Changing Lives by Mabel Marsters

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Chapter 53

The next morning the two boys were talking as they lay in their beds.

“It was the best New Year’s Eve party I’ve ever been to,” said Rich.

“Me too,” said Spike, not adding that it was actually the first time he’d gone out on that night.

“You’ve got some good friends, Spike.”

“Yeah, I know. Wot about the Dingoes then? Do you still like us?” he asked as he sat up on the bed, relieved to find that his back was a bit better.

“Oh mate, you’re great. I really mean it. The songs you an’ Oz ‘ave written are just amazing. I can’t wait to get all the footage together. I’ll work on it a bit when I get home and then I’ll let you see it.”

“Aw c’mon, yer got to let me see it sooner than that,” protested Spike.

“No way! I know wot you’re like. Yer’ll be all ‘oh no, yer can’t show that, it’ll make me all shy!’” teased Rich in a babyish voice.

“Watch it,” laughed Spike, “You’re only safe ‘cause I can’t bleedin’ move quickly enough to get yer.” He threw his pillow at him.

Ooooooo

Davey had had an interesting evening. His parents weren’t too impressed with him initially when they got the call to go to the police station just as they were about to leave for their evening out. Once they got down there, though, they forgot all about their plans. Whilst they were shocked that he’d had a part, albeit as a bystander, in Angel’s attack on Spike, they were proud of his decision to come forward and tell the police the truth. They had never liked him hanging out with Angel but it had been hard to discourage since they were both on the football team.

By ten p.m. that evening Davey and his parents were heading home and Angel was in a holding cell. Two cops had gone to the Bronze to arrest him and, as luck would have it, he was outside kissing one of the girls Davey had seen him with. One of the cops recognised him and so his arrest was quick and quiet, leaving the revellers inside unaware of what had happened. The baseball bat, complete with dried blood on one end and Angel’s fingerprints on the handle, had been recovered from his parent’s garage.

The only thing that Davey had left out of the account he told the police was that Angel had taken Spike’s duster. He knew it would end up being kept for evidence for ages and he wanted Spike to have it back. So he’d taken it from the garage and hid it before he went to the cops. He liked the Dingoes, though he’d never told Angel, and Spike just hadn’t looked right up on stage without it. There was something he had to do this morning and he was more worried about it than he’d been of ratting Angel out.

Ooooooo

Rupert, Spike and Rich had just finished breakfast when there was a knock on the door.

“I’ll get it, Mr. G.,” offered Rich.

He opened the door to find a huge yellow-haired boy standing there holding a big brown paper bag.

“Er…is Spike in?” asked Davey.

“Yeah, come in. I’ll tell him,” said Rich.

“I’ll wait here,” replied Davey, not wanting to go inside.

“Oh? Okay.” Rich walked back into the lounge part of the apartment. “Spike, there’s someone ‘ere to see yer.”

Spike walked to the door and stopped short as he saw who it was.

“Wot the hell does he want?”

“Is everything okay?” asked Rich when he saw Spike pause.

“I dunno,” said Spike quietly and he resumed walking to the door.

He was pleased when Rich followed him and stood just behind his shoulder.

“Davey,” said Spike coldly, “Wot are yer doin’ ‘ere?”

Davey shifted awkwardly from foot to foot. “You guys were great last night, well, what I saw of you anyway.”

“Yer didn’t come ‘ere to tell me that. Wot’s goin’ on?”

“Er…I just wanted to give you this back.” He thrust the bag towards Spike, “and to let you know that Angel’s been arrested and probably charged by now for attacking you. They’ve got the bat, it’s got blood on it and we know it’ll be yours, don’t we?”

Spike stared at him, and then looked into the bag. It held his duster.

“I’m sorry for what he did, okay? And not just this last thing, either. Anyway, I just thought you’d rather have it back than have it go in as evidence.” With that he turned and started to walk.

“Davey,” called Spike, finally finding his voice. Davey turned around. “Thanks.”

Davey gave a slight smile and walked away.

“C’mon, Spike. I reckon yer need to sit down,” said Rich, putting a hand on him and guiding him back to the chairs.

Spike sat down with a thud that made him wince with pain.

“Who was that?” asked Rupert, noticing how Spike had paled, “Are you all right?”

“Um…it was Davey,” said Spike.

“Isn’t that…” started Rupert.

“Yeah, Angel’s mate. He gave me this.” He pulled his duster out of the bag. “Angel’s been arrested.”

“Good Lord, that is good news.”

“Shall I tell yer wot’s even better news?” said Spike with a bit of a smile. “Angel turned eighteen two weeks ago.”

“Wot’s that got to do with anythin’?” asked Rich in confusion.

Spike glanced up at Rupert who had taken his glasses off and was polishing them.

“It means, Rich, that he’ll be charged and dealt with as an adult, not a minor,” supplied Rupert.

“Oh,” said Rich, grinning at Spike, “that is good news.”

“I’d better call the station now and find out what’s happening,” said Rupert.

“Don’t tell them that Davey told us or that he gave me back my coat,” said Spike.

“I won’t. I’ll just say I want to know if there’s been any progress,” replied Rupert and he headed off to the telephone.

Spike and Rich exchanged a high five.

“Got the bastard,” said Rich grimly.

“Yeah, funny how much better that makes me feel,” replied Spike.

Ooooooo

Spike called his friends with the news about Angel when they got back from the police station. He’d had to go down and give an official statement which he’d thought was pretty pointless, really, since all it contained was ‘I was walking home when I was hit from behind on my back and then on my head. I didn’t see the assailant’. He hadn’t told them that he’d thought he had heard Angel’s voice but since Davey had come forward it didn’t matter. The police assured them that Angel would serve time for the attack as it was being treated as an attempted murder.

“Not a bad New Year’s present,” thought Spike that night as he lay in bed waiting for sleep to come.

Ooooooo

The next day was Rich’s last one. He was due on a flight leaving in the early afternoon. Spike had arranged to spend the morning with his friend on his own. He’d really miss Rich; he’d fit into the group of friends seamlessly, like he’d known them all for years. His enthusiasm about promoting Dingoes Ate My Baby was infectious. They all couldn’t wait to see what he’d caught on film as he’d still refused to show it to them.

Rich and Spike wandered back to the apartment, as it was almost time to leave for the airport.

“Spike. I’m gonna say something and I don’t want yer to freak out, okay?”

Spike looked at him quizzically but said nothing. Rich swallowed hard and continued.

“Look, mate. You’re gonna ‘ave to come clean; at least to Buffy.”

“Wot?” said Spike, standing still.

“You’ve got to. It’s gonna blow up in yer face one day if yer don’t. You’ve told me she’s ‘the one’ and from the way she is with yer, I reckon she feels the same way.

Spike was dumbstruck; he just stared at Rich. His heart was racing. He slowly shook his head.

“How can I, Rich? I’ll lose her,” he said quietly, finally voicing the fear he’d had ever since they’d gotten close.

“Wot? So yer never gonna tell anybody ever?”

“Well, I was gonna tell Rupert when I graduated so that I’d be out of Sunnydale. But I can’t now, Rich, she’ll never forgive me.” He was perilously close to tears.

“Mate, if yer tell ‘er, yeah, she’ll probably freak, okay, will definitely freak, but wot ‘appens if she just finds out somehow?”

Spike ran a hand over his face. “I dunno,” he whispered, “If she dumped me it’d kill me, Rich, I swear it really would.”

“All the more reason to tell ‘er now, Spike. I’m right an’ yer know it. If yer serious about ‘er, she’s got to know the truth. If she really loves yer then she’ll forgive yer even if it takes time.”

Rich put his hand on Spike’s shoulder.

“At least promise me you’ll think about it?”

Spike nodded.

Ooooooo

When Rupert and Spike got back from seeing Rich onto the plane, they were sitting at the dining table having a hot drink. Rupert pulled out an envelope and placed it on the table between them.

“Um…when I was in London, I was going through their belongings and a box of effects had been returned by the police. All the things that they’d recovered from the car. One of the them was a camera. I had the photographs printed and thought you might like them. I didn’t think you’d brought any photographs back with you. I’ve saved all of the ones from in the house. I wanted to wait until we were alone before I gave you these new ones though.”

Spike stared at the envelope before tentatively reaching out for it. He pulled the photos out and gasped. He flicked through them quickly then glanced back at Rupert.

“Er…is it okay if I take them in to my room?” he asked, eyes glistening with tears.

Rupert nodded and wiped his own eyes as the boy fled to the privacy of his bedroom.

Spike flung himself down on the bed and laid the photos out in front of him. They were of the day of the crash - his birthday. They were photographs of them at Bodium Castle. As he looked at the happy smiling faces he broke down in tears. He laid his head in his arms and sobbed uncontrollably.

Eventually he managed to stem the tears and looked at them again. There was a photo of the five of them, Thomas in the middle flanked by Julia and Jayne, with the boys on either end. They were all laughing helplessly. He remembered how the elderly man they’d asked to take it had had trouble working the hi-tech digital camera. It had taken three attempts for him to take one.

There was one of he and James fooling around near the moat. Spike acted as if he was going to throw James into it. But the one that had really caused him to collapse was the one of him and his mom, arms around each other, beaming at the camera. He’d started to find it hard to remember her face. He cried again as he saw how happy she’d looked. About three hours after this she was dead – they all were.

Rupert knocked gently on his door.

“Spike, are you all right? May I come in?”

“Yeah,” said Spike with a sniff. He dragged his arm across his eyes to wipe away the tears and sat up.

Rupert sat next to him, “I know it must hurt but I thought you’d like to have them.”

“I do, I really do. Thanks, Rupert. It was just a bit of a shock, I suppose.”

He leant into Rupert as his uncle put his arm around his shoulders. He clung to him like a small child, finding reassurance in his solid presence.

“I bought a couple of frames in case you want to have them out on show, but it’s okay if you don’t.”

“Thanks,” mumbled Spike as tears threatened once more.

Ooooooo

When he went to bed that night he put the photograph of the five of them in one of the frames and sat it on his desk. The other frame he filled with the photo of him and James. He put the one of his mom and himself in the front of the copy of Pride and Prejudice. He felt ashamed that he daren’t have it proudly on display. He knew that he really needed to tell his secret. Sleep didn’t some easily that night.

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