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Chapter Two

After a week of having Buffy on the couch, demanding, whining, complaining and generally making everyone miserable, Joyce and Dawn had had all they could take. Dawn announced that she was spending the night, and possible the week, at Janice’s and Joyce said she had to get back to the shop and get some work done. She also had to go to LA overnight to pick up some things for the gallery. She worried, though, about leaving Buffy at home alone. Willow was back in the dorm, Riley had told her he was on assignment, Xander had to work and Giles was at the Magic Shop.

It was Dawn who had the idea first – “Mom, why don’t we ask Spike? He’s here every night anyway. He can just hang around and be here in the daytime too.”

“That’s quite an imposition, Dawn. I mean, he sleeps in the daytime, doesn’t he? And does whatever it is vampires do at night.”

Dawn looked at her mother as disdainfully as only a fourteen-year-old can, “Mom, vampires eat people at night! Spike can’t do that anymore, so all he does is hang around Buffy and…” The look on her mother’s face made her decide not to pursue that train of thought out loud. “Anyway,” she amended quickly, “I’m sure he’ll be happy to do it. I’ll go ask him.” Before her mother could argue, Dawn sprinted out the door and practically skipped to Spike’s crypt.

“Hey, Niblet, what’s wrong?” he greeted her out-of-breath entrance.

“Nothing’s wrong if you can come and stay with Buffy for a day or two so Mom and I can go somewhere else where she isn’t!”

He laughed and tugged on her long, silky hair “Slayer’s getting antsy, is she? Must be feeling better if she’s pissing people off.”

“She’s impossible!” Dawn began, then hastily added, “But you can handle it. We just can’t take it anymore.”

“Ok, Bit. Tell your mum I’ll be by as soon as I can to Slayer-sit. I’ll take the sewers and be there shortly. But only if she has marshmallows for my cocoa,” he added, trying to sound unimpressed that Joyce trusted him to take care of Buffy.


Buffy’s mood was so bad after a week of inactivity that she barely glanced up when Spike came in. She mumbled “good-bye” as her mother left, rolling her eyes at Spike and wishing him good luck as she went gratefully out the door.

“Having a pity party, are we?” he asked, noticing her messy hair and slept-in clothes. “Nice of you to fix yourself up for me, pet,” he snarked as he sat down in the easy chair and stretched his legs out.

“Shut up, Spike,” she replied automatically, without taking her eyes off the TV. “I don’t need a babysitter, you know.”

“Looks to me like you need a kick in the butt,” he snapped back. “Look at you. When was the last time you combed your hair or washed your face?”

“I don’t believe I’m getting grooming tips from someone whose hair is stuck in the 70’s! And who lives in a dirty old crypt, for Pete’s sake!” Her attention was now off the TV and fully focused on glaring at the smirking vampire.

“You’re just jealous cause I’m prettier than you are today,” he smiled at her and wiggled his eyebrows.

Buffy smiled in spite of herself. “In your dreams, Fang-face.” Then her expression changed and she asked almost timidly, “Do I really look that bad?”

Resisting the urge to tell her she could never look bad to him, Spike asked instead, “Haven’t you looked in a mirror lately?”

“Well,” Buffy replied, “Mom and Dawn can’t get me up and down the stairs easily and I don’t want to stay in my room all day, so….”

“Oh, well, I can fix that!” He scooped her up easily and carried her upstairs, taking care not to bump the walls with the cast on her leg. He deposited her in front of the bathroom mirror and held her up while she looked at herself. Although Buffy knew Spike was behind her because she could feel his hands resting on her shoulders, all she could see in the mirror was her own reflection.

“Ohmygod! Why didn’t someone tell me I looked this bad? Look at me! I need to wash my hair, take a bath….” Her voice trailed off. “Oh, right, I can’t get the casts wet. Argh!”

“How about if you wrap the casts in plastic?” Spike asked. “You could at least take a shower and wash your hair.”

Buffy thought that would be a good idea and Spike ran downstairs to find some large plastic bags. He returned quickly and helped Buffy wrap them around her two casts and secure them with string.

He then leaned into the tub and started the shower for her, adjusting the water until it was a comfortably warm temperature.

“Ok, Slayer, here you go –“ He stopped abruptly as he realized at the same time Buffy did that they had a problem. There was no way Buffy could get herself safely into the tub and out of her nightgown.

They looked at each other for a second, they Spike said, “I’ve got it.” He picked her up gently and deposited her in the tub, then pulled the shower curtain closed and said, “Now, hand me your nightie.”

“Uh, Spike, I can’t get it off with one hand. Especially not standing on one leg in a slippery tub.”

Taking a deep and unnecessary breath, he put his arm through the curtain and said, “Okay, show me where it is.”

She guided his hands to the hem of the nightgown and he quickly pulled it up and off. Getting both the gown and himself soaked in the process. “Now you’re set. Let me know when you’re ready to get out. I’ll be right outside.”

He bolted from the room, grateful that the shower curtain hid him from her sight and she hadn’t been able to see the look on his face nor the bulge in his jeans when he was undressing her.

He though briefly about relieving himself while she was behind a closed door, but opted instead to think about boring and annoying things. Angelus’ hair, Harmony’s voice, Xander’s attitude, the Watcher’s taste in music, blah, blah… He repeated his litany of annoying things over and over until he heard the water stop and Buffy say hesitantly, “Spike? Are you out there?”

“Yes, love, are you ready to get out?” He tried to steel himself for the sight and feel of naked Buffy, as he cautiously opened the door and peered inside. To his relief, the curtain was still closed, although Buffy was peeking out from the side. “Towel?” she asked.

“Oh! Yes, sorry, pet. Here you go” he held out the large fluffy towel to her, then realized she would not be able to take the towel, dry off and hold herself up at the same time.

Shutting his eyes, he reached carefully into the tub and wrapped the towel around the now shivering girl, picking her up carefully and depositing her on the bathroom floor.

“How’s that, Slayer?” he asked as he set her down right in front of him. Suddenly the nearness of the lips he remembered so well from the hospital kiss were too much and he backed away saying, “I can’t do this, Slayer. I’m not a strong man.”

“You’re not any kind of man and you feel plenty strong to me,” she said, looking up at his nervous face. “What’s wrong with you?”

She shivered again, and with a groan, he grabbed another towel and began rubbing her dry everywhere that wasn’t already covered by the towel. When he had all the water off her body, he took off the plastic bags and wrapped the towel around her wet hair.

“Come on, let’s get you back into some warm clothes,” he said, picking her up and carrying her into her room. He could see from the embarrassed look on her face that she was aware of the lack of coverage from the towel when he held her in his arms. She plucked at the hem in a feeble attempt to pull it down over her legs and then realized that the big issue was her bare bottom hanging out the back.

The instant they were through the door, Spike put her down and stepped away muttering, “Clothes, need clothes.” Buffy directed him to her dresser and he found some sweats that seemed loose enough to fit over her casts. He helped her as much as he could; keeping his eyes squeezed shut as he pulled her sweat pants up under the towel.

He opened them quickly when he heard Buffy laugh softly, “Spike, I can’t believe you aren’t trying to sneak a peek. This is so…so…swee -”

He cut her off with a growl, “It is not! I just wouldn’t take advantage of you like that. And if you tell anyone, I’ll….”He went into his vamp face for a minute then relaxed back to his human face when she continued laughing at him.

“Ok, Big Bad. I won’t tell. But I won’t forget it either, “ she finished softly.

“Well, don’t get used to it, Slayer. When you get out of those casts, all bets are off. I’ll be sneaking looks and copping feels right and left!”

He gave her his best leer, but she just laughed some more and said, “Promises, promises.” I did NOT just say that out loud!

“Oh yeah, they are, love. They definitely are,” he said under his breath. “Are you ready to go downstairs now?”

“I need to comb my hair out first. Can you give me the comb from my dressing table?”

He handed her the comb, but after watching her struggle with one hand for a minute, he took the comb from her and said gruffly, “Here, let me or we’ll be here all day.”

Buffy gradually became more and more relaxed as he gently combed out her wet hair and spread it out on her shoulders. He kept combing long after it was necessary – mesmerized by the silky feel of her hair and the glorious golden color. Buffy, meanwhile, had completed surrendered to the sensual pleasure of having her hair combed. She was startled out of her pleasant relaxation by the ringing of the phone.

Instinctively, she went to reach for it and lost her balance, toppling forward toward the floor, face first. With supernatural speed, Spike had her in his arms and safe before she actually came close to hitting anything.

“Bloody hell, woman, Are you trying to kill yourself?” He held her to him, briefly, enjoying the feel of her body against his and the way she relaxed into him in relief. She looked up at him gratefully, and then both were frozen by the memory of the kisses in the hospital and the proximity of those same lips.

Buffy looked into those amazing blue eyes, trying to decipher what she saw there, searching for any trace of her former mortal enemy in them. But all she could see was concern for her, a trace of fear, frighteningly obvious desire, and some other emotion she refused to identify.

For his part, Spike was using every ounce of self-control he had developed over the last hundred plus years to keep from crushing his mouth down onto those full pink lips and kissing them until they hurt. He could read the uncertainty in Buffy’s face and fought the urge. He couldn’t bring himself to let go of her or move away, but he managed to refrain from pulling her closer or initiating a kiss he wasn’t sure would be welcomed. He could hear her heartbeat speed up and feel the warmth coming off her body, but he told himself that could be fear just as easily as anything else.

Their mutual reluctance to move was finally broken by the repeated jingling of the phone and they both dropped their eyes and moved apart. Spike grabbed the phone and handed it to Buffy who swallowed hard and said, “H –hello?” in a shaky voice.

Buffy!” Riley’s voice was an unwelcome surprise. “Are you all right?”

“Yes, Riley,” she said, glancing at Spike just in time to see him stiffen and turn away. She couldn’t see his face, but the dejected slump of his shoulders told her all she needed to know. “I’m fine.”

“Well, it took you long enough to answer the phone. Don’t you have it right beside you?”

“I’m upstairs right now and the phone isn’t close by,” she explained.

“Oh, you got upstairs? Well that’s good. I told your mom you’d be okay by yourself.” He sounded much too smug to Buffy. “Another month or so, and you’ll be up and about and back to slaying in no time.”

“A month? Have you learned nothing about slayers yet? I’ll be healed in another week. And, are you nuts? I need to be out there, now. “

“Oh, Buffy, your slaying can wait. It’s not like it’s really impor….”

That was the final straw. As sweetly as she could, Buffy cooed, “That’s true. I have nothing important to do. I’m sure Glory will wait until I get better to keep searching for her precious key.” Her voice hardened. “I need to go now. I want to go back downstairs.”

“Oh,” he replied, somewhat taken back by her tone. “How will you do that?”

“The same way I got up here,” she said calmly. “Spike will carry me.”

There was a moment of silence while Buffy grinned in satisfaction. Spike put his head back in the room when he heard his name mentioned and rolled his eyes at her. Then he grinned at the inarticulate sounds coming from the phone as Riley found his voice.

“What the hell is he doing there?” he demanded.

“He’s taking care of me while Mom and Dawn are away. Which is working out really well, because he is soooo strong, he can just carry me around the house wherever I want to go,” she said brightly. Spike groaned and mimed being staked as Riley’s voice rose even higher.

“I’ll be right there,” he yelled. “Tell him to get out if he wants to survive the day.”

“Oh, I couldn’t do that. It’s still daylight. He’ll have to stay at least until dark…. Anyway, I thought you told Mom you had important work to do and you couldn’t come over today?”

Well, if I’d known she was stupid enough to let him in, I wouldn’t have told her ‘no’,” he sputtered.

“Oh,” Buffy’s voice was much less sweet. “So, if it was just a question of my being alone, your work was important, but if I have company you don’t approve of, suddenly you’re free? And, don’t call my mother stupid,” she added with a growl that would have done credit to a vampire. Spike grinned in appreciation.

“I’ll be there in fifteen minutes. We need to talk.” Riley said and hung up the phone.

Buffy put the phone down and sighed, “I guess you’d better get me downstairs and then hide somewhere. He sounds very stakey. And I don’t want to lose my personal maid just yet, “ she added with a smile.

He smiled back at her and came over to pick her up. “I don’t fancy hidin’ from the soldier boy, pet,” he said, tucking a drying piece of hair behind her ear. “I don’t think he can hurt me if I see him coming.”

“Probably not, but I wouldn’t be able to stop him, so let’s not find out, 'k? “ She looked at him pleadingly and his heart melted with knowledge that she was worried about him.

“Whatever you say, love. Let’s get you downstairs before Captain America drives a tank through the door or somethin’.” With that, he picked her up and carefully carried her back down to the couch. To her surprise, she saw fresh clean sheets and fluffed pillows. Spike had obviously been busy while she was on the phone. She gazed at him in amazement and said, almost to herself, “Guess Mom knew what she was doing…”

“Smart woman, your mum. Hates Angel, you know.” And with that parting shot, he headed for the kitchen, closely followed by an airborne magazine.





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