Title: Getting to Know You
Author:
Aaronlisa Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Pairing/Characters: Spike/Xander (read the notes first)
Rating: FR13
Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon and company.
Prompts: Written for
warpedminded for Round 93 (genderswap) at
femslash_minis. I was given the following prompts: Girl!Spike/Girl!Xander, starting college, roommates, gifts without M/F and non-con.
Notes: This is an human AU where Spike and Xander have always been girls. In fact, I pretty much gender-swapped everyone. There's mention of canonical (but genderswapped) pairings: Dru/Spike, Willow/Tara, Buffy/Riley, Xander/Cordelia.
Summary: Spike and Xander are roommates at college.
Word Count: 2608
Sunnydale is a rather small town. In fact it's so small that Alexandra Harris, better known to her closest friends as Xander, has always been wondered how the town could have an university. Admittedly, UC :Sunnydale is a rather tiny campus that pulls from Sunnydale proper and a few other towns that are within a close radius of the town And regardless of the feasibility of it, Xander has to be grateful for it's presence since it gives her a chance to attend school and get away from her family.
"Alright Xan, this is the last box," Will says as he sets the box in the room that Xander will be calling home for the next few years.
"Thanks Will," Xander replies.
It's odd that they won't be together and Xander tries her best not get overly emotional, especially since she doesn't want Will to feel guilty over getting accepted at Harvard. Will slings an arm around Xander's shoulder and it just makes the petite brunette feel worse. They've been friends since kindergarten and now they'll be apart.
"You sure you okay with this?" Will asks. "I did get accepted here and I can stay here if you want."
"It's too late for that," Xander says as she rests her head on Will's shoulder.
"Nah, they'd take me in if I wanted to stay."
For a moment, she considers be selfish, she considers saying yes but then she looks up at Will and she knows she can't do that to her best friends. It's far too selfish to keep the red-head here just because she's feeling lonely and scared.
"I absolutely refuse to let you hold yourself back for me William Rosenberg," Xander says.
Will laughs at her as he pulls her into a tighter embrace and it makes Xander feel better when she realizes that Will still has feelings for her. This separation is fort the best. Before either of them can say anything, the door is kicked open and Xander groans when she sees who it is: Spike. The one girl that she was hoping would take off for LA after graduation.
Will stands up and glares at the bleached-blond punk girl who just laughs in her face.
"You don't scare me Will Rosenberg," Spike says.. "So you can take your constipated look of resolve elsewhere. Don' t you have a plane to catch, some big Ivy League school to impress?"
"You leave her alone," Will says.
"Yeah whatever, like I have time to bother her."
Will turns away from Spike and faces Xander again. "You sure you're going to be okay?"
"I'll be fine Will, you always worry to much. Go on, she's right, you've got a plane to catch."
Thankfully Will doesn't push it too much, she gives Xander one last hug and Spike a glare before promising to see Xander during their first holiday break. And then he's gone and Spike's lighting up a cigarette.
"I've always wondered what you saw in him? He's like a big girl," Spike says after exhaling a stream of smoke that causes Xander to cough.
"This is a no smoking room," Xander points out.
"Yeah sure whatever," Spike says.
Xander rolls her eyes as the blonde ignores her. She turns away and starts unpacking.
* * *
They're not friends. At the most, they're roommates who are civil to one another. After Xander had found out that there was no way she could switch rooms, she had decided to pick her battles and for the most part Spike respects most of her boundaries. Spike still smokes in their room, still plays obnoxiously loud music with lead singers who scream about social angst, and she still steals Xander's food but she's always respectful in never bringing home any of her conquests. And Spike gets around, not that Xander really cares.
College is an experience and everyone experiences it's different. At least that's what Buff always says when they meet up for coffee at The Espresso Pump once a week. Buff Summers is the type of guy who could have had it all but a football injury and an elderly aunt had forced him to take a step away from college while he manages his aunt's book store. Although Xander sometimes wonders about whether or not Buff would have liked college. After all, Buff's always telling Xander that she should hook up with Spike.
"C'mon Xan it'd do you good, you haven't dated anyone since Cord," Buff says as he takes a sip of his mocha.
"Yeah and there's the problem with me going after Spike," Xander says as she rolls her eyes.
"What's that?"
"Cord was a boy, I like boys," Xander says.
"That's what Will always said and look at him dating Terrence."
Xander rolls her eyes and tries not to feel hurt about how quick Will had moved on.
"It's different," Xander says.
"How so? Aren't girls supposed to experiment with girls in college? C'mon if Will has the balls to date a guy why can't you just fuck Spike?"
"Buff!" Xander exclaims as she blushes.
"Seize the day,." Buff says. "Or maybe seize the night?"
"Say I were to experiment with girls, Spike is not my type. She's too abrasive, too over the top and she's just not for me."
Buff laughs at Xander's comment and the two of them spend another hour talking before Xander has to get back to campus.
* * *
Spike has never brought a girl or a boy to their dorm so when Xander sees the sock on the door handle she doesn't think anything of it. To her it's just another example of Spike's slovenly ways. What she's not expecting is to find, Spike on her bed with some guy's tongue down her throat and his hand down her pants. Her bag falls to the floor with a loud thump when Xander realizes that it's not just any guy but it's Drusus.
Drusus, also known as Dru or crazy-ass psycho, is someone that Xander had hoped never to lay eyes on again. Back in her junior year in high school. Dru had tried to attack Xander. It had never gotten past Dru cornering Xander in a dark and isolated corner while trying to feel her up before Darius, a friend of Dru's, had come along and dragged Dru off. However it had still left Xander with a fear for Dru. Dru was after all much larger than her and as Buff would put it fucking insane.
The pair on the bed, her bed, pull apart and Spike tries to push Dru away.
"C'mon luv, we can't do that here," Spike purrs at Dru. "We've got company, maybe we should go somewhere else."
Dru doesn't even pull his hand out of Spike' pants. He just looks Xander up and down.
"I don't see why we need to go anywhere," Dru says. "She's more than welcome to stay."
"Dru, stop it,." Spike says.
"She can watch or join in," Dru drawls. "I am sure she likes to watch things."
"I'll just be going," Xander says.
Before she can move, Dru is off of Spike and the bed and has pressed up against Xander. There's no way to escape and all she can think of how this is going to end very badly and she should have been selfish and asked Will to stay. Or maybe taken Buff up on his offer on sharing an apartment in town.
"I said that we need to leave," Spike drawls as he pulls Dru away.
"And I said I don't wanna," Dru pouts. "I like her and I don't see why we can't play with her. In fact, I don't see why you have to stay if you're jealous."
Dru's focus on Spike, allows Xander to move away from him. She moves closer to Spike's side of the room. Dru looks back over at her and licks his lips.
"I think she'd be more fun than you," Dru tells Spike.
Spike doesn't even say a word, instead she punches Dru in the face. The tall brunette staggers backwards, holding her nose.
"I said no and I mean it, " Spike says. "Now get outta here."
Dru gives them both an angry look. "This isn't over."
"Yeah it is," Spike tells him.
Spike turns towards Xander who's collapsed onto Spike's bed, her heads in her hands.
"I'm sorry about that," Spike says.
"It doesn't matter, he won't take no for an answer."
"Yeah he will, he's just nuts. I'll call Darius and he'll make sure Dru gets back on his meds."
"And when he goes off of them again?"
"Look Xander, stop getting your panties in a twist, I'll take care of it and he won't bother you again."
"Go away, Spike, just go away."
* * *
By the time Christmas break rolls around, Xander is barely speaking to Spike, despite the fact that Dru hasn't come around again and the bleached blonde has become rather pleasant to live with. Xander's not interested in whatever game Spike's playing at. She figures that Spike's either trying to get into her pants or set her up for something worse.
On the last day before she gets to go and spend a week with Will and Buff, Spike stops her at the door.
"I just thought you'd want to know that Dru's moved up to LA with Darius and Angel, you don't have to worry about him anymore."
"Sure, whatever," Xander says.
"And I got you a Christmas gift," Spike says.
"I don't really want anything from you."
"Look stop being such a girl, I didn't know about what Dru had tried to do to you back in high school, I didn't know about how obsessed he was with you. Darius told me some of it. And Darius and Angel are gonna make sure that Dru leaves you alone."
"So you know now, what do you want from me? Do you want to be friends?" Xander asks. "Should we have late night PJ parties where we do each other's hair and nails? Good for you for knowing but you brought him here in the first place when I asked you not to bring your dates back here for a reason. But you don't care about respecting what someone asks."
Spike lights up a cigarette and Xander just watches the other girl. Before she shrugs her shoulder.
"Yeah I figured as much, keep your gift."
"Whatever Harris."
* * *
Spike's present somehow ends up under the Christmas tree at Buff's apartment and Will and Buffy insist that she open it. So she does and she hates the fact that Spike had somehow managed to get her a rather rare Batman comic book that she's wanted since forever.
"A comic book?" Will grunts. "Why'd she get you that."
Xander loves Will and Buffy to pieces but they always make her feel like such a girl at times. Sure she's a girl but it doesn't mean that she can't like comic books or sci-fi.
"Maybe because your best friend likes comic books," Terrence replies.
Xander smiles at Will's boyfriend and some of the hurt over how quick Will had replaced her is erased. Then again, can she really have been replaced if they never really dated?
* * *
Xander waits until the very last minute to get back to campus. It's not as if she even has to live on campus and Buff's suggestion that she move in with Buff and his girlfriend Riley, is starting to sound like a good idea. However, when she gets to her dorm, she finds it spotlessly clean and organized. For a moment, she can't help but think that Spike's moved out until she realizes that her precious Sex Pistols poster is still up on the wall above her bed.
"Oh hi," Spike says as she pushes past Xander through the door. "You're back."
"Yeah," Xander replies. "Thanks for the gift."
"Whatever, Harris."
Spike lays down on her bed and puts her headphones one. Xander can barely hear the music that Spike is listening to. She hates the fact that it feels wrong to be in this room with it being this clean and quiet. She misses Spike's messiness and noisiness.
When she sits down on her bed to try to study, she finds that she can't concentrate.
* * *
She's out with Buff and Riley at some record store when she comes across it: a first printing vinyl copy of Never Mind the Bullocks Here's the Sex Pistols. Xander buys it without even thinking of how broke she's going to be. At this point she's willing to do anything to get Spike back to normal.
Xander doesn't bother wrapping it up, instead she leaves it on Spike's bed before she sits down on her with a book in her lap and she waits. And waits, and waits. She almost gives up hope that Spike will be returning to their room by two in the morning. And then Spike stumbles in.
"Oh you're awake," Spike mumbles.
"Yeah, just reading."
"Whatever."
It's not until Spike is standing over her bed that she sees the album.
"What's this?" Spike asks as she picks up the record.
"It's a gift," Xander replies, feeling silly when Spike turns to face her.
The other girl's face is unreadable and Xander thinks that maybe she'd waited to long to give a present to Spike in reciprocation of her Christmas gift.
"Thanks mate," Spike says before setting it down on her bedside table.
And that's it. There's no shared laughter or bond of friendship. Spike lays down on her bed and goes to sleep. Making Xander wonder why she bothered.
* * *
"So I know that typically a girl's supposed to ask a guy out for these type of things but I figured that you don't have a date and I don't have a date so why don't we go to this Sadie Hopkins soiree together?" Spike says.
"Uh sure," Xander asks. "As, uhm, friends?"
Spike smirks at her and leans forwards. "What do you think Harris?"
Xander feels as if her stomach is sinking. Somehow between now and Christmas she had developed this crush on Spike. She's not sure why since Spike is everything she isn't. Not to mention that Spike is everything that she doesn't want: she's a girl to start and she's a pig who seems to think that the whole purpose of college is to party. But still ever since the record incident, they'd become closer again and Xander's crush had just gotten worse.
"You think too much Harris," Spike growls as she wraps a hand around Xander's neck and pulls the other girl closer. "Way too much. You're like you friend Will."
Before Xander can reply, Spike's lips are on her lips and it's like she's being kissed for the very first time. It only took them how long to get to this point? And before Spike can pull away, Xander's grabbing at Spike's leather-clad hips, cursing at how slippery the leather is even if Spike looks hot in it, and pulling Spike even closer.
"I take it that's a yes," Spike breathes against Xander's lips.
"Just shut up," Xander says as she kisses Spike again.
They never do make it to the soiree, Xander will later tell her friends that it's because soirees aren't really Spike's thing and the two of them had decided on just getting to know one another better. The truth is that they spent that night kissing and touching and learning the curves of one another's bodies.
((end))