He grinned into his mug of blood. Buffy stood in the doorway to the kitchen looking like she’d just survived a major disaster. Her hair was coming wildly out of her ponytail, she was covered from heard to toe in flour, and there was some unknown brown liquid splattered on her shirt. She was totally pissed, and absolutely adorable.
“Have a spat with the pancakes then?”
She crossed her arms and glared at him.
“M’ guessing the pancakes won?”
Dawn chose that moment to come running down the stairs, and almost tripped when she saw Buffy. She stood for a moment on the bottom of the stairs, and then burst out in hysterical laughter at her. Buffy threw her hands in the air, and stomped back into the kitchen.
Dawn smiled as she watched her sister leave in a huff, her eyes drifted curiously down to Spike. “She accepted your apology?”
“Something like that,” he said vaguely.
They’d spent most of the night sitting on her couch just talking, and playing a few hands of rummy. She’d told him the only way their “truce” would succeed is if they engaged in some kind of normal activity that didn’t include killing demons, staking vampires, or having sex. He’d had to cough to hide a laugh at that one. Her one stipulation was she wasn’t going to sit around his, “dank, dirty and smelly crypt”. He would have agreed to almost anything at that moment, and going to her house definitely wasn’t a negative.
They hadn’t talked about Anya. She didn’t bring it up, and seemed more content to just pretend it didn’t happen. He wasn’t about to spoil everything by talking about it. She’d talked about her mother, and Dawn; expressed her concern for Willow, and even started a debate about the best ice cream flavors of all time.
He’d let her talk, and answered her questions when she’d had them. The conversation wasn’t emotional or tense. Although, he had to admit there had been some uncomfortable moments, he couldn’t be expected to be a saint the entire time.
She’d gotten him blood without even blinking, and then announced she was making breakfast. Needless to say that endeavor hadn’t turned out exactly as planned, but he loved her more for trying. Her overzealous attempt to appear normal; she was anything but.
Dawn waved to him as she sprinted out the door on his way to school, and Spike started to get fidgety. He may be on the mild side as far as vampires were concerned, but he was still a vampire; still evil. As much as he loved Buffy, sitting around the Slayer’s house made his demon uneasy. That, and the complete 180 their relationship had taken over night; he wasn’t entirely sure it was going to last.
Buffy appeared in the living room again, catching Spike day dreaming.
“I’m going to see Xander.”
He nodded, and set the mug on the coffee table and stood.
“I’ll be clearing out then.”
She rolled her eyes at him, and pointed to the window. “Day remember? Sunlight and vampires don’t really mesh well. Just stay put, I’ll be back in like an hour.”
“Really, Slayer, I’m not bloody helpless.”
“Grow up Spike, and trash the ego. You can stay here until I get back, watch TV, whatever. I just need to…”she let out a sigh. “…go make peace, and explain myself to Xander.”
He frowned. “Explain yourself? What exactly do you have to explain luv?”
She avoided his eyes and shifted. “You know what Spike; don’t play dense. You saw his face outside the Magic Box; you sleeping with Anya wasn’t the only thing that upset him.”
“Once again luv, you don’t have anything to bleedin’ explain. I was the one that shagged Anya, not you.”
“I know that!” she snapped, and her eyes glittered. “Don’t think I just forgot about it.”
“Well what the bloody hell was I supposed to think?” he roared at her. “All of a sudden your all nice and cuddly; I wasn’t going to sodding argue with you!”
“We’ll talk about this later,” she growled at him. “STAY HERE, it shouldn’t take too long explain to Xander why I was fucking you.” She didn’t give him a chance to respond and slammed out the door.
“Bloody women,” he growled.
***
She poked the bush with her stick, God, could she not do anything right? Xander hadn’t yelled, at least not to begin with. He’d just stared at her with those hurt and disappointed eyes. What a fucking cliché’, wasn’t there some kind of saying that disappointment was worse than anger? It was true; she found it much easier to deal with her guilt when he was screaming at her.
The screaming and yelling didn’t come until she’d spilled that she’d made up with Spike, called a truce.
“After all he’s done? God Buffy what are you thinking? Or are you just thinking about yourself?”
“Xander, it’s complicated. We aren’t together, but he’s the strongest fighter besides me, and I’m not going to just let him be run out! We may need him!”
“He’s evil, soulless, and he’s a monster! You just expect me to sit by and let him be a part of the group? It’s NOT going to happen.”
“I’m not asking you to choose, and you shouldn’t be asking me. It isn’t about me and him, but he needs forgiveness just like everyone else, including Anya.”
“Don’t even bring that up! I can’t…I can’t even look at you, just get the hell out of here.”
Obviously it hadn’t gone well. She returned to Revello Drive but didn’t go into the house. She could feel Spike in there, probably pacing, waiting for her. She really wasn’t in the mood to jump from one argument into another.
So she amused herself, pretending to search the bushes for anymore hidden cameras. She had the feeling the absence of any more lawn gnomes meant they were safe, but it was keeping her outside, in the sunlight, away from Spike.
Every once in a while she would glance up, and see him staring at her through the kitchen window. He didn’t yell to her, just watched her.
“Time for the Spring Poking already?”
It was Xander; she turned and glanced at him warily. “Just making sure there are no more Evil Trio cameras, or Evil Uno.”
“The sinister yet addictive card game?”
“Warren. Jonathan and Andrew got clinked, but ... Warren pulled a Rocket Man.”
“You'll find him. He won't be much good without his friends.”
She glanced up at him, and her eyes began to get teary. “No, he won't.” He had to understand, Spike was a part of her life now too, and she couldn’t give him up, give either of them up. They both sat down on the wooden bench.
“How did we get here?” Xander asked quietly.
“Scenic route. Long drive.”
“The past few weeks...”
Buffy stopped him. “I know.”
“I thought I hit bottom, but ... it hurt. That you didn't trust me enough to tell me about Spike. It hurt. At the same time, God, I wish I didn’t know. First him and Anya, then you…”
Buffy cracked a smile. “Technically, me, then Anya.”
Xander stared at her and then relaxed, his face breaking into a sheepish smile.
“It isn’t just about Spike, Buffy. It’s about you closing yourself off to us, and then…turning to him. Why couldn’t you come to me?”
She sighed. “Xander, I couldn’t picture myself walking up to you or Willow and saying, ‘Hey guys, you pulled me out of Heaven, now, I just don’t want to be here. Got any thoughts?’ Besides, he gave me the kind of comfort I didn’t really feel comfortable asking you or Willow for.”
“Ok-too much information Buff.”
Xander leaned forward and gave Buffy a comforting hug.
“I’ll try, but I’m not saying I’m ever going to like him, or be nice to him for that matter.”
She grinned at him. “I love you. You know that right?”
He began to nod, then froze.
“BUFFY!” she heard Xander’s frantic whisper, and Spike’s shout from inside the house simultaneously.
Warren stood there, a look of desperation on his face. “You think you can just do that to me? You think I'd let you get away with that?” He began to laugh insanely. “Think again.” He pulled the gun out of his pants and waved it at Buffy and Xander.
Buffy heard Spike roar, and caught a glimpse of him out of the corner of her eye standing in the open doorway, trying frantically to find a way safely outdoors.
“Once you’re gone, everything will be perfect, and God, I’ll finally be free of you Slayer.”
The shots echoed through the backyard, and as suddenly as it began, everything was silent.
A/N:Dialogue taken from S6 "Seeing Red" courtesy of www.buffyworld.com.
Nachos, with tons of cheese, mmmm....