Home is Where the Heart Is, Part 13
By Rachel
For disclaimers, summary, notes, etc. please see the first chapter.
Sorry for the delay (I know, you've heard this before) but I hope you enjoy this part!
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Another week passed, and Buffy continued to delay her much-needed conversation with Spike about Mr. Evans' offer for her gallery. Every time she started bringing up the topic, she lost her nerve and quickly tried to change the subject. Although her time was running out, Buffy just couldn't bring herself to just say what needed to be said.
Here goes attempt number fifty, Buffy sarcastically thought to herself as she entered the kitchen of his restaurant. Let's see how quickly I back out of it *this* time. Buffy spotted Spike slaving away in front of the stove alongside two other cooks. "Spike?"
Her husband cast a quick glance over his shoulder, a slight grin on his features. "G'afternoon, love," he greeted. "What are you doing here?"
"It looks like I'm wasting my lunch break to come by and say hello to you," Buffy explained.
Spike wiped his hands clean before tightly embracing her. Their lips met in a quick kiss before Spike broke away, asking, "Was there something you wanted?"
"Well, I was actually wondering if you could take this evening off, so we could spend tonight together," Buffy suggested. If he agreed, an evening alone would be the perfect opportunity to bring up her gallery's offer.
Spike paused a second before slowly and reluctantly shaking his head. "Buffy, I’m sorry, but I don't think I can do that tonight," Spike apologized. "It's been busy here all afternoon, and it's only going to pick up as the day passes."
"But...but I really need to talk you," Buffy told him, allowing her sense of urgency to show.
Suddenly jumping to conclusions, Spike nervously asked, "Oh bloody hell, what is it? Are you pregnant?!"
Buffy chuckled at his worried expression. "No, I'm not pregnant," she affirmed. "I just...we really need to talk."
"Well, now you've got me all worried, love."
"So you'll take tonight off?" Buffy requested, her tone filled with hope.
"I told you; I can't," Spike repeated. "Maybe tomorrow night?"
This time, Buffy shook her head at Spike's suggestion. "Saturday nights are too busy at the gallery, and Willow can't handle it all on her own anymore."
Spike playfully shook her shoulders, trying to get her to smile. "Don't worry, love, we'll work it all out. We'll talk soon, okay?" He kissed the end of her nose before adding, "Go and enjoy your lunch break now, all right?"
Buffy slowly nodded, disappointed that she would not have a chance to talk with Spike tonight about Mr. Evans' offer. "All right," she softly answered. She raised her head and lightly pressed her lips against his. "I'll see you at home later, all right?"
Buffy turned on her heels and left "The Silver Spoon's" kitchen with her head lowered to the floor in frustration. Spike watched the woman he loved more than anything else in the world trudge out of the room, realizing that things were nowhere close to being all right in their relationship.
Originally, Spike had planned and hoped that their marriage would ultimately bring them closer together. However, their jobs had spiraled out of control. Spike knew they were both were doing more than necessary. Now, their jobs were actually pulling them apart. They never got to see each other for longer than ten minutes except at night when they were too exhausted to do anything but sleep.
As Spike watched Buffy turn the corner and leave the restaurant, he couldn't shake this unsettling dread that everything was getting ready to completely fall apart.
Spike continued staring at Buffy, still not fully comprehending what or why she
was telling him this. How could she not tell me this right away? he
wanted to know.
"Hey! Spike! Are you paying attention back there? You better not be lettin' all
the food burn, man."
Spike swallowed and cleared his throat. "Yeah, they're just about ready, Matt.
I'll have them out to you in another second."
Buffy nervously shifted her weight from one foot to the next, lowering her gaze
to the floor and refusing to look her husband in the eye. "I...I should have
brought this up sooner...it's just that, whenever I'm free, you're busy, and
then when you have work, I'm not supposed to bother you, so I don't know when I
should have talked with you about this."
"You should have told me two weeks ago," he muttered. "I just..."
Buffy resisted the urge to run to him, wrap her arms around him, and swear that
she'd never leave. Honestly, however, she couldn’t guarantee that because she
hadn't fully dismissed the possibility of moving to L.A. and running her gallery
there. "Maybe...maybe now that I've brought it up, we can talk about it tonight
at home."
Spike slowly nodded. "Yes, I think that's a good idea, pet. I think we *really*
need to talk about this tonight."
~~~
After cleaning up and closing the restaurant for the evening, Spike headed back
to Buffy's and his apartment, an unusual feeling of heavy dread in his heart.
Although he wasn't aware of the entire story, and regardless of the fact that
L.A. was only less than three hours away, Spike knew that if Buffy moved away
from him, it would change their relationship permanently, and probably not in a
good way.
He was also well aware that as soon as he stepped through the doorway, Buffy
would be right on his tail, demanding to continue their conversation.
"You're finally home," Buffy greeted emotionlessly after Spike entered the
foyer. She finished descended the stairs, facing him with an uneasy smile on her
face.
Spike froze, his face expressionless. "So this is why you've been so distant
from me for the last couple of weeks?" No point in avoiding the subject
anymore, is there?
Buffy let out a cold, heartless chuckle. "No, the *gallery* is why I've been so
distant recently. There's just so much work there these days."
"So...so you just want to increase your amount of work by creating a whole new
and *larger* gallery?" Spike's voice increased as did his anger as he spoke. He
stormed into the living room, throwing his duster on the back of a chair as
Buffy quickly followed.
"No, that's not it; it's that...Mr. Evans only gave me two weeks to let him know
if I wanted the funding or not, and--"
"Two weeks?" Spike repeated, wondering if he had misheard her. "Bloody hell,
that was...that *was* almost two weeks ago!"
"I know, I know," Buffy said, trying to keep her husband calm. She placed her
hands on his arm. "I have about three days left to decide, and--"
"So you just decide to bring this up then? Gee, nothing like waiting until the
last moment, is there, pet?" Spike shot back at her.
"Spike, it's not that bad," Buffy attempted to assure him. "Look, I know we need
to talk about this, but I thought that I could accept the offer. We could move
to L.A....it's not that far away, and you can--"
"Can what? Can drive a total of five, almost six, hours every day back to
Sunnydale just to run *my* business?"
Buffy clenched her fists together, trying to contain her anger. "Would you
*stop* interrupting me, Spike?!"
Spike held up his hands in defense, taking a few steps back from her. "Sorry,
love. It's just that you've got to realize that this is just really unexpected
to me."
"I understand," Buffy murmured.
"So why don't you explain it all to me? Tell me what you're planning to do?"
"I...I don't know," Buffy told him with a hint of regret in her voice.
"Well, you'd better figure it out, love. Your two weeks are almost up, aren't
they?"
She nodded slowly. "I told you, three days to decide," she explained again.
"But...I was hoping that you'd be willing to do this for me."
Spike forcefully shook his head in disagreement. "No, you were *counting* on me
agreeing with you, Buffy...I know you better than that. You want me to pick up
everything I've established here and just *move* with you?"
"Well...yeah," Buffy stated. "Spike, this is my one chance for the gallery to
get the attention that it deserves, *finally*, and I don't want to lose this
chance."
"I don't know if I can support this decision of yours," Spike informed her,
turning his back on his wife and moving to the front door. "My job binds me to
this town, and don't forget Xander, who has given next to everything to go into
this partnership with me. I'm not dropping this restaurant…not for anything or
anyone."
Buffy angrily stomped her foot on the carpeted floor. "Dammit, Spike! Why are
you always so stubborn?"
"Me? Love, you're ready to run off to L.A. without considering any of the other
options," Spike attempted to reason with her. "If one funding company is willing
to support you, then there are plenty of others that would also do the same, and
you could stay here."
"No, this...I have to take this, Spike," Buffy tried to voice her own opinion on
this topic. "This is it...you've had your fame with your restaurant, and now
it's my turn."
"So, what? You're just going to move away to Los Angeles?"
"I'm not sure," Buffy admitted.
Spike sighed, raising his eyes to the ceiling and shaking his head in
exasperation. "Well, you're making the wrong decision, love, You are doing fine
in Sunnydale, and...and if you up and decide to accept this bloke's offer, I
can't support this."
Tears welled in the corners of Buffy's eyes as she backed away from her husband.
"Fine." Her eyes roamed the room, placing her concentration on anything except
the man standing in front of her. She took a deep breath. "We can discuss this
more in the morning, but I'm going to bed."
"I think I'll stay up a bit more," Spike told her.
"Fine." Buffy turned on her heels and began leaving Spike alone downstairs.
~~~
On her last full night in Sunnydale, Buffy decided to hunt down Spike again. She hadn't seen him in almost two days, which both surprised and worried her. I've really blown it with him, haven't I? she thought. And here I am, pathetically trying to catch one glimpse of him and one opportunity to talk with him.
She found herself standing outside the back-alley entrance to "The Silver Spoon," pacing around and waiting for Spike to walk through the doors. A second later, she heard the door slam open and her ex-husband pass through the doorway. Buffy saw him direct a cold glare towards her before he continued down the alley towards the main street.
"Spike!" she called, picking up her pace to catch him. "Wait up!"
"What for?" Spike answered back, not slowing down. "So you can try to apologize to me again for something new?"
"No," Buffy forcefully told him. "Look, I just wanted to let you know that I'm leaving tomorrow afternoon, and I'm going to have to stop by and pick up those papers." And I just wanted to see you again to make sure you were all right.
Spike rolled his eyes. That's it? he thought sarcastically. "Suggestion, love. Use the bloody phone next time." He brushed past her roughly.
"Yeah right...I know that if I called you, you'd just hang up on me," Buffy retorted. "That's how stubborn you are."
I'm beginning to get really tired of hearing that word now, Spike wanted to yell at her. Instead, he turned his head to stare at her, gazing into her hazel eyes and finding that he could still lose himself there. He then wondered if he should regret the attitude he'd displayed toward her the last couple of days. "C'mon, love, let's go for a walk," he suggested.
Buffy quickly fell into step beside him and asked, "Where are we going?"
"Figured we'd go to Sunnydale Park," Spike decided. "You *do* remember what a park is, don't you?"
Buffy reached over to punch him in the arm. "Of course, I do, Spike."
"Just wondering, love. After all, you probably don't see too many of them in Los Angeles, do you?"
"That's true, I don't."
As Buffy and Spike entered the park several minutes, Spike led Buffy toward a bench near the trees.
"I forgot how beautiful this place looked at night with the street lamps turned on," Buffy commented as she lowered herself onto the metal bench.
"Yeah, beautiful," he agreed, not removing his eyes from her profile.
Buffy heard how distracted his voice sounded and turned to look at him, her eyes immediately locking onto his. She blushed and broke their stare, lowering her eyes to the grass.
Spike stretched out his arms and crossed them in front of his chest. "So, tell me love, what's so bloody great about L.A.?"
"Oh, lots of things," Buffy said somewhat over enthusiastically.
"Like what? C'mon, pet, if you could tell me even one good thing about L.A., I'd be surprised."
"L.A. is...it's fast, and it's hectic, and it's okay," Buffy began, trying to think of something good to say about the city she had lived in for the past two years.
"Honestly, I'm not hearing anything from you, Buffy," Spike teased.
"I don't know...I'm used to it by now. I can't really think up anything good to say about it," Buffy realized. "But...but I come back here, and I see the Sun Cinema and the Expresso Pump and...and I'm back home. L.A. is fast-paced; it's quick. It's so quick that sometimes I feel like I can't keep up. But...but this…here…feels right."
"Love...this feels right because it *is* right," Spike insisted. He leaned closer toward the woman at his side, gazing deep into her hazel eyes. "Being in Sunnydale...this is right." He uncrossed his arms and cradled one of her small hands in one his larger ones.
"I just don't know..." Buffy whispered in a daze, leaning closer to the man that she had once loved with every essence of her being.
"Don't..." Spike lowered his eyes to gaze at her lips, fighting the urge to lean in just a few inches closer and kiss them. "Don't know what?"
"Where I belong anymore..." Buffy’s voice was barely audible.
God, I could kiss him right now, she thought.
I can't. Angel... she remembered, thinking about her faithful husband-to-be in Los Angeles.
He'll never even know, another voice told her. Just do it.
Buffy pressed her shoulder against Spike's, lowering her neck and pressing her body close to him as possible. "We...we can't do this, Spike..." she warned, not stopping her trail of motion. Please don't stop this from happening.
"I know."
The two were less that an inch away from each other, their lips almost pressed against each other's, when Buffy's cell phone shrilled, causing the two to jump back from each other. The spell was broken, their moment ruined, and Buffy couldn't have been more relieved. She sent him a quick apologetic look before taking out her phone. "Hello?"
"Buffy?"
Oh God...
"Angel?!" Buffy stammered, quickly climbing to her feet and hurrying away from Spike. "Angel, hi! Sorry, it's just that you caught me at a really bad time..."
From several feet away, she heard Spike mutter, "You have *got* to be kidding me. Couldn't be at a worse time."
"What did you want?" Buffy asked, her tone sickeningly sweet and filled with joy.
"I just wanted to call and see how you were doing," Angel said. "Also, I was wondering when you were coming back home."
"Oh...uh, I should arrive back in L.A. tomorrow evening at the latest," Buffy said guiltily. God, I have to go back to being with Angel tomorrow night. Amazingly, she hadn't thought about her fiancée too often since arriving in Sunnydale. Her ex-husband had done an excellent job of distracting her from Angel. However, this phone call brought everything rushing back to her.
"Great!" Angel energetically replied. "I've missed you."
"I..." she looked back at Spike, taking note of the sour expression on his face. "I missed you too," she said in a softer tone.
"We're almost done with 'Confronting the Sun," Angel told her. "Faith is amazing in this role; she is definitely going to be an Oscar nominee this year. At least that's what we're all saying on the set."
"That's great," Buffy commented. "Look, uh...speaking of movies, I saw what you said at the 'Temptations' premiere on E.T. the other night." She heard Angel sigh on the other line and waited for his answer. When she got none, she continued talking, "I thought we both agreed to wait until I got back to announce our engagement, Angel. We agreed! In fact, I remember you being the one that suggested the idea in the first place."
"I know, Buff, but...it just seemed like the right time."
"And you announced it without any input from me," Buffy stated, allowing the anger to infiltrate her voice. "You just...blurted it out on national television! God knows how many people saw it, and now everything that you've said is going to become a scene that will be repeated on every station, every show, and printed in every magazine that keeps up with you."
"Look, don't exaggerate the situation, Buffy. I know you're upset, but we'll work through this," Angel tried to calm her rising temper. "I just thought that the sooner we got our news out, the sooner we could start actually planning our wedding."
"We're planning the wedding already?" Buffy wondered aloud. "We just got engaged a week ago, Angel."
"I know, but...Hollywood likes fast marriages, not slow, dragged out ones," Angel insisted. "That's just the way they do things here."
"Well, that's not the way *I* do things," Buffy informed him. "Look, I don't want to argue about this. I'm coming home tomorrow. We can talk about it then, all right?"
"Okay, Buff," Angel agreed. "I'll see you tomorrow then."
"I'll come by your apartment as soon as I get back in," Buffy planned.
"All right. Buffy...I love you."
"I...I love you too," Buffy murmured softly, now embarrassed that Spike had overheard her half of their conversation.
Buffy punched the "end" button on her cell phone and slowly turned back around to look at the bleached-blonde sitting in front of her. A smirk was widely spread across his face, and Buffy knew he was preparing to say something rude to compensate for his hurt feelings.
"Trouble in Paradise City?" he questioned, raising his eyebrows. "Upset with the Poof for exposing your big news?"
"Spike," Buffy cautioned, hooking her cell phone on a loop of her jeans. God, I don't need this from him now. "I was wrong...all of this...me coming back here when I didn't need to. It was wrong. I don't know why I did."
Yes you do, a voice inside her shouted. You're getting ready to ruin everything, Buffy!
"You're just saying that," Spike told her, now sounding less cocky. "Buffy, stop acting like you're made out of steel and let me in! Talk to me, dammit!"
Buffy pushed her hair out of her face, trying to think of a way to quickly end her conversation with Spike. "All I know is one thing...I belong in L.A." Before Spike could retaliate, she turned and ran toward the park’s entrance.
Spike stared at Buffy as she ran away from him. "Two years and the chit hasn't changed...still runs off whenever she's afraid of having to actually face her fears."
~~~
The morning after his first fight with Buffy, Spike awoke with a fresh and clear mind. He knew that he had been acting rashly last night. Buffy was his wife, his first and only love, and he was well aware that this was her big chance. After all, she had supported him with "The Silver Spoon," so he would be unfair in not supporting her with her endeavor. This was her opportunity to have her dreams come true, and instead he had acted like a prick.
Spike headed out of the basement, determined to apologize to her and try to work something out. Maybe they could compromise and meet half way with an agreement. All he knew was that winning the argument meant far less than losing her.
Spike padded upstairs to their bedroom and searched for Buffy, ready to crawl on his hands and knees to apologize if that's what he had to do to win her back over. When he saw the bed neatly made, Spike turned towards the bathroom, confusion clearly drawn on his face. Spike noticed that the bathroom door was closed, and he assumed that she was getting ready to face the morning.
Spike slowly approached the door and knocked a couple times. "Buffy? pet? You in there?"
But he heard nothing.
Increasing his pace, Spike rushed through the rest of her house. She’s not here, Spike thought, not wanting to believe the obvious. His legs gave way, and he collapsed onto the couch. Turning his head to the left, Spike saw a single sheet of paper placed on the coffee table, which he quickly leaned over and picked up.
His eyes widened as he read over the letter, and he began trying to tell himself that he just hadn't woken up from a nightmare yet.
When he headed back upstairs and pulled open her closet, noticing dozens of her favorite outfits missing, Spike knew the truth.
Buffy had left him for that damn gallery.
~~~
TBC...
Thank you for all of the reviews! They all mean so much to me, knowing that you are enjoying the story. Stay tuned for what Buffy is going to do next in the present-day timeline. :)
And also...for those who know me for my site, Sinister Attraction: Darkprophecies died and I'm in the process of getting my own domain and getting the site back up. I think it'll be back up before the end of the weekend. Thanks!
Home is Where the Heart Is, Part 14
By *~Rachel*~
For disclaimers, summary, notes, etc. please see the first chapter.
Sorry for the long wait...thank you for all of the kind reviews and feedback. It's much appreciated!
Also, this part is UN-beta-read. My beta is...somewhere. We haven't talked in several weeks, so these parts may get beta-read later on. So, I apologize for anything weird...she usually looks over these things first.
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The Night Before...
Buffy stormed up the stairs, heading into their bedroom and slamming the door behind her as she released a loud groan of frustration. How dare he! she angrily thought, resisting the strong urge to pick up something and throw it across the room. I showed *nothing* but support for him with "The Silver Spoon" in the last few years, so why can't he do the same for me?
Because he's scared to death of losing you, a voice in the back of her mind warned her. He knows that this is going to destroy what the two of you share. He's going to lose you entirely.
So what do I do? Buffy needed to know. Whenever she had a problem, Spike was always the first person she went to for advice, but for once, Buffy knew that she needed to deal with this on her own, regardless of how badly things turned out in the end.
Buffy walked over to their small night table and picked up the phone, dialing Mr. Evan's number. "Hi, I was wondering if I could speak to Mr. Evans?"
"Speaking," the low voice answered her.
"Oh, hi! This is Buffy Giles," she greeted. "I'm sorry to call you at such a late hour."
Evans chuckled softly, "No problem, Mrs. Giles. I'm a night owl, so it is still early for me." Then, the lighthearted humor left his tone as he then asked, "have you thought about my offer?"
Buffy took a deep breath, casting her eyes towards the bedroom door for an instant. Am I doing the right thing? "Yes, I have," she began.
"And?"
"Mr. Evans, I have decided to accept your offer and agree to move the gallery to LA," Buffy informed him. God, Spike is never going to forgive me for going behind his back and doing this to him! she realized.
"Excellent!" He exclaimed. "You won't regret this, I assure you."
Buffy hollowly laughed. "I'm sure I won't."
"Now, my staff has gone home for the evening, so is there a chance that I can call you back tomorrow?" Phillip Evans requested. "We can set up appointments, plans, and what you'll be needing easier."
"Well...well, I..." Buffy began stammering, not wanting to mention that she wouldn't be home after tonight. "Actually, I won't be able to be reached at home for a few days, so I could give you my cell phone number instead?"
"That'll be great," Mr. Evans insisted.
Buffy recited the number into the receiver before asking, "When can we get started with all of this, Mr. Evans?"
"We'll get started right away, Mrs. Giles. My team and I will come out tomorrow and look around your office some more, and you can fill us in on what type of space you're looking for," he explained.
"Great."
"We'll be looking for your input though, since it will be your office," Mr. Evans reminded her. "Bring your husband along as well, you can introduce him to the team."
Buffy's breath stopped, fear momentarily overtaking her. "I don't...he won't be able to make it," she lied. "He's always working during the daytime, and Mondays are never good for him, he's too busy."
"All right. Some other time then?"
"Of course," Buffy muttered.
"Well, now that this is settled, I'll call you tomorrow to set up an appointment, all right Mrs. Summers?"
"That's fine."
"Welcome to the team," Mr. Evans announced.
"Thanks," Buffy answered. "Good night."
After hanging up the phone, Buffy lowered her head into her hands, holding back the tears. She should have been overcome with joy that night. Her gallery was going to expand; finally, it would have the future that it was meant to have.
Then why was she so miserable?
Oh yeah, now she remembered. I'm leaving my husband.
~~~
Knock, knock.
"Hang on, I'm coming," Willow grouchily muttered, slouching towards the front door as she slowly tied the front of her bathrobe closed.
Knock, knock, knock, knock, this time more frantically.
"Just a second," she called out, as she unlocked the deadbolt.
"Hey Will," Buffy greeted after Willow opened the door. "Can I come in?"
Willow's sleep-filled eyes shot open. What is she doing here at this insane hour? "Uh, sure thing, Buffy." She stood aside to allow Buffy pass through the door. "What are you doing here?"
Buffy dropped a couple of her smaller bags on the floor as she said, "I, uh, was just wondering if I could spend the night here?"
Willow nodded. "That's fine, you can use the guest room as long as you need it."
"Thanks."
Willow had another hundred questions lined up to ask her friend, but as she saw Buffy slump towards the bedroom, Willow knew that this wasn't the night to interrogate her best friend.
Tomorrow, she promised herself.
~~~
Willow didn't have a chance to ask Buffy why she had suddenly shown up outside her apartment at two in the morning. When she had woken up, Buffy had already left to go to her meeting with Mr. Evans and his associates.
Later, that afternoon, Willow paced back and forth, her "resolve face" firmly set, to find out what was bothering Buffy. Obviously something major must have happened between Spike and her, Willow reasoned. Otherwise, why else would she have just left him last night?
The moment Buffy stepped through the front doorway, Willow walked up to her, asking, "Did you and Spike have a fight?" Her eyebrows were raised in curiosity as she asked her friend.
Buffy, who had just gotten back from her first meeting with Mr., Evans, resisted the urge to break down in tears when she heard her husband's name. "You could say that," she murmured at her friend before walking past her and heading towards the spare bedroom.
"Well, what happened?" Willow demanded to know, following Buffy through the hallway. "C'mon, Buffy...you two never fight, and if you do, you guys can usually forgive and forget what happened before dinner time."
"Will, I don't want to talk about it tonight," Buffy insisted, hoping that her friend would drop the subject.
"No! Buffy, it's my job as your best friend, to know what's going on between you and your husband at all times," Willow joked. "I'm here to listen and help you out, Buff."
Buffy spun back around, tears of anger spilling down her cheeks. "I'm leaving him, all right? I signed a contract to move my gallery up to LA, only Spike refuses to come with me."
"What?" Willow gasped. "How could you--"
"*He* refused to agree to this," Buffy argued, trying to convince both her friend and herself that she was doing the right thing. "Anyway, I already told Mr. Evans that I would accept his offer."
"So, what does that mean, exactly?" Willow wanted to know.
"That means, that before the end of this month is out, I should be relocated to Los Angeles with a bigger gallery," Buffy explained. She softened her tone, adding, "And I'd love to have you with me, but I understand if you don't want to move to LA."
"Buffy, this isn't about whether I want to move to LA with you or not," Willow argued. "This is about *you* leaving *Spike*. He's the love of your life."
"Well, then I guess we were both wrong."
"About what?"
"Love isn't enough," Buffy sadly muttered. "There's work, and living, which you can't do by just love alone."
Willow frowned at her friend's mantra. "But aren't all those things pointless without love?" I should know, shouldn't I? Willow asked herself. Oz had left her a few months back and the redhead was still trying to recover from the painful break up.
Buffy's face tightened. "No, don't you try and talk me out of this, Will. I've already signed everything. Evans is going to start showing me around places in LA Wednesday."
"I'm not going to talk you out of this, Buffy," Willow assured her. "I'm your best friend, so I'll support whatever you decide to do, but...just think really carefully before things get so bad that you can't fix them, all right?"
"All right."
Willow had a strong feeling that her words had completely flown over Buffy's head and nothing had sunk in. "Fine. You're welcome to stay here as long as you want, but...whatever you do with the gallery, please keep me posted."
Buffy nodded. "I can do that," she promised.
The phone rang suddenly, and both women jumped at the sound, both on edge from their argument. "Do you want me to get that?" Buffy asked.
Willow walked up to the phone and glanced down at the Caller ID number. "It's Spike," she announced.
The blood drained from Buffy's face and she, too, glanced at the number. "Don't pick up," she told Willow. "Just...just let the machine get it."
"Okay," Willow reluctantly agreed, knowing that this wasn't going to help working out their relationship.
After the fifth ring, the answering machine picked up and the two women stood around the phone, waiting to see if Spike left a message or not.
"Hey Red," Spike greeted after her recording had finished. "It's me."
Buffy fought back a sob that was building in the back of her throat at the sound of her husband's voice filled with despair and loss.
"I, uh, was looking for Buffy...wondering if you might have seen her around. If you do, uh, tell her that I *really* need to see her again, before...oh, bloody hell." Spike paused, taking a deep breath before continuing. "Anyway, if you see Buffy, could you please let her know I called? Thanks."
Willow glared at Buffy, cursing her friend's stubbornness. If there's one thing I know about the two of them, it's that they're both so stubborn, that neither one of them will try to fix this. "So, are you going to call him back?"
Buffy forcefully shook her head "no." "I can't, Will. I just...he's going to be--"
"Concerned? Worried? Afraid?" Willow shook her head, unable to comprehend why Buffy wasn't able to understand why she was wrong. "And why would your *husband* feel any of that towards you?"
"You just wouldn't understand, Will," Buffy insisted.
"I know. Okay, I understand that Oz left me, and so maybe I *don't* understand what you're going through, but...I know that you are tossing away something amazing with him," Willow spoke, trying her best to convince her friend to change her mind. "You don't just meet the love of your life in high school and throw it away five years later."
"Things change," Buffy insisted.
"So you're not going to call him?" Willow asked again.
"No, and that's final."
~~~
The end of Buffy's week in Sunnydale ended today, and Buffy was preparing to drive back to LA and get back to Angel, her devoted husband, before nightfall. Her bags were packed, her gas tank filled just hours ago, and now all she needed before she could drive back to Los Angeles was to get those damn papers signed.
Okay, here goes the last time I ever have to set foot in this apartment, I hope, Buffy thought as she approached Spike's front steps. She knocked on the front door several times, waiting for him to answer.
When she got none, she foolishly realized that Spike was probably at the restaurant. If he wasn't at home, that's usually where she was able to find him when she needed to talk to him.
Buffy hopped back into her convertible and drove to "The Silver Spoon," hoping to catching Spike when he had some free time. It was still very early in the morning and Buffy hoped that business wouldn't be too hectic yet. "Xander, is Spike here?" She asked the brown-haired man after she passed through the doorway.
"Spike? I think he's back in the office," Xander suggested for her to look first. "Y'know, whatever you said to him that first day, put him in a bad mood around here ever since then."
"What's the point?"
"Well, you aren't going to say anything...rash, are you?" He wondered aloud.
Buffy quickly smirked. "Why would I ever do that?" she teasingly asked before turning and heading for the back room where Spike was.
"Spike, are you in here?" she called out, lightly knocking on the door as she pushed it open at the same time.
Spike stared up at her from a seat behind his desk with a scowl on his features. "What do you want?" he demanded to know as he watched Buffy close the door behind her and take a seat in one of the chairs opposite his desk. "Love, you're sort of interrupting me at--"
"At a bad time, I know," Buffy finished his sentence for him. "Trust me, I remember all the work you have around here. Look, I just needed to let you know that your seven days are up. I am heading back to LA today, and I need those papers. Signed."
Spike shook his headand sighed. Rising from his desk, he moved to sit down in the chair besides Buffy, careful to conceal his feelings of love he felt from being that close to his blonde beauty again. "So, all those conversations we've had, everything that has happened between us, it still doesn't matter?"
"No."
Buffy's face was void of all emotion, and Spike couldn't tell whether she was truthful or merely trying to act brave to fool him.
"You're still going back to LA?" Spike had to be positive that she wasn't having any second thoughts. "Back to him?"
"Yes."
Again, that deadpan expression crossed her features.
Spike shook his head, a sad smile on his face. "Y'know, contrary to popular belief, you *are* allowed to have both roots and wings," Spike told her. He moved the chair closer towards hers as he added with a smirk on his features, "Metaphorically speaking, of course."
"What is that suppose to mean, Spike?"
"Meaning that you can run a full-time business in LA and still be in Sunnydale," Spike explained.
Buffy sighed. "But it's too complicated," Buffy protested. "I can't...lead a life here *and* Los Angeles and even pretend that I'd be able to stay sane."
"So come back home." Spike suggested, as if it were that simple.
Buffy shook her head as she straightened in her chair, moving her an inch closer towards her ex-husband, "This isn't home anymore, Spike."
"We're together right now, love," Spike began, "That's home for me."
Buffy scowled and sighed. "What do you know about it?" she agressively demanded.
"Home is where the heart is, pet," Spike honestly answered her. "That's what it feels like to me when I am with you, anyway."
He just doesn't understand...Buffy thought as she gazed into his clear blue eyes. Or maybe it is myself that does not understand. "Spike..." she sighed, lowering her head and tilting it towards him.
Quickly, and without thinking, Spike reached out and grabbed onto her shoulders and brought her against him, pressing her body tightly against his. He brought his lips down to hers and kissed her with a fiery passion that he hadn’t dared tempt before. Buffy responded at once, wrapping her arms around the back of his neck and returning the kiss with equal, if not more, hungering desire.
When he pulled away from the blonde, He gasped for a breath before speaking. "Go back to LA," he demanded. "Leave today...right *now*, because if you don't, I won't be able to let you go again."
Buffy rested her forehead against his chin as she let his words sink in. He wasn't sending her away out of anger; he was sending her away out of desperation and anguish. He still wants me, she realized.
Buffy leaned forward and touched her lips with his once more. "The papers..." she whispered. "I need them."
Spike let out a groan and rose from his chair at such a force that it fell behind him. He stormed up to the desk and pulled the group of papers from a drawer. Spike grabbed a pen and scribbled his name on the pages before shoving them into her now shaking hands. "There." He growled, refusing to look at her straight in the eye. "Now, get out of town. You're good at that."
"Spike..." Buffy began, trying to apologize, start up another conversation, even spark another argument, just as long as they didn't part this way.
"Just. Go."
Buffy folded the papers and stuck them in her purse before standing and turning towards the door. She took a step forward before Spike's voice stopped her. "Just one question, love?"
Buffy froze, but did not turn around to face him. "And that would that be what?"
"It's been bothering me all this week, actually," Spike began, looking at her back since she refused to turn around and face him. "What *do* you want?" When he didn't receive an answer, Spike shook his head. "I guess I was right after all. You don't even know."
Answer him...tell him he's wrong! the logical part of Buffy's brain demanded. But instead, she silently walked out of his office, silently closing the door behind her.
~~~
"Well, that's it!" One of the uniformed men called out as he loaded the last box into the moving van. "Everything is secure. We shouldn't have anything move an inch from here to LA."
As Buffy had sworn, before the month was out, which was actually only a little bit longer than two weeks, she had chosen out a new home for her gallery in Los Angeles. Buffy had bought an apartment in LA. Willow was accepted into UCLA and would be nearby to continue working at the gallery once in Los Angeles.
"All right, ladies," Mr. Evans announced, as he approached Willow and Buffy. "Are you ready to visit Los Angeles and your new gallery?"
Willow cast a cold glare at Buffy, her anger of what Buffy was choosing to do, not fully settled yet. "I don't know. *Are* we ready, Buffy?"
Buffy rolled her eyes at Willow's snide remark. "Yes, we are ready."
Buffy approached her car and opened the door, preparing to climb into the driver's seat, when a head of bleached blonde hair caught her eye and forced her to stop. Spike, she thought, her breath suddenly catching in her throat. So, he finally caught up to me.
Spike stood several feet away from her car, nervously shifting his weight from one foot to the other.
"What are you doing here?" Buffy softly asked as she slammed the car door.
"And a good afternoon to you, too, love," Spike sarcastically greeted. Today, however, his sarcasm didn't seem as harsh as it usually was. "I just...Willow told me what was going on, and--"
"*Willow* told you?" I'll kill her, Buffy angrily swore. I'm going to *kill* her.
Spike nodded, "So you're really going through with this, pet? You're really serious about doing this?"
Buffy raised her chin, trying to prove that his words meant nothing to her. "Yes. We're moving today. Willow is coming with me, as well since she'll be transferring to UCLA this fall."
"Well, then..." Spike's voice died off, not knowing what else to say.
Buffy fiddled with her hands, twirling her wedding ring around her finger. Looking down at her hands, she pulled the gold and ruby ring off and held it out towards him. "Then, I guess you'll be wanting this back."
Spike shook his head, "No, keep it. I don't even want it if you're not the one wearing it."
Buffy blinked and lowered her head. Damn him and his words, she mentally cursed. "Then...then I guess that's it?" Without waiting for a reply from her now ex-husband, Buffy turned her back towards him and climbed into the driver's seat.
Spike watched her back out of the parking space and begin to follow the moving van. "I guess that's it, love," he muttered.
~~~
TBC...
Well, that's the last past scene...part 15 is all present day and part 16 (The epilogue) is pretty short :) Yay, almost done!
Home is Where the Heart Is, Part 15
By *~Rachel*~
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Buffy drove ten miles over the speed limit to return to
Los Angeles as quickly as possible as she tried to forget all her memories of
Spike that had resurfaced over the past week. All right. Everything is all
right, she told herself. I'm going back to LA. I have the papers signed,
and I have Angel patiently waiting for me back *home*. LA is my *home.*
But was it really? Still?
Seconds before she had left, Spike had told her, "Home is where the heart is,
pet. That's what it feels like to me when I am with you, anyway."
And hadn't she felt exactly like that when she was around him as well all during
last week?
Then why didn't I say anything?
Buffy shook her head, ridding herself of that
thought. She pressed down on the pedal, wanting to get as far away from
Sunnydale as quickly as possible.
It doesn't matter, she told herself. I'm going to go back to Angel
where I can pretend like this past week never happened, and forget all about
Spike in a matter of weeks. Everything will be fine.
"Everything will be fine," she swore aloud, needed to hear those words
again.
~~~
Buffy unlocked the door to Angel's apartment and cautiously stepped inside,
knocking on the door at the same time. "Knock, knock," she greeted. "Anyone
home?"
Angel quickly approached her and leaned down to lightly kiss her forehead. "Hey,
Buff. You made it back home finally."
Buffy forced herself to cheer up and smile at him. "Yeah, sorry I was gone so
long, Angel. It won't happen again."
Angel shook his head. "No problem," he assured her, a genuine grin on his
features. "Did you have a good time? Catch up with all of your friends that you
haven't seen for a while?"
Buffy paused, taking a deep breath. "You could say that," she replied, trying to
avoid the subject. Buffy sank into the plush, leather couch a second before
Angel joined her.
"Do you want dinner?" Angel questioned. He took her hands into his and lightly
squeezed her fingers in a comforting manner. "We can order something and get it
delivered."
At that moment, Buffy couldn't help but think, If I was at Spike's right now,
he would fix me some of that chicken parmesan Alfredo that I loved so much.
Ug! Stop thinking about him so much! Another part of her brain then
demanded.
"That'll be fine," Buffy agreed, shrugging her shoulders. "Whatever you want."
"How about Chinese? Do you feel up for some Chinese?"
Again, Buffy indecisively moved her shoulders up and down. "That's fine, Angel. Whatever you want, okay?"
As Angel stood up and walked into the kitchen to call a
restaurant, no doubt her favorite Chinese restaurant in the city, on the phone,
Buffy reminisced about her previous life in Sunnydale with Spike. She remembered
how he had made her feel whenever something bad had happened.
Then, she thought about Sunnydale, the town, itself, and how Los Angeles was
completely different than that quaint, peaceful town that she had grown up in.
It's rhythm and beat were more than ten times slower compared to the busy city
that she had reluctantly become accustomed to. Buffy had loved the quietness of
the small town, especially the serenity of the park she and Spike had spent that
one night in.
Buffy gazed down at the large diamond ring on her finger, a frown appearing on
her face. She twirled the ring around with her thumb, gazing at the object as if
she didn't recognize it, or even *want* to recognize it anymore.
She looked back at her right hand at the simply gold and ruby ring, Spike's
wedding ring that he had given her years ago.
And unexpectedly, she felt a strong yearning for Spike and could push it away no
longer. She needed to feel his arms around her again; she longed to hear his
thick British accent in her ears. Her mind, her heart...her *essence* was
suddenly telling her to go back to him.
Get up, grab your bag, and go back to him, a voice in her mind directed
her. Go back home to William, you know you want to.
Angel slowly began walking back into the living room, taking a few seconds to
pause and stare at his fiancée. He watched as Buffy twirled their engagement
ring around up to the point where it looked as if it were going to fall off her
finger. What hurt him most was, was that she seemed as if she didn't even care
that it could fall off. I should have known that this would happen, he
regrettably thought with a saddened expression quickly forming on his face.
"It's over, isn't it?"
Buffy jumped on the couch and slid her ring back to where it originally lay.
"What?"
"You saw him, didn't you?" He asked as he began taking a few steps towards her.
"What are you talking about?" she innocently asked while her mind was screaming,
How did he find out?!
"Him." Angel repeated. "Your...whatever he is to you now."
"Angel, what are you talking about?"
Angel softly sighed as he returned to his place on the couch. "Willow. She
filled me in when I asked her what was keeping you in LA."
"Willow did?" Buffy exclaimed, her eyes widening in anger. Oh, I'm going to
*kill* her when I see her next.
"Don't be mad at her, Buffy," Angel gently ordered. "I think that I bugged her
so much last week that she finally broke down and told me what happened between
you and William just to get me off her back."
"Oh," she murmured, lowering her eyes. So, he knows everything now, I guess.
"Did you see him?" Angel repeated after a pause lapsed between the two of them.
"Yes, I did." Buffy truthfully answered. "He...I got him to sign the divorce
papers--"
"But you kept all of this a secret from me," Angel interrupted. "I didn't
believe that you had kept all this a secret from me. You accepted my engagement
while still being married to another man."
"But I--"
"God, Buffy, we aren't even married yet and, already, you
were going to start things off with a lie."
Buffy couldn't meet eyes with him as she softly apologized. "I'm sorry."
Angel shook his head. "Don't be."
Her head snapped up and she looked up at him in confusion. "What? Angel, you're
suppose to be ticked off at me." When he didn't reply, she tried again. "Aren't
you going to yell? You're suppose to yell some."
"No. Buffy, I'm not mad. Honestly, I knew something was wrong ever since I
called you and you were so upset about what you saw on ET," Angel explained. "I
knew something was wrong right at that moment."
"I really *am* sorry," Buffy repeated.
Angel shook his head. "I'm not." He helped Buffy stand and lightly kissed her
forehead. "Go to him, Buffy."
Buffy cast him one last look, her eyes conveying more gratitude than words ever
could have, before reaching down to pick up her purse and pull out her keys.
Buffy pulled off her engagement ring and pressed it into Angel's open hand,
before squeezing her small hand against his. "Thank you," she murmured.
"Go on, now," Angel repeated once more.
"Good bye, Angel," Buffy finally said, before turning for the door. Buffy
slipped the ruby ring from her right to left hand, sliding it onto her ring
finger as she opened the door and ran out to her car.
Hang on, baby, she thought. I'm coming home.
~~~
Buffy called Spike's number on her cell phone when she was less than ten minutes from his home and let the phone ring six times before ending the call. Okay, so if he's not at home, I'll just try his usual hangout, Buffy thought as she punched in the number for "The Silver Spoon."
"Hey, I was wondering if Spike Giles was available?" she asked the woman who picked up the phone.
"Sorry, mam, but he's not at the restaurant tonight," she answered. "Can I take a message?"
"No, no thank you," Buffy spoke. "Do you have any idea where he might be?"
"Well, you might want to check his apartment first and then see if he's visiting his father, if you know where he is, anyway," the woman suggested. "Other than that, I don't know where he is. He didn't say anything this evening, he just called this afternoon to say that he wasn't going to be coming in."
"All right. Thanks." Buffy paused before asking, "Is Xander Harris in, by any chance?"
"No, he's spending the evening with Ms. Chase," she replied.
Buffy thanked the young woman once more before turning off her cell phone and tossing it in the passenger seat beside her. All right, he's not at home, not at the restaurant...
Buffy turned onto the main road that would take her into Sunnydale, planning to stop by Giles' home first and ask if Spike had stopped by or told them where he was. She needed to find him tonight.
As Buffy passed the familiar sign welcoming her back into the small town, all she could think was, what the hell possessed Xander to start dating Cordelia Chase?!
~~~
As Buffy pulled up along the sidewalk, she hoped that Rupert Giles hadn't moved to a new home. After all, she hadn't checked up on him even once in the last two years, with the one exception of seeing him at Sunnydale High last week. Nevertheless, she headed up to what she hoped was still Mr. Giles' house and rang the doorbell, waiting for someone to come and open the door.
"Buffy!" Anya exclaimed, a bright smile appearing on her face when she opened the door. "How are you?"
"Great, and you?"
"I've never been happier," Anya admitted, obviously referring to the older man who was somewhere inside. "It's great to see you again."
Anya's bright attitude was contagious and soon, Buffy was smiling also. "You too," she agreed. Breaking eye contact with Anya, she took a second to sneak a glance or two back into the house, trying to catch a glimpse of a bleached-blonde head.
"He's not here," Anya bluntly stated.
Buffy's eyes snapped back to meet Anya's. "What? Anya, what are..." At Anya's glare, she then asked, "How did you know?"
"Let's just call it woman's intuition," Anya began. "Spike hasn't been by all day. Did you check the restaurant?" Buffy nodded. "His home?" Again, the blonde nodded. "Maybe he went over to Xander's place for the evening?"
Buffy slowly nodded. "I guess I can check there next," she groaned. "Thanks, Anya."
"No problem."
The two women turned to leave, but Buffy quickly spun back around to address Anya one more time. "Anya? Let's just say that I moved my gallery back down to Sunnydale -- theoretically, and--"
"You're going to move back?" Anya interrupted, her eyes bulging. "That's great!"
Buffy quickly smiled. "Well...I'm not completely sure yet, but I was wondering, if I *was* going to move back, if you were interested in a job?" At Anya's confused and questioning look, she quickly continued, "It's just that, Willow is going to stay in LA to finish up school, and I know we've never been good friends, especially in high school while you were part of the Cordettes, but I'd really love to have someone I know helping me out still."
"Buffy, I'd love to help you out," Anya honestly said.
Hearing that, Buffy's nerves vanished and she grinned. "Great. I'll call you and let you know what I decide, all right?"
"That's fine," Anya agreed. "Thanks, Buffy."
"No problem. Say 'hi' to Giles for me, okay?" Buffy cast her friend one more smile before turning around and heading back to her car.
~~~
Although she didn't want to interrupt his evening at home, Buffy needed to find out where Spike was. So, if bugging his co-workers is the only way to find out where he is, then so be it, Buffy thought as she pulled into Xander Harris' front driveway. A second later, she rang the doorbell and stepped back when she heard footsteps on the other side as she waited for the door to open.
Who she saw, however, wasn't whom she expected to see.
"Cordelia!" Buffy exclaimed, partly out of surprise and worry. "Uh...hi!"
The once brunette, whose hair had grown out past her waist and was now highlighted a dirty shade of blonde, warmly smiled at the woman standing in front of her. "Buffy Summers?! Oh my God, I haven't seen you in such a long time!"
Okay...this is weird. She's being nice to me, Buffy thought worriedly. She must be up to something. After all, the last memory she had of Cordelia Chase was her intense lip-lock with her ex-husband. "Uh...I know!" She stuttered. "How are you?"
"Fine, and you?" She answered.
"I've been better," Buffy honestly replied. "I was wondering if Xander was around? Someone at the restaurant said he was here."
"Yeah, he's around," Cordelia affirmed. She turned her head towards the stairs and shouted, "Xander Harris! Get your ass down here now!"
"Coming!" the two women heard him reply.
"So what are you doing in Sunnyhell?" Cordy asked, turning her attention back towards Buffy. "Last I heard, you had left Spike and gone back to LA.” She paused, before her eyes doubled in size. “Are you coming back down here? Are you and Spike going to get back together?”
Buffy nervously shifted her weight from one foot to the other, unsure of openly talking to Cordelia about she and Spike. “I--I don’t know yet,” she managed to say.
“Well, everyone wishes that you would come back home,” Cordelia said. “Spike hasn’t been the same ever since the day you left. I don't think I've ever seen him happier except the times when he was around you.”
Buffy eyed the tall woman carefully, wondering if she was speaking honestly. “Do you really mean that?” she asked a second later.
Cordelia smiled and nodded. “I guess after five years, it’s about time we make some peace, don’t you think? Bury the hatchet and all that?” At Buffy’s slow nod, she continued. “Ever since you left, and he and I became friends again, I realized that there really was no one else for him but you. I really hope you two can make this work.”
“I do too,” she softly muttered.
“And maybe someday, you can forgive me for being such a bitch in high school,” Cordelia continued, looking hopeful at the idea of the two of them becoming friends.
Buffy was about to speak when Xander appeared in the doorway. “Xander! Have you seen Spike?” she quickly asked.
“What? No, Buff, I haven’t seen him all day,” Xander answered regretfully. “Did you check is father's?” Buffy nodded. “The restaurant? His apartment?” Buffy nodded at both of these options.
Cordelia turned to speak to both Xander and Buffy. “You know what? I bet you anything that he’s drowning his sorrows right about now,” she suggested. “Did you check Willy’s?”
Buffy shook her head. “No, I didn’t even think about that place.” After all, he never did too much drinking back then in high school since they were underage. “Does he go there often?”
“After you left him? Yes,” Cordelia honestly answered.
“All right, I’ll go there and check,” Buffy said as she pulled her jacket tighter around her waist, momentarily exposing her left hand to Xander’s eyes.
“Wait a second, where’s the rock?” he questioned.
“Gone,” Buffy softly answered. “I gave it back to him.”
“Wha--”
“I need to go find Spike,” Buffy interrupted Xander, not wanting to waste any more of her time to explain what she was doing. “Thank you for your help, you two.” Buffy began turning around before adding, “And Cordelia? There’s nothing to forgive.”
~~~
As Buffy parked in the rundown, pothole filled parking lot outside of Willy’s Bar, she heard thunder rumble nearby. Before climbing out of her car, Buffy pulled up the rooftop to her convertible, just in case it started to rain. After that, she headed inside the smoke-filled and beer-scented bar that she hated too much.
Once inside, she paused and gazed around the room, looking for her husband’s peroxide-dyed head of hair. There he is, she thought when she spotted him at the end of the bar with a half-filled bottle of beer in his hand and three empty bottles placed in front of him.
Buffy stormed over to him, a clear look of disapproval on her features. “Oh yeah, this is real mature, Spike,” she sarcastically exclaimed as she stood beside him and crossed her arms in front of her chest.
Spike cast a quick glance at her standing to his right before going back to his drink. “What are you doing here, love? I figured you’d be back in your rich, fancy apartment in LA cuddling up to the poof right about now.”
“I...” Buffy began. Suddenly, the words she had thought were so easy to say became impossible to speak.
“Why are you here?”
“I’m here to fix my mistakes,” Buffy began.
Spike chuckled, his tone cold and uncaring. “What? Marrying me?”
“Spike--” Buffy tried to speak, but was cut off.
“Did you really have to come back to Sunnyhell to rub the divorce in my face?”
“What? No!” she cried out defensively.
“Then what the hell are you doing back here? Haven’t you done enough damage?!” Spike shouted. “Or do you feel like you need to rip out my heart just a little bit more?”
Buffy’s jaw clenched. If he's not even going to act mature about this, I don't even see why I should bother, she thought. “Well, I can see that I made a mistake coming back down here,” she said, trying to make her voice as steady and calm as possible. “I guess that I thought wrong.” She turned on her heel and walked back to the door, quickly exiting and heading back towards her car.
Overhead, the sky rumbled and a bolt of lightening lit up the sky before drops of rain began falling to the ground. Buffy increased her pace to a brisk run as she reached into her purse for her keys, blinking back tears that were falling down her cheeks and mixing with the rain. Suddenly, a hand reached out and grabbed onto her arm, forcefully spinning her around. Buffy looked up through the downpour and met her hazel eyes with a pair of cold ice-blue orbs.
“What the hell do you *want* from me?!” Spike forcefully
demanded to know, shaking her back and forth. He blinked heavily, the raindrops
getting into his eyes, as he stared down at the beautiful woman standing before
him.
Buffy shook off his hand and stepped back to look down in her purse. Of course it has to rain during all of this, she sarcastically thought as she quickly pulled out a folded group of papers. She unfolded them and showed them to Spike.
“The divorce papers,” Spike muttered, quickly becoming very sober. So she really did just want to rub the divorce in my face. But then he noticed that the rain was quickly smearing the pen ink on the first page, making their signatures unrecognizable. “Uh...love,” he stared, unsure of the point she was trying to make.
Then, he watched in even more astonishment, as she grabbed the papers in her two hands and ripped the papers in two. She repeated this motion a few more times, until the packet of papers were torn up shreds between her fingers. Buffy tossed them aside to the ground, where the water quickly began to carry them away.
What the hell is she doing?
Buffy took a couple steps closer towards the man standing in front of her. He’s just...beautiful, she couldn’t help but think as she looked at his drenched form. “Ask me again, Spike.” She took another step towards him, having to force herself not to reach out and throw herself in his arms, spreading wet kisses all over his face.
A confused expression crossed his face, as Spike wondered what she was referring to. Ask what? he thought, almost asking the question aloud.
But then, he remembered.
A smile flashed across his features as he asked, “What do you want, love?”
“You!”
Buffy stepped out and flung herself into his arms. She wrapped her own tightly around his neck, her lips finding their way instinctively to his as, at the same time, she felt him run his hands down her side before resting against her hip bones. Spike showered kisses around her lips, moving down to her jaw, and then back up to her mouth.
“God, I love you...love you so much, Buffy,” Spike muttered breathlessly, pulling away from her for a second. He pressed a gentler kiss on her nose as he breathed her heavenly scent, now mixed with the rain, in. God, I’ve missed you, he thought.
“I love you too, Spike.”
~~~
TBC...epilogue to follow!
Home is Where the Heart Is, Epilogue
By *~Rachel*~
For disclaimers, summary, notes, etc. please see the first chapter.
Well, this is it! The final (un-beta-ed) part! Thank you everyone for all of the support of my story, I didn't expect this great a reaction at all, so thank you! :) It means the world to me, it really does. Sorry for the long wait...RL problems...
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Two weeks after that rainy night, Buffy had packed up and moved back home,
dragging her gallery back with her. Amazingly, she managed to set up a new shop
that was only three streets away from Spike's restaurant.
Willow, Tara, and Oz remained in LA to finish school, but the three had promised to come back and help out in the summer and when their semesters were over. In the meantime, Buffy hired Anya to help out at the gallery, who was only too eager to earn some extra money.
Buffy moved back in with Spike in their old apartment, yet made him promise not to try and force her back into their old relationship without making some changes first. The two were taking it slow, and things were working out for the better.
Nightly, the couple shared long talks about how to work out the challenges in their busy relationship and actually talk things out instead of bottling everything up inside of them until it burst like it had last time. After all, they had already missed enough time apart, and neither of them wanted a repeat of what happened as a result of their last argument.
Through their discussions, the pair had worked out a compromise for their hectic businesses. Spike had gone back to opening "The Silver Spoon" only Monday through Saturday, and Buffy had started to close her gallery a couple hours earlier than she used to. It had taken only two weeks, and Buffy and Spike were talking and acting as if the last two years had never happened and there were no secrets between the two of them any longer.
~~~
Friday night, after she had closed up the gallery for the evening, Buffy walked
over to Spike's restaurant and sat at the bar, watching her husband and best
friend, Xander, work. Afterwards, after the last group had cleared out, Buffy
helped clean off a few of the tables in the cafe area and throw away bits and
pieces of trash. This is gross, she thought.
He seriously needs to hire some more help for closing time,
and not let his wife clean up after his visitors.
She picked up a salt and pepper shaker to wipe off the
table underneath them when she noticed a small, black, velvet box resting behind
the two shakers. "Spike, someone left this here," she called out, entering the
main room where Spike was working.
Spike turned to face her and curiously looked at the object in her hands. "Why
don't you open it up, love?"
Buffy did as he suggested and opened the box. Inside, rest a small three-diamond
engagement ring. "Oh, how sad," Buffy exclaimed. "Some guy left his ring here.
Poor guy...he’ll propose to her and then won’t have the ring with him."
That was when she looked over the edge of the box and concentrated on what Spike
was doing. When she focused on him, she noticed that he was kneeling on the
floor in front of her. "What are you doing, Spike?"
Nervously, Spike looked up at her with worry mixed with love in his eyes. "I
know that it's only been a couple weeks, but...I wanted to do things right this
time."
Knowing what was going on, Buffy blinked back quickly surfacing tears and sent a
shaky smile in his direction. "Spike, it was perfect the first time."
"Buffy. I, uh, I love you. I've always loved you. Even through those years
that...well, I know we've gotten over that. I've loved you since that very first
day I saw you," Spike nervously stuttered. "Marry me."
At once, the memory that he had asked her the exact same thing the first time
appeared in her mind. Buffy's smile grew as she asked him, "Is that a request or
a demand?"
"C'mon, love," Spike began. "I know you--"
"Yes," Buffy seriously told him. "Yes."
Spike sighed, looking relieved that the pressure was finally off. "Oh, goodie."
He stood up on his feet and slid their old ring off her ring finger and slowly
placed the new wedding ring on her hand. "Maybe this time we can have an actual
wedding -- not run off to Vegas this time."
Buffy cracked a small smile as she looked at the sparkling ring on her finger.
"Spike," Buffy whispered, before leaning up and kissing him. "I love you."
"I love you too."
And then, continuing to mirror their first engagement,
Spike picked her up and spun her around in a circle, pressing warm kisses
against her face as their laughter rang out in the empty building.
~~~
Later that night, Buffy and Spike lay in bed with their arms wrapped around each
other as they tried to drift off to sleep. Buffy slowly rolled over onto her
side, causing her hipbone to unexpectedly hit something. At the foot of their
bed, the television came on, immediately lighting up the dark room. Buffy jumped
up and reached for the remote that she landed on to turn off the television
before it woke up Spike.
Buffy glanced over at the alarm clock resting on the side of the bed blinking 12:05 AM before starting at the TV screen, and watching as the opening credits for ET came on. Gotta love NBC for re-airing the night's ET.
I wonder if Angel has announced our break up yet? Buffy thought sarcastically as she listened to the announcer talk about what would be on tonight's show. She glanced down at her left hand resting on the bed and smiled as her new diamond ring glinted in the moonlight, thinking about how better this one looked on her finger as compared to the one she had quickly chosen with Angel.
Buffy tuned out the fast-paced talking announcer as she turned and looked down at her husband, sleeping at her side. Buffy smiled to herself and knew, without a doubt, that she had made the right choice. However, she quickly glanced back up at the television just in time to catch an image of Angel and a brown-haired woman whose back was towards the photographer flash across the screen.
Who is that? Buffy wondered, now wide-awake with curiosity. Has he moved on *already*?
"Angel O'Connor, the star of the upcoming movie,
'Confronting the Sun' is the topic for tonight's one of our two Cover Stories.
Is he married? No longer married? Cheating? Or has he been merely dating this
whole time and the news that he was engaged just a lie to fool the media? Find
out after this commercial break."
What the hell is going on? Buffy asked as she turned the volume up a
notch and waited for the show to come back on.
Less than five minutes later, ET returned and began talking about her
ex-fiancée. Blah, blah, blah, Buffy thought, clearly bored. I already
know all of this and more. Then, the photo of Angel and the mysterious
brunette appeared on the screen. Who is that? Buffy asked herself again,
trying to think if she recognized the woman.
"Angel O'Connor. It turns out that the news about his recent engagement was true, but sources are now saying that he's no longer taken." Someone that Buffy had never seen on ET before was explaining the entire story as past footage and images of Angel ran across the screen. "Regardless of this, however, why was it that five days ago, not even two weeks after he announced his engagement, that he was caught at the premiere of 'Take a Chance' entranced with this young brunette?
"We finally managed to track down Angel O'Connor at the premiere of 'Take a Chance,' the upcoming New Line Cinema movie starring Reese Witherspoon, and this is what our cameras managed to catch. Maybe this explains the rumors of why he's no longer engaged?"
Buffy straightened in their bed and watched the screen, watching the camera shakily pan around the tall brown-haired man and the smaller brunette in his arms. The woman stepped back and smiled up at him, revealing her profile.
Angel and...FAITH?! Buffy
screamed in her mind. "That ho!" she cried out.
At her side, Spike groggily awoke at the sound of his wife's angered tone.
"What's wrong, love?" Spike called out, wrapping his arms around her tighter.
"HER!" she shouted, pointing at the screen. "Faith making out with Angel at a
premiere less than a week ago."
Spike slowly sat up and stared at the screen to see what Buffy was talking about. "Oh."
"Yeah, oh! Angel acted all prince-like and noble
to let me go while he was secretly making time with his co-actress," Buffy
complained, shaking her head back and forth in disbelief. "Unbelievable. And I
actually bought his act."
"And you are honestly surprised, pet?"
Buffy let out an unlady-like snort. "Not the slightest. I knew there was a
reason he was acting so calm and collected about me leaving him." She let out
another string of unlady-like curses before turning the television off and
throwing the remote to the other end of the bed in anger.
She settled back in bed, stretching and turning to face her husband. "Oh well, I
definitely got the better deal," Buffy said, tossing her hair back over her
shoulder and lightly kissing him on the lips.
"Is that right?"
Buffy relaxed against his bare chest and pressed a kiss on his neck. "Oh yeah,"
she sighed before softly murmuring, "I love you, Spike."
"I love you, too, Buffy," Spike immediately answered.
I’m never going to tire of hearing her say that.
"I'm sorry I woke you," she apologized.
"It's all right, love," he assured her. "You sleepy?"
Buffy grinned and winked up at him. "Not anymore," she joked, pressing her body against his as the two met in a passionate kiss. Spike wrapped his arms around her waist, quickly turning her over on her back as his lips seared a path down her neck, her shoulders, and then back up to recapture her lips.
As the couple lost themselves within each other, the words that Spike had spoken to her quickly crossed Buffy’s mind. “Home is where the heart is, pet.” Well, if that was true, then Buffy definitely knew that she was back where she belonged -- home.
~~~
OK, it was hokey, but it was happy, and I wanted a happy ending!
Thanks for all of the support and feedback throughout this story. I'm so glad you've enjoyed it (I've never written AU before). Thanks for all the people that helped me out (You all know who you are) and the people that stuck with me through the lack up updates and struggling writers block. Special thanks to Sandy for being a great beta for 80% of this story. :P
I am considering starting another AU fic...I've got an
idea and some notes scribbled down on paper, and it's not based on a movie!
So...keep an eye out for me, but don't expect anything for a week or so while I
gather my thoughts.
Thanks again!