Eye of Eleos 64/
Bits of canon and dialogue actual and twisted from episodes “Phases” (Rob DesHotel and Dean Batali), and “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered” (Marti Noxon)
Chapter 64
GhostlySpike trudged along with the teenagers and wondered just what horrible deed of his lengthy evil past had led to the need for him to suffer second-handedly through all the angst and boredom of American teen life. He had already figured out the magic he and Buffy seemed to be caught up in had a purpose. “Magic may seem chaotic on the surface but there is always a purpose… and consequences.”
Watching Harris bully someone else instead of being the target had its moments. This time it was his supposed girlfriend. He’d been on the other end of that one’s taunts and sneers often enough and should have had more sympathy for the cheerleader he supposed. The fact she was so often a royal bitch made Spike withhold the pity, however. “Still, seems Harris isn’t content having a looker for a girlfriend. Would like a harem with Buffy and even Willow a part of his conquests. Treats the Chase bint like dirt. Yeah, she’s a right bitch but verbal abuse isn’t manly. Don’t like the girl? Break up with her.” Not for the first time Spike wondered what sort of homelife shaped the teen boy.
It wasn’t easy tuning out the nattering of the Buffy brigade. “Can’t suss out why I have to see this nonsense. Already got the memo that this is supposed to make me do that metaphorical walk-a-mile trip to understand Buffy better. Message’s been loud and clear and I’ve even sorted my feelings so why am I still tortured with more episodes of ‘This Is Your Life’ especially when the featured life isn’t Buffy’s?”
Spike thought back to the start of the spell. He’d been bored then too. Being chained in the Watcher’s bathtub, taunted and ridiculed when not outright ignored had led to acting out when Buffy had released him to use the shower. He’d been hurt and insulted by his treatment but damned if he’d show anything but belligerence and scorn in return. ‘Never let them see their words and actions hurt.’
He’d messed with Rupert's precious things knowing it would get under his skin as much as drinking his better Scotch did. Then he’d enjoyed a bit of keep-away with the trinket. ‘Lovely little tussle with the Slayer till we both touched the bloody thing and then I found myself goin’ from lookin’ at one brassed off damp Slayer to playin’ peek-a-boo with a newborn with too-knowing eyes.’ Following her on the ride down memory lane had drawn out feelings that had been under the surface all along. He felt for the girl, cared about her and her life.
The trinket, goddess of some sort, had to have a purpose. Well, he’d seen her life, got to really know her better than anyone he’d ever met including Dru. Seems she got the same treatment where his life and unlife were concerned. Why? Well, they certainly knew each other. He was bloody in love with her, though ‘likely had already been there or close before the mojo if Dru had the right of it’. Buffy seemed to at least have some sympathy for him now, more understanding. Maybe that was the purpose of the magic, purview of that particular goddess? Hadn’t been one he was immediately familiar with.
“But why watch THESE annoying banes of my existence with their nonsense?” Why see anything more at all? What more did he need to see and why?
He listened as Giles told the group the scant information he had on werewolves and snorted as the Watcher proved less than an expert on the subject. ‘Not just the full moon, you nit, day before and after too. Maybe that’s one thing I’m supposed to learn… the Slayer isn’t gettin’ the right information to do her job, stay alive? Either the Watcher or the whole bloody Council has a lot of shoddy documentation.’ Spike wondered if it was deliberate or if the misinformation and lack were the end result of laziness or prejudice? ‘Need some demon input of the friendly and helpful sort if you ask me. Rupert must have contacts. You’d think he’d want his girl havin’ the right info.’
***
While Spike had been lost in thought, bemoaning his plight, the scene had moved to the gym where the teens were being subjected to classes in self-defense. ‘Makes sense to teach that, especially on a Hellmouth. Can’t tell me everyone in this town’s a total nitwit.’
The annoying jock who regularly tormented and harassed the girls was in rare form. Spike could tell that Buffy relished the idea of wiping the floor with the oaf.
Willow also noted the blood in the eye that screamed of irritated Slayer. “Don’t forget, you’re supposed to be a meek little girlie-girl like the rest of us,” she cautioned her bestie in a whisper.
Spike laughed at the silliness in thinking a female was less equipped to put up a good fight. “Has this lot never seen Manami Toyota? Bint like her’d take out the lot of you with one hand behind her. Even give the Slayer a right go. No supernatural power to give her the oomph either.”
He looked over the group of teens. “Okay, the musician’s alright. Could enjoy his company even. Willow’s always a soft touch and has a bit of sweetness to her even if she is a right dangerous power with her misuse of magic. Means well for the most part.”
He thought about the group in regular time too. “The demon bird was a bit of alright too so long as she wasn’t running her mouth about personal business other than her own that is. Entertainin’ as hell seein’ Harris squirm with those conversations but it could be right embarrassing if she went poking about in my feelings though.” Even the Watcher was tolerable for the most part, not a complete prat. Harris, on the other hand, was a curse and proof positive that he was a damned being just having to listen to that one prattle on.
Funny how many of her high school crowd were the same surrounding her now as then. Harris’s bird changed from one peripheral brunette to the blonde ex-demon but other than that change and the recently departed Oz they were the same crew. Spike wondered if that was common in this era. Seemed people moved on once they got into early adulthood usually, relationships changed. This group didn’t though. In some ways they were stagnant and Spike had to wonder why.
“Buffy’s loyal. No question of that. Still, seems more like a family than a group of friends.”
***
They were going on a werewolf hunt and Giles was cautioning the troops. “It acts on pure instinct without conscience. It’s predatory and aggressive.”
Buffy quipped, “In other words, typical male.”
Xander looked around and asked, “So no silver bullets?”
Giles shook his head firmly. “No, no bullets. No matter who this werewolf is, it’s still a human being who might be completely unaware of his or her condition.”
Spike mulled that over. “So… cause they don’t know they’re killin’ and doin’ wrong they get a pass?” He thought about many a peaceful demon species routinely killed by the Council and their ilk. Even some vamps avoided killing. “Well most of us do know right from wrong but just don’t care,” he admitted. Still, it seemed hypocritical to single out werewolves for special consideration and treatment. “They get a full pass and all the rest of us a death sentence? Who made that rule? Must be that whole obsession with a soul that gave Peaches his get-out-of-dusting-free pass.” Still, Spike wondered just how they determined who had souls and who didn’t and what form of soul qualified. He knew damned well that some demons, like D’Hoffryn’s lot, had a demon soul. Hell, for all they knew that’s all Anya had even now. No way to know if her human soul was there still or had been replaced eons ago.
Buffy was ready to get moving, “So we bring ‘em back alive.”
***
Some Bunny Allen wanna-be going by the name of Cain had the Slayer in a net. ‘This should be entertainin’’
Giles had shown up and railed at the man to set Buffy free. The jerk looked at the middle-aged-man and hot young girl and took a dive into the perverted. “Yeah, it’s good to get the fruit while it’s fresh.”
Spike was disappointed the Watcher hadn’t knocked the asshole senseless for the insult. He’d looked on the verge, “You’d be wise to take that back.”
Spike wished he could plant one on the blighter. “Hard to say who’s the monster innit?”
Buffy was disgusted as well, “It’s not what you think, repulsive brain! We’re hunting a werewolf.”
The hunter laughed with derision. “You’re a girl.”
“And you’re another idiot who thinks a pair of balls makes you superior!” Really! William the Victorian even knew better than that. ‘Yeah, call ‘em the fairer sex and they usually are, least for looks but bein’ soft and lovely doesn’t mean weak. Just look at history. Tons of women warriors could run rings around wee-willie-wanna-be’s like you! Boudicca took on the bloody Roman empire, had ‘em on the run too. Lived long enough to take her own life honorably. Joan of Arc, Grace O’Malley, Christ history’s filled with women takin on empires, bringin’ ‘em to their knees. Just your average woman’s usually tougher than ball-less berks like you. How many raise a family and make a livin’ every damned day havin’ to hold your hand and tut-tut your manly boo-boo’s? You use your gun and hunt beasties, take trophies to compensate for a dick the size of an inchworm. My sick mum was tougher than you, you prick!”
Cain proudly pointed to the teeth necklace showing his prowess.
Buffy looked horrified. “You’re just going to kill it?”
The hunter shrugged, “Their pelts fetch a pretty penny in Sri Lanka and it’s hard to skin them when alive.”
Giles looked sick. “You kill them for sport.”
“Oh, no, purely for cash.”
“It doesn’t bother you that werewolves are people in the daytime and for twenty-eight nights of the month?”
Clearly it didn’t bother him. “That’s why I only hunt them the other three.”
Fluid human morality in full focus.
***
Spike watched the next Scooby meeting intently. Willow’s boy was acting strange, uncomfortable. Usually, his manner was so cool that Spike could see him chilling out in the middle of a nuclear war but something was really bothering the boy as they all discussed the werewolf situation.
Harris was convinced the culprit was Larry, the lout. He reminded everyone about the dog bite their fellow student had mentioned. “Makes sense to me.”
Spike happened to be looking at Oz as they talked and began to have a suspicion. When the young man abruptly left he nodded. ‘Wish I had my sense of smell to be sure. Think Harris has his money on the wrong dog.” So, the zen boy’s a wolf! ‘Lucky for him that this lot’ll more likely feed him kibble than load up on silver bullets.” He glanced at Willow, “maybe a belly rub and ear scritch to go with it.”
***
Buffy and Xander were at the mortuary checking the body of a murdered classmate. The girl was a victim of a vampire not the werewolf but instead of comforting Buffy the news further distressed her.
“So instead of not protecting Teresa from a werewolf, I wasn’t able to protect her from something just as bad.”
“You can’t save ‘em all, Slayer. The words ‘One girl in all the world’ should give you the clue. Think all the nasties line up for you here in Sunnyhell? Council don’t send you elsewhere like they did the Caribbean Queen. You’re tied to this Hellmouth and not all Big Bad’s are here. The Watcher needs to set your thinkin’ straight before you guilt yourself into an early grave.”
Apparently Harris had the same reaction. “If it weren’t for you people would be lined up five deep needing burial,” he tried to remind her. “Willow would be Mrs. Robbie the Robot. I would’ve hatched a bunch of creepy insects and lost my head.” His eyes widened in terror as he looked behind Buffy at their deceased classmate, “Teresa’s a vamp!”
The new fledge leaped on Buffy and began trying to put her new fangs to use. She managed to lisp out, “Angel sends his love,” before Xander staked her.
Buffy looked stricken.
Xander put a consoling hand on her shoulder, “He’s not the same guy you knew.”
“Yeah, he really is,” Spike sighed.
***
The group was in the library trying to decide their next move on the werewolf front when Willow ran in clearly panicked. “It’s Oz! It’s Oz!”
“What’s Oz?
“The werewolf,” Willow panted.
“Are you certain?” Giles was getting a rifle as he asked.
Willow’s eyes widened in terror, “You’re not going to kill Oz? I mean, sure he’s a werewolf, but he doesn’t mean to be.”
Buffy reassured her friend, “Don’t worry. We won’t hurt him.”
“Guess a demon or vamp has to have a social meet and greet with you people to catch a break before you suss them out.” Spike thought of their no-kill list of Angel and Oz. “Hell, the Watcher took Angel’s word about the soul, never checked a thing. They really need to rethink some of their decision making parameters for a lot of reasons.”
Spike thought of his encounters with his ghostly counterpart and thought there was hope there at least. Seemed Buffy had learned the world wasn’t as simple as this group did. She’d learned some nuances. Seen that not all demons were bad nor humans good. Saw that souls played their part but it wasn’t quite what they had assigned to it. ‘Even seen that friends and lovers matter but that don’t mean they’re always safe or right. Least I hope that’s one thing she’s learned.” Spike wondered if the others could learn as well.
Seeing Buffy casually bend the rifle barrel of the pompous great white hunter was the cherry on the sundae.
In just three days Oz had been outed as a werewolf and Larry the dog-bitten supposed pussy-hound outed as gay. “Maybe not so boring after all.”
***
Xander was showing a sweet heart-shaped necklace to Buffy asking for her opinion.
Buffy had reservations about Xander’s relationship with Cordelia Chase but had to admit the necklace was a lovely romantic gesture. She wasn’t sure if Cordy would think it beneath her though and tried to prepare Xander for cutting words instead of gushing thanks. She questioned the wisdom of the relationship in general, not for the first time considering the many times Xander bad-mouthed the girl even in her presence.
“The only other person I’m interested in is unavailable,” Harris admitted. From the look he gave Buffy she knew well that his crush on her was anything BUT crushed.
Spike felt a slight pang listening and watching. His life as William hadn’t been too dissimilar after all. “Never let yourself move away from the unattainable. Wouldn’t know what to do with her if you had her,” Spike wasn’t completely sure if he meant William with Cecily or Harris with Buffy. It was even more a disparity with the latter though. “Girl gives you a hug and near breaks you. You tell her to take it easy. What if you ever managed to work Buffy up to real passion?”
Spike thought back to the boy’s already troubled romantic history and shrugged, “Always was drawn to females likely to kill ya. Bugs, mummies, even the cheerleader. All able to eat you alive and not in the pleasant way.”
***
The Bronze was filled with celebrating couples while a morose Buffy sat at the table watching. “Valentine's day is just a gimmick to sell cards and flowers.”
Spike fumed at Angel for having already stolen the girl’s sense of romance along with her innocence. “Buffy, you’re too young to chuck it all because of one evil Pillock.”
Maybe once back in the real world he’d show her how a real man woos a lady.
***
Spike sat in his wheelchair and passed the box to his beloved with an eager expression. He bit his bottom lip as Dru opened the box to see a lovely necklace nestled there. She dangled it, her eyes shining as in days of old, clearly pleased until…
Angel slapped a bleeding human heart in front of her and chuckled as the touching moment broke.
“Oh, Angel.It’s still warm,” Dru gushed.
“Knew you’d like it. Found it in a quaint little shop girl.” Angelus swaggered about pleased to have stolen Spike’s thunder.
GhostBuffy looked at Spike’s heartbroken face ‘Always number two aren’t you?’ The only explanation for Dru’s preference to her daddy was the madness he drove her into long before Spike was ever turned. Even when Angel wasn’t physically there he was a presence felt by the two lovers. Spike was ever in competition and found wanting each time.
Buffy had learned long ago that no matter whether he was William or Spike his heart was filled with love and his soul (or whatever it was he retained that made him Spike) breathed romance. Sometimes it took a form only a vampire could understand but the feeling was still there. Those he loved, he adored. Those he loved, he cherished. Angelus loved and cherished no one but Angelus even Darla had learned to accept that truth.
Angel was a bit better at it or was learning at least. Maybe that came from his soul. Spike was proof that the soul wasn’t a necessary component though, except, maybe in Angel’s case. Clearly Angel’s demon had as much love and romance as Scrooge had the Christmas Spirit before the ghosts came to visit.
Angelus had picked up the forgotten necklace and gave a half-grin before reaching for Dru’s hair to move it out of the way and clasp it around her neck.
Spike watched, teeth clenched, as HIS gift was usurped completely. “Leave it! I’ll get it.”
Angel finished and brushed a finger down Dru’s neck in a proprietary manner. “Done.”
Dru was simpering and giggling like a schoolgirl as the two males vied for her affection, or tried.
“I know Dru gives you pity access, but you have to admit it’s much easier when I do things for her,” Angelus jutted his hips suggestively underscoring his point.
“Come on then, my dark colleen, let’s celebrate a bit,” he led Dru off to his sleeping quarters fully intending on a loud, prolonged Valentine's Day fuck. Served the purpose of both getting in a climax or two and giving his wheelchair-bound rival his comeuppance in one pleasurable go.
Buffy watched Spike as he sat looking first furious then resigned as he watched his love dance her way around her daddy thanking him for her pretties as if both gifts had been from him alone.
“So glad she finally tossed you out, Spike. Even when evil you deserved better,” Buffy wiped a tear from her eye. “All that love was hers without having to do a thing but accept it and she threw it away.” She shook her head in confusion. “Who rejects being adored that way?”
She watched as Spike wheeled himself back to the room that was now his alone.
***
Joyce was sporting a wide grin as she brought in the long black florists box addressed to Buffy. “Someone’s got a Valentine,” she teased.
Buffy opened the box revealing a dozen long-stemmed roses and a card with one word all in caps,’ SOON’.
She didn’t bother to explain to her startled mother as she stuffed the roses into the bin and stalked out into the night.
***
Spike had no idea why Harris was suddenly like Valentino or the soddin’ Beatles to all the females but had a hunch magic was involved somehow. Even Buffy was lusting after the boy!
The Slayer was running her fingers through Xander’s hair and purring about them doing ‘something’ together.
Spike wondered if ghostly forms could successfully bleach out their eyeballs.
“Yeah,” Buffy continued, “We can comfort each other.”
Harris was gobsmacked, “You DO know I’m Xander… right?”
“Oh, yeah, the lad’s done something potiony or the like. Cocked it up proper from the looks of it too.”
Xander spotted their classmate, Amy, outside the library and made a dash away from Buffy’s grasping hands. Spike followed and hoped they stayed close enough that he could eavesdrop without being snapped back into the library with the lovestruck Slayer moaning the loss of her prey.
It was pretty obvious that the young witch was as inept as Willow at her worst and the one who had cast the spell that was most definitely not what Xander had been counting on. Evidently the cheerleader had given him his walking papers as a thank you for her gift and he wanted her back. Instead, he was getting everyone BUT Cordy… even the witch, Amy, whose advances caused him to flee from the school entirely with the girl in hot pursuit.
***
Spike listened as Xander begged Giles to help set things to rights. The comely teacher that had been trying to earn her way back into Rupert's good graces was there as well.
Instead of trying to help the boy, Jenny joined his increasingly dangerous fan club much to Spike’s amusement.
Giles was equal parts infuriated and irritated. “Do you have any idea how serious this is? People under the influence of love spells are deadly, Xander. They lose all capacity to reason! And if what you say is true, the whole female population is affected.” He watched in growing horror as both Buffy and Jenny faced off in competition for Xander’s favor.
“Don’t leave the library,” Giles ordered. “I’ll find Amy and see if we can stop this thing.” He had the sense to pull Jenny Calendar out of the library with him before she and Buffy could start a catfight over Xander.
Xander sat on the steps looking utterly dejected and anything but comfortable with being suddenly the most popular bloke in the universe.
Buffy sauntered back from behind the stacks wearing nothing but a loosely tied raincoat and heels looking like she was stepping out of a wet-dream.
Harris’s eyes nearly popped out of his head and he backed away from her approaching form. “For the love of GOD, don’t open that coat!”
Spike blinked rapidly and pulled his mind out of the gutter long enough to remember that he wasn’t too keen on Xander getting a free show either even if it might give a glimpse of her goodies to himself as well. He gulped down his lust regretfully. ‘Hey, still evil.’
Buffy was pouting at the seeming rejection, “Don’t you want me?”
“This isn’t real,” Xander admitted sadly. “Not the real you. You only want me because of the spell.”
Amy made a dramatic entrance long enough to turn her seeming rival, Buffy, into a rat before advancing on Xander herself.
Xander looked on as RatBuffy scurried away quickly,” Oh my God!”
Spike joined the chase of the terrified and confused rodent and thought about how back in the day he might have found the whole thing funny. ‘Know better now don’t I? Girl already has emotional overload without this bit of fuckery.”
Spike watched over Buffy as she cowered in the school’s basement. She’d managed to evade capture by her Watcher and others and even sidestepped a pissed off feral cat. He could hear her rapid heartbeat that gave a clue to her terror and only hoped she wasn’t completely aware of what was happening.
Spike wasn’t sure what he could do to help but sat vigil nonetheless and prayed the spell would break, both of them, and that Buffy would be safe soon.
***
In the end, it was the wolf-boy who found Buffy when Amy’s spells broke.
“Whoah, hi Oz,” Buffy was hidden behind boxes and looked lost and confused as one would imagine. “I seem to have a slight case of nudity.”
Oz nodded sagely and offered, “But not a rat. I’d call it an upside.”
Buffy cleared her throat in embarrassment. “Can you get clothes?”
“Yeah, don’t go anywhere.”
Spike watched as tears escaped her eyes and she sat shivering in a combination of shock and emotional overload. ‘Poor mite can’t seem to catch a break. If it’s not my grandsire mucking up her life it’s her mates.’
***
The whole story finally came out and Xander Harris was not painted in a very flattering light. Seems his entire reason for wanting Cordy back was so he could do the breaking up. It wasn’t even about love but hurt pride.
Meanwhile, the ladies of Sunnydale had their own memories to deal with in one way or another.
Spike seemed to remember the tiff between Angelus and Dru that night as Dru had protected Xander from death on Angelus’ fangs. He’d wondered what that had been about and why his sire had cared in the least. Now it made sense.
“So… a scavenger hunt?”
“Well your mom seemed to buy it,” Xander was trying to make it all sound like a light-hearted lark they’d all engaged in instead of the co-opting of the free will of all the females on the Hellmouth.
“Joyce too? You went and mojo’d Joyce,” Spike was furious. That was another Summers lady who couldn’t catch a break.
“So she says. I think she’s just wigged about hitting on one of my friends and is repressing.” Buffy looked thoughtful. “She’s getting good at that, I should worry.”
“And I’m back to being incredibly unpopular,” Xander pointed out as groups of girls sneered at him or turned away in disgust. “Willow won’t even talk to me.”
Buffy in her instinctive kindness and mercy forgave her friend and tried to give him hope. She reminded him of how he’d rebuffed her come-on as proof that he wasn’t a total scoundrel.
“I would never take advantage of you like that.”
“You came through so there’s hope for you yet,” she playfully nudged him.
Spike thought about Harris as he was in real-time. Parts of him had seemed to harden. Some of his attitudes and prejudices were even worse as he’d aged. “Well, he has the demon bird now to maybe lend a guiding hand. Needs more though.” Spike considered talking to Giles when he got back. ‘The kid needs a firm hand from someone he respects. Won’t listen to a vamp he hates but might give Rupes a listen. If he keeps on this road he’s going to either hurt Buffy or she’ll have to cut him from her life for her own sake.”
Spike thought of all the many ways the kid had bullied him since he was chipped and unable to fight back and thought he deserved no less than to work himself into isolation and misery. “Why should I bother. Let the boy show that ugly inside, Buffy’s better off without him.”
Then it occurred to him one reason why he was forced to see these parts of Buffy’s life. ”These people matter to Buffy.” That’s why he had to see these scenes. “Need to get to know the whole lot of them. She cares about them, loves them. If I’m ever going to be anything real to her they will have to matter to me as well even if I’ll never love them. It’s like marryin’ a girl's whole family I suppose.”
Spike thought further about the girl he had managed to lose his whole heart to. ‘She seems to need them in her life and their petty issues matter to her. Hell, goin’ by that… my girl cares about all humans. Got the cares of the whole human race on her shoulders and she accepts that. To love the girl you have to at least learn to care about those she loves and that’s the whole bloody lot of them.’
“Oh balls!”
A/N:
This is your Life was a popular TV program for many years
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Is_Your_Life
I chose this sample episode because this lady isn’t just some long forgotten actress or singer but a wonderful heroic lady who shouldn’t be forgotten. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYQTBwgGgdw&feature=youtu.be
Werewolves in history and mythology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werewolf
https://www.wired.com/2014/07/fantastically-wrong-fiendish-werewolf/
Werewolves and souls (consider the source… it’s a paranormal group but seemed fitting in the Buffy world to see how they might be considered) https://mysticinvestigations.com/paranormal/do-werewolves-have-souls/
Real-life “werewolves” https://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=2258069&page=1
And the psychiatric disorder:
https://www.livescience.com/44875-werewolves-in-psychiatry.html
Psychological issues of coming out as LGBTQ https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/closet-psychological-issues-being-and-coming-out
Some resources for coming out https://www.cdc.gov/lgbthealth/youth-resources.htm
Manami Toyota was said by some to be "one of the greatest wrestlers of all-time, regardless of gender".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manami_Toyota
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yf_Z3y_7R0c&feature=youtu.be
Frank “Bunny” Allen
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bunny_Allen
Boudicca
https://www.ancient.eu/Boudicca/
Bio/documentary of Boudicca
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3Hq6UaFQqk&feature=youtu.be
Famous women warriors in history in brief (a sampling) https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/59287/9-female-warriors-who-made-their-mark-history
Psychology of trophy hunting
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/animal-emotions/201703/why-men-trophy-hunt-showing-and-the-psychology-shame
How to end a relationship the “right way”
https://www.verywellmind.com/how-to-end-a-relationship-4173954
7 stages some men go through in a bad breakup
https://www.mensxp.com/relationships/break-ups/48271-7-stages-all-men-go-through-while-recovering-from-a-tough-breakup.html
Peer pressure and breakups
https://www.monitor.co.ug/artsculture/Heart-to-Heart/The-power-of-peer-influence-in-a-relationship/691230-3364512-1190mu0z/index.html
The way friends influence relationships
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/close-encounters/201906/friends-have-more-say-in-your-relationships-you-think