Chapter 15

It had been weeks since they heard from Drusilla, but Spike knew she didn’t leave town. Not until she got her revenge, which had him even more worried for Buffy.

“I thought you said thrall doesn’t work on Slayers?”

“It’s not supposed to, but Dru has mastered it longer than I have. I wouldn’t take any chances where she’s concerned. Just avoid looking her in the eyes,” Spike explained.

“And I’ll what, turn to stone? It might be hard to fight her if I can’t even look at her. Don’t worry; I can handle one psycho vampire. I don’t like that she hasn’t made a move yet, though.”

He agreed. “She’s planning something, and with her, that’s never a good thing. Drusilla has never been on her own before, the Aurelius line was all she had.”

“She’s going to try and get you back,” Buffy said, already knowing what he was thinking.

“Yeah, she can try, but she won’t succeed. I left that crazy bitch over a hundred years ago; I have no intention of ever dealing with her again.” He turned to Buffy. “I’m more worried for you. I took Angelus from her, and she’ll get to you through me. It would be the perfect revenge. I know you can hold your own, but I want you to promise me that you won’t go patrolling by yourself. You don’t know what Drusilla is capable of, pet. If something happened to you…”

Buffy placed a calming hand on his arm. “I’ll be okay, but if it’ll make you feel better, I promise not to go out alone.”

He sighed in relief, glad that she didn’t argue with him.


* * * * *


“My mom’s home, I suppose I should make an appearance.”

Spike pulled her back on the bed, giving her a kiss. “You should probably fix your hair first.”

Buffy went over to her mirror, running a comb through her blonde locks, and then turning back to him. “Better?”

He nodded. “I prefer the just shagged look, but I don’t think your mum would agree.”

“Can you take me away from here when I’m eighteen?”

Spike was startled by her question, but she wasn’t finished.

“I hate having to hide who I am. I know this place needs a Slayer, but I can’t imagine being here for the rest of my life, however long that may be. I’m not talking permanently, but maybe we could at least take a vacation. I just need to get away for a while. Being around my mother is suffocating, putting on these fake smiles just so she won’t worry, pretending to be someone I’m not. She’ll never understand me, no matter what I do. You know how many times she visited me in the institution? Three fucking times in four months, and my dad was even less than that.”

He stood up to take her in his arms, touching his lips to the top of her head.

She returned the embrace, pulling away to look at him. “I don’t know what I would have done if you went back to being evil. You’re the only one keeping me sane right now.”

Spike smiled, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “I’ll take you anywhere your heart desires, you just name it.”

Buffy smiled as well. “Good to know, and when I’m eighteen, there won’t be anything she can do about it. God, that’s so long away.”

He kissed the pout off her lips. “Go make your presence known; I’ll be up here waiting.”

She nodded, heading downstairs to find her mother in the kitchen, a familiar looking blouse clutched in her hands.

Joyce glanced up at her, a pained expression on her face. “Why is there blood on your shirt?”

Buffy shrugged. “I cut myself by accident; you know how clumsy I can be.”

“Oh, Buffy, please don’t tell me you got into another fight. You were doing so well here. When is this ever going to stop? I got a call from your school; you missed out on two classes yesterday. And now I find this? What am I supposed to think? You’re not in a gang, are you? Drugs, is that it?”

Buffy rolled her eyes. “Because that’s what every teenager does these days, right? I cut school, so I must be in a gang or on drugs. You know what I am, Mom, you just don’t want to acknowledge it. I’m a fucking Vampire Slayer, and I’m so tired of pretending I’m not just for your benefit. I’m not going to change for anyone. If you can’t accept me for who I am, that’s not my damn problem.”

“I will not tolerate that language in my house. You are not going to start this nonsense again, do you hear me? Why do you keep with these delusions, Buffy? Do you not have enough friends; is this just you acting out? I know the divorce has been hard on you…”

Buffy laughed, effectively cutting her mother off. “I could care less about your divorce. Dad is a bastard, and I honestly don’t know why you didn’t leave him sooner. You two getting divorced was a fucking blessing.”

Joyce glared at her. “I won’t tell you again, Buffy. Bastard or not, he’s still your father and deserves some respect. I really want to help you, honey, maybe if you would consider therapy.”

She threw her hands up. “Okay, I’ve officially had enough. You want proof, Mom. Fine, I’ll give you proof.” Before her mother could respond, Buffy ran up the stairs and grabbed Spike by the arm, pulling him down with her, knowing he heard their entire exchange. “Mom, this is Spike, my boyfriend, he’s also a vampire. Show her,” she told him, completely catching him off guard.

“Are you sure about this?” The look of determination on her face was all the answer he needed, immediately vamping out in front of Joyce, who gasped and brought her hand to her mouth in shock.

Buffy smiled in satisfaction. “Do you believe me now? Of course, I didn’t always know he was a vampire. He was pretending to be my Watcher at first; I still can’t believe I fell for that. We’re together, in fact, I just spent the better part of an hour fucking his brains out in my room.”

Spike wished more than anything to burst into flames in that moment. He did not want to be present for this conversation.

Joyce placed a hand over her heart, tears forming in her eyes. “Is he going to hurt you?”

Buffy’s expression softened at her mom’s devastated look. She hadn’t meant to take things that far, but was just so tired of being treated like a freak, especially from her own mother. “No, he loves me, but there are other vampires in town who want me dead. I didn’t mean to show you like this, but you didn’t leave me with much choice. You never listen to anything I say about it, so I figured you couldn’t deny what was right in front of your eyes.”

“Mrs. Summers, I know this isn’t exactly how I planned on us meeting, but I do truly love your daughter. She’s an amazing woman, and has one of the biggest hearts I’ve ever known. All she has ever wanted was for you to accept her for who she really is.”

The tears were streaming down Joyce’s face as she gazed at her daughter, seeing her for the first time. “Oh, baby, what have we done to you? I’m so very sorry for not listening before, and for sending you to that place. I think a part of me believed you, but I didn’t want to. It would have felt like I was doing something wrong. Can you ever forgive me?”

Buffy let out the breath she’d been holding. “I think I can, it’ll just take some time. Just don’t invite anyone in the house after the sun sets, especially not if she’s very pale with long, dark hair, and avoid looking in her eyes at all times.”

Joyce nodded, worry evident on her features.

“I’ll just go back upstairs now; let you take a minute to process this.” She ushered him over to the stairs, stopping at her mom’s frantic voice.

“Did you say that you and this vampire had sex in your room?!”

Buffy cursed under her breath. “I knew that was too easy.”