Chapter 3
AN: Thanks to my betas -Jessica, Tami, and Aribelle- for their help.
Buffy sat on the counter in her now old apartment, looking around the empty room and sighing. Spike was downstairs talking to the landlord about last minute tasks such as forwarding numbers and addresses. He had handled it all himself. She still had the thought of just jumping up and running away flitting through her head. She bit her lip and glanced towards the door, bracing her arms like she might just do it.
Spike returned at just that moment, though, as if he could sense her mutinous thoughts. "Ready t' go, pet?" He held out his hand to her. "Let's go home."
She hopped off the counter and went to him quietly. It was time to say goodbye to her freedom. She shook her head slightly and caught herself. She had agreed to this of her own free will; he hadn't put a gun to her head and forced her to agree. If she didn't like living with him, she was free to leave and go back to whatever she wanted. That was their agreement.
Really... living with him couldn't be that bad, could it? He seemed pretty devoted to her, even if his attempts to please her were misguided at times. Well... they would see, she guessed.
He took her smaller hand in his and tugged her after him gently, closing the door behind them. Downstairs, his car waited and he got her seated in the passenger seat before going around to the driver's side. He drove off and she leaned her head back against the seat, happy to just drive along in silence. She wasn't sure she had much to say at the moment anyway. He didn't look eager to strike up a conversation, either. Probably scared it would dissolve into a fight and she would call this off before it had even begun.
Before too long, they were back in Sunnydale and he thankfully resisted running over the sign again. He was cruising down main street towards the apartment building where "home" was now located. He had taken her with him to pick out the place, almost like they were some couple picking out their first place. Well, technically they were, but she was still in denial somewhere about the whole couple thing. They were... business partners? She rolled her eyes to herself.
They entered the apartment and Buffy set her overnight bag on the floor next to the door as Spike turned on the lights. It was all she had left to move into the new apartment besides her own self. Last night, she had spent the night at her old apartment, though he said he didn't see a reason to with the new apartment ready and all her things moved into it. She just wanted one last night alone as she didn't see getting another one for a long time. She glanced at Spike worriedly. A very long time.
He scooped up her bag, oblivious to her thoughts, and carried it towards the bedroom with her following a bit slower. It was big, as she remembered, with a very large, comfy bed in the center of it all now. She raised a brow at it then looked up at him.
"Have I put on that much weight with my patrolling less and not training to need such a large bed?" She joked and slapped a hand on the back of her jeans.
"That's so, for now, we can have our space an' when you decide I get Buffy touchin' rights we got room t' play." A wicked smile played on his lip as he looked her over appreciatively, lingering at the swell of her ass where her hand rested.
She frowned at him. "What? I thought we got three rooms so that we could each get our own room." She stepped away from him, mind racing at the images that were going through her head. Confusion reigned. Her breath hitched in her throat at the idea of sharing a bed with him. No, this was not in the world of good. How could she have not thought of covering 'no sleeping in my bed' in the list of rules?? Probably because she had thought it was a given.
"We each get a room, but share a bedroom. Mine is goin' t' be used for my office an' figured you could have a room t' be alone when you're tired of me... or train if you think it's got 'nough room." He lifted his shoulders and his fingers twitched for a smoke, but he had promised her he wouldn't smoke inside. Actually, he had also promised to try and eventually stop altogether. If she was going to be such a bloody harpy, he would just go downstairs to the alley or up to the roof to smoke all he wanted.
"But shouldn't you have asked me before you assumed that?" She asked backing away a little bit more.
"I thought you did understand!" He looked down at her confused as well. "I nearly got us a place with only one bloody room, but I thought you would want some sort of room for trainin' or bein' alone. An' didn' see any two room places at the time, so got this place an' figured I could have myself a personal room too for an office or somethin' else adult like."
"You're starting to ramble as bad as me." She commented dryly. "Just goes to show you that you've been spending too much time around me as it is."
"Never as bad as you," he joked and then sighed. "Like I said, luv, it's plenty big so that there's plenty of personal space when we sleep. I won' try anythin' at all. You decide if an' when I even get some cuddlin' rights. Sleep with clothes on an' everythin' if that'll make you feel better."
"Can't I just go sleep on the couch?"
He averted his face before she could see the hurt in his eyes. He growled, "No need, you really don' want t' share a bed then I'll take the couch." He grabbed a pillow off the bed and headed into the living room muttering under his breath.
She stood there looking at the door for a moment, almost going after him to apologize for overreacting, but didn't. He shouldn't have assumed she would share a bed with him. He at least should have asked to make sure it was okay first, she might have agreed... but the assuming made her think he had ideas about them still that were more than where she was willing to go at the moment. It was like the first time Spike had told her he loved her and then later when she saw his Wall O' Buffy. She had just got that weird sensation again.
So she grabbed her robe from the closet and headed into the bathroom for a shower. Peace could be made with him when she was finished. The scalding hot water poured over her back and she stood there, trying to relax as she inhaled the nice aromas. She showered slowly, putting off going out there a bit to give her time to compose herself. She wasn't good at this sort of thing... especially with Spike.
She walked into the living room later to find him watching some horror movie on television. He was stretched out with the pillow tucked under his head. He ignored her even as she stood at the end of the couch staring and waiting to get his attention.
"Spike," she finally said to try to get him to look up at her.
"You need t' eat, slayer. Why don' you call an' order pizza. Get me some of those spicy Buffalo wings they got." He still didn't look at her.
She was getting really irked by his pouting and tried something she thought would definitely get his attention. She jerked open her robe and stood there flashing her nude body at him. Something she thought he would never pass up a chance to see.
"Better call before it gets too late for them t' deliver it," he told her without looking her way even a glance.
She jerked her robe closed with a growl and stomped over to the phone to call the pizza place. After she ordered, she went into the bedroom to sit and grumble to herself about stupid male vampires with bleach for brains.
After not too long, there was a knock on the door and she went out to answer it. Spike still hadn't moved at all. He held up a hand with a wad of cash in it for her to pay with. She ignored him and went straight for the door. A pasty, pimply faced delivery boy stood on the other side with the pizza carrying bag in front of him. He looked at Buffy appreciatively in her robe.
"Um, that'll be 14.50," he said and licked his lips.
"Oh dear me," she opened her robe. "Don't seem to have any cash on me... maybe there is some other way I could compensate you." She smiled at him and batted her baby greens.
"Oh my," he gasped, eyes wide, and started to shift the pizza carrier restlessly.
He froze at the growl from behind Buffy, though, and she rolled her eyes. Well, mission accomplished, at least. She got his attention finally. Well, he could just deal with it, and hopefully she would keep his attention long enough to talk with him. One could hope. Things like this tended to blow up in her face.
She thumbed over her shoulder and looked at the delivery guy with a pretty pout. "On second thought, you should probably go. My boyfriend over there is really possessive, and he's a vampire with a delivery boy fetish. So if he doesn't hurt you, he's going to fuck you six ways to Sunday." She shifted slightly so the delivery guy could see Spike, who she knew was glaring at them with his game face on.
The delivery let out a frightened squeak and dropped the pizza carrier before taking off back down the hall towards the elevators, but she knew he was going to opt for running down the stairs for a quicker escape.
The petite blonde slayer tied her robe closed again then bent to pick up the pizza carrier and carry it inside. She set it on the table with a chuckle, "Got us free pizza and wings." Opening the carrier revealed twice as much food as what they ordered. "And someone else's order, too."
She looked up and Spike was right beside her, glaring down at her angrily. Grr face was gone at least. Backing away cautiously seemed like a very good idea and that was what she did, him not giving an inch as he moved with her. She kept backing up until her backside hit the countertop of the island. She froze right there, looking up at him with wide eyes. Angry vampire, not at all of the good.
He pinned her to the counter, hands fencing her in by bracing on each side of her on the counter top. "What were you bloody playin' at there, Buffy?" He growled. "Think I can' afford nosh for us, can' support us like I promised? Or just tryin' t' get me killed when that ponce goes t' run his bloody mouth off t' someone 'bout what he saw here? Might even get YOU hurt too if someone comes here with bad intentions! Did you ever bleedin' think of that, ya dense bint?"
She looked up at him with wide, frightened eyes. "I... just thought it would be funny to mess with him... and I was mad at you for ignoring me..." She bit her lower lip and shrunk away from him, ashamed with her actions when put like that.
He wrapped his arms around her and gathered her close, burying his nose in her hair. "Don' look at me like that, luv. Can' take that look. Would never hurt you. Not ever again, anyway. Not on purpose. Please forgive me for scarin' you, Buffy, an' for the bedroom fiasco. We can work somethin' out if you really don' want t' share with me."
She blinked at his chest, a bit surprised at the sudden mood swings. She didn't want to complain when it looked to be going in her favour. Finally, she tilted her head back to look up at him. "Okay, sorry here too for the prank and for going a bit spazzy at the bed situation. If you had asked I probably would have agreed, but the assuming had me all swirly in the head for a few moments... probably wondering what else you might be assuming about me."
He gave a relieved smile. "No more assumin'. Promise." He stepped back so he could drop to his knees and take her hand. "Elizabeth Anne Summers, will you do me the honor of sharin' a rather large bed with me. I promise t' keep my hands t' myself unless you specifically ask for those hands' services. An' not get creeped out if I watch you sleep a bit. Can' help myself there, pet. You're so lovely an' peaceful lookin'."
She rolled her eyes with a smile. "Fine. And you can watch... just none of the creepy sketching or picture taking. Or peeking under the blanket." She nodded.
He chuckled and hugged her waist, nuzzling her flat stomach. "Anythin' you want, slayer, but no peekin' under my blanket either." He wiggled his brows.
"You're such a pig, Spike," she swatted at him then tried to step back out of the odd embrace. She didn't want to think of where he was nuzzling. So close to... Bad thoughts, Buffy, bad thoughts. She took a deep breath and turned to go get a piece of pizza, knowing his eyes were still following. Always following. She felt self-conscious now, only in the skimpy robe, so she forgot the pizza for a moment in lieu of going back to the bedroom to change.
The next day, Buffy was avoiding Spike by sitting in the empty room he told her she could do anything with and trying to think of what to do with it. A training room did sound like a good idea, actually. Wouldn't have to go all the way to the Magick Box to work out where she would have to put up with the others... Anya asking if Spike had given her orgasms yet, Xander making snide remarks... Yeah, very much of the good to have a training room in the apartment. So she had a couple fitness magazines spread out in front of her as she thought on how to do this.
Spike would probably be able to help... but that would defeat the purpose of her avoiding him.
She hadn't actually made him sleep on the couch, not after what she pulled and the way he had apologized and stuff. It just didn't seem right to do that to him. So there was no way to avoid him while sleeping in the same bed, either.
With a sigh, she stood and flipped her ponytail over her shoulder before walking out of the small room. Spike was sprawled on the couch watching television, surprisingly giving her her space for some reason. Probably the same as in the car, afraid that if he pushed her she would flip out and call it off. If it hadn't worked to her advantage so far, she would have made herself have a talk with him about this.
"Hey, I could use your opinion on something," she sat in front of him on the coffee table and held out one of the magazines.
He glanced down at the magazine and the blonde that was displayed on the page with some of the equipment. "Yeah, I prefer you blonde."
She rolled her eyes and hit him with the magazine. "That's not what I was talking about, you pig." She chuckled and jabbed a finger at the page. "The room is so small, that the trade off seems to be I can get machines but wouldn't have much space to spar or tumble... but I could have that space if I just got some light equipment like weights and a punching bag... you know?" She tilted her head, "So I guess I need help deciding which would be better?"
"Well, your slayer metabolism keeps you pretty fit, so hardly see the reason for exercise machines." He looked her over, eyes lingering a little longer than was decent then looked up at her face. "Though, could always spar and tumble out here. Does that help, luv?"
"I suppose..." she lifted a brow then looked back down at the magazine.
He reached out and pulled the tie from her hair so that the dark waves fell around her. Her brows drew together in confusion as to what he was up to. His hands bunched in her hair and drew her closer, causing her eyes to get wide and brows to shoot up. Was someone... in the mood? This is Spike, Buffy... He's always in the mood. She rolled her eyes mentally.
"You goin' t' change your hair back t' the pretty goldilocks I love so much?" He tilted his head and gave a playful pout.
"Never. Just to drive you batty," she stuck out her tongue.
He smirked milliseconds before his mouth was on hers, capturing the offending tongue in a heated kiss. He drew her closer as he purred at the delicious taste that was pure Buffy. There was nothing better in the world as far as he was concerned. He growled into her mouth when the moment was ruined by a knocking at the door. If it hadn't been that he cared for the person on the other side, he would have maimed anyone else for interrupting them.
"It's the Nibblet," he pulled back and let Buffy get up to go answer it.
Buffy still looked a bit fazed by the kiss as she opened the door to Dawn and Willow. "Hey guys."
"We come baring house... well, apartment warming presents," Willow held up her gift bag.
Buffy moved to let them enter, "The others not coming?"
"Tara has classes and Anya's busy with the shop..."
"And Xander? Does he even know?" She closed the door and looked at her friend with brow arched.
"Well, yeah... technically..."
"Technically?" She motioned towards the kitchen area and headed in that direction after they nodded.
"We put a spin on it to keep him from flipping out," Willow winced and followed after her. "We said you got an apartment in town that Spike is paying for."
Dawn bounced along. "We didn't lie. And, he didn't ask if it was Spike's place too since he was paying. Anya got it, though. So much smarter than we give her credit for." She leaned against the island counter and looked her sister over. "Like the new look. If you get to be the brunette, can I be the blonde? Or, you know, dye it purple?"
"No." Buffy shook her head and bent over to grab a few sodas from the fridge. "The only dying I allow you to do is the highlights now and then."
"Hair Nazi..." she muttered as she took her soda from Buffy with a pout.
Buffy rolled her eyes at her sister and handed Willow a soda as well before heading back to the living room. She sat in the chair furthest from Spike while Dawn had no problem plopping down beside him. Willow handed Buffy her gift with a big smile, either oblivious to the byplay or ignoring it.
Buffy shifted in her seat then reached into the bag to pull out the contents. A couple charms came out into her hand and she looked up at Willow. "Magic? I thought-"
"No," Willow held up her hands. "Tara did it for me. They're for protection for the apartment from evil... though, we had to rework it a bit because of... well... Spike..." She chewed her lip and looked at the vampire apologetically. "But uh, yeah, you hang them over the doors and they'll help with the stuff that doesn't need an invite."
"Thank you," Buffy smiled and leaned forward to hug her.
Dawn thrust a box at her next. "That's for both you and Spike," she grinned widely.
Buffy was a bit worried at that grin and opened the box then lifted out the skimpiest black and red lacy negligee. Her jaw dropped and her eyes nearly burst from her head. She looked at her sister in horror then at Spike, then Willow. "You... you let her buy something like this?" She squeaked out.
Willow lifted a shoulder. "She must have done it while she was at the mall with her friends." She shot the teenager a disapproving look, "She told me it was a new robe."
"Well... it comes with one..." Dawn wiggled her brows.
"Dawn! This is just..." Buffy shook her head and gulped for air. She dropped the box and glared at her sister. "Me and Spike are NOT sleeping together!" She blinked and Spike's brows shot up. "Well technically we are... sharing a very LARGE bed... but... but... we're NOT BOINKING!!" She got up and stomped off into bedroom, slamming the door behind her.
Spike got up, looking towards the bedroom for a moment then looking down at Dawn with disparagement as well. "That wasn' nice of you, Bit."
Dawn just smiled up at him innocently and batted her eyes.
Willow rolled her eyes. "We'll just get going. Hang the charms above the doors and believe me, Dawn will get the lecture a la Willow when we get home." She took Dawn by the arm who was sputtering at the thought of punishment as she was dragged towards the door.
tbc...