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A/N The end of this chapter has some similarities to the story Abused that I mentioned in a previous chapter. As I mentioned, I tried e-mailing the author a few weeks ago, to see if she’d like to look it over, but I never got a response. The basic idea is the same and entirely unintentional.




Chapter 13 – Balance the Scales


Knowing that the little rat wouldn’t leave town, Spike went to the Zeta Kappa fraternity house first. After grabbing a freshman and asking where Parker was, Spike quickly made his way to Stevenson, walking to Buffy’s room at the end of the hall and kicking open the door.

“Oh look,” Parker said in a condescending tone. “It’s the white knight, coming to-”

Spike immediately slammed his fist into the other man’s face, a maniacal smile crossing his face when he heard the satisfying crunch of his nose breaking.

“You son of a-”

He was silenced once more as Spike punched him again, never giving him a chance to fight back. Kicking his legs out from under him, he continued to pummel the other man. “What’s the matter, Abrams?” Spike asked, jerking him up by the collar and shaking him. “You can hand it out, but you can’t take it?” he asked, emphasizing his point by head-butting him, only feeling a moderate amount of satisfaction at the scream of pain. “Come on,” he said. “Take it like a man.”

Dropping Parker to the floor and kicking him in the gut, Spike could feel his strength slowly draining away as the red haze faded. Glancing to his left, he felt sickened when he saw the blood that covered the sheets of the bed. Buffy’s blood.

Attacking him with renewed force, Spike didn’t stop until his knuckles were bruised and bleeding.

“Stay the hell away from her, Abrams, or you’ll regret it,” Spike said in a menacing tone, breathing heavily from the exertion of beating the other man.

Pausing when he heard Parker’s annoying laughter, Spike looked at him with contempt in his eyes. Watching as Parker painfully got to his feet, falling down after several attempts, he raised an eyebrow at the other man.

“So she got to you, did she?” Parker asked.

Spike clenched his jaw, trying to regulate his breathing.

“Definitely a bunny in the sack, even if she is a little whiney.”

Spike’s bruised fists clenched in anticipation of wiping the smug look off Parker’s face.

“She’ll never love you the way she loves me.”

“She doesn’t love you,” Spike growled.

“Has she told you that?” Parker asked with smirk before a laugh erupted from him. “Has she told you how she whispers into my ear how much she loves me while I’m inside of her?”

Spike’s anger boiled over as he landed a hard hit to Parker’s face. Not stopping with just one punch, he continued pummeling him. “If you’re laughing,” he ground out between hits. “You’re not in enough pain.”

* * * * *

Walking into his room, Spike looked around the small living room before turning toward the bedroom, seeing the soft glow of the lamp as he passed through the door.

“You alright?” he asked, seeing Buffy curled up on the bed. Still wearing Angel’s shirt and lying in the large bed, she looked even frailer than she did at the hospital. Glancing around the room, Spike was surprised that her friends left her alone until he came back. “Buffy?”

“Where did you go?” she asked, never making eye contact with him as he sat down on the bed and ran a soothing hand over her back.

“I took care of it.”

“You found him, didn’t you?”

“I did,” he replied, not seeing the point of lying to her.

“And?”

“Took him to the police. Actually, I took the bloodied mess that he resembled to the police.”

“You beat him up?” Buffy asked, rolling over to look at him.

“I did.”

“And then you took him to the police?”

“Yes, luv.”

“What if he has you arrested?” she asked in a panicked voice.

“He won’t,” Spike said reassuringly. “Not if he knows what’s good for him. But if you’re worried about what might happen, don’t worry,” he continued, trailing his hand along her back. “If he tries to have me taken in, there will be plenty of people around you at all times. Angel, Riley, Gunn…they’ll all watch after you at any time, if I’m not here.”

Relaxing her shoulders and taking his hands in hers, Buffy studied Spike’s bleeding knuckles with a concerned look on her face.

“You should get these cleaned up,” she whispered.

“Yeah,” he murmured with a nod. “I just had to check on you first,” he said with a smile before getting up and walking toward the bathroom. “I’ll be out in five minutes.”

Spike quickly cleaned and bandaged his hands before staring at his reflection in the mirror for a long moment. “She needs you to be her friend,” he muttered to himself. “So go out there.”

Taking a deep breath before opening the door, Spike was moderately surprised to see that all the light had been extinguished from the room. A faint silver and blue glow from the window cast everything in soft shades. Looking around the room for a moment, he frowned when he saw Buffy standing next to the bed, wearing one of his red shirts and nervously toying with the two buttons that were holding it together.

“What are you doing, luv?” he asked, slowly approaching her.

Unable to look at him, Buffy kept her eyes downcast as she answered. “Isn’t this the part where you and I…”

Frowning for a moment, Spike’s eyes widened when he realized what she was saying. “No,” he said, shaking his head and causing her to look up at him. “I’m not taking advantage of you, Buffy.”

He could see the tears shimmering in her eyes and longed to close the distance between them and hold her, but he was scared what her reaction might be.

“It’s not taking advantage if you want it,” she murmured.

“Yes, it is,” he replied quietly. “We’re not doing anything tonight, Buffy.”

“But I thought that…”

She trailed off as she choked on the words. Seeing the tears slipping down her cheeks, Spike hurried over to her, wrapping his arms around her as she cried. Feeling her relax after a moment, he pulled back slightly to look at her, surprised when her hands wrapped around his neck to pull him down to her.

Feeling Buffy’s soft lips against his, Spike didn’t know if he would have the willpower to stay strong if she kept kissing him. Subtly trying to pull away from her, he groaned when she took his hand in hers and placed it over her breast, encouraging him with every subtle move.

Breaking away and gasping for air, Spike quickly put some distance between them, seeing the hurt look that crossed her face. “We’re not doing this,” he whispered, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

Seeing her chin quiver, Spike quickly caught her arm before she ran out the door.

“Buffy, please talk to me.”

“I-I just…I thought that you wanted me,” she whispered as she tried to muffle another sob.

“I do,” he whispered, pulling her to him for a tender hug and letting one hand run through her hair. “But not tonight. Not like this. Buffy, we’ll do this when you’re ready…when I know that it’s what you want. When I know that you want to be with me and not when you think that I should have you.”

“But what if I do want you?” she whispered, clutching at his shirt and letting the tears fall as she buried her face in his chest. “I don’t know what else to do, Spike. I don’t know how to make this okay and I don’t know how to repay you for everything.”

“This isn’t about some debt you owe,” he murmured, pulling back to look into her eyes. “Parker, he…he has no idea how to treat a woman. When it happens for us, it will be because both of us want it to…alright?”

Buffy nodded, wiping the tears away as Spike worked the remaining buttons of the shirt, offering more privacy. Finishing his task, he noticed that her chin was quivering and quickly pulled her into his arms.

“Talk to me, Buffy.”

“It’s me, isn’t it?” she whispered tearfully.

Spike closed his eyes as the tears blurred his vision, tightening his hold on her. “No,” he said softly, shaking his head to emphasize the point. “It’s not you.”

“I just don’t understand,” she murmured. “You’re a guy. Aren’t guys supposed to…”

“Not all guys,” he whispered, kissing the top of her head. “You need to get some rest, luv,” he whispered, noticing the sky brightening already.

“Stay with me?” she asked softly, looking up at him with a watery gaze filled with hope.

Seeing the hope in her eyes as he tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and kissed her forehead, Spike nodded.

Leading her toward the bed, he pulled back the covers, letting her climb in first before taking off his boots and joining her.

“Do you always sleep fully-clothed?” Buffy asked, her hand trailing along his covered chest.

“Only when I’m alone with a beautiful woman,” he replied with a soft smile.

“Who you don’t want,” she murmured, feeling the need to fill in the blank.

“No,” he whispered, pulling her closer to him and closing his eyes. “Who I want so badly, I don’t trust myself around her.”




Thanks so much to: spuffette, daisy, PK, TammyAsh666, Franchesca, BrunettePet, Seraiza, Caatje, melissa, Amanda, Charlene, willowmouse, Jenn, Alicia, beverly, gypsy_jin, Caitie, pj, stace, Spikes Sweety, BuffyRat, Maddie Mae, Minerva, BuffyandSpikeForever & Lindsay for reviewing!





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