Chapter 4: Caring
‘Damn sneaky buggers,’ was Spike’s first thought as he struggled up through a dense cloud of pain blanketing his body. When he finally made it up through to a poor excuse of consciousness, his second thought was, ‘I’m a big bad sucker. That’s right, mate. A bloody, award winning wanker, you are, for letting those pillocks come up behind you.’
As Spike moaned, his mind replayed how his body ended up in such a fucked up condition. He had just picked up a bail jumper. No problem. But then his mind drifted off to its favorite happy place, his new memories of Beth. Then instead of “no problem,” it was now a “big problem.”
With no consideration for the vampire’s pleasant daydream, the next thing Spike knew, he was beaten to the ground with a bat, and while lying in the dirt he was repeatedly kicked stabbed twice. Proud of themselves, the three bastards left him for dead. Oh, they were right about that bit. He was dead alright, but what they didn’t count on was that he was the undead, who would heal up, and then be back for them.
He wasn’t sure how but he was no longer lying in a dirt parking lot, he must have made it back to his loft somehow since. Now he lay on his bed, only half conscious, hoping he hadn’t damaged the Jag too bad and trying to forget his excruciating pain by planning how to dole out his revenge.
As he slowly became more aware of his surrounding, his brain jumped from oblivious to his surroundings to level red alert. Amazingly, his shirt was removed, the blood that should have covered his body was cleaned off, and his numerous cuts and wounds bandaged. “What in the sodding world is going on?” Spike started to lift his right arm to inspect the bandages on his chest but abruptly stopped when he felt an weight resting on top of his arm. He froze for a second, and due to the pain in his head, Spike dreaded moving his head, so he decided to look out of the corner of his eye. He saw a hand. A small, feminine hand. Shock, he snapped his head to the side, but all he saw were stars in front of his eyes from the pain throbbing throughout his head and body. When the little buggers finally cleared, he found himself looking at the slayer sleeping at his side. No, not the slayer. Beth.
He lay there for a while, relishing the sight of the blonde beauty, not wanting to move in case he might wake her. To distract him from his pain, he concentrated on the feel of her delicate hand on his arm and the beauty of her face which was relaxed in sleep so close to him. Yes, they had lain together during the last few days before fighting the First Evil, but her reasons were never completely clear to him. Relations between them had definitely improved those last months he and the slayer had been together, but he had never been sure if she had been looking for comfort and went to him or found comfort being with him. Big difference. Funny though, this time, Beth was comforting him, no need to hide anything, no impending doom, and especially no vampire versus slayer rubbish. As he looked his fill, the pain eased, and Spike finally fell back into peaceful sleep.
*****
When he awoke the next time, Spike knew before he moved a muscle or opened his eyes that he was the only person in the bedroom. After laying there for a while trying to clear his mind, he was starting to doubt that Beth had only been a lovely pain induced delusion. Yet he still had bandages all over which did mean someone must have patched him up. But then Beth herself inadvertently settled his inner debate as she walked into the room with a smile and a casual “Hi” as if she walked into his bedroom all the time.
Just her entering the room lessened his anxiety or pain. “Hello, pet.” Spike noticed that Beth was holding a book that he assumed that she found to occupy herself while waiting for him to wake up. Bloody hell, he would have woken up sooner if he had known that she was waiting for him.
Equally casual as when she entered the room, Beth strolled around to the empty side of the bed and sat down to face him. She pulled her legs up under herself, and then squirmed a moment getting comfortable. Once settled she scrunched up her nose at him, which only made him want to kiss away the wrinkles created. “I think I’ll skip the whole ‘How do you feel’ part because I think I can guess and go right to the ‘What the hell happened to you’ part?”
“Right, then let me do the ‘thank you for patching me up’ part before the ‘how stupid could I get’ explanation.” Her laugh made him feel even better than her presence already had. “So, first things first. Thank you, Nurse Nightingale.”
Instead of looking flattered, Beth appeared to be a bit uneasy. “Uh, maybe you should wait until you’ve healed up to thank me. See, I don’t remember ever learning how to do first aid, so I may have done it all wrong. But it was so wiggy because I felt like it was natural, even like I had practiced in a way. Just think, you could have ended up all mummy-like. Bandages round and round with only your eyes showing.” Actually, just seeing his eyes would be enough to make her knees wobble.
Spike laughed but was immediately reminded by his ribs that he had been beaten all to hell. His smile came out looking a little strained, “I’m sure you did fine, pet.”
“We’ll see. If you have gaping, puss-filled yucky sores in a few days and want to sue me, I’ll just claim that I’ve never met you before. Besides, what would you get from me? College text books? Take them, and I will even thank you. Hey, I will deliver them, no charge.”
When William smiled at her joke, Beth returned it with one of her own until she realized that she was just sitting there, on his bed, and would be perfectly happy to look at him all day. And all night, and the next day… Beth mentally shook herself. ‘Enough of the mime act. Talk. You know, that thing were the mouth moves and sounds come out that other people understand.’ Beth tried to remember what they were even talking about. “So now I guess we’re are up to your whole ‘What the hell’ and ‘stupid’ explanation.” She patted herself on the back. ‘There you go, Beth. Get him to talk and you have a reason to sit back and stare.’
Rolling his eyes up to stare at the ceiling, Spike gave a long, suffering sigh, not wanting to admit to anything about the incident. Not one word. Mortification just wasn’t something a big bad wanted on his resume, ‘Experience: Number of Times Mortified…’ No thank you, even if she no longer knew what a big bad was. “I was on a job, picking up this sodding waste of life, who was out on bond for a manslaughter charge. He had killed this other git in a bar fight. Not that I don’t enjoy a good bar fight as much as the next bloke, but when you kill your opponent, you’ve stepped over the line of recreational fun.”
“Definitely a do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dollars, and go straight to jail.” Buffy replied with a stern look, but the twinkle in her eyes gave her tease away. “But you ended up looking like you were the one on the receiving end of the beating.”
He closed his eyes before admitting. “That, pet, would be because I was the ninny getting beat up.”
Beth had a hard time comprehending the story now. “Huh? I thought you caught the bad guys not the flip side, them catching you with knives and bats.” Suppressing a smile, Beth watched William’s jaw clench and unclench a few times before he continued
“I waited for the skip outside a shabby excuse of a bar about 10 miles north of town. He came out. I grabbed him. Easy. But as I hauled him to my car, I got distracted, and two of his friends jumped me from behind. So, it wasn’t stupid. It falls more into the category of bleedin’ idiotic.”
Since her merriment was starting to go past a smile, Beth bit her lip trying not to laugh and thus making him feel even worse. It was in the top ten rules of dating. So not of the good to make a potentially serious boyfriend feel inadequate, and as she studied his face, he looked far from inadequate. In fact, the eyebrow with the scar was fascinating. “Oh, William, you know better than turn your back to a bar, especially when you are pissing people off.” While still talking, she slowly reached her hand toward his face before absently adding, “At least I hope you never made that mistake at Willy’s.”
“Willy’s?” Spike’s eyes flew wide open, eyes seeking any clue in her face. He couldn’t stop himself from asking, but he didn’t think she meant the Willy’s in the Sunnydale of the past. Or better yet, he prayed that it was not Willy’s demon bar.
She, however, was focused on her hand which now was only a couple of inches from his eyebrow with the fascinating scar. “You know, Willy’s bar, the best place in Sunnydale to beat information out of people.”
Not even aware of her hand, Spike was instead paying attention to what her words implied. As he searched her face, he suspected that she didn’t even realize what she was actually saying or what she was jeopardizing for them both. For her, she would lose her normal life; for him, he would lose her again and no telling what punishment from the Powers That Be. Remembering Willy’s was way too close for him. But then Beth’s finger ran across his eyebrow, and all his thoughts and anxieties packed their bags and soared out the nearest window.
She stroked his eyebrow again, “Did you get this scar in a bar fight?” Surprising her, tingling sensations shot up her arm from the contact, but she wouldn’t have withdrawn her hand, losing the contact with his skin, even if he told her to get away.
What was he going to say about the scar? That a Chinese slayer nicked him before he killed her? What a conversation topic that would make. “No, luv. Childhood accident. Ya know, misspent youth and all that rubbish.”
She stroked across his eyebrow one more time before her fingertip made slow progress down the side of his face. Carefully avoiding any bruises or cuts, she continued the intimate caress, lightly tracing along his defined cheekbone and then on down to his upper lip. As Beth slowly rubbed across the sensitive skin of his sculpted lip that seemed, back and forth, she leaned in closer, whispering in a huskier than normal voice. “Do they hurt?”
Before he answering, Spike was unable to suppress a deep moan. He suspected that her sensual touch was causing his brain melt down. But how could such a light touch feel as if she was spreading her warmth through to his body. “What hurts, luv?” He watched as a slow, beguiling smile spread across her face. Looking at her, it struck him how much the tables had turned with Buffy to Beth. He was the one being seduced, and he wanted more, more, please more.
Beth looked up into his clear blue eyes. “Your lips. Do they hurt?”
Spike lied with ease, anything to keep her that close in proximity to him. “No, they don’t hurt a bit.” He heard a soft “good” before she closed the small gap left between them and kissed his lips. Even without much experience in the human custom of dating, Spike knew first kisses carried great importance, influencing the relationship to come, but also broke a barrier between them, taking the relationship forward. This first kiss was light, tentative but sweet, leaving you anticipating the next one.
Suddenly self-conscious, she slightly pulled back to gage William’s reaction, and Beth was pleased to notice that his eyes followed her wet tongue licking across her upper lip.
But now it was Spike’s turn to ask a question. “Do you want to know what distracted me, pet?”
Curious where his question was leading, Beth’s smile faded as she tilted her had to the side. “Sure.”
“You.” His reply came out low and thoroughly masculine, which sent a tingle shooting down her spine. She wanted to purr in delight
“Huh?” Pathetic reply as it was, that was all Beth could manage.
“Thoughts of you distracted me.” Spike ran his fingers through her hair before tucking some loose strands behind her ear.
Her smile quickly returned along with her sense of humor. “So you’re saying that I’m the reason you were beat up? Like I was there dancing naked on the hood of one of their cars?”
He just nodded, still mesmerized by her lips, but her words still registered, especially the naked part. “I don’t know. May have been more like a table dance? It just so happens that I have a table that would be perfect just in the other room.”
“Then let me see if I can make you feel better with another type of dancing.”
This second kiss had no hesitancy like the first kiss. Their mouths met, open, tongues at once seeking each other’s touch. Falling back to old habits, Spike had expected this kiss to have the taste of his past with Buffy, desperation flavored with regret, need tainted with shame. But this kiss was deliberate instead of desperate, a yearning instead of a forbidden desire. When Beth pulled back to catch her breath, the truth finally seeped into his thoughts. What were the differences? He saw no regret in her beautiful, hazel eyes. Instead he saw was simple pleasure with no shadows instead of some stolen moment, but freely given affection, conscience free of any weight of duty pulling her down. Catching her breath quickly, Beth kissed him again. With this kiss, Spike savored her taste of a possible future. A future he knew he didn’t dare hope for, but he was determined to enjoy every moment he was unbelievably blessed with. A vampire tasting heaven on a human’s lips.
Surprising her, Spike was the one that pulled back this time. Satisfying an intense need to see her face, he studied her smile, gazed into her hazel eyes to see her need for him. With a groan bordering on a growl, he threaded his fingers through her hair, cupped the back of her head and pulled her forward with a gentleness that the slayer never wanted from him. Sure, during those last couple of months with Buffy, she had allowed him to show her tenderness in his embrace, but nothing more, not even a sweet, chaste press of his lips on hers. In sharp contrast, as he kissed Beth, not only did she accept his tenderness, but she mirrored his gesture, bringing her hand up to caress the short hair at the nape of his neck.
Desire satisfied for the moment, Spike lightly stroked the back of his knuckles down the side of her face. “You were right.”
“Always right. Cross my heart and hope to not get caught being wrong.” Trying to regain her equilibrium, Beth wasn’t grounding herself but drowning his gaze, swimming in his desire that matched her own. However, who wouldn’t get lost looking into his intense, azure eyes? She gave him a cocky smirk, “But feel free to share with the class what I was right about this time.”
“You do make me feel better.” He moved his hand to play with a strand of her golden hair, leisurely wrapping it loosely around his finger, and even though she tried to hide any outward sign of her excitement, he knew and thrilled listening to her heartbeat increase.
She didn’t care what her biology teacher said about hair not having any nerve endings. His small intimacy made her want to purr. In fact, she would be happy if William played with every hair on her head. Individually. Slowly. Returning the gesture in her own way, Beth ran her fingers across his arm, which was lying on the bed. She lightly caressed his pale skin marred by harsh, black bruises. “Feeling better is definitely of the good. And that must mean that I just passed my first exam in first aid.”
“Luv, as much as I would love to stay right here with you, but…” He paused as he watched her eyebrows rise in question. “I am starving.” He could feel his stomach rumbling, calling for blood he desperately needed to help him heal. Actually, he was surprised she hadn’t heard the noise herself.
Buffy was immediately up and heading for the kitchen, “My bad. What can I get you?”
“I would love some soup, which I don’t have. Would you mind running to the market, luv?”
*****
Shaking his head, Spike would have never thought he would be so thankful that he was out of blood. There was no telling how long Beth had been in the loft while he was out, and so in all likely hood, she went looking around for a drink or eats. As soon as Beth was out the front door, Spike called downstairs to beg a delivery of blood to be brought up.
The mortician, Josh, took pity on him and immediately sent some with his son, Devin. So when Beth returned, his demon had been fed, Devin had taken any remains of meal of blood back downstairs, and the secret side of his nature was safe again. But then he had to dutifully eat the chicken noodle soup that Beth heated for him, all the while kicking himself for not asking for a soup that he actually liked.
Even though Spike fought it, with his stomach full and the blood accelerating his healing, he soon fell back into a much needed, healing sleep. The next time he woke up, he wasn’t surprised that Beth was gone. However, he reminded himself that this wasn’t the slayer, who would run away with the idea of never returning. This non-slayer had mentioned that she needed to check in with her dad. So that’s where he assumed Beth had gone, not run away, and Spike would bet his hair bleach that this girl would return.
*****
And Spike did win the bet. Sunday morning, Beth was back, bearing gifts and more shocks to his sanity, which he had already in questioned himself when he first had coffee with her at the mall.
Earlier that morning, Spike had hobbled from his bed into the entertainment room. Consequently when she arrived, she was surprised to find her patient sprawled on the sofa, watching a soccer game.
Beth wore a bright smile while holding an assortment of breakfast offerings such as donuts, bagels, danishes, among others. “Morning. I brought a little taste of each since I don’t know what you like for breakfast.” After setting the goodies on a side table next to Spike, she kicked off her shoes and joined him on the sofa. Spike didn’t fail to notice that Beth sat as close as she could without touching him, and that she faced him instead of the television. “So, Rocky, do you feel as bad as you look?”
Spike rolled his eyes as he finished off a decadent Danish, “Luv, I feel like I was stabbed and beat with a baseball bat. Oh…wait…I was stabbed and beaten with a baseball bat. And I HATE baseball. Bloody boring excuse for a sport.”
Taken aback, Spike nearly dropped his donut when she leaned over and gave him a hello kiss on the cheek, which gave him the first shock of the day. Not that he was appreciative of the affection openly shown by this different version of Buffy, but he just hadn’t gotten use to the change yet since it was the same face, voice, hair, type of clothes, everything. The spontaneous kiss had been a very non-Buffy action to him. Or for anyone that kissed him for that matter.
As she pulled away, she gave him a perky smile, “At least we have that in common. Baseball is a total yawn fest.” She glanced at his TV. “Now soccer is one of those sports that I can watch but don’t get.”
Spike gently patted her knee, trying to correct her American misconception as gently as possible. “First off, luv, it’s called football.”
“Noooo, I know football. Guys, pads, very tight pants, topped off with brain buckets.” The corners of her mouth tipped up. “Did I mention tight pants?”
Spike groaned while rolling his eyes dramatically. “Too small knickers would be the highlight of American football, no doubt, but if you are going to watching the telly here with a Brit, you’ve got to learn what you are watching. See soccer is called football around the world. Just you Yanks have to be different as usual. No wonder you do so poorly at the World Cup. I digress. Let’s start with the goal keeper and work our way down the field.”
At halftime, when Spike finished his ‘football” lecture on how a tight defense functions, Beth shifted so that she could see William better, turning in her seat in order to face him. “Professor William?”
“Yes, pet?” CuriousSpike also shifted so that he could look at her while wondering why this bubbling blonde suddenly sounded serious. What he didn’t realize was that the seriousness was just a precursor to the next shock of the day.
With a slight wrinkle between her brows, her expression confirmed the resolve he could hear in her voice. “Can we skip the tutelage and go straight to the kissage? Now would be good.”
This woman did have some characteristics in common with the slayer that he enjoyed seeing again. Forward. Direct. Take Action. As the fire started to burn in his eyes, “I wouldn’t want to be in the way of something you want.” Spike’s hand moved up to cup the back of her head, bringing her face closer to his own. “Anything you want, luv.”
Instantly intense, they kissed like a couple of sixteen year olds on her parents’ sofa, stealing secret delights. But instead of the fear of getting caught by her father as a teenage boy would, Spike’s injuries and pain provided the firewall, not letting their passion progress any further than good, old fashion necking. Regardless, Spike loved every minute, every second her lips were pressed onto his. After the slayer had been brought back from the dead, they had only shared two kisses before their hot, heavy, hard sex began. He found this slower approach more satisfying, enjoying the simple contact.
Football forgotten, they whiled away the day, kissing, talking and occasionally breaking for food, beverages, and the like. During a pause in the kissage, while slowly pushing back any of her hair that had fallen across her face, Spike encouraged Beth to talk about her life in Sunnydale. A life that was the same but yet different from the slayer’s dark life that he had witnessed for years. No Master drowning her, no Angelus to torment her, no Mayor to wreak havoc, and even no Spike, William the Bloody trying to add another dead slayer to his tally. Asking her to start from when she moved to Sunnydale, Spike listened to three years of Sunnydale High with normal ups and downs, and with regular, human boy friends. Princess Cordelia picked on shy Willow and geeky Xander. Beth befriended the pair. The Librarian, Giles, befriended Beth, Willow and Xander and provided Beth with a father figure. Non-withchy Willow dated a non-werewolf Oz. Xander still had dated Cordelia. Go figure on that one. Spike had never been sure before, let alone now, who got the short end of that stick, the whelp or the vicious mouth.
After her high school graduation at what she called a “boring” ceremony, she moved on to college, but never meeting Riley, Captain Starch, her freshman year at college. ‘That was a gift from above,’ Spike thought. ‘The git was probably terrorizing another unfortunate town and its demon populace.’ But then Spike wanted to groan, realizing that there was some other schmuck vamp with a chip implanted in his head out there somewhere. He wouldn’t even wish that on Peaches. Well. Maybe.
As for Xander, after high school, he still did odd jobs until finally landing on a career in construction. Oz still left Willow. Having a soft spot for Red, Spike decided the pillock couldn’t recognize a keeper if it bit him on the arse. During college, Beth had to take time off from school because her mother was sick, but when Joyce got better, Beth returned to school to finish her criminal law degree. Just a mild shock here. Spike wasn’t surprised at all at her choice of major. Buffy was still shining through Beth, still trying to catch bad guys. All in all, Beth had had the normal life she had asked for.
“So that brings us up to recent history. My dad moved here a few months ago. I came to visit him and met you. Then I squiggled my way into your life. Bonus!”
Taking the opportunity, he leaned in close. “Glad you think so, luv.” Once more, he lightly brushed her lips before running the tip of his tongue along her lower lip. He savored kissing her and demonstrating just how glad he was to have met her.
“Uh, where was I?” Afterwards, Beth sat back, blinking at him with owlish eyes. “Yeah, you’re a bonus. Oh, and Willow and Xander are sick of hearing about my mystery boyfriend in Sacramento. They are dying to meet you. And I’m getting soooo mom-ed by my mom. ‘Who is he? How old is he? Where does he live? What does he do for a living? Yada, yada, yada… Don’t have to look so shocked. It’s just the usual parental inquisition.”
Big shock this time. “It’s not your mum’s questions, pet. To tell the truth, it’s the boyfriend part that gave me a jolt.” She had actually referred to him as a boyfriend? This relationship was a great deal different than he had ever encountered. Not with Dru, certainly not with Harm, and definitely not with Buffy. It was so…so…so conventional.
Not understanding what he meant, Beth wanted the ground to swallow her up as her face blushed a bright red. “Oh, my bad. I just thought with all the making with the smoochies yesterday and today. But you being older, you may not make much of that kind of tame stuff. I just assumed that…”
He reached up and cupped her chin in his hand while watching her nervously chew her lower lip before placing a tender kiss on her lips to settle her uncertainties. “You just keep assuming what ever you want, luv. I’ll follow your lead.”
*****
TBC
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Sorry this update has been so long. I didn't have the internet for two weeks. To say that it sucked would be a mammoth.