Adult-FanFiction.org : Buffy

Been Here Too Few Years	By : addielogan Category: > Buffy/Spike(William) > Buffy/Spike(William) Views: 18659 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer (BtVS), nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 31
- 32
- 33
Spike spent more time out than home over the
next few of weeks, but Buffy didn't complain. She knew he was working hard with
the rest of the band to get their album ready, and she was willing to be
supporto-girl. Besides, after the initial shock wore off, she discovered having
free time really was as wonderful as she'd always imagined. She'd had
time to fix up the apartment, and Mona had helped her find some nice things on
their budget. It no longer seemed so empty, and was feeling more and more like a
home.
Mona had also managed to teach Buffy how to
cook a few meals without destroying the kitchen�and her taste buds�that went
beyond Tuna Helper. That alone was a feat as far as Buffy was concerned, and she
was happy to be able to put something other than take-out on the table with
Spike too busy to do the cooking.
All in all, she'd managed to really settle
into her new life in Los Angeles.
So when she got a call from Giles late one
afternoon giving her the last news she'd expected to hear, it especially came
as a shock.
"Buffy, it's about
your mother. I know the two of you aren't on the best of terms right now, but
well, the doctors have found a tumor. In her brain."
At
Giles's statement, Buffy slunk down to the couch, her hand going over her mouth
in a failed attempt to muffle her choked sob.
"Buffy?
Are you still there?"
Buffy
took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Calm�she
had to be calm� "Yes. Giles, I'm here. How long has this been going
on?"
"A
couple of months. We weren't sure what it was at first, thought it was possibly
something less severe, but the doctors know for certain now. I wanted to tell
you earlier, but�" Giles stopped, and Buffy could've sworn she actually
heard him cleaning his glasses on the other end of the line. "I have no
right to ask this of you, I know, and believe me when I say I'm only doing it
because if I don't, I'm afraid you'll live with regrets. She's having surgery
this Friday, and the doctors aren't sure if she's going to make it. She�she
wants to see you, Buffy. She won't ask you because she's afraid of what you'll
say, but I am asking. If you want any peace with your mother at all, now
is the time."
When
Buffy had told her mother she would never speak to her again, that
"never" had been supposed to encompass a long period of time on both
sides. Time enough for them to someday miraculously find a way to make it not
really be a never at all. But now that never could possibly only be until
Friday for Joyce�
"I'll�I'll
come," Buffy said softly. "I'll come tonight."
"She's
in the hospital, but you can certainly visit her there."
"Okay.
I don't know when I'll get there. Spike's in the studio, and I don't have a
car. Though I can't drive anyway, so maybe I should just take the bus or�"
"Buffy,
I'll come get you. Don't worry about that at all," Giles said. "How
soon do you want me up there?"
Buffy's
voice cracked when she answered. "Now?"
"All
right. I'll be there as soon as I can."
"Giles?"
"Yes?"
"Thank
you. For�for calling. If she had�and I hadn't�"
"I
know, my dear. I know. That's why I called you."
"I'm
glad you did."
"Me,
too. I'll see you soon, Buffy."
"Okay.
Bye, Giles."
"Good
bye."
As soon
as Buffy hung up the phone, she buried her face in her hands and sobbed.

*** *** ***
Spike could tell something was wrong as soon
as he got home. It was dark in the apartment, save for one light down the hall,
in the bedroom. Normally, Buffy was bustling around, getting dinner ready, or
at the door, happy to welcome him home.
"Luv?" he called down the hall as
he went towards the bedroom. "Buffy, are you all right?"
The sight that greeted him was enough to
answer this question. Buffy was packing a bag, tears streaming down her cheeks
as she did. His first thought was a rush of fear that she was leaving him, but
he quickly realized there was no possible way that could be happening. They'd
been fine that morning, and he certainly hadn't done anything since then to
make her leave. "Kitten? Where are you
going?"
Buffy didn't look at him, and her answer
seemed almost mechanical. "Sunnydale. Giles is
coming to get me."
That brought more questions to Spike's mind
than it answered. "Sunnydale? Buffy, what's�" Spike stopped short. If she was going there like
this, something had to be very, very wrong. "Buffy, look
at me. Tell me what's happened. Is it Dawn?"
Buffy shook her head, but didn't look at
him, and Spike went over to her and grabbed her arms, turning her so she facing
him. "Buffy! Tell me what's going on!"
She looked up at him with sad, frightened
eyes, and Spike realized he'd never seen her quite like this, even when she'd
been at her worst back in New York. "My�my mom," she said softly.
"She's in the hospital. She's�" Buffy stopped speaking as she broke
into sobs again.
Spike pulled Buffy into his arms, holding on
to her as she cried against him. When she seemed to have calmed some, Spike
looked down at her face again. "What's happened, pet?"
Buffy sniffed. "She has a brain tumor.
Apparently, she's been sick for a while, but she didn't want to tell me. Giles
called and told me she's having surgery Friday, and they're not sure she'll
make it. My�my mom could be dead in two days�" She broke down again, her
body slumping, and Spike guided them to sit on the bed when he realized her
legs weren't supporting her anymore.
Spike held her, feeling helpless as he did.
Buffy was hurting, and there was nothing he could say, nothing he could do to
make it better. He remembered all too well being where she was now, and knew no
amount of words or gestures could ease the torrent of emotion inside. "What
did my da say when he called?"
"Not much. Just that she's been dealing
with something for a while, they just didn't know what." Buffy took a
deep, shuddering breath. "Dawn�she�she must've been having
to deal with watching Mom be sick, and she couldn't talk to me about it."
She looked up at Spike again. "My mom's been sick, and I didn't know! Why
did I tell her I didn't want to talk to her again? I shouldn't have, I
should've�"
"Shh. None of that
now, sweetheart. Your feud with your mother wasn't one sided, yeah? She
wasn't making a lot of moves to patch things up either."
"But she's sick now! She could be die, and if she does, then I've wasted years, I've�"
"Buffy, she didn't do right by you. I'm
not saying you should hate her or that you shouldn't go see her, but don't let
everything be colored by what's happening now. She hurt you, and you did what
you did because of that."
Buffy took a deep breath. "I know. I'm
just freaking out a little right now."
"Of course you are. It's natural
to." Spike kissed the top of her head. He wanted to tell her that it was
all going to be okay, but there were no guarantees like that with something
like this, so he didn't. "When is my da getting here?"
"Soon," Buffy said. "I didn't
want to wait."
"Do you need me to come with you?"
"Not tonight," Buffy said, shaking
her head. "But do you think you could be there Friday? Will they let you
take the day off?"
"I'll make them give it to me,"
Spike replied, tightening his hold on her. "They can work around me for a
bit."
A knock on the front door caused them both
to start a little. "That's probably Giles now," Buffy said.
Reluctantly, Spike let go of Buffy and stood
up. "You finish what you need to do in here. I'll let him in."
Buffy nodded, and Spike went to answer the
door. It was his father on the other side, and he was noticeably disheveled and
tired. "Hey, Da," Spike said as he let him in.
"Hello. I assume Buffy told you?"
"I just got home, but yeah, she
did." Spike coughed. "How are you holding up?"
"I've been better," Giles replied.
"The whole time she's been sick, I kept telling myself it was going to
turn out to be nothing, and then�" A tremor went through him, and Spike
realized it was the closest he'd seen his father to tears in a very long time.
"I never thought I'd be going through this again. When they told us it was
cancer�" He trailed off.
Spike couldn't begin to fathom what it would
be like to sit by and watch something eating away at the woman he loved once,
but to go through it twice?
"Da�"
"I'm holding together," Giles
said, his posture straightening. "It wouldn't do a lot of good to Joyce to
have me falling apart. And Dawn, too. She doesn't know
how bad it is. Joyce is afraid to worry her too much."
Spike frowned. If he knew Dawn, she probably
had a better idea of the situation than either Giles or her mother knew, and
just wasn't letting on that they weren't protecting her from anything.
"How bad is it?" Spike asked. "Really."
Giles pulled in a deep breath. "She's
got a fighting chance. The doctors caught it early, and it hasn't had time to
spread. There's a chance she'll make a full recovery."
"But only a chance�"
Buffy's soft declaration made both men turn
to her, neither of them having realized she'd come into the room while they
were talking. "It's a good
chance, Buffy," Giles replied. His expression turned into something that
was almost a smile. "Besides, you know how bloody stubborn your mother is.
If anyone can get through this, it's her."
Buffy made a sound that was somewhere
between a laugh and a sob, and Giles held his arms out to her. Buffy moved into
them, hugging him tightly. "I don't want this to be happening," she
said, her voice barely above a whisper.
"I know," Giles replied. "I
think it'll help her, having you there. I know it probably isn't enough, but
she's sorry for what she did, Buffy. She knows she was wrong, she just doesn't
know what to do to make it right again. She's stopped drinking. After you left,
she started going to meetings."
Buffy pulled back from Giles and wiped at
her eyes. "That's a start, I guess." She took a deep breath, walked
over to her bag, and picked it up. "Let's go, okay?"
"If you're
ready." Giles looked at his
son. "What are your plans?"
"I told Buffy I'd be there Friday. What
time's the surgery?"
"Ten in the
morning."
"Sunnydale Memorial?"
"Yes."
Spike gave a small nod. "I'll be
there." He felt Buffy's hand on his arm and he turned to look at her.
"If you need me there sooner, you call me, kitten. I'll drop
everything."
"I will. I love you, Spike."
"I love you, too, sweetheart."
Spike gave her a gentle kiss, aware of the fact that they had an audience in
the form of his father. "Call me tonight, all right?"
"Okay." Buffy started to move
away, but hesitated for a moment, then wrapped her arms around Spike and
squeezed as tightly as she could. "I love you," she whispered again.
Spike returned her tight embrace. "I
know, baby. And I love you so much."
Giles had turned his head, knowing it was a
private moment, and waited until Buffy had approached him again. "I'm
ready now."
"Then let's go."

***
*** ***
You didn't really think I'd let everything
be all happy from here on out did you? Yep, I'm an evil author.
- 31
- 32
- 33
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Been Here Too Few Years