Changing Lives by Mabel Marsters

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Chapter 48

Spike and Rich went into Spike’s bedroom once breakfast was over.

“Come on then,” said Rich, with a bit of a leer, “Wot’s this about you and Buffy?”

Spike rolled his eyes, thinking that perhaps it hadn’t been the best idea to say anything to Rich.

“Look Rich, can we just forget it?”

“No way! Yer can’t drop a hint like that and then not say!”

Spike sighed, “Okay, well me and Buffy we…um…” His voice tailed away.

“So yer…um, did yer?” joked Rich as Spike blushed. “Still the same old Spike.” “It’s all right, mate, I get the picture.”

Spike grinned back at Rich, delighted that he hadn’t needed to go into the details.

“She’s really special, Rich. I mean it,” he added as Rich pulled a face.

“Christ, Spike, yer seventeen and yer acting like she’s the one yer going to be with forever. She’s yer first, mate, ‘course she’s special but surely that’s it?”

Spike felt a surge of anger at Rich’s words.

“No Rich, I’m not like you. Buffy’s ‘the one’. I know she is and unless I screw it up and she dumps me, I’m never goin’ to need to look anywhere else,” he said a bit sharply.

Rich put his hands up in mock surrender. “Okay, okay! Just don’t forget to invite me to the wedding!”

“I’ll think about it,” replied Spike with a chuckle.

There was a tap on the bedroom door.

“I have a visitor to see you, Spike. Is it okay for her to come in?” called Rupert.

“Sure,” said Spike, hoping it might be Buffy after all.

The door opened and in stepped Cordelia. Richard’s mouth literally fell open as he saw her.

“Cor,” he muttered.

Cordelia glanced at him dismissively. “It’s Cordelia, actually.”

Spike burst out laughing at the misunderstanding. To his surprise she promptly burst into tears.

“Hey, wot’s wrong? Um…don’t cry.”

He and Rich exchanged a look. Cordelia sat on the bed near where Spike lay and buried her face in her hands. Spike pushed himself up with a grimace and swung his legs over the edge of the bed until he was sitting next to her. As she saw how painful movement was for him she cried even louder.

“Does she have an off button anywhere for this crying?” joked Rich.

“Cordy, shh…come on, please don’t cry,” soothed Spike, feeling very uncomfortable at her sitting there sobbing. Eventually she got her tears under control and looked up with red-rimmed eyes at Spike.

“I’m so sorry, Spike. I really am.”

“Sorry for wot?”

“For what happened to you.”

“Well, unless you were the one on the other end of the bat, it’s not your fault, is it? So you’ve got nothin’ to be sorry for.”

New tears started to roll down her cheeks.

“Christ, wot did I say?”

“But it is my fault. I told Angel that I was seeing you and that’s why he went after you,” she wailed.

“Um…okay,” said Spike slowly, “Er…why did yer tell him that?”

“Because I knew he’d be angry and I thought he’d beat Xander up and then it’d be all around the school that I was dating him and all my friends would laugh at me. I thought you’d be all right because you hit Angel the other week and he seemed afraid of you.”

“Hang on…you’re seeing Xander?” asked Spike.

“Yes, since the night you first sang at the Bronze.”

“He never said anything.”

“No, I told him not to,” replied Cordelia.

“God, Cordy, you’re dating someone but you’re ashamed to let yer friends know? That’s kind of mean. Yer know that, right?” said Spike, shaking his head.

“I know and I really like him but it’s hard when you’re popular. You’ve got standards to keep up.”

“Is this girl fer real?” asked Rich, prompting more tears.

“Cordelia, if yer like Xander enough to date him then yer need to tell your friends. If they can’t deal they’re not great friends to have, are they?” said Spike quietly.

Cordelia stared at him, her brown eyes huge, “You’re right. I know you’re right. Oh God, I’ve been so horrible for keeping it a secret.”

Before she could start crying again, Spike quickly said, “Why don’t yer go and see Xander and tell him how you really feel about him? We’re playing the Bronze on New Year’s Eve. You could have your first ‘proper’ date with him then, okay?”

Cordelia nodded. “I will. I’ll go now. Are you sure you’re going to be all right?”

Spike grinned at her. “Yeah, I’ll be fine. I’m pretty tough,” he said as she left.

Oooooo

Richard looked at Spike and raised his eyebrows.

“Please don’t tell me that all the birds are like that over ‘ere?”

“Wot do yer mean? She’s pretty, isn’t she?” asked Spike.

“Yeah, but God, she’s a bit intense.”

Spike laughed. “She’s had a bad couple of days. She’s normally the opposite of intense.”

“So are yer sure you’ll be okay for the concert?” asked Rich.

“I’ve got to be,” replied Spike, “We can’t miss this gig. We’ll have to do the sound check the day before so I don’t have to do too much on one day. My tongue still hurts from where I bit it but it’ll be fine by then.”

“Listen to you, ‘got to do the sound check’. Makes yer seem like a proper band,” said Rich.

“Hey, we are a bloody proper band,” retorted Spike.

“I didn’t mean it like that! I just meant that the last time I was with yer and yer were goin’ to sing, it was at a Karaoke and yer ‘ad to get pissed first!”

“I love it, Rich. I never thought I would but I really do. I’m like a different person when I’m on stage.”

“Well, I can’t wait to hear you guys. Yer ought to get someone to video you and put it on Youtube.”

“I’m not sure we’re ready for anything like that yet,” said Spike modestly.

“Aw, c’mon, ‘ow can yer say that? If yer playing a club on New Year’s Eve yer must be pretty good.”

“Well, you’ll just have to let me know wot yer think when you’ve heard us,” said Spike.

Rich looked at his friend carefully, “Er…do yer want to ‘ave a bit of a kip?” he asked, “You’ve gone a bit pale.”

Spike smiled at him gratefully. “I would like to try to sleep for a bit if yer don’t mind? I just feel bad that you’re over here and I can’t do anything.”

“No worries about that. Just get some rest, yeah? Do yer mind if I take yer laptop into the lounge room? I want to check out bands on Youtube.”

“Sure,” said Spike.

Rich grabbed the computer and went out of the bedroom, only to reappear moments later.

“Mr. G told me to give yer these pills,” he said, handing two painkillers and a glass of water to him.

“Thanks, Rich,” said Spike, taking them from him and swallowing them down.

Rich took the glass from him and left his friend to rest.

Spike settled back into his pillow and closed his eyes. He was lying on his side to keep the pressure off the bruise on his back and within minutes he was asleep.

He woke with a start, heart hammering, about two hours later, emerging from a nightmare with a cry and sweat beaded on his brow.

“Shit,” he sighed as he eased his feet over the side of the bed to sit up.

He put his head in his hands and groaned as he recalled the dream. Was that what it was? Or was it a memory? He’d felt the blows strike home but this time as he lay helpless on the floor he’d heard a voice.

“That’ll fix you,” it had snarled.

The voice had been Angel’s. He didn’t know whether he’d put it in his dream because he’d actually heard it, or whether it was just a reaction to being told that Angel had been gunning for him. It certainly wasn’t the first nightmare he’d had featuring Angel.

Once the memory of the dream faded a little, Spike stood up, wincing as he did, and went to find the others.

“Ah, back in the land of the living, I see. Just in time for lunch,” said Rupert, looking at his nephew carefully.

Spike glanced at his watch, “I didn’t realise I’d slept for so long. Sorry.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Spike. You know well enough that when you’ve been hurt that sleep is the best medicine for your body.”

“But Rich…”

“I’ve been busy so don’t worry about me,” said Rich, smiling at him, “You ought to see some of the bands on the Internet. Christ, mate, they’re bleedin’ useless. We’ve got to get a video done of the Dingoes.”

Spike went and sat next to Rich at the dining table.

“Let’s have a look then.”

“Are sandwiches okay for lunch?” asked Rupert, “We’ve got a three course dinner tonight, remember.”

Both boys told him that they were happy with that.

“Do you need any ‘elp, Mr. G?” asked Rich.

“No, you just show Spike what you wanted to. I’ll bring them through to you,” replied Rupert, going into the kitchen.

“Look at these guys, The Artic Monkeys. They made their name with Internet downloads and videos. Now they’re having chart hits and playing big festivals,” enthused Rich, “so it can ‘appen.”

“Really?” said Spike in wonder. “Could the Dingoes actually end up making records?”

“Yeah, and there are plenty of others too. I reckon the record companies must scout these sites nowadays to try to spot new talent.”

He tapped a few keys on the computer to bring up a particular video.

“Mind you, some of it is total shite!”

Spike and Rich fell about laughing when the video started to play. The band was truly awful.

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