She was weak, physically and emotionally weak. Weak from not eating since the day before, weak from the beating Angelus gave her less than an hour ago. Her body shook in the rain like a fragile little dog. When she looked up to the light that glowed in the window, Buffy knew she was weak most of all for his comfort… for her Spike.
Buffy promised herself that she wouldn’t do this, come to him with her troubles and ask for help. The two of them were suppose to be broken up; going their own separate ways despite the love they shared for one another. However, after experiencing the rough night she had, Buffy needed him.
After picking up a few little pebbles that were on the driveway and throwing them at the lit window, Buffy saw the curtain move back to reveal the man whose heart she broke.
Spike narrowed his eyes, trying to adjust the darkness outside, before scanning for the stone thrower that dare disturb him. His attention soon landed on Buffy when he saw her give him a small wave in the pouring rain. He stared at her for a moment before disappearing from her sight.
Buffy’s heart stopped on the spot. The hairs on her arms stood at attention. For an instant she thought a bolt of lightning could hit her a hundred times right now and it wouldn’t hurt any more than what he just did.
‘I have no where to go…’ Buffy reminded herself as she turned away from the house she considered to be her second home. ‘I have no one…’
For a second, Buffy thought she had completely lost it—that she might be having some sort of out of body experience or gone into shock. Because despite the sound of raindrops hitting puddles on the road, Buffy no longer felt the water pounding down on her head.
“Buffy?”
Buffy slowly turned around at the soft whisper and found herself inches away from Spike’s face. He was holding up a small umbrella over her body while he took the sacrifice of getting wet to keep her dry.
“Buffy…what are you doing here?”
Glancing behind Spike’s shoulder, Buffy could see his front door was wide open. She took a guess that he must have rushed down the stairs and out the door without thinking of closing it to get to her outside.
“Are you alright?” he asked when she didn’t speak up.
“I’m okay.”
Spike pushed in closer to see her face. He clenched his jaw when he saw the cut on her cheek and the bruise on her bare arm.
“No your not you’re—“ he reached out and took her cheek into the palm of his hand.
“It’s nothing.”
“Like hell it is…”
Without another word he grabbed her hand and urgently pulled her toward the house. After he shut the door, closed the umbrella, and threw it on the ground, Spike walked back in front of her to see the damage once again.
“It’s not as bad as it looks—“
Spike shook his drippy wet head, “No, you need to go to the hospital.”
”I just need a first aid kit.”
Spike eyed her deep cut down her left arm for the first time.
“You need to see a doctor.” He said sternly as he turned around to get his car keys on the coffee table.
As he turned back around and was about to rush out the front door with Buffy in tow, Spike saw that she had already locked the deadbolts and was peeking out the side window. She looked anxious, scared even, and to that Spike too grew a bit concerned.
“Buffy…”
“Turn off the lights upstairs, I’m going to lock the back door.”
“But—“
”Just do as I say.”
Buffy clicked the tiny desk light off in the kitchen after she checked the locks on the kitchen door. When she felt his presence behind her in the darkness of the room she asked, “Where are your parents?”
“L.A for the weekend.”
‘Good…’ she thought to herself. She didn’t need to deal with Mr. and Mrs. Pratt at the moment too—they would call her parents and then…
Well, Buffy didn’t want to even think about it what would happen after that.
“When are they coming back?”
”Tomorrow”
“I’ll be gone by then…”
”Gone where?”
Buffy turned around and saw his bleached blonde hair shined in the moonlight coming through the window. Oh, how she missed his hair.
“It doesn’t matter…the less you know the better.”
“I’ve been getting that excuse a lot from you lately.”
”Spike please—“
”Who are you hiding from? Who?!” he demanded.
“Shhh!”
“No, I’m not going to hide in my own house.” Spike snapped as he flipped on the lights in the kitchen.
”No.” she said as she instantly flipped them off. “You don’t understand, you—“
He grabbed her by the shoulders and looked her square in the eye. “Then tell me….Buffy, tell me who did that to you? And I’ll—“
”You can’t fight him…you just can’t.”
”Tell me.”
”I can take care of myself…this is something you can’t handle…”
”If it’s something you can handle then why are you here?!” he yelled.
Silence fell upon both of them. After a moment a flash of lightning lit up the sky and then a roar of thunder followed soon after. Buffy knew her life was a living monster movie now by the Powers that Be supplying with the special effects.
“I’ll go then…”
‘You have no where to go…’ the little voice in her head reminded her again.
Buffy ignored her brain and started for the front door.
“I don’t want you to go.”
Her hand was on the lock, getting ready to untwist it if she needed to make a clean break.
“I know you’re in trouble Buffy…and its killing me inside knowing that…and I just don’t understand why you won’t tell me how I can help.”
Buffy leaded her head gently against the door.
”I wish you could.”
’Staying with him will only get him killed.’ Her Watcher, Merrick, told her weeks ago. It was advice that she took to save Spike’s life—to save him from the pain that she would cause him if he ever had to find her dead in an alleyway, killed in the hands of a vampire that would probably kill him too.
She felt his warm hands rest on top of her shoulders and turn her arm.
“Love, please tell me what to do…please…” he whispered as he rested his forehead onto hers.
Buffy broke into sobs at the sound of desperation in his voice, she felt so guilty not telling him the truth.
“Tell me…” he whispered again and kissed her forehead.
“I—I—I can’t…” she said as the tears came streaming down her cheeks harder.
‘You fight alone’ Merrick reminded her.
“Shhh…” Spike whispered as he petted her damp hair.
‘Your calling is what matters…its fate…’ Merrick argued.
A couple of months ago, Buffy thought her fate was with Spike. That she’d live till a hundred years old with him at her side in a resting home somewhere where their grandchild could visit on the weekends.
“You won’t believe me if I tell you…” Buffy cried, recalling how her parents took the news just a few hours ago.
“It’s alright love…” he kissed her head again and leaned back to look at her teary eyes, “Just tell me and we’ll work through it together.”
”I—I—I’m a vampire Slayer.”
Buffy watched a wave of emotions run over Spike’s face as she pulled back to look at him. First confusion, then amusement, then worry, then anger, then sort of panicked, and then back to worry.
“What did you say?”
”Vampire…Slayer…” she repeated.
He let it sink in for a moment then, “What’s that’s?”
”What do you think it is?”
Spike took a deep breath, “I’m afraid to ask…”
‘I don’t blame you’ Buffy thought to herself.
Spike rested his hand on the back of her head and started feeling around, “You hit your head didn’t you….we have to get you—“
”I didn’t hit my head!” She insisted as she pulled his hands away from her, checking for bumps or dents in her head.
“Love…vampires are not real…”
”Yes they are.”
Spike closed his eyes in frustration and shook his head, “No, they aren’t.”
Buffy reached into the back pocket of her pants and pulled out a stack, “Then how come I have this?”
Spike’s eyes widened at the sharpened piece of wood that she whipped out in a flash. He reached out for it cautiously, “Where did you get that?”
”Then how come I have this huh? Huh?” she asked again.
Spike glanced down at the piece of wood, then back up at Buffy with concern.
“I’m not crazy.”
”I didn’t say that.”
”You didn’t have to…” she whispered as she turned around, unlocked the door, and started to twist the doorknob to get out.
“No, Buffy, love please--” he reached for her hand to stop her, but instead found himself flipped into the air and lying on the hard floor.
Spike groaned in pain for a minute before opening his eyes to see Buffy standing above him.
“Believe me now?”
TBC…this is not a big story…either one or two more chapters…
Author's Chapter Notes:
Short story that i had on paper for a while...just need to get it in the computer....