Spike knocked over the welcome to Sunnydale sign while Buffy yelled at him for ruining public property. Spike laughed saying he always did such things. Buffy shook her head but figured it was harmless enough. He quietly pulled through town and she recognized the street her house was on. It was dark inside so she stepped inside with Spike following her since he didn’t need an invite anymore and they went up to her room. Buffy pulled down the shades and curtains to be ready in the morning so Spike wouldn’t turn to dust and they quietly climbed the stairs. Joyce was sleeping so Buffy decided not to bother her so they climbed into Buffy’s little bed which had been freshly changed and made in the month since she left.
Spike smiled at her young looking room as Buffy threw a blanket over the window to be extra sure they would be safe and she snuggled with the remaining blanket knowing Spike would keep her comfortable. She closed her eyes and opened her mind to say, ‘Night night Spike. Love you.’
He replied in his mind as well, ‘Night my love, sweet dreams. Love you too.’
And with that they closed their eyes.
Buffy awoke to her mother screaming having found Spike and Buffy sleeping in her bed together. They were still dressed from the night before having been so tired they didn’t bother to get changed. Buffy stood up and shouted, “Surprise?”
Joyce screamed at Buffy, “You leave me for a month, then sneak into my house only to sleep with Spike? It’s bad enough you slept with Angel, now another guy? Are you at least being safe?”
Spike spoke up, “I’m kind of dead Joyce. The dead can’t father children.”
Joyce blinked, thrown by his comment, “I forgot. What is going on with you two though?”
Spike replied, “I found Buffy, took care of her until she was ready to come home so I brought her home safe and sound.”
Buffy threw herself at her mother and gave her a big hug and Joyce smiled at Buffy as a few tears fell being so thankful her daughter was safe. She smiled at Spike and stated in a serious tone, “I’m still unhappy you took advantage of my daughter. We will need to talk.”
Buffy nodded eager to not have that conversation, “Can we shower first? I haven’t had a shower for over a day and I need some fresh clothes and Spike can you bring our bags from the staircase up so we have clothes to change into after our shower.”
Joyce frowned, “Together?”
Buffy frowned as well and asked further digging her grave, “Is it okay? We have done it before.”
Joyce sighed and just turned and walked down the stairs handing Spike their bags demanding, “We will need to talk when you are finished.”
Buffy and Spike went into the shower deciding to just make it a fast one instead of a sex filled one. Spike washed Buffy’s hair while massaging her scalp, which helped to relax her, but she washed herself so that he wouldn’t be tempted. Buffy returned the favor on Spike’s hair but couldn’t resist placing a kiss on the top of his erection whispering, “If you’re quiet we can take care of you so it’s not awkward.”
Spike nodded and Buffy closed her eyes and opened the bond while carefully lowering her head onto his erection. Spike hissed but didn’t groan as she carefully and quickly pumped his erection with her head, sucked and nibbled on his erection with her mouth and fondled his balls with her other hand. She didn’t have to wait long before he was orgasming into her mouth. She kissed him softly as he washed himself clean and he whispered into the bond, ‘Thank you pet. I’ll feel better now.’
Buffy kissed him again and nodded as she thought back, ‘Anytime my darling, anytime.’
They quickly climbed out of the shower and dried each off and quickly got dressed. Spike did take a few minutes to brush Buffy’s hair for her but she left it down so he didn’t have to fix it. Spike took her hand for support, ‘Leave the bond open, pet. I need to know when you need me to talk and when you are okay. Plus I really need to know what you are feeling to make sure you’re okay.’
Buffy nodded fully agreeing with him. She needed his strength and support and calmness through the bond to make these explanations go smoothly.
Joyce was sitting in the large chair holding a hot cocoa and on the table in front of the sofa stood two hot cocoas for each of them, steaming hot. Spike spoke gently, “Thank you Joyce for the cocoa. You make a mighty fine cup of cocoa.”
Buffy smiled agreeing, “Yes thank you.” Then she thought to Spike, ‘Don’t mention our abilities to talk to each other in our brains. I want that kept a secret from everyone if that’s okay.’
Spike thought back, ‘I totally agree. They would try even harder to break us up if they knew I could read your thoughts and you mind. They would be jealous.’
Joyce began by saying, “So where were you young lady?”
Buffy replied, “L.A. for a while. I got a job at a diner and took care of myself. Even had a cat and an apartment by the time Spike here found me. There was a lost girl there. She was around my age that needed a job and a place to stay. I gave her my job and the apartment so that she could live. I wanted to help her. Also saved my boss’s little girl from a kidnapper. He gave me a nice bonus at the end of the week for helping him which allowed Spike and I to leave Kim behind and we went to another town.”
She thought towards Spike, ‘It’s best not to mention the town so we can use it if we have to.’
Spike agreed and said, ‘Understand and agree.’
So Buffy continued, “We met up with a guy who gave us a house to stay in after we stayed in a hotel for two days. I got attacked during those two days and almost died. Spike here saved me.” Joyce smiled gratefully towards Spike and Buffy still continued, “Spike took care of me until I was better and like I said we found a house to stay in. It was beautiful. It had a nice garden, a front porch and a little bench in the garden. Reminded me of home and you. Are you still mad at me, Mommy?”
Joyce’s heart broke as she shook her head, “I am not mad at you. I missed you while you were gone. That’s why I asked Spike to find you and take care of you.”
Buffy nodded and squeezed Spike’s hand tighter. Joyce asked curious, “Um how did you and Spike end up together and did you really run away because of me?”
Buffy shook her head, “I couldn’t come home. I had to kill Angel, Mom. He was a vampire and was killing people. He’s the one who killed Jenny, you remember the teacher that Giles was with? Well I had to kill him. It hurt like crazy and I couldn’t stay here and pretend it was okay. Besides you told me I couldn’t come home and I had nowhere really to go to get away. I’d like to stay if you would let me but Spike has to stay here too.”
Joyce frowned, “Why does Spike have to stay here too? Doesn’t he have any place to stay?”
Spike shook his head, “I was living with Angel and Drusilla. You already knew Drusilla left me, and Angel is now dead.”
Joyce sighed, “You can stay in the guest room and I’ll think on whether or not you can stay in Buffy’s room. It’s the best I can offer.”
Spike nodded and Buffy thought, ‘You can always sneak in while she’s sleeping.’
Spike replied, ‘I respect Joyce too much to do that but we will see what we can do.’
Buffy said, “After Spike saved me, we started to live together and depend on each other. Some demon hunters kidnapped me and he saved me again. That’s when I realized I love him, Mom. You can understand right? I really truly love him”
Joyce nodded noticing on both of their faces were looks of love. She sighed realizing things have changed but she asked, “Is there anything else I should know?”
Spike nudged Buffy thinking, ‘You should tell her about the claim and be honest.’
Buffy looked at Joyce and nodded, “One more thing. I have to explain it to you though. Well I’ll let Spike actually.”
Spike chuckled and then took over the explanations, “Buffy and I are mated. It’s like married only permanent. Now don’t freak out. Let me explain what it can let me do. It allows me to find your daughter wherever she might be. She could be in Hong Kong and I could still find her and bring her home safe. The mark on her, also tells others she belongs to me. It won’t totally save her but it might stop a few fledglings from taking a bite out of her while she patrols. It also means I’ll protect your daughter until the day I dust. She’s mine and I’ll care for her as I would myself and probably even better than that. I love your daughter, Joyce and I’ll always care for her. I’ll keep her safe and make her life good as long as I possibly can. If she dies, I’ll die too. It’s the way things work.”
Joyce didn’t say anything and then began to cry. Buffy rushed over to her mother’s side and asked, “Why are you crying?”
Joyce cried harder, “I lost my little girl. She’s all grown up and I didn’t even get to throw her a wedding.”
Spike thought about that for a moment and felt really bad so her offered, “We can get married traditionally still Joyce. I’d have to get some papers and stuff to make it legal. I always meant to get papers but I never settled down long enough to get any. I plan to stay with your daughter so I’ll get papers and make us legally married if that’s okay with you.”
Joyce smiled and pulled Spike in for a hug as well.