Spike and I started walking to my house in companionable silence. It lasted for about two minutes.
“So…”
I said the same thing at the same time and finished it up with a little bit of embarrassed laughter. *Why won’t these damn butterflies go away? Why do I feel like this every time I’m with him?*
“Yeah…” I started, “Why don’t you go first?”
“Well, I was just going to ask why the bleeding hell are we going the opposite way from your house?”
“Wait… what?” I stopped walking and looked at my surroundings. It was true, we were going the opposite way from Revello drive. “I, uh, must’ve not been paying attention. You know how my mind goes all wandery when I start thinking about stuff.”
“Um yeah,” he replied.
*When I think about your eyes, your cheekbones, or the toned, muscled body underneath your clothes… god stop it Buffy! You’re probably thinking more perverted thoughts than Spike, if that’s even possible.*
“So, I was just wondering why you wanted me to tag along with you on this little excursion. I thought you couldn’t stand the sight of me.”
“That’s not true, I… I just thought we could talk a little more.”
*Jeez Buffy, nervous much? I can’t even form a sentence without stuttering.*
“Alright, are you sure just talking? We haven’t done that in a while.”
“Yeah I know. I’m sorry about that too.”
We were silent once more, and it remained like that until we managed to reach my house.
We were standing outside my front door, neither of us really knowing what to do. Finally I said, “Maybe we should just sit out here. Willow’s probably asleep and I don’t want to risk waking her up.”
“Fine by me,” he said.
So we sat next to each other on my front porch and the silence continued on. True to form, Spike was the one to break it. Only this time he did it more quietly than he usually did.
“I must say, and don’t break my nose for telling you so, but you look awfully gorgeous in that outfit, Buffy.”
And that’s all it took, my growing emotions for him were now surfacing even more. Just a few simple words and my heart was clenching with affection for him. I know that he likes the way that I look. He even thinks I’m beautiful. But gorgeous?
And he used my real name. Just the sound of it coming from his mouth made my heart flutter. It wasn’t just the words he said that had affected me, but it was the way he said it with such conviction. Spike really did wear his heart on his sleeve. Every time I tried to express my own feelings it always came out as a jumbled mess. All these thoughts rushed through my head as I took a minute to come up with a response. I decided to go with banter. That seemed to work… well most of the time anyway.
“Now why would I break your precious nose?”
“Oh… no reason.”
“Thanks, by the way. I’m glad to hear you approve.” He seemed shocked because I was actually showing him gratitude.
“So did you have a hot date with a vampire in the graveyard?”
“What?! What are you talking about?”
“Relax, I’m just kidding you Slayer. And well, I may not know much about women’s clothing, but I figure it must be pretty hard to slay something in those clothes. So I was thinking maybe you were patrolling for a date instead of for a kill.”
*Oh great, I’m really stuck now.*
“Well, yeah. Actually I was.”
Not for the first time that night, he looked disappointed. God guys could be really dense sometimes. Especially when that guy was Spike. I could tell he was having a hard time playing it cool and keeping his emotions in check.
“Oh. So who’s the lucky guy?”
It seemed that I would just have to spell it out for him. “It’s you, you idiot.”
At first his expression didn’t show any reaction. But it sure did pretty quickly. This was by far the most shocked expression he had had all night. Maybe ever.
“Come again?”
“I wanted to go on a date with you. Come on, I can’t even remember the last time I did something fun. Will you please go with me?”
It took him a couple more seconds to answer, but I didn’t have to ask him twice.
“Yes, of course.”
And then Spike did the strangest thing. He stood up and grabbed my hand like a perfect gentlemen while he asked, “Where would you like to go?”
I swear I could feel my eyes sparkle.
Ok, so maybe The Bronze wasn’t the most original place we could’ve gone to. I guess on the creative places to go list it most likely rated one notch below Willy’s bar. But it was kind of late, and The Bronze was the only place I knew for sure would be open and still have music. I’ll admit it, I had felt the sudden urge to go dancing. I wanted to finally be able to let my hair down, so to speak.
As I had expected, there was still music playing in The Bronze, but the place was practically empty. All the single people who had been looking for love and all the sleazebags who just wanted to get someone in bed with them were gone. Now the only people that remained were the young lovers, too distracted in each other to realize the club was practically dead and they should probably get up and leave. The music that was playing was some slow song that I couldn’t remember the name of. That was the only kind of music they played at this time of night. I didn’t have a watch on me, but I figured it was sometime after two o’clock.
*This is perfect.*
For some reason I was feeling really brave at this point. All of my inhibitions had been thrown out the window. I don’t know if I could pinpoint exactly when that happened, but I would guess it was sometime after Spike told me I looked gorgeous.
“Would you care to dance with me?” I decided to act ladylike since Spike had acted like a gentlemen earlier. We could both act the part if we wanted to.
“I would love to,” he said.
We casually walked onto the dance floor together. I’m not quite sure when we started to be like an old married couple. That’s how comfortable we seemed to fit together. Even though neither of us were exactly perfect at slow dancing, my body seemed to melt right against his.
The song that had been playing when we walked in had just ended, and a new one was starting up. I knew the name of this one, it was called “All My Life”. I don’t really know who sings it… How can you blame me? Going out patrolling and saving the world every night does take up a lot of my free time, you know? So I listened to the lyrics of the song while I slow danced with Spike in the middle of The Bronze, our bodies tight up against each other. I realized that this was occurring after I had already broken up with him and wasn’t even sure yet if we were back together. And it was all happening without intoxication or spells of any kind. Wonders never cease.
I Will Never Find Another Lover
Sweeter Than You
Sweeter Than You
And I Will Never Find Another Lover
More Precious Than You
More Precious Than You
Girl You Are..
Close To Me You're Like My Mother,
Close To Me You're Like My Father,
Close To Me You're Like My Sister,
Close To Me You're Like My Brother
And You Are The Only One My Everything
And For You This Song I Sing...
My head had been resting against his shoulder throughout the introduction, but I looked up into Spike’s eyes when the singing started. It really was such a sweet song. I wondered if Spike felt any of those things for me. From his expression and the way his eyes were staring into mine, I figured he did. I had to take a moment to take a deep breath, and I felt it catch in my throat. No one had ever looked at me that way. No one.
All My Life
I Prayed For Someone Like You
And I Thank God
That I…That I Finally Found You
All My Life
I Prayed For Someone Like You
And I Hope That You Feel The Same Way Too
Yes, I Pray That You Do Love Me Too
He was using his blue orbs to search my green ones, I could tell. He obviously wanted to know what I was thinking and feeling. I really wanted to tell him right then all of the feelings I had. I wanted to pledge my undying devotion to him. But I knew this really wasn’t the right place to tell him all that. He had been waiting so long to hear the words, and I wanted to make sure it was perfect. I promised myself I would tell him everything later when he came back home with me. Spike was going with me, I was sure of that. There was no way I could make it through the night if I didn’t have his touch. My body was yearning for him. I could feel my arousal beginning to rise, and I felt his body having similar reactions.
Said I Promise To Never Fall In Love With A Stranger
You're All I'm Thinking Of
I Praise The Lord Above
For Sending Me Your Love
I Cherish Every Hug
I Really Love You
We stayed pressed tightly together for the rest of the song. Eventually the music started to fade, and we reluctantly pulled apart. I could feel my cheeks start to flush, and I knew they must have been red.
“Buffy,” he started to say in a pleading tone. “What’s happening to us?”
“Shhhh.” I put my finger up to his lips before he could say anymore. “Come back home with me. We’ll have some privacy there and then I’ll try to explain everything. I think they’re closing up here soon anyway.”
He nodded in agreement. Our date was over.