Chapter 7 Arriving home, Buffy opened the door and walked through, only to be pulled up short when the hand she was holding was stopped dead by an impenetrable, invisible barrier. “Wha..?” she asked, confused, before realisation slowly dawned on her face. “Oh, god, Spike. I’m sorry. Come in. Please.” As he stepped across the threshold to join her, she wrapped her arms around his neck and claimed his mouth tenderly. “I’m so sorry, baby. I forgot,” she whispered. “’s’ok, love.” Spike grinned against her lips, pleased both by her attention and her obvious distress at having forgotten to invite him in. “Buffy? Honey, who is your… friend?” Her mother’s concerned voice drifted from the living room; Buffy quickly released Spike’s lips, keeping hold of his hand as she turned and led him in to formally meet her mother, all the while wondering how she could somehow explain the situation without giving her mom a heart attack in the process. ***** He awoke to darkness once again, although this darkness
was somehow comforting. His head rested on a pillow, and warm, soft
bedding was pulled up around him, the crisp cotton soothing against
sorely abused flesh. He blinked his eyes slowly in an attempt to clear
away some of the fog of confusion. He remembered gentle hands washing
away the blood, tending carefully to his wounds and bruises, remembered
the same hands skilfully binding the broken ribs that had ground painfully
with every breath. As if conjured by thought, the door opened and his captor
quietly entered, a tray balanced carefully in one hand. “How long?” His voice was a painful croak when he attempted speech, and his eyes screwed tightly closed in frustration. “Not that long. A few hours. Get some soup into you and then sleep some more.” Ethan set the tray down on the bedside table and reached down to lift him gently into a sitting position, propping him up comfortably with some pillows before sitting on the bed and pressing a cup of tea to his lips. “I’m not a bloody invalid, I’ll have you know,” Giles objected indignantly before erupting into a fit of coughing. Ethan waited for the coughing fit to subside; arching an eyebrow at the exhausted man in the bed, he asked calmly, “Are you quite finished now?” At Giles’ weak nod, he lifted the cup once more to his patient’s mouth. “Good. Now drink up.” ***** Having spent an exhausting hour explaining to the slayer’s mum all about demons and vampires, adding in the fact that her daughter was the Chosen One and detailing all of the implications of that destiny, Spike was not looking forward to the next part of their conversation. Nor was he all that sure that Joyce was quite up to it after the shocks she had already received that evening. He reached out and gently squeezed Buffy’s hand, drawing her attention for a moment. “Why don’t we go get your mum a nice cuppa, love?” He looked intently into her eyes, willing her to go along with his rather flimsy excuse to get them a moment’s private conversation. “Would you like that, Joyce?” he asked gently; at the woman’s dazed nod he stood, pulling Buffy along with him. “Buffy can show me where you keep everything; we won’t be long,” he promised as he left the room, pulling an unresisting but still-confused Slayer in his wake. Once in the kitchen, Spike put the kettle on as Buffy gathered the wherewithal to make the tea. “So, wanna tell me why we’re in here making tea?” Buffy asked quietly. Spike smiled and moved to gather his girl into his arms, planting a quick kiss to her forehead and nuzzling momentarily into her hair. “Just wanted a word is all, love.” His face turned serious as he pulled back to look her in the eye. “Don’t know that your mum is quite up to the rest of the news, kitten. Might be an idea to give her a little time to get used to the whole slayer/vampire thing before springin’ the news about us being mated and you having to get pregnant in order to save the world.” “I’m not going to keep it from her, Spike.” Buffy frowned, wondering why he didn’t want her mom to know about them; was he ashamed to admit they were together? “Not asking you to keep it from her; just sayin’ it might be an idea to give her a little time for what we’ve already told her to sink in, is all. Don’t wanna overload her with too much all at once.” He reached out, gently stroking a stray tendril of hair back behind her ear. “Let her get used to ‘us’ before we spring the ‘the bit’ on her too.” A relieved smile spread across Buffy’s face, and she tilted her head to snuggle her cheek into his hand before pressing a kiss against his palm. “So you don’t mind her knowing about us.” “Mind?” Spike asked incredulously. “Bloody hell, you silly bint, is that what you thought? C’mere.” He pulled her close, wrapping her in his arms and murmuring into her hair as she melted against him. “Buffy, you are my mate, an’ I don’t care who knows it. Wanna shout it from the bloody rooftops and let the world know you’re my girl.” He placed two fingers under her chin and lifted gently until she was looking at him. “You understand me?” Buffy happily nodded her understanding as she reached up to kiss him soundly. “Guess we better make this tea, or mom is gonna wonder what we’ve been doing in here all this time,” she sighed as she relinquished his lips reluctantly. ***** Once again he opened his eyes to darkness, the tang of the tea Ethan had given him bitter on his tongue, his wounds itching almost unbearably. He moaned softly as he shifted position in an attempt to ease the itch, the slight sound drawing the attention of his ‘host’ from where he had been sitting in the armchair in the corner, quietly watching over his patient’s rest. “How are you feeling now?” Ethan’s voice was quiet and level, containing none of the cold fury he had displayed in the basement. “Just dandy, thanks.” Giles watched the expressive face cloud over as the man before him attempted to keep the hurt his words and tone had caused from showing. With a deep sigh, Giles relented. “I’m sorry. I just… well, how do you expect me to feel after you kidnapped me, tortured me and then, just to top things off, you forced that vile liquid that you so casually referred to as tea down my throat. Not to mention I itch all over.” He knew he was pouting, and somehow couldn’t find it within him to care. Ethan’s rich, deep laugh rolled around the room. “Well, if it’s itching then the tea is doing its job at least. And do stop sulking, Ripper, it’s not particularly becoming.” Ethan sat carefully on the bed, making sure not to jolt it too much and disturb the magic-enhanced healing. “Yes, I’m sorry about that whole kidnapping ordeal. I suppose I just got a little carried away by the moment.” He smirked unrepentantly before his face turned serious. “We need to talk, Rupert.” ***** The front door opened to admit a bouncy redhead and a boy Spike vaguely recognised as being one of the slayer’s friends. “We’re in here, guys,” Buffy called
out to her friends, rising from where she had been sitting snuggled
up to Spike on the couch talking to her mom. Grasping his hand, she
pulled him up with her to await her friends. “It’s alright, Will. Spike is on our side now. He won’t bite you.” She turned her eyes to her lover as she gave his hand a gentle squeeze. “Will you, Spike?” Spike couldn’t resist the cheeky smirk that stole across his features, only to find himself yelping as the slayer’s gentle squeeze quickly changed to a painful, bone-crushing reprimand. “Ow, you wicked little…” Her raised eyebrow and flashing green eyes stilled his tongue as thoughts of lonely nights spent on the couch entered his mind. “Course I won’t bloody bite anyone; ‘f I was plannin’ on biting you, you’d all be bleedin’ dead by now,” he answered testily. When his words did nothing to lessen the little redhead’s heart rate, or to wipe the terrified look from her face, he relented and softened his tone. “Look, I’m not gonna hurt you. Like the slayer said, I’m on your side now, yeah?” He turned his eyes once more on his mate, a gentle, boyish smile softening his face as he looked at her. “Got too much to lose if I did anything that stupid.” Xander’s eyes darted from one to the other before settling almost pleadingly on Buffy, willing her to refute that which was clearly evident—that the Slayer had once again become involved with one of the creatures she was chosen to destroy. His eyes closed in resignation; when they opened once more, they were hard and cold. “So this is it? This is the way it is gonna be? You just keep moving from one dead thing to the next?” His voice dripped with venom as his mind tried unsuccessfully to comprehend just what Buffy saw in these vampires that she didn’t, or wouldn’t, see in him. When she failed to respond, instead inching fractionally closer to the now-glaring vampire, he continued. “Fine. Well, you know what? I didn’t sign up for this. This whole saving the world thing, that’s yours to do, and sure, I was happy to help—you know why? Cause I am your friend, and I care about you, but this,” he waved his hand dismissively at Spike, “this is just sick, and I have had enough of watching you degrading yourself because you have some twisted fascination with dead things.” Turning, he strode from the room towards the back door, only to be pulled up short by Buffy’s voice as he stood with one hand resting on the doorknob. “Xander, please. Wait.” She stood in the kitchen doorway looking at him, tears brimming only to be dashed away before they could fall. “Please don’t leave like this. I know you’re angry, but I can explain. And there’s Giles. We so need to be finding Giles. Xan…” Buffy locked hopeful eyes on her friend, certain that he hadn’t meant the hurtful things he had said, that it was just anger and disappointment speaking. She knew that he had a crush on her, and despite her every effort to convince him that she didn’t see him that way, that although she loved him, her affections were strictly friendly, he persisted in his hope that one day she would change her mind. “Giles found a prophesy. The only way I can stop Angel from destroying the world is…” Buffy’s voice dropped to barely above a whisper. “The only way is if I am claimed and pregnant by a Master Vampire. I guess Spike kinda drew the short straw.” Xander rounded angrily on her. “Do you love him?” “No,” Buffy sighed. She really didn’t need to be getting into this right now. “Ha!” Xander exclaimed triumphantly; the vampire was as good as gone. “Good... then he…” “Not yet,” Buffy interrupted. “Not yet?” His voice rose dramatically as panic began to set in; this just couldn’t be happening. “What do you mean, not yet?” “I feel something for him,” she confided quietly, hoping that she could make him understand. “Something like, say, loathing?” he sneered. “Please… can’t you just…” “Just what? Accept that you’re involved with yet another vampire?” How could she ask this of him? He was furious that she would even contemplate having anything to do with any vampire, let alone Spike. And here she was, waving the evidence of just how far beyond contemplating she was right in their faces. He made no effort to disguise his bitterness and disgust as he continued. “You know, in case you’ve forgotten, the filthy evil creatures you’re supposed to kill. Remember? Kinda like the one who is trying to kill us all now, just because you couldn't keep your legs closed.” tbc |
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