“Yeah, sure!” Buffy gave him a bright smile. “The best movie I’ve ever seen.” Then she quickly looked away, not wanting Spike to find out that she had no idea what it had been about. Because the moment he had put his arm around her shoulders in the darkness at the movie theater, her ability to focus on anything else had flown right out the window.
“Really?” Spike gave her a suspicious look. “What was your favorite part?”
Buffy stared at him blankly for a moment. “Um… the part with…” She blushed, then stubbornly looked at him. “What was yours?”
Spike opened his mouth, then closed it again. Buffy kept looking at him, expectantly. Finally he shrugged, an innocent expression on his face. “Hard to say. Was all good.”
Buffy was silent for a moment, then nodded, eagerly. “Yeah, I agree.” Then she decided to change the subject. “So, dinner? Where are we going? You said it was going to be a surprise.”
“Right. Well…” Spike suddenly seemed a little nervous. “I was thinking we could go back to my place.” Seeing the look on Buffy’s face, he hurried to add; “For dinner, I mean. Thought I could, you know…” He hesitated, clearly embarrassed, something Buffy found highly amusing, not to mention adorable.
Now she looked surprised. “You can cook?” He raised a brow, pretending to be offended, and Buffy giggled. “Sorry. I just meant… never mind.” Then she gave him a sweet smile. “Sounds wonderful.”
He let out a snort. “Just don’t expect anything too fancy. Hate to disappoint you.”
She placed her hand on his arm, looking him straight in the eyes. “You could never disappoint me.” Spike looked relieved. Instead of responding, he gently put his hand on her cheek and placed a soft kiss on her lips. Buffy closed her eyes and happily leaned into his touch, but pouted when he suddenly pulled back, way too soon for her liking. Then she couldn’t help but add, a teasing note in her voice; “Besides, we can always call for a pizza if it turns out to be too bad.”
Spike mock glared at her, causing her to giggle again. “Think I could do a bit better than that, pet.”
Her smile widened. “Better than pizza? In that case, I might have to move in with you for good.” Then she blushed, realizing what she had just said. She had meant it as a joke, but now she felt stupid for just blurting it out. Luckily, Spike didn’t seem to mind. Letting out the breath she had been holding, Buffy cleared her throat. “So, your place, huh? Lead the way!”
The ride back to Spike’s place went rather quickly, and when he jumped off the motorcycle outside the house, he couldn’t help but think about how much things had changed for the better for him lately. As they walked up to the front door, he glanced at Buffy and wondered, not for the first time, whatever he had done to deserve someone as amazing as her. He still had a lot of issues to work out, of that he was fully aware, but he was able to see things a bit differently now. At least he had stopped expecting his new-found happiness to disappear at any moment.
When he put his hand on the door handle, about to open, he frowned. He thought he had locked the door before he left, as usual, but obviously he had been wrong. Buffy noticed his confusion. “Something wrong?”
“No, I just…” Spike shook his head, as if to clear it, then shrugged. “Guess I must’ve forgotten to lock. No big deal.”
Buffy stared at him in disbelief, then rolled her eyes. “Right. No big deal. Does that happen often? In that case, I’m surprised the burglars are not standing in line outside, waiting for you to leave the house. Then they can just walk right in.”
Spike snorted. “Then I’m afraid they’d be deeply disappointed. Doubt I have much they’d be interested in.” He held up the door and gestured for Buffy to enter, then followed and closed the door behind him. Shrugging out of his duster, he dropped it on the couch. “Make yourself comfortable, luv. I’ll get started with the food.”
“Okay.” Buffy smiled a little. “You want any help? I’m sure there’s something I could do. Want me to set the table?”
He started to object, then changed his mind. “Sure, if you want. Oh, and there’s a bottle of wine in the fridge. Mind opening it? There are glasses on the top shelf in the kitchen cabinet.”
“Got it.” Buffy walked over to the fridge, immediately finding the bottle. She usually didn’t drink much, but she supposed this counted as a special occasion. After getting two wine glasses from the shelf, she opened the bottle and started pouring some of the red liquid into the glasses. Then she made the mistake of glancing over her shoulder at Spike, a silly smile playing on her lips. The next thing she knew, she had managed to knock over one of the glasses, causing the wine to splash all over her new top. “Oh no! Dammit!” She rushed over to the kitchen sink and grabbed a towel, desperately rubbing on one of the large stains.
Spike walked over to her and took the towel. “Don’t, you’ll only make it worse.”
Buffy glared at him, trying to get the towel back. “Give me that! I have to do something, or it’ll get ruined!”
“There’s a laundry room in the basement. That is, if you know how to use it.” Spike smirked. The look on Buffy’s face told him that she was not amused, so he quickly gave her an apologetic look. “Sorry, luv. You can borrow one of my shirts if you want. They’re in the closet in my bedroom.”
Buffy’s face softened a little. “Okay, thanks. Sorry about the wine.” He just waved his hand in dismissal. She left the kitchen and headed for the bedroom, suddenly remembering the first time she had been in that room. It was the night when Angel had tried to rape her outside The Bronze and Spike had saved her. She had rushed into his room in the middle of the night, and he had yelled at her before throwing her out. Back then she had been almost afraid of his behavior, now she could understand where it was coming from. She was so unbelievably happy that Spike had finally opened up to her and allowed her to be a part of his life.
The bedroom was dark and she reached for the light switch. After turning the light on, she had to blink a couple of times to get her eyes to adjust to the sudden brightness in the room. She headed straight for the closet, but for some reason, something made her turn around and look behind her. At first she just stared at the bed, mouth open. Then she screamed.
TBC