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Chapter 18 – Drastic Measures


Walking through the club, Spike’s eyes flashed amber as he watched Buffy dancing. Her hips swaying seductively while her hands moved through the air, finding the beat of the music. He could see the men that were clamoring to be close to her and his rage was building to an inferno level.

As a sultry beat began, Spike threaded his way through the crowd, clenching his jaw when he noticed her movements slow down as she teased the men who were watching her. It took everything inside of him to not walk over and sink his teeth into her neck, showing these pillocks exactly who she belonged to. He had never felt so much regret than at that moment. He could have claimed her when he had the chance, and now he couldn’t even get close to her.

Not bothering to wait for an invitation, he stepped up behind her, securely wrapping one arm around her waist and pulling her against his chest. He could feel the tension in her muscles as she realized who was holding her, but she soon relaxed as Spike began moving to the seductive rhythm.

Buffy’s breathing became more erratic as she felt him grind his erection against her lower back, allowing her to feel exactly what she was doing to him. Letting his hands slip beneath her shirt and brush the flat muscles of her stomach, Spike smiled as his lips caressed her shoulder, enjoying the effect that he was having on her and the fact that she hadn’t pushed him away.

“What are you doing?” she whispered breathlessly.

‘Taking back what’s mine,’ he thought, deciding not to voice his possessive thought.

“Dancing,” he replied in a husky whisper as one of his hands slipped lower and rested on her hip.

“We really shouldn’t,” she said, closing her eyes, letting the sensations wash over her.

“Why not?” he asked, his lips once again kissing along her bare shoulder before nipping at the sensitive flesh, resisting the urge to let the demon come to the surface and mark her.

Realizing what she was doing and who she was practically doing, Buffy jumped away from him as if she’d been shocked.

Feeling the loss of warmth in his arms, Spike frowned, looking down at the young woman in front of him as she spun around to face him.

“No,” she said softly, her voice barely heard over the music. “You can’t do that,” she continued, the frustration evident in her voice. “You can’t just come here and expect me to…”

Trailing off, Buffy finally turned to walk away in frustration. Quickly catching up to her, Spike refrained from grabbing her arm, knowing that would be a good way to get a punch in the nose when her emotions were so close to the surface.

“Buffy! Come on now, stop,” he said, following her out the door. “You can’t just walk away from this.”

“What part of me walking away do you not understand?”

“We had a fight. It wasn’t our first and it was no reason to leave town,” he said, following her through an alley. “It doesn’t change anything.”

Spinning around to face him, Buffy suppressed the tears that wanted to make themselves known as she clenched her jaw. Anger was easier to control. “It changes everything, Spike!” she cried in frustration. “I don’t want you anywhere near me. Can’t you understand that? I wanted to be able to start a fresh life without worrying that I would never be enough for you, and then you just show up and…”

Buffy trailed off as she turned to walk away, leaving Spike to shake his head and follow her.

“No. It’s not that easy. We have something, Buffy. And maybe I was too scared to see it a year ago, but we have something. It’s not pretty, but it’s real, and there’s nothing either one of us can do about it. Like it or not, I’m in your life- you can’t just shut me out.”

“Why not?” she asked, whirling around to face him again. “That’s all I’ve ever wanted.”

“Not true,” he said, narrowing his eyes. “Don’t ignore this just because you’re not ready to face it.”

“Why?!” she screamed at him. “When you’re ready to talk about something, it’s okay? But when something happens between the two of us…when something life-altering happens to me, I should wait until you’re ready?!”

Spike’s expression softened as he tilted his head to look at her. “Life-altering?”

“My first time was up against the wall of your crypt after we’d had a fight. I think it’s safe to say that it was life-altering.”

“Buffy-”

“Oh, just shut up,” she said in frustration as she turned around to walk away.

“Is this a PMS thing?” Spike asked.

He never saw it coming. She grabbed the nearest thing that she could reach and hurled the full soda can at him, smacking him right in the face. Groaning in pain as his hand came up to stem the blood flow, Spike nearly growled at her.

‘Bloody hell, the chit has perfect aim for my nose, even when she’s throwing things at me.’

Watching him for a moment, Buffy took a deep breath, wanting to calm her raging emotions. “Spike,” she whispered. “I disappeared for a reason. Can’t you show me the same courtesy?”

“Courtesy?” he practically roared, standing up straight and forgetting about the throbbing pain in his nose as the blood continued to pour out. “Do you have any idea how worried we were about you? How everyone had to put everything on hold because of your thoughtlessness? You’re eighteen years old, Buffy. Seventeen then- do you really think that we would all just let you disappear and not worry about you?”

Looking down at the ground, Buffy sighed as a slight pout played on her bottom lip. “I’m sorry I ran off like that. But it was for the best.”

“Why?” he retaliated, taking a step closer to her. “To turn you into a jaded and cynical woman?”

“No,” she said, gritting her teeth before slowly looking up at him. “You did that all on your own.”

Taking several calming breaths as she turned and walked away from him, Spike squeezed his eyes shut in frustration. “Sod it,” he muttered, turning around and walking the opposite way, never noticing when she turned around.

Biting her lip as she watched him walk away, Buffy fought the fresh tears in her eyes.

He was right.

She was jaded and cynical.

Here she was, taking it out on him when it was all her fault. She had been the one to run away. She had been the one to start a new life and cut herself off from everyone she loved. Including the one person she still loved more than anyone.

* * * * *

It took Spike an hour before he calmed down and decided he could face Buffy without coming to blows. Finishing off his cigarette before walking into the apartment building, he quickly walked up the flights of stairs and resisted the urge to pound on her door, choosing to calmly knock instead.

Opening the door, Buffy’s eyes widened when she saw Spike standing on the other side. His head was tilted toward her as his eyes narrowed.

“Care to invite me in?” he asked in a cold voice.

“Not really, no,” she replied, crossing her arms over her chest, trying to show that she wasn’t intimidated by his tough guy act.

“I’m warning you, Buffy,” he said, tightening his jaw.

“Or what?” she asked with a smirk, feeling overly confident with the invisible barrier separating them. “There’s nothing you can do, Spike. Go home. I don’t want you here.”

Seeing the door slam in his face, Spike cracked his neck in irritation as he took a deep breath. Glancing around the hallway, he considered breaking the door down. Just because he couldn’t walk in didn’t mean that she could ignore him. Taking a step forward to do just that, Spike paused as another thought occurred, causing a slow smile to spread across his face. He knew that Buffy would be watching him through the peephole, wondering what his next move would be. Looking around the hallway once again, he shot a meaningful look at the door before turning around and knocking on the apartment door behind him.

Waiting for a moment, he could practically feel Buffy’s eyes boring into him when the woman answered. Spike flashed his most charming smile, the one designed to make anyone melt. “Elizabeth Giles?” he asked, tilting his head and continuing before she could correct him. “I was told that you were the best at what you do. What’s the hourly rate, luv?”

Suppressing the bright smile when the door swung open behind him, Spike slowly turned to look over his shoulder, seeing Buffy’s bright red face as she looked at her neighbor in mortification.

“I am so sorry, Mrs. Kendall. Spike was just kidding, weren’t you, Spike? Tell her,” she demanded, looking at him with contempt.

“I might have been,” he replied, raising an eyebrow at Buffy.

“H-he likes to play jokes,” Buffy continued, looking at her stunned neighbor with a nervous smile. “Get in here, Spike,” she continued, pronouncing each word carefully and seeing the satisfaction gleaming in his eyes.

Turning back to her neighbor, Spike gave her another smile. “She’s right, pet. I was only teasing, so don’t go worrying that pretty head about it, alright?”

Waiting until the woman relaxed before turning away, his gaze soon fell to Buffy, never taking his eyes off of her as he walked through the door to her apartment.

“How dare you?” she hissed, slamming the door behind her as Spike turned away and inspected the apartment. The small kitchenette to the left with the large island that acted as a table and a divider for the room. The living room, set in the back left corner of the spacious area, containing a couch, chair, small television and a coffee table. The bathroom in the other back corner. And the gauzy curtains that hung to his right, pulled back and revealing a large bed with a soft down comforter. The entire place practically reflected Buffy and who she was. He tried to ignore his growing desire as the combination of Buffy walking toward him and the bed that was so close to his right began to affect him. Everything was practically overwhelming him as her scent surrounded him.

Their first and only time had been so rushed and brutal. All Spike wanted to do was take her in his arms and ensure that she was there with him. That he had found her. That he could make love to her the way he wanted to for years.

“I asked you a question,” she said in a deadly tone, bringing him crashing back to reality.

“Drastic times call for drastic measures, Goldilocks,” he replied, turning to look at her. He suppressed the smile that threatened to form when she flushed and looked away under his gaze.

“I wouldn’t call a lack of an invitation ‘drastic’,” she replied, walking into the kitchen and grabbing a bottle of water out of the refrigerator before slamming the door shut so hard that he could hear the bottles inside rattling from the force. Boosting himself up on the island, he eyed her up and down as she turned around and took a sip of her water.

“Aren’t you going to offer me anything to drink, pet?” Spike asked, running his tongue along his bottom lip as his eyes swept over her neck.

Suppressing the smirk when he saw her flush and look away, he quickly reached out and grabbed her wrist. Tugging her toward him in the narrow space, she was quickly situated between his legs, looking up at him with wide eyes.

“What is this?” she asked softly, breathing heavily as she looked at him. “Why are you doing this?”

Slowly lowering his head until his lips were nearly brushing against hers, Spike carefully watched her reaction as he spoke. “Maybe I think it’s time to do something about it,” he said in a husky whisper.

Realizing what he was saying, Buffy angrily pushed him away and walked out of the small area. “You’ve already done something about it,” she said angrily. “And you decided you didn’t want me, remember?”

“Did I ever say I didn’t want you?” he asked, hopping down from his seat and following her into the bedroom, ignoring the fact that she had pulled the curtains free of their ties to separate the rooms. As if a scrap of cloth would keep him away after he’d been searching the country for a year.

“What about Aubrey?” she asked, spinning around to face him with contempt in her eyes. “Isn’t she your newest toy?”

“Damn it, Buffy! I told you back then that there was nothing going on between us!”

“But she loves you,” Buffy whispered softly, biting her lip as she looked away, walking over to the window and hugging her arms around her body.

“How do you know that?” Spike asked, his tone softening as he watched her.

“Because she looks at you the way that I used to.”

“Used to?” he repeated, unable to keep the disbelief and uncertainty out of his voice.

“Just leave it alone, Spike,” she murmured.

“Fine,” he replied, taking another look around the apartment. “Where am I sleeping?”

“What?!” she yelled, spinning around to face him.

“You heard me,” he said with a smirk. “I thought you might want to keep me around.”

“You thought wrong,” Buffy practically growled, turning back to the window so that he wouldn’t see her face flaming red.

“Right then,” Spike said, walking toward the door. “I guess I’ll have to track down Aubrey, since she offered me a warm bed for the night.”

“Yeah, I’ll bet she did,” Buffy muttered, rolling her eyes.

Hearing the front door open and close, she bit her lip, thinking for a moment before turning to go after him. Swallowing a scream when she saw him leaning against the door, Buffy glared at the arrogant expression on his handsome face.

“Knew you wouldn’t let me go,” he said with a smile, pushing away from the door as he shrugged out of his duster and tossed it on the bed. “Looks like the bed is big enough for two.”

“I don’t think so,” Buffy said, shaking her head. “You’re on the couch, bleach boy.”






Thanks so much to: Stephanie, stace, Ariel Dawn, Charlene, Erin, Kimber, spuffette, daisy, adriana, Franchesca, Laine, beasleysmom, Sevvy_O, Brunettepet, starhawk, Cordykitten, PassionFish, Elanor, ebontier, Amanda, aerialla, Jessica, Tasha, willowmouse, Caitie, Lala, Kellie Mulder, melissa g., jenny, H, BuffyRat, shelly, buffster1965, Josephina, Crystal Pegasus, BuffyandSpikeForever, gypsy_jin, pj & blondiebear for reviewing!!





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