Buffy lifted the washcloth and created a lather from the bar of soap in the shower and gently rubbed over his shoulders. Spike closed his eyes never having ever had someone who cared for him. Usually he was the one caring for them but here Buffy was washing him down.
Buffy gently rubbed circles on his chest at first ignoring his nipples but then getting a little braver and gently rubbed the cloth over them. He opened his eyes for just a second to look at her and saw she was blushing and looked almost embarrassed. He frowned and Buffy thought she must be doing a bad job so she stopped mid rub and looked up into his eyes for answers. Spike sighed speaking gently towards her, “Pet, you don’t have to wash me. I can do it. I don’t mind. I don’t want you doing something you don’t want to or aren’t ready to do.”
Buffy wanted to return the favor. He had taken care of her the last day and a half and she wanted to give him something back. She was just nervous. This was all so new to her. Her one night with Angel had been nice but more so from the virgin perspective. She didn’t do much of the work and only had the job of meeting his thrusts and even those were short lived, maybe a minute at the most. In that minute though she felt closer than she had thought possible with a person. Now, it was different. She looked into his eyes for strength and whispered, “I don’t know if I’m ready. I want to return the favors. I really do it’s…” Buffy trailed off and knew she couldn’t do this. She was too scared and it was wrong. This wasn’t Angel and it was so wrong to want this. She shook her head and the tears started to fall and she hopped out of the shower and ran out of the bathroom grabbing her bag to have her clothes with her. She quickly pulled on some clothes out of her bag and wiped the tears that had fallen and didn’t even bother with shoes as she ran out of the hotel room not listening to Spike yell after her.
She ran and ran until she could run no more. She had no idea where she was or what she was even doing. She just had to get away. She had to escape. ‘How do people live with the pain of losing someone they love?” Buffy thought when she finally slowed down to catch her breath then she realized something, ‘People don’t live with it. I’m alone, all alone and no one will ever understand or be by my side.’
Buffy felt more tears fall as she suddenly looked around. She found herself deep inside a cemetery surrounded by vampires. She had no weapons, and no shoes on and she was alone. She knelt on the ground hoping it was fast. She was tired of this life. She was so tired of the pain that came along with living and the responsibility of being the Slayer. She bowed her head not saying anything and not even fighting. One of the vampires leered at her, “Look, fresh food.”
The female vampire of the bunch looked at Buffy a bit confused, “Why don’t I smell fear?”
The third vampire spoke loudly with a growl, “I don’t care why, let’s just kill her, Boss. I’m so hungry and it’s not everyday we get fresh meat.”
The fourth vampire jumped up, grabbing Buffy by her neck and she dangled in the air gasping for breath. He threw her against a wall cutting her left arm. Suddenly all five vampires hissed, “Slayer.”
The third vampire almost cheered, “I’m going to kill the Slayer!” and with that he jumped on the Slayer and backslapped her. He took a deep whiff of her blood as it filled the air after having slammed her head so head against the wall. He grinned as he bent down and bit her neck not so carefully. Buffy hissed in pain but didn’t fight back almost welcoming the feeling of her life draining out of her system. Just then, she saw a flash of black and a loud roar and the vampire was ripped off her neck and thrown across the graveyard to tumble over a tombstone.
The other vampires stood up with their game faces on looking at the intruder. The intruder grabbed the head of the one closest to him and twisted it clean off watching the dust fall. Then he turned towards the vampire who had tasted Buffy’s blood and roared and started punching and kicking him fueled by anger. The vampire started begging him to stop and dust him already but the intruder wouldn’t listen. He was really pissed off.
Buffy stood up on shaky legs and noticed the other two vampires were about to jump the intruder and took a branch off the ground and dusted one and then the second one from behind with neither of them knowing what had hit him. She then grabbed the intruder by the arm swinging him around and put up her hand to stop his motions and carefully dusted the vampire that was under him. She then collapsed on the ground at his feet passing out. “Bloody Hell Slayer, what were you thinking?” Spike roared at the unconscious girl on the ground.
He hoisted her up into his arms and cradled her like a baby, carrying her carefully through the streets and back into the hotel. As he closed the door he smelled the scent of her blood strong and quickly stripped her of her clothes to see where the injuries were to stop the bleeding. He went into the bathroom picking up one of the washcloths there and used the unused ice bucket to fill it with water. He brought both items over to the bleeding Slayer kneeling beside her. Carefully, he washed the cut on her back and her arm making sure it was sealed. They weren’t actively bleeding so that wasn’t what he smelled so strong. He flipped her over onto her back and noticed above her eye was a big deep gash. Without thinking, he bent down and sealed the wound, bathing it with his tongue while doing so. He closed his eyes tasting the ambrosia then roared loudly as he opened his eyes to find on the opposite side of her throat was a new fresh bite mark. He had known she was injured but not bitten.
He picked her up cradling her into his arms and bent down and gently sealed the wound and then sighed as he listened closely to her heartbeat. It seemed strong and sure but he was still worried. He noticed she was shaking while still passed out so he went into her bag and pulled out a long shirt and pulled it over her body. Watching her still shake, he pulled her into the bed and wrapped his arms around her as he pulled the covers up around them both. He closed his eyes listening to her heartbeat willing her to wake up. He realized she hadn’t eaten in two days and it was close to sunrise. Taking the time to carefully tuck the blankets around her, he then set out to find her some food. Spike went down to ask the owner of the hotel if there was any place close to buy her some food. He could do without blood by making due on the sips of Slayer blood he was drinking but she needed food badly. The owner of the hotel motioned to a few vending machines out back. Spike looked around to make sure no one watching then he kicked the machines hard until food and some kind of yellow soda fell to the bottom. Then he collected the food and soda took it upstairs hoping Buffy was awake.