[Reviews - 284]
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Microsoft Word Chapter or Story | ePub eBook Chapter or Story | Printer Chapter or Story

Has been viewed 2362 times

- Text Size +




Author's Chapter Notes:
Betad by Mabel Marsters.
”Buffy? We need to talk, luv.”

Buffy looked up from her plate, startled. It was the understatement of the year. “I know.” She sighed, only half joking as she added hopefully, “Any chance it could wait until after we’ve had our dessert?”

“Sure.” Spike shrugged. “Whatever you want, pet.” He fell silent, repeatedly running his fork through what was left of his bloody steak. Extra rare, of course. What else?

Buffy watched him in amusement. “What did that poor steak ever do to you? Beat you at kitten poker?”

Rolling his eyes, Spike dropped the fork and pushed his plate aside. He was quiet for a moment. “Seeing how you’re joking, I take it you’re not mad at me anymore?” There was a hint of uncertainty in his voice.

“I’m not mad. I just...” Buffy hesitated, not sure what to say. She hated fighting with Spike. More than anything she wished things would just be okay between them. Or maybe a bit more than just okay. Instead, everything seemed so complicated. But then again, when had things ever been simple?

“You look beautiful.” Spike smiled a little, although Buffy was certain she could see pain in his eyes. “Wish I’d taken you some place fancier.”

“Are you kidding?” Buffy stared at him in disbelief. “This place is great! The food was absolutely amazing.” She really meant it. To tell the truth, she couldn’t even remember the last time she had tasted anything so delicious. Everything about the restaurant Spike had chosen was perfect. Company included, she silently admitted to herself.

So far, Spike had been the perfect gentleman – holding open the door for her when they first arrived at the restaurant, pulling out her chair – little things like that. It hit her how he was really trying to make up for his earlier behavior. At the same time, he seemed almost nervous around her. In a way, Buffy couldn’t really blame him.

Spike was relieved. The fact that Buffy hadn’t canceled their date – yes, it was a date, who was he kidding – gave him hope that he still had a chance after all. And he was pleased to find that he had apparently not made a complete fool out of himself by bringing her here. The Slayer was impressed, no question about it.

He just wished he knew what was going on in that pretty blonde head of hers. It was obvious to him that something was bothering her; he just didn’t know what it was. Maybe she still didn’t fully trust him. If that was the case, he supposed he could relate to that. After all, he had neglected to tell her about him being back among the living, or un-living or whatever.

A part of him found it hard to believe that she was even here with him in the first place. Having found out from Andrew that he was back, Buffy had simply dropped everything else to come and see him. Of course, she hadn’t thrown herself in his arms and declared her undying love, but he could tell that she was genuinely happy to see him. It warmed his cold, un-beating heart, more than he wanted to admit.

And now here he was, finally out on a date with the Slayer. Somehow, he had to make sure not to screw this up. Too much was at stake – he couldn’t bear the thought of losing her now. He may not deserve her, but he craved her, his entire body burned with desire for her. He loved her – even if she would never truly return his feelings, he would love her until the day he dusted.

Still, he couldn’t fool himself. Being this close to Buffy and yet not having her was hard. Hell, it was torture. The last thing he wanted was pushing her into something she wouldn’t be ready for. Sometimes, he wished he had the strength to walk away. But he was weak. Longing for the love that would not be given to him. Hoping...

As he now looked at her, he realized that he had her full attention. Buffy was watching him expectantly, waiting for him to do something; however, he couldn’t for his life figure out what that would be. The only thing he could think of was reaching across the table, pull her into his arms and kiss her senseless. Other than that, his mind was completely blank.

“Spike?” Buffy found herself almost hypnotized by his deep blue eyes, for some reason feeling like she was looking right into his soul. She could see how much he loved her. And it scared her half to death. Should she finally give in and confess to him just how much he had actually come to mean to her – and God, how she wanted to – would it be enough? Would she be enough for him?

Spike cocked his head to the side. “Um, you want dessert now, luv? Or...” He hesitated. “Wanna go someplace more private?” Seeing the look on her face, he rolled his eyes and added, “Got a dirty mind, Slayer. I meant to talk.”

“Oh. I knew that.” Buffy quickly lowered her eyes, but he didn’t miss the way her cheeks turned red. She swallowed. “Well, we do need to talk.”

“It’s settled, then.” Spike quickly looked around, his eyes landing on the waiter heading in their direction, and waved a little to catch the man’s attention. Then he glanced at Buffy. “We could go back to my place, if you want.”

Thinking for a moment, Buffy nodded in agreement. “Okay.”


~ ~ ~


“Hey, Rowan.” Harmony looked up from her desk, batting her long eyelashes at him. She shifted her position a little, making sure to reveal even more of her cleavage. “Well, lucky me! Thought you’d left for the day.”

Rowan shook his head, not sure whether to be amused or annoyed. Harmony had started flirting shamelessly with him whenever Spike was around, obviously attempting to make the male vampire jealous enough to realize what he had given up. Spike, however, refused to take the bait. Most of the time, he chose to simply ignore her.

Lately though, Rowan had noticed how she kept giving him her full attention, even when the blond vampire wasn’t there. At first he figured she had actually decided to accept her defeat and move on. But now he couldn’t help but wonder if Buffy may have something to do with Harmony’s sudden lack of interest in Spike.

Maybe Buffy had threatened to stake her if she wouldn’t back off. Rowan held back a grin as a vivid image of a furious Slayer, ordering a terrified Harmony to stay the hell away from her vampire, flashed through his mind. He wouldn’t be overly surprised if that turned out to be the case.

In a way, he felt sorry for Harmony. She may be quite attractive for a vampire, but her obvious thirst for male attention merely made her appear pathetic. He got the feeling she had to be very lonely, seeing how practically everybody at Wolfram and Hart found her to be shallow and annoying, to put it mildly. Also, she was not very bright.

A deep, pulsating wave of pain shot through him without warning. Thankfully, it was over a moment later. The message was clear enough, though. ‘Stop wasting your time!’ Rowan clenched his fists. He could sense other people and demons by choice, but Morou was always there, invading his mind. It was exhausting. Not to mention how it made him feel violated.

Of course, he would get a break every once in a while. It could be hours, sometimes even a whole day, when the ruthless being down in the basement would leave him alone. For some reason, Morou required a lot of rest. Lucky for him, Rowan thought, bitterly. Otherwise, he would have gone insane a long time ago.

Realizing that Harmony was still talking to him, Rowan firmly pushed the disturbing images of himself in a straitjacket, locked up in some white-padded cell, to the back of his mind. He gave the female vampire a questioning look. “Sorry, what?”

Harmony repeated her words, a hopeful expression on her face. “I was just about to leave. Do you wanna go to the coffee house and get... a cup of coffee or something?”

Rowan frowned. “You drink coffee?”

“Sure.” Harmony nodded. “With blood and sugar.” Seeing how he cringed, she hurried to add, “They serve with milk as well.”

“Right.” Rowan grimaced, knowing he would probably never be able to drink coffee again. “Um, no offense, but I don’t think—” He stopped with a gasp, struck by another bolt of pain, this time so intense that his vision became blurry and his eyes started watering. For a moment, he was certain he would either throw up or pass out.

“Are you okay?” Harmony watched him in confusion. “Rowan, are you sick or something?”

And just like that, the episode was over. Taking a couple of deep breaths, Rowan managed to find his voice. “No, I’m fine.”

“Okay. Good.” Harmony sounded relieved. “So, do you wanna go?”

“Actually...” Rowan hesitated. He was so tired. In that moment, he was prepared to do pretty much anything to keep the dreadful headaches away. So he nodded. “Yeah, coffee sounds good. Let’s go.”


TBC


Chapter End Notes:
Thanks to those of you who left me a review for the last chapter!



You must login (register) to review.