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Because Cavemen Have Fire, the Sequel. Chapter 3.
Apparently I can update really frequently when I keep the chapters short. (And have a rough draft in place...) Previouslies here, and - as always - thanks to ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kathyh for the look-through. (All mistakes mine btw.)
Summary: There are always consequences.
Setting: Post-NFA.
Rating: Mild R.
Pairings: S/B/A.
Word count: Just under 1600 words.
Feedback: Would be brilliant! Ta!
Disclaimer: I am not Joss and do not own these characters! [/obvious]
Chapter 3
The next morning Buffy spent a good while just observing her sleeping vampires.
It felt like a weird kind of déjà vu, her memories of the morning she'd found them overlapping with the now. But the sheer shock of finding both had overshadowed any other considerations, and she’d not wanted to upset the delicate balance they maintained, by poking around where they didn’t want her, figuring they’d open up eventually.
Well that strategy sure had worked out great.
When Spike - as usual the first to wake - slowly came to life, blinking against the brightness, she was sitting on the sofa above him, a cup of tea cradled in her hands and her face as expressionless as she could make it.
Seeing her he smiled, sleepy-eyed but happy, since mornings had by default ended up as ‘their time’, and more often than not she’d bring him a cup of blood. Well this morning was going to be different.
“Good morning... Special Boy,” she said, pointedly, and for a few seconds he stared at her completely blankly.
Then he took in Angel’s still sleeping form, noting his arms around him, before his hand flew to his neck and the still visible bite marks from last night.
He looked back up at her, unable to find an expression to fit.
“Oh bollocks,” he whispered. “Did you see...”
“Oh yeah,” she replied.
Looking horrified he started to shake his head, and then winced in pain.
“Fuck, my head hurts.”
“Good,” she said callously, and smiled.
Then, after taking a thoughtful sip of her tea, she asked, “Does he often call you William?”
He stared at her, trying to work out where she was going with this, and then understood that just answering questions was his job for now.
“Mostly just when he’s very drunk,” he answered, sighing. “Things... names... the past and the present... they... blur.”
She considered this for a moment. “Was that what happened last night - too much drink?”
He held her eyes for a second, before suddenly lowering his eyes, swallowing.
“It always blurs... with the two of us. Ever since the first time, it just...” He stopped, studying at his hands, obviously trying to find the right words and wishing that he didn’t.
“We are different than we were back then, but the things we do... the things we want... they’re the same. We didn’t - we didn’t want you to have to deal with that.”
As he tried to sit up and get a bit more comfortable, Angel grunted and tightened his hold, before mumbling a very distinct, “Stay!”
“Sorry Peaches, but...” Spike was unable to continue, and instead shook Angel’s shoulder.
Angel grimaced, his head obviously in as bad a state as Spike’s, but with great effort opened his eyes. And froze.
Looking from Buffy to Spike and back again, Buffy could not remember seeing him more bewildered and worried (which was saying something). He sat up, quickly letting go of Spike, who just shrugged.
“Don’t bother. Apparently she saw the whole thing last night.”
Angel stared at him. “She... saw?”
Spike nodded carefully.
“What do you mean saw?”
“I mean front row in the Vampire Sexcapades!”
It was good that vampires couldn’t hyperventilate, because otherwise Angel would probably have passed out.
“And... she wants some answers!” Spike continued, “What with the-” he lightly touched the bite mark, and Angel closed his eyes.
“Oh God.”
Buffy took another sip of tea, but it didn’t seem to have the same steeling effect it did on Giles. But they didn’t know that...
“Yeah, don’t think God’s listening. Spike? You once told me that you seduced Angel, but you wouldn’t tell me how. Or why. Or anything about you two. And last night...”
She folded both hands around the cup, suddenly feeling very small and lonely. “You didn’t want me - you just wanted each other.”
Angel opened his mouth, but she cut him off.
“Apparently Spike is your ‘special, pretty boy’, care to elaborate on that?”
“I... he...”
Angel looked from Spike to her and back again, clearly contemplating the benefits of a stroll in the early morning sun, which caused Spike to roll his eyes and, ignoring Angel’s mute protest, finally started talking.
“Right - you know when I ran away before Christmas? The reason behind it - what I almost...”
She nodded. There was no reason to name it. Spike sighed.
“Well... he nearly ran away when I first tried to get him into bed. You see...” he shot Angel a look, and the other looked back, pleading. Holding Angel’s eyes Spike kept speaking.
“The thing is that with him and me it wasn’t just one time, and it wasn’t just almost... There were years of fucked-up mess that we had to deal with...”
Buffy looked from one to the other, trying to fit her head around what Spike had said. And then it hit her.
“You... Oh. He rap-”
Her hand flew to her mouth, and Angel was obviously near to running away, judging by the expression on his face. Spike shrugged, and turned back to her.
“Worst vampire on record - you don’t get that reputation by asking for things nicely. You take what you want and you use every trick in the book to make sure you’re top dog. And... I didn’t make it easy for him!”
He smiled, lifting an eyebrow, but Buffy wasn’t able to meet his grin with a smile of her own, and apparently neither was Angel.
Spike sighed again. “You asked. And as for how I seduced him, then it’s very straightforward - I quite simply gave him permission to do anything he wants.”
He stopped briefly, studying Angel, blue eyes unflinching and contemplative.
“No safewords, no holding back, no disobedience. As ‘m sure you’ve noticed he’s a domineering control freak.”
She nodded, remembering the rope. It all made sense, finally.
“Goes both ways of course,” he continued, the look on his face once more inscrutable. “Let’s just say that living with the kinda sins we carry around makes us somewhat gluttons for punishment.”
“I... see.”
Oh she saw. Saw Angel waiting for the sunrise; saw Spike begging her to stake him; saw the flip side too - the near-uncontrollable passion that lay so close beneath the surface.
Add the two together and... you got everything squared. Lust and guilt and pain feeding off each other in a never ending circle... It brought up deeply uncomfortable memories from Christmas, and the sense of betrayal raised its head again. She’d thought they’d taken a step forwards then.
“But - why didn’t you tell me before? I mean it’s not like I’ve been holding back, and I asked you to share. Why... why didn’t you?”
There was a long pause.
“Because it’s nothing to do with you,” Angel said, tight-lipped, and the urge to kill things suddenly returned with a vengeance.
“Oh you have got to be kidding me! I mean, I know that none of us is exactly brilliant at sharing, or relationships, but we are all in this together and that means that what happened between you two has everything to do with me. Especially now the elephant in the corner got drunk and trampled all over the flat... You know last night was, like, the single worst way I could have found out, right? So from now on I want everything out in the open, understood?”
She shook her head angrily.
“God I thought we were over this.”
“Buffy-” Angel began, in that calm, lecturing voice that always grated, and she immediately cut him off.
“Don’t ‘Buffy’ me! Remember I told you that I want it all. That includes you two... y’know... which, by the way, is really, really hot. Well apart from the bite-y thing, but we’ll... work on that, OK?”
Angel looked like continuing his lecture, and she held up a hand.
“Unless the next words out of your mouth are ‘Yes Buffy’ don’t bother answering.”
“Yes Buffy,” Spike deadpanned, and she had to bite back a smile. They would make it work, because she wasn’t willing to accept any alternatives.
“Look, what Angel was tryin’ to say-” he added, but before he could get any further the phone rang.
Caught between relief and annoyance, Buffy picked it up.
“Buffy?” Dawn’s voice was almost vibrating with excitement, “Faith’s back!”
“Huh? But... I thought she was in South America?”
“Willow teleported her back. And she and Giles are totally having a huge fight in his office!”
The glee was so palpable that Buffy could almost touch it, and she grinned.
“I’m on my way.”
Putting down the phone she looked from vampire to vampire.
“We’ll continue this later, OK?”
“Yes Buffy,” Angel said, and she smiled.
He didn’t smile back, but she was too busy calling a cab and finding her purse and coat to notice.
When she left shortly afterwards, Spike and Angel still hadn’t moved.
But she deliberately pushed them out of her mind. She needed a break, and she was sure they could work things out. After all, if she and Spike could forgive each other - if she could come to terms with Angel’s actions as CEO - then surely it was possible to overcome this latest obstacle too, right?
***
The door closed behind her, and for a long moment silence reigned in the flat.
“We shouldn’t have come here,” Angel finally said.
Spike looked away, avoiding Angel’s eyes, and didn’t reply.
Bloody absinthe.
Chapter 4.
kathyh for the look-through. (All mistakes mine btw.)Summary: There are always consequences.
Setting: Post-NFA.
Rating: Mild R.
Pairings: S/B/A.
Word count: Just under 1600 words.
Feedback: Would be brilliant! Ta!
Disclaimer: I am not Joss and do not own these characters! [/obvious]
Chapter 3
The next morning Buffy spent a good while just observing her sleeping vampires.
It felt like a weird kind of déjà vu, her memories of the morning she'd found them overlapping with the now. But the sheer shock of finding both had overshadowed any other considerations, and she’d not wanted to upset the delicate balance they maintained, by poking around where they didn’t want her, figuring they’d open up eventually.
Well that strategy sure had worked out great.
When Spike - as usual the first to wake - slowly came to life, blinking against the brightness, she was sitting on the sofa above him, a cup of tea cradled in her hands and her face as expressionless as she could make it.
Seeing her he smiled, sleepy-eyed but happy, since mornings had by default ended up as ‘their time’, and more often than not she’d bring him a cup of blood. Well this morning was going to be different.
“Good morning... Special Boy,” she said, pointedly, and for a few seconds he stared at her completely blankly.
Then he took in Angel’s still sleeping form, noting his arms around him, before his hand flew to his neck and the still visible bite marks from last night.
He looked back up at her, unable to find an expression to fit.
“Oh bollocks,” he whispered. “Did you see...”
“Oh yeah,” she replied.
Looking horrified he started to shake his head, and then winced in pain.
“Fuck, my head hurts.”
“Good,” she said callously, and smiled.
Then, after taking a thoughtful sip of her tea, she asked, “Does he often call you William?”
He stared at her, trying to work out where she was going with this, and then understood that just answering questions was his job for now.
“Mostly just when he’s very drunk,” he answered, sighing. “Things... names... the past and the present... they... blur.”
She considered this for a moment. “Was that what happened last night - too much drink?”
He held her eyes for a second, before suddenly lowering his eyes, swallowing.
“It always blurs... with the two of us. Ever since the first time, it just...” He stopped, studying at his hands, obviously trying to find the right words and wishing that he didn’t.
“We are different than we were back then, but the things we do... the things we want... they’re the same. We didn’t - we didn’t want you to have to deal with that.”
As he tried to sit up and get a bit more comfortable, Angel grunted and tightened his hold, before mumbling a very distinct, “Stay!”
“Sorry Peaches, but...” Spike was unable to continue, and instead shook Angel’s shoulder.
Angel grimaced, his head obviously in as bad a state as Spike’s, but with great effort opened his eyes. And froze.
Looking from Buffy to Spike and back again, Buffy could not remember seeing him more bewildered and worried (which was saying something). He sat up, quickly letting go of Spike, who just shrugged.
“Don’t bother. Apparently she saw the whole thing last night.”
Angel stared at him. “She... saw?”
Spike nodded carefully.
“What do you mean saw?”
“I mean front row in the Vampire Sexcapades!”
It was good that vampires couldn’t hyperventilate, because otherwise Angel would probably have passed out.
“And... she wants some answers!” Spike continued, “What with the-” he lightly touched the bite mark, and Angel closed his eyes.
“Oh God.”
Buffy took another sip of tea, but it didn’t seem to have the same steeling effect it did on Giles. But they didn’t know that...
“Yeah, don’t think God’s listening. Spike? You once told me that you seduced Angel, but you wouldn’t tell me how. Or why. Or anything about you two. And last night...”
She folded both hands around the cup, suddenly feeling very small and lonely. “You didn’t want me - you just wanted each other.”
Angel opened his mouth, but she cut him off.
“Apparently Spike is your ‘special, pretty boy’, care to elaborate on that?”
“I... he...”
Angel looked from Spike to her and back again, clearly contemplating the benefits of a stroll in the early morning sun, which caused Spike to roll his eyes and, ignoring Angel’s mute protest, finally started talking.
“Right - you know when I ran away before Christmas? The reason behind it - what I almost...”
She nodded. There was no reason to name it. Spike sighed.
“Well... he nearly ran away when I first tried to get him into bed. You see...” he shot Angel a look, and the other looked back, pleading. Holding Angel’s eyes Spike kept speaking.
“The thing is that with him and me it wasn’t just one time, and it wasn’t just almost... There were years of fucked-up mess that we had to deal with...”
Buffy looked from one to the other, trying to fit her head around what Spike had said. And then it hit her.
“You... Oh. He rap-”
Her hand flew to her mouth, and Angel was obviously near to running away, judging by the expression on his face. Spike shrugged, and turned back to her.
“Worst vampire on record - you don’t get that reputation by asking for things nicely. You take what you want and you use every trick in the book to make sure you’re top dog. And... I didn’t make it easy for him!”
He smiled, lifting an eyebrow, but Buffy wasn’t able to meet his grin with a smile of her own, and apparently neither was Angel.
Spike sighed again. “You asked. And as for how I seduced him, then it’s very straightforward - I quite simply gave him permission to do anything he wants.”
He stopped briefly, studying Angel, blue eyes unflinching and contemplative.
“No safewords, no holding back, no disobedience. As ‘m sure you’ve noticed he’s a domineering control freak.”
She nodded, remembering the rope. It all made sense, finally.
“Goes both ways of course,” he continued, the look on his face once more inscrutable. “Let’s just say that living with the kinda sins we carry around makes us somewhat gluttons for punishment.”
“I... see.”
Oh she saw. Saw Angel waiting for the sunrise; saw Spike begging her to stake him; saw the flip side too - the near-uncontrollable passion that lay so close beneath the surface.
Add the two together and... you got everything squared. Lust and guilt and pain feeding off each other in a never ending circle... It brought up deeply uncomfortable memories from Christmas, and the sense of betrayal raised its head again. She’d thought they’d taken a step forwards then.
“But - why didn’t you tell me before? I mean it’s not like I’ve been holding back, and I asked you to share. Why... why didn’t you?”
There was a long pause.
“Because it’s nothing to do with you,” Angel said, tight-lipped, and the urge to kill things suddenly returned with a vengeance.
“Oh you have got to be kidding me! I mean, I know that none of us is exactly brilliant at sharing, or relationships, but we are all in this together and that means that what happened between you two has everything to do with me. Especially now the elephant in the corner got drunk and trampled all over the flat... You know last night was, like, the single worst way I could have found out, right? So from now on I want everything out in the open, understood?”
She shook her head angrily.
“God I thought we were over this.”
“Buffy-” Angel began, in that calm, lecturing voice that always grated, and she immediately cut him off.
“Don’t ‘Buffy’ me! Remember I told you that I want it all. That includes you two... y’know... which, by the way, is really, really hot. Well apart from the bite-y thing, but we’ll... work on that, OK?”
Angel looked like continuing his lecture, and she held up a hand.
“Unless the next words out of your mouth are ‘Yes Buffy’ don’t bother answering.”
“Yes Buffy,” Spike deadpanned, and she had to bite back a smile. They would make it work, because she wasn’t willing to accept any alternatives.
“Look, what Angel was tryin’ to say-” he added, but before he could get any further the phone rang.
Caught between relief and annoyance, Buffy picked it up.
“Buffy?” Dawn’s voice was almost vibrating with excitement, “Faith’s back!”
“Huh? But... I thought she was in South America?”
“Willow teleported her back. And she and Giles are totally having a huge fight in his office!”
The glee was so palpable that Buffy could almost touch it, and she grinned.
“I’m on my way.”
Putting down the phone she looked from vampire to vampire.
“We’ll continue this later, OK?”
“Yes Buffy,” Angel said, and she smiled.
He didn’t smile back, but she was too busy calling a cab and finding her purse and coat to notice.
When she left shortly afterwards, Spike and Angel still hadn’t moved.
But she deliberately pushed them out of her mind. She needed a break, and she was sure they could work things out. After all, if she and Spike could forgive each other - if she could come to terms with Angel’s actions as CEO - then surely it was possible to overcome this latest obstacle too, right?
The door closed behind her, and for a long moment silence reigned in the flat.
“We shouldn’t have come here,” Angel finally said.
Spike looked away, avoiding Angel’s eyes, and didn’t reply.
Bloody absinthe.
Chapter 4.
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Aww, thank you! :)
I'm not really one for slash, nor threesomes (though this is the only canon one I know of so I'm willing to try ;)), but somehow you make it believable. And good!
Even *more* thank you! (That's one of the best compliments I can get - it's easy, in a way, to write for those who love something, but to get others on board too, that's great!!)
I think it's because you really deal with the issues.
*laughs* This story is almost ALL issues, so I'm glad it works!
There's backstory, conflict, and there's nothing better than a cracky situation seeming to work out perfectly until you scratch beneath the surface and realize that things are anything but.
That's it in a nutshell, pretty much. (I love character-driven drama, basically. Which is why this story has no plot to speak of...)
I look forward to more! :)
It's coming as soon as I can get it written. :)
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Love Buffy's voice here - exasperated, determined, hurt all in one god. And Spike - can't resist the deadpan even when he's in it up to his neck.
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:)
Love Buffy's voice here - exasperated, determined, hurt all in one go.
Oh thank you - I've *agonised* over her, trust me. It's hard to find the right balance and to still make her sound suitably Buffyesque. (Something that's always tricky thanks to her being a quippy American and all that.)
And Spike - can't resist the deadpan even when he's in it up to his neck.
That's our boy! *g*
(And thank you for reading!)
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Also: yay Faith!
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LOL! (This is... lightening fast for me. Usually people have to wait like a month between updates!)
Also: yay Faith!
Oh yeah. :D
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Faith is going to bring such a fun element to this, I can feel it in my bones!
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I did get that. It just amused me, what with the ridiculously fast updates. (Short chapters, clearly that's the way forward!)
Just wanting to express my love!
Awww. Thank you. *squish*
Faith is going to bring such a fun element to this, I can feel it in my bones!
You can? *runs off to fix story so Faith doesn't cry the whole way through* ;)
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My favorite part is that in the midst of something so serious you made me laugh. Awesome. :)
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*hugs you*
The way Buffy handled herself and the situation demonstrated her maturity and her coming to terms with Angel & Spike's past and relationship.
I remember someone saying once that Buffy doesn't so much out-maneuver/fight enemies so much as she out-determines them. I think this is very much the approach she adopts here.
Now the question is how will Spike & Angel react and handle the situation.
Indeed.
My favorite part is that in the midst of something so serious you made me laugh. Awesome. :)
*grins* That's one of the trickier parts of writing in this 'verse - you can't be *too* solemn or it doesn't ring true! :)
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No, dork, that is exactly the wrong conclusion to come to. *bops Angel again and adds a smack for Spike in for good measure.*
Another lovely chapter. I am torn between curiosity about what has Faith and Giles so worked up and fretting over how messed up things are going to get between Buffy and the boys. I look forward to seeing where this goes.
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Is it?
*bops Angel again and adds a smack for Spike in for good measure.*
*laughs*
Another lovely chapter.
Thank you! (I'm sure you can tell how much I'm cutting it up by now.)
I am torn between curiosity about what has Faith and Giles so worked up and fretting over how messed up things are going to get between Buffy and the boys.I look forward to seeing where this goes.
Good things come to those who wait... :)
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I love that you don't make it easy for them. There is a lot of issues they have to deal with.
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Really? *is thrilled*
I love that you don't make it easy for them. There is a lot of issues they have to deal with.
No kidding. I sort of want to gather them together and apologise for all this stuff they have to go through...
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Curious about how the past will be resolved, but I agree with Angel that it's Spike and Angel's issue, not Buffy's.
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Thank you! :)
And despite Spike's reservations, I love that bloody absinthe. Made them get all groiny and that's aways good. Even if Buffy had to get hurt by find them.
Oh yes. Things are better out in the open!
Curious about how the past will be resolved, but I agree with Angel that it's Spike and Angel's issue, not Buffy's.
Which is it is so complicated - it's both what keep Spike and Angel together, but it's also becoming a barrier...
Because Cavemen Have Fire, the Sequel. Chapter 3.
Wrong move when you're in a relationship.
At last Buffy knows now (even the how wasn't a good way) but it would have come out some day. Or they would have left her, not sure. I think I expected too much from S. and A., huh?
Faith? Wonder what happened with her.
Re: Because Cavemen Have Fire, the Sequel. Chapter 3.
Wrong move when you're in a relationship.
Now there *are* reasons. But - they're not the sort of reasons they should ever have expected to be able to keep secret forever.
At last Buffy knows now (even the how wasn't a good way) but it would have come out some day. Or they would have left her, not sure. I think I expected too much from S. and A., huh?
Well they are vampires after all, and neither has ever been in an ordinary relationship, like, ever. (Not making excuses, just pointing out that they're kinda handicapped. *g*)
Faith? Wonder what happened with her.
Well by now you know...
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The chemistry between Spike and Angel is very interesting, so damn sexy. *ç* I love that, in the moment when he lose himself more, Angel call Spike "William" and remember their past together. Spangel is so much about this unique bond between them, is friendship and love at the same time. "Filia", as the ancient greeks said.
I also loved Buffy's reaction.
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And thank you lots for your comment. I love the layers to Spike/Angel, the darkness that's balanced with something they'd hesitate to call love, but that so clearly is... <3
And oh, Buffy. I really loved digging into all this.
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“Oh yeah,” she replied.
LOL. Aaand here we go.
“I mean front row in the Vampire Sexcapades!”
Ahahaha Buffy.
Love it.
“Because it’s nothing to do with you,” Angel said, tight-lipped, and the urge to kill things suddenly returned with a vengeance.
“Oh you have got to be kidding me! I mean, I know that none of us is exactly brilliant at sharing, or relationships, but we are all in this together and that means that what happened between you two has everything to do with me. Especially now the elephant in the corner got drunk and trampled all over the flat... You know last night was, like, the single worst way I could have found out, right? So from now on I want everything out in the open, understood?”
Totally agree with Buffy. It'd be one thing if they'd wanted to take their time letting her know, but they were closing her off. This isn't Angel+Spike with a side of Buffy. It's S/B/A, so it needs to be full of communication.
Also, Spike is so much better at talking to and dealing with Buffy than Angel. SO MUCH BETTER. You are 100% right about this.
“We shouldn’t have come here,” Angel finally said.
UGH ANGEL DO NOT MAKE ME CUT YOU.
SPIKE YOU TALK SOME SENSE INTO HIM.
Don't let him turn you to the dark side.
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Uh-huh.
Ahahaha Buffy.
Love it.
She's putting on a brave front. But - she's very good at it.
Totally agree with Buffy. It'd be one thing if they'd wanted to take their time letting her know, but they were closing her off. This isn't Angel+Spike with a side of Buffy. It's S/B/A, so it needs to be full of communication.
*nods* The S/A stuff has all been beneath the surface, and they've not been explaining any of it. And considering how pivotal it is... She needs to understand. Which I supposed is what this whole sequel is about.
Also, Spike is so much better at talking to and dealing with Buffy than Angel. SO MUCH BETTER. You are 100% right about this.
Buffy and Angel are very alike - they clam up & don't like talking. Spike is an expert at forcing them to open up. By being utterly obnoxious if necessary.
UGH ANGEL DO NOT MAKE ME CUT YOU.
SPIKE YOU TALK SOME SENSE INTO HIM.
Don't let him turn you to the dark side.
Ah, but he's not entirely wrong...