Disclaimer: Nothing having anything to do with Buffy the Vampire Slayer or The Temptations or Motown Records is owned by me. Just using em for a story.
Chapter 3
"Sorry it's so...basment-y." Willow crinkled her nose as she finished descending the creaking staircase to what was to be Spike's domain for the summer.
"You're kidding, right?" he scoffed and looked at her incredulously.
She stared at him, a hurt look on her face. "Oh, yeah...um, it's a dark...and kinda musty...basement."
Realizing she'd mistaken him, Spike backpedaled. "No, no, that's not what I meant! I meant that compared to the hellhole called campus housing, this place is damn near heaven. The whole cellar to meself, with no Parker to bugger things up."
"Oh yeah, Parker, your roommate this last semester, right?" Willow recalled.
"That's the one."
"Wasn't he the player-ish one? Always bringing the girlies home?"
Spike chuckled humorlessly. "Yeah, to cover up all the boys he brought home."
Her eyebrows almost disappeared into her hairline from surprise.
"And as far as dark and musty goes..." He did have to squint a bit to see in the dimly lit room. "Well, just remember I'm a U.K. lad. Allergic to sun an' all."
Willow laughed as they dropped his luggage on the twin bed that had been placed near the wall for him. He did a quick inventory, making sure they'd brought down all his belongings, and wondering vaguely why it seemed he had so much more stuff when they were trying to cram it into her car.
"Thanks for the help. You need me to get your things?"
"Nah," Willow shrugged. "Xander's probably gotten it all for me by now. He's good like that. Thanks, though."
Spike nodded in recognition.
"I think I'm going to go upstairs and clean up before dinner," she said, turning to leave. "Anything you need?"
"No, I think I'm fine, thanks."
She started up the stairs but paused when Spike spoke.
"Oh, and Red?"
"Hmm?"
He gave a half smile. "Sorry I've been such a toff about this whole deal. It's already better than I'd expected."
She grinned and nodded, then climbed the rest of the stairs, a knowing smile on her lips. "Duh. You'd have to be deaf, dumb and blind not to notice chemistry like that," she whispered to herself.
Spike stretched, his muscles still bunched from the cramped drive, and exchanged his sweat-dampened shirt for a clean one. He began unpacking his clothes and couldn't help but let his mind wander back to just a few minutes before. Never in his young life had he felt so blindsided by attraction to a person. Buffy made him feel all giddy and...
"Twitterpated," he murmured to himself aloud, then chuckled. He got so lost in his thoughts of Buffy that when Xander hollered "DINNER!" down the stairwell, he gave a decidedly unmanly squeak and dropped the pair of socks he was holding. Spike looked around, grateful no one was there to witness it, and cleared his throat in a very macho sort of way before he picked up the socks and headed upstairs.
***
Buffy took a deep breath and shut her bedroom door, glad to have a moment to herself after the awkward scene that had just taken place. She bent down and began unloading her laundry basket, trying to keep herself from thinking about the hottie currently in her basement, and the undeniable attraction she felt toward said hottie. It really wasn't like her to get all bumbling and...
"Twitterpated," she thought aloud, then shook her head to clear it. She decided to focus instead on what pain she'd inflict on Willow for completely misleading her. It didn't take Buffy long at all to come to the conclusion that her feelings were entirely Willow's fault.
*Well, duh, I got butterflies* she thought. *Anyone would when they're startled by someone not looking as they'd been lead to believe.*
With that, she dropped her last pair of clean socks into the drawer and left her room to follow Xander's cries toward the kitchen, immensely pleased with her own prowess in the art of rationalization.
***
The kitchen smelled heavenly as Spike entered it. He saw Willow standing on her tiptoes, reaching for a glass at the back of a cupboard. Spike walked up next to her and grabbed it for her.
"Thanks," Willow said, almost shouting over the sounds of The Temptations' "My Girl" blaring through the main floor of the house.
Spike shrugged and smiled widely. "I love this song!"
"Good thing, 'cause we play oodles of oldies in this house! Now go make yourself useful and put these on the dining room table," she ordered, pushing several glasses into his arms.
He turned and made his way to the dining room singing along with the music softly. He pushed the swinging door open with his back, and when he turned into the room, the sight that met his eyes wasn't exactly what he'd hoped. Xander was holding Buffy close, whirling around the room and singing at the top of his lungs while she laughed like mad.
*So that's how it is* he thought, his stomach twisting in jealousy. *The whelp doesn't seem like the type she'd go for. Bit of a poof, if you ask me.*
Xander dipped Buffy and held her there, both of them almost falling over and laughing at their clumsiness. From her awkward position, bent backward over Xander's arm, she noticed and upside down Spike staring at them. Xander followed her gaze and looked up at Spike.
"Hey, man! Come on in!" He shouted genially.
"Um, Xand...can you let me up now, maybe?"
He looked down at ther, almost forgetting she was hanging half upside down. With a sheepish grin, he righted her, and she had to cling to his shoulder for a moment to quell the dizziness from the blood suddenly rushing back down to her body. Xander took her hand and kissed it, bending into a ridiculously low bow.
"Thank you for the dance, m'lady," he boomed in a pompous voice as the song ended. Buffy curtsied and they giggled again.
It wasn't until Willow hit him in the back with the door that Spike stopped staring.
"Oops, sorry!" she apologized as Spike shot her a foul look. It had nothing to do with her or the door.
*Suck it up, you ponce. No point in being all moody and broody. You can't help it if the bint's got no taste in men.* He set the glasses down at each place setting and sat in the last empty seat at the table, directly across from Buffy.
"Well, kids, dig in," Xander said, helping himself to a generous mound of mashed potatoes.
Spike took a helping of peas from the dish in front of him, then loaded his plate with roast beef and potatoes, and followed Xander's actions by smothering the whole thing in gravy.
Xander reached over and smacked him on the back heartily. "See? Now you're eating like a real red-blooded American man," he stated with an encouraging grin.
Spike forced a smile back and warily took a bit of Xander's home cooking. It was surprisingly good.
"Good supper, mate. Thanks."
"Yeah, we've decided it's better to just leave the cooking to him," Willow sighed, casting a sideways glance at Buffy.
Buffy slumped down in her seat. "Turns out Buffy and cooking aren't such mixy things." She held up the dish in front of her, showing off the scorch marks where flames at some point had obviously licked it.
Spike snorted, struggling to keep his mouthful of peas from spraying all over the table. She gave him a look of mock indignation, which he found to be very lovely.
Encouraged by her challenging look, Spike said, in a matter-of-fact voice, "Well, I just feel bad for you, is all. You're a woman. Isn't cooking your lot in life?" He winked.
Buffy gasped dramatically, trying very hard to look affronted, but couldn't keep the smile out of her voice completely. "You're a pig, Spike!"
It was Spike's turn to feign resentment, but before he could speak, he was distracted by the sound of the door swinging open behind him. He turned to see a very old man with very loose skin, large floppy ears, and a set of very ill-maintained teeth.
"Hi, Clem," the other occupants of the room chorused.
The man smiled at the room at large, then took the pie tin he'd been holding in his hand and loaded it with food.
"Oh, Clem, this is Spike. He'll be staying with us and helping around the farm this summer. Mostly in the pigpen." Buffy said brightly, just as he was about to exit the room. Clem didn't catch the joke, but Spike pursed his lips and shot her a look across the table as Clem extended his hand. Spike warily shook it, entranced by the way the flesh on the man's arm swayed as he did so. The only thing he could figure was that he must have lost a great deal of weight very quickly at some point.
"Nice to meetchya," Clem stated exuberantly, showing off his ghoulish smile.
Spike smiled back. Despite his appearance, there was something about the man's sincerity he liked right away. "Likewise, mate."
Clem moved toward the door. "Come see me anytime you're in the mood for a good game of kitten poker." And with that, he left, skin flapping.
Spike turned back toward the table, bewildered. "Kitten poker?" he questioned, looking to the others for comprehension. They all giggled and shrugged.
"He's a nice enough guy," Willow ventured. "He lives in the attic and works as a farm hand. Has for as long as I can remember. He's harmless, really. Just has a thing for kittens..."
Spike quirked an eyebrow and opened his mouth to question further, but promptly decided he'd just rather not know.
The rest of dinner was fun and comfortable. He was very glad the group was as warm and welcoming as the home they lived in. They all laughed as Xander elaborated on Buffy's misadventures in cooking, and even harder as she retaliated with the tale of how she'd shown him up completely the one day she was a worker on his construction site.
Pleasantly full, content, and sleepy from an eventful day, they cleaned up the dining room and kitchen and headed to their respective bedrooms for the night. As Spike undressed and crawled into his bed, he smiled to himself.
He felt included and welcomed in this place. And it was more than just a perk to be in the same house with a beautiful woman like Buffy to keep his mind occupied. *And if I'm not mistaken, she was flirting back* He couldn't help the grin that spread across his face as he actually let himself think that perhaps it wasn't such a big mistake coming here, that it might even end up being a summer worth remembering.
The moment he got under the covers and turned out the lamp by his bed, he heard Willow's voice loud and clear, which wasn't hard, seeing as she was yelling at the top of her lungs.
"Goodnight, Xander!" Spike heard echoing from her room.
Xander yelled back from his bed. "'Night, Willow!"
Willow's voice came back, with an enthusiastic "Goodnight, Buffy!"
"Goodnight, Wills!" he heard Buffy shout.
"'Night, Buff!" bellowed Xander.
"'Night, Xand!" Buffy hollered back.
Spike cracked a grin and shook his head. *Odd, these ones. Endearing, yeah, but odd.*
Then, through the quiet house he heard Willow again.
"Goodnight, Spike!"
He just chuckled. He was too tired to shout. And for that matter, too cool.
"Hey!" he heard her again. "I said goodnight!"
He laughed aloud again, but still gave no answer.
"Spike! I know you can hear me! Don't make me come down there, mister!"
He finally gave up, not one to spoil their nighttime ritual, and also not particularly in the mood to piss the redhead off now that she had easy access to where he slept.
"Alright!" He shouted, barely containing the laughter in his voice. "'Night, Red! Sweet dreams!"
"Thank you!" she replied. "Now was that so hard?! Honestly!"
Spike rolled onto his side, just able to hear the friends' soft laughter. *Yeah* he thought as he yawned, feeling sleep begin to wash over him. *Not so bad.*
A/N: Thanks again to all of you who've reviewed, and thanks to all of you who will review (hint, hint!). Just thought I'd warn you now, there'll be A LOT of songs mentioned in this fic. I live my life to a soundtrack, and thus, so do my characters. Anyway, let me know what you think!
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Author's Note: A million apologies I didn't post sooner. My fantabulous beta, Flibble, was unavailable, and I'm completely incapable of progressing without her. Which reminds me, I didn't thank her in my last chapter *slaps forehead*, so thanks a bunch! She really is a peach. Genius of a beta, and sweet as all get out. There's my shameless plug...And for the record, I promise I'm going to be updating a lot more often, now my life's slowed down a wee bit. Anyway, on with the chap!