Title: Sweet Sixteen Author: Pattyanne snapkik@yahoo.com Disclaimer: I only own the story Feedback: Ain't too proud to beg Summary: AU (I know, I couldn't believe it either) Everybody's human. Spike and Buffy are teenage neighbors. Rating: Will vary. Part One.... ~~~~~ "You come on like a dream Peaches and cream Lips like strawberry wine You're sixteen, you're beautiful, And you're mine.." ~~~~~ Spike hated being seventeen. It was a crappy age, being so close to adulthood that you could taste it. Damn year dragged on, with seemingly no end in sight. Sixteen had been good. A lot of things happened when you crossed the line from fifteen to sixteen. Not quite an adult, but no longer a child. A person had a lot more say in their own lives when they hit that magic age. You could stay out later...you didn't have to be in bed by a certain time...and, best of all, you could drive a car. Not that there was anyplace exciting to drive to in Sunnydale. Spike rolled over from his back to his front, and let his fingers trail across the azure water of the pool. The sun felt good, but he wasn't really used to it yet. He'd been looking forward to living in California. England was all right, but he'd heard so many stories from his friends who'd traveled to the states, and it always made him yearn to be able to see the amazing things they'd described to him in such vivid detail. After nagging his grandmother to the point of madness, she'd finally agreed to allow him to come and live in Sunnydale with his uncle. Although he'd felt a little guilty about leaving her alone at Blackoaks, rattling around the huge estate with no one but the servants for company, she'd alleviated that guilt by deciding to return to the townhouse for an indefinite period of time. So Spike had boarded a plane for the United States with a clear conscience. Grandma Abby had plenty of friends in London, not to mention Aunt Susan and her brood. Now, he was finally living in California...and he was bored out of his mind. Stuck in a one stoplight town called Sunnydale, and living with a high school librarian. The fun never stopped! Not that he wasn't getting along with his uncle. He had only met his mother's brother a few times in his life, the last time at his parent's funeral when he was ten years old. Rupert Giles was every inch an English gentleman, from his tweed jackets to his sensible oxford shoes to his wire rimmed spectacles. He lived a quiet and bookish life, and the only concession he had made to a "California Lifestyle" was the swimming pool he'd had installed in his back yard after he'd been involved in a car accident years ago. When he'd come home from the hospital, he'd begun an exercise regimen that would put Charles Atlas to shame. Since he enjoyed swimming but hated the drive to the health club one town over, he'd had the pool built, along with a small cottage on the far side of it, set back in the gardens. Although it had served as a sort of makeshift gymnasium for a while, it had been cleaned out and redecorated.It was now a bedroom- sitting room, and his uncle had turned it over to him. It was a pretty nice set up. Fairly roomy, and he had all the privacy he wanted. Poor old Uncle Rupert just couldn't stand the noise in his perfect little house, so the pool house arrangement suited them both nicely. Spike had already made a few friends in town, and all of them had been awed by very idea of being able to live in a separate area from parental control. Xander Harris in particular had almost been foaming at the mouth at the notion of living apart from his own parents. Not that Spike could blame him. He'd met Xander's parents and he wouldn't want to live with them either. ~~~~~ "You're all ribbons and curls Oh, what a girl! Eyes that sparkle and shine You're sixteen, you're beautiful And you're mine.." ~~~~~ He heard his uncle's car pull into the driveway. Al- though technically it was summer holiday, school would be starting in another week and the old boy wanted his cherished library in apple pie order before the students came back and made a mess of his filing system. The front door opened and closed, then the sliding door to the patio squeaked along it's runners. Spike turned and saw his uncle glancing through the stack of mail in his hand. "Oh, um....William. You have....let's see....a letter from your grandmother...your monthly stipend...and something..." He peered at the front of a neon pink en- velope, covered with a messy black scrawl. "...I think it's from someone named....Donetta?" Spike chuckled. "Drusilla," he corrected. "She's a friend from London." "Uh...yes...well," Rupert Giles glanced at his nephew and promptly turned a brilliant shade of crimson. "Oh, William, really! I have asked you time and time again to please wear an appropriate garment when you use the pool!" Spike sighed and reached for a pair of cut offs. "Sorry, Unc...but it's not like anyone can see." He gestured around at the high walls, covered by even higher shrubbery, and several tall bushy trees. "The only neighbor who might get a shock is Mrs Summers and she's at work during the day." "That's hardly the point, William. This is a small town we live in, a civilized society, and one does not romp naked out of doors." "Well, maybe one should," Spike suggested. He stood up and stepped into his shorts. "Might spice things up around here for a change." Straightening, he zipped his fly, then turned and dove into the deep end of the pool, splashing his uncle with a liberal amount of water. He came up at the other end, beneath the slide. Shaking his shaggy curls out of his eyes, he saw his uncles lips moving and knew he'd missed whatever he was supposed to be hearing. "I'm sorry," he admitted. "I didn't hear you." Swimming to the side of the pool, he gazed up at the older man, squinting in the afternoon glare of the sun. "I said," Rupert continued, shaking the drops of water off his mail, "that Mrs. Summers is expecting her daughter to arrive home either today or tomorrow. I will not be pleased if you give the girl an education in male anatomy outside of the school grounds." Spike grinned, unable to help himself. "So, I should give her that lesson in the school corridors, huh?" "Very amusing," his uncle said dryly. Spike heaved himself up out of the water, and sat on the brick deck, dangling his legs. "So...what's her name?" Rupert had turned and was making his way back to the house, still perusing his mail. "Pardon?" "The daughter." It was beginning to sound like things were going to pick up a bit on Revello Drive. "She got a name?" "Hmm? Oh, yes....Elizabeth." Spike nodded. Elizabeth wasn't a bad name. Maybe she liked to be called Liz or Beth. "But I believe she goes by a nickname..Buffy." "Buffy?" Spike muttered. "What the hell kind of a name is Buffy?" ~~~~~ "You walked out of my dreams And into my arms Now, you're my angel divine You're sixteen, you're beautiful And you're mine..." ~~~~~ TBC (I don't know...what do you guys think? If it's stupid, tell me the truth. I haven't done AU before)