Chapter 3 – Spelling it Out
The Bronze was loud and stuffy. Buffy pushed through the bodies as she searched for Willow. She bumped up against the bar and waved the bartender down to ask for a glass of water. Maybe it could wash the Spike taste out of her mouth. The bartender slid a full glass to her and she chugged it down.
"Where's your boyfriend?" the bartender asked.
"What?" Buffy said, looking around again for Willow.
"Your boyfriend? Blond guy, English accent, likes black?"
"He is so not my boyfriend," Buffy told him. "Why would you think he was my boyfriend? All we do is fight. And, well, kiss, but that's wrong and my real boyfriend will be back in less than three days and why am I telling you this?"
"Comes with the job."
"Buffy? Buffy! Over here!"
Buffy turned away from the bar to see Willow waving frantically at her. "Thanks for the water," she told the bartender before weaving her way through the crowd to get to Willow and Tara's table.
Buffy sat down on the stool next to Tara. "Hey guys. Is it abnormally crowded in here tonight?"
"Last fling before school starts again," Tara said.
"Also, free nachos." Willow grinned as she popped a cheesy chip into her mouth.
"Mmm . Cheese," Buffy said. She reached across Tara to pick up a chip for herself. While chewing, she asked, "Willow, you haven't been doing any—spell experiments lately, right?"
Willow quickly looked at Tara. "What do you mean, Buffy?" she asked too casually.
"Oh my God, you have," Buffy said. "Are you doing this to me?"
"Wait. What? Tara and I have been, uh, experimenting a little, but we haven't done anything that would affect you. At least I don't think so..."
"How can I tell if I'm under a spell?" Buffy broke in.
"There is that thing," Tara said, looking at Willow.
"Yeah, that spell that reveals spells, though it's not exactly a spell. More like a trance-y ritual thing."
"How do I do it?"
"Why do you think there's a spell on you?" Tara asked.
"I've been doing—things. Things that are so unlike me. Things that I don't think I'd ever consciously choose to do," Buffy said. She played with the rings on her fingers, avoiding their looks.
"What kinds of things?" Willow asked.
"That's not really the point," Buffy said. "The problem is that I don't think I'm in control of my actions. And that's scaring me a little."
"No details?" Willow asked.
"Uh, not at this time. Do you think Giles is still awake?"
"Not this late." Willow reached across the table to catch Buffy's hand. "What's going on?"
Buffy looked around at the crowded club. "Can we talk outside?"
"Yes, of course," Tara said as Willow nodded. The three women stood up and made their way to the exit.
Once outside, the sudden quiet made Buffy's ears ring. Or at least now she could hear them ringing. She turned to her friends.
"Promise me you won't tell anyone. Not even Xander."
"Buffy, you're starting to wig me out." Willow laughed nervously.
Buffy almost smiled. "Sorry for the excess drama. Okay, so a few weeks back, do you remember how Spike was all snippy with me? When we were here at the Bronze while Tara was gone?"
"Yes."
"Well, I planned to go straight home that night, but I bumped into him when I was taking over patrol from Giles, and we kind of... Well, we ended up killing this demon and we kind of... Wekissed ," she finished in a rush.
"Spike?" Willow squeaked. "You kissed Spike?"
Buffy looked a little sick to her stomach. "Yes. I kissed Spike that night."
"Oh my," Tara breathed.
"What's even worse is that I kissed him again tonight."
"Again?! No wonder you think you're under some kind of spell! Why are you kissing Spike?"
"Well, he is kind of cute, if you like vampires and, uh, guys," Tara said.
"Sweetie, that's so not helping."
"I don't know why I kissed him. That's the problem! One minute we're fighting and the next we're playing tonsil hockey."
"Eww on the visual, Buff," Willow said.
"Help me?" Buffy asked in a tiny voice.
"Do you really want help?" Willow asked.
"Of course!" Buffy said. "Riley's coming back! I can't be kissing Spike."
Willow and Tara exchanged a look. "It's okay, Buffy. We'll help," Tara assured her.
"First thing in the morning," Willow said. "After a good night's sleep. Okay, Buffy?"
"Yeah. A good night's sleep sounds like great Buffy medicine right about now. I think I'll head that way. Thanks, you guys."
Tara touched her shoulder. "It will be all right. I know it."
Buffy said her goodnights and watched her friends as they went back into the club. Then she pulled a stake out of her back pocket, took a deep breath and started walking home.
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"Mom?" she called after opening the front door. "Are you back yet?"
Buffy checked the kitchen and found a note. It said there was leftover pizza in the fridge and that Buffy shouldn't expect Joyce home from the showing at the gallery before midnight. Buffy looked at the clock. Eleven forty-five. It felt so much later.
She opened the refrigerator and rummaged around for the pizza. She was just pulling the box out when she heard a noise on the back porch. It sounded kind of "thump"-y.
Quickly closing the fridge door, Buffy searched around for a weapon. The pencil her mom had used to write the note was on the counter, so she grabbed it and made her way to the back door. She pushed the curtain aside and looked out. Only darkness. She reached for the outside light and snapped it on.
"Oh my God," she said before flinging the door open. "Spike, what the hell are you doing on my back porch?"
Spike looked startled. "Me? Nothing," he said. "Just out for a walk."
"A walk that goes through my back yard?"
"Why the hell not? It's a nice yard."
Buffy sat on the steps. "Oh please. Come on, Spike. Fess up."
He sat next to her with a put-upon sigh. "Didn't like how we left things, Buffy."
Buffy rested her chin in her hand and said, tiredly, "No other way to leave them, Spike."
"Bollocks."
Buffy sat up straight. "What? You think I'm gonna dump Riley for you? You—this dead, sun-allergic, blood-drinking, evil guy? When Riley's dependable and honest and kind to animals and sweet and..."
"And boring."
Buffy smacked Spike on the shoulder. "Not boring! Reliable."
Spike turned to face her more fully. "Yeah. A regular Boy Scout, our Riley. Oh, come on Buffy! Let's be serious here. The boy wonder just doesn't do it for you. If he did, you wouldn't be kissing me."
"Kissed. I kissed you. Once."
"Twice."
"Okay, twice."
"And I'll be damned if you're not going to do it again."
Buffy gave him a look.
"All right. You got me there. But I know you won't be able to stop yourself from kissing me—and maybe more."
Buffy stood. "It's time for you to go, Spike."
"Come on, Slayer. Tell me it's not the truth."
"It's not the truth. Leave."
"A snog for the road, love?" Spike grinned up at her.
"Why do English people call kissing 'snogging ' anyway? The word sounds too much like 'snot'."
"Oh! And the American 'making out' is sooo much more refined."
"—and no. Nothing for the road but my fist propelling your face away from me."
Spike pouted as he stood. Then he shrugged. "Oh well. Gave it my best shot."
"That was your best shot?" Buffy asked. "How completely—lame."
"Maybe not my best shot after all," Spike said softly. He raised his hand to gently trace the shape of Buffy's face. He lightly touched his fingers to her lips. Buffy stared at him with wide eyes.
Spike moved his fingers to cup her chin and lowered his face to hers. She held her breath. I'll pull away any second now, she thought. Spike's mouth hovered over hers. Buffy's eyes slowly closed.
Suddenly his hand was gone. "Night, Slayer." Spike waved without looking back before disappearing into the bushes.
"Shit," Buffy said.
She covered her face for a moment. When her pulse slowed to normal, she went back into the house.
Pizza. She'd eat the whole damn pizza.
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Buffy knocked on Giles's apartment door at nine sharp the next morning. Willow and Tara were already there, surrounded by stacks of dusty-looking books.
"Anything?" Buffy asked them. She sat down on the edge of Giles's desk and pulled one of the larger books towards her.
"Not really," Willow said.
"We did find that trance thingy, if you want to try that," Tara offered.
Giles came down the hall and waved briefly to Buffy before climbing the stairs to his bedroom loft. Buffy waited until he was completely out of earshot before she whispered, "You guys didn't tell Giles any of this, did you?"
"Well, not exactly. We told him you thought someone might have put a spell on you, but that's about it," Willow whispered back.
Buffy relaxed a little. "Oh, good. And he didn't ask what kind of spell or anything?"
"I think he's really involved in something right now, Buffy," Tara said. "He's been w-wandering around and mumbling into books since we got here."
"Really? Huh."
"So that trance ritual thing? Do you want to try it?" Willow asked.
"If I can do it somewhere other than here, yes I want to try it."
"Okay, well, the thing is, if you think the spell's on you, someone else has to do it. To see the spell around you."
"I feel a big 'but' coming up right about now. Please don't 'but' me Willow. I don't think I can handle it today."
"Sorry, Buffy. But --"
Buffy stuck her fingers in her ears. "La-la-la! I can't hear you!"
"What on earth are you three going on about down there?" Giles called from the top of the stairs.
"Buffy doesn't want my 'but'," Willow told him.
Giles froze for a second before shaking his head. "I'm sure I don't want to know." He came down the stairs and disappeared down the hall again.
"BUT," Willow said, pulling Buffy's fingers out of her ears, "we need to have Spike there in case the spell's on him too—or on him alone and affecting you for some reason."
"Who cares if the spell's on Spike?" Buffy whined.
"Well you should, missy," Willow said. "Because if there really is a spell, we need to break you both of it or the kissing will go on. Though maybe not consensually."
"You're joking, right? Tell me you're joking."
"She's not joking, Buffy. This could be kind of serious," Tara said.
Buffy stood up. "Fine. You two gather what you need for the ritual. I'll get Spike and meet you at my house."
Willow stood too. "You sure about this, Buffy?"
"Will, Riley's home the day after tomorrow. I want this all straightened out before he gets back. So yes, I'm definitely sure about this. Meet you in half an hour."
She headed for the front door. "Oh," she said, turning, "please don't say anything to anyone else? And thanks."
With a sharp nod, she left.