Chapter 9
The door to her bedroom was wide open, but Spike chose to remain in the hallway. Although Buffy was nowhere in sight, her breakfast was arranged on the dresser, and that was enough to keep his boots planted. Buffy didn’t need to catch him alone in her room.
However, nothing could stop his eyes from wandering toward her bed. It was practically demanding his attention, with its scattered pillows and twisted sheets.
Spike had never seen a space look so inviting. To crawl into that bed, with the Slayer curled at his side…
“What are you doing? Get out of my room!”
“I’m not in your room,” he said, though he took a step back. He turned to find Buffy standing directly behind him. Just the sight of her made his body tense up. Her frowning face was free of all makeup. Her hair was charmingly tousled. It required all his self-control not to scoop her into his arms, carry her to the bed, and keep her there for days.
“It looks as if someone had a rough night.” He cleared his throat and acted nonchalant as he closed his long jacket.
“Go away, Spike. I have nothing to say to you.”
“Is that so? Then maybe you’ll keep those pouty lips of yours buttoned while I talk to you.”
Instead of letting him speak, Buffy stomped around him. She charged into her room and slammed the door behind her.
“Well, that—that’s just bloody uncalled for!” He yanked the door open and followed her to the middle of the room. “That would’ve been much more effective if you would’ve locked the blasted thing. You do realize that, don’t you?”
“The door doesn’t have a lock. I live with a teenager,” Buffy snapped as if it explained everything.
“Just what did I do now? Why are you pissed off? Is it because I brought you flowers, or are you still bent out of shape because we kissed?”
“Get out.”
“Joyce liked the flowers. Didn’t you see her face? No, of course you didn’t, you were too busy cowering in the kitchen. She was all smiles, pet, and with teeth I might add. From what Dawn’s told me, Joyce hasn’t been smiling much nowadays, so I thought some flowers might cheer her up, and they worked remarkably well.”
“What’d she tell you?” Buffy demanded with a note of panic in her voice. “She has no right. Dawn has no business talking to you about our mom! She should’ve kept her big mouth shut, we—we don’t even know anything! Nothing has been confirmed! She’s undergoing a few tests; that’s all. She’s going to be fine. She is fine.”
“Alright… I’m sure she is,” Spike mumbled. “Slayer, not to sound daft, but who’s going through tests? Is it your mother or your sister? Which ‘she’ are we talking about here? I’m on a need-to-know basis, meaning I know next to absolutely nothing--.”
“Good,” she answered hastily. “Let’s keep it that way.”
“Buffy,” he sighed. He knew they weren’t on the best of terms, but it smarted, knowing that she refused to confide in him.
Well, if she wouldn’t volunteer the information, he’d get it out of her another way.
“I’m bound to find out eventually,” he shrugged. “I can ask around. Maybe your friends will know, or there’s always sweet Dawnie. I’ll bat my eyes at the girl, she’ll tell me everything. And there’s Joyce. She and I get along just fine, we’ll have a little chat and--.”
“God, why do you even want to know? You couldn’t care less about my family!” she accused. “You’re using them to get to me! If I told you that the doctors aren’t sure why my mom’s been fainting and suffering from bad headaches, what would you do? Send her a fruit basket? Then would you run to me and say, “Gee, Buffy, did you see what I just did?”
“Hold on, you’re not being very fair--.”
“Because I know how you like to use people,” she continued in a biting tone. “Of all the disgusting, vulgar--.”
“Please tell me you aren’t going on about a few sodding flowers--.”
Before he could finish, she was jumping forward to smack his cheek with an open palm. Spike just blinked, stunned by the sudden outburst of violence. “I’m sure I deserved that. Would you care to enlighten me on exactly why I deserved that?”
“You let her wear my clothes!” she exploded. “You probably forced her to do it! You called her my name, you-you,” she gave up on talking and made a frustrated noise that was between a growl and a grunt.
Spike caught her wrist before she could slap him a second time. “You’ve had a talk with Harmony.”
“Did she lie to me? Is spreading rumors the next step in her Being Evil for Dummies handbook?”
She thrashed from side-to-side, desperate to be released from his grasp, but Spike wouldn’t let go. He wrapped his free arm around her back and crushed her body into his. “I didn’t force her,” he said quietly, directly into her ear. “I never forced her. I told her when we met that she reminded me of you.”
“Were you out of your mind?”
“She looked like you.”
“Were you blind?”
“No, just drunk. Now stop squirming.”
“Let me go! You—you’re pathetic!”
“Yes, but only when it comes to you. You jumble up everything: my head, my insides,” he shook his head and chuckled softly. He tried to look Buffy in the eye, but she purposely turned her head. “I love you,” he said. “Ignore me, but I’ll love you whether you like it or not. And Harmony, she knew what I wanted. She stayed willingly. No complaints were made from her, not until after I dumped her.
“That doesn’t make what you did any less vile.”
“No, probably not, but you know, desperate times, desperate measures… I wanted you so badly, Buffy—fuck, I could hardly see straight.”
“Booze has that effect on people.”
“What?” he laughed. “Sweetheart, nothing could be farther from the truth! I was drunk—stinking drunk—but my feelings didn’t just pop up as a side effect of too much tequila. Sure it mucked up my ways of thinking—I did bring Harmony home—but, I want you always. The intensity might vary from day to day, and sometimes from hour to hour, but the desire’s always there.”
“I don’t want to hear about this! You and your-your stupid fluctuating levels of desire—give me a break!” She continued to struggle, but only halfheartedly. Her heart hammered against his chest. Her heavy breathing made Spike’s confidence grow more little by little. She was battling something, and it seemed as if she was on her way to losing the fight.
“What if I apologized?” he suggested in a silky whisper. “I could grovel a bit. You can call me some names. Toss your nastiest adjectives my way.”
“You’re patronizing me?” At last she twisted so she could glare into his eyes. “You have exactly thirty seconds, Spike, if you don’t--.”
“Thirty seconds? Alright, that sounds fair enough.” Seeing a glimmer of opportunity, he pounced on it shamelessly. He captured her mouth, and kissed her like his life depended on it. To his delight, Buffy waited a full minute and a half before complaining.
“Spike! This is not—damn it, this is not what I meant!”
“I prefer this.” With her mouth out of reach, he nuzzled, kissed and licked her neck. “Threaten to kick my head in later. For now…Buffy, enjoy this with me.”
He released her wrist, and wove their fingers together. Instead of pinning her down, he gave her the chance to move freely.
“Oh, I’ll do a lot more than just kick you in the head,” she said while panting softly. She shook her hand until their entwined fingers were broken apart. “I’ll do so much more.”
“But that’ll happen later, right?” He looked her over carefully. “Please?”
She gathered the lapels of his jacket into her fists and gave him one of her dirtiest looks. “Later. And that’s a promise, not a threat. If you tell anyone about this--.”
“Don’t worry, won’t tell a soul. Cross my heart and hope to--.”
“Shut up,” Buffy interrupted. She yanked him forward and kissed him.
***
Buffy could only handle so much, and it didn’t help that Spike was attractive. Her mom, her sister, that random girl Jade from the mall, they all liked the peroxided pest in one way or another. And Buffy wasn’t blind, she was aware of his body, his strength, his personality…
Everything about him was magnetic. Even Buffy missed him when he wasn’t around to get on her nerves. She didn’t want to watch TV or cook waffles for the guy; she wanted to fight with him. The bickering, the name-calling, the sparring, it all left her feeling smart, witty, and powerful. And now, while she kissed him…
He wasn’t the only one suffering from fluctuating levels of desire. It also didn’t help that his ‘desire’ had reached its peak and was pressing into her stomach. She’d be inhuman not to respond. But at the same time, she felt so unlike herself. Talented lips, roaming hands, and a sexy voice shouldn’t have been enough to sway the mighty Slayer.
And she was well past swaying. She could hardly stand on her own two feet. She was clinging to Spike, and not just for support.
“Buffy, my God--.”
“No talking,” she said before capturing his mouth again. She kept him exactly where she wanted him, with his head angled perfectly as he put his lips, tongue, and teeth to better use.
Her hands framed and stroked his sharp cheekbones before slipping into his jacket. Her palms glided over the muscles of his back and torso. She didn’t think twice before sneaking under his snug t-shirt. In fact, she was trying not to think much at all.
He tasted good. He felt good—he was surprisingly warm; like a sponge his skin was soaking up her body heat, radiating it back in a comfortable cozy glow. He was making her feel good. Everything was good, good, good, and it was going to stay that way…at least for a few minutes longer.
“You’re killing me,” he groaned as she snuggled closer. “Are you trying to kill me?”
“Not yet.” He chuckled and it was a genuinely happy sound that caused Buffy’s stomach to twist into knots. “Spike…”
“Hush, it’s alright. I know the drill. Talking, bad. Kissing, good.”
“Talking, it…” As he nibbled her neck, she closed her eyes and filled her fists with platinum blond hair. “It complicates things.”
“And the kissing doesn’t?”
She grimaced. She couldn’t see his smile, but she could hear it, she felt it against her skin. He was teasing her, but that didn’t stop her from tugging on his hair and pulling his head from her collarbone.
“Mind the hair, baby. It’s attached, you know.” He grinned until his eyes focused on her pinched mouth and narrowed eyes. “Come on, I can’t say anything? Not a word?”
“That, what you just said, that’s a perfect example of why you shouldn’t be allowed to speak. Because when you say things like that, I start thinking. And the more rational thoughts I have, the more I--.”
“Panic?” he suggested. “The more you give yourself one hell of a bloody guilt trip?”
“I shouldn’t be doing this. Not with you, and you know it. I don’t have time to coddle a lovesick vampire.”
“Oh, of course you do because, taking these past few days in account, coddling means snogging my brains out whenever it’s convenient for you.”
Buffy untangled herself from his arms and headed to her abandoned breakfast on the dresser. She picked up the bottle of juice and gave it a good shake.
“So, that’s it?”
“Yes, that’s it. You’d better leave, and now.” She needed to keep her hands busy, she couldn’t look at him or she’d be lured back into his embrace, and with an embarrassing amount of ease.
“I don’t have to be burden. I can help.”
“And what would you expect in return?” She dreaded the answer, but it was a question she had to ask. “I’m sure you’d want something, you always do. Cigarettes, alcohol, your very own ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ card—oh, and don’t let me forget about the cash. If you think snogging is going on that list, you’re--.”
“Crazy? Insane? Completely off my rocker?” When she didn’t respond, he walked to her and slipped the bottle of juice from her fingers. “I’m crazy about you.”
“I don’t care. You’ll get over it.”
“If you’d just give me a chance--.”
“It’s been three days since I saved you from Harmony’s minions! Do you honestly think that everything can change between us in just three days?”
“Hasn’t it? You weren’t kissing me three days ago.”
“Spike--.”
“Look daggers at me if you must, but we both know there are only two ways to get rid of a cold: either you fight it, or you let it take you to bed--.”
“What?” Buffy interrupted. She wasn’t sure if she should laugh or be offended by his ridiculous metaphor. “Did you just--.”
“Oh my God! Spike, did you just compare yourself to snot?!”
Buffy rolled her eyes as Dawn stuck her head through the open door. “Just when I thought this morning couldn’t get any worse,” she mumbled under the sound of her sister’s loud cackles.
“Is that a real pick up line? There are only two ways to get rid of a cold—damn, that’s priceless!”
“Dawn!”
“Darn, I meant darn,” Dawn corrected herself between giggles. “Spike. Seriously?”
“Shouldn’t she be at school?” he asked, looking from Buffy to Dawn. “Bit, why aren’t you at school?”
“I’m not going today and neither is Buffy. We’re taking mom to her doctor’s appointment. So, back to you being lame, no wonder you haven’t dated much after Drusilla. With lines like that—God, did you come up with that doozy yourself?”
“Snagged it from a movie. Though it was brilliant, you know, at the time and when I wasn’t repeating it for the fucking peanut gallery. I could do without the laugh-track, bit.”
Buffy watched as he ran his fingers through his hair. He looked almost sheepish as he joined Dawn with a few chuckles.
“You’re not supposed to swear in the house,” Dawn continued. “My friend Janice was banned from here for a whole week because she dropped an f-bomb.”
“Then maybe you should go downstairs and plug Joyce’s ears for me.”
“Oh, you can’t get rid of me that easily. I want to hear what you’ll compare yourself to next.”
“What else have you heard?” Buffy asked, interrupting what was becoming their private conversation. “How long were you spying on us?”
“Not long. Just long enough to stumble across a crapload of blackmail. With Spike’s poetic snot reference and your moaning and groaning, I won’t be getting grounded again. Not in this lifetime. And if I do get in trouble, you’ll get me out of it or I’ll tell everyone about the kissing and how I totally saw you feeling up Spike.”
Buffy struggled to breathe normally. “Dawn,” she paused, too angry to get out a complete sentence. Her brain went into overdrive, grasping for a threat, her own piece of blackmail—anything that she could use against her little sister.
“What if I told big sis a few things?”
Buffy looked at Spike, shocked by his soft voice and serious expression. He didn’t return her look; his eyes were glued on Dawn.
“I could tell her about the time I caught you in the Magic Box--.”
“You wouldn’t!”
“What happened at the Magic Box?” Buffy asked. “What’d she do?”
“Or I could tell her about…”
All he did was lift a brow and Dawn squirmed. Her chin quivered and tiny drops of moisture gathered in her eyes. “But…but you promised.”
“I know, kitten, and I’ll keep it, if you’ll cut us a break.”
“Wait,” Buffy began. She wanted to say more, but Spike gave her a stern glance and took Dawn a few steps away.
“You’re taking her side?”
“I won’t let you give her grief.”
“I thought you were my friend.”
“I am, sweet.”
With his back to Buffy, he leaned in to whisper into Dawn’s ear. Buffy had no idea what he was saying but within seconds, her sister’s frown was transformed into a fragile smile.
“Are we alright?” he asked, his voice was still quiet, but Buffy could hear him clearly again.
“We shouldn’t be, you being a big fat jerk and all…but we’re okay.”
“You’re sure?”
Her head bobbed in a reluctant nod before she stepped forward to place a brief kiss on his cheek. “Your waffles are ready. They’ve been ready for at least twenty minutes. They’re ice cold, but I think they taste better that way.”
“I’ll be down in a minute.”
“What the hell was that?” Buffy demanded once Dawn had left the room.
“Nothing. We had a talk, that’s all.”
He tried to shrug off her question, but Buffy wouldn’t let him off the hook so easily. “You either threatened her within every inch of her life, or you promised her the moon. Which is it? And what do you have on her? What happened at the Magic Box? What was that look all about?”
“What look? I don’t remember a look.”
“You did that thing with your eyebrows when you said, “Or I could tell her about…” What was that look about, Spike?”
“It doesn’t matter. It’s over with. I handled it. She won’t tattle on us. Your secrets are safe.”
“Yeah, but so are hers!”
He stared at her a moment before cracking a smile.
“Spike, don’t--.”
“I gave her my word.”
“You were going to tell me a minute ago!”
“She was playing dirty. I didn’t have a choice. Now she’s promised to behave, shouldn’t you follow her example?”
“Oh, shut up,” she said, not enjoying his teasing. “What makes you so sure that she’ll keep her promise?”
“She will,” he shrugged again. “She’s a good kid.”
“I bet I wouldn’t think so if you told me her deep dark secrets. I think she’d be grounded until she turns forty. Am I right?”
“Buffy,” he paused to shake his head and laugh. “I have waffles waiting, would you care to join me? We can go round and round about this all morning if you’d like.”
“No, I wouldn’t care to, I’ve had enough of you today to last me a lifetime.”
“So, I won’t be watching Dawn later?”
“I…I’m not sure,” she answered honestly.
“When is Joyce’s appointment?”
“Around noon,” she mumbled. She couldn’t think of a reason to lie. “It’ll be long. Maybe a few hours. Dawn…she might want to leave early.”
“I’ll be home all day.”
Buffy just nodded and Spike did the same before disappearing down the hallway.
***
[Reviews - 55]
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Chapter or Story |
Chapter or Story | 
Chapter or Story
Has been viewed 1603 times
- Text Size +
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Chapter or Story |
Chapter or Story | Chapter or Story - Text Size +