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Chapter 8 – Hearing and Listening


Spike looked up at the sound of the door slamming to see an enraged Slayer pacing in front of him. Walking over to stand in front of her, she stopped and looked up at him.

Buffy’s first instinct was to throw a solid punch to his nose before reminding herself that this was the man who was trying to help her. Taking a deep breath, she stared into his eyes, noticing for the first time just how blue they were.

“Are you okay?” he asked, studying her carefully.

“I’m fine,” she replied, flexing her shoulders, unconsciously trying to soothe the tension that Riley had caused.

“You’re not fine,” Spike said, walking behind her and gently resting his hands on her shoulders.

Buffy tensed for a brief moment before realizing what he was doing. Spike smiled when he heard the soft sigh that escaped her lips as she relaxed against his touch. Her body hummed as his hands worked the tight knots in her back.

“Mmmm…why have I never been privileged to this before now?”

“I guess we’ve never had the right moment.”

His whispered words were breathed in her ear, and Buffy nearly jumped away when she realized what he’d said. She couldn’t hear him, she couldn’t see his lips, but she still understood him.

Chills ran up and down her spine as her eyes widened, unsure of what was happening between them.

“Spike?” she whispered, feeling his hands pause before he turned her around.

“What is it, pet?”

“What’s happening?”

Spike tilted his head to stare at her, unsure of what she was asking.

“Th-there’s something going on…between us,” she whispered, suddenly very unsure of herself. “It’s just…I know what you’re trying to say to me, and you don’t even have to look at me.”

”You’re getting your hearing back?”

“No,” Buffy replied, shaking her head. “But I can understand you…only you.”

Spike was about to respond when the door to the training room opened and Giles walked in. Spike suppressed a growl when he saw Riley looking into the room, apparently not trusting the woman he claimed to love. That thought alone put a smile on Spike’s face.

‘The ponce obviously thinks I’m a threat to his so-called perfect relationship.’

“We’re ready,” Giles said, looking between the two blondes.

Spike nodded, shooting a look at Buffy and seeing her closed-off expression.

“We’ll talk later,” he mouthed to her, giving her a soft smile when she nodded.

Gently putting his hand on the small of her back, they followed Giles into the main room of the shop. He let his hand fall back to his side when they approached the table, feeling a strange sense of loss that he wasn’t touching her anymore.

Walking back to resume his spot on the counter, Spike was taken by surprise when Buffy bypassed her friends and walked over to stand next to him, casually leaning against the glass. He saw the surprised look on everyone’s face and the hateful look that Riley was sending his way, but he chose to ignore him.

“Well,” Giles began, making sure to face Buffy. “I know it’s only been a day, but how is the training going?”

Buffy and Spike exchanged a look before turning their attention back to the Watcher.

“Good,” Buffy said with a nod. “Really good.”

“Can I just say that I don’t like this,” Xander said, surprising everyone- not with his opinion, but with the fact that he’d kept his mouth shut for almost a full day.

Buffy watched as the conversation seemed to escalate into a heated argument as her friends began talking quickly. She could only pick up every other word that Xander was saying, but for once, she was glad she was deaf. There had been a very recent time when she didn’t particularly care for Spike either, but Xander had such an unnatural hatred of the vampire that it was bordering on ridiculous.

‘You’d think someone dating an ex-vengeance demon would be a little more open-minded.’

Buffy saw Riley join in the fight, obviously agreeing with whatever Xander was saying. Giles appeared to be defending his decision that Spike was the best choice to help Buffy. Willow and Tara were trying to keep everyone calm and failing miserably as Anya said something that Buffy didn’t pay attention to. Knowing Anya, it had nothing to do with the argument and more to do with herself.

The argument seemed to escalate, and Spike kept a careful eye on the Slayer, seeing her eyes dart around the room, trying to understand what everyone was saying.

Glancing up at him, Spike saw the despair in her eyes. She was no longer connected with the group, and it was affecting her more than she was letting on. If her friends had taken a few moments to talk to her or even look at her, they would have seen it, too, but they were all too involved in their own lives and petty arguments.

Trying one more time to understand what everyone was saying, Buffy fought the tears in her eyes as she pushed away from the counter and ran into the back room, slamming the door behind her.

Spike was immediately off the counter and walking toward the door, ignoring how quiet everyone in the room had suddenly become.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Riley asked, catching up to Spike and spinning the vampire around to face him.

“Where do you think?” Spike responded with venom in his voice.

“I’m her boyfriend. I’ll be the one to check on her.”

“I don’t think so, mate,” Spike replied, practically spitting out the words. “You have no idea what she’s going through, and you’ll just make it worse.”

“Oh, and you can make it better?” he asked sarcastically

“Yes.”

The confidence in his voice seemed to stun everyone as Spike turned toward the door again. He felt the other man grab his shoulders and throw him against the wall. Vamping out, Spike whirled around with a snarl and pinned Riley to the wall, surprising everyone in the room.

“Spike.”

He looked up at the sound of his name, letting his human mask fall into place as he looked at Giles. Spike stepped away as Riley searched for a stake.

“What happened to the chip?” Riley asked, his eyes filled with hatred.

“Are you honestly telling me that I hurt you?” Spike asked, talking to the other man as if he was the stupidest person he’d ever met. Which in fact… “I shoved you into a wall. It’s not like I tried to snap your neck.”

That thought alone was enough to nearly bring a smile to his face. Turning back to the door, everyone began talking at once as Spike reached for the doorknob. Most were questioning whether it should be Spike that went in or one of her close friends.

“Don’t you get it?!” Spike yelled, growing more frustrated with the group before gesturing toward the closed door. “Can you not see what she’s going through? What you’re putting her through? You’re supposed to be her friends, but you haven’t even made the effort to understand what she might be feeling. She may be the one who’s deaf, but you lot are the ones who can’t hear!”






Thank you so much to: Rachel_SA, Dee, Seraiza, Kar, Pipergirl, Rana, albie, Jenn, Franchesca, jane, gypsy_jin, Jeni, darla, Bernardette, Raspy_Luv, Kate, samica, Isabel, and Cordykitten for reviewing! And a special thank you to Huck for the beautiful art!





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