Rating- R for swearing
Warning- clearly, this is in fact slash. V. little angst this chapter.
Description: Bath time!. . . not too dirty, well dirty yes Spike climbed out of his own grave remember. But dirrty no. . . I don't write NC17
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the ideas. Rich from Narberth Pottery in Wales is a real man who makes beautiful things. If you ever go to the Pembroke area check him out. It's really fucking expensive but it's gorgeous. This goes outside of Cannon as Crush ended differently in my mind he did stake Dru. Also In my world Cordy and Conner never slept together, so the evil never manifested as Jasmine, therefore Wolfram and Hart never gave Angel the business, Lilah never died, and Cordy isn't in a coma. Any other changes are explained directly in the text.
FEEDBACK! It's appreciated and it makes me work faster! Pamatemybaby117@yahoo.com
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I jumped down the stairs three at a time, desperate to get back to Spike. There at the door was someone I had no desire to see. "Buffy," I said as I opened the door, "What can I do for you?"
She fidgeted while holding a sealed cardboard box. "Angel, I have some bad news, you should sit."
"I'd rather stand." I said coldly while lounging in the doorway so she could not enter.
"There is no easy way to say this." She said squirming in her fancy boots.
But I cut her off. "Then just say it."
"Spike. . . he died in the battle."
"A month ago?" she nodded. "And your only telling me now?"
"I was grieving!" she said indignantly.
"How wonderful for you." I said with no emotion at all.
"I brought you the thing he left at my house. I thought you might like them." She said holding the box like an olive sprig.
I made no more to take it. "There's a prophecy wherein a vampire with a soul comes back as a human after fighting by a slayer in the apocalypse. I had to find out my son had died from my own son."
"He's human?" she asked with the same hope I had seen in her when I had been human for a day.
She was happy that her boyfriend was human. I could see she was planning the wedding and the children right before my eyes. Though I knew it was cruel I was glad that her happiness was about to be dashed. Bastard, yep you can call me that. None the less, I was thrilled. Callously the girl had left me in the dark for a whole fucking month. So while it was wicked I was also thrilled. All the love I had once felt for her had faded over time into fondness. It had later become a tolerance for each other. Now I felt nothing but a dull loathing for her.
I heard Spike on the stairs behind me. The anger seeping off of me must have called to him. He placed a soothing hand on my arm. And he had yet to acknowledge Buffy's presence. Smelling of soap, his closeness did calm me. Buffy dropped the box and punched me in the face. " You *turned* him, you bastard!" she screamed.
"He didn't turn me." Lied Spike quietly. "It was just some guy."
I picked up the box and walked away hoping to avoid Buffy's rage and bitching. They talked of Dawn, and Buffy said they were living at the new Hellmouth in Arizona. She asked him to go "home". He said no. While they were discussing him visiting, Wesley walked in.
Completely pale he walked past the pair and directly to me. "You have the day off." I said.
"Cordelia told me everything. I feel awful. I gave you hope for your humanity."
"Wes, don't feel badly. I would rather have Spike home than need to breath any day." Buffy paused in her speech and made a hasty exit.
Wesley smiled broadly. Taking leave from his senses he hugged Spike. Then seemed to come to his senses, pulled a face, straightened Spikes lapels and said, "I'm so glad. Ok, now, goodbye. I'm going to the occult bookstore on Sunset." He said and practically flew out the door.
I turned to Will who was now going through the box. "Why did Buffy leave?"
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Sometimes soulboy could be an insensate moron. "You said you loved me over her."
"I did?" he asked: the picture of confusion.
"You said you'd rather have me home than be human. Human would lead to Buffy's bed in her mind. Therefore you chose me over her."
"I hope she hurts. I hope it burns. I hope she cries all the way back to Arizona!" He said with ever increasing glee. It was nice to see such enthusiasm in my sire.
"Don't be bitter." I said with a laugh. "You've got me. She has no one. She's an idiot girl: she didn't mean to hurt you."
"What's in the box?" he asked slipping an arm around my waist. Standing behind me he hooked his chin over my shoulder.
I pulled each thing out and displayed my few positions proudly. "Clothes, jacket, car keys, bracelet, railroad spike, magic wand (thought I lost that), Sid Vicious action figure, an old picture of me and you, brace knuckle dusters, cd's, reading glasses, Zippo, the stone bust from my crypt, and. . . oh yeah, this is for you." I said handing him a small wrapped box.
He opened it with a gasp. "Damn, Will. Is this 7th century Japanese?" he asked of the small dish.
I bust out laughing. "You always have to make things harder than they are! Simon Rich from Narberth Pottery in Wales made it circa four months ago. You are such a prat sometimes."
"But the way the glaze puddles at the bottom-"
"Is achieved by not putting a hole in the for the excess to drain from. It's nothing amazingly special. I just thought you might like it."
"I love it's beautiful."
"After the fight I planned on coming to see you. I wanted to get things more sorted. It was meant to be a peace offering." I smiled then. "If I'd known that all I had to do was die and be reborn I never would have bothered with the dish."
"You are so mean with your money."
"Well it allows me to be generous with my affection. I *adore* you." I said while rolling my eyes at the poncy turn of phrase.
He smirked. "Adoration is such an archaic word. He said as we walked up the stairs to his room. I was holding my wand and giving experimental flicks it sent out multicoloured sparks. "Come to bed with me?" he asked clearly fearful I would decline.
I nodded slightly without saying anything. The smile that met my nod was worth all the pain of so many lost years.