Buffy curled up against him as her orgasm faded and she didn’t want to leave the comfort of his arms. He let her stay in his arms as she whispered, “Stay?”
He shook his head, “I can’t stay the night or I’ll be stuck here tomorrow and Angel and Dru will suspect something if they return tonight and find me not there. I’m wheelchair bound remember? I shouldn’t be able to get out of the factory.”
Buffy nodded sadly and asked hesitantly, “Stay until I’m sleeping?”
Spike nodded as he felt her shift resting her head again his chest as her legs were brought up to rest on his lap. He sighed contently as he ran his fingers through her sunshine blond hair. It reminded him of the puppy Dru had tried to feed him that morning that she had named Sunshine. He worried for a slight moment that Drusilla might have a clue but shook his head thinking if she did, she would have surely told Angelus.
He listened to her breathing slow down as she fell asleep realizing at that moment, he was really in over his head. He didn’t look at Dru the same way and instead all he dreamed of and thought about was the next time he would see Buffy, his slayer.
He frowned but didn’t release her until he was sure she was fully asleep. He didn’t bother showering her as he knew Angelus couldn’t get in the house so instead he laid her down gently on the couch. Pulling her shirt over her head to cover her before he tucked the blankets around her body so she didn’t catch cold. He rolled himself into the kitchen feeling slight movements in his right foot finally as he washed his body before pulling back on his shirt.
Spike knew he was playing with fire and knew he could be burned but instead of worrying about it too much, he snuck out of the house being sure to lock the door behind him. He wheeled into the crypt where he took an extra shower under the makeshift hose removing his clothes to change into fresh clean ones he had left earlier in the night.
He made a decision that once this was all over, he might actually move into the crypt. He could watch over Buffy and avoid the memories that were in the factory. The nights of listening to Dru and Angelus have sex were really getting to him. Even when they were awake in the daytime he was all over her and she was all over him. He hoped that they would keep each other distracted enough not to realize Spike was up to something.
He sighed as he toweled his hair dry grabbing a glass of pig’s blood he had picked up earlier in the night and downed it knowing Buffy’s blood would have way more healing power than the pig’s blood but he wanted to be full so that he would never take more than he should from Buffy. He rolled back slipping into the back of the factory to pull himself to the bed thankful he did indeed feel a little movement in his toes and could actually lift his left foot to put a tad bit of pressure on it before it would give away.
Spike figured in a day or two, he would have Buffy help him try to walk around somewhere. Perhaps when her mum returns, he could deck out something in the crypt to work like a bed. So they can have privacy to feed to regain his strength and still have somewhere for Buffy to stay if she wanted to. He rolled his eyes at himself as he pulled the blanket over him realizing he was sounding more and more like a pathetic ponce every bloody day. He closed his eyes just as he heard Angelus and Dru start to go at it and he pulled his pillow over his head thankful he had enough sense to close the doors before hitting the bed. He closed his mind willing sleep to come.
6 and half hours later: 9 am. Friday
Buffy woke up feeling relaxed but sore. She touched Spike’s mark noticing it felt good. She was tempted to touch Angelus’s but knew Spike was healing and this was no time to alert him.
She raced up the stairs dragging her pants with her that she had worn the night before. She took the time to collect the blanket, and her clothes to put into the washer before running to take a shower. She hummed in the shower. She wasn’t happy about Angel being turned into Angelus but she was coming to terms with the fact he would never return. Angel was gone and dead to her and Angelus was here and now and he would just have to die for her to survive.
She climbed out of the shower as she chose a short sleeve shirt not even thinking about the mark on her neck. She left her hair down though because it was still wet as she grabbed her backpack with her math book. She felt amazingly good and not at all guilty as she raced to catch up with Willow.
Willow grinned as she saw Buffy as she exclaimed, “It’s the day before Valentine’s Day dance and my boyfriend is in the band!”
Buffy laughed, “I’m not going. I plan to spend a nice quiet night alone with some sappy old movies but seriously you go and you can take Xander with you as he’s with Cordelia this year.”
Willow frowned practically begging, “Please?” Buffy bit her lower lip wondering if it was at all possible to invite Spike. Buffy stopped glancing at her watch seeing they had a few minutes. She stood off the sideway behind a tree as she said, “Willow I need to talk to you about something serious. It’s another secret but this time you can talk to them all with Oz. So it might even bring you and Oz together and closer.”
Willow nodded and whispered, “What’s wrong?”
Buffy shrugged, “Nothing’s wrong. It’s just ok you know how I had this source…he knew about claims and magic and stuff?”
Willow nodded and Buffy hesitated, “What would you say if he were a vampire?”
Willow gasped, “Angelus???”
Buffy shook her head putting the hands Willow had put up in the air down by her side as she stated, “No hear me out. This one has no soul but can be really sweet. Just last night he held me while I fell asleep and stayed until I was sleeping to tuck me in on the couch.”
Willow smiled noticing the look in Buffy’s eyes but then remembered, “But Buffy this is a vampire. You let a vampire in your house?”
Buffy nodded and tried to explain, “It’s Spike. He’s going to help me get rid of the claim with Angelus. He’s the one who recognized it and told me how to fix it but he can’t walk right? So I’ve been feeding him my slayer blood to help him heal and it’s working! One of his feet is almost completely useable.”
Willow’s eyes got big as she asked, “You’ve been feeding him?”
Buffy nodded as she lifted her hair to show Willow the tiny two holes in her neck. Willow whispered, “Wow. Are you sure you aren’t under a thrall?”
Buffy laughed, “You think Spike has the patience to do a thrall with a slayer? He’d rather just kill me as quickly as he could…you know if he wanted to and all.”
Willow nodded and asked still unsure of the situation, “You sure he’s safe?”
Buffy nodded, “He’s been feeding from me for five nights now and been completely safe. He could have killed me tons but hasn’t and in fact even helped me to dis-invite Angelus from the house.”
Willow looked surprised, “He’s the one who helped dis-invite Angelus?”
Buffy nodded and said, “Yup.”
Willow walked back to the sidewalk as she turned to Buffy who was following her, “You know he could claim you if he wishes at the end of the ritual right?”
Buffy nodded, “Oz said the same thing last night.”
Willow looked disgruntled as she exclaimed, “You told Oz before me!!” She had put her resolve face on and her hands were on her hips and Buffy grabbed an arm to keep her walking not wanting to be too late for school as she shrugged, “Wasn’t planned but he saw me and Spike in the cemetery and I was wheeling him to my house for pizza. He interrupted us concerned about the fact I was wheeling a vampire into my house. We talked though and it’s all good and he suggested I tell you so we could double date.”
Willow started up the stairs to the school pausing for a moment as she offered, “See if you can bring him tomorrow night and I’ll see what I feel about this ‘new’ Spike.”
Buffy smiled and raced past her friend, “I’ll try. See you at lunch!”