Never Ever Tell by Lilachigh
Chapter 25 No Bed of Roses
“Right, are you ready, Spike? I promised Giles I’d take you over to Xander’s tonight.” Buffy hurried into the house, desperate to get this chore out of the way as she had a date with Riley.
The vampire was lying full length on Giles’ sofa, hands clasped behind his head, dusty boots scuffing the cushions. “I’d rather be dust than live with the whelp!”
“That can very easily be arranged! Now get up. We’ve got to go.”
“Buffy - ” He swung his legs to the floor and she caught at a random thought that flashed through her brain. Cat like, every movement he made. Sinuous, elegant.
He gazed up at her and if she hadn’t known otherwise, she would have said Spike was trying to be winsome.
“If you make me do this, I could go evil again.”
“Not unless Xander has developed some outstanding military medical skills we know nothing about and is stupid enough to take out your pretty little chip.”
Spike frowned. “I still don’t see why I have to leave here. Just because your bloody Watcher wants to shag his girl friend - and by the way, don’t you think he is far too old for that sort of thing - I have to go and live in a smelly damp basement.”
Buffy sighed. God he was so annoying. “Xander’s basement is not damp and it wouldn’t be smelly if he did his laundry more regularly. Hey, maybe you can give him a hand there.”
She smiled brightly at the deep scowl her words produced. “And anyway, Spike, you’re a vampire. Not a very good one, admittedly, but damp and smelly won’t be anything you haven’t experienced before. So get over it.”
She wasn’t going to tell him that her first idea had been to let him find a nice quiet crypt somewhere close by where she could keep an eye on him. But Giles had thought it a bad idea. He’d polished his glasses, pursed his lips and muttered that Slayers shouldn’t get involved with vampires, even chipped ones.
Buffy had refrained from mentioning Angel - she knew exactly what Giles would say. And she had to admit he had a point. But Spike wasn’t Angel. She wasn’t in love with Spike. God what a sick thought!
The very idea of him touching her, kissing her, making love to her - she felt a slow flush of heat rising up her body and in front of her, Spike lifted his head sharply, scenting, questing -
Buffy pushed her thoughts aside. “No, you’re going to Xander’s. And you’d better behave because you know he isn’t too happy about it. And that’s putting it mildly.”
Spike flung himself back onto the sofa and Buffy tried hard to stop her lips twitching. He looked so sulky, like a small boy who’d been told he couldn’t watch his favourite TV programme. The Big Bad seemed to have turned into the Small Nuisance.
But she knew that if the chip stopped working, William the Bloody would be back instantly, causing as much mayhem as he possibly could.
“It won’t be that dreadful,” she said cheerfully. “Xander’s out all day and in the evenings he and Anya - ”
Spike sat up, his sapphire eyes wide with horror. “Bloody Hell, Slayer. You don’t expect me to sit there and listen to them shag, do you?”
“ - they go out a lot. To the Bronze and movies and - well, they go out a lot. I appreciate that it won’t be easy for you, but hey, Spike, we’re not here to make your life a bed of roses, you know.”
Spike grinned. “Have you ever slept on a bed of roses, Slayer? With someone else, perhaps. I have - in Paris. Bloody uncomfortable, I can tell you. Dru spent hours collecting roses from every garden and cemetery she could find. Trouble was, she didn’t bother to cut off the thorns before she covered the bed with them, so without our clothes on, things got a little scratchy, if you know what I mean.”
“Spike - ! ” Buffy said warningly, trying desperately not to picture what he was saying in her mind - and failing.
“Would you like to see the scars, Slayer? Still have some and as we’re alone - ” He reached for the clasp on his jeans and Buffy yelped and batted his hand away.
“Spike, you’re just wasting time. Do you want me to knock you unconscious and carry you to Xander’s?”
There was a glitter from under his thick dark lashes. “Think you could, Slayer?”
Buffy faced up to him, hands on hips. “I know I could. Just don’t challenge me to prove it.”
Abruptly, the vampire rolled off the sofa and stood up, stretching.
Buffy took a couple of steps backwards. He wasn’t as tall as Angel but when he was close to her, he seemed to take all the air from her lungs, crowd her space, and she actually felt a little dizzy.
One day she knew she would have to research with Giles this strange effect Spike had on her physical being. There was sure to be something in one of his many books about vampires and how Slayers reacted to them.
She was getting a bit tired of this fluey feeling she often had when Spike was around.
“Right, let’s go then,” he said suddenly.
Buffy glanced round the room and Spike guessed immediately what was going through her mind.
“Don’t worry. I’ve nothing to take with me, Slayer. And there’s nothing worth nicking here now we’ve drunk all the Watcher’s sodding whisky.’
Buffy bit her lip and motioned him to walk in front of her. For a few seconds she’d been in the ridiculous position of feeling sorry for the vampire. To have absolutely nothing in the whole world and no one to care what happened to you, even if you were a member of the living dead, seemed - well, sad.
And as they headed out into the dark Sunnydale night, Buffy didn’t stop to wonder how odd it was that she was trying to remember if her mother had any books at home that Spike might find interesting.
another meeting follows shortly
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Although Buffy is getting heavily involved with Riley - uggh - at this time, I always feel that Spike is never far from her thoughts.