Sleepovers and Pretzels Chapter One

[eollfan]

Title: Sleepovers and Pretzels
Pairings: Spuffy, Willow./Tara, Faith/Oz, Xander/Anya, Angel/Cordelia, Riley/Harmony, Devon/Cordelia, and I think that's all for this fic. The sequel has more.
Rating: M
Spoilers: It helps if you have seen at least through season 6, but it's not required, this fic is AU.
Summary: Buffy and Spike go to the same school, and have all their lives. Then high school arrives and they are no longer in the same group of friends. Spike is a popular jock, and Buffy is an outsider. More chapters will be posted soon.

Disclaimer: OK. I am a big Spuffy fan, and I wanted to write a story in which they're able to be together. It's an AU fic, but please enjoy anyway. Of course there's other characters from BTVS, don't be daft... R&R please. Anything that is known to be someone else's isn't mine. Read on!


Sleepovers & Pretzels

By Julia

Buffy Anne Summers was not a popular girl. She and her best friends Willow Rosenburg and Faith Davenport always hung out alone. Buffy had a crush on the most popular guy in the school, Spike Giles. It was hard to believe he was a librarian's son. Spike was on the basketball team, the football team, the baseball team; he was an all American guy, 'cept he was from England. He'd moved to Sunnydale when he was six. He had this group of guys that he always hung with: Xander Harris, Angel Davenport, (yep, Faith's brother) Riley Finn, David Osbourne, aka Oz, and Devon Smith. They were all jocks and had the attention of all the girls in the school. Spike had the eye of everyone, including Buffy and her friends' worst enemy, Cordelia Chase. Cordy and her best friend Harmony Kendall had been working to get herself Spike for ages. So far, it hadn't been working.

It was a sunny afternoon in Buffy's first semester of her sophomore year. She and Willow and Faith were sitting in the Quad during lunch. Buffy was staring at Spike, sitting with his friends.

Faith glared at her twin. ''God, why was I cursed with such a boring twin brother?'' She groused.

Willow sipped her cola. ''Sorry. These things happen to the best of us.'' Willow was an outcast because of her relationship with her girlfriend, Tara.

Buffy crossed her feet underneath the table, wishing she could be crossing them with Spike's... ''I know, Faith. It totally sucks. At least Angel's sort of a hottie.''

Faith said, ''Don't even try that, Buff. You know darn well you've got a crush on Spike.''

Buffy blushed as he walked by, followed by Riley. She nodded. ''I know, he's just so cute! How could I not?'' She asked her two friends.

Xander, Angel, Devon, and Oz were talking about Spike now that he and Riley had left. Xander was saying, ''I don't know why everybody thinks Spike's so hott.''

Angel said, ''Spike's our friend. We shouldn't talk about him like that.''

Devon smirked. ''Yeah, Spike's our bud, but I've wondered that myself. Why should he get all the attention of all the hott chicks?''

Angel said, ''Well, Spike may have more girls crushing on him, but we all get girls.''

Xander said, ''Yeah, because we know him. Not because we're us.''

Oz was staring at Willow, whom he couldn't have because she was a lesbian. He wished she wasn't. She was very cute. ''I don't know about you guys, but I don't want a lot of girls.''

Riley joined them again, without Spike. He was seen as the other hottest guy in their group. He and Spike got the most girls. This seemed fitting, since they were best friends. (Xander and Angel were best friends, and Devon and Oz liked to hang a lot.) ''Yeah, Oz, you just want the lesbian.''

Angel drank his Code Red Mountain Dew. ''She's apart of the freak group, so even if she wasn't a dyke, she wouldn't date Oz.''

Riley said, ''I dunno, Buffy wants to date Spike. Who says Rosenburg wouldn't date Oz?'' He took a sip of his Coke.

Xander smirked. ''Summers can want Spike all she wants. She'll never get him.''

The jock in question was walking into the school, to go to the library to talk to his father. Rupert Giles was the school's librarian. Spike wanted to ask his dad about going out with the team for pizza. His father was a little stuffy.

Giles (as most called him) was sitting at the table, researching something. ''Oh, hello, William.'' he said at his son's entry.

Spike grimaced at his real name. ''Hey, Dad, I wanted to ask you something.''

Giles cleaned his glasses and got up, so he could have a better conversation. ''What's up, son?'' He asked.

Spike said, ''I was just wondering if you minded me going to get pizza with the team later.'' He paused, and added, ''I'll get home in time to do my homework.''

Giles shrugged. He felt so far out of touch with his son. William had been very poetic and intelligent growing up, and now his marks weren't as great, since it wasn't "cool" to be smart. ''Sure, William, I don't mind.''

Spike smiled. ''Thanks, Dad. I'll see you later.'' He left the library, glad to get away. Spike's mother had died when he was very young. Since then, he and his father hadn't been very close.

After school, Buffy, Willow, Faith, and Tara were walking to Buffy's to do homework. Later, they'd try the Bronze. See who was hanging there.

Tara held Willow's hand and was silent. She was a quiet girl; didn't say a lot when she and Will were around Buffy and Faith. Now, she said, ''Faith, Angel and Riley are following us. Why?''

Faith looked back. It was true. Riley and Angel were following pretty close. ''Don't mind my doofy brother. He's prolly just going to try to tease us or something.''

Buffy glanced at Riley. ''Riley's staring at your butt, Faith. Maybe he's got a crush on you.''

Faith rolled her brown eyes. Her long brown hair was curly and silky. ''No way. We're the "freaks." Why would Riley Finn like me?'' She asked.

Willow smiled at her friend. She had had a crush on Faith a couple of years ago, and she always took it personally when Faith called herself a freak. ''Because, Faith, you're funny, and cute, and great.''

Faith was holding Buffy's hand; they felt safer. Some weird guys crossed there all the time. ''Who cares? Riley won't. I'm not seen as a real great catch.''

Buffy said, ''None of us are, Will. They just see us as freaks.''

The girls split up when they neared Buffy's. Tara and Willow were going to drop their stuff at Will's. Then they'd head for Buffy's.

Faith climbed Buffy's stairs to her bedroom, carrying her heavy bookbag. She placed it on Buffy's floor. ''What are we gonna do for that music project? We have to write a song.''

Buffy placed her own bookbag on the floor by Faith's. ''I'm not sure. I'm a good writer, but I don't know if I could write a song.''

Her best friend sighed. ''I can't, either. I bet you five million dollars that Will and Tara will write love songs to each other.''

Speaking of the devils, they came up the stairs. Willow said, ''OK, guys. Songwriting time. What are we gonna write about?''

Buffy shrugged. ''Faith and I were just talking about that. We're not sure if we can write a song. What did you two have in mind?''

Willow got excited. ''I was going to write a song about how the school is so material driven. What do you think, Buff?''

Buffy and Faith looked at each other and laughed. Buffy said, ''You owe me five million dollars, Faith.''

Faith said, ''Well, as soon as I get five million dollars, B, I'll head your way. I'm not B, Will, but I think that's a great idea. Maybe I'll write about how there's more to me than everyone sees. Everyone in this town but you guys thinks I'm trash.''

Buffy put an arm around her best friend. ''No, they don't, Faith. You can't think that way. Angel comes from the same place you do. They don't think he's trash.''

Faith nodded. ''I know they don't. But I am seen that way. It's not just that I dress the way I dress, it's the fact that Angel tells people I put out and stuff.''

Tara was shocked. ''You don't! How could he say that? He's your twin brother!''

While Buffy and Co. were talking, a few doors down, Spike was entertaining his own friends. Riley and Xander had gone to see him. They were going to chill before going to the pizza place. Riley was sipping some soda. ''So, Spike, Buffy Summers was staring at you today.''

Spike rolled his blues. ''I don't care. Buffy Summers is not the greatest girl in the universe. She's a freak.''

Xander shrugged. ''I don't know, she's actually pretty hott. If she didn't hang with the lesbos and the tramp, she could be pretty popular.''

Spike shook his head. ''No way, mate. She hangs with them for a reason. She tried to hang with Cordelia, Harmony, and Anya when we started school last year, but Cordy said she's really weird.''

Riley finished off his Code Red. ''Spike, you used to be best friends with the freaks. They can't have changed that much since junior high.''

The doorbell rang, and Giles answered it. It was Anya, Xander's girlfriend. She went right on up to Spike's room after saying a quick hello to Giles. ''Hey guys. Xander!'' She kissed Xander hello.

Spike nodded at her. ''Hello, An. You going with us to the pizza parlor?'' He didn't dislike Anya, yet he didn't like her, either.

Anya shrugged. ''Maybe. I might have better things to do.'' She wasn't sure about Spike. She didn't know if she liked him or not. He was kind of hard to get to know.

Xander looked at his girlfriend. ''Anya, you know you're going.'' He loved his girlfriend quite a lot.

Anya sighed. ''Yes. My friends will all be there. Cordy and Harmony are going to be there, to stare at Spike.''

Spike sighed. ''Great. Dad says I can hang, finally, and Cordelia and Harmony will be there.''

Riley shrugged. ''Cordy and Harm are hott. What's your problem, man?'' He liked Cordy, and wanted to date her. But even if she never got with Spike, Angel liked her too, and he had seen her first. Besides, she and Devon kind of had a thing going, but they weren't real exclusive, because Devon had a lot of prospects.

Spike sighed again. ''Cordelia Chase and Harmony Kendall are totally without. They could be good friends if they'd stop hitting on me all the time.''

Anya loved her friends, but she was tired of hearing how hott Spike was. Especially when she had Xander. ''I do tire of hearing how perfect and wonderful you are.'' Anya told him.

Spike grabbed some money from a secret stash in his sock drawer. He sold drugs to get his money; no one knew, not even Riley, who was his closest friend. He didn't smoke the drugs, just sold them. He got up. ''Well, let's go, before Rupert comes up here to bug us.'' Spike hardly ever called his father ''Dad.''

The group went in Riley's car, though Sunnydale was a small town, they could have walked. They found the usual gang: Angel, Oz, Devon, Cordy, and Harmony. They joined their friends' table. Angel gave Spike some skin. ''Hey, dude. The rest of the team left to go to the Bronze. We stayed 'cause ya'll weren't here yet.''

Xander settled in next to Anya. ''So, we need to talk about the dance coming up. Devon, you're taking Cordy, Angel, you're taking Harm, I'll be taking Anya, Oz, unless you want to go with Faith, you'll be alone. Remeber, two of us have to take freaks. Spike, you should take Summers.''

Oz shrugged. ''I can ask Faith. She's actually pretty cool. She's a pretty fierce girl when it comes to math.'' He and Faith were in several classes together.

Spike threw up his hands. ''Fine. But for the dance after this, I am SO getting a girlfriend.''

The next day, Spike decided there was no time like the present for asking Buffy to the dance. He watched as Oz asked Faith, convincing her that he liked her. Spike sighed. They did this ''ask a freak'' thing every other dance; you'd think the girls would catch on.

He went to Buffy's locker, hoping this would be easy and quick. If Buffy truly liked him, it should be. ''Summers.'' He said.

Buffy was fidgeting with her stuff and didn't hear him approach. She jumped at her name. ''Hi, Spike. Oh my God. Spike Giles is talking to me.'' Then she wanted to die. ''I can't believe that I just said that out loud. You know you're talking to me.''

Spike ignored what she said, and said what he'd come to say. ''Well, there's a dance coming up, and I was hoping you'd go with me.''

Buffy was rendered speechless. She could hardly believe it! ''Um, yeah, I would really like that.'' She sputtered.

The blond jock grinned. ''Well, then, luv, I'll see you later.'' He kissed her hand and hurried off down the long hallway.

As Buffy was rejoycing, Faith joined her. ''I just got a date for the dance! Oz asked me!'' Faith squealed.

Buffy hugged her. ''That's great, Faith! Spike Giles asked me.''

They squealed over this and went to meet Willow and Tara in the student lounge before school started. Willow smiled at Buffy. ''I saw Spike talking to you. What did he want?''

Buffy smiled back. ''He wanted to ask me to the dance! And Oz asked Faith!'' She and Faith sat down across from their friends.

Tara smiled back at her friends. ''I'm so glad for you guys.'' She brushed her long blonde hair away from her face.

Willow asked, ''So they don't mind going with what they call the "dyke" couple?''

Faith shrugged. ''Oz won't. He's really laid back and open-minded for a jock.''

Tara was surprised. ''Oz is a jock?'' She looked at Willow, who shook her head. She hadn't known this, either.

Buffy nodded. ''Not really. He does track when he feels like it. But he's got a band, and they hang out a lot.''

Faith shook her head. ''He doesn't do track anymore. He got kicked off the team because of the band. He wouldn't give it up, and the coach was really mad.''

Willow said, ''That's not very nice. What kind of music does his band do?''

Faith replied, ''Mostly alternative, but they have some grungy sounding stuff, too.''

On the other side of the campus, Spike, Riley, Xander, and Angel were sitting in the Quad, discussing the hott chicks of Baywatch. Spike was really thinking about the fun he and Buffy used to have:

Spike went over to his best friend Buffy's. His parents were fighting. They never seemed to get along now that Mom was sick. Spike jumped up Buffy's steps and tried to ring the doorbell. He wasn't tall enough, so he knocked.

Buffy heard it and came to the door. ''Hey, Spike! Mom just made cookies for me and Faith. Do you want some?''

Spike smiled at her. ''Yes. I love your mum's biscuits.'' 8-year-old Spike entered his best friend's home.

Spike sighed. He and Buffy had had a lot of sleepovers when they were younger. Faith and Xander had joined them a lot, too. Willow hadn't been allowed unless it was just the girls.

Riley smacked his best friend on the arm. ''Spike, are you even listening to me? I was asking you if you liked that hott girl who walked by.''

Spike shrugged. ''Sorry Riley. I'm just really depressed. Something I wanted to sell got stolen.'' He almost said the bag of pot he'd wanted to sell, and had to stop himself just in time. He couldn't even trust telling Riles. It might get back to his dad.

Angel said, ''Stuff like that happens. There was some pot I was selling to make a little extra dough while I was suspended from Burger King, and I think Faith stole it to give to one of her friends. I don't have any proof, but she totally would have done it.''

Spike rolled his eyes. ''Angel, your sister is not that bad. I can't believe that she and her friends smoke pot. They are a little too normal. Besides, I don't think any of them have the guts.''

The bell rang, and on both sides of the Quad, both groups got up to go to class. Spike spotted Buffy across the Quad, and sighed. She was looking pretty today, he had to admit. She was wearing a long flowery skirt, and some sort of peasanty top thing. Spike didn't keep up with girls' trends, so he had no idea whether it was in or not. He wished he could touch her without getting ridiculed from his friends. He stopped staring at her and turned to Riley. ''So, Riles, what are you doing tonight? Getting your tux for the dance?'' He had meant to ask something else, but he surprised himself.

Riley shrugged. ''I hadn't been planning on getting it this early. Why, did you have nothing to do tonight? We can hang or something.''

Spike sighed. He did just want to hang with his best friend. The other guys were great, and everything, but Riley was his best friend on the face of the planet. ''Sounds good to me, Riles.''

Xander came up behind them and smiled. ''So, Spike, did you ask Summers to the dance? Oz said he's got Faith.''

Spike looked at his friend. ''Yes, I asked Buffy to the dance. She said yes, by the way. I think she really might like me, and you're going to make me play with her emotions. You really aren't a nice guy.''

Xander said, ''I'm supposed to be nice? I thought we were the most popular people on campus. Spike, popular people aren't nice.''

Spike shook his head. ''You are such a pig, Xand.'' He turned his back on his friend and headed for the stairs, to go up to class.

First period for Buffy and Willow was English. Spike and Riley were also in their class. Buffy spent the first five minutes just staring unabashedly at him. Their teacher, Mrs. Adkins, was lecturing about Othello, the play that they had been assigned to read. Buffy had actually read their assigned pages, but she wasn't paying attention to the lesson.

Mrs. Adkins called upon Spike for the first question. ''William, why did Iago continue to get revenge on Othello? What had the Moor done that was so terrible and unforgivable?''

Spike knew this. Othello was one of his father's favorite plays. ''Well, Iago was angry because he had been passed over when it was promotion time. Cassius got it instead, and Iago was supposed to be Othello's best mate whatever, so he wasn't happy that he wasn't promoted. So he decided to convince Othello that his wife, Desdemona, was cheating on him.''

Mrs. Adkins nodded. ''Very good, William. Willow, can you tell me why Othello fell so easily for Iago's revenge scheme?''

Willow said, ''Well, Iago is his best friend. If he can't believe his best friend, then who can he believe? He didn't want to think that Desdemona would be cheating on him, but Iago was very convincing.''

Mrs. Adkins praised Willow and then told them to get into groups so they could rewrite one of the scenes from the play and modernize it.

Spike was in Riley's group, of course, but he didn't pay attention, he just stared at Buffy the entire time they were supposed to be re-writing the scene. Buffy caught him looking at her once or twice and blushed both times. He let Riles and the others do all the work, and after class, Spike followed Buffy to her locker. ''So, Buffy, would you like to maybe go with me to the pizza place after school?'' He managed to get out, and was actually hoping she would say yes.

Buffy was rendered speechless. She had been praying for this moment for a very long time. ''Um, yes, I would. Do you want me to meet you there?'' She asked.

Spike said, ''No, I'll walk over to your house and we can leave together.'' He kissed her hand good-bye and began to saunter down the hall towards Riley and Xander, who always waited for him so they could all skip gym together. Angel usually showed up, too.

Xander slapped Spike on the back as they all headed for the Quad. ''Saw you talking to Summers. So what's the deal? Starting to actually like her? Riles said that you stared at her the entire English class.''

Spike rolled his eyes. He wanted to keep it from everyone but Riles as long as possible. ''No, Xander, just getting a few things straight about the dance. So, let's talk about anything else.''

Angel joined them from the other direction as they all sat down on the grass. ''Principal Flutie is crazy, you guys. He wants the football team to sell tickets for the dance, and we don't get to keep the money. We have to give it to the art department. Isn't that nuts?''

Xander groaned. ''I wanted to get skimpier outfits for the cheerleaders with that money. Oh well. I guess I can keep hoping.''

Spike and Riley rolled their eyes, but Xander and Angel both looked disappointed. Spike shrugged. ''Guys, don't worry. It's going to be OK. So what? You'll live if you can't use the money. Besides, right after football is basketball, and you know that we totally get the money from anything we sell during the season.''

Angel said, ''Well, Cordy agreed to date me. She dumped Devon because she got sick and tired of him talking about the band every time they went out, so now she's going to be dating me.''

Xander gave his best friend some skin. ''I'm glad you finally got what you wanted, man. Cordy is very cute.''

Spike said, ''So, she wants to date you then. I was under the impression that all she talked about was me. Sure she wants to date you, Angel?''

Angel looked hurt at this. ''Excuse me, but Cordy can date whomever she wants. You aren't interested in her, so she has to find someone else. Why can't that someone be me?'' He was annoyed with Spike. They were supposed to be friends, and he was always dumping on him all the time.

Spike saw how Angel tensed up, and eased off a bit. ''I'm sorry, Angel. I didn't mean to hurt you. But it is true that Cordelia wanted me, and possibly still does.''

The four boys were interrupted by Faith. ''Hey, guys. Have you seen Oz? He's supposed to skip English with me so we can do our math homework.''

Xander glanced at her. She was wearing tight black jeans and a glittery black tank with a blue jacket over top. She did look a bit slutty, but Xander knew that all the talk Angel did about Faith putting out was a lie. Faith was too goody-goody to do anything like that. He did answer her question, though. ''Oz was up by his locker last we saw. It's up those stairs over there.''

Faith thanked him and sashayed away, something she didn't normally do. She knew that she was just feeding Xander, Spike, Riley, and Angel's view of her, but she couldn't help it. There was something about Xander that just made her do it. She knew that he was dating Anya, but she just thought he was so cute.

Oz was waiting for her upstairs. Faith hoped that he didn't really like her too much, because she and he were just friends, and she wanted it to stay that way. ''Hey, Faith. Saw you talking to the guys.'' It was more than he usually said.

Faith nodded at him. ''Hey, Oz. Ready to do the math? I think I've got most of it, but there was some stuff I wasn't sure on. I was hoping that you could lend your brain to the stuff that I couldn't figure out.''