One Good Lay | Catching The Night by TaniTKD

Catching The Night
Parts 5-8

Written by: TaniTKD
Author's Website

Summary: Buffy in LA after Becoming, alternate ending to Anne with a Spuffy twist. Warning-bloodplay and lots of biting. Spoilers through Season 3
Disclaimer: The show Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel (The Series) and all of it's characters belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, & Fox Prod.
Distribution: Hell ya! Just let me know where it's going! Set in beginning season 3, I think everything is the same up until Anne. Goes AU from there.
Feedback: tanitkd@yahoo.com

Chapter 5

When Buffy emerged from the bathroom, Spike was ready to go. The borrowed pants were too long, but Buffy had rolled them up. She had tucked Spike's T-shirt into them, and even with her white waitressing shoes, she still managed to make the outfit look sexy.

"Uh, think we can make with the mall so I can get something else to wear? Because gotta say, I'm not loving this look," Buffy asked, looking down at herself.

"I dunno, luv, I kinda like it. I think it would make just the right impression on the folks back home." Spike teased.

Buffy rolled her eyes at home, and got her purse and opened. "Hey, here's me making with the surprised face. My money's not here. Damn, there goes my plans for shopping goodness."

"I'd be disappointed in them if they HADN'T nicked your cash, luv," Spike replied. "Don't worry, the Big Bad will get ya what you need."

She turned to look at him, shock evident. "Really?" she asked.

Spike sauntered across the room to take her in his arms. "Yeah, really. I take care of what's mine. Just don't go bleedin announcing it to everyone, or I'll bite you." He threatened lightly.

"You already do bite me, so that was a pretty lame threat," she informed him. He smirked at her, saying nothing. "Whatever." she said, pulling out of his embrace. "Ready to motor?"

He nodded, grabbing his bag and followed her out the door into the hallway. He grabbed her hand, and they made their way down the elevator. Spike noticed he was holding the hand of the arm she had fractured, and asked "How's that arm?"

She glanced down at their entwined hands, and looked at him, "Fine. Let's hear it for slayer healing, yah!" She had taken off the splint earlier to shower, and hadn't needed it back on. "It still gives a twinge every now and then, but it's almost as good as new."

The elevator reached the bottom floor, and they walked out into the night. Spike led them to his black DeSoto, threw his bag in the back and went to unlock Buffy's side of the car. He opened it before going back around to the drivers side.

Buffy slid in and put on the lap belt, closing the door after her. It was like being in a box, the windows were painted black except for a small square on the windshield in front of the steering wheel. It smelled heavily of stale cigarette smoke and age. It should have felt sinister, but it actually made her feel cozy.

"So how come Dru didn't take the car?" she asked.

Spike smirked again. "Easy. She doesn't know how to drive. Claimed Miss Edith told her that the car didn't want her behind the wheel. When she didn't want to do something, she'd always pull that shit about Miss Edith. Was a right easy excuse for her." He told her, amazed that he felt no stab of pain about talking about his black goddess.

"Wish I could get away with something like that," Buffy grumbled. "The one time I tried to get out of something by saying I had a slayer dream about it, Giles went all ape shit on me. Don't know how he knew."

"Maybe because you can't lie worth shit," Spike announced. At Buffy's dirty look, he chuckled. They were getting on the freeway, and Spike floored the big car to get the power to merge into the oncoming traffic.

"Your face gives all your emotions away, luv. Like right now, you're anxious, but oddly excited. You're afraid of the reaction you're going to get, but at the same time, you don't really care. How am I doing?" he teased.

"Shut up, " she mumbled. She rolled down her window and allowed some of the night air in. Ugh, she thought. So not going to miss this dirty air and all the people.

Suddenly, they heard a siren behind them, and Spike cursed as he looked in the side mirror. "Bleedin' pigs," he muttered, pulling off to the shoulder of the freeway. Traffic whizzed by them.

"Do you have paperwork for this car?" she asked fearfully.

"What do you think?" he tossed back at her.

Buffy watched nervously as the CHP officer swaggered to the side of the car. He shone a flashlight into the car through Spike's open window, and ordered authoritatively "License and registration."

Spike gave him a long look, then reached over Buffy to get into the glove compartment. Crumpled empty cigarette packs came littering out, and Spike dug around a bit before pulling some papers out. He silently handed them over.

Buffy was scared. She tried to catch Spike's eye and signal him to not do what she thought he was going to do. She grabbed his wrist and squeezed painfully. He yelped "Bloody hell slayer, I like my hand attached to my wrist, don't fancy it being smashed off."

The CHP looked up sharply from his perusal of the documents, and noticed the two blondes in the car glaring at each other. "I'll be right back, I need to run this." he told Spike.

When he walked away, Buffy hissed "Don't you even THINK about killing him."

Spike looked at her with amusement. "And now why would I go and do a thing like that, huh luv?"

"Oh gee, maybe because your 'Mr Vampire Guy and it's what you do.' Oh those were sarcastic quote marks, by the way. " she snidely told him.

Spike was saved from answering by the CHP coming back to the car. He handed the paperwork back to Spike. "Everything appears in order here." he told the vampire.

Spike smirked at Buffy before directing his attention back at the officer who was still speaking. "Do you know why I pulled you over?"

Spike assumed a dense look and shook his head. "It's against the law in California to have darkened windows." he informed Spike.

"Oh, that. Sorry, bit of a joke some of the fraternity guys pulled. If I hadn't been so late, I would have finished scraping it all off. They thought it was bloody hilarious, said this car looked like something a dead guy would drive." Spike smoothly announced.

Buffy snorted in the seat next to him, and had to turn her face away. Jesus, he really was something.

"As soon as I get home, I'll make sure I get it all off, I promise. I'm taking my sister here to visit our parents," Spike continued, in a low tone.

Huh? Sister? I'm his sister all of a sudden? And why the hell was he using his sexy voice? Buffy glanced over again, and had to pretend to start coughing to contain her laughter. Spike was allowing his eyes to roam slowly over the man's uniformed body, and Buffy saw the man gulp. Spike made a show of licking his lips, and the cop was falling for it.

"I won't give you a ticket uh, this time. But make sure it gets taken care of,ok? " the cop said hastily, scribbling something on his ticket book and throwing it at Spike before darting back to his patrol car.

"Lookee here, Slayer. He gave me his phone number," Spike held up the paper for her to see, and grinned. Buffy allowed her pent up laughter to erupt, and soon found herself with tears running down her face. God it felt good to laugh like that. It had been a long freakin time since she'd found something as hilarious as that had been.

"Oh god, that was funny. How did you know he was gay?" she asked, still giggling.

Spike snorted. "Please, the git had Nancy boy written all over him. Could tell he had a yen for Big Bad here," he informed her.

"You're so so SO bad. Flirting your way out of a ticket, I'm so very ashamed. That's supposed to be a chick thing, y'no." Buffy chastised teasingly. "And why did you tell me you didn't have paperwork for this thing?"

Spike gave her a look and said, "I didn't say that. You asked me if I had paper work, and I said what do you think. As usual, you thought the worst."

Buffy shook her head in amusement at him. "What??" Spike asked.

"You. All Mr. Responsible with his registration and drivers license."

"Please. Do you have any idea how many bloody times I've been pulled over for these windows? It's not always possible to drain the cop, so I just made sure I wouldn't have to spend the night in a nice well lit sunny jail cell." he told her.

"For darkened windows?"

"And other things," he replied wickedly. He put the car in gear and headed back on to the freeway.

They stopped at a mall along the way, and Spike watched Buffy with amusement as she flitted from store to store. He realized she was actually a good shopper, she didn't waste time, honing in on what interested the second she walked into a store. Spike took her by the cosmetic counter of a department store, and made her pick some stuff out. He knew Dru had always wanted to look her best, always wearing make up even though she couldn't see herself. He had become quite adept at making up her face over the years, when she was too weak to do it herself. He knew that make up meant power to some women, not that he thought Buffy was vain, but figured she could use the boost when she had to face her friends again.

Buffy was again taken aback by his thoughtfulness. A man who appreciated the allure of fine cosmetics? Wow, better not let this one get away. They held hands as they made their way from store to store, Spike taking the bags from her and carrying them in his free hand. It felt.. almost like a date or something. She never knew a guy who liked to go shopping. Angel had always stalked her in stores, following with a pained look on his already broody face. And Xander would make fun of everything he saw, ruining the experience for Buffy. But Spike? Now this guy was a good shopper. He even found some outfits for her that she would never have thought to try on, but was amazed when she did. A vampire with damn good taste and a good eye. And she realized she had thought about Angel for the first time without pain. Another thing this strange vampire was good for, he was making her forget. She found herself with a big grin on her face. Yes, Spike was turning out to be a very pleasant surprise.

Before they left the mall, Buffy slipped into the ladies room and put one of the outfits Spike had picked out for here, shoving the discarded garments into a shopping bag. She went to the mirror and applied mascara, eyeshadow and lined her eyes with the eyeliner she had got. Buffy applied the lipstick she still had in her purse and she was ready in under five minutes.

She found Spike sitting at one of the tables in the food court, with a plate of pasta and a salad in front of him. She sat down opposite him and he slid the tray to her side of the table. "Here, got this for you." he told her.

Buffy flashed him a grateful smile, and dug in. God, she could get used to this. Already, he had been so good to her, never complaining about anything she asked if she could get. She looked around to the nearly empty food court, most of the places were starting to close already.

"Want some?" she offered him a bite.

"Garlic and me aren't too friendly, luv." he told her. "I'm good."

That brought something to mind that Buffy didn't want to think about, but she couldn't ignore it. "Spike." She said seriously.

"Buffy." He replied in the same tone.

That got a little smile out of her, but that faded as she pondered her next words to him. Finally she just said in a halting voice, "Um, you're not going to still feed on people, are you?"

Spike looked at her, and something flickered in his eyes. Buffy wasn't sure what she was reading there, as she waited anxiously for his response. "Buffy, this is who I am. I'm a killer, a demon. You knew that when we shagged, when you acknowledged that I wasn't letting you go. Remember?"

Buffy's heart dropped at his words. She nodded sadly. "But I'm the slayer, Spike. I'm supposed to be protecting people from vampires like you."

"Slayer, you knew what I was, and you still gave yourself to me." he reminded her again. "I'm not going to brown bag it"

Buffy turned pleading eyes on him, tears starting to well up. "Spike, please. I can't have that guilt on top of everything else."

Spike felt himself start to soften, and hated himself for allowing it. "Slayer, I think it's a little late to be doing this. You KNOW what I am. I don't have a soul, and I am not willing to give up human blood, not even for you."

More tears welled up, "Could you, uh.. Maybe you could just take it from me? Would that work?"

Spike looked at her, not sure if he had heard her right. "What? What the bloody hell are you saying?"

"Please," she whispered, tears falling. "You're already taking it from me, can't you just take enough so you don't have to kill anyone? I know slayer blood is more powerful than regular blood, so it's not like it should be a hardship for you or anything. Please? I just can't feel that guilt on top of everything, I can't. I hurt too much already"

Spike felt his undead heart breaking at her words, and he knew then he'd do whatever he had to to spare her pain. God, he was so bleedin' pathetic. Totally whipped by the slayer, of all people. He hated seeing her cry, so he went to her and knelt down in front of her, putting his hands on her knees. He was grateful they seemed to be alone in the foodcourt, wouldn't want anyone witnessing him being so whipped. "Shhh, it's ok. I'll tell you what, we'll give your idea a try, ok? I don't want to cause you anymore pain. I'm not promising anything though, got it?" he said gently, reaching up to stroke the side of her face with his hand. She leaned into his palm, and kissed it.

. "Thank you." She said gratefully. She reached up to wipe away her tears. "Boy, sure glad I tried to pretty myself up."

Spike got up and handed her a napkin which she used to wipe the rest of the wetness off of her face. "You look beautiful." He told her, leaning down to kiss give her a quick kiss. She stood up next to him and gathered her trash up.

"As Xander would say, you ready to rock and roll?" she asked him, throwing her empty plates in the trash.

"Hell yeah," he smirked, grabbing her hand and leading her to the exit of the mall and into the cool night air. They were somewhere near Oxnard, not much further to go to reach good ole Sunnyhell.

45 minutes later, they announced their arrival into Sunnyhell by Spike plowing over the sign. "God, when are you going to grow up?" she asked him, laughing.

He smirked at her again. "Uh, slayer, how many times am I going to have to tell you this? Vampire here. Never gonna grow up." he teased.

Buffy just rolled her eyes at him in response. "Where to, luv?"

"Um, let's make with the library. If we're lucky, they'll all be there and we can get this over in one big hoopla." she directed him.

Spike steered the big car in the direction of the high school. Buffy was feeling butterflies in her stomach, dread washing over her. "Stop being so nervous." Spike growled. "It's bugging me."

"Again with the huh?" Buffy asked, confused.

"I can feel it. It's bugging me."

"What do you mean, you can feel it?" she asked.

Spike flicked a gaze to her, "The claim. I can feel your dread."

Buffy looked surprised. "Oh. I actually have no response to that." They pulled into the school parking lot, and noted one lone car parked there.

"yep, there's the Giles-mobile." she told him.

"What does he do, bloody live here?"

"Just about. God, I'm scared. What are they going to say?" Buffy babbled.

"Look, you're the bloody slayer. They are the sidekicks. Remember that." Spike informed her. He could feel when the panic lifted slightly. "They work for YOU."

"Gotcha." Spike parked and they both opened the doors and got out. Buffy just stood by her side of the car, not able to move.

"Come on." Spike said gruffly.

"Can't." Came the reply.

Spike growled and came around to her side, grabbing her hand and dragging her into the back doors that would lead them to the library. It was still summer break, and the halls were dark and silent. When they got to the double doors of the library, Spike peeked inside the little round window. He turned to Buffy and told her "They're all in there. Well, except the wolf and cheerleader."

"Oh god, I can't" Buffy paled, trying to back away.

"Come on slayer, we'll walk in together. No hand holding tho, don't want to get staked right off the bat." he told her.

"Ok, " she squeaked

"Ready? Ok, at three, we're both gonna walk in there. I'll be right there with you. This is nothing that you can't handle. They didn't know what you went through, they need to know. They will understand, because that's what you good guys do. Got it?" Spike lectured her.

Buffy nodded meekly. He still had hold of her hand, and he looked at her and said "Ok, 1...2..."

"3!" with that, he dropped her hand, threw open the door loudly and marched in. Three startled faces looked up at him, fear in their eyes.

"Spike!" Xander yelped, throwing himself behind the desk.

Before Spike could even blink his eyes, he found himself with a crossbow pointed at him, just waiting to fire it's deadly missile in his direction.

Rupert Giles, crossbow in his competent hands, ground out, "Spike... Perhaps you wouldn't mind telling us what you are doing here? Make it quick."

Spike looked around him and noticed he was alone. He'd been had. "Oh Bloody hell! I'm gonna kill her." he grumbled. He looked at Giles and said "Just give me a sec here," and they watched as the vampire stormed out of the library.

"What the hell?" Xander asked. They heard Spike yell outside in the hall at someone. "GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE NOW!!!!"

Giles wanted to go see what was happening in the hallway, but he wasn't entirely convinced that this wasn't a set up. Spike seemed up to something.

They then heard Spike roar loudly, "YOU BETTER GET YOUR CUTE LITTLE ASS IN THERE RIGHT NOW, DO YOU HEAR ME???!!" They heard a feminine voice reply something, then the doors burst open again and Spike stalked through them, dragging someone, a blonde feminine someone.

Giles again trained the cross bow on him, which Spike ignored as he flung the person he was dragging in front of him, none too gently. A glare was pinned on Spike that could have frozen an ocean. He just smirked, unaffected, crossing his arms over his chest. Giles quickly recognized who it was that Spike had dragged into the room, and who was now glaring at the vampire. Buffy. Spike had dragged Buffy into the room. His slayer was back.

"Buffy!" Giles called out.

She turned away from glaring at her vampire lover to face her Watcher and her friends. "Uh, hi."

She was immediately engulfed in hugs from her friends, which brought immediate tears to her eyes. They were so happy to see her. She turned her eyes hesitantly to her Watcher and was stunned to see tears in his eyes.

"Buffy," he said again, as if to convince himself she was real. He had followed so many false leads to try to find her, and now here she was, safe. He allowed himself to drop his British reserve and engulfed her in a huge hug. "You're back," he told her unnecessarily.

"Uh, yeah." She replied breaking out of the hug. She backed up a step and looked at the three in front of her, they were all looked so relieved. Suddenly guilt stabbed her as she thought of what they must have gone through by her just disappearing. Panic flooded her again, and she looked over at Spike and he came to stand beside her. He ignored the others.

"Come on, let's get you sitting down." Spike told Buffy, as he grabbed her hand and led her to the rectangular table in the middle of the library. He sat her down, then sat down next to her.

He looked up to see the Slayerettes staring at him. "What are you people looking at?" he snarled. "And watcher, do put that crossbow away, eh?"

"Not bloody likely," Giles responded, confusion evident in his face.

"Giles," Buffy commanded. "It's ok. Put it away." Spike was relieved to note that Giles still took orders from Buffy, and put the weapon down. Xander came to sit down at the table, clutching a big cross in his hands. He plunked it on the table loudly in front of him, giving Spike a meaningful glare.

Spike arched an eyebrow at him. "Is that supposed to scare me, or something, whelp?" he asked.

"Take it however you want, Evil Dead." Xander replied.

Willow and Giles took their seats at the table, both keeping their distance from Spike, who was actually amused by this. He liked people fearing him.

"What is Dead Boy Jr. even doing here, Buffy?" Xander asked

"He brought me home, Xander." Was Buffys reply.

"Couldn't you have like, called the G-Man or something? Granted his ride is pretty sad, but it had to have been better than riding with HIM." Xander exclaimed.

Buffy exchanged amused glances with Spike, and then said , "No Xander, I mean he forced me to come home. He found me in LA yesterday and told me I had to go home."

"LA? That's where you were?" Giles asked. He was somewhat confused by this turn of events, his slayer being brought home by William the Bloody.

Buffy nodded. Willow saw the bite marks on Buffy's neck, and gave a gasp. Her brain came to the same conclusion Lily's had. "Uh, Buffy, he didn't uh, turn you or anything, did he?"

Buffy rolled her eyes, "Why does everybody keep asking me that?" She reached across the table and grabbed the cross that was in front of Xander. "Hello? Satisfied?" She said, dropping the cross and throwing herself back into her chair. Spike grabbed her hand under the table. Actually having Spike here was working just like she thought, they were so concerned over his presence that they weren't hounding her with questions about Angel. At least not yet.

"Then what's the what with the grrrr marks?" she asked.

"Not gonna talk about it." Buffy said firmly. "Next question, please?"

Giles took his glasses off, putting them on top of the table. "You said that Spike brought you home. How did you come to meet in LA?"

Buffy looked at Spike, eyes pleading for him to answer that question. "Right." he began. "Was passing a diner, saw a bird that looked like the slayer here. Waited her out and followed her. She tried to do the hero bit and got hit by a car, guy that hit her wanted her to go to the ER. She asked me to help her instead. So I did." he quickly narrated.

"Why?" Giles asked pinning a glare at Spike.

"Giles! He's not on trial here. You KNOW I hate hospitals." she told him.

"Why didn't you kill her?" Giles continued his question.

"Wasn't hungry." Spike retorted.

"Hello! Sitting right here!" Buffy announced. "Giles, I mean it, knock it off. Spike helped me, even set my broken arm. He didn't hurt me, can we move on here?"

"Have you seen your mother yet?" was the next question.

A pang of guilt sliced through Buffy. "no," she admitted softly.

"Luv, why don't you go call her. It might be easier to face her here than barging in on her at home." Spike told her gently.

"Good idea." She got up and said to Giles, "I'm going to go use the phone in your office, ok?" He nodded his consent.

When she was gone, Giles looked at Spike again and asked, "Ok, now I want to know what you are up to. What kind of game you're playing here."

"You sound just like Buffy, y'no that?" It didn't escape Giles's notice that he called her Buffy and not Slayer. "I don't play games," he said simply. "That's Angelus's bag. Or was."

"Then why are you helping her? And what do you know about Angelus's demise?"

"Look, when I saw her in LA, I could tell she was empty inside. She has hurting, a lot. Her eyes looked dead, and I didn't like seeing that. I just want to see her eyes come back to life, is all." Spike answered.

"Very poetic, dead boy." Xander sneered.

"You shut your gob. Maybe if Buffy hadn't been so fearful of the reactions of all of you, she wouldn't have been hiding herself in LA. You were all part of the problem." Spike revealed. He gave a satisfied smirk when he saw Xander flinch from his verbal attack.

"So she killed Angelus?" Giles asked.

"It's not me you should be asking, but I'm going to tell you anyway, in hope that you make it easier on the slayer. It wasn't Angelus she had to kill, it was Angel." he announced.

"Oh my goddess! The spell worked you mean?" Willow exclaimed.

Spike cocked his head to stare at her. "So you did work the mojo on him? Buffy wasn't sure what happened. Just said he all of a sudden became Angel but it was too late, he'd already awakened the stone giant. She had to send Angel to hell to close him."

This was met with shocked silence. "What do you mean she didn't know?" Willow asked. "Xander, you didn't tell her I was going to do the spell?" she yelled.

Xander's face had gone pale.

Chapter 6

Seeing the guilty look on Xander's face was all the answer Spike needed. He growled low in his throat and got up slowly to approach Xander's side. His blue eyes were cold and angry, as he pinned his stare on Xander. Giles quietly plucked a stake out of his back pocket, in anticipation of having to use it to keep Spike from ripping out Xander's throat.

"You knew, and didn't tell her?" he asked in a low voice, that scared the crap out of Xander. He would much rather have Spike in all his demonic glory than have to deal with this deadly human Spike.

"Uh.. I meant to.. but guess uh, I uh forgot to mention it to her when I saw her when she was going to the mansion," Xander lamely tried to bluff his way out if it.

"You forgot to mention it? Some friend you are," Spike sneered. Giles mentally applauded him, he wanted to say the same words to the boy.Spike continued his tirade, anger straining his voice, "Do you have ANY idea what you did to her? By not giving her that information? She almost let the pain of having to kill Angel consume her, do you know that? For the last three months she has lived in hell, working a shit job in a bad part of LA, keeping all that pain locked inside, just burning a hole right through her."

Spike sensed Buffy coming back into the room, and stopped his rant. He noted her red rimmed eyes, and went over to her side. Not caring if the others saw, he took her hand, clasping it in both of his. He was finding himself desperately needing to touch her, have contact with her. "You ok?" he asked gently. She looked up at him and smiled sadly. "Yeah. Just feeling guilty." she told Spike.

Looking around at the Scoobies, she asked, "Ok, so what did I miss, and don't you dare say nothing or I'm going to kick some major ass."

Nobody wanted to say anything. Giles cleared his throat as if to speak, but remained silent. Finally, Spike gave an exasperated sigh, and led her back to the table. The others shifted uneasily in their chairs, uncertain how to proceed.

"I told 'em about Angel, luv." Spike finally said.

Buffy gave a quick intake of breath, and Spike saw the pain that flashed through her eyes, but then she took control of it without sinking into it's depths. She looked around the table, noting that they were having trouble meeting her gaze. This is what she was afraid of, reacting by not wanting to look at her. Because it was all her fault..

"Ok, so you know Angel got his soul back. Not quite sure how it happened," Buffy began.

"Red did it." Spike told her simply. He could feel her fear, and knew he had to get to what the group was really ashamed of before it broke her.

"You did? How'd you do that? You were in the hospital." Buffy asked, confused.

"Did the spell from my room. Kinda made me nervous, what with all the flammables and all, but I wanted to give you guys a chance." Willow announced awkwardly.

"That's not all. Boy, I think you have something you need to tell the slayer, now don't you?" he told Xander menacingly.

Xander tried looking her in the eyes, but was too ashamed. "Uh, I knew.. I knew Willow was doing the soul restoration spell and I didn't mention it. You know, that night before you got to the mansion." he finally admitted.

Pain and betrayal sliced heavily through Buffy. "Why Xander?" How could do that to me?" She asked, her throat tightening and tears pooling up in her hazel green eyes.

"I'm sorry Buffy, so sorry. I just couldn't stand the thought of Angel coming back, like nothing had happened. Like he hadn't killed Miss. Calender, all of that. I wish I could go back and do it over. " Xander revealed, his own throat starting to tighten a bit also.

The tears spilled down Buffy's face,, and all she could do was stare at her friend in shocked horror. She wasn't surprised to find herself drawn into a cool embrace, and she allowed herself to draw strength from him. She felt numb, horrified at this revelation.

The others looked on as Buffy allowed the blonde vampire to comfort her. He murmured gentle words meant for her ears only. They watched as she allowed him to pick her up out of the chair and settle her on his lap. And how she turned to bury her face into his chest as he gently stroked her hair. Xander felt like plunging a stake right through Spike's chest, seeing him with Buffy like that. Didn't she learn enough the first time?

Willow turned to Xander and demanded, "Why did you do that to her? What gave YOU the right to make that decision?"

Giles gave Xander a harsh look and said "I would like to know the answer to that as well."

Xander just looked at them helplessly, guilt dripping from his every pore. "I just didn't want Soul Boy back, ok? I thought it would be the best thing all around if Buffy didn't know."

He turned to Buffy who was wrapped in Spike's arms, and said "Buffy, I am so sorry. Please believe me."

Buffy sniffed, and looked up to Xander. "Xander I''m sure you are sorry, but it doesn't change what happened. What I had to do to Angel. What I have to live with now. When his soul came back, he had no memory of the things he'd done as Angelus. His last thoughts before being sucked into hell were that the girl who he thought loved him just stuck a sword in his gut, after telling him she loved him. You should have seen how he looked at me, Xander. Those are the memories that will haunt me forever."

It hurt Spike to hear Buffy talking about Angel in those terms, her claims of love, but he was feeling her pain. It was still incredibly raw in her mind. Her emotions were already so labile just from coming into this room, and then to be faced with Xander's deception. It had cut her deep.

At this point, Xander had tears in his eyes as well. "I'm so sorry." he whispered. Buffy just nodded, she couldn't discuss it anymore.

Changing the subject, she asked, "So, how has the Hellmouth been?" She leaned back against Spike, feeling a little awkward about displaying this much intimacy in front of this group, but she needed his strength. She couldn't bear to think about not touching him right now.

Relieved that the tense moment was over, Giles began to drone on about the day to day occurrences of the Hellmouth. Some things never changed, Buffy thought.

"We've been getting pretty good at patrolling," Willow informed Buffy, trying to get over the sight of Buffy sitting in Spike's lap. She had been taken aback at Spike's fierce protection of her in regard to Xander's lie by omission. "We've got cool walkie talkies and neat code names, and everything!"

Buffy's guilt returned, as she realized that her friends had picked up the slack when she bailed. "I'm sorry, Will." she told her simply.

"I know, Buffy," Willow replied knowingly. "I was pretty upset with you at first, that you didn't at least let me know you were alive. But now, knowing what happened, I can understand your need to escape from here."

Buffy's tears returned and she got up from Spike's lap and walked around the table to give Willow another, more sincere, hug. This time they were happy tears, so thankful she had a friend like Willow.

"Thank you guys, for doing my job while I was gone." Buffy said to all of them, making sure Xander knew he was included in that. Giles came over and gave her another hug, with Willow joining in, and Buffy gestured to Xander. "Come on, group huggage here." Xander got up and threw his arms around the group. Spike found himself not liking the others with their hands on Buffy. His Buffy.

When Buffy turned back to Spike, he made sure he had a look of pure disgust on his face. "Well that was a sickening display, Slayer." he drawled.

"Shut up, Spike." She replied automatically. They both grinned at each other. Spike noted that the emptiness in her was filling itself, she was on her way to being whole.

The doors to the library opened just then, and Joyce Summers stood there, a frantic look in her eye. When she saw Buffy standing by her friends, she clapped a hand over her mouth to choke back a sob. "Buffy." she cried.

Buffy looked over at her mom, and said softly, "Mom." She walked over to her hesitantly at first, then with more purpose. Her mother flung her arms around her daughter and squeezed her tight. '"My baby," she cried, tears wetting her cheeks.

Her mom drew back and looked at her, smoothing a lock of hair away from her face. "Are you ok? You look so pale. What happened to your face?" She asked worriedly, pointing to the slight pinkness on her face that was all that was left of Buffy vs. the Pavement.

"Long story mom. But you shoulda seen me yesterday, now that was scary." Buffy announced to her, in a slightly flippant tone. She couldn't handle anymore heavy moments, she was feeling too raw right now.

Her mom looked around the room, and took note of Spike sitting at the table. He saw her lock her questioning eyes on him, and he said "Good to see you again, Joyce."

Buffy's mom smiled at the blonde vampire. "Hello Spike. What are you doing here?"

Buffy turned to her mom and said, "Another long story, mom."

Giles, who wanted to hear the long story, informed Joyce, "It appears that Spike brought Buffy home."

Joyce bestowed another smile in his direction. "Thank you, Spike."

Spike smiled back, he liked Buffy's mom. "Don't mention it. Although your daughter is kind of a pain in the ass." he said, trying to break the tension in the room.

"Hey!!" Buffy yelled, rising to the bait as Spike knew she would.

"Well, you are luv." he told her. Turning back to Joyce he said, "She made me stop by a bleedin mall on the way up and kept asking 'oh Spike, will you buy me this, oh Spike can I have that.' " Spike imitated Buffy's Valley girl voice to perfection. " Don't know how you put up with her for as many years as you have, Joyce."

"It wasn't my fault my money got stolen, " Buffy pouted. "And I didn't have anything to wear except your clothes."

All eyes pointed in her direction. Spike smirked at her, as her face colored with embarrassment.

"Uh, did I mention the really long story?" Buffy asked.

"Don't think that one is going to work here, luv. Joyce, have a seat. Got us one hell of a good story to tell." Spike informed Buffy's mother.

Buffy gave Spike a threatening look, and he just gave her his infuriating smirk. When Joyce was seated, Buffy just barely managed to refrain from throwing herself back into Spike's lap. She made herself take the seat next to his, but that didn't stop her from scooting it as close as she could, leaning against his hard shoulder, making as much contact with him as she could.

"Ok, here's the story of how I met up with Spikey here. Remember that majorally lame vampire cult that my friend Ford was into?" Buffy asked.

"Oh, you mean the same Ford that Spike over there drained?" Xander couldn't help but inject. At Buffy's withering glare, he had the sense to look abashed.

"Guy was a bleedin idiot." Spike muttered. "Annoying little shit. He deserved it."

"Spike, so not helping, and if there is going to be interruptions after every sentence I say, this is going to get totally old." Buffy announced. They all indicated for her to continue.

"Anyway, there was a girl there at the club, Chantarelle or some lame name like that. I think she was the one who told us that vampires were misunderstood lost souls or something like that, guys remember that?" Buffy asked. Xander and Willow nodded, it barely flicked inside Buffy that she had been with Angel at that club.

"So, I saw her yesterday at the diner. She recognized me. I was going by the name of Anne. She stopped me in the street on the way home. Come to find out, Spike here was also following me." She gave him a pointed look, he just shrugged and smirked.

Chapter 7

"So, I saw her yesterday at the diner. She recognized me. I was going by the name of Anne. She stopped me in the street on the way home. Come to find out, Spike here was also following me." She gave him a pointed look, he just shrugged and smirked

"Wanted to know if it was you,luv. Had to get a whiff of ya," he told her.

"Can I just say Eww? So, Mr. Stalker Guy here was watching me talking to Chantarelle although she changed her name to Lily. Then this homeless dude knocks into us and marches into the street so he could do a 'Good-bye Cruel World'." Buffy told them.

Spike interrupted and said, "And Brainiac Buffy here races into the street and shoves the git out of the way, and gets hit by a bloody car and knocked halfway down the street."

"Mental note to self-Being the slayer does not stop moving vehicles." Buffy cracked. "So when I was all Buffy Vs. the pavement, I got knocked out and what was the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes?"

"That." she said, pointing at Spike's face. "I guess Lily had come rushing over and seeing Spike scared the crap out of her."

"Buffy!!" her mom chided her daughter on her language.

"Sorry. So then the guy who hit me goes to call 911, and I freaked. You know I hate hospitals, so I asked Spike to help me and not let them take me. So he did."

"Why didn't you have Lily help you?" Willow found herself compelled to ask.

"uh... she couldn't carry me?" Was Buffy's weak excuse. She could feel Spike's smirking at her.

"Then what?" Giles asked, curiosity overwhelming him. His slayer was exhibiting some odd behavior, as was the blonde vampire at her side.

"Uh, things are kinda hazy after that. Spike picked me up, Lily freaked, thought he was going to kill me, then I must have been sleeping the sleep of the knocked unconscious because the next thing I remember is waking up in Spike's hotel room and he had set my arm and cleaned all my scrapes and stuff." Buffy felt a slight blush wash over her as her memory wondered back to waking up to find Spike licking her wounds. Bad thoughts, go away.

Joyce looked terrified, she started crying again and got up to hug Buffy again. "Oh my god, I almost lost you and didn't even know it. I am so sorry for what I said to you when you left the house. I don't know what came over me, I didn't mean it." She cried.

Buffy hugged her back. "I know you didn't, mom. I'm sorry I just left like that. I just couldn't stay here." She realized her mom didn't know the entire story like the Slayerettes did, and she dreaded having to rehash it again.

"We can tell your mother later what happened that night, ok Buffy?" Giles said, sensing it would not be a good idea to go through it again.

Buffy nodded gratefully.

"So that doesn't explain why all you had was Spike's clothes," Xander injected, unable to stop the hostile tone in his voice.

Buffy gave him a dirty look and opened her mouth to answer him when Spike beat her to it.

"She was hit by a car, you nit. Bounced off the windshield and thrown down the street. Her uniform was trashed, blood soaked and torn. Got a problem with that?" Spike challenged.

"Yeah, Dead Man Walking, I do. I'm having a problem listening to this and seeing bite marks on my friends neck. Did you have a quick bite to eat when she was knocked out?" Xander inquired.

Pure venom flashed in Spike's eyes, and Buffy could feel his muscles tense where she was pressed against him. Buffy heard her mom gasp when she finally noticed the marks on her daughter's neck, Buffy had been trying to hide them with her hair.

Giles fingered his stake again, having it ready in case it was needed. To his surprise, it wasn't Spike he needed to worry about, it was Buffy.

"How dare you Xander," she spat, her own eyes mirroring the venom seen in Spike's. "You have absolutely NO right to say anything to me right now."

Giles tried to calm things down, but just wound up making it worse. "Buffy, it's ok. Xander posed a logical question. Granted it may not have been asked in the best way, but it's still something that gives us all concern."

Spike grabbed Buffy's hand to try to calm her down. He wanted to lay into Buffy's little mouseketeer club, but held his tongue knowing that Buffy needed to say her piece. "Giles, do you see me alive right now? Do you see any lingering effects of getting smashed by a car? Do you even see me here in this room? And do you want to know why? Because of Spike. And that is all I am saying on the subject, do you understand?"

Giles took his glasses off, wanting to ask so much more but afraid of Buffy's wrath. "You're right Buffy, we are grateful for that. I apologize if our prying upset you."

Buffy gave a short laugh. "Yeah well, lots of things have been upsetting me these days."

Xander had the good sense to look distressed. "Buffy, I'm sorry. What I said was uncalled for."

Buffy gave him a scowl and informed him, "Xander, I'm serious. I'm not willing to put up with this crap from you right now. Please don't make me wish I'd stayed in LA."

That was met with silence, even her mom didn't dare scold her for her language. Spike decided to try to give Buffy a breather from the intense emotions in the room and asked her "Wanna come keep me company while I have a smoke?"

She gave him a grateful smile and nodded. "We'll be back in a bit." she told the others. She got up and caught up with Spike, surprising him by slipping her hand into his cool one. He gave it a gentle squeeze and smiled at her, then they disappeared behind the library doors.

Their departure had been witnessed, of course, and had been closely scrutinized. It was not lost on the group that it was Buffy who slid her hand into Spike's, or that Spike had smiled happily at her.

Joyce finally broke the silence and demanded, "Ok, now tell me what happened." She was still dealing with her own issues of anger towards Buffy's watcher.

Giles sighed, and took his glasses off, placing them on the table in front of him. He was saved from having to explain things to Buffy's mom by Willow.

"The spell I did, you know, to try to restore Angel's soul? The one I thought didn't work? Well, from what Buffy said, it did work. But it was too late. She had to kill Angel, not Angelus." Willow revealed, speaking the words making her realize just how horrible that must have been for Buffy.

Buffy's mother gasped and covered her mouth in horror. Her heart bled for what her daughter must have gone through, and she kicked herself for her own cruel words she had flung at her as her daughter walked out of the house that night.

Guilt shining bright in his eyes, Xander admitted "And I didn't tell Buffy that Willow was doing the spell."

Anger flashed through Joyce. "Why not?" she demanded.

"Because I was being a petty juvenile idiot, that's why." Xander announced in a harsh voice.

"So what? How does Spike fit into all of this?" Joyce asked.

"Well, you know as much as we do," Giles admitted. "She said he made her come home and he had to drag her practically kicking and screaming in here. It was quite a sight to behold."

"Why would he do something like that? I thought you said he doesn't have a soul?" Joyce asked.

"He doesn't. But he's always been able to tap into people's emotions, and it appears he read Buffy's and didn't like what he saw." Giles revealed. "He appears protective of her."

"Yeah, I'll say. Thought I was a dead man when he found out what I did." Xander injected.

"You're not the only one, Xander. It appears that Spike has taken an interest in Buffy's well being. For what purpose, I do not know." Giles tried to explain. "But I suppose we owe him for bringing her home. What he means to Buffy, I don't know that either. But they seem to be rather close."

"Yeah, like snugly wuggly close." Willow sighed, wishing Oz was there.

"If they are so close, why would he bite her?" Joyce asked.

An uncomfortable look passed over Giles's face. He had a feeling he knew the implications of the bites, but did not feel inclined to share the mating rituals of vampires with Buffy's mother.

"Um.. I can only assume that when he bit her, it was not with the intent to harm her," he tried to waffle his way out the explanation.

"What are you trying to tell me, Rupert?" Joyce demanded, giving the Watcher a Resolve Face that had Willow jealous.

"Oh bloody hell! " Giles exclaimed, slamming his glasses back on his nose. "Let's just say they are probably love bites and leave it at that, all right?"

Willow's mouth opened in shock. "Buffy and.. Spike? Making with the..." she wisely did not finish that statement, as her face flushed red.

Xander looked disgusted, but kept his mouth shut. Giles looked embarrassed, and Joyce looked contemplative.

It was at that moment the two blondes burst back into the library, hands entwined once more. Buffy appeared to be in a happier mood. Taking note of the expressions around the room, Buffy said "Ok, What?"

Spike had heard Gile's loud exclamation with his vampiric hearing and waited to see if they would own up to what they had been talking about. When no explanation was forth coming, Spike announced to her "They were talking about your little love bites, luv." He reached his hand up and touched the bites. His bites.

"How did you know?" Willow asked in shock.

Spike smirked. "Do I HAVE to keep reminding you people I'm a vampire? Could hear you all the way down the bleedin' hall." he replied.

"So, um, is that what they are, honey?" Joyce inquired, desperate to get an answer.

Buffy flicked a glance at Spike and noted his amused look, then looked back to her mother. "Uh..yeah." she admitted quietly, looking at the floor.

Xander started humming the Love Bites song by Def Leppard, and for some reason that gave Buffy the giggles.

"That's a damn fine song you're ruining there, boy." Spike told him, glad to hear Buffy's laughter.

"Ok, now that it was finally pried out of me, can we go home now? " Buffy asked her mom.

Joyce liked the sound of that. "Sure honey. My car's out back."

Without looking at Spike, she said "I'm uh, going to ride with Spike, if that's ok?"

Her mom looked slightly hurt, but nodded her consent. She realized she had just been maneuvered into having Spike come back to the house with them, but she was so happy to have her daughter back, she was willing to over look it.

Giving Buffy a pointed look, Spike said, "I'll wait for you in the car, luv," and he was pushing through the doors, black duster billowing behind him. Jesus,he's hot, Buffy thought.

Buffy knew Spike had given her a moment to have the gang talk about him behind his back, and was grateful for it. He always seemed to know, she didn't know how he did it. But she was feeling more and more happy that he was hers.

Buffy turned back to them and sighed. "Ok, shoot." she told them.

Giles started began by asking "He doesn't have a soul, does he?"

A pained look in remembrance of vampires with souls came across her face as she answered, "No, he is currently without soul at the moment."

To Joyce, Giles said "I'm not sure how comfortable I am having him at your house. I would feel better if perhaps I came to keep an eye out."

"Hello! Vampire slayer standing right here!" Buffy shouted. "Spike is fine. He's not going to hurt anyone."

"How do you know that, Buffy?" Xander asked.

"Because I know, ok? We have an agreement." she told them.

"And that would be?" Giles inquired.

"Well, that would be..... none of your business." Buffy retorted. "Look, I'm not going to do this with you all, ok? Truth be told, I didn't want to come back. Didn't want to have to face this again. That soulless vampire MADE me. Please, I'm asking you, don't make me regret coming back. Please."

Joyce took control of the situation by going over to her daughter and enveloping her in a hug. She turned to the others and said "It's my house, and Buffy is my daughter. If she wants to have Spike there, than that is fine with me. And do you know why? Because I trust her."

Tears to spill once again as Buffy pulled back and said "Even though I ran away?"

"You didn't run away, honey. Not in my mind. And yes, even with that. I love you." she told her daughter.

Buffy hugged her mom again, taking care not to wrap her arms too tight. "I love you too, " she whispered back.

"Now come on, let's go home. You're letting your vampire sit in the car, probably making him cranky." Joyce announced. "What happened to his girlfriend, by the way? He was so upset over it when he was at the house that night."

"She dumped him in LA." Buffy told her.

"That's horrible! Do you know why?" Joyce asked.

"Yeah, I do. Because of me. Because of the truce we made." Buffy revealed. "Told him he'd gone soft."

Saying goodbye to her friends and Watcher, Buffy hooked arms with her mom, and they walked out of the library leaving a stunned trio behind.

"Wish my mom was that cool." Willow said.

"Yeah, me too." Xander replied.

"Well, I think it's time to call it a night. We can discuss this more tomorrow.." Giles announced, getting up to close up the library for the evening.

"So, Giles. Spike and Buffy." Willow said meaninfully.

Giles sighed. "It would appear so. Spike and Buffy. Come on, I'll give you two a lift home."

"And so starts another soap opera about life with the evil dead. Like sands through the hourglass, so are the Days of our Unlife." Xander announced.

Again, Giles sighed. "We can only hope it will be less rocky than with Angel."

Chapter 8

Spike's huge DeSoto pulled into the driveway opposite of where Buffy's mom usually parked. They got out of the car and Spike grabbed the shopping bags and his bag from the back seat. Joyce was holding the front door open for them, and they trudged inside. Spike still had an invite from a few months earlier, and crossed the door way with ease.

"What should I do with these, luv?" Spike asked Buffy, holding up the bags.

"Would you mind putting them in my room?" She asked sweetly.

"I'm not your bleedin bell hop," he mumbled as he climbed the stairs with the bags.

Buffy turned to her mom and gave her a smile. God, it really was good to be home. "Come on into the kitchen honey, I'll make some hot chocolate." Joyce said to her. Buffy nodded happily and followed her mother into the bright kitchen.

Joyce started bustling around, getting the ingredients together while Buffy spectated. "Mom, um is it ok if Spike stays here tonight?" she asked hesitantly.

Turning to look at her daughter, Joyce announced, "Well, I already figured that he would be. And I'm assuming you're asking if he can stay in your room, and not the couch?" Buffy nodded hopefully.

"Yes, it's ok. But PLEASE don't give me a reason to regret it, ok?"

At Buffy's relieved look, she took the opportunity to bring up "Honey, Mr. Giles mentioned a few things, and I guess what I am looking for is some reassurance here. I know Spike is a vampire, like Angel was, and well, I guess I'm just concerned."

There it was again, that flash of pain at the mention of Angel's name, but it was growing weaker each time. "Mom, he is a vampire, but not he's not like Angel. He has no alter ego, no soul to lose, no evil Spikelus hiding in there somewhere. What you see is what you get. Obnoxious, slightly annoying, but he doesn't play mind games. Ok so he has tried to kill me in the past, but not any more than I've tried to kill him. To tell you the truth, I have never been so glad to see someone as I was when I looked up and saw him staring down at me in the street. Because I knew I'd be ok, that he'd take care of me. And he did mom, you have NO idea how much. I was so totally lost, and I feel like he found me. I know that sounds majorally corny, but it's the truth. And I trust him, more importantly."

Joyce gave her a sad smile, and replied, "I'm glad he was there for you Buffy. Again, I am so sorry for what I said to you, I didn't mean it."

"I know, Spike told me you didn't. I was kinda holding onto it as an excuse to run away and stay gone. But he made me face up to the fact that I knew you were just blowing off steam." Buffy revealed.

"I thought he had left the house already?"

Buffy gave a Spike-like smirk and said "The Big Bad was lurking in the bushes outside eavesdropping."

Joyce laughed at the mental image of Spike hiding in the bushes. "So, honey, where is this thing going with you two, if you don't mind your mother butting in and asking?"

Buffy looked pensive, and replied " Dunno, to be honest. But he is going to be around. I hope you're ok with that."

"Guess I'm going to have to be, aren't I?" Joyce answered. She had a lot of time to think when Buffy was gone, and she had come to the decision to give her daughter as much support as she could. Of course she didn't think she'd be having to offer her support with another vampire suitor.

Joyce went to the door of the kitchen and yelled "Spike, come down here and have some hot chocolate."

Buffy heard him pounding down the stairs, and he made one of his dramatic entrances, flashing a devilish grin. "I love hot chocolate." he told her, not wanting to let on that he had been lurking upstairs, eavesdropping once again.

Spike sat down on one of the barstools, and Joyce handed him a cup complete with marshmallows. He had a giddy look on his face as he drank it. "Delicious." he told her.

Joyce was trying to ignore the fact that while she could see herself and Buffy reflected off the front of the oven, the blonde vampire was completely absent. This was going to take some getting used to, she told herself. But she was willing to give it the effort, for Buffy's sake. Plus she liked Spike. She appreciated his efforts on her daughter's behalf, and he treated her with respect, something Angel had not done. She could tell behind his cocky facade, there was more to him than he let show. Yes, he was definitely interesting.

Deciding to find out some more about this vampire that was holding her daughter's hand, she began to question him. "Spike, I'm afraid I don't know too much about you. Do you mind if I ask you some questions?"

He gave her an endearing smile and told her, "Go ahead. May not answer 'em though, be warned."

"Fair enough. So, how old are you?"

"128" came the quick reply. That surprised Joyce, the knowledge that this man was decades older than herself, when he appeared to be intimately acquainted with her 17 year old daughter.

"Oh." She finally said. "Did you go to college? " He nodded. "Went to Oxford, before I was turned. Degrees in English and History."

Again, Joyce was surprised, but pleasantly so this time. Buffy was pleasantly surprised also, now she knew who to get to do her homework for her most dreaded classes.

At the thought of school, Buffy's stomach dropped. "Uh, mom, not to change the subject or anything, but do you know if I'm still a wanted fugitive of the law?"

Joyce shook her head. "No, they ruled it out as.."

Buffy interrupted "Don't tell me, let me guess. A crazed gang on PCP."

"You got it. We can go talk to the school and get things smoothed over." Joyce informed her.

"Oh yeah, Snyder's going to love that."

"Who's Snyder?" Spike asked.

"The principal at my school. He has a thing for me, thinks I'm a trouble maker, of all things." Buffy told him.

"You? A trouble maker? " Spike mocked.

"Yeah, I'm major trouble." she replied, the thought of going back to school not very appealing to her. "Maybe I'll luck out and he won't let me back in."

"Buffy!" her mom exclaimed.

"Don't think like that, pet. Education is important." Spike chastised.

Joyce was happy to hear Spike express that sentiment, and surprised by it also. Buffy started sulking, feeling ganged up on, then realized she was just exhausted. She was feeling achy from being Pedestrian vs.Vechicle girl, as well as the strenuous activities she had indulged herself in with her blonde vampire.

"I'm going to go to bed, feeling pretty beat. You tired?" Buffy asked Spike. He shook his head, "I think I'm gonna head over to your Watcher's and have a word with him."

Buffy frowned at that. "Don't worry pet, not going to hurt anyone. Already told you that. Just want to make sure we understand each other, is all," Spike informed her.

"I'm sure he's pretty wigged about you. Last he knew you were sulking and damage bound because I put you in a wheelchair," Buffy replied.

"Oh, I was right jacked off about that one, let me tell you. Worst experience of my bleedin life." Spike revealed, and scowled when Buffy flashed a sickening sweet smile in his direction.

"You put Spike in a wheelchair?" Joyce asked.

"Hell ya, she did. Your daughter is one scary girl when she's brassed off. Dropped an organ right on my back, broke my spine. Dru had to take of me like I was a bleedin baby. Thought I'd never get out of that thing." Spike told her, grimacing at the memory.

"Oh, and like you didn't deserve it, you big baby?" Buffy taunted.

"What? Just because I was trying to kill the big Poof? And you? Just wanted Dru to get better, is all." Spike replied, acting like it was no big deal.

Buffy stood there with her hands on her hips, eyebrow arched, staring at him. "What?" Spike exclaimed.

"What about all your other lame attempts to kill me?" Buffy asked.

Spike pretended to sulk, "They weren't lame." Noting the shocked look on Joyce's face, he told Buffy, "Uh, luv, I don't think your mum is appreciating this conversation."

Buffy looked at her mom and saw her face. "Oops, my bad. Sorry."

Joyce gave a little shake of the head, "No, it's just kind of sinking in what you meant about Spike being your #1 mortal enemy."

Spike beamed. "I was #1?"

Buffy rolled her eyes, "You are so lame, do you know that?" she told him. " Do you know how to get to Giles apartment?"

"Yeah, unfortunately due to Angelus's incessant chatter." Spike revealed. The flash of pain struck Buffy again, but just as quickly disappeared.

"Don't pick on him, Spike. I mean it." Buffy threatened. She walked over to her mom and gave her a hug goodnight.

"I'm so happy to have you home, honey." she whispered in her ear. Buffy nodded and gave her a big smile. She walked out of the kitchen with Spike following her upstairs.

"I thought you were going to Giles's," Buffy said to him.

"Oh, I am. Just wanted to say good-bye first. This is the first time we've been apart in almost 24 hours, y'no." Spike revealed.

"My god, and I haven't even been tempted to stake you yet," Buffy joked.

"Not funny, pet. Now get your ass over here and give the Big Bad a kiss goodbye." he ordered as Buffy jumped into his arms and crushed her mouth to his. She'd been dying to do this all night, since they arrived in Sunnydale. He returned the kiss hungrily, backing her up against the wall. Reluctantly he broke away when he heard footsteps in the hall. "Mum's upstairs." he told her. She sighed disappointedly.

"Where am I sleeping, by the way?" Spike asked.

"Here," Buffy replied, grinning wickedly, flicking her eyes towards the bed.

"Now that is what I like to hear." he told her, smirking. "Your mum is ok with that?"

"She said not to do anything to make her sorry she is letting you sleep in my room." Buffy revealed.

"Bloody hell, that probably rules out ravishing you when I get back, doesn't it?" Spike said.

"Well, we do tend to be a little loud. But we have tomorrow when she is at work," Buffy announced with a smile.

"All right then. I can wait until tomorrow, I guess." he replied, walking across the room to where he had thrown his coat.

Buffy watched as he shrugged the duster on and said "Spike?"

"Yeah luv."

"Thanks for caring what my mom thinks." She said softly.

"Not a problem. I like your mum. And I'm grateful for the place to stay, especially since it's in your bed. I'm not sure what my reception is going to be here in Sunnyhell among the demon world, so the next couple of days are probably going to be a real barrel of laughs." he replied.

Buffy hadn't thought about that, how this was going to affect his standing as a evil master vampire. Well, he really wasn't technically that evil anymore. Spike noted the pensive look on her face and said "Don't worry luv, we'll work it out. It may not be the smoothest ride, but we'll get there."

Giving her a quick kiss, he said "Get some sleep ok? You're going to need it for tomorrow."

Buffy laughed as he leered at her. "Got it. And remember, don't pick on Giles."

"Slayer, believe when I tell you that your watcher can handle himself," he told her as he gave her one more kiss and walked out of her bedroom, shutting the door softly behind him.

"See you later, Joyce." He called to her closed door.

"Bye, Spike."

GILES APARTMENT

Giles had opened one of his better bottles of scotch and was well on is way to becoming well acquainted with it when there was a sharp knock on his door. He cursed, and rose to open it. He was taken slightly aback when he saw Spike on the other side.

He smirked at Giles, noting the bottle sitting on the table inside the room and the full glass in the watcher's hand. "Gonna invite me in, Rupert?"

"Will I live to regret it?" Giles asked.

Spike snorted. "Please. If I kill you, she'll stake me in a heartbeat."

"True. Fine, come in, Spike." he told him. Truth be told, drinking alone was never any fun. He turned his back on the vampire, something he never would have done previously, and fetched another glass. Spike had already made himself at home on the couch, and Giles slammed the empty glass on the table in front of the vampire and filled it.

"Thanks, mate." Spike told him appreciatively. "Cheers." He took a sip, "Oh god, it's the good stuff. You have pretty good taste for a Wanker, you know that?"

"Got that right, you tosser. So, what do you want?" Giles asked.

"Thought we needed to get a few things straight between us," Spike answered, leaning back and polishing off his scotch. He put his glass on the table and Giles refilled it. He gave him a nod in thanks and picked it back up.

"About Buffy, I assume?." Giles said.

Spike nodded. "I don't want there to be any misunderstandings here, and Buffy getting hurt from it."

Giles peered at him in speculation. "I don't get it, Spike. Why do you care, what changed?"

Spike was silent for a moment before answering, "I don't know if things changed or if we both just finally admitted things to ourselves."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I hated her. After Dru dumped me in LA, it was all her fault. Hated the bitch, I was completely on edge. Couldn't find joy in anything, kept seeing Buffy everywhere I turned, like she was haunting me, mocking me." Spike revealed, wondering why he was even telling Rupert this. "Then when I saw her get hit by that car, and she asked me to help her, I didn't even think twice about it. Picked her right up and whisked her away. Was actually offended when that vampire groupie thought I was going to kill her." Spike shook his head, in disbelief at how far he had sunk. "I'm such a git. From the second I saw her in the diner, hate was the farthest thing from my mind."

"You have feelings for her?" Giles felt compelled to ask, even though it was readily apparent that was what the vampire was trying to say.

Spike nodded, not looking up from his glass. "She was so tormented, so sad. That's all I could think of when I first saw her. No life or spark in her eyes at all. And all I wanted to do was to put that spark back, get her back to how she used to be."

Giles studied this vampire in front of him and was reminded of the last time he'd seen him, when Spike had stopped Angelus from dismembering him. He had seen some spark of compassion in the vampire's eyes during that whole ordeal. He remembered how Spike would come and talk to him when the others were asleep, trying to distract him from the pain. He'd come under the guise of antagonizing him, but Giles saw the gesture for what it really was. Spike would also slip him some water and food, and he even heard Spike apologize for not being able to let him go, when he thought Giles was unconcious. Spike almost seemed to be more human than demon, where Giles knew Angelus was more demon than man.

"Did she say anything else about what happened that night with angel?" Giles asked.

"No. I was there, stood right up in my chair and turned on them, shocked the crap out of Angelus and Dru. Angelus almost got her, but she rallied back. She's quite a fighter." Spike said. "I didn't see the end though, I had knocked Dru out and was on my way out of Sunnyhell when that happened, trying to tell myself I didn't care what happened to Buffy."

Giles nodded, pouring himself another drink, refilling Spike's at the same time. The alcohol was just starting to do the trick for Giles, numbing his mind effectively. He'd felt like such a failure as Buffy's watcher, he'd let her down, hadn't been there for her..

"So, you dragged her home?" Giles asked.

Spike nodded, a small smile in place. "Yeah. She was a bit resistant at first, but I finally got her to see my way."

"Thank you, Spike." Giles quietly said.

Spike looked at him in shock, then he smirked "Didn't do it for you, mate." Giles laughed. In a more serious tone, Spike continued, "I could tell it was killing her inside being alone, she had all these conflicting things at war inside of her. She was heartbroken over having to kill Angel, felt guilty over your girl, all around just blamed herself for unleashing Angelus. Like I said, I didn't like seeing the girl like that."

"What is she to you, Spike?" Giles asked, hoping he would get a response.

"Mine". Spike replied simply. "She's mine, Rupert."

Giles stared at him, his mind working rapidly. "Did you claim her?"

Spike actually looked awkward as he replied, "I didn't mean to, but yeah, I did. She didn't return it, and I'm not going to push her on it. She needs time to get her brain sorted out before something like that."

"You know, you really are quite odd," Giles told him. Spike smirked again. "Do you need a place to stay? You can stay here, if you do," Giles was surprised to find himself offering.

"Thanks for the offer, mate. But Joyce said I could stay over there. I just wanted to make sure you and I understood a few things. Of course, the free alcohol doesn't hurt either." Spike answered.

Giles laughed at that. "It's nice to not have to drink alone. So I take it you are staying here in Sunnydale?"

Spike nodded. "Got my girl here. Not planning on going anywhere."

Giles was finding himself not as shocked by the thought of this vampire with his slayer as he should be. He almost felt like maybe Spike could be trusted.

"I just want to say one thing." Giles said. "Don't hurt her. She may be the slayer but she is still just a young girl."

"It's not me hurting her that you have to worry about." Spike retorted. "Try to keep the little boy away from her for a while, if you can. And me."

Giles nodded in understanding. "Xander can be. Well, a dunderhead. I believe he has some sort of crush on Buffy, which explains his reactions somewhat. He doesn't believe a vampire is worthy of her."

Spike got a sad smile on his face, "He's right." Spike answered, "But don't tell him I said so."

Giles smiled in response. "Admit that Xander is right about something? You must be mad. He'd harp on it for weeks."

Spike tossed back the rest of the scotch in his glass and stood up. "Thanks for the drinks, mate. Appreciate it."

Giles remained seated and nodded. "Spike? Take care of her, ok?"

Spike gave him a wicked smile and said "I plan on it." Giles snorted, and Spike was hard pressed to keep himself from laughing. "See ya, Watcher." he said and disappeared into the night, shutting the door behind him.

Giles sat there, nursing his drink finally, in quiet contemplation. What a world it was, where a notoriously evil vampire took care of his slayer and brought her home to heal. Where he, a Watcher, enjoyed the drinking company of said evil vampire. Where said evil vampire was staying at the family home of the 17 year old vampire slayer, who happened to be his girlfriend. That last thought made Giles cringe, and he tossed back the rest of the drink. Deciding he had had enough, he stumbled to bed.

Spike was glad he had walked to the Watchers, the Scotch had been some premium stuff. His little chat had gone better than he thought. Spike didn't want to admit to liking the watcher, but he had enjoyed talking to him when Angelus had him hostage. Spike knew he'd been a bit of a troublemaker as a youth, earning the nickname Ripper. Spike admired that Giles had a bit of a dark side. Surprisingly, the Watcher had seemed to welcome his company. ~Probably because he's constantly surrounded by young prats.~ Spike thought to himself. For some reason, it made Spike happy that he'd more or less gotten the man's approval. Christ he was turning into a right wanker. Totally pathetic, caring what a bunch of humans thought about him, but he did care what they thought.

Before he knew it, he was at the Summers house, and he let himself into the front door, locking it behind him. He quietly padded up the stairs to the bathroom, then slipped into Buffy's room. She was sound asleep, and Spike just stood there watching her. He noticed she had put some blankets over the windows, so he didn't have to worry about the sunrise. Spike quickly took off his clothes, and put on a pair of gym shorts, and slipped into bed next to Buffy. She didn't wake up, but instinctively rolled into his side and threw her arm over his chest. Spike kissed her forehead, then closed his eyes. Thanks to the scotch, it wasn't long before he fell asleep.

Joyce was thrust from sleep by the sound of tortured screams ripping through the house. Her heart started pounding, and before she was even fully awake, she was on her way to her daughter's room.

When she threw open the door, she had so sure she was going to find Spike with his fangs in Buffy,killing her, that it took a moment to process what she was seeing. Buffy was still asleep, thrashing and crying, and Spike was next to her trying to wake up her. He didn't seem to realize she was in the room, so intent on the girl next to him.

"Buffy, wake up, you need to wake up." he told her, shaking her gently.

Buffy's eyes finally opened and she looked completely dazed. Joyce went further into the room, watching as Spike gathered Buffy in his arms.

"Spike?" Buffy hoarsely whispered.

"Yeah luv, it's me," he assured her, scooting himself up in bed and leaning back against the pillows.

Buffy looked at him with her horror filled eyes, then threw her arms around him, saying "oh my god it was so real, so real." She began to sob hysterically against his chest, and Spike brought his hand up to rub small soothing circles on her back.

Joyce watched as her daughter turned to this vampire for comfort, and she noticed his tender manner with her. She came to sit on the edge of the bed, and put her hand on Buffy's hair.

"She gets nightmares." He told her unneccesarily. Joyce's heart broke as she listened to the agonizing sobs coming from her daughter. When something that sounded like purring came rumbling from Spike's chest, she looked at him in surprise. But all of his attention was focused on Buffy.

'My god, he really does care about her.' she thought to herself. It barely registered that she should be upset about seeing her daughter in the arms of a half naked man in her daughter's bed, but all Joyce could think of was how glad she was that he was there. And that he had found Buffy in LA.

Ten minutes later, Buffy had cried herself to sleep, laying face down against Spike's chest. "I think she'll be all right now." he told Joyce quietly. They had not said anything else, just sat and watched Buffy, who seemed unaware her mother was even in the room.

Joyce got up as Spike scooted back down in the bed so he was laying back down, not letting go of Buffy. She watched as he brought the sheets up and tenderly tucked them around her, kissing her on the forehead.

"Thank you Spike." she said finally.

"Didn't do anything." he replied. He was actually amazed at how nice it felt to be thanked as many times as he had been since he'd found Buffy.

"Yes, you did." Joyce said gently. "And thank you."

He just gave her a nod and a small smile, and Joyce went back to her room, closing the door behind her.

TBC...

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