Summary: Spike is Buffy's swimming coach. He has been hateful to her since day one, a fact that hurts her because she is in love with him. Little does she know that his behaviour only serves to hide his own feelings. Tragic circumstances bring them closer together.
Buffy swam the length of the fifty meter pool strongly, her toned arms powering through the clear water as her strong thighs kicked along behind. She eventually reached the edge of the deep end and grabbed hold of the edge, breathing heavily.
“Summers!”
Oh shit. It was Spike, her swimming coach. Possibly one of the angriest people she had ever known. And the hottest, which only made it worse because all he ever seemed to do was shout at her, and when he wasn’t shouting he was merely telling her what she’d done wrong in a quieter, but no less menacing, voice. When she’d joined the Sunnydale swim squad at 17 she’d seriously entertained fantasies of the two of them falling in lust, and then love. That daydream was quickly shattered by his obvious contempt for her. So now at 19 years old Buffy finally accepted that she’d never be anything but a swimmer in his eyes, someone apparently in need of a great deal more coaching.
“Yes coach?”
“What the bleedin’ ’ell do you call that?”
“Ummm, two hundred meters freestyle?”
“Right. My grandmother has better technique than you just showed and she ’asn’t moved from the cemetery in years!”
What the hell was his problem? It wasn’t for nothing she was one of the top swimmers in the state, she knew how to swim a lap of freestyle for Christ sake.
“What was wrong with it coach?”
“Almost everything. Your legs aren’t close enough to the surface, your elbows were bent at the wrong angle and you took too long to breathe between strokes. Its like you’re asking for me to give you another hundred laps.”
Spike glared down at Buffy from his stance on the white tiles above her head, trying desperately to ignore the generous swell of breasts floating on the surface as she held herself slightly out of the water. Ever since the day Buffy had joined the town’s swimming squad after moving to Sunnydale Spike had lusted desperately after her. How could he not? She was absolutely stunning, in and out of the pool. Her golden hair always took his breath away, even when it was completely soaked. Of course, he knew from the day he met her that she was off limits. First of all, she was only seventeen while he was twenty five. And second of all, he was her swimming coach. So Spike did what he had to do; he hid his attraction beneath the mask of a 'dedicated' swim coach. This came off as a 'fierce' swim coach most of the time, but so far no one was aware of his feelings which was the whole point. Unfortunately, he also knew that Buffy hated him with a passion and that hurt more than he could admit even to himself.
“I’m not doing it on purpose, I swear. I’m just really tired right now.”
“What, your new boy toy keep you up all night? Tell someone who cares. Now give me another twenty laps and do it right this time.”
Yeah, Spike knew all about that wanker Finn Buffy was seeing. How could he ignore it with Finn being one of his own swimmers? He saw them leaving together after practice, his meaty arm draped possessively over her delicate shoulder, seemingly not noticing that he was almost crushing her. Didn’t Finn realize that a woman like Buffy couldn’t be possessed? She was so fierce, so independent. If Spike was the one lucky enough to take her home he’d never do anything to quash her true spirit, they’d be equal in everything. But of course, this train of thought wasn’t helpful in the least. And Buffy seemed to be saying something with a devastated look on her face.
“Twenty laps? But coach, I feel like dying as it is! And I have somewhere I need to be. Last night, well, I just didn’t get to bed until really late and then I had to be up really early. And I know it’ll be another late one tonight. Please, I’m not trying to make excuses but I could really use a break right now.”
Buffy’s huge eyes pleaded with him to understand but his own eyes were cold and determined. What did she think, he’d let her off easy so she could spend all night fucking Finn? His anger grew at the thought.
“Listen here Summers. I know you want to be on this team ’cos lets be honest it’s the only one here and swimming is what you’re best at. The state championships are coming up in a few weeks and you want me to go easy on you? Should I just go easy on Finn too, let you two work off the energy in another way? Cry me a bleedin’ river and while you’re at it get back to the laps or so help me God I’ll kick you out.”
Spike’s heart clenched at the sight of her eyes filling with tears that she quickly tried to hide.
“Riley has nothing to do…please, I just…oh forget about it.” She quickly turned and dove smoothly under the water, coming up again and starting on the laps. Clearly he wasn’t going to help her in any way and she would be damned if she was going to spend any more time begging him. It was like pleading with a brick wall. She’d just have to get the laps out of the way as quickly as possible. Hopefully Riley wouldn’t stop her after training, she was really getting sick of how needy he seemed to be. Buffy didn’t even know why she’d said yes to going out with him. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that she was so sick of being treated harshly by Spike it was nice to have someone care about her, even if she didn’t really feel the same way. Their relationship seemed to piss Spike off immensely too, which Buffy felt was a tiny bit of revenge on her behalf. God, sometimes she just wondered why Spike hated her. But more importantly, she really wondered what was so wrong with her that she couldn’t stop her intense feelings for him regardless. Maybe she was just a masochist.
Spike looked down at several other swimmers who had come to rest at the edge of the pool, panting harshly all together.
“Alright you lot, good job today. Might’ve been the first time none of you argued with my instructions. For that, you can all leave early now.”
Amidst the cheers and splashing water as the swimmers climbed out of the pool, Spike could hear Riley Finn’s stupid sounding farm boy voice pipe up.
“What about Buffy coach? How much more does she have to do?”
“None of your business Finn. Go and get dressed, then get home, and if I see you hanging round the change rooms again I’ll suspend you from the team.” Riley clenched his jaw and glared at Spike, but grabbed his towel and headed off to change anyway. He knew that with the swimming championships coming up he couldn’t afford to do anything that might get him kicked off the team.
Spike just sat down on the bench and leant against the wall, watching the object of his desire swim lap after lap. She was like a water nymph, so at home in the sparkling clear liquid. He knew how much she loved swimming, he too had loved it with all his heart when he was younger and swam in meet after meet. It was only when his trainer of many years and dear friend Pete Huffman had died in a car accident three years ago that he had given up swimming competitively and started working as a coach. What he wouldn’t give right now to be able to dive in the pool, swim up to Buffy and kiss her until she melted into his touch. Of course, the more likely scenario would be her drowning him but the daydream was still sweet. He suddenly noticed her climbing up the ladder.
“All done luv?” Buffy’s head shot up at the nickname spoken so huskily – he’d never called her anything but Summers before. And God help her but she couldn’t stop the warm fuzzy feeling spreading through her insides even though she knew it must be a slip of the tongue.
“Yes coach. Twenty laps. Can I go now, please?” She seemed desperate to get out of his presence for some reason. That reason probably being that she hated the sight of him, such a thought causing his heart to ache. He wished he could drop to his knees and apologize for his behaviour, explain that he needed to do it to keep a distance between them and declare his everlasting love. Well, if wishes were fishes…
He nodded without speaking and she rushed off to the changing rooms, draping a large towel around her body and in the process covering up her delicious curves. Probably a good thing to do.
***
Spike walked out of the building, a sports bag slung casually over his shoulders. Time to go home to his lonely, empty apartment and watch some crap TV. Sometimes he hated his life. Suddenly he cocked his head to the side, listening hard for a sound coming from around the brick wall corner. It sounded like…a hiccup? A muffled sob? Deciding to investigate, he walked quietly around the corner and stopped dead at the sight in front of him. Buffy was sitting on a low bench, clutching her knees and sobbing her eyes out. Spike couldn’t stop the panic racing through his veins at the thought of her being hurt.
“Buffy? Buffy what happened?”
Buffy gasped and shot her head up as she heard his voice. Her utter misery was put on hold for a second as she registered the concerned alarm on his face, but came rushing back to her in floods as she realized what a psycho she must look like. And of all the people to see her breaking down, God, it was just humiliating.
“Nothing, really,”…sob… “I’m”…hiccup…“fine, please go away, I’m”…sniffle…“okay.” She buried her face in her hands as her tears fell harder, praying that he would just leave. She heard the creak of the bench and realized he had sat down next to her. The feel of his hand softly stroking her back had her head shooting up in surprise again.
“Buffy, I really need you to tell me what’s wrong. If something happened in there I need to know about it.”
Buffy bit her bottom lip. She was desperate to tell someone what was bothering her; she hadn’t told anyone yet. To be honest, there was no one she’d felt she could tell just yet. Spike definitely shouldn’t have been a candidate, but the urge to lay out her problems at his feet was almost overwhelming. She decided to act on the impulse before more weeping threatened to choke her.
“Its…its my mom. She’s sick, in hospital. We don’t know what it is but she’s having test after test every day. She keeps fainting and the doctors think it has something to do with her brain. I go there every night and morning but…but I just wish, I mean, I wish I could be with her all the time. And Riley usually drops me nearby after practice but he’s gone and I can’t get there. He doesn’t know so he obviously didn’t think it was important to stick around. And I just…I can’t… I just don’t know what to do.” Buffy suddenly started crying heavily, her shoulder wracking with the intensity of her sobs.
Spike had never felt more like an asshole in his entire life. He’d kept her late at practice, implying she was up late because of her boyfriend when really she had been keeping a vigil at her sick mother’s bedside. He’d yelled at her, insulted her and refused to listen to her. Right now he just wanted to punch himself in the nose. Instead he impulsively chose to wrap a strong arm around her small frame, sliding her body until she was pressed up to his in a comforting hug. Buffy surprised him by burying her face in his chest, clutching onto his shirt with both hands as she continued to cry. Spike held her, hating the fact that the best thing he’d ever felt had to come about because of her misery. He decided right then and there to start making it up to her.