slowly pumping it, before adding another. He ran his thumb over her clit sending her into a sudden orgasm. Before she could come down, he slammed her down onto his aching cock.

“Oh God... ungh... yes...so good...” she moaned as he slammed into her rapidly. Soon she felt her muscles tightening. “Oh god...Spike...I’m..ungh...I’m...I”M CUMMING!!” She screamed.

He couldn’t hold off anymore. He thrust into her three more times before cumming with a shout of his own.

They sat there for some time panting. Spike finally broke the silence. “Was your Comfortable Screw to your liking?” he smiling

“Definitely.” she said smiling back.
 

Chapter 3:

Buffy looked at her clock. It was eight in the morning on Saturday and someone was calling her. She was not a happy camper. She reached for the phone and jerked it up.

“Hello!!” she answered.

“Buffy, this is Anya. I was wondering when I could move in. I want to get out of this apartment.” Anya said rapidly.

“Um, yeah give me a few minutes to get up and take a shower and stuff. Then you can start moving your stuff over here.” Buffy said climbing out bed.

“Okay. I’ll see ya in a bit.” Anya said and hung up.

Thirty minutes later, she heard a knock on the door. She opened the door and found Anya standing there surrounded by boxes.

“I brought all of my boxed stuff up already. I just need to unpack these and you can help me bring the bed.”Anya said.

“Okay, I’ll help you carry those in.” Buffy said and grabbed a couple of boxes. “So why did you want to get out your old apartment so fast?” She asked.

“I kind of came home at midnight, which she considers late. She got pissed and started complaining about how I know that she has to wake up early in the morning. I couldn’t take it anymore. I just wanted to get out.” Anya explained.

“I understand. Where’d you go last night? I thought you would come to back to the club. You did deliver those papers right?”

“Oh yeah. That’s why I didn’t come back last night. I was having sex with Spike.” Anya said.

Buffy dropped the box she was carrying on the floor in Anya’s room. She turned around looking shocked. “You’re not serious.” she said. Anya just nodded. “Anya, how could you have sex with the guy. You just met him.”

“Well he invited me in. He’s good looking and I was horny. What can I say?” Anya said with a shrug.

“Anya, I want to be the cool boss and a good roommate, so I don’t mind if you date this guy..” Buffy started but interrupted.

“Oh, we aren’t dating, we are going to the friends with benefits thing.” Anya said.

“Okay..” Buffy said slowly. “I don’t mind that you do that as long as it doesn’t effect the business. I don’t want any of my employees to quite because they’ve had a fight with their co-worker boyfriend.”

“Don’t worry. If either of us want to have a relationship, we’ll stop. I’m not emotionally involved with this one.” she said.

“Okay. Well now that that’s settled let’s bring up your bed.” Buffy said still a little troubled about Anya’s relationship with the bartender.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later that night, Anya and Buffy were sitting in the living room watching tv.

“So what happened at the party last night?” Anya said wanting all the juicy info.

“Well, I’m glad I hired Harmony for the coffeehouse and not the bar shift. She’s really ditsy. And Kendra’s worked in a coffeehouse before so she’ll be a great asset. Willow and Tara hit it off real well. They’re both Wiccan and I think they’re both gay. They’re really sweet and they would make a really cute couple. Faith’s cool. She’ll add some spice to the place. Xander’s really goofy. I think and hope everyone will get along. You know we open on Monday and I haven’t met one of my employees. You apparently like him and my mom liked him so I hope he works out.”

“Oh he definitely works out.” Anya laughed.

“Anya, there are some things that I really don’t need to know about. The body of the man your sleeping with would be one of them.” she said laughing.

“Buffy, you’re my friend now, so it’s my job to tell you the truth and give you support so here it goes. You will do great Buffy. You’ve hired great people, including me. You need to relax and enjoy what you’ve created.” Anya said. “Now tell me how this little idea came about.”

Buffy stared at Anya for moment wondering how the girl came to be so open about everything. “Well, when I turned 18, I wanted to get a cool job. I have always been obsessed with mixing. I went to bartending school and got a job at a bar in LA. I loved the bartending but I hated my boss. From that point on I knew that was what I wanted to do. I worked at that bar for six years, trying to save up money. I worked at night and lived with and helped my grandmother during the day. One day she had a heart attack.” she looked down trying to keep her tears from falling. “I had to quite my job to take care of her full time, since she didn’t want a nurse. She died not long after that and I was devastated. I came here to Sunnydale because I missed my mom. She moved here when I graduated high school in LA. Anyway, my grandmother had a lot of money that me and mom didn’t know about. She gave me half and my mom half. That’s how I was able to open my own bar.” she finished her long story with a sigh.

“So, how much money did you get?” Anya said.

“After taxes, a little over $300,000 dollars a piece.” Buffy said.

“Oh my god. The woman was rich. That’s great you know.”Anya said excitedly. Buffy just shook her head.

“Yeah. I think I’m gonna go to bed. I’ll see you in the morning Anya.” Buffy said from door of her bedroom.

“Good night.” Anya yelled back.

A/N: Please review. Pretty please.

Chapter 4:

Monday morning...

She opened the doors, hoping that all of the advertising she did would pay off. People immediately started coming in and there had been a steady stream ever since. Buffy had gone upstairs to the apartment, which had also become her office, to do some paperwork when she heard the phone ring.

“Hello?” she answered.

“ `ello, pet.” Spike said. Buffy knew that distinctive voice anywhere, even though she had only heard it once.

“Mr. Hart, what can I do for you today?” Buffy said knowing that it got on his nerves.

“I was wondering if me and Xander could come by later to start his training.” Spike said shortly.

“Of course, come around an hour before closing. I’ve got books that you guys can use for basic stuff.” Buffy said.

“Okay, pet.” Spike said politely.

“Listen, Mr. Hart. I would appreciate it if you didn’t use pet names for me.”

“As long as call me Mr. Hart, I will call you whatever I like. See ya later.” he said and hung up before she could say another word.

Buffy slammed the phone down. ‘What did mom and Anya see in that man? I’ve only talked to him twice and we ended up arguing both times. This is going to be tough.’ Buffy thought.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spike had gone to pick up Xander, thinking it would be easier, plus he wanted to know what he had gotten himself into. Xander was a cool guy and was good for a laugh, but he didn’t look forward to teaching him from the very beginning.

“Hey, while your inside getting everything set up, I’m going down to the convenience store and pick up some stuff. You want anything?” he asked getting out of the car.


“Yeah, could you pick me up some cigarettes?” he said giving Xander some money. Xander nodded and took off down the side walk.

Spike walked in the Grind, took off his sunglasses and looked around. They still have quite a few people even though it was later in the day. He continued to look around until something caught his eye. A girl was cleaning up behind the bar. Spike walked a little closer to get a better look at her. She was wearing a pair of low-ride jeans and a baby doll t-shirt that said ‘The Grind’ on it. Her hair was pulled up into a bun and was held up by chopsticks.

“Hey, luv. Do you know where I could find Buffy Summers?” he asked.

“Who wants to know?” she flirted knowing full well who was asking her. She would know that voice anywhere. She wanted to see if he would dig himself into a hole.

“Name’s Spike. I’m a bartender here.” Spike told her.

“Really? You any good?” She asked excitedly

“Back in London, I was the best bartender around.” he said.

“Cool. So you work here but you don’t know what the boss looks like?”

He shook his. “Her mom and Anya hired me, so I haven’t seen the chit yet. Although I’ve talked to her on the phone and I’ve gotta say, she kinda sounded like a tight ass.” he said with a smile.

“I think she’s kinda cool.” Buffy said.

“Yeah more like cold.” he scoffed. “You know how you get a picture in your head of someone?” Buffy nodded. “Well, let’s just say not that pretty.”

“Really.” Buffy said with a smile. ‘This guy just keeps digging himself deeper and deeper into that hole,’ Buffy thought.

He smiled at her. “So you never told me your name?”

“I know” she said with a smirk. Just then she saw Xander walk in and walk towards them. She knew her game was over now.

“Hey, Xander. How are you today?” Buffy said.

“Pretty good. I’m ready to learn.” he said rubbing his hands together.

“You two already know each other?”Spike asked.

Xander looked at Spike strangely. “Dude, this is Buffy. The owner of this place.”

Spike quickly turned to look at her. She raised her eyebrows and smirked. ‘The little chit is playing games with me.’ he thought.

“You did this on purpose.” Spike said in a low voice.

“Now, Mr. Hart, don’t be embarrassed. You were just telling me the way you really felt. I’ve gotta say, the feeling’s mutual. Although, I don’t think you’re a tight ass. I think smart ass might be a better word.” she said as she came out from behind the bar. “Xander, why don’t you get behind the bar and look around. You know get acquainted with everything. Spike, you come with me.” she said and walked away, knowing that Spike would follow. They walked up the stairs and into Buffy’s apartment/office.

“Have a seat.” she said gesturing to the couch. She sat down in a chair across from him. “Mr. Hart, it’s apparent that we don’t like each other very much. But I don’t think we know each other that well either. My mom said that you are a good bartender and I believe her, so I’m willing to give you a chance. I guess we’ll just have to try to get along `cause we’ll be working together. Can you do that?”

“Yeah. I can try.” he said. He looked like a little boy sitting in the principal’s office.

“Good. Another thing I wanted to talk to you about is your relationship with Anya.”

“How do you know about that?” Spike asked.

“Anya’s my roommate. I’ll tell you what I told her. I don’t mind you two being together, but please don’t let it hurt business. Okay?”

Spike tilted his head and studied her before answering. “Yeah. I understand where your coming from.”

“Good. Now that that’s settled, why don’t we grab those books for Xander.” Buffy said walking over to a stack of books. Spike nodded and grabbed half of them. They made their way back downstairs and to the bar.

“I need to go take care of some business things. You guys can stay here as long as you like. I’ll be back down later.” Buffy said. They both murmured an okay before grabbing one of the books.

Buffy turned around and started to walk away but stopped suddenly. “Oh and Spike, I can’t wait see if you’re as good as you say are.” Buffy said challengingly, then turned and headed back up the stairs to her apartment.

A/N: Tell me what you think.

Chapter 5:

Buffy was extremely nervous. All of her bar staff was there getting everything ready including Xander. Spike and Xander had come to the bar for the last three days, so Xander could learn the basics. Buffy hadn’t seen Xander or Spike behind the bar yet, so she hoped that they would be okay tonight.

“Xander. Spike. Can I talk to you for a minute?” Buffy asked. They both nodded and made their way to the bar. “You ready for tonight, Xander?” she asked

“Yeah, I’m cool. A little nervous. I don’t want to screw up.” he said honestly. She nodded in understanding.

“I know exactly what you mean. I was extremely nervous my first time behind the bar. But part of that was because my boss wasn’t very nice. What about you Spike? Were you nervous?” Buffy said trying to give Xander some confidence.

“No. I knew I was going to do great.” Spike said. Buffy shot him an annoyed look. “What? I didn’t say I did do great. I think I got a total of one drink right and that was a beer.” Spike laughed. He looked over at Xander who had a frightened look on his face.

“Oh god. Maybe I should just wait to get behind the bar.” Xander said.

Buffy put a hand on his shoulder. “I’m sure you’ll do just fine. It’s a Thursday, so there might not be that many people here tonight. If you want to, you can watch Me and Spike for the first few minutes, then just jump in when you feel ready. I want you to get some experience tonight though okay?” she said gently.

He took her hand off of his shoulder and held it. “Thanks Buffy.” he said then kissed her hand.

“No..no problem.” she said flustered. “I’ve gotta go help the others.” she said shyly then turned around and left.

“Does the whelp have a crush on the boss lady?” Spike laughed.

“No. I was just saying thank you.” Xander said turning to face Spike.

“Yeah, right. I know that look. I’m surprised you didn’t get down on one knee and propose right here.”

“I think she’s sweet. Okay so maybe I do have a small crush, but you can’t deny that she’s pretty.” Xander said.

“Okay, she’s pretty, I’ll give you that.” he said. They both turned to look at her. She was dressed in a pair of tight black pants and a pink halter top. Her hair was in a bun again.

“Do you think I have a chance with her?” Xander asked.

“I don’t know, man. I don’t know her that well.” Spike said. “I’d say focus on your mixing right now then you can focus on your love life later. Come on, let’s finish getting ready.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buffy walked away from Xander and Spike towards Willow.

“Hey Wills, need some help.” Buffy asked.

“Yeah, that’d be great.” Willow said grabbing a chair and moving off of the dance floor. “So what were you talking about over there.” she said with a smile.

“Um, we were telling Xander not to be nervous about his first day.” she said getting flustered again.

“Oh, he definitely didn’t look nervous to me. Actually he looked kinda smitten.” she laughed.

“I know. I don’t want to hurt his feelings but I don’t like him like that.” she said.

“Well he apparently likes you. Oh my Goddess. Don’t look now but they’re totally staring at you.” Willow whispered.

“They?” she asked not really wanting to look.

“Yeah, Xander and the hottie bartender.” Willow said.

“What? I thought you were gay, Wills.” Buffy said shocked.

“I am. But I can still spot a good looking guy.”

“You think he’s a hottie?” Buffy asked

“Oh yeah. In that bad boy kinda way. Don’t you?”

“Yeah.” She said simply and picked up a chair.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buffy was right. Tonight was a slow night. A few people came in to have an after work drink so she let Xander take care of them. She knew it was Thursday, but she had expected a better turn out.

“Are you Buffy Summers?” a man asked. Buffy looked up and saw a tall man with sandy blonde hair.

“Yeah, what can I do for ya?” she asked with a smile.

“Well, I was wondering if you were hiring?” he said.

“I’m sorry, but all my positions have been filled.” she said with a sympathetic smile.

“Well I saw that you don’t have a person at the door, checking IDs and making sure things don’t get out of hand. I was hoping maybe I could be that person.” he said.

“Okay, come by tomorrow around noon and we can talk about it. Okay Mr.?” she said.

“Finn. Riley Finn. And that sounds great. Thanks.” he said. He turned and walked out the door.

Buffy threw her head down and started banging it on the bar.

“Pet, if your trying to remodel the bar, there are easier ways to do it.” Spike said with an amused look on his face.

Buffy immediately stopped and glared at him. “Fuck you, Spike. I don’t need your shit right now.” she said in a low voice so no one around would hear her.

“What the hell crawled up your ass, Summers?” he said with a frown.

“I’m sorry. I just thought I had everything covered and some stranger comes in and pretty much tells me, ‘Nope, you forgot something’.” she said.

“What did you forget? It couldn’t be that big of a deal.” he said.

“I forgot to hire a bouncer. I own a bar and I forgot the damn bouncer. I have a guy coming tomorrow to apply for the job.” Buffy said shaking her head.

“Well then that’s covered, so why are you getting up close and personal with the bar?”

“I’m just stressed and seemed like the best option at the time.” Buffy said.

“Look why don’t I fix you a drink then you can go upstairs and destress. What would you like, luv?” Spike said.

“Why should I let you make me a drink? We don’t like each other remember. How do I know that you won’t do something funky to it.” she said with a smile.

“You don’t. I guess you’ll have to trust me, pet.” he said leaning forward.

She took a step back. “I don’t trust anyone, especially you. I’ll leave that to Anya and Xander. They both seem to like you and trust you.” she said. “I think I’ll go upstairs and sleep. You take over the bar.” she said and left before he could say anything. “Willow could you lock up tonight?” she asked, Willow nodded. “Thanks.”

Buffy went upstairs, got into bed and immediately went to sleep. Later that night she heard moaning coming from Anya’s bedroom. ‘Well I guess somebody needed to celebrate. Good thing I bought earplugs.’ she thought. She reached into her bedside table grabbed the earplugs and went back to sleep unable to hear anything.
 

Chapter 6:

Buffy woke up refreshed. She had finally had a good nights sleep. Now Riley sat in her apartment/office interviewing for the bouncer position.

“So Mr. Finn, why don’t you tell me about yourself.” Buffy said politely.

“Well, I moved here from New York. I was a bouncer there. I really like it. I had been looking for a job in LA and they didn’t need any bouncers there. I saw an advertisement and drove down here to see if you needed anyone.” he explained.

“So you live in LA right now?” she asked.

“No, I’m living at a motel while I look for a job and then an apartment.” he said.

“So, could you start tonight?” she asked hopefully. He nodded. “Good! The bar staff comes in at 4 to help transform the Grind into the bar. Can you do that?”

“Sure. I don’t have a problem with that.” he smiled.

“Then I guess you’re hired. I have some paper work for you to fill out. Let me get it.” she went to the desk and got the papers. He filled out the papers and handed them back to her.

“Thanks. I’ll walk you back down stairs.” Buffy said and turned to walk out the front door.

“Um, Buffy. I was wondering if you would like to go out with me some time, just for a drink.” Riley said shyly.

“Riley, I own a bar. The only bar in town in fact.” she said.


“How about after we close? We have one drink, that’s all I ask.” he said.

“Okay, but only one. Now let’s go downstairs.” she said opening the door and leading the way.

Riley followed her downstairs and told her he would see her at 4. Buffy walked over to where Anya, Willow and Tara, who had come to hang out, were sitting.

“ I just hired that guy, Riley.” she announced.

“That’s good. Now we have some control. I can’t believe we all forgot about a bouncer.” Willow said.

“He asked me to have a drink with him later, like after we close tonight. I was wondering if you would hang around, too. I would rather not be alone.” Buffy said.

“Sure, no problem. I probably won’t be able to sleep well tonight anyway.” Willow said.

“You know I’ll hang out. We can make it like a group thing.” Tara said.

“We can invite the two good looking bartenders too. Xander has very nice arms.” Anya said excitedly.

“That’s a good idea. I’ll ask them when they show up.” Buffy said.

“Why don’t you go on a date with him? He obviously likes you.” Tara asked.

“I don’t know. I just didn’t feel that spark, you know. I’m sure he’s an okay guy, but I’m not looking for okay. I can be sarcastic, ya know. I’ve met him twice and I’m already afraid to say the wrong thing around him.”

“Have you ever felt that spark with anyone?” Willow asked.

“No.” she said sadly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later that day...

“Xander. Spike. Can I talk to you?” she said having the feeling of deja vu.

“What do you need, pet?” Spike asked.

“I was wondering if you guys would like to stay after the bar closes and hang out. The bouncer asked me to have a drink with him, but I don’t want to be alone.” Buffy said.

“Yeah, sure I’ll stay.” Xander said happily.

“What’s wrong, Summers, you afraid of the new bouncer?” Spike said.

“No, I told you before, I don’t trust anyone. I don’t want to be here alone with him.” Buffy said honestly.

“Sure, I’ll stay, too.” he said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Oh, my God. I know that we made up for last night.” Buffy said when she finally locked the doors to the bar.

“I know it was busy and everything, but I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep anytime soon.” Willow said trying to give Buffy the chance to invite them to stay in front of Riley.

“Me and Riley were going to have a drink. Do you guys want to stay and hang out?” She asked Willow, Tara, Spike, Xander and Anya, already knowing what they were going to say.

“Yeah.”“Sure”“Okay” they all answered.

“Um, Buffy? Can I talk to you for a minute?” Riley asked.

“Sure.” she said following him.

“I thought we were going to be alone.” Riley whined.

“I know but they want to hangout. What? Am I supposed to tell them no?” she asked.

“Yeah.” he said.

“Then I can already tell you that a relationship beyond friendship could never work. I don’t like having to choose between my friends and who ever I date. I haven’t even been on a date with you and you’re already trying to make me choose. I’m sorry, Riley.” Buffy said.

Riley stared at her a moment before walking out the back door.

Buffy walked over to where the rest of the group was standing. “Riley won’t be joining us tonight. I would still you to stay and have a drink with me.” she said.

Everyone agreed to stay. Buffy went behind the bar and grabbed a small stereo she kept back there just in case turned and put in a CD with a mix of songs on it.

“Hey, Summers you remember that little challenge when we first met. I say we compete. You take half the group, I’ll take the other half.” he said with a smirk.

“Okay, I’ll take yours, Willows, and Anya’s. You take the others.” Buffy said back. He nodded.

“Okay guys. We’re about to show off for each other. Buffy goes first. She’ll take mine, Willow’s and Anya’s drink order and mix them.”

“Just a minute let me get loosened up first.” she said. Buffy kicked off her boots. She went behind the bar and took her chopsticks out of her hair. She bent over, shook her hair out, and threw her head back. “Okay, What’re you having?” Everyone stood there in shock. This was the first time they had seen her with hair down, with the exception of Anya.

‘My god. Now I know what the whelp saw in her. She’s gorgeous.’ Spike thought. Her honey blonde hair fell into soft wave around her face and down her back. She had decided to go with all black tonight. ‘I would love to run my hands... no, bad thoughts. Can’t have bad thoughts about her. You don’t like her remember.’

“What?” Buffy said when no one spoke. Everyone just shook their head.

“I’ll have a martini, sweet, two cherries.” Anya said.

“Um, I’ll take a Mai Tai.” Willow said with a smile.

Buffy nodded at the orders then looked at Spike. “Okay, let me have it.” she said with a smirk.

“Zombie’s Punch.” he said. Buffy just rolled her eyes.

She turned around and grabbed all three glasses without stopping. She made the martini first, then Willow’s Mai Tai. She flipped the bottles effortlessly. She knew that Spike would test her, so she made his last. ‘She’s great. So graceful. No wonder she chose to this.’ Spike thought. She sat all the glasses in front of the appropriate person, clapped her hands together and yelled ‘Viola’.

They all clapped including Spike and she took a small bow. “Your turn.” she said with a smile, glad that she had impressed everyone including Spike.

Spike got up and took his place behind the bar. “Okay, my turn. What’s going to be people?”

“I’ll have a Rob Roy.” Xander said. Spike nodded.

“Mojito” Tara said.

Spike looked at Buffy. “What’re you gonna have, Slayer?” he asked.

Buffy smiled at the nickname, not knowing what it meant, then ordered. “A shot of French Fire.”

Spike started as Buffy had. He spun the bottles without spilling a single drop. He threw them up into the air for effect. ‘Now, I know why my mom hired him. Anya was right, he does work out...no bad thoughts..can’t have bad thoughts’ Buffy thought.

Spike ended his show the same way Buffy had. Everyone clapped for him too, including Buffy. She joined Spike behind the bar. “So what do you think guys? Who won?” she said looking around her.

Willow spoke for the group. “We can’t choose. You both mix great, almost the same. You guys should put on shows. That would bring people in.” she laughed.

Buffy laughed too, then looked at Spike. “I guess we tied.” she said holding out her hand so he could shake it.

“Yeah, luv, I guess so.” he replied kissing the back of her hand never breaking eye contact.

“Um, yeah. I feel like dancing.” she said quickly snatching her hand away like she was being electrocuted. She ran around the bar and grabbed Willow and Tara. “Come on. Dance with me.” she said. “Anya get over here and dance.” Anya got up from her chair and made her way to the dance floor.

After one fast song a slow song came on. Willow grabbed Tara around the waist and started to rock together. Buffy saw Anya ran off the dance floor and assumed that she was going to get Spike. She was surprised when Anya and Xander came strolling onto the dance floor. Buffy shut her eyes. ‘Shit. That leave me with Spike and I doubt that he....’ Buffy snapped out of her trance when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned and saw Spike looking down at her.

“May I have this dance?” he said in a low voice. Buffy just nodded. He wrapped his arms around her waist and gently rocked her.

“Why did you call me Slayer earlier?” she said locking eyes with him.

“Because knocked out that those drinks without skipping a beat. You’re really good, you know.” he whispered.

“Thanks. You’re just as good as you said you are. I think I may begin to trust you now. Friends?” she asked.

“Friends.” he said. He felt a tap on his shoulder and saw Xander standing there.

“Can I cut in?” Xander asked. Spike nodded and reluctantly removed his arms from around her waist. Xander took his spot.

Spike started dancing with Anya but couldn’t stop thinking about the girl that had been his arms seconds ago.

 

Chapter 7:

Two Weeks Later....

Xander had gotten down the basics giving Spike and Buffy the chance to show off their skills to the public. Xander would handle anything basic, Spike and Buffy would mix the more complex drinks. People would order the more complex drinks just to watch them. Tonight the crowd was extremely encouraging. They clapped and cheered, giving the blond duo behind the bar an energy boost.

“What’ll you two have?” Buffy asked the older couple sitting at the end of the bar.

“They’ll have a Bloody Mary and a Scotch Old-Fashioned, luv. I’ll get the scotch, if you get Mary.” Spike said from behind her. Buffy looked at the couple, both of them nodded and smiled. She turned to Spike who had started to make the scotch.

“What’s with the sudden psychicness?” she asked with a smile.

“Not psychic, pet. Those are my parents.” he answered her grinning back.

“Oh. You go chat with them and I’ll fix that drink.” she said.

“Here you go, Giles. Buffy will have that Bloody Mary here in a minute.” Spike said. “What are you guys doing here? Not that I’m not happy to see you, it’s just a surprise.” Spike said as he leaned across the bar to give his mother a kiss on the cheek. He then shook his stepfather’s hand.

“We wanted to see you doing what you love, honey.” his mother said.

“Here you go. One Bloody Mary.” Buffy sat the drink down.

“Buffy this is Jenny, my mother, and Giles my stepdad.” Spike said introducing them.

“I’m Buffy. I own the bar.” Buffy said shaking their hands.

“You did a great job with the place.” Jenny said giving Buffy a smile.

Just then Joyce walked up. “Hey, sweetheart.”

“Did someone designate tonight parents night?” Buffy said to Spike. She turned to her mom. “Hey, mom. Want something to drink?”

“Rolls Royce.” Joyce said. Buffy went to fix the drink. “So, what did she mean about parents night?” she asked Spike.

“Oh , these are my parents, Jenny and Rupert Giles.” Spike said. They all shook hands.

“So how have you...” Joyce started, when they heard a loud crash. Spike’s head jerked around to see what happened. Buffy was unconscious on the ground.

Spike rushed over to her side and started checking her for injuries. “Xander take over the bar.” Spike said. He gently picked her up and walked around the bar, Joyce following him. He looked at his parents. “Will you guys help me?” he asked quietly. They nodded and followed him. He walked up the stairs to the apartment and knocked on the door. Anya opened the door. Spike rushed in and waited for Anya to lead the way. They all walked into Buffy’s bedroom. Jenny made her way through the group to Buffy’s side and started checking her.

“Jenny was a nurse at a hospital in London. When she moved her she started working at the school.” Spike said to Joyce.

“Has this ever happened before?” Jenny asked to nobody in particualar.

“Not to my knowledge.” Spike said. He looked at Joyce.

“No, never.” she whispered.

“It looks like she fainted, but she didn’t injure anything else. We need to get her to the hospital to see what happened.” Jenny said to the group.

“Joyce and I will take her in my car. You guys can follow us.” Spike said. Everyone nodded.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Joyce and Spike sat in the waiting room. Anya had stayed at the bar to make sure everything ran okay. Spike had told Jenny and Giles to go home a little bit ago, telling them he would call them and tell them what had happened.

“Ms. Summers?” The doctor asked.

“Yes. What’s wrong? What happened to her?” Joyce asked. Spike put a hand on her back to try and calm her.

“She’s okay now. She seems to have what is called arrhythmia, abnormal heartbeat. Her heart was beating too fast. We’ve given her some medication to normalize her heartbeat. Has she been under a lot of stress lately?” he asked.

“She just opened her own business.” Joyce said.

“That’s probably the cause. We’ll keep her overnight to monitor her. We’ll also give her a prescription to keep this from happening again. The stress in her life should decrease. We’ll have her come back in a few weeks and check her.” the doctor said.

“Thanks, doctor. Can we see her now?” Joyce asked.

“Of course. Follow me.” he said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Buffy, sweetheart?” Joyce said when she walked into the room.

“Hey mom. Spike?” Buffy said.

“Hey, luv. How ya feeling?” he asked.

“Okay I guess, considering I’ve been unconscious for most of the night.” she said with a smile.

“Do you want anything to eat or drink, honey?” Joyce asked.

“Yeah, I could definitely eat. I could use some water too.” Buffy said.

“I go down to the cafeteria and see what I can find.” Joyce said. She walked out the door shutting it behind her.

“You gave us a scare, luv.” Spike said, pulling a chair up next to her bed.

“It happened so fast. The last thing I remember doing is grabbing a bottle, then I was here. I was scared when I woke up here. I hate hospitals.” she said letting her tears go.

Spike took her hand and kissed it. “You’ll be outta here tomorrow. We’ll stay here for the rest of the night.”

“Why are you going to stay here?” Buffy whispered.

Spike leaned up and kissed her on the forehead. “Because you’re my friend.” he said.

“Thank you, Spike.” she said.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

“You ready to go home, Buffy.” Joyce said walking into the hospital room the next morning.

“Yeah, I’ll be glad to get out of here.” Buffy said climbing out of the bed.

“Come on, pet. Let’s get you into the wheelchair.” he said helping her out of the bed.

“I don’t need a wheelchair. I can walk just fine.” she pouted

“Hospital rules. Plus the faster you get into the chair, the faster we can get you out of here.” Spike said trying to convince her. She nodded her consent.

Joyce stood there watching Spike and Buffy. She knew that they were friends but she really liked Spike and hoped that someday it would be more.

All three of them walked out of the hospital and to Spike’s car.

“Geez, Spike. Will there be enough room?” Buffy said sarcastically.

“What? It’s a classic.” he said opening the door of the black DeSoto.

“Uh huh. I think your compensating for something.” Buffy whispered as she got into the car. She grinned when she looked back at his shocked face. “Come on, Spike I wanna go home.”

He got into the car and behind the wheel. Buffy sat next to her mom and rested her head on her mother’s shoulder. She felt the car stop and sat up.

“I’m gonna to run into the store to get some cigs. You girls want anything?” Spike said. Joyce shook her head.

“Chocolate, anything chocolate.” Buffy said with a big smile. Spike nodded and got out of the car.

Joyce waited until Spike was in the store to speak. “He’s a good guy, you know. I think he would have done anything for you last night.”

“What do you mean?” Buffy said confused.

“He was by your side the entire time. He carried you everywhere. He was just as concerned as I was.” Joyce said.

“He’s my friend, mom. That’s all.” Buffy said. Joyce looked into her daughter’s eyes.

“You like him more than a friend, don’t you?” she said softly.

“Yeah, I do.” Buffy whispered before Spike opened the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They all walked into the apartment and sat on the couch. “They told you you have to relax for 48 hours.” Joyce said.

“I can’t just sit here in the apartment for two days. I’ll go crazy. I need to go down and see how everything’s going.” Buffy said.

“Anya’s down there. Everything will be fine, pet. I’ve got an idea. The bar is closed tonight. We do a movie night thing. Pull an all nighter thing and invite the Scoobies. You need a little fun, luv.” Spike said using the nickname the bar staff had started calling themselves.

“That sounds cool. I haven’t done something like that in ages.” Buffy said.

“That’s a great idea. He’s right you need to have some fun.” Joyce said with a smile. “I have to go and do some things at the gallery. Take care and have fun, sweetie.” Joyce said giving Buffy a hug. She stood and walked over to Spike. “Thanks for everything, Spike.” She said and gave him a kiss on the cheek and left.

“I’ll go get the movies and some food. You call the scoobs and tell them what’s going on.” Spike said.
“What kind of movies should I get?”

“Oh, I love ‘The Princess Bride’ and Monty Python movies.” she said with a smile.

“Alright can do. I’ll get a few others just for variety.” Spike said getting up.

Buffy grabbed his arm. “Thank you for everything Spike.” she said.

“No problem, pet.” he said as he leaned down and kissed her forehead. “ I’ll be back later.” he said and left.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Spike came back all the Scoobs were there. Spike got all the food ready and brought it into the livingroom.


“So what are we watching first?” he asked.

“The Princess Bride. Comedy and fight scenes, can’t beat that.” Buffy said.

Everyone situated themselves as Spike put in the movie. Tara and Willow cuddled up on an old bean bag chair. Spike, Buffy, and Xander all sat on the couch, while Anya leaned against Xander’s legs.

Spike had a hard time paying attention to the movie. Buffy had made herself comfortable by leaning on Spike. Every time she laughed, he felt tingle go up his spine. ‘She is sweet and beautiful.’ Spike thought.

The movie ended without Spike really knowing it. Buffy sat up and stretched. “What should we do now?”

Tara spoke up softly. “I know we’re all kind of old but I think we should play a game.”

“Sounds like fun.”“Cool”“Sure” they said.

“What game you thinkin’ of?” Spike asked.

“Truth or Dare.”
 

Chapter 8:

Everyone in the room sat quiet for a moment. That was the last thing that they had expected out of the shy girls mouth.

“I don’t know, I was always horrible at that game.” Buffy said. “People would make fun of me because I couldn’t come up with good enough questions and stuff.” she admitted.

“Oh. I have an idea. We could play in pairs.” Willow said.

“How would that work?” Buffy asked.

“Well, both would do the dare and answer the question. But you would be able to discuss what you are going to ask. Come on Buffy. We need to let loose a little.” Willow said with a smile.

“Okay” Buffy relented. “So how should we split up?”

“Well, it’s obvious that Willow and Tara are going to be together, since they’re having sex.” Anya said.

Willow and Tara both bowed their head and blushed. “Yeah, we were hoping we could be together.” Willow said.

“I think we all kinda knew that already, Red.” Spike said trying to ensure both of them that it was okay.
“So, what about the rest of us?”

“Anyone got a quarter?” Tara said. Willow and Tara had started to take over the game.

“Yeah.” Xander said throwing a quarter to them. “What’s it for?”

“We’ll flip the coin. Heads is Spike and tails is Xander. Whichever side it lands on is paired with Buffy.” Tara said. Everyone nodded. Tara threw the coin in the air. When it landed everyone held their breath.

“It’s tails.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After Tara had done the coin toss, Spike went and made everyone drinks except for Buffy. He fixed a coke for her.

“Okay, have you decided how we’re going to start?”Spike asked.

“I think that me and Willow should start asking. And we’ll start with basic kind of stuff to get comfortable.” Tara started. “Okay, um, Spike and Anya, truth or dare?”

“Truth.” Anya said being the spokesperson for her and Spike.

“Something simple. What’s your middle name?”

“Christina.” Anya answered. “Philip” Spike said.

Tara smiled glad that they didn’t say anything about the simple question. “Okay, now it’s your turn. And remember, simple to start.” she said nodding her toward Spike and Anya.

“Okay. Xander and Buffy, truth or dare?” Anya asked.

“Truth.” Xander said taking over for him and Buffy.

“Um, what’s your favorite movie?” she said rolling her eyes.

“I would say Apocalypse Now.” Xander said. “The Breakfast Club. I love the bad boy.” Buffy said not seeing the look of surprise that passed across Spike’s face. Willow and Tara shared a smile.

“Anya. Truth or Dare?” Xander asked.

“What about Tara and Willow?” she asked.

“I want to ask you guys. We don’t have a specific order.” Xander said.

Anya pouted. “Truth.”

Xander thought for a minute. “Tell us about your first real kiss.” Buffy said before Xander could give the question.

“I was fifteen. I was at a party and we were playing spin the bottle. The bottle landed on the guy I liked and I wanted to him to remember me. We dated for a year after that party.” Anya said.

“I was fourteen, she was my friend and it was a dare.” Spike said with a smirk.

“Goody, it’s our turn.” Willow said. She whispered something in Tara’s ear. “Xander, truth or dare?” Tara said outloud.

Xander looked at Buffy, who mouthed truth. “Truth.” he said.

“Tell us about your first real kiss.” Tara said with a smirk. Buffy had told Willow about her first kiss before, and knew that it would embarrass her.

Xander answered first. “I was at my eighth grade dance. I was dancing to a slow song with my date and she kissed me.”

Buffy looked down at her hands. She was embarrassed that she was having to tell this. “It was a year after I started working as a bartender, so I was nineteen. I was about to get off of work and I was walking around the club. This guy walks up to me and starts talking about the club. We talked for about an hour. He was a nice guy that I thought I could be friends with. All the sudden he gives me a big hug. I thought he was about to leave. He took my hands and says he really likes me. Before I know what’s going on his tongue is being shoved down my throat. He pulled back and I was in shock. He started to kiss me and I don’t know why but I started to kiss him back. He pulled away again and asked if I was okay. I told him yeah but I need to leave. I walked away before he could say anything else. I didn’t even know his name.” she said. She always hated telling that story because she felt bad for doing it.

All of her friends just stared at her. “Wow.” Tara said breaking the silence.

Anya smiled. “Our turn. Tara, truth or dare?”

“Truth, but someone’s gonna have to choose dare soon.” Tara said.

“If you weren’t gay, what male celebrity would you like to sleep with?” Anya smiled, Spike just shook his head.

“Um, Johnny Depp.” Tara said. “Brad Pitt.” Willow said.

“Both good choices” Anya said.

“Anya, truth or dare?” Xander said.

“Dare.” she said with confidence.

“I dare you to show us a hidden talent.” Xander said.

“Okay, I can wrap my legs around my head.” Anya said getting up. She sat on the floor and preceded to show them. After she unwrapped herself, she sat back down and got comfortable. “Your turn, Spike.”

“Where true Love burns Desire is Love's pure flame;
It is the reflex of our earthly frame,
That takes its meaning from the nobler part,
And but translates the language of the heart.”
All of his friends looked at him in awe. “That was beautiful.” Buffy said.

“I was a geek in school and read all kinds of poetry.” he said looking at her shyly.

“Okie, Dokie, Anya, truth or dare?” Tara said.

“Truth.” she said.

“Out of everyone in this room, who would you want to sleep with the most, and why?” Willow asked.

“Xander, because I’ve already slept with Spike and I’m not gay.” Anya said.

“What!?!?” Tara and Willow said. “You already slept with Spike?” Tara asked.

Anya nodded with a smile on her face and Spike looked embarrassed. Tara looked at Buffy who had a hurt look on her face.

Buffy knew that they slept together, but since she realized the way she felt, it hurt her.

“What about you Spike?” Willow asked.

Spike decided to give a diplomatic answer. “I would be happy to be with any of you ladies.” he said hoping they would accept his answer. Everybody knew what he was doing and decided to let him off the hook.

“Tara, truth or dare?” Xander asked.

“Dare.” She said.

“I dare you to drink a shot with no hands.” he said quickly.

Both girls completed the dare without a problem.

“Anya, truth or dare?” Tara asked.

“Do you guys have something against me?” Anya asked.

“No, your just funny.” Tara said.

“Okay, dare.” she said.

Tara was about to test her theory and hoped nobody got hurt in the process. “I dare you and Spike to kiss each other. And I don’t mean a chaste little kiss.” Tara said.

Anya shrugged and nodded, but Spike’s eyes went wide. ‘There’s part of what I was looking for.’ Tara thought.

Anya looked at Spike and leaned back so he could make his move. Spike looked over at Buffy who had an indifferent look on her face. Spike moved toward Anya and started to kiss her. The kiss was not chaste but Spike made sure to make it as short as possible. When he looked up, Buffy was no longer in the room.

“I guess we should take a break.” Xander said. Everyone in the room nodded. The girls went to Buffy’s bedroom to find her, while the guys did their own thing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Knock, knock, knock.

“Buffy?” Willow said through the door. “Can we come in?” she asked.

They heard a muffled ‘yeah’ through the door and entered.

“Buffy, what’s wrong?” Tara asked.

“I felt dizzy all the sudden.” she lied.

“Really, cause I thought it was because you were hurt.” Tara said with a smile.

Buffy’s head jerked up. “Why would I be hurt?”

“Because you like Spike.” Tara stated.

“What?!” Willow and Anya said.

“You do, don’t you?” Tara said. Buffy was struggling with herself. She wanted to deny the truth, but she didn’t want to lie to her friends. She nodded after a few seconds.

“Oh my God. I didn’t know.” Anya said.

“I know you didn’t and I don’t want to come between whatever you two have. It’s just a crush.” Buffy said laying her head back down.

“Honey, we don’t have anything.” Anya said with a smile.

“Huh?” Buffy looked confused.

“We had sex once, but we never had a relationship.”

“But that first night that the bar open, I heard moaning coming from your room. I thought it you two.” Buffy said.

“Oh no. That was just me and a brand new toy.” Anya said.

“Oh.” Buffy said.

“So, are you okay, now?” Willow asked.

“Yeah, let me get freshened up a bit, okay.” Buffy said getting up off of the bed. All the girls nodded and left her room.

Knock, Knock.

“I said I’m okay now.” Buffy said. Buffy heard the door open and close and figured it was one of the girls.

“I’m glad to hear it, pet.” Spike said leaning against the door.

“Oh, hey. I didn’t think it was you.” Buffy said.

“What happened out there?” he asked walking toward her.

“I started to feel dizzy.”she lied.

“Are you okay? Not gonna have to take you back to the hospital am I?” Spike said with concern.

She turned from the mirror to face him. “No, I’m okay now.” she said giving him a big smile.

He stopped in front of her. “I just want you to be okay.” he said softly.

She reached her right hand up and stroked his cheek with her thumb. “Thank you.” she answered softly. She raised up and went to give him a kiss on the cheek. He suddenly turned his head and caught her lips with his. The kiss was soft at first. Spike’s tongue slowly licked along Buffy’s lower lip. She gasped at the cool touch and he took advantage of it by slipping his tongue into her mouth gently, asking permission to enter completely. She granted it when she opened her mouth more. The kiss was soft and passionate, everything a kiss should be. Spike pulled back and rested his forehead against hers.

“Perfect.” he said. Buffy simply nodded still trying catch her breath.

“So, do you want to go out sometime?” he whispered.

Buffy pulled back to look into his eyes. “Yeah.” she whispered back before pulling him down for another kiss.
 

Chapter 9:

After that night, Buffy and Spike had been spending time together but hadn’t really had a true date. It was the next week when Spike approached her. The staff was starting to rearrange the Grind.

“Hey, luv.” Spike said walking toward Buffy, who was next to the bar.

Her face lit up when she heard him. “Hey!”

He leaned in and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “You look great too.” he whispered into her ear before pulling back.

Buffy blushed and looked down. “Thanks.” she said softly.

“Look” Spike started.“I know that we have things, to do right now, but I thought we could talk about that date.”


She looked up at him with a worried look on her face. ‘Oh, God. He doesn’t want to go out anymore.’ she thought.

“I thought we could do it tonight after the bar closes, since it’s an early night.”

“But, I don’t think that anything’ll be open to go eat at.” she said.

“That’s okay. I thought that we could go to the all-night grocery store. Buy some food, then we could either come back here or we could go to my place. How’s that sound, pet?” he said desperate to have an official date with her.

“Um, okay, wait here just a minute.” Buffy said running away from Spike. She ran and found Anya talking to Xander.

“Anya are you going to be home tonight?” she asked hurriedly.

“Yeah, why?” she asked.

“Um, I was going to have Spike over for dinner, but we can go to his place.” she said with a disappointed smile.

“Well, I could stay with Willow or something. I don’t want to ruin your date with Spike.” Anya said glad that her friend was finally thinking about something other than the bar.

“You could stay with me.” Xander said. After his initial crush on Buffy had quickly evolved into a friendship, he had started liking Anya.

“We could go on a date too.” Anya said excitedly.

“Sounds good.”

“Okay then. Looks like you have the apartment all to yourselves tonight.” Anya said to Buffy.

“Oh, thank you.” Buffy said giving Anya and Xander a hug. She then ran back over to Spike who hadn’t moved an inch.

“We can come back here.” she said with a big smile.

“Well then, looks like that’s all settled. Me, you, dinner tonight at your place.” he said.

“Great, now, let’s get to work.” she said pushing him toward the dance floor to help the others.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For a Thursday night the bar was pretty busy. Buffy was having a good time tonight. Her business was becoming very popular and she was looking forward to her night with Spike.

“What can I get for you ma’am?” she asked a lady sitting at the bar.

“Gin and Tonic please.” she said politely.

Buffy turned around to start making the lady’s drink, when she felt a hand in the middle of her back.

“Hey, luv. How you doing tonight?” Spike said from behind her.

“I feel absolutely great.” she said with a smile.

“You look great too.” he whispered into her ear. She turned around and gave him a smile that made him weak in the knees.

“Thanks.” she said softly.

“So whacha makin’? I’ll take over for you. There’s some really weird bloke down at the end of the bar asking for you.” he said.

“What makes you think he’s weird?” she asked.

“Well, he ordered a Soul Taker with a Corona chaser.” he said.

Buffy froze when he mentioned the drink. She had only ever heard one person order that drink. “No, it can’t be. I can’t handle this now.” she whispered, oblivious that Spike had heard her.

“Pet? Who is it?” he asked concerned.

“No one, just finish the drink.”she said walking away. She walked to the end of the bar with dread.
There was a man sitting there looking around the bar and checking out the girls on the dance floor.

“What the hell are you doing here?” she said trying to reign in her anger.

“Buffy!! Nice place you have here.” he said turning around to face her. “Wow, lookin’ good babe.” he said looking her up and down.

“Angel, cut the shit and tell me what the hell you’re doing here.” she said.

“I heard about the bar up in LA. Thought I’d come on down and see it.” he said smirking at her.


“Well great!” she said with fake enthusiasm. “You came, you saw, now get the fuck out.” she said glaring at him.

“Am I distracting you, babe?”

“No, BABE, you’re not. You’re just annoying the hell out of me.” she paused trying to think about what would scare him away. “I still have that proof in my apartment, and I will use it. Now I’ll say it again, get the fuck out of my bar.” she said.

“You bitch. You wouldn’t do that to me, you’re too nice.” he said grinning.

“RILEY!!” she yelled across the bar. He immediately head toward the bar.

“Whacha need?” he asked.

“Through this asshole out of the bar and make sure he never gets back in.” she said.

“No problem. Come with me.” he said grabbing Angel’s arm.

“Get your hands off of me. I’ll leave on my own.”he said walking toward the door.

As soon as he was out the door, her confident posture fell into one of exhaustion. Spike was standing behind her.

“Are you okay, luv?” he asked gently.

“Yeah, I’ll go upstairs and rest.” she said turning to look at him. She saw the look of disappointment go across his face. She reached her hand up to touch his cheek. “I’ll come down a little before the bar closes and we can go to the store after that.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” he said softly.

“Later.” she said before turning around and making her way toward her apartment.

A/N: Please tell me what you think.

Chapter 10:

Spike worked the rest of the night with Xander. The time seemed to move slower since Buffy had gone upstairs. When closing time finally came around he just about pushed all of the customers out the door. The bar staff made quick work of cleaning up the Grind. He seemed to have taken control of everything when Buffy went upstairs, but the truth was that he was just anxious to get his date started. Finally the only people left in the bar were Anya, Xander, and Spike.

“She said that she would come down before the bar closed. I don’t know who that guy was but she definitely didn’t like him.” Spike said worriedly.

“You should probably go upstairs and make her feel better.” Anya said smirking. “I’m staying with Xander tonight. We are having our own date night.”

“I’m glad you two finally got together.” Spike said.

Xander blushed and tried to make his leave. “I guess we’ll go now, then.”

“Thanks, man.” Spike said giving Xander a hug. He then turned to Anya and gave her a hug. “You go easy on him.” he whispered in her ear. Anya giggled as she pulled away.

“Bye Spike.” they both said as they left.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buffy woke from her nap to someone knocking on the door. She got up off of the couch and opened the door.

“Hey Spike.” she yawned.

“Hey, pet. You okay?” he asked.

“Yeah. Shouldn’t you be downstairs at the bar?”

“Pet, the bar closed thirty minutes ago.” he said.

“Oh, I guess I went to sleep longer then I thought I did. Sorry I didn’t come down like I said I was.” she said stepping aside to let him in.

“Do you still want to have that late dinner? Or we could wait until another day.” he said disappointed.

“NO! I still want to. Let me grab my purse.” she said running into her room. She looked at herself in the mirror. Her hair was slightly tousled. She pulled let her hair down out of her ponytail and brushed it out. She then applied some lipgloss and grabbed her purse. “Okay, I’m ready, let’s go.” she said opening the front door.

“Wow, you’re a bossy chit, aren’t you?” he said with a smile.

“What can I say? I’m hungry.” she said with a shrug. “So what are you going to cook?”

“What do you mean, what am I going to cook?” he said teasingly. He had already planned to do the cooking. They walked out the door to his car and headed to the store.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Forty-five minutes later the blond pair made their way back into Buffy’s apartment. Spike took the groceries into the kitchen while Buffy went into her bedroom to freshen up. She wanted to look good, but casual at the same time. She separated and put her hair into two braids. She changed into a pair of cutoff shorts and a baby doll t-shirt. She reapplied the minimal make-up that she wore. She took one last look at herself in the mirror and walked out of her room. She started walking into the living room when she saw that the dining table had been set up. Two tapered candles had been lit and a vase with 3 white roses had been placed in between them on the center of the table. In all her years of dating, no one had ever gone through this much to impress her. She walked into the kitchen, where Spike had begun to cook.

“Where did you candles and roses?” she asked startling him.

“Good God woman. You scared the shit out of me.” he said turning to face her. “I got them when you went to get ice cream.” he said with a smile happy that he had been able to keep them hidden. He turned back to the stove but continued to talk to her. “I went with something fast. Caesar salad, Fettuccine Alfredo, and we end with Mocha Chocolate Chunk. How does that sound?”

“That sounds absolutely great.” she said. “Is there anything I can do to help?” she asked looking around him at the stove.

“No, this all my doing. I want you to go sit down at the table and I will bring salad, alright, luv?” he said pushing her out of the kitchen.

“Okay.” she said as she sat down at the table. He smiled at her and went back into the kitchen. After a few minutes he came back with two salad and put them on the table. “Thanks. I love caesar salad.” she said.

“I’m glad.” he said taking a bite from the salad. “Luv, can I ask you a question?” he asked her gently.

“Um, sure.” she said putting down her fork.

“Who was the bloke who upset you earlier?” he asked.

She sat quiet for a moment before answering. “He’s a part of my past that I would like to forget.” she said picking her fork back up to begin to eating.

“Buffy, luv, I want to know about you. Everything about you, even if part of it happens to be a bad past.” he said. He reached across the table and grabbed her hands. “Please tell me.” he whispered.

She looked into his eyes and couldn’t deny the care that was present in them. “After we finish eating, and we can get comfortable, I promise I will tell you everything. For now let’s talk about more pleasant thing, okay?” she said.

“Okay, but we will talk about it.” he said patting her hands. He got up and took their salads into the kitchen. He came back with the pasta and bread. “Enjoy!” he said with a smile.

“What about you Spike? Do you have something bad that happened in the past that you would like to tell me about?” she asked while cutting her pasta.

“I think everybody has something painful in their past. I just don’t talking about mine. I can sum it all up in one word. Drucilla.” he said.

“Let me take a guess and say that it was an ex-girlfriend.” she said.

“You’d be right, pet. I met her when I was 21.” he said looking off into space. “She changed me from William to Spike. I loved her. She was my world, my everything. I thought those feelings were mutual. When we first started dating, she was the most caring person. Then she started to change, or maybe she just started to show her true self. We were together for four years before I actually caught her cheating on me in our bed. I told her that it was over. She asked me to forgive her. She would come to my work and try to get me back. I finally told her to forget me.” he looked at her. “See this scar?” he asked pointing at his eyebrow. Buffy nodded. “The last time I told her to get lost she decided to try and scratch my eye out. So that’s my bad past. That’s also one of the reasons that I moved here.” he said finishing his story.

“Oh, Spike, I’m sorry.” she said.

“Thanks, pet.” he said with a small smile. “But I didn’t tell you that so that you would feel sorry for me. I told you because it’s part of who I am, and I want you to know who I am and who I was.”

“I understand. I feel the same way.” she said nodding. “Let’s finish dinner first.”

The rest of their dinner was filled with talk about embarrassing moment and laughter. Spike finally took away the plates. “So what should we do now?” Spike asked.


“I think we should turn on the radio, sit on the couch, and keep talking.” she said taking his hand and leading him toward the couch. He sat down while she went over to the stereo and looked through some of her CDs. She found her favorite jazz CD and put it in. “My mom bought this for me one Christmas. I’ve loved it ever since.” she said walking back over to the couch.

“You both have great taste in music then, luv. I grew up listening to Miles Davis. Which is this?” he asked.

“The Essential Miles Davis.” she said listening to the music and staring of into space.

“So, luv, tell me what you’re thinking.” he said putting his arm around her.

She looked at him for a moment before starting. “The man who came to the bar earlier, Angel, he’s my ex - fiancé. My story is very close to yours. I met him at the bar that I was working at when I was 21 and he was 25. He asked me out and I said yes. We got to know each other and we started seeing each other all the time. After 2 years of dating he asked me to marry him and, of course, I said yes. After all that time I knew that I loved him but I never gave myself to him completely. Ya know?” she asked making sure Spike knew what she was talking about. He simply nodded not wanting to interrupt her. “Well, one night after we came home from a party we got a little carried away and we slept together. After that night he changed. He became possessive. He wanted me to quite my job and stop seeing my friends. I refused and we would argue but that was the extent of it.” She took a breath. “One night I went out with a group of friends. When I came home, he was drunk. He accused me of cheating and admitted that he had been cheating on me. I told him I was going to leave him and that the engagement was off. He...he hit me and threw me on the ground. He beat me until he wore himself out and passed out.” she started to cry as she remembered the worst night of her life.

Spike stretched out along the couch and pulled Buffy to lie against him. He cradled her allowing her to cry against his chest.

“I left and went to a friends house. She tried to convince me to go to the police but I just wanted to heal and forget about it. She finally convinced me to take pictures of my injuries. He came to beg for forgiveness, just as I knew he would. I told him that I had evidence against him and that I would show them to his bosses and to the police if he came around again. I never heard from again until tonight.” she finished through her tears. This was the first time she had ever told anyone the true story.

“Oh, God Buffy. Is that why you told me that you don’t trust people?” he whispered. She nodded against his chest. “Luv, you know you can trust me right?” he asked and again she nodded. He thought for a moment. “Pet, why would you threaten to show those pictures to his boss?”

“He’s a lawyer at a big law firm in LA, Wolfram and Hart. I knew that he wouldn’t want his perfect reputation tarnished with something like this.” she said. She continued to sniffle while being soothed by Spike’s breathing. Soon sleep overtook her, while Spike remained awake thinking about everything she had told him. Eventually the music and the warmth of Buffy’s body lulled him to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spike awoke a little later with a mission. Gently he sat up and lifted Buffy into his arms carrying her into her bedroom. He laid her gently on the bed and left the room, closing the door softly behind him. He looked at the clock and noticed that it was a little after 9. He walked downstairs and made sure that everything was going okay, before heading back upstairs. He walked over to the phone and pulled out a card out of his wallet. He held it for several minutes before dialing the number. It rang a few times before a woman picked up.

“Hello, Kathy speaking. How may I help you?”she asked in a professional voice.

“Hey, Kathy. It’s William. Is my father in yet?” he asked politely.

“He is. Just one moment.” she said before the phone started to ring again. After a rings a man answered.

“Wolfram and Hart, this is Ethan Hart speaking.” the man said.

“Hey dad. Look I don’t I have a lot of time. I need to ask you for a favor.”

 

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