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Chapter 9

"You'll need to change the bandages at least twice a day," Fred said as she gently removed Spike's IV, "I would suggest doing it first thing in the morning, and before dinner at night. I've filled you a prescription for Hydrocodone which you can take every six to eight hours as needed."

Spike nodded as she put a bandage over the small hole in his arm. He was finally back in his own clothes and the sight couldn't have made Buffy any happier. The hospital garb he had been sporting for the past two days had done nothing but make him seem more injured somehow. He wasn't himself and the sight of him in sweat pants and a white t-shirt was unsettling to her. "And the stitches?" He asked.

"You'll need to come back in about a week to get them removed. I've gone ahead and scheduled you in with me on Monday, but if you can't make it just give me a call." She said as she removed her gloves.

"Monday'll be fine." He said, quickly looking over at Buffy who was listening intently to the doctors instructions and sitting in the hell chair. Willow and Oz stood over by the door, holding hands and giving their full attention to Fred as well.

Fred grabbed a packet of papers and handed it to him. "These are your discharge papers and detailed care instructions as well as some information on Hydrocodone." She turned to Buffy. "You said you were a college student so I went ahead and put some notes in there to excuse you from work and school for the past few days."

Buffy smiled. "Thank you."

"No problem, and remember if you feel any pressure or severe pain in your head or neck, be sure to give me a call." She said.

She nodded. "I will."

Fred smiled and quickly turned her eyes back to Spike. "Alright then, Mr. Pratt, I will see you again on Monday."

Spike nodded shortly and stood, extending his hand to her. "Thanks, Doc." He said.

Fred met his hand with hers and shook it firmly. "No problem at all, Mr. Pratt. I'll let security know that you're on your way out." With that, she left the room, leaving the door open behind her.

Spike looked over at Oz. "Where's the car?" He asked.

"It's in the parking garage, we're gonna pull it around the back, you get to be smuggled out the way the funeral homes get their bodies." Oz said before fishing in his pocket for something. When his hand finally reemerged, he held a long ball and chain necklace out to Spike, a bullet was hanging from it and Buffy really hoped it wasn't what she thought it was.

"What's this?" Spike asked.

Oz shrugged. "Just a present from Will and me," he said, "that's the bullet they dug out of your rib."

Spike raised his eyebrow, a surprising feat with the stitches still in it. "You serious?"

Willow nodded. "Yeah, Oz asked Dr. Burkle if we could have it and she got it for us."

Spike chuckled and, much to Buffy's surprise, undid the clasp and put the necklace around his neck. She didn't say anything, truthfully it wasn't too far out of character for Spike to wear the very thing that could have killed him as a souvenir around his neck.

"We're going to go get the car." Oz said.

Spike nodded. "Be quick, the second those vultures hear that I'm on the move they'll be flocking to all exits."

Oz nodded. "Welcome to stardom, be ready to run."

He and Willow made their way from the room and were soon out of sight. Spike stood slowly, grabbing his custom leather jacket and putting one of his arms through it. Buffy watched as he struggled to put his other arm in the hole, but after a few moments he was met with success. He tried to raise it to it's proper place over his shoulders, but as he attempted to raise his arms he was met with a sharp pain in his abdomen where his stitches were. Buffy was at his side in an instant, grabbing hold of the collar of his jacket and gently pulling it up.

His blue eyes met her green ones and she could see the aggravation in them. She knew it wasn't at her, but at the situation and his inability to do this simple task on his own. She put a hand on his cheek and pulled his face to hers, placing a gently kiss on his lips. "It won't be forever." She said.

His lips twitched in to a small smirk before he lowered them to hers again, it was the moments like these that filled him with hope for them, when he thought that they would make it through the monster that was his next tour. He wasn't an idiot, he knew it was going to be hard for her and as much as he wanted her to wait for him, he knew that the decision was going to be entirely up to her. The thought of not having her, of her deciding not to be with him, was a tough one to take, even harder knowing that it was a very real possibility, but he also knew that he was going to do everything within his power to convince her otherwise.

He pulled back and kissed the tip of her nose before looking in to her eyes, the arm on his good side wrapping around her small body. "You gonna stay with me today?" He asked.

Buffy smiled. "Do you want me to?"

Spike nodded, "Uh huh," he said leaning his head back down and kissing her again, "you know I do."

Buffy moved her hands to his chest, lightly pushing him away. "We've got to go, they're probably waiting."

Spike pouted, pulling her back. "Let them wait, haven't been out of that bed in almost two days and I want to kiss my Buffy baby."

"Buffy baby?" She asked laughing.

He smiled, nodding head and kissing her again. "Don't go making fun of me, my girlfriend needs a pet name."

A swell of excitement ran through her body as the word girlfriend fell from his lips. "And Buffy baby is the best you can come up with?" She asked.

"Hey, give me a break, wounded here." He said as his cell phone went off in his pocket. He quickly pulled it out and did what Buffy assumed was checking a text before shoving it back in his pocket. "They're at the door, come on."

He took her by the hand and led her through the doorway and in to the hall. There was a security guard waiting at the nurses station who got up quickly as they approached.

"Mr. Pratt?" Spike nodded. "I'll be escorting you out, please follow me." They did as he said and were taken to the private elevator used by the doctors and nurses. The doors closed and the guard pressed the large "B" button, directing the elevator directly to the basement of the hospital. When the doors opened, the man led them to a door, opening it quickly and ushering them outside.

"Spike!"

"Spike Pratt!"

"Mr. Pratt!"

About ten mouths yelled out to Spike all at once, he didn't respond but he did quickly put his sunglasses on and throw his good arm around Buffy. He tilted his head down slightly and pulled her tightly against him in an almost protective motion.

"Is she your girlfriend?"

"How long have the two of you been together?"

"We've heard that you took a bullet for her, is this true?"

Spike rushed them to the car, opening his broken back door for her and pushing her inside before him. He quickly got inside and Oz took no time in fleeing the scene, leaving the paparazzi mob behind them with nothing but a good amount of exhaust in their wake. Spike buckled his seat belt before taking Buffy's hand back in his, taking his sunglasses off and looking at her in an apologetic way.

"Sorry about that." He said. Buffy shrugged, in all honesty she had expected it to be much worse.

She looked forward and noticed something strange. "Will, are you wearing sunglasses?" She asked.

Willow smiled brightly, nodding her head. "Yeah, Oz bought them for me. Do you like them?"

Buffy nodded, Willow wasn't the usual sunglasses type but they did look cute on her. "They look really good."

"You should get a pair," Willow said, "they really help when the paparazzi is taking your picture all the time."

Spike leaned over, his lips almost touching her ear. "I'll buy you a pair, they'll be your best friend before you know it."

"You don't have to do that." She whispered back.

Spike chuckled. "Just shut up and let me spoil you. Speaking of spoiled," he turned his attention to Oz, "this is the only time you are to drive my car, mate, got it?"

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Buffy and Spike sat in his living room on the couch many hours later, near empty Chinese food containers littering the table as their drinks stood half full next to them. They had had a nice and calm day, spending most of it on the couch watching random television game shows, playing along and having their own little competitions. They were sitting next to one another, Buffy with a Nintendo 64 controller in her hand as Spike tried to instruct her through the very basic level of some random video game he had put in.

"You have to jump over that," he said, "push A."

"I'm pushing A." She said hitting the big blue button.

"Push it twice, double tap." He instructed.

She did as she was told and her little man jumped over a boulder. She ran her character in to a cave and was met with a ton of turtle shells shooting at her. Even through her attempts at jumping over them, she was quickly killed and the black 'Game Over' screen took over the television.

"Buffy." Spike said disappointingly.

"I'm done playing this game." She said as she sat the controller down, clearly annoyed by her utter failure at the simple game. She leaned back against the couch cushions, glancing over at Spike's abdomen. "Isn't it time to change your bandages?"

"I guess it is." He grabbed the large roll of gauze that Dr. Burkle had given them, holding it out to Buffy. "You mind, luv?" He asked.

Buffy took the gauze and moved slightly closer to him as he pulled his button front flannel shirt off. His body was amazing, perfect shoulders, pecs, and abs that looked as if they had been carved from stone. She moved her hands to where the gauze roll ended and gently pulled the tape off. He raised his arms slightly as Buffy began to remove the bandaging, sitting next to him and moving her arms around him to hold on to the gauze. When she got to the end, the bullet hole was still covered, but only by a couple of pieces of medical tape that was being used to hold the skin close together to let it heal. She could still see most of it, the thin line made more obvious by the bloody scabbing stuck inside of it, and she felt her heart leap to her throat at the sight of it.

"You okay?" Spike asked.

She looked up and noticed that instead of looking down at her, he was staring straight across the living room. It was obvious to her that he didn't want to look at the wound, and she really couldn't blame him. "I'm fine." She said. She took the old gauze and threw it in the trashcan before placing the end of the new set against his skin. She wrapped the first layer around and pulled it just tight enough so that it wouldn't fall down. She led the roll around him three more times before putting a piece of tape on the end, effectively keeping it in place. She put her materials down and gave him a quick smile. "All done."

He put his shirt back on with a little difficulty before sitting back down next to her. "Thank you."

"No problem." She said. He put an arm around her as changed the channel to a random episode of Futurama. Buffy cuddled in closer to him and watched the show happily by his side. Before she knew it, though, the show ended and she glanced at the clock on the cable box by the television, it was already nearing ten o'clock. "It's getting late."

"You don't have to go," he said, "there's plenty of room here, ya know, mi casa es su casa."

She sighed, he obviously didn't want her to go, and she really didn't want to either, but she had to. "I have class in the morning."

Spike nodded, he wasn't exactly thrilled that she had to leave, but he wasn't going to put up a fight.

"Walk you to the door?" He asked. Buffy nodded and the two made the short walk to his front door. He had wanted to walk her all the way out but she insisted that she could see herself out and that he shouldn't be doing any unnecessary activity.

He closed the door behind her, locking it quickly before returning to the living room. He clicked the television off and made his way to the bathroom, going about his nightly routine the best he could. As he brushed his teeth, the small pill bottle on the counter caught his attention. He spit the toothpaste in to the sink as he stared at the pill bottle with an icy gaze. He took a deep breath as he tapped his long fingers against the counter, focused completely on the pills to his side. He quickly swung his arm to the side, grabbing the bottle and opening it quickly. Almost without thinking, he dumped the pills in to the toilet, quickly flushing it and leaving the bathroom for good.

He made his way in to his bedroom, changing in to a pair of red and black checkered flannel pajama pants. He took his shirt off slowly and opted out of putting another on, deciding it was far too much effort when he would just be going to sleep anyway. Just as he was pulling the covers back on his bed, the doorbell rang. He thought momentarily about ignoring it, but something in his gut was telling him not to. He walked back in to the living room and over to the door, pulling the door open just enough to allow his body to fit through it. When he saw who was standing there, he was completely taken aback.

"Buffy?" He asked.

"This is going to sound really stupid," she said as she stood in the hallway, arms crossed over her chest as she bit gently at her lip, clearly embarrassed, "I made it half way down the block and I..." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and cleared her throat. "There was this guy at the bus stop, and I just couldn't, something didn't feel right, so I was wondering," she paused, "I was wondering if that invitation from earlier was still good."

Realization dawned on him quickly and he instantly wanted to kick himself in the ass. He had sent her on her way in the dark two days after a gun was stuck in her face. She had seen him get shot and he should have known that walking to a bus stop at night was a bad idea so soon after an ordeal like that.

His lips twitched in to a small, sympathetic smile as he pushed the door open. "Come on in, luv, doors always open for you."

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Buffy awoke a few hours later to the feeling of motion in the bed next to her. She glanced at the clock on Spike's nightstand, it was almost three in the morning. She turned tiredly to see what he was doing next to her, but when she saw the look of pain that was strewn across his face she really wished that she hadn't.

"Spike," she said groggily, "what's wrong?"

He took a deep breath, closing his eyes and clenching his teeth. "Nothing," he said, "go back to sleep."

Buffy shifted, sitting up in the bed. "It's obviously not nothing, have you even slept at all?"

"No," he answered, "but I'm fine, just a bit of pain. Don't worry your pretty little head about it."

Buffy threw the blanket off of herself and went to stand up. "You need to take your pain killers."

"No." He said sternly, a quick moving hand reaching out and wrapping around her wrist. She turned back and looked at him, his eyes were set on her with a look of cold seriousness in their depths.

"Spike?"

"I said no." He ground out through gritted teeth. He closed his eyes and took a deep painful breath, something that seemed to calm him, even if it was just a little bit. When he opened his eyes again, Buffy was looking at him, confusion evident on every one of her features. "I'm sorry, didn't mean to snap at you," he said, "but no pills."

"But if you're in pain-"

"Buff, please," he said quietly, "I can't take them."

"Why not? They'll help you, you need to get some sleep or you'll never heal." She explained.

"I don't have them anymore." He said quickly.

Buffy cocked her head to the side, furrowing her brows as even deeper confusion set in. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the fact that I flushed the little buggers down the bloody toilet." He said.

Every single sentence out of his mouth was raising more and more questions in her mind. "Why did you do that?"

Spike sighed. "Come here," he said extending his arm to the side and motioning for her to lay back down next to him, "it's a long story so you might want to get comfortable." Buffy didn't ask anymore questions, she simply did as he wanted and rested her body next to his. "Nobody really knows this, it's a bit personal." He said.

"You know I wouldn't tell anyone anything." She said.

"I know," he said, "that's why I'm telling you." He took a moment, trying to figure out where to start. "When I was young I lived in London with my mum and dad. A few months before my eighth birthday, my dad was killed by a drunk driver. The guy just hopped the curb and hit my dad head on, he lasted almost a day in the hospital before he died and my mum took it incredibly hard. It wasn't too bad at first, she knew she still had to take care of me, but I could hear her crying in her room every night."

Buffy didn't say a word, she just sat and listened intently with open ears and a tender heart. She could tell that this was hard for him, even worse with the added bonus of the painful gunshot wound in his abdomen, and Buffy was determined to let him say his piece without any interruption.

"One day when we were at the park, I fell from the swing or something and broke my arm so of course the hospital gave me some type of pain killers. Somehow she ended up taking one, and one turned in to two, and then three and so on. Eventually she just shut down, she couldn't do anything unless she had her pills. I was only eight, I had no idea what was going on. I ended up getting myself up and walking to school every day because she would always be passed out on the couch or out trying to score more pills. Teachers started noticing that I'd wear the same clothes for weeks at a time and eventually someone figured it out and told my mum's sister what was going on.

"I came home from school one day and my aunt was there with four other men, all of them were standing around my mother who was screaming and crying and doing anything she could to get away from them. My aunt noticed me after a few minutes and took me outside and put me in her car. I saw the men taking my mother out of the house and put her in to a van while she was still screaming and crying like a sodding banshee, it was awful. I ended up living with my aunt in London for two more years before she decided to move to L.A. I hated my aunt, never forgave her for what I thought she did to my mum, and I think she hated me, too. She'd spoil the hell out of her kids, and all I'd get were the hand me downs and leftovers. They weren't my family, they were just some people who happened to live in the same house. My room was just a tiny bed in the basement next to the washer and dryer, they called me their cellar dweller.

"I met Oz and Clem when I started school here and we were quick friends. When I was fifteen the chit kicked me out of the house when she found her kids pot and he blamed it on me. For three years I'd go back and forth between Clem's house and Oz's, they'd sneak me in at night just so I could have a place to sleep that wasn't a sidewalk or a park bench. When I turned 18 I had finally saved up enough money through odd jobs and things like that to move in to this apartment and I've been on my own ever since."

"What about your mother?" Buffy asked.

He sighed again. "About four years ago I got a call from a hospital in London. Apparently she had committed suicide by throwing herself out of a window."

"God, Spike," Buffy said quietly, "I'm so sorry."

He shrugged. "Not your fault, I'm used to it, really. I've got my band and they're more of a family than I've ever had before. The only time it gets to me is on holidays, gets lonely when everyone else is off with their family and you've got none."

Buffy nodded, understanding what he meant. She had a family, that much was true, but she never really felt that great of a connection to any of them but Dawn. There had been multiple times that she had elected to stay at the school during holiday breaks as opposed to going home and she knew how lonely and upsetting it could get. Suddenly, a thought popped in to Buffy's head.

"What would you say if I invited you to Thanksgiving with my family?" She asked.

Spike pulled away from her, just enough to look down at her face. "You want me to meet your folks?" He asked.

She shrugged. "Well, yeah," she said, "I mean it is next week and I know how much it can suck to be alone on a holiday. I mean, you can totally say no if you want to, I won't be offended."

"Would your mum mind?" Spike asked.

Buffy shook her head. "No, she's always trying to get me to invite Willow over during breaks."

"And your dad?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

Honestly, Buffy had no idea how he would react, especially after the entire pictures fiasco. "Maybe meeting you would make him feel better about the pictures and whatnot, there's bound to be more out there at one point or another and if he meets you he might not get so upset next time."

"True." Spike agreed quietly, "Alright, I'm in."

Buffy smiled widely. "You are?"

"Yeah," he said, "Thanksgiving at the Summers household, what could be better?"

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"Aren't you ready yet?" Spike called toward the bathroom where Buffy was currently getting ready for class. He was leaning against the island in his kitchen eating a random pudding cup he had found in the fridge. When he had awoken that morning, he had almost thought that his admission and her invitation had all been an incredibly realistic dream, but when he found that her small body was, again, curled up next to his he knew it had all been very real.

The bathroom door opened and a perky Buffy waltzed through it. "It takes a little more effort for girls to get ready in the morning, we can't just throw some gel in our hair and be on our way like someone else in this room... who is currently eating pudding for breakfast. Isn't breakfast a little early for pudding?"

Spike shook his head, removing the spoon from his mouth as he worked on his current glob of chocolate goodness. "Never too early for pudding." He looked her over, she was wearing a simple outfit of dark blue jeans and a black tank top, pulled together by a light gray unbuttoned sweater and her characteristic boots. "You look nice, pet."

Buffy scoffed, walking across the room and grabbing her bad. "Please, I'm wearing the same clothes Willow brought me to the hospital two days ago and I don't even have my normal makeup."

"Oh, shut your gob." He said throwing his pudding cup in the trash and making his way across the room and over to her. He pulled her in to his arms, careful to keep her away from his wound, and held her tightly about the waist. "You're a right fit bird no matter what and somewhere in that head of yours you know it."

Buffy smiled slightly, reaching up to him on her tiptoes and landing a short kiss to his lips. "Come on," she said, "if we don't leave now I'll be late for class."

"As you wish." He smiled, leaning down and kissing her one last time before releasing her and moving toward the front door.

The ride to Roth was spent with the windows down and music blaring from the speakers. Buffy loved the feeling of the wind running through her hair as Spike sang along with the music on the radio and moved his hands in time with the beat of the drums against the steering wheel. When they stopped at a red light and Buffy noticed the stares they were getting from the people in the car next to them, she merely pushed her hair out of her face and turned to Spike, giving him a true smile and reaching over to take one of his hands in hers.

When they arrived at Roth University, Buffy directed him to the building where her first class of the day would be held and he happily navigated through the small one way roads of the campus. When they pulled up to the building, he turned the music down and put the car in park.

"Thanks for the ride." She said with a smile.

"Anytime, pet," he said leaning his head against the back of his black leather seat, "I'd do this every morning if it meant waking up next to you each day." The slight blush that kissed her cheeks was quickly hidden when she moved her hand to tuck a piece of hair behind her ear. He smiled, the fact that he could get that reaction from her with just his words a complete ego boost for him.

She opened the car door. "I'd better get inside, class starts in five minutes."

"Buff," his quiet voice stopped her and she looked back at him, "remember what I said in the hospital, that I was gonna take you out when I got out of there?"

Buffy nodded. "Of course I do."

"How bout Friday?" He asked.

Buffy's eyes widened. "You mean tomorrow?"

"Yeah."

She raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure you're feeling up to that?"

He chuckled. "I'm a fighter, baby, nothings gonna keep me from giving you the night of your life."

Buffy smiled, her heart doing back flips in her chest. "Clem's asked us all to come in for a meeting at noon, but after that I'm free."

Spike smiled. "Good," he said, "I'll see you tomorrow then."

She smiled. "Tomorrow."

He glanced around quickly, relieved to see that no one had gotten particularly nosy about them, before leaning toward her over the center console of the car. "Come here, pet, one more for the road."

She laughed softly before leaning in, meeting her lips to his. "I'll call you later, okay?" She asked.

He nodded slowly. "Have a good day at school, learn all kinds of fun things and all that jazz, yeah?"

Buffy laughed. "Goodbye, Spike." With that, she stepped out of the car and on to the sidewalk, making her way up to the building without looking back. She had to do something to hide the giddy, school girl smile that she couldn't seem to wash from her face.

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Chapter End Notes:
Sorry for the wait my loves, I was on a trip for a while and didn't have the chance to update. I'm in the writing mood today, though, because of the Buffy marathon on right now so I will probably keep writing more tonight. I hope everyone enjoyed this and yes, the next chapter will be the date.

I've noticed that I've gained a few readers over the past few days so I thought I'd take a moment to stop and say welcome to my new friends in the Spuffyverse. Hiiiiiii! :)

I have also started a youtube channel which I will be adding all of the songs I mention in this fic to in my The Shadow Gallery playlist. If you'd like to see it, just go to youtube. Com / viciousrejects13 .

Thanks for reading! Please, please review? :)

Love & Lust,
-T.



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