Buffy entered the Magick Shop and instantly went into happy mode. It wasn’t like anything had really happened between her and Spike—a lot more had occurred when he had been a vampire—and it wasn’t like the majority of the Scoobies didn’t already know about what had happened, but it was just force of habit. Besides, Xander didn’t know yet, and she was fairly sure he wouldn’t be nearly as accepting as Will and Tara.
“Hey, guys!” she called to Xander and Anya who were standing behind the counter going over the reception’s seating plan for the thousandth time as she and Spike joined the two Wiccas at the table. The table was piled high with various dusty old tomes, which the two girls had already searched through in their latest research-fest.
“Hey, Buffy,” Xander looked up from the plan obviously happy for the diversion from the wedding planning, “and you’ve brought Spike. I thought he would have moved back to his crypt by now.”
“Nice to see you again to, Harris,” Spike growled as he slumped into a chair at the table.
“Okay, guys,” the Slayer cut in. She knew Spike was still suffering from the remnants of his hangover, and she really wasn’t in the mood for another of their verbal battles. “Let’s just move on. We’ve got things to talk about.”
“Yes, we’ve come to quite an impasse on the seating arrangement,” Anya added. “Xander thinks we should keep the humans and demons at separate tables, but then how are they going to mingle? Mingling is a very important part of the reception experience.”
“Ahn, I think Buffy was referring more to the Slayer type business,” Xander explained.
"Actually, I was wondering if you might have heard from Halfrek yet?” the Slayer asked taking a seat next to the Spike.
“Well, she did RSVP for the wedding,” Anya supplied, “but that was before the whole human thing. It’s really difficult to call a Vengeance Demon when you’re not making a wish.”
“Well, we really can’t make another wish,” she sighed. “Just keep trying, okay? Any news on Warren, Will?”
“Nothing so far,” the redhead replied with an impatient sigh from the far side of the table. She was getting rather discouraged with their lack of progress on the situation. “They’re being pretty quiet lately.”
“Which is what worries me. Quiet usually means plotting,” Buffy added. She hated the inactivity. Peace and quiet in Sunnydale was rarely a good thing. It usually meant the nasties of the week were holed up plotting and planning, and there was something big coming up right around the corner.
“And in the meantime, we enjoy some well-earned R&R,” Xander added grinning broadly.
“Actually, I’ve got more research for you,” Buffy replied.
“Should have known,” he sighed rolling his eyes in mock exhaustion. “No rest for the Scoobies.”
“Did you find something on patrol?” Willow asked shooting Xander an impatient look.
“Well, it’s probably nothing, but with all that’s been going on we probably should check it out,” she replied. “We ran into big blue demon.”
“Runaway Smurf on steroids?” Xander suggested.
“Minus the cheery, smurfy attitude,” Buffy replied.
“This one had a fondness for slashing things,” Spike added touching his injured shoulder gingerly.
“So we’re looking for a large Smurf in a bad mood?” Tara asked flipping absently through one of the heavy volumes on the table.
“He had horns and red eyes,” Buffy added helpfully. Unfortunately that was the best description she could come up with since her attention had been otherwise occupied during the dispatching said demon.
“Don’t worry,” Willow grabbed a book putting on her determined, studious face, “give us a couple of hours and we’ll have all the specifics on the latest big nasty.”
“Right then,” Spike quickly got up from the table as the Wiccas started pulling out various texts and headed toward the door at the back of the store, “I’m not big on the research end. If you find something I’ll be in the training room.”
Xander came out from behind the counter and joined the girls at the table. “So how come dead boy gets out of the book detail?”
“Take it easy, Xander,” Buffy snapped keeping her gaze on the texts lying scattered about on the table. “He had a rough night.”
“And he’s not dead anymore!” Willow reminded him.
“Alive or dead, he’s still a pain in the ass,” he grumbled. “I don’t know why you’re letting him stick around, Buffy. He’s only doing this to worm his way into your house. It’s just him trying to get you to be a part of his sick fantasies.”
“Xander!” Tara gasped with a slight shake of her head to signal it was time to knock his tirade off.
“Thank you for your insight, Xander,” the Slayer snapped rising from the table every muscle in her body tense. “Spike is human now, because he loves me. The least I can do is look out for him.”
Buffy gave Xander a cold glare before following the ex-vampire into the training room. The door swung shut with a resounding thud as Xander shot the two girls sitting on the far side of the table a questioning look.
“What did I say?” he whined.
“Don’t ask,” Willow grumbled looking down at the book in front of her.
“What?” he insisted turning his attention towards Tara since the redhead was making an obvious attempt to ignore him.
“You put your foot into your mouth again, Xander!” Anya told him putting the seating plan between the pages of her latest bridal magazine.
“What?’ he asked again. “I always pick on Spike.”
Anya rolled her eyes in frustration. “Do you always have to be so dense? It’s obvious that she likes him.”
***
The Slayer entered the training room to find Spike sitting on a pile of mats. He slowly unwrapped the athletic tape from his knuckles and clenched his fingers into a fist with a painful grimace.
“You okay?” she asked settling onto the mats next to him being careful to keep at least a bit of distance between them.
“Yeah, fine,” he sighed tossing the tape on the floor. “Hands are a little sore, that’s all. Still suffering from the bloody hangover, I suppose.”
“Um, Spike, you don’t get sore hands from a hangover.”
“I don’t know,” he growled. “They’re just sore. Give up on the book club?”
“They’re still at it,” she replied with a shrug as she leaned back against the wall. “Not really my thing.”
“So, you thought you’d go slumming, Slayer?” he shot her a glare.
“Knock it off Spike,” she sighed refusing to take the bait. “I’m not in the mood to fight.”
“Really?” His lips turned into a playful smirk and she could feel that annoying little jolt of electricity piercing her stomach. “So what are you here for?”
“Not that either,” she laughed nervously. Her body was quickly answering otherwise. “I thought we could talk.”
“Talk?” he asked looking rather surprised by her suggestion. “That’s something new. What’s got you in such a generous mood, pet?”
“Look, I’m trying to apologize here,” she growled.
“You? Apologize?” he scoffed and silently scolded himself for doing so. Buffy might actually be willing to give him a chance, and he was going to ruin it by being confrontational.
“Do you think you could make this just a little harder?” she sighed. She refused to lose her temper no matter how much he pushed. “I don’t want to fight anymore. I know I’ve been—difficult lately, and I’m sorry. We’re stuck together for a while, so can we at least try to get along?”
“I’m willing to give it a shot,” he replied with a smile. This time it wasn’t one of his habitual smirks, but a genuine smile. “If you’ll have dinner with me tonight.”
“A date?’ she laughed. The thought of herself and Spike on a date was a rather funny picture.
“Well, we’ve done practically everything else,” he added. He had to admit is seemed like a rather silly proposal considering what they had been up to in the last few weeks, but it couldn’t hurt. At least, he would get to spend some time with her. “Why not? Be seen in public, you know, the normal stuff that couples do.”
“I never said we were a couple,” she reminded him, “but fine. As long as we go nowhere near the Palace.”
TBC…
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