~*~
According to Jenny, the spell wouldn’t be ready until tomorrow—something Buffy was incredibly grateful for, because the longer she could put off having to see that uber-gross vision, the better.
She went out to the Bronze that night with Willow and Xander for some much-needed distraction. Luckily, Spike was nowhere to be seen when she left the house. The very last thing I want is for the bleached idiot to intrude on my night off, she told herself firmly.
Her friends were as glad to see her as she was to see them. “Buffster!” Xander greeted her enthusiastically, enveloping her in a hug. “We were starting to think you’d decided to live at the library.”
Willow nodded, getting up to hug her friend. “Not that it would be a bad thing, or anything, will all the books and stuff,” she said, grinning.
Buffy just raised her eyebrows. “You want to live with Wesley? Wow, Wills. Bad taste much?”
The redhead winced. “Oops. Forgot about that part.”
“Was he being his usual annoying geeky self?” Xander asked. “Because if so, murder is always an option.”
“No, I think he was actually kind of scared of Spike,” Buffy said. “Definitely the only thing he’s good for.”
“Spike the Slayer, right? I—I mean, the other one?” Buffy had talked to Willow and Xander about him on the phone earlier that day.
Buffy nodded. “Yeah, he’s the other Slayer. The more annoying Slayer.”
“How does that work out, anyway? Did another Slayer just appear or something? Talk about bad planning,” Xander said.
“Actually, there’s this whole big long story about Merlin and King Arthur and oh my God, what the hell is he doing here?!” Buffy exclaimed. Spike was standing not ten feet from her, looking as sexy as hell. Her eyes narrowed. He was chatting up Cordelia. All his sexy-as-hell-ness was directed toward Cordelia!
“That bitch is so going down,” Buffy muttered, sliding off the stool and stalking towards Spike.
Willow looked at Xander, confused. “Does she usually call guys bitches?”
Xander pointed to Spike’s face—a bruise was just visible. “Maybe she made him her bitch.”
They both paused to let that thought sink in. Finally Willow made a face and said, “Ew,” and turned her attention to the blonde pair.
~*~
For the first time since he’d come into her life, Buffy actually felt sorry for Spike.
He was backed into a corner by Cordelia Chase. The brunette was chattering a mile a minute about something, and Spike couldn’t have looked more pained than if he was chained up and being tortured by a master vampire. When his eyes locked with hers, he actually widened them and mouthed, help me!
She bit back a grin. He is so gonna owe me after this…
She came up from behind Cordelia in time to catch part of the girl’s speech—“And trust me, nothing looks grosser on a girl than bright orange. And Harmony is a blonde. Granted, she’s a totally fake blonde, but—“
“Hi, baby.”
Buffy pushed past Cordelia rudely and slid her arm through Spike’s, blinking up at him coyly through long lashes. “Waiting for me?”
He smirked down at her. “Look for you, actually. How the hell d’you navigate in this place?”
“If you’re new, it’s best to have a guide.” She smiled in what she hoped was a seductive manner and slid a hand up his chest, trying to ignore the thrill that went through her body at the simple touch. Now was not the time for melteyness. “Want me to show you around?”
Part of her was disgusted at that statement, especially given that she was saying it to Spike, who despite the fact that he was a great kisser was still a huge pain in her butt. The other part of her, though, was dancing around in circles at the look on Cordy’s face: pure, utter murder.
“You know Spike, Buffy? Wow. I’m surprised he had time to hang around with a geek like you,” Cordelia said, the sweetness of her tone belying the words.
Spike slipped his arm out of Buffy’s. For a second her heart sank and she berated herself for helping him. He was going to humiliate her in front of the Miss Popular of the school, and there was nothing she’d be able to do about it.
But instead of making a nasty remark and leaving her with her humiliation, Spike slid an arm around her shoulders in a proprietary embrace. “Buffy’s m’ girl,” he said coldly to Cordelia. “An’ ‘f I hear you’ve been givin’ her a hard time, you’ll pay for it. Understand?”
Cordelia’s mouth feel open. “Are you threatening me?”
“Well, yeah.”
Buffy giggled—two words and Spike had made Cordelia sound like the dumbest girl on the face of the planet.
The tall girl’s face was now more than just mad. It was a deep, dark red, and Buffy really wouldn’t have been surprised if she’d exploded. She pointed two fingers sharply at Buffy and Spike. “You two,” she said in a trembling voice, “Are so going to pay for this. When I tell Daddy what you did—“
“How ‘bout you go do that?” Spike interrupted. “Run an’ tell Daddy. Least then we wouldn’t have to listen to your voice.”
That was the last straw for Cordelia. As Buffy and Spike watched, both very amused, she threw up her hands, let out a melodramatic wail, and practically ran out of the Bronze.
Once she was gone, Buffy turned to Spike. “You are the absolute best person in the world, did you know?”
“What, for tellin’ the bint off?” He smirked. “I honestly thought she’d keep talkin’ till the next apocalypse.”
“Yeah, I totally just saved your butt.”
“And I saved yours, so we’re even.”
“As if. Being humiliated by Queen C is way better than being talked to death by her. I saved you way more than you saved me.”
“Not even close, luv. I saw how much you were dreadin’ me telling you to shove off.”
“I was not!” Buffy argued. “I can handle Cordy myself.” When he continued to look skeptical, she insisted, “I can!”
“Right.” Abruptly Spike dismissed the subject. “So, what is there to do in this place, anyway?”
Buffy shrugged. “Not much. Get a drink, talk to friends. You could meet Will and Xander.”
“What’re you doing hanging out with a couple ‘f blokes?” Spike demanded, eyes narrowed.
She rolled her eyes. God, I kiss him once and he goes all possessive… “Willow is a girl, you bleached idiot. And Xander is so close to being gay it’s not even funny.”
He relaxed immediately. “Oh. ‘s alright, then.”
She rolled her eyes. “Why don’t you just go get us drinks?”
Luckily, he decided to play along. “Right, then. Coke?”
She shook her head. “Pepsi?”
“What difference does it make?” he asked impatiently. “They’re both brown an’ bubbly, aren’t they?”
“Just get me a Goddamn Pepsi!” she all but yelled, pushing him toward the bar.
She had no idea why that would be so satisfying to him, but his expression immediately turned into a smirk. Mock saluting her, he turned and disappeared into the crowd.
God, this night is turning out to suck so bad, she thought, leaning against a pillar. If only Spike hadn’t decided to come and find her…
“Hello, luv.” A heavy hand came to rest on her shoulder.
She whirled around. “What the hell are you doing back here?” she snapped angrily. “And where are our drinks?”
“Drinks? Why do you care about them?” He cocked his head. “Thought we had more important things to discuss.”
Oh, boy. She should have known he’d bring this up. “Like what, Spike? How much bleach you use when you dye your hair?”
He definitely looked weird when he was mad. His eyes narrowed and his lips pursed—in any other situation, Buffy would have laughed and called him a girl. But before she had a chance to say anything, he yanked her into the dark under the stairs.
“Hey!” She clawed at the hand on her arm. It wasn’t too tight, but he obviously wasn’t going anywhere. “Let me go!”
“But we kissed. It’s important.”
“Yeah? So? I kissed Angel, too, and I’m not going to marry him!”
A peculiar look came over Spike’s face. “Angel?”
Oops. Buffy really, really didn’t feel like explaining her not-so-mysterious benefactor to the other Slayer at the moment. “Never mind. The point is, just because we kissed, it doesn’t mean you all of a sudden own me.”
She really, really didn’t like how he was looking at her. He looked more pissed off than she’d ever seen him—even when she was pummeling him earlier that day—but at the same time, he looked genuinely hurt.
Which was bad. She’d spent half the day convincing herself that it didn’t matter. She knew dang good and well that she couldn’t convince him, too. Why can’t he just cooperate for once and be all irritating and nonchalant about it? she wondered, watching his face stiffen before he opened his mouth and spoke.
“So basically, you’re tryin’ to tell me that the kiss this mornin’ meant nothing to you.”
He sounded calm. How could he sound calm? He was supposed to sound mad or hurt, not calm.
Wait. Nonchalant meant calm, didn’t it? Dang it.
Well, fine. Buffy set her chin. If he could be so levelheaded, then she could too. “Nope. Nothing. It’s not important at all. I haven’t even thought about it since it happened.”
Now he was smiling. Bastard. “So, it doesn’t affect you at all when I touch you?”
She couldn’t stop looking at him. His eyes had hers trapped. Buffy shook her head. “No.”
“So ‘f I do this…” he reached out a hand and slipped it round her wait, tugging her closer, until her breasts pressed against his chest.
In spite of herself, her breath hitched. She was a Slayer, his equal in strength. If she wanted to, she could push him away. And part of her wanted to do just that, give him a shove and send her tumbling…but the other part wanted to stay like this, with him, forever. She let out a sigh, feeling her body relax against his.
The small smile on his face widened. “I thought so.” His other hand came up, settling at the nape of her neck and tilting her face up. “See, ‘f you didn’t care about this, you wouldn’t ‘ve let me pull you into the darkness.”
There was something distinctly wrong with that sentence. If her heart would stop beating so loudly, Buffy would have been able to figure it out. “I’m not…”
“You like this,” he whispered, trailing a finger down her cheek. “You like me touching you.”
Again, she didn’t answer—couldn’t answer. He’d put her under thrall as neatly as a vampire.
“I can see it,” he whispered, eyes nearly glowing as they bored into hers. She should pull away…but God help her, she couldn’t. Every touch he gifted her with, every brush of his skin against hers, made her want more.
“It’s inside you,” he said, tangling his fingers in her hair. “The sunshine. Dancing, playing. It fights with the darkness, and the darkness cries out. The stars hear it crying, my sweet. The darkness wants to be left in peace.”
OK. Was it just her, or did Spike sound like he was on glue? Buffy knew she should do something—anything—to make him stop, but she couldn’t make herself move. “Spike…” she whispered weakly. “Don’t—“
He put a finger to her lips. “Shh. Mustn’t interrupt. It’s very, very rude.” He lowered his lips to her neck. “Besides, this is a special moment. We should pause and savor it.”
He paused—for a second his hold on Buffy faltered, and she almost cried out—but then, before she could do anything, she heard a quiet, feminine chuckle, and sharp teeth sank into her neck.
She cried out. Well, anyone would have. But she knew it was futile, knew that whatever was happening, no one would hear her. No one would save her. Still, she screamed. At that moment she wasn’t the Slayer—she was an innocent girl being preyed upon, one who knew she would die, and yet was unable to move a muscle to prevent it from happening.
“Buffy? Buffy!” A deep voice yelled her name, once in confusion, then again in panic. She felt something thud into the body sucking blood from hers, and it crumpled to the floor. Suddenly able to move again, she slapped a hand to her neck, fighting the searing pain that came from having the vampire’s teeth ripped out of her neck so quickly.
Her rescuer handed her a handkerchief, which she immediately pressed to the wound. She gaped at him. “Angel, what—“
Face grim, he pointed to the crumpled figure on the floor. Buffy became sick when she finally saw her attacker for who he—or, rather, she—was.
A long white dress enveloping a pale figure with dark, smoky hair. Face still contorted in an insane, vampiric snarl.
“Drusilla.”
~*~
A/N: OK, don’t kill me ;)
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Can I just take this moment to beg for forgiveness? It's been FOREVER since I posted--sorry! But I'm ahead now, so it won't happen again =D Thanks for all the wonderful reviews I got fot the last chapter!