Title: Come Back To Me
Author: Pattyanne
snapkik@yahoo.com
Part Three...
Willow's head dropped forward so
suddenly that her neck popped.
Breathing deeply, she opened her
eyes.
"Well?..Did it work?..Is he coming
back?" Three different voices asked
anxious questions.
Willow slowly raised her head..and smiled.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THE NEXT NIGHT
He hit the "Welcome to Sunnydale" sign
just as twilight gave way to the darkness
of a true night time sky.
Two minutes later, he turned onto Revello
Drive, smiling when he saw the familiar
little house come into view.
Spike was longing to see her, the yearning
was almost physically painful. Never in any
part of his existence had he wanted to see
someone so badly.
He could only hope that she felt the same
way.
Pulling into the driveway, he cut the
engine and sat staring at the house. After
taking a moment to gather his nerve, he
stepped out of the car and forced his
feet to carry him to the front porch.
Without bothering to knock, he threw
the front door open, startling the girl
sprawled out on the living room floor
in front of the television.
"SPIKE??"
He didn't answer as he jumped the
stairs two at a time.
Standing in front of Buffy's bedroom
door, he paused and braced himself
for a likely punch in the face before
turning the knob and entering the
room.
"Buffy?" He scanned the little room
quickly. "Slayer?"
She wasn't there, and if she'd been
anywhere else in the house, she'd al-
ready have been up the stairs to see
what the hell was going on.
Spike fought a crushing feeling of dis-
appointment, then went back down-
stairs to start looking for her.
Before he had one foot out the front door,
he heard a small voice from behind him.
"Spike.."
The hesitant sound stopped him in his tracks,
and he turned around to face Dawn. The ex-
pression on her face told him more clearly
than any words just exactly what he had done.
A wave of shame washed hotly over him. This
girl standing before him was one of the two
people he loved most in the world, and he
knew that she returned his affection.
Dawn had cared about him long before
he'd redeemed himself in the eyes of the
others. She'd been his staunchest defender,
and had taught him more about friendship
and loyalty than anyone ever had.
And what had HE done to pay her back
for it? Why, he'd left her, of course. He had
disappeared from her life without a word of
explanation or farewell.
As he looked into her wide eyes, he saw
the hurt in them, and knew that he'd been
the one to put it there. He had not only
walked out on Buffy, but on Dawn as well.
And she had done nothing to deserve such
shabby treatment.
"I'm sorry, Little Bit," he said, pulling her
into his arms. "How've you been?"
She stood stiffly for a moment, then returned
his embrace. "Okay, I guess," she spoke
into his shirt front. "But I missed you."
Spike smiled at the soft words. "I missed you,
too," he said, stroking her hair, beating his
impatience to run and find Buffy firmly into
submission.
"Where have you been?" she asked. "How
come you just left like that?"
He released her from his arms and stepped
back, holding her hands. "It's...kind of a
long story, luv. But I shouldn't have done
it that way...and I'm sorry as hell." He lifted
her hands and kissed each one. "Think you
can forgive me?"
Dawn hesitated, then gave him her sweetest
smile. "I guess I can," she said. "So long as
you don't ever do it again."
"I won't, luv," he promised her. "Cross my heart
and hope to you-know-what."
Cupping her face in his hands, he kissed her
forehead. "Listen, honey...I want to sit down
with you and hear about everything you've
been doing, school and all..and I promise you
that we'll have a nice long chat, but right
now...I need to find your sister."
Dawn made a face. "Well, it won't be hard,"
she said. "Just follow the trail of used
kleenex."
These words brought back the memory of
the dream-that-was-not-a-dream, of Buffy
lying on her bed, crying herself to sleep.
With a sudden flash of clarity, Spike knew
where she was.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For the second time that evening, he found
himself standing in front of a closed door,
desperately hoping that Buffy was on the
other side of it.
He opened it quietly and stepped over the
threshold of the crypt he'd once considered
home. The upper level was dark, with the
only illumination coming from the moon
shining through the frosted windowpanes,
and a patch of dim lamplight from the trap-
door that led to the lower level.
She was there, he knew it. And she was crying
again.
Without stopping, he climbed down the ladder
into the bedroom.
What he saw there almost broke his heart.
Buffy was lying on his bed, wearing his red
shirt, clutching it around herself as though
his arms were in the sleeves holding her.
Something in his gut went thump.
He stood at the bottom of the ladder, irre-
solute, unable to make his feet move.
When her harsh crying began to taper
off, Buffy rolled over onto her back,
wiping her wet face on the sleeve of his
shirt.
Her reactions were obviously impaired by
her jumbled emotions, since it took her
twice the time it should have for her to sense
another presence in the room.
But, she finally rose into a half-sitting/
half-reclining position on the bed, and
saw him.
"S..Spike?" Her voice was so soft that it
was almost inaudible. "You're here?" Fresh
tears coursed silently down her cheeks. "Are
you real?"
All his words, all the things he had planned
to say to her suddenly vanished from his
brain, leaving him to feel stupid and speech-
less.
His silence was agitating her. "Spike...please! If
you're really here then...then say something..."
Still frozen in place, he could only think of
one thing to say.
"I'm sorry," he whispered.
"Oh..." Buffy sat up on the bed. "Me, too."
"Buffy..."
"Spike.." She cut him off, extending her arms. "Hold
me," she begged. "Please...just hold me."
Her words broke his paralysis. Crossing to the
bed in three long strides, he sat down beside
her and gathered her into his arms.
Buffy wasn't satisfied though, and she imme-
diately climbed into his lap, clinging to him
like a frightened child waking from a bad dream.
Burying her face against the side of his neck,
she held on to him, and he tightened his
embrace when he felt the warm wetness of her
tears.
"No, sweetheart," he said, kissing the side
of her face. "Don't cry, little girl. Please don't
cry."
He rocked her gently on his lap as he murmured
tender words of love and pleas for forgiveness
into her ear.
As her crying began to ease, she pressed her
hot, moist cheek against his cool one. "Hold me
tight," she begged. "Don't let go."
"I won't." Spike shook his head. "I'll never let
you go again." There was so much he wanted
to say to her, he hardly knew where to start.
"I love you." He pulled away a little and kissed
her cheeks and forehead, and then the sweet
promise of her lips. "I love you so much."
Buffy began to smile. With her eyes closed, she
let her head drop back, relishing the tender
passion he was lavishing on her skin. "I love you,
too," she said. "And I missed you...I was so
afraid you'd never come back."
She opened her eyes, looking into his. "Promise
me..."
"Anything," he replied.
"Promise you'll never leave me again. Even if
we fight...or I'm being horrible and you hate
me...just don't ever be where I can't find
you...and bring you home."
Spike swallowed hard to ease the ache
in his throat. "I'm home now, baby. Home
for good...I promise."
Her smile widened. "Now, kiss me...and tell
me you still love me."
"I love you." He pressed his lips against hers
in what was possibly the gentlest kiss they'd
ever shared. "I've always loved you." Lowering
her slowly down to the mattress, he nuzzled
the curve of her cheek. "I always WILL love
you," he whispered in her ear. "Always."
Although just moments ago she'd wanted
to die, his touch and his words were erasing
all the pain and torment she'd lived with
constantly for the past few weeks.
Her man was home now, and everything
was going to be all right...
As soon as she told him her other news.
"I'll make a deal with you," she said, an
impish smile on her face. "I have something
else I need to tell you, and if you promise
not to leave me again...I promise I'll spend
the rest of my life making you glad you
stayed."
He smiled back at her. "That's the best offer
I've had in a long time," he said. "So, tell me,
kitten."
A sudden and unexpected shyness turned her
cheeks pink as she considered the best way
of telling him that he was going to be a father.
This would be the surprise to end all surprises.
Unable to find the right words, Buffy simply
took his hand and placed it on her stomach,
hoping he would understand what she was trying
to tell him, and praying he'd be happy about
it.
His initial look of confusion abruptly changed
to shock and disbelief. He looked, she thought,
as though he'd been hit in the back of the
head with a shovel.
"N..no," he stammered, slowly shaking his
head. "No...you CAN'T be."
"Maybe I can't be," she shrugged. "But I am."
"You're...you mean, you're..."
He seemed to need help finishing the sen-
tence.
"With child," Buffy provided. "Knocked up..in
the family way..got a bun in the..."
"PREGNANT??" He finally got the word out. "As
in..as in...PREGNANT??"
Buffy had never seen him so flustered. "As in..I'm
going to have a baby," she said clearly
"A...a baby? You and me?"
She nodded. How cute was THIS? "And
baby makes three."
The information actually began to penetrate
into his head, and he felt himself grinning
like an idiot. "I'm gonna be a father?"
Loving him even more for not even thinking
of questioning the paternity of their child,
Buffy nodded again. "Yes, you are."
"And you're gonna be a mother?"
"Well, that's usually the way it works."
He shook his head in wonder. "How'd it
happen?" he asked, staring at her tummy
as though it would provide the explanation.
She just gave him a look.
"All right, stupid question," he agreed. "But
I meant...I mean...I'm a...and you're a...I
thought we...couldn't."
"Me too," Buffy said. "Imagine my surprise."
"Imagine MINE." A sudden memory came to
him. The dream he'd had. Willow had said...
something...
"Hey you," Buffy snapped her fingers. "What
are you thinking?"
His eyes focused again. "Willow. She told me
something."
Buffy's brow furrowed. "What?"
"She said...she told me that it wasn't just
about you anymore. That there was some-
thing else...something special that I was
going to miss if I didn't.."
"Didn't what?"
He looked into her eyes. "Go home. She told
me that I had to go home."
"Wait a minute," Buffy said. "I don't under-
stand. When did you see Willow?"
He told her everything that had occured in the
hotel room. "She must have been talking about
the baby."
Buffy nodded. "Sounds like it to me."
"But if that was it...why didn't she just come
out and tell me?" he asked.
"Because," Buffy said, smoothing the crease
in his forehead away with a gentle finger, "she
wanted you to hear it from me. She knew that
I would want to tell you."
They sat together in silence for a moment.
"So," Buffy said. "Are you happy about all this?"
He stared at her in disbelief. "Hell YEAH!" he
said, grinning from ear to ear.
"Pretty proud of yourself, aren't you?" she
teased. "Getting the slayer pregnant."
"Damn straight I am!" he announced with that
cocky smile she absolutely loved. "I'm gonna
go down in history. First vamp ever to knock
up a slayer!"
Buffy rolled her eyes. "Gee, honey...you've
sure got a way with words."
He grabbed her arms and pulled her forward,
kissing her long and hard. "I've got other words,"
he said. "Don't you worry about that."
"Hmm..you mean like...I love you?" she asked.
"That's right," he agreed. "I love you."
"And..I'm happy to be a Daddy?"
"Well, I thought that one went without saying, but
yeah. Of course I am. Never thought I would be..."
"Uh-huh." She glanced at him, then looked away
biting her lower lip to keep from giggling. "And
then there's..where shall we have the wedding?"
"Yeah, yeah," he nodded. "Where...wedding?" He
looked at her nervously. "Now, wait a minute," he
backpedaled. "Let's not rush ahead here."
Buffy's smile faded. "What do you mean?"
He shrugged, turning his back to her. "Well, you
know...marriage...that's a big step. S'pecially for
a vampire, ya know?"
"I see." She gave him a speculative look. "Well,"
she added, "If that's the way you feel." She jumped
off the bed and took off his shirt, tossing it to him,
then tugged the hem of her t-shirt down. "I'm sure
I can find another guy to help me out through this."
With a shrug of her shoulders, she turned to leave. "I
wonder if Angel's still at the same number. He never..."
Her words were cut off by a possessive growl, and
a firm hand grabbing her wrist and yanking her back
down.
Sprawled across Spike's lap, she looked up with
innocent eyes.
"Very funny," he said, giving her a light swat
on the bottom.
"Well, YOU started it," she said accusingly. "Tea-
sing a pregnant woman about not wanting to
marry her."
"If I ever hear the name "Angel" spoken in the
same sentence that has ANYTHING to do with
you or with our baby, he's not gonna be around
long enough to even SAY "Will you marry me?"
let alone actually do it," Spike warned her.
Buffy grinned. "To even say...what?"
Pulling her up until she was cradled in his arms,
he lowered his head and looked into her eyes,
suddenly quite serious. "Will you marry me?"
"Yes," she nodded, happily. "I'll marry you."
He kissed her, then stood up and set her on
her feet. "Let's go," he said, grabbing her
hand and tugging her towards the ladder.
"Where are we going?" she asked, a little
surprised. Usually, when they were anywhere
near a bed, leaving was the LAST thing he
wanted to do.
"To get you a ring," he said, nudging her
up the ladder ahead of him. "A ring with
a great big diamond in it, so that every guy
who sees you knows that you're spoken for."
"I think they'll know that when they see
that I'm pregnant," she said, skipping to
keep up with him as they left the crypt.
Spike stopped and looked at her. "The baby
won't show for a while yet," he informed her,
as though she had no idea what she was
talking about. "You don't think I'm gonna
wait that long to make you my wife, do you?"
"Well, I..."
"No," he said, shaking his head. "You're mine.
And I'm going to tie you to me every way that
I can, with every vow, bond, promise, gold
ring, and legally binding document I can devise.
Permanently."
It was the best marriage proposal she'd ever
dreamed of.
TBC......
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