About an hour later, Buffy was giggling, madly, at something Spike had just said. Only problem was, she couldn’t for her life remember what it was. But she knew it had to be something extremely funny. Because Spike was a funny guy. And he had the most amazing eyes… Pushing her empty glass away and eagerly searching the room for the waitress, she completely missed how Spike just barely managed to save the glass from falling down on the floor. Her face lit up when she spotted Harmony in the crowd and she jumped up from the chair. “Hey! You! Waitress person! Get over here!”
“Um, Buffy?” Spike put his hand on her arm to get her attention. She turned to him, a questioning look on her face. “Think you’ve had enough, pet.”
“No!” She glared at him for a moment, then sat back down with a pout. “You think I’m drunk, don’t you?”
“Well…” He raised a brow. “Aren’t you?”
Letting out a snort, Buffy stood up again. “I’m so not drunk and I can prove it to you right now. Watch me walk in a straight line!” She took a couple of wobbly steps, and would have crashed right into the table next to theirs if Spike hadn’t reacted immediately and jumped up to catch her.
Trying to hide his amusement, he gave the young couple sitting at the other table an apologetic look before turning back to her. “You were saying?”
“You’re mean. Let go of me!” Buffy pouted again and was just about to pull away from him when his muscular arms suddenly caught her attention. A wide smile spread on her face. “Wow! You must be working out.” She glanced down at his black t-shirt and cocked her head to the side, as if she was trying to see right through the fabric.
Now it was Spike’s turn to snort, although he still appeared to be quite amused. “Okay, that’s it. Much as I enjoy having a pretty girl ogling my abs, you’re gonna feel like hell in the morning if you keep this up.” Seeing how she opened her mouth to object, he quickly stopped her by putting a finger on her lips. “Ah-ah! Been fun and all, and I have to admit, watching you do your own version of the Macarena was bloody hilarious, but I think it’s time to put an end to this and call it a night. In fact…” He paused, frowning as she had started nibbling, playfully, on his finger, and cleared his throat. “Right. Being the gentleman that I am, I’m walking you home.”
“You? A gentleman?!” Buffy burst out laughing. “Gentleman, my ass! If you were, you’d be on your way to the bar as we speak, getting me another drink. Instead you’re standing here, arguing. Quite rude, if you ask me. And you know what?” Leaning against him, she studied him, closely. “I think you’re drunk!”
Spike could feel a headache coming up. “That right?”
“Yup!” Buffy nodded, firmly. “You should see yourself; can’t even stand still. You keep spinning around and…” She interrupted herself, frowning as she looked around the room. “Hey, the whole freaking room’s spinning. Tell it to stop!” She slumped back down on the chair, resting her head on the table.
“Come on, luv, up you go.” Gently tugging on her hand a couple of times, Spike finally managed to pull her back up on her feet. Then he held back a sigh as she practically collapsed against him in a fit of giggles.
Suddenly she stopped and pulled back a little, looking him right in the eyes and gently ran her fingers over his scarred eyebrow. “Did you know you have a scar? It’s really sexy.” She swayed a little and started giggling again, clinging to Spike’s arm in a desperate attempt of trying to keep her balance.
“Right then.” Realizing that Buffy would clearly not be leaving the club willingly, Spike easily scoped her up in his arms and headed towards the exit.
“Hey, put me down! I can walk fine by myself, thank you very much,” Buffy slurred and, despite her words, put her arms around his neck, resting her head on his shoulder. Spike couldn’t resist the opportunity to lean a little closer and sniff at her hair, inhaling her sweet scent. He immediately felt himself get hard and shook his head, as if to clear it.
“Buffy?”
Buffy raised her head and found herself looking into Willow’s worried eyes. The red-head was suddenly standing right next to her and Spike, a concerned expression on her face. “Will!” She tried to smile at her best friend, but it came out more like a grimace. “Can’t stay. Gotta take Spike home.” Gesturing for her friend to step closer, she lowered her voice as she went on; “He’s very drunk, but don’t tell him! He doesn’t know.”
“Oh, okay…” Willow gave her an assuring smile before glancing at Spike, a worried look on her face.
He sighed. “Don’t worry ‘bout her, Red. I’ll make sure she’ll get home nice and safely, yeah?”
Turning her face slowly towards him, Buffy looked at him in confusion. “You don’t know where I live!”
Spike couldn’t help but chuckle; she was just too adorable for words. “Your house s’just next to mine, pet. Neighbors, remember?”
“Oh, right.” Buffy nodded, as if she had just remembered. “Well, okay then.” With that, she yawned and put her head back down on his shoulder.
By the time they had finally reached her house, Buffy had sobered up enough to be able to walk by herself. She tilted her head back, enjoying the feeling of the cold air against her face. Taking a few deep breaths, she finally glanced at Spike, and noticed that he was watching her, closely. Suddenly she felt almost shy.
He smiled at her, but still looked a little concerned. “Feeling better?”
She nodded with a grimace. “Yeah. Sorry. Guess I can’t hold my liquor after all.”
Waving his hand in dismissal, Spike looked away for a moment. “Don’t worry ‘bout it. I had a great time tonight.”
“Really?” Buffy gave him a doubtful look. “Even though I almost threw up on your boots?” She blushed at the memory, having never seen anyone jump out of the way so quickly.
“Well, you missed ‘em with an inch or two.” Spike chuckled. “And I still had a great time. Believe it or not, I’ve seen worse.”
Buffy smiled, relieved. Then she glanced at her house, wondering if it would be inappropriate to ask Spike to come in for a while. For some reason, she didn’t want the night to end just yet. She bit her lip, nervously. “Do you, um, would you like to come in? I could make us some coffee.” Then she had to cringe at her words. Coffee?! Was that really the best she could come up with? She didn’t even like coffee for crying out loud! And what if he thought she was hitting on him? Suddenly she wished she had never brought it up.
“Yeah, sure. Why not?”
She let out the breath she didn’t realize she had been holding. Okay, she could do this. She wanted to get to know Spike better, and now she had her chance. Giving him a small smile, she gestured for him to follow her into the house.
TBC