Chapter Five
By the time Buffy and Spike reached Revello Drive, they were both walking so slowly it was a wonder they even made it at all. Small glances between the two had been shared along with tiny smiles and Buffy was amazed to find that Spike’s hand had warmed as he held hers.
She knew he could hear her heart pounding in her chest, but no matter what she did, it continued to hammer away. Being nervous around Spike wasn’t something she thought would ever happen, but here she was, holding his hand and feeling like some love-struck teenager with her first crush.
Finally seeing the house, Buffy felt Spike’s grip on her hand loosen before he dropped it and stopped. “Well, here you are, Slayer. Don’t think your scoobies will understand if I walk you to the door,” Spike said, smiling. “Not that I don’t want to.”
“Well, they might find it strange, but this is the Hellmouth,” she said, smiling before looking toward the house. “Do you wanna come in for a while?” She asked him softly.
Spike couldn’t contain his smile as he glanced at the house then back over to her. “You sure?” He asked.
“Well, I’m not so sure I want them to know about us yet,” she said, smiling that she had referred to them as an ‘us’, “but I can’t see any reason why you can’t come in.”
Spike studied her for a few seconds, seeing the almost shy smile cover her face as she shifted her weight on her feet and looked at anything but him. He grinned, hearing her heart race in her chest before taking a step toward her. “Alright then,” Spike said, a smile escaping him when Buffy smiled brightly at him before she turned to the house and started walking.
It was like some dream he had had and never thought would come true as Buffy bounced up the porch steps, turning her head to smile at him before she made it to the door. She looked happy, something he hadn’t seen on her since before the Glory ordeal.
“What in the world happened to you?” Dawn asked loudly as Buffy entered the house, with Spike following closely behind.
“A Bora-something demon,” Buffy told her, smiling.
“A Bworkthan demon,” Spike corrected, grinning as he shut the door.
“Ugh, you reek,” Dawn said, covering her nose with her hand as Buffy passed her.
“Yeah, I kinda got that already,” she said, smiling as she glanced back at Spike. “I’m gonna go shower. Be right back,” she told them before darting up the steps.
Spike watched her run up the steps, trying to hold back the huge smile threatening to cover his face at the fact that she had asked him in. He didn’t think anything in the past several years, with the exception of the “Little Buffy” episode, even came close to how happy he felt right now.
“So, wanna see something beyond cute?” Dawn asked, grinning as she turned to Spike.
~*~*~*~
Buffy finally emerged from upstairs, making her way into the kitchen where she could hear the sounds of laughter. She smiled as she rounded the corner before walking over to where Spike, Willow and Dawn sat around the bar, before peering over Dawn’s shoulder to see what they were looking at.
“Oh my god,” Buffy said wide-eyed before she reached out and snatched the picture Dawn was holding out of her hand.
“You were so cute Buffy,” Dawn said as she looked at another picture of little Buffy. “I can’t believe this was only a week ago.”
“Me either,” Buffy said quietly before she grabbed a few more of the pictures. They were all of her, most of them while she sat coloring or playing with the dolls Buffy remembered Willow buying for her. The activities weren’t what really caught her attention. It was who was there with her. In every picture, Spike was also there.
A huge smile covered Buffy’s face as she looked at the pictures. The sight of Spike sitting on the floor coloring with her caused a flutter in her stomach to swim across her entire body before she reached out and grabbed more of the pictures.
Every one of them featured the blonde vampire, and Buffy couldn’t help but smile as she looked at the pictures. She could see how happy she looked in the pictures and the look on Spike’s face caused her heart to do that fluttering thing she had trouble controlling lately.
“Oh, now how cute is that?” Dawn asked giggling. “Look Buffy.”
When Buffy tore her eyes away from the small stack of pictures she was holding and looked up to see what Dawn had found and she couldn’t help but grin. There was Spike, lying asleep on the couch with Buffy’s little body curled around him. She took the picture from Dawn, smiling as she looked at it before she looked up. “This one just might ruin your reputation, Big Bad,” Buffy said, grinning as she looked up at Spike.
“Like it isn’t already,” Spike said with a grin as he stood and walked around the bar and looked at the picture she was holding. “Bloody hell, you actually took a picture of that!”
“Yeah, you two looked so cute,” Dawn said, grinning at the expression on his face. “I wish you could have seen Spike’s face, Buffy, when I woke him up and he saw you. I think he actually blushed.”
Buffy laughed quietly as she glanced at Spike before she scanned back through the pictures. “Well they say a picture’s worth a thousand words,” she said, smiling as she placed the pictures back down on the counter. “It’s not too hard to figure out what these are saying.”
Dawn smiled as she watched the smiles being exchanged between Buffy and Spike before grabbing up all the photos. She knew Xander would probably destroy them, or at least cut Spike out of them, if she didn’t keep them safe.
Walking into the living room, Dawn smiled as she saw Spike’s duster hanging by the door. Scanning quickly through the pictures, she smiled as she found the one that had caused his smile to brighten before tucking it safely into the inner pocket of his coat.
~*~*~*~
Xander was at the Magic Box bright and early the next morning, almost bouncing on his feet as he waited for Anya to open the door. He just knew Giles would be able to do something to restore Buffy to her usual self; that is once they realized what was wrong with her.
He was convinced something went wrong with the spell. There was no rational reason under the sun for Buffy to actually be nice to Spike. Something had to have gone wrong.
“Would you stop that,” Anya said as she finally got the door unlocked and stepped inside. “All this shuffling around is starting to get on my nerves.”
“Can’t help it,” Xander said as he quickly walked in and started for the ladder. “Now which book was the spell in again?” He asked as he headed up into the loft.
“Xander, aren’t you taking this a bit far?”
“What?” He asked. “You didn’t see her last night. It was…creepy.”
“What was she doing exactly? Laughing was it?”
“Morning,” Giles said as he entered the store and smiled at Anya.
“Giles! Thank goodness. Will you please calm Xander down,” Anya said before looking up to the loft where Xander was rummaging through the spell books. “He’s driving me crazy!”
“Better you than me,” Giles mumbled under his breath. “What seems to be the problem?”
“He thinks Buffy came back wrong.”
“Really?” Giles said, his interest piqued. “How so?”
“Oh, get this,” Anya said sarcastically. “She was laughing,” she added before looking up at Xander and rolling her eyes slightly.
“Sorry,” Giles said as he removed his glasses. “I don’t follow.”
“Oh, you will,” Xander said as he turned and started back down the ladder. “You might want to sit down because this may take a while to comprehend.”
~*~*~*~
Buffy was staring into her closet, looking at all her clothes that hung there as another sigh escaped her. She had been standing there for over fifteen minutes staring at her clothes and wishing all the while that she hadn’t been cornered into going out with the gang.
She didn’t know why she couldn’t tell them no. The whole time they were asking her, her mind was screaming no, don’t do it! But the minute the question had been asked, her voice had betrayed her and said yes.
Her mind had been on Spike all day and she found that she was looking forward to seeing him. She had lain awake most of the night with her mind replaying the events of earlier for her. She couldn’t suppress the smile that tugged at her lips every time she thought of the kiss, or how the small flutter of butterflies took flight in her stomach as she thought about him.
He had stayed late the night before after Dawn practically begged him, and the movie Dawn had insisted they watch had barely even been seen as she and Spike both had trouble watching it. Small, stolen glances cast between the two went unnoticed by Dawn or Willow, and as much as Buffy wanted to keep their little secret secret, the desire for her feelings toward him to be out in the open were enormous as she wanted nothing more than curl up with him as they watched the movie.
Now, as she tried to pick an outfit to wear to the bronze, the only thing she could think of was what would Spike think when she didn’t show up for patrol. She had already made plans to meet him and now, when she didn’t show, he’d definitely get the wrong idea.
“Are you going to pick something or just stand there hoping something will jump out at you?” Dawn asked, smiling.
“I don’t have anything to wear,” Buffy almost whined.
Dawn rolled her eyes, shaking her head before walking to Buffy’s closet. “You have more clothes than any one person needs,” she said, reaching in and grabbing the red leather pants she secretly hoped Buffy would let her wear soon. “Wear this.”
Buffy scrunched up her nose, not in the mood for tight leather before shaking her head. “No, not those,” she said. “Why didn’t I just say ‘no’ when Xander pressured me into this?”
“You don’t want to go?” Dawn asked, confused. “But you always preferred Bronzing to patrol. What’s so great about patrol now that wasn’t there a week ago?” Dawn asked before slowly grinning as she thought about the question and a small giggle escaped her.
“What’s so funny?” Buffy asked when she heard Dawn laugh.
“Is there something you need to tell me?” Dawn asked her.
“No,” Buffy said as she looked over at her. “Like what?”
“You think I’m completely blind, don’t you?” Dawn asked, still smiling as she replaced the red pants back into the closet.
“Dawn, what are you talking about?” Buffy asked her, confused.
“Oh, I don’t know,” Dawn said, hiding her smile. “How about all the late night, extended patrols? The goofy smile that’s always on your face now and the fact that you allowed Spike to stay last night, not to mention the fact that you invited him to begin with.”
Buffy’s eyes were slightly widening as Dawn talked, knowing her sister had to be picking up on something. Surely she hadn’t figured out anything, especially seeing how last night had been the first time anything between her and Spike had actually happened.
“It’s okay, you know,” Dawn said, seeing the fear cross her sister’s face. “I mean, sure it’ll be hard for the others to accept, but I think it’s great,” she added with a huge smile. “Spike loves you and I think it’s great that you can finally see that.”
Buffy was in shock as she numbly sat down on the bed and stared at Dawn. Had it been that obvious or was Dawn just playing a guessing game? “Dawn, what are you talking about?” She said, trying to see what her little sister was getting at.
Dawn grinned, shaking her head before sitting down beside Buffy. “I’m talking about you and Spike,” she said, looking happier than Buffy had seen her in a while. “I think it’s great.”
“You think what’s great?” Buffy asked hesitantly.
“You and Spike being together, of course!”
Buffy went wide-eyed, clamping her hand over Dawn’s mouth as she blurted out her response. “Geez Dawn, tell the whole world why don’t you,” she said, shocked.
“So it’s true then?” Dawn mumbled before removing Buffy’s hand from her mouth.
“Well…um, it’s…complicated,” Buffy finally stuttered out, looking at anything beside her sister.
“And what’s so complicated about it?” Dawn asked as she stood back up. “He likes you, you obviously like him now. Seems pretty simple to me,” she added as she rummaged through Buffy’s closet again.
Buffy sighed heavily, looking at her sister before standing back up. “It’s not that simple Dawn, and you know it,” she told her as she started helping her sister look through her clothes. “There isn’t one of the gang, besides you, that has ever seen Spike for anything other than a monster, me included until last week. They’re not going to just accept him.”
“Well then, we’ll make them see what we do,” Dawn said, smiling. “How hard can it be?”
~*~*~*~
“Absolutely not!” Xander practically screamed as Dawn mentioned asking Spike to the Bronze with them. “I want to go have a good time and the child-manipulating, evil undead isn’t a part of that!”
“This is just for Buffy, Dawnie,” Willow said, trying to calm the tension that suddenly surrounded them.
“So, Buffy doesn’t want Spike excluded,” Dawn told them, crossing her arms over her chest. “And who, just last night may I add, fixed Spike hot cocoa?”
Willow looked sheepishly at Xander as he suddenly sounded like he was choking before she smiled as Buffy came down the steps. “Look! Buffy’s ready. Ready for the Bronze,” she said excitedly. “Better be going now,” Willow practically shouted as she hurried to the door and sprinted out.
“He was here last night?” Xander asked, shocked. “And had cocoa?”
“Yes, he was and did,” Buffy said, staring at Xander as she came down the steps.
“Buffy, I’m not liking this,” Xander told her as she stopped at the bottom of the steps.
Buffy felt her insides churn at the look on Xander’s face before she looked away. “Let’s just go, okay?” She said quietly, knowing that no matter how much she wanted Spike to go with them, arguing over it wasn’t worth it.
Xander stared at her as she walked out the door. He sighed heavily as he saw what he thought was a small pout on her face and her head hanging slightly low. Great, just great, he thought to himself as he followed Buffy and Dawn out before shutting the door.
~*~*~*~
Buffy forced a smile on her face as Xander told what he thought was another humorous joke. They had been there for over an hour and Buffy had to make herself act as if nothing was wrong.
The others were having a good time and even though she had a smile on her face most of the time, she couldn’t help but feel like running for the door every time one of them asked her if she was enjoying herself.
Truth be told, she was miserable. She had looked at her watch what seemed like a thousand times and she prayed for the night to end quickly. Sighing softly, she smiled as Willow and Dawn stood and asked her to dance with them.
“You go ahead, think I’ll sit this one out,” she told them with a smile.
“Come on Buff,” Xander said as he stood with Anya. “We came to dance and cut loose.”
Buffy laughed quietly, shaking her head as she looked at him. “No, go ahead,” she told him. “I think I’ll just go refresh my drink.”
Xander watched her stand and turn toward the bar before shaking his head. “I don’t get it,” he said as he stared at her. “She acts like there’s a hundred places she’d rather be than here.”
“Maybe she’s just tired,” Anya said before grabbing his arm and dragging him to the dance floor.
Buffy stood by the bar, waiting for the bartender to notice her as she looked around. The place was packed. She remembered now why they didn’t Bronze it on Saturdays much any more as it seemed like the whole town showed up.
“Care to dance?”
Buffy’s heart felt like it slammed against her chest as the rich, deep voice sung through her body. A huge smile covered her face before she turned her head to the side. “What are you doing here?” she asked as she saw Spike smiling at her.
“What? Not happy to see me?” He asked with a grin.
“I didn’t say that,” she told him softly.
Spike stared at her for a minute before his smile widened. She was looking at him with a huge smile covering her face and his urge to just lean down and kiss her was overwhelming. “Well I waited by the cemetery gates and when you didn’t show, I went looking for you.”
“Sorry,” Buffy said softly. “The gang wanted to ‘show me a good time’, as they put it.”
“And you don’t think I could have done that?” Spike asked as his eyes roamed over her body.
Buffy felt her face flush at Spike’s question. The way he was looking at her and the tone of his voice when he asked her let her know he meant more than the occasional dance and adult beverage.
“Not sure. What did you have in mind?” Buffy asked suggestively and barely had time to sit her empty cup down before Spike grabbed her around the waist and pulled her through the crowd of people standing around the bar. Her blood was racing in her veins and as they ended up in a darkened corner, she barely even had time to catch a breath before his lips were on hers.
Her eyes widened in response, only to close a second later as she felt his tongue probe her closed lips before he pushed past them. A small moan escaped her before she felt her knees go weak and she slumped against him.
She didn’t even have a name for what he was making her feel. It was every bit as exciting as the first kiss they had shared the night before, but this time she knew they could be caught any minute by her friends. As his arms tightened around her waist, the adrenaline rush of the situation heightened the excitement of it all before she wrapped her arms around his neck and gave as good as she was getting.
“Okay, now where did she go?” Xander asked as he and Anya made their way back to the table.
“Xander, will you please chill out?” Anya told him. “She probably just went to the bathroom or something.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right,” he said, taking his seat and looking around the club.
Anya watched him out of the corner of her eye as he scanned the club and tapped his fingers on the table. She exhaled loudly, wondering what the sudden obsession with Buffy was all about. The gang wanted her happy again and from what she had seen that was what she was.
Xander was still searching the club for Buffy. She hadn’t acted right all evening. No matter what the others thought, he knew the smile on Buffy’s face was fake. He had known her long enough to know her facial expressions and the fact that she was suddenly missing made him wonder just where she had gone.
“I’ll be right back,” Xander said as he stood and walked away from the table.
Anya shook her head, watching him walk away before looking out at Willow. The whole evening was beginning to become a total drag. Between Xander’s obsession with Buffy and the overcrowded bar, the entire night was turning into a complete disaster.
Xander had walked the entire bar, even giving two sweeps of the upper floor and still no sign of Buffy. The ladies room was the only place he hadn’t checked and, seeing the long line at the door, he figured that was where she had to have been. Making his way around a group of teens, he squeezed between the wall and an overly large jock before his eyes spotted the shockingly white peroxide locks of the creature he loathed most in the world.
Stopping, he tried to focus his eyes in the darkened room and as his vision cleared enough to see into the corner where Spike was standing, his eyes widened when he saw the two, clearly feminine arms around his neck. “Now that is just…ewww,” he said quietly to himself as he watched Spike and someone, he figured, apparently more desperate than him, make out. Shaking his head, he started walking again and glanced back over to Spike as he rounded the corner and froze dead in his tracks.
With wide eyes, Xander stared at the girl that was wrapped around Spike. The bright smile, the sparkle in her eyes and most importantly, the face of his friend stood there smiling up at Spike. “Oh god,” he whispered out in horror. “Please let that be the Buffybot.”
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