“Buffy? Sorry, luv, didn’t mean to wake you.” Spike closed the door quietly behind him, careful not to make any sound. It was late; way past visiting hours, and if anyone caught him sneaking into Buffy’s hospital room at this hour, he’d probably be in a lot of trouble. But he had to see her; he’d promised to come back, and he didn’t want to wait until morning.
Buffy blinked a couple of times, trying to get her eyes to adjust to the darkness in the room so she could see him. “Spike? What time is it?”
He stepped closer, slowly so he wouldn’t trip on anything and wake the entire hospital, until he was right beside the bed, then sat down next to her. “It’s late; past ten o clock. Sorry I couldn’t come back sooner. You okay?”
She nodded. “Yeah, sure. Missed you, though.” She pouted a little, knowing he was whipped enough to be affected by it. She was right.
“I’m really sorry, pet. I just…” He hesitated. “Had some things that needed to be taken care of, but it’s all done now.” Spike leaned over to kiss her softly, and Buffy wrapped her arms around him.
“Did he give you a hard time?”
Spike pulled back, startled. “What?”
Not pleased with the sudden loss of contact, Buffy let out a little grunt, and pulled him closer again. “Giles? Hello! Wasn’t that why you left, to go talk to him so you wouldn’t lose your job?”
“Oh. Yeah, among other things.” Spike kissed her again, hoping she wouldn’t notice how vague that came out. He knew he’d have to tell her what happened eventually, but he was hoping that it could wait, at least until the next morning. Luckily, it seemed like Buffy was too occupied snuggling to notice. He relaxed and hugged her tighter. “Missed you so much, kitten.” He felt her smile, as she’d buried her face against his neck.
“Kitten? That’s a new one. I like it.” Buffy tried to stifle a big yawn, unsuccessfully. “Sorry. Guess I’m really tired.”
Spike chuckled, gently stroking her cheek. “You should go back to sleep, then. I’ll stay right here. That is, if you want me to?” He suddenly sounded a little uncertain.
Buffy gave him an assuring smile and took his hand, squeezing it tenderly. “Of course I do.” She brought his hand up to her lips to place a soft kiss on his palm, then frowned, her eyes widening. “Spike, you’re bleeding, what happened?!”
Bollocks! Spike mentally cursed himself for not getting himself cleaned up before he went to see Buffy. Truth to be told, he’d simply forgotten. He realized he would have some explaining to do tonight, after all. “Right. Well…” He hesitated a little. “It’s okay, really. I just… hit my hand on something.”
Looking slightly worried, Buffy gently traced his bruised knuckles with her fingers. “On what?” He mumbled something, too low for her to catch. “What was that?”
Spike sighed, repeating his words. “On Riley’s face.”
“You mad at me?” Spike had finally told Buffy the whole story about how he had accidentally ran into Riley earlier, and now he was waiting for her reaction, hoping she wouldn’t be too upset. Not that he regretted anything, though. The feeling when he’d broken the other man’s nose had been bloody amazing.
“No, not mad. Just… a little surprised, I guess.” A pause. “And maybe a little concerned.”
“Surprised?” He stared at her in disbelief. “You saying you expected me to let him get away with what he did? He hurt you, Buffy! God, you could’ve…” Spike’s voice broke and he couldn’t finish the sentence.
“Spike, I’m okay.” Buffy sighed and squeezed his hand again. “Look, I’m not saying I’m not happy you kicked Riley’s ass, because God knows the bastard deserved it, but you really shouldn’t have. I mean, what if he… I don’t know, tells the police or something? You could get in trouble. I don’t want that.”
Spike snorted. “I wouldn’t worry ‘bout that, the wanker’s too afraid for his own sorry ass to tell the cops anything. Besides, after hitting him a couple of times, we had a little… talk. Think it’s safe to say that he’s not gonna bother either one of us again.” He said the last part with a smug look on his face and Buffy couldn’t help but roll her eyes.
“Okay, ‘Big Bad’, I’ll take your word for it. Now, how about we just agree not to mention Riley’s name again? He’s done enough damage, don’t you think? I just wanna forget the fact that he even exists.” Buffy gave Spike a pleading look.
He nodded, instantly. “Whatever you want, luv.” Like he wouldn’t do just about anything she asked. He was bloody whipped and he knew it. But for some reason, he couldn’t care less. Then he noticed how tired she looked. “We’ll talk more tomorrow, yeah? Now, you’re gonna lean back, close those pretty eyes of yours, and go to sleep. Got it?”
Buffy gave him a tired smile, starting to object. “Don’t wanna. Wanna snuggle.” Then she yawned again, and had to struggle to keep her eyes open. “Okay, too tired to snuggle. Sleep sounds good. Will you hold me?” She tried batting her eyelashes at him, but was too tired to even do that. Though she managed a small smile as he slipped under the covers with her and slid his arms around her.
Spike ran his fingers over her cheek, kissing her gently. “Night, Buffy. Sweet dreams.”
She let out a happy sigh, already half asleep. “Night, Spike. Love you.”
He froze, certain that he’d heard wrong. “What?” Soft snoring was his only response. “No, Buffy, don’t fall asleep just yet! Did you just say…?” A moment ago Spike had been tired as well, now he was wide awake. Surely he’d been mistaken, right? There was just no way Buffy would say…
“Mmmm. Spike… love you…” Buffy snuggled closer to him and this time, there was no doubt what she’d said. Spike’s frown disappeared, and a wide grin spread on his face. He suddenly felt all warm inside, feeling happier and more peaceful than he could remember ever feeling before. He pressed one last, soft kiss to her forehead before he finally let sleep claim him as well.
“Love you, too, pet.”
TBC