Intimidation and Arrivals
by DawnBTVS
Chapter 4
[reviews]
It had been a week since Snyder spoke to us in his office. He still had his eye trained on all of us, but hadn't done anything. Buffy was tempted to see how far she could test him, but I forcefully talked her out of it. Mostly, it consisted of me frowning, and lamenting how I'd be all alone without her. I also tossed in Joyce's reaction and that pretty much ended it. We were still getting the remarks and comments, but it had begun to die down. I smile up at Buffy, who's busy tracing a strand of my hair that's hanging loosely over my face. I turn my attention to Giles, who's emerging from his office. He told us that he had some important information regarding the two vampires who arrived. Xander's sitting across from us, eating nachos, and seeming quite content with life. Cordelia was sitting next to Xander. I still am a bit on edge with her, and frankly, dislike her a lot. I have very valid reasoning though. She's helped in the past, so I put up with her.
"So, what's the up, Giles?" Buffy asks, wanting to get the news out in the open. I glance up, wanting Giles to hurry up already.
"I've found out who the new vampires are. Both are quite deadly. William the Bloody, known lately as Spike, is the more vicious one of the two. He earned his nickname by torturing his victims with railroad spikes. It's believed that he followed in Angel's footsteps as far as his affinity for torture and carnage. The other vampire, Drusilla, there isn't much to go on. Not much was written during the century that Drusilla was presumably turned, although it's believed that Angel was the one who turned her. I've heard rumors that she then turned Spike later on, but I've also heard that Angel did the turning so I can't say anything with true verification. Angel ran their clan, also included Darla, whom was dusted last year," Giles says, now taking his glasses, and wiping them. I frown at Buffy, but she just has her Slayer mask on. That look where she's intense, and completely focused on the subject.
"Why are they here?" Buffy asks. I feel a cold feeling of dread.
"They could be here for any number of reasons," Giles says.
"So, they could be here for the scenery, calm lifestyle, and beaches?" Xander quips. Giles glares at him, as I shoot a frown. Xander shrugs his shoulders and resumes eating his nachos.
"I highly doubt that would be the case. Erm, they could be here to avenge Angel's death. They could be here to kill you, uh, take over Sunnydale, or it could just be a brief stop before they head to wherever their destination is," Giles says. I sigh and rest my chin on the palms of my hand.
"I think I'll go with choices A through C," I say, feeling glum. I don't like the fact that I'll be juggling all this stuff. I have my relationship with Buffy; the issues with the fellow students, not to mention now Spike and Drusilla get thrown in. We also have the Mayor to figure out too.
"Excuse me?" asks a voice from behind Giles. I peer around him, trying to figure out who's intruding our space. It's a girl, wearing black leather pants, and a tight white top, hidden by a black leather jacket. She has dark brown hair spilling over her shoulders. She looks like she stepped out of a magazine for bikers. Giles turns, surprised, and I give a slight smile. I think he forgets that this is a library too. Probably since we are usually using it, and nobody else comes in that often.
"May I help you?" Giles asks, walking forward. The girl glances at us. She looks intriguing, like one of those people that has depth, or something.
"I'm new. I heard this was the place to be," the girl says, flicking her eyes to me again.
"P-place to be?" Giles stammers, not sure what's going on. We're all confused too. Buffy looks a little guarded, no surprise there. I've been telling her that she has to trust more, but Buffy is still slowly getting to that point.
"Yeah. I need some books. Kind of difficult passing classes without any books," the girl says, a grin on her face. Giles blushes and nods his head. He makes a motion for the girl to follow him up the steps.
"What books do you need? May I ask your name, if you don't mind," Giles says. The girl nods her head.
"I need U.S. History and the Norton Anthology. My name's Faith," Faith says. They disappear behind the stacks. Buffy catches my eye. Xander looks like he's ogling her. Cordelia looks slightly annoyed. Maybe she thinks Faith's a new target. God, I hate Cordelia.
"What?" I ask, frowning. Buffy doesn't look that happy with me, and I have no idea why.
"She was checking you out," Buffy replies. I blush a little, then shake my head.
"Uh-uh. She was just looking, that's all. She's new, Buffy. She saw we were all together, and was trying to figure out what our deal was. It's nothing to be alarmed about. Are you jealous?" I ask, a genuine smirk of surprise playing on my face. Buffy's eyes widen.
"No, not jealous at all. She was just busy staring at my girlfriend, who wasn't exactly breaking eye contact," Buffy says with a pout. I smile and wrap an arm around her shoulder.
"I was just observing her. It's not often that we meet new students, Buffy. Besides, you are mine forever, and I'll be yours for all eternity," I say, kissing her on the lips. We quickly break upon hearing Giles and Faith coming down the stairs. I glance at Faith who's looking at us, one eyebrow arched. Damn, she caught us. I blush, and lower my head.
"Thanks," Faith says to Giles, taking the books, and leaving the library. Giles turns to us. I'm still blushing, and am starting to worry it'll be like that the whole day.
"Anybody want to go Bronzing tonight?" Xander asks, a smile on his face. I glance at Buffy, who's eyeing me. I can tell she wants to go, badly. I grin at her.
"I think we're both in for a good time," I reply, earning a wider grin from Xander. Giles just rolls his eyes and head back into the office. I stand up, ready to go home, and take a relaxing shower. I don't plan to have Buffy surprising me anymore, so I've taken to locking the door now. I also figure that this way, Joyce won't surprise me either. That would be really, really bad.
"Let's go, baby. I hear a good back massage is in the plans," Buffy says, a sly smile starting to spread. I smirk at her.
"A back massage does sound nice. I could definitely use one. Thanks, Buffy," I tease, receiving a pout. I giggle and walk away, letting Buffy follow me out the door.
~~~BTVS~~~
I whirl around, and glance at Buffy. She already spent a good two hours getting dressed. Not that I minded though, since I saw some nice things other than outfits. What Buffy's wearing is very nice though. Now I'm focused on what I have to wear. I'm trying to find something sexy but not too sexy, for fear of drawing attention. I tend to babble, then have to flee when I have everybody looking at me. It's not a good sight.
"I appreciate you going sexy on me, Willow. I'm very appreciative actually, but we are going to the Bronze. It's not the Prom yet," Buffy says, teasing me. I blush, and turn back to the mirror. I'm wearing black leather pants to match Buffy. They feel really tight, but not uncomfortable, just tight. The shirt I'm wearing is long sleeved, mostly black, with the ends tinged in a teal or turquoise color. I think it looks good. Buffy told me she liked the shirt a few weeks ago, so this is me paying homage to that remark. I turn back to her.
"I want this to be a special night for you, Buffy. It's our five-month anniversary. Ideally, I'd have something better than the Bronze planned, but this is our night," I reply. Buffy smiles, and embraces me in a tight hug.
"Let's get a move on. Xander said he'd meet us there," Buffy says, grinning. I smile back, and follow her out the door.
~~~BTVS~~~
I open the door, tipping the guy, and allowing Buffy to walk in first. I grin behind her, excited to see her reaction. She turns, mouth-hanging open.
"Oh, Will," Buffy says. I think she's in shock, which is good enough for me. I had one table designated for us. It has a white tablecloth over it, with a vase of roses in the middle. The Bronze owner was surprisingly accommodating. I had this planned since last month, but didn't want Buffy to know. Both chairs are patterned with studs and there is a glass of red wine. I know we're underage but I felt it added to the atmosphere. I walk Buffy to her chair, and barely contain my laughter when Xander walks up. He's wearing a tuxedo and pulls the chair back, letting Buffy sit down. Xander does the same for me, and walks off.
"You like?" I ask, as Buffy is just beaming now. I can see she's on the verge of tears, but she's holding back for me.
"It's amazing. How'd you get Xander into a tuxedo?" Buffy asks, glancing at the band playing. They're a local band but they play soft jazz. The band was another requested fixture for tonight.
"I told him what I had planned. He was happy to help," I reply, smiling. Buffy smiles back, looking like she's fallen even more head over heels for me, if that's possible. Maybe it's not possible. Since one can't...well they could fall head over heels twice, but you can only fall in love once, right?
"Pleasure to see you, my ladies," Xander says. I think Xander's secretly enjoying this. He'd never admit that to either of us, but he seems to be having fun. He knows it's important to me and I'm glad he's my best friend. I grab a glass as Xander fills one quarter of it with red wine. Buffy widens her eyes. I just give her my best smile. I wait for Xander to fill her glass, which he does. He smartly takes the wine away at that point. I raise my glass.
"Here's my toast. A toast to you, Buffy Anne Summers, love of my life. I've learned to be more confident in myself with you around. You've taught me that there are people out there who can love with all their heart. I can't imagine being with anybody but you. You not only protect me, but you make me feel important, and a valuable part of society. You trust me more than I'll ever know, and you believe in me, even when things don't look good. You have faith in what I can accomplish in life, and I'll return that faith times ten. You told me once to seize the day, carpe diem. I seized the day once, and I found you that same night. You've shown me with your heart that I'm a person. I love you more than you'll ever find out. So with that, I toast you, Buffy. I toast you with my heart, and my life," I finish. I can feel tears on my cheeks. Buffy's crying as well, but also seems so touched. She sniffles, and raises her glass back to me. She calms herself, as I patiently wait.
"I toast you, Willow Hannah Rosenberg, love of my life. I learned that beneath every person lies somebody who can love with everything they have. You never shied away from who you were, even through the tough times, and I admire that. I admire the fact that you stuck with me even when I tried to push you away. You always know how to brighten a day either with your infectious smile or your optimistic attitude. You will forever be my shining star in the night sky. So with that, I toast you, Willow. I toast you with my heart, and my life," Buffy says, again crying. I grab my napkin to dab away at the tears falling on my cheeks. I smile at Buffy, watching her dab her tears away. We're too busy crying to even think of drinking the wine. I set my glass down, as does Buffy with hers.
"Think we could cause anymore of a scene?" I ask, letting out a small laugh. Buffy smiles at the comment and shakes her head.
"I'm not sure. Remind me never to ask Xander how sappy we got," Buffy says. I giggle, pointing out Xander. Buffy turns and spots him, dabbing at his eyes. "Awww..." Buffy says, and I can tell that Xander's gonna get a big hug when he returns. Xander walks by. I stand up and embrace him tightly. Buffy is soon on her feet and also hugging Xander as well. Xander lets out a soft groan as we release our embraces.
"We love you, Xander," I say, smiling broadly. I'll never be able to thank him enough for what he helped do tonight. Xander just smiles at us and gives a slight bow.
"You're both welcome. I love you both, and what better way to show that than to help you celebrate your fifth month anniversary. Speaking of..." Xander says, pulling a small box out of his pocket. He hands it to Buffy who blushes slightly, and takes it. Buffy turns to me as Xander sneaks away.
"I brought you a gift. I had Xander watch over it so I wouldn't lose it. Here you go," Buffy says, handing me the small white box. I accept it, pleasantly surprised. I open it to find a sterling silver necklace. On the pendant, there's a B in one of those neat insignias that remind me of the way a calligraphy pen looks. I lift my eyes up, smiling as widely as I can.
"Oh, Buffy. It's beautiful," I say, just holding it. Buffy smiles and steps forward, taking it from me. She stands behind me, clasping it around my neck. She leans forward.
"This way, it'll be a reminder that not only do I love you, but that I'll always be with you," Buffy whispers. I lean my head back and kiss her on the cheek.
"I also got a present for you too," I say, fishing in my pants pocket. After a bit of struggling, I manage to pull the box out. I hand it to Buffy, who smiles. I don't think this night could get any better. She opens it and pulls out a necklace. It's gold with a silver pendant at the end. The pendant is a cross with a W inlayed on top. Buffy looks up, eyes brimming. "The cross represents what we've been through as well as the duty you perform, and the W is a reminder that I'm always with you, even when separated," I say. It came off sounding less sappy in my head. I stand behind Buffy and take the necklace, clasping it. Buffy turns and we hug tightly, kissing passionately on the lips. I rest my forehead against hers, just living in the moment. Unfortunately, it's a brief moment.
"Where's the phone? I need to call the police. There's some big guy out there trying to bite somebody," says a voice behind us. I can feel Buffy tense in my embrace. Damn vampires. Can't they just stay away tonight? I frown when Buffy starts to pull away. She looks at me, apologetic. I just nod my head as Xander walks up.
"Vampire," I grumble, feeling crossed. Xander nods his head as we follow. We show up just as Buffy finishes staking the vampire. The sound of clapping fills the alley.
"Nice work, love," Spike says, sauntering out of the shadows. I look at Xander, though he's as confused as I am. I glance back at this new person. Hey, I recognize that voice. It was the voice asking for the phone. Now I'm getting creeped out.
"Who are you?" Buffy asks. The man smiles, and places both hands into the pockets of his black leather duster.
"I'm pretty sure you've heard of me already. Some people say I had connections with Angel. I heard you dusted him, by the way. You're good, if you can do that. I personally would've dusted the poofter myself, but I was never really given the chance. So, big hearty thanks from me to you for that favor. Don't worry, you'll be seeing a lot of me later," the man says. He walks away, whistling. I really don't like him. Oh...damn. Is he Spike? I bet it was! I walk up and grip Buffy's arm to keep her from chasing after Spike or whomever.
"We should alert Giles," Xander pipes up. I keep my gaze on Buffy who finally turns to me and nods her head.
"It was fun while it lasted though, right?" I ask, wanting to make sure the night wasn't ruined. I'd hate to think that Buffy was having fun, and now she thinks she didn't have any fun because some vampire came in and fussed everything up.
"You are an amazing girlfriend. To call tonight magical would be a severe understatement. How'd you manage to keep it secret anyway?" Buffy asks, eyeing me. I sheepishly smile.
"I didn't put it into action until a few days ago," I reply.
"I'm glad you put it into action," Buffy says. I smile, and rest my head on her shoulder.