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Author's Chapter Notes:
This is Ciley/Suzee updating for NIkki again...sorry this update is so late today...I went to see the shuttle launch today (which didn't actually end up happening.)
Please read and review her wonderful story.
Chapter 19: Just friends?

The cold water lapped at Buffy’s ankles and she raised her skirt slightly higher so it was just above her knee. The water felt heavenly as it swashed around her aching feet. It felt so good to be out of the confines of her shoes, being on her feet everyday was killing her. She was careful about where she placed her feet, as the stones on the riverbed were getting more slippery the further she waded in. Despite the danger she was in, she carried on until she was closer to the middle.

Glancing across at Spike, she saw him trying to carefully make his way to where she stood. Feeling mischievous, she bent down, being careful not to let go of her skirt, and scooped some water into her hand. She then flicked it at Spike, hitting him directly in the face and nearly causing him to lose his balance.

Growling, Spike looked up at Buffy where she stood near the middle of the river, a picture of innocence. However, he wasn’t fooled.

“Oi! Missis, don’t think I’m gonna let you get away with that.”

“Away with what?”

“Don’t give me that.” The innocent face she was currently staring at him with didn’t fool Spike. “You wet me, I wet you. That’s the rule, missy. Don’t think you’re so special and can get away with it.” All this he said with a playful grin on his face as he made his way slowly towards her.

Sensing that she was in actual danger of him wetting her, she started to panic and slowly backed away from him. “No! Please Spike! Don’t no, I’m sorry.” Giggling she looked at Spike.

Giving her an evil smirk, he turned to face her full on. “I don’t think you really are sorry, you better start saying your prayers, princess.”

Squeezing her eyes tightly shut, she tried to make her body as small as possible.

Scooping up a handful of water, Spike waded up to her until he was standing right in front of her. Looking down at the girl in front of him with her face all screwed up, he decided to take pity on her.

Lifting his hands up above her head, he slowly sprinkled water onto her face, causing her nose to twitch. After a few moments of no more water falling on her face, she slowly peeked open one eye and then the other to see him smirking down at her.

“Spike!” hitting him on the chest, she tried to wipe the smug grin off his face.

Spike, however, was highly amused by her actions.

“Whoa, love! Don’t blame me, you’re the one who started it – or don’t you remember?”

As she hit him once more, she suddenly slipped on the rock she was carefully balanced on. Seeing her start to fall, Spike darted forward, grabbing her around the waist and pulling her flush against him, effectively stopping her fall. As they gazed at each other, the playful atmosphere suddenly disintegrated. Spike’s gaze seemed to fall to Buffy’s lip as she worried it between her teeth, making it swollen and full. His eyes were full of lust.

Realising how close their bodies were seemed to pull Buffy out of her Spike induced daze. Placing both hands on his chest, she gently pushed away from him, managing to break his trance as well. Looking at each other, both suddenly felt very shy.

“Well… umm thank you for just stopping me from falling there.”

“It’s, umm, not a problem, pet. Just be careful where you’re stepping and I’d suggest no more hitting people.” Smiling, he watched as Buffy nodded before turning and continuing to wade in until the water reached her knees. Making sure that her skirt didn’t get wet, she raised it higher, revealing part of her thigh.

Turning away from her, Spike tried to suppress the images that were forming in his mind. He walked a little further down the river, keeping his back to Buffy.

Hearing her squeal behind him, he turned to see the water lapping at her knees and a worried look on her face as she desperately pulled at her leg.

“Spike, help! I’ve got my foot stuck.”

Spike chuckled to himself and considered teasing her about her situation, but decided the teasing could wait until after he had got her foot free.

He started to wade towards her, not caring if his pants got wet. Seeing her get more and more worked up, he knew he had to calm her down first before he tried to free her foot.

“Ok, love, take deep breaths. I need you to calm down a bit first.” Watching her do that, he saw her shoulders sag as she calmed down slightly. “Now just wiggle your foot, see if you can get it to loosen, ok?”

Nodding, Buffy did as he asked. Suddenly her foot was free, however the momentum of her pulling at the same time caused her to lose her balance and sent her flying backwards.

Spike was too far away and couldn’t get there in time. He had to watch as she fell backwards, landing fully in the water. His heart leapt in his throat over the thought that she could be hurt. There were plenty of rocks around her. She could have easily hit her head on one of them. She could have a concussion. She could drown. As he watched her emerge a few seconds later, he felt his heart calm down and stop beating as erratically. She seemed fine, even if she did look like a drowned rat.

Wading over to where she sat in the water, he stood in front of her.

“Well, love, that was pathetic, although I have to admit, highly amusing.”

Pouting up at him, she made no attempt to get up.

“Fine, well, if you aren’t going to get up, then we are going to have to get you out of this water one way or another, don’t want you getting ill do we?”

Bending down, he scooped her up into his arms, not noticing or caring that she was soaking his white shirt, which was making the thin material even more see-through. To have her in his arms was pure heaven.

Buffy squealed, flinching as he picked her up. She still wasn’t used to physical contact with men but she quickly adjusted to the feel of being in his arms. She knew Spike meant her no harm. Wrapping her arm tightly round his neck, she held on for dear life as he carried her out the river.

With his precious cargo, Spike carefully made his way back to the river bank, cautious of where he was putting his feet as he didn’t want them both to fall back in - not that it would make them any wetter than they already where.



***

When they where safely back on dry land, Spike carried Buffy up the slope and gently placed her down on the blanket. He then went back down to collect their clothes.

As he walked down the hill, Buffy couldn’t help admiring his physique. His hair was mussed up from the water she had thrown at him, making it curl and giving him a softer, gentler look. She couldn’t help looking at his strong muscular chest; his shirt was partially obscene now. The water had caused the shirt to become transparent and she could see his well-defined chest and his muscular back. Thoughts of running her hands along his chest ran through her head, causing a blush to form on her cheeks. As she saw Spike approaching, she quickly averted her eyes from where they had become transfixed on his glistening chest.

As Spike came to sit back next to Buffy, he realised she was shivering. Reaching over, he picked up his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders.

Huddling into the warm fabric, Buffy glanced across at Spike. His hands and feet still glistened in the sun, caused by the river water that was still on them. Reaching into the basket, Spike handed her an apple, which she readily accepted.

Untwisting her hair, she let it fall around her shoulders, giving it a chance to dry quicker in the sunshine. She didn’t want to give Maggie any way of knowing what had happened today.

“Well I suppose it could have been worse. I mean I could have been wearing my work dress. Now that would have been a disaster. Imagines Maggie’s face.” The thought caused Buffy to giggle almost manically.

“Do you only get one dress, pet?” Spike asked.

Buffy looked up at him as though he had suddenly grown an extra head. “You really have no clue about servant life do you?”

Spike shook his head; clearly embarrassed about not knowing something he possibly should know about. “Sorry, pet, ‘fraid it’s not my area of expertise.”

“It’s ok, Spike, you don’t have to feel ashamed. I didn’t know much about servant life before I became one either. For the record, yes, we only get one uniform. If you want it cleaning, and you usually do, you have to do it yourself overnight. You also have to pay for your own uniform; you get nothing free in this line of work. Any other questions?”

“Yeah I do, actually.” Spike gave her a look, wondering how she would take this one. “What did you do before working here? You said you were new to the servant lark.” Spike was curious; he knew nothing about Buffy before she had worked at the manor.

“Yes, servant work is all new to me. Before working here I lived at home.” Buffy had decided that she wasn’t going to lie to Spike, she had told him the truth, it just hadn’t been the whole truth. “O.k. My turn.”

“Fire away, love.” Lying back on his arms, Spike relaxed as Buffy asked her question.

“Where’s the accent from? I mean you’re English, but Master Liam and Lady Darla aren’t. So where does yours come from?”

Spike chuckled at her question, it was usually the first things people asked, he was amazed she had lasted this long. He wondered how long she had wanted to ask him.

“Well, love, you see Liam and Darla didn’t want kids. They saw me as an inconvenience. They liked travelling and staying in all the nicest places, none of which can be done with a child in tow. Therefore, I was shipped off to England, London actually. I lived with relative there and then went to boarding school. That’s how I ended up with the accent, been there from such an early age, it’s all I’ve ever known. Then when I came of age, I moved back here. Guess you could say I craved the quieter life, knew Ireland would provide that for me. Always knew deep down that Liam would come back to his mother country, despite all the travelling. It’s where the manor is, where his name and fortunes lie. Yes always knew Peaches would come back here. That answer your question, love?”

When she nodded, Spike decided it was his turn to ask, and that was how they spent the rest of the afternoon, just asking questions back and forth. Both barely touching the surface of what hid underneath.



***

As the sun started to set over the trees, Spike and Buffy decided to head back to the manor. Helping her stand up, he watched as Buffy slipped her dress back on then put her shoes and stockings back on.

Her feet protested slightly at being forced back into their tight restraints, causing Buffy to wince.

Spike meanwhile re-dressed himself so that he once again looked presentable.

Taking her hand into his, Spike looked at Buffy. “Shall we then, my lady?” He then led her back to the waiting carriage.

As she was about to climb into the front of the carriage, Spike stopped her by placing his hand on her arm.

“Wait, love, I’ve got something for you. Close your eyes.” Buffy gave him a puzzled _expression before closing her eyes.

Waving a hand in front of her face to check that she wasn’t peeking, he then reached into the back of the carriage and pulled out a small package and placed it in her out stretched hands.

Feeling the weight in her hands, Buffy slowly opened her eyes, looking down she saw a book. Opening it up she saw an inscription from Spike on the first page.

“Oh, Spike, I love it, how did you know?”

“Well, when I was in your room yesterday you said you had nearly finished the other one I had given you, and I knew you would love this one.”

“Oh I do, thank you so much it’s wonderful.”

Buffy leaned up to kiss him on the cheek, however just as she leaned up, Spike turned his head and Buffy ended up kissing him fully on the lips. Pulling away to look at him, suddenly the playful atmosphere once again left, and was replaced with looks of lust and yearning.

Without thinking, Spike grabbed Buffy’s upper arms and smashed his lips to hers. Buffy was stunned for a second, but quickly overcame the shock and started to

reciprocate the kiss. Threading her arms around his neck, she pressed her body against his.

Her brain started to scream at her through the lust-induced haze. Pulling away from him, she pressed a hand to her mouth, her eyes wide with shock.

“Oh God, I shouldn’t have done that, I’m sorry.” Turning away from him, Elizabeth cast her eyes to the floor.

Spike groaned at the loss of contact “Look, Buffy, I’m sorry, but I’m not sorry I did it.” He realised that maybe that wasn’t the thing to say as it would more than likely push her away further.

“We can’t do this. It isn’t right, not after everything that’s happened. I’m sorry, William.”

Spike watched as she closed in on herself, just like he had watched her close up after Parker had attacked her.

Wrapping an arm around her, he felt her flinch away from him before melting into his embrace.

“I truly am sorry.” Spike heard Buffy mumble into his chest.

“It’s ok, love, friends?”

Buffy just nodded. Pulling back, he looked at Elizabeth. She stood there looking at the floor, the book he had given her still clutched to her chest.

“Come on, love, let’s get back.”

Climbing up to the front of the carriage, they travelled back to the manor, in the same way they had come, in complete silence. This time however both were lost in their own thoughts. One question resides over both their heads. Could they really just be friends?

TBC….





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