The girl swallowed hard. “Buffy.”
He nodded. “Right. Listen, Buffy, my name is Spike. I’m gonna help you, all right?” He shrugged out of his coat, then frowned as she mumbled something. “What’s that, luv?”
She repeated her words, louder this time. “I know who you are.”
Spike didn’t know what to say to that, so he remained silent. Luckily, she was obviously not in the mood for any deeper conversation. He slowly got a little closer, but stopped again as she flinched back, and raised his hands in a none threatening manner. “It’s all right, I was just… Here.” He held out his leather duster towards her, and was relieved when she accepted it after only a moment’s hesitation.
Wrapping the coat around herself, she mumbled a thank you. Then she glanced over at her attacker, still lying unconscious on the ground a couple of feet away. She let out a shaky breath. “Is he dead?”
Spike looked at the other man as well, then turned back to Buffy. “No. But next time he’ll probably think twice before attacking someone.” Then he paused. “Let’s get you home now, okay?” He offered her his hand, and for a moment, she just looked at him. Spike sighed. “It’s okay. Just take my hand, I’ll help you.”
Buffy hesitated, then nodded. She accepted Spike’s hand and allowed him to slowly pull her to her feet. Then she felt a sharp pain in her ankle, and let out a soft cry. Spike gave her a worried look. “What’s wrong?”
She bit her lip to keep from screaming with pain. “I think I twisted my ankle when... It really hurts.” Tears started welling up in her eyes again.
Spike dropped to his knees beside her and gently ran his hand over her ankle, trying to feel if anything seemed to be broken.. “Think you’ll be okay, doesn’t look too bad.” He got up. “But I’ll drop you off at the hospital, just to make sure.”
“Not the hospital!” Buffy gave him a pleading look, her bottom lip trembling. “Please… They’ll call my parents, I don’t want them to…” A sob escaped from her throat.
Sighing, Spike closed his eyes for a second. He had no idea what to do. If Buffy didn’t want her parents to know what happened, then he couldn’t take her home, either. Only one thing to do then. It was probably a bad idea, but he didn’t really have much choice. Not like he could just walk away and leave her there. With his mind made up, he gave her an assuring smile. “Right. No hospital. Okay, um…” He hesitated. “Just trust me now, okay pet?“
Buffy gave him a suspicious look, then looked down at her hands before nodding. “I trust you.” Spike watched her closely to see if she meant it, then nodded and gently scoped her up in his arms. He felt her tense up at first and was just about to let her down again when she seemed to relax. After a moment’s hesitation, she put her arms around his neck and rested her head against his shoulder.
Buffy slowly got up from the couch, realizing much to her relief that the pain in her ankle wasn’t as bad as it had been earlier. She supposed she had been lucky after all. Now she looked around the small apartment, silently wondering what was taking Spike so long. As soon as they had gotten back to his place, he had offered her one of his t-shirts and a pair of sweat pants, both black, and she had reluctantly given him back his duster. The clothes he had given her were clean, but the duster had smelled of him, and for some reason, wearing it had felt good. Safe.
She had meant what she said when she told Spike that she trusted him. She couldn’t explain it, but when she had looked into his eyes, she just knew that he wouldn’t hurt her. After what had happened with Angel, she would have thought that she would never be able to trust another man again. But Spike was different. She didn’t know how she knew that, she just did. Sure, he had beaten the hell out of Angel, and a part of her still felt almost sickened by the brutality of his actions. But he had been nothing but kind to her.
However, when Spike walked up behind her and gently put his hand on her shoulder, she let out a scream and nearly jumped through the roof. He immediately took a step back and gave her an apologetic look. “Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you.”
Clutching her hand to her chest, Buffy swallowed as she waited for her heart to slow down. Beyond embarrassed, she put on a strained smile. “It’s okay, I’m fine.” She blushed. “Sorry for screaming like that. I guess I’m still a bit jumpy.”
Spike nodded. “I understand. Here.” He held out a cup of hot beverage, which she gratefully accepted.
Sniffing its contents, Buffy took a small sip. “Mm. Hot chocolate. Great, thanks.” Then she smiled a little. “And little marshmallows. I love those.”
He shrugged, and it was his turn to look embarrassed. “Thought you would.”
Buffy took another sip, then looked around the room again. “I like your place. It’s nice.” She frowned a little when he didn’t answer, but then limped over to the couch and sat back down. It was a nice apartment, but for some reason it seemed a little sterile. It took a moment before she realized why. The furniture were all nice and classical, some of them even looking quite expensive, but the room seriously lacked of personality. Over at the far wall was a small book case, but apart from a few books, it was empty. A place like that would be perfect for keeping framed photographs of your family and loved ones, but there was nothing. She found that a bit strange, but didn’t want to overstep her bounds by asking.
She snapped out of her thoughts when Spike cleared his throat. “Um, you wanna call someone? Let them know you’re okay?”
Buffy thought about it, knowing that her parents wouldn't miss her since she had told them she would spend the night at Faith's. For a moment she considered calling Faith and tell her what happened, then changed her mind. She shook her head. “No, it’s okay.”
He nodded in acceptance. “All right. Do you…?” He hesitated for a moment. “It’s getting late, you must be tired.” Suddenly he looked nervous. “You, um… Will you be okay, sleeping on the couch?”
“Yeah, sure, couch is just fine.” Buffy desperately tried to hold back a yawn, but failing miserably. She really was exhausted.
Spike gave her a small smile. “Great. I’ll get you a blanket and some pillows.” He looked like he was going to say something more, then obviously decided against it. He was just about to leave the room when she called out for him, softly.
"Spike?" He stopped by the doorway, turning around to look at her. "Thank you."
TBC