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Chapter 10 - Celebration


Giles sat at the table, his hand rubbing his eyes as Spike finished talking.

“She’s seventeen,” he muttered, already feeling the headache forming as he looked over at his son for confirmation. “Her mother died and she…”

“Yeah,” Spike said softly.

“Where is she now?”

Taking a deep breath, Spike looked at his watch. “I finally got her to go to a therapist.”

“How on earth did you manage that?” Giles asked, a hint of a smile on his face as he thought of the headstrong young woman.

Spike stood up, pacing around the kitchen as he avoided his father’s gaze. “I, uh…I kind of told her I’d take her to England,” he muttered.

“You what?!”

‘Uh oh.’

“You heard me,” Spike said, turning to face Giles.

“William,” Giles said, standing up and trying to keep the anger out of his
voice. “You’ve only known this girl for a few weeks.”

Spike arched an eyebrow at his father. “What’s your point?”

“My point is…don’t you think you’re moving rather fast? This could simply be a rebound from Drusilla.”

“It’s not,” Spike insisted.

“You don’t know that and-”

“I love her, Da.”

Giles turned to face his son, his eyes widening. “What did you just say?”

“I said I love her,” Spike repeated. “I’ve never felt this way about anyone and…I just want to be with her.”

“Does she know?”

“If you mean- did I tell her? The answer would be ‘no’. I will, I just…I can’t lose her,” he trailed off in a whisper as he sat down.

Giles gritted his teeth, wanting to give his son the benefit of the doubt, but at the same time, the ‘protective father’ part of him was waiting with a lecture.

“Look,” Spike continued. “I’m going to need your help…over here, she’s still a minor and…”

“I understand,” Giles said with a resigned sigh. “I’ll help in anyway I can.”

* * * * *

Spike stood in the reception area of Dr. Wilkins’ office, trying to ignore his airhead of a secretary with the nameplate ‘Harmony’ sitting on her desk.

Pacing through the room, Spike was desperately wishing for a cigarette and regretting his ultimatum. Her first session was two hours long, and she insisted that it was something she needed to do alone.

Growing agitated, Spike was about to barge in the office when the door opened. A friendly older man with a kind face led Buffy out of the room. Her eyes were bloodshot and puffy, and Spike felt his heart calling to her.

Looking up as Dr. Wilkins led her through the door, her eyes connected with Spike’s, and she immediately flew across the room, into his waiting arms.

Spike closed his eyes, letting his head drop to her shoulder as his hold tightened. “You okay, baby?”

Buffy sniffled before pulling back and nodding. “Yeah,” she whispered in a choked voice.

Spike looked over her shoulder, seeing the therapist standing there. Gently extracting himself from Buffy’s arms, he kept a firm hold on her hand as he offered the man his other one. “Thanks for taking care of my girl, Doc.”

“My pleasure,” Wilkins said, giving Buffy a reassuring smile as he shook Spike’s hand. “It’s nice to know she has someone. Miss Summers, I’ll see you later this week.”

Buffy nodded. “Thank you, Dr. Wilkins.”

As the therapist walked away, Buffy folded herself into Spike’s embrace again.

“You okay, pet?”

“Yeah,” she whispered, feeling like it was true for the first time in years. “Or at least…I think I will be.”

“Let’s get you home, okay?”

Buffy nodded, snuggling closer to him as he led her out of the office.

“Spike,” she said in a soft voice. “Thank you for doing this.”

Glancing down at her, his arm tightened in a comforting gesture. “You did it, Goldilocks. I just gave you a push in the right direction.”

“Yeah,” Buffy whispered. “But I needed that push.”

Staying quiet, Spike brushed a kiss on top of her head, trying to convey everything that went unsaid.

* * * * *

“Dad,” Spike greeted, walking into the living room later that night.

“How is she?” Giles asked.

“She’s sleeping,” he replied, sitting down in a nearby chair and watching his father closely.

“That’s good,” Giles said with a nod. “I imagine she needs a lot of rest.”

“Yeah,” Spike agreed in a soft voice.

“Do you remember Ethan Rayne?” Giles asked, pouring himself a drink as he changed the subject.

“Vaguely,” Spike replied. “I remember him well enough to know that he was a right bastard.”

“Yes,” Giles said with a Ripper-like smile. “Well, he’s owed me quite a few favors over the years, and I decided to collect on them tonight.”

“Meaning?”

“I thought it would be in his best interest to take a little trip tonight. So, I sent him to ‘deal with’ the problem Buffy mentioned.”

A devilish smile crossed Spike’s face as he leaned back in his chair. “And?”

“Let’s just say- ‘the problem’ won’t be physically capable of harming young women anymore…in fact, he won’t be physically capable of doing a lot of things anymore. Would you like a drink?”

“Are we celebrating?” Spike asked with a smile.

“I think the occasion calls for it.”

* * * * *

An hour later, Spike crawled back into bed with Buffy, pulling her against his chest.

“Where’d you go?” she asked in a sleepy voice.

“I had to talk to my dad, pet. Nothing to worry about.”

“Okay,” she murmured, already falling asleep again.

“Buffy?”

“Hmm?”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too,” she whispered. Spike smiled as she fell asleep, her words drifting to him as the most natural response that he’d ever heard.




Thanks so much to: Caitie, Reciprocity, Franchesca, Cordykitten, Amanda, Laine, BuffyandSpikeForever, & willowmouse for reviewing!





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