** thoughts **

***********************************************************************

"Heal quickly Spike. I love you." she whispered softly.

She stiffened slightly, and held her breath, waiting for any sign that
he'd heard her, only releasing the breath when he sighed softly in his
sleep and turned his head away.

Gently, she untangled his hand from her own, and eased herself up off
the bed as gently as she could, so as not to wake him. Still moving as
quietly as she could, she pulled the curtains of her room, thankful
she'd taken the step of installing thick ones months ago.

Tiptoe-ing from the room, she made her way round the house, making sure
that it was both secure and sun-proof, for the morning, before making
her way into the kitchen and fixing herself a cup of hot chocolate.

As she waited for the kettle to boil, she allowed herself to let go of
the tears that she'd been holding back. She knew that Spike would
probably be all right given time to heal, but seeing how badly he'd been
beaten had really shocked her. She was surprised at the depth of her
reaction to it.

She had immediately wanted to go out and wreak revenge on Glory for what
she'd done and to hell with the consequences, but her first priority was
Spike. She had to make sure he was going to be okay, because if anything
happened to her while getting revenge on Glory, she knew that the others
wouldn't bother about him, and she just couldn't bear the thought of
anything happening to him.

The clicking of the kettle switch brought her out of her thoughts, and
she quickly made her drink, pausing as she realised that she had no
blood in the house for Spike to drink, and he'd need blood to help him heal.

**Duh, Willow. Of course you have blood in the house. Good stuff too,
none of that crappy pig's blood. **

Without realising it, she'd put on the "resolve" face, as she grabbed
her mug from the counter and made her way back up the stairs, as quietly
as she had come down.

As she tiptoed back into her room, her heart broke again as she looked
at his broken and battered form.

Sighing softly to herself, she put the mug down on the desk and turned
on her computer, swearing softly to herself at every noise it made while
it booted up. Sitting down, she surfed aimlessly for a while, and was in
the middle of checking her mail when she heard a noise from behind her.

She turned to see Spike thrashing in the bed. He'd thrown off the covers
and was now mumbling incoherently.

**Oh Goddess. Spike. Nearly naked Spike. In my bed. Having a nightmare.
Having a nightmare in my bed. Argh. Not the sort of dreams I hoped he'd
have in my bed.**

Frozen with indecision, Willow watched as the thrashing increased and
the mumbling got louder and more troubled.

**I should wake him.**

Tentatively, she moved closer to the bed.

"Spike"

The thrashing continued and so she sat down on the edge of the bed,
reaching out to shake him to try and wake him, but not quite knowing
where she could touch without hurting him.

**Touching nearly naked Spike. Goddess help me.**

As her fingers neared his shoulder he suddenly woke up with a start and
sat up, roaring. Willow was so startled she jumped back and fell off the
edge of the bed.

"Ow. Oh Goddess Spike you scared me." She said as she hauled herself off
the carpet and onto the edge of the bed.

Looking at him, she realised that he was still caught in the grasp of
the nightmare.

"Spike, it's okay. It was just a nightmare, you're safe here, just lie
back and go to sleep."

He didn't respond, he just stared straight ahead, eyes unseeing.

"Spike... " she touched his shoulder gently and was startled when he
grabbed her and held her close burying his head in her neck.

Realising her arms were flailing around uselessly, she completed the
embrace and began to gently stroke his back, murmuring words of comfort.
As she spoke softly she could feel the tension start to leave his body,
leaving him limp in her arms. She continued to caress his back, the
words of comfort tumbling automatically from her lips.

He moved his head slightly and began to stroke her back.

**What was that. Did he just kiss my shoulder? No. He couldn't have.
You're delusional girl, and what's more you should be ashamed of
yourself getting all lusty at a time like this.**

Spike's head moved again, and this time she was sure.

**He's kissing me. He's kissing my collar bone. Oh goddess. Spike is
kissing me.**

Willow's mind was reeling. She was torn between wanting it to continue
and feeling like she was taking advantage of him, but in the next
instant she was robbed of any decision making ability by the touch of
his lips on her neck.

As he kissed up her neck towards her ear, her breath caught in her
throat and she felt the room tilt.

"Spike... " she gasped, her voice trailing off as he lifted his head
from her neck and stared straight into her eyes.

"Shhh..."

The intensity of his gaze robbed her of what breath she had left.

**Oh goddess... **

Any further thoughts evaporated as his fingers tangled in the hair at
the nape of her neck and he lowered his head to hers and captured her
lips with his.
 

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