Parts: 11 - 20
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~Part: 11~
Willow woke slowly, reluctant to leave her dream. She couldn't remember the details, but from the state of arousal her body was in, she had little doubt that it had not been PG rated. Her eyes flew open suddenly as she realized what exactly the coolness was pressing against her body. She was laying beside Spike. No, not even beside. She was laying on Spike. Her leg wrapped around his, her arm across his chest. The explanation for her body's arousal was suddenly clear. She looked around, seeing that they were on the sofa in the living room of the suite. She tried to calm her racing heart, blaming her naughty dreams for the hardened nipples and dampness between her legs. It certainly had nothing to do with Spike. Nope. Not at all.
She found her eyes moving back in his direction, up the long legs covered in denim, past the sight of her flesh entangled with the denim, resting for a moment on what appeared to be a rather prominent bulge near her upper thigh, finally moving up his chest to find blue eyes looking at her with amusement mixed with something she couldn't quite place. With a start, she jumped backwards, not wanting him to see how he had affected her. Unfortunately, for that split second of reaction time, she had forgotten that they were on a rather small couch. With a soft cry of pain and surprise, she landed on the floor on her butt, her arm slamming into the table as she tried to stop her fall.
Amusement was gone as Spike heard her cry of pain, hearing her arm hit the wooden table. He was on the floor beside her, his hands holding her arm as he inspected it for serious damage. "You need to be more careful, Red. This is going to be one hell of a bruise."
"Well, excuse me," she said, jerking her arm out of his grasp. Out of a need to defend herself and because his gentle touch were fanning the flames of her arousal. She looked at her arm, grimacing as she realized that it would indeed leave a rather large bruise.
"Why did you do that?" he demanded, his hand moving through his hair as he looked away from her beautiful green eyes.
"Well, trust me when I say that I never intended to hit the damn table," she said sharply.
"I mean, why did you jump like that?" he said, this time looking at her. "It's not like I was gonna hurt you or anything."
"I uh," words failed her as she realized she couldn't be honest, giving him the knowledge that being that close to him had aroused her far more than it should have. Instead, she weakly said, "Was just surprised and jumped without thinking. I didn't realize we were um that we had uh..."
"We fell asleep on the sofa, Red. It's not like I spent hours ravaging your body or shagging you silly," he said, annoyed that she still didn't seem to trust him.
"Oh Goddess," she said as she stood, feeling a fresh wave of heat wash over her at his words, painting vivid images that had no place in her mind. Platonic. Just Spike. Stop it, Willow. Stop it now.
Spike's eyes narrowed as he studied her, noticing a sweet, intoxicating scent in the air. Suddenly, things slid into place. It all made sense, well, as much sense as anything these days seemed to make. It wasn't that she hadn't trusted him. She hadn't trusted herself. That thought made him smile a purely masculine smile, the knowledge that he aroused her giving him even more to think about. Glancing at his lap, he couldn't deny that he hadn't been aroused by sleeping beside her. Her warm body pressed against his, her breasts against his flesh. Groaning at the direction his thoughts were taking, he counted to ten, slowly.
"Where's Dawn?" Willow suddenly asked, arousal and embarrassment and confusion leaving her as she realized that Dawn wasn't there.
"In the bathroom, I can hear the shower," he said as he got to his feet, moving away from the intoxicating witch before he did something foolish, like rip her clothes off and sink deep inside her. So, instead, he did something even more foolish. He walked away from her. He moved towards the kitchen, finding that he was suddenly ravenous.
"Shower? That's good. I could use a shower," she said as she practically ran to the bedroom, needing to get away from him so that her body would calm down. She glanced at him one last time, seeing the muscles in his arm as he downed a bag of blood, their movement causing her stomach to tighten. She entered the room, sitting on the bed as her head lowered to rest on her knees. This attraction she was beginning to feel, the mixed up emotions Spike brought out in her, the arousal he could bring out without even intending, it was scary and confusing and complicated everything. It was also, she decided, definitely one sided, which made it even worse.
~Part: 12~
Willow was still sitting on the bed, her head on her knees, when Dawn opened the bathroom door. A puzzled look crossed the teen's face as she looked at her silent friend. Dawn lowered the towel she had been using to dry her hair and moved forward, making enough noise so that she wouldn't startle the redhead. Willow gave no sign that she had heard anything. Dawn cleared her throat before saying, "Willow, you okay?"
"Ack!" Willow jumped when she heard the soft voice, her hand moving up to her racing heart as she gave Dawn a sheepish smile. "Sorry, Dawny. I was lost in my thoughts. You startled me."
"I made noise," Dawn said, smiling as she found herself wondering what Willow had been thinking about so deeply. "Penny for them?"
"They aren't worth a penny," Willow said, making a face as she stood. She wasn't about to tell Dawn about her growing feelings for Spike or about the attraction she was beginning to recognize stirring inside. Dawn had started to look towards both of them for support and friendship in the few short days since Buffy's death. Willow wasn't about to jeopardize that because of some silly crush. Dawn needed them.
"I somehow doubt that," Dawn said, deciding not to push Willow. The redhead had probably been thinking about how she was going to tell Angel about Buffy or something else bad like that. Dawn had no intention of bringing up bad thoughts for her friend. She was doing her best to have happy thoughts. "Do you think we could go to the beach after you shower?"
"I don't know, honey. Angel might be back by then," Willow said, sighing as she remembered why exactly they were there. She had to tell Angel the bad news. Instead of spending her time having naughty thoughts about Spike, she should have been figuring out how to tell her old friend that the love of his life was dead. How did one go about telling someone that their soulmate was dead? She glanced over and saw Dawn frowning and smiled, adding, "But we'll see."
Dawn smiled, "That means yes. Every time you say we'll see, it means yes. Cool. I'm gonna go get something to drink and leave you to your shower."
"If Angel isn't back yet, we'll go for breakfast, so don't eat anything," Willow warned as she got clean clothes and entered the bathroom.
"Okay, Willow," Dawn agreed as she entered the living room of the suite. She had barely entered the room before she stopped, her eyes widening slightly as she saw Spike pacing back and forth, his hand moving through his hair as he muttered to himself. Glancing back at the room she had just left, remembering Willow sitting so thoughtful only a few minutes before, then looking back at Spike who was obviously lost in thought, Dawn suddenly understood what Willow, or should she say who Willow had been thinking about. A slow smiled crossed her face as she sat on the sofa to wait for Willow.
~Part: 13~
"Dawn, are you ready for breakfast?" Willow asked as she left the bedroom, her eyes moving to find the teen.
"Breakfast?" Spike turned his head quickly, and looked at the redhead. She had just gotten out of the shower. Her hair was still wet, drops of water dripping on the cotton of her T-shirt. His blue eyes watched a stray drop drift down her graceful neck and disappear, finding himself hardening as he visualized the drop becoming his tongue. Shaking his head, he counted to ten until he felt himself softening. Collecting his thoughts, he continued, "You're having breakfast?"
Dawn looked away from the television, wondering how they found such perky people to host the early morning daily shows. She gestured towards the TV, telling Willow, "Do you think they're demons? I mean, no one could possibly be that blonde and perky at six in the morning."
"Hmm....never thought about it," Willow said, laughing at Dawn's serious expression. She looked at Spike and answered his question, "I was going to take Dawn out for some pancakes, if Angel wasn't back yet. Is he here?"
"You're going out?" Spike asked, arousal forgotten as he found himself feeling something he hadn't felt in years. Left out.
"Pancakes and maybe a walk on the beach," Dawn said, eager to see as much as possible before they went back home. She remembered the stories from Buffy about LA, and how beautiful the ocean was and about the shopping and food. This visit was bringing her closer to her sister in ways she hadn't imagined, helping her come to grips with the idea that Buffy was gone. She was still alive, though, and she really needed to start living. Add to everything the growing tension between Willow and Spike, and she'd go out on a limb and say that life was just about as good as it could get at the moment. Maybe, with time, Willow and Spike would live happily ever after and she'd have a wonderful life. She deserved some happiness, as did they all. She looked at Spike with a large smile as she flipped off the television. Her smile froze when she saw the look in his eyes. He was staring at Willow, his lips twisted into a scowl. His eyes turned ice blue as she watched, but not before she had seen the hurt flash in their blue depths. Oh God, she hadn't even realized that he would be stuck in the hotel all day. Suddenly, her euphoria disappeared as she felt a little better than pond scum.
"Dawn wants to see the beach," Willow said softly, not wanting to disappoint the girl, but realizing that Spike was hurt at their exclusion of him. She honestly hadn't thought it would matter, knowing that he liked his privacy. After all, he had been stuck with them for hours. She had also, selfishly, been looking forward to a bit of time away from him and these weird feelings that she was experiencing.
"Yeah, sure, whatever," he muttered, turning to glare at the curtain covered window. "I'll wait here and hope that Angel doesn't suddenly arrive and kick my ass for being here."
"We won't be gone that long," Willow said softly, reminding herself that he was being rude to cover up for actually caring that they were leaving without him.
"Doesn't take long to get staked, now does it luv?" he said sharply, cringing at how stupid he was being. They were going out to eat and walk on the beach, not leaving him there forever. He was being a first class jerk.
"Maybe we can just stay here," Dawn said quietly, hating the tension that now existed. It wasn't the good kind that made her hope that Willow and Spike would end up in a kiss straight out of a romance movie. This was the kind that had Willow counting to ten as her eyes brightened with anger and the nerve in Spike's cheek twitching rapidly. And it was her fault.
Willow looked at Dawn, immediately realizing that the girl was blaming herself for Spike's childish temper tantrum. She wanted nothing more than to scream and hit the blond for being so selfish, but she knew that would upset Dawn even more. And, in a way, Spike was right. Angel could return anytime, and heaven only knew how he would react if he found Spike alone in his home. She gave the teen a big smile and said, "I've got an idea. Why don't we cook a huge breakfast? Spike can make you strawberry pancakes and I can cook some bacon and eggs. We can eat while we watch the demonic perky news anchors. And then, tonight, we can take a nice walk on the beach, enjoy it by moonlight. How does that sound?"
Spike had turned to look at the smiling redhead as she spoke, hating the feeling of happiness that was threatening to overtake him. He glanced over, noticing the smile on Dawn's face, wondering how Willow always seemed to know how to make everything okay. He spoke softly, his eyes catching hers, "I can make a mean omelet, as well as pancakes." And it was then, looking into her laughing eyes, that he realized that it was too late. He couldn't fight or deny it any longer. He was already half in love with Willow.
~Part: 14~
"How do you do that?" Dawn asked, watching as Spike expertly flipped the pancake before giving her an arrogant smile. It was funny to see one of the most feared vampires ever standing at the stove wearing an apron and flipping pancakes, she decided, trying to hide her amusement with questions.
"I'm good," Spike winked at the teen, "what more can I say?"
"And oh so modest," Willow added with a laugh as she moved beside him to reach the stove. She glanced at the girl, glad to see that the teen was smiling. Dawn deserved some happiness and Willow was going to do everything in her power to make sure that she got it in abundance.
"You know you love me, Red," Spike smirked at her before tossing the pancake again. He'd realized not even half an hour before that he was falling in love with the redhead, was confused as hell, had no idea what to do, and was trying to deal with this twist in their relationship without giving her any idea where his thoughts were at the moment. He'd decided to just go with it, to see where it led.
"You wish," Willow said in response as she concentrated on her bacon, not wanting to give much thought to why her heart had raced at the idea of loving Spike. She needed to cook. Yep, cooking, not thinking.
Spike didn't reply to Willow's words, knowing how close to the truth she had gotten. He did wish that she loved him. He knew she wanted him, had smelled her arousal clearly enough when they'd woken together on the sofa. Even now, when he casually brushed against her, he could hear her heartbeat racing, smell the sweet of scent need, see her eyes darken in a way that left no doubt that she desired him. But, lust wasn't love. He'd lusted for the redhead since their first meeting when he'd kidnapped her and nearly taken her on the bed beside her passed out friend. This love he was starting to feel, maybe had always felt and just never acknowledged, this was something beyond lust. These emotions were what he had felt for Buffy. No, that wasn't exactly right. What he was feeling for Willow went beyond what he had felt for Buffy. He'd loved Buffy, he really had, but it had never been *real*. She'd never loved him, hadn't desired him, had barely even liked him, but she'd trusted him which meant a lot. With Willow, the feelings were raw and confusing and consuming. She wanted him, considered him a friend, didn't look at him as if he were beneath her, trusted him and needed him.
And that was where he had the problem. He'd promised Buffy that he'd take care of Dawn and Willow. If he said something about what he was starting to feel, if he let on for one minute that he was falling in love with her, Willow could very well react badly. Her best friend had only been buried a week, the loss fresh. She'd just broken up with her witchy little gal pal and had to be hurt over the breakup. She wasn't emotionally ready for him to burst out with the knowledge that, while he admittedly had loved Buffy, he was starting to have feelings for her. She had too much on her mind at the moment to deal with the idea that he was half in love with her.
He couldn't take care of her if she was avoiding him, couldn't keep his promise to Buffy if Willow found his feelings as unwelcome as the slayer had. It was too new, anyway. Not even twenty-four hours before he'd considered her a friend, someone that he could talk to about Buffy and the loss they shared. He had to wonder if the feelings had always been there, if it had just taken getting out of Sunnydale and away from memories for him to recognize what he was starting to feel. It didn't matter. Now that he had realized that he was falling in love with Willow, he couldn't stop thinking about it. He had no idea how to act or what he was supposed to do. He didn't want to scare her off, didn't want to lose the friendship they had found, but he couldn't help thinking what they might be able to find together if he was honest. He didn't want to sit quietly by and look back with regrets at wasted days. He'd lost so much in his life...he couldn't lose her too.
"Spike, it's starting to burn," Dawn said, watching as he shook his head slightly, obviously lost in thought, his blue eyes glancing at her before looking at the pancake. He moved quickly, lifting the pancake and putting it on a plate before smiling sheepishly, his eyes moving to glance at Willow as his expression grew thoughtful. Dawn couldn't contain the hope that was starting to build. Had he nearly burned the pancake because he'd been thinking about Willow? If so, what did that mean?
"I guess even the best have near misses, huh?" Willow looked up from the bacon she was frying to smile at Spike, her eyes widening when she found him watching her, the expression in his blue eyes unreadable. He'd been acting weird since they'd left the room upstairs, looking at her, watching her. Oh, he was still Spike, making arrogant remarks and smirking and being sure that she and Dawn appreciated his skill in the kitchen, but he would follow up the remarks by bumping into her or watching her or giving her a small smile that only confused her even more. This was Spike. She was not supposed to be having these weird confusing thoughts about him. She was not supposed to be thinking about how great it had felt waking up in his arms, about how their bodies had fit together so well, about how nice he had been as he'd held her and listened to her ramble about her fears the night before, about the way her heart would race and her stomach would tighten when he'd touch her even in the most casual way, about the growing affection she was starting to feel for him. She couldn't be falling for Spike.
"Guess we do, Red," he said with a faint smile as he saw the flash of arousal in her eyes followed by the confusion that mirrored what he was feeling. He looked at Dawn and asked, "How many pancakes can you eat, Niblet?"
"I don't know," Dawn shrugged, trying her best to cover her smile at what she had just observed, watching as Willow looked back at the bacon, not missing the confused look in her green eyes before she'd looked away from Spike. Oh yeah, there was definitely something happening between her two best friends, and Dawn couldn't be any happier about it.
"I'll make some more, just in case. You can go ahead and set the table, Dawn. I think we're nearly finished with the food," he decided as he poured out batter for another pancake. He listened as Dawn turned up the radio, singing along to the pop song as she opened the cabinets until she found the plates. He rolled his eyes at the silly song, recognizing it as one from the 80s, something about waking up before they go go, wondering where the DJ had dug that particular relic up, smiling softly as he heard Willow's voice join Dawn's. He glanced at the redhead that was haunting his mind, watching as she happily sang along to the awful song. Shaking his head, he flipped his pancake. He began to hum along before he realized it, listening as Dawn began to set the table as he and Willow finished cooking breakfast.
~Part: 15~
"I'm stuffed!" Dawn declared as she put her fork on the plate and leaned back in the chair. To illustrate her point, she rubbed her stomach and groaned, "I couldn't eat another bite."
"Guess that means we don't have to worry about getting her any ice cream when we go out, huh, Red?" Spike asked, winking at Willow as Dawn sputtered.
"Hey, now, wait a second!" Dawn protested, "Ice cream does not take up that much space. I'm sure I could manage to eat at least one dip of double dark chocolate or strawberry. Heck, you know what? I bet I could eat a dip of both of them….with a waffle cone."
"Do you think it's Xander's influence?" Willow asked Spike with a smile, "She's starting to eat as much as he does."
"Am not," Dawn denied with a giggle, her eyes moving back and forth from Spike to Willow. Breakfast had been great. They'd all eaten and laughed and just had fun. Besides that, Spike had sat down next to Willow and Dawn had caught them looking at each other with that same thoughtful expression she'd seen earlier in the kitchen when they thought the other wasn't looking. She was hoping that the secret looks meant that they were in love and wanted to shag each other silly. They were good together, and she knew they could be happy if they'd just let themselves. That's what she wanted more than anything, for Spike and Willow to be together and for them to take care of her and be her family. She still missed Buffy, always would and nothing would ever change the fact that she had lost her sister, that her sister had died to save her and the world, but she knew it was pointless to live in the past.
She'd felt guilty for days, blaming herself for Buffy's death, wondering if anything could have changed how things turned out. She still felt guilty but she was moving past it. Buffy wouldn't have wanted her to blame herself. In fact, her sister would probably kick her ass if she knew Dawn was feeling guilty. Buffy would have wanted her to grieve and move on, to live her life as best she could and to always be surrounded by love. Her sister would have been happy if Willow and Spike fell in love. Willow had been her best friend and Buffy had always wanted the redhead to be happy and to be loved the way she deserved. Spike could make her happy and love her that way. Dawn had to believe that Buffy would have approved. Just because she didn't want Spike to love her didn't mean the slayer didn't believe he was capable of love. Dawn had moved her focus from dealing with the loss of Buffy to helping Spike and Willow realize that they were perfect together.
"Do you want another pancake, Red?" Spike asked as he glanced at Willow's empty plate. They'd spent an hour eating breakfast, just taking their time and talking and laughing. There had been no sign of Angel or any of his fang gang, which was actually a bit worrying to Spike, though he'd dance across the desert naked in the blazing sun before admitting that he was worried about Peaches. There was probably some stupidly ridiculous explanation as to where the brooding bastard and his sidekicks had gone so Spike tried not to dwell on the negative ideas that came to mind. Most things that happened to Angel were ridiculously stupid so that seemed like a viable suggestion to him.
"I have to echo Dawn and say that I'm stuffed," Willow said with a smile. She'd eaten three pancakes and numerous pieces of bacon. Every time she'd been finished, Spike had added something to her plate. He'd muttered something about her not eating enough the last few days before turning his attention to Dawn, talking or telling her some silly joke. She'd eaten the food, knowing that he was right. Since Buffy had died, she hadn't eaten that much. She had been so busy taking care of everyone and everything that she'd just forgotten to eat until Spike had taken them out to eat in the evenings. She was glad he had asked this time before adding more food, knowing that she wouldn't have been able to eat anything else for a while.
"I'll do the dishes," Dawn said as she stood, not wanting them to get up. She hadn't missed the look that Spike had sent the redhead, though said redhead seemed completely oblivious. It was the kind of look that Xander would give Anya before he'd softly kiss her or hug her or just smile one of those romantic I love you kind of smiles. Dawn figured it was too early for the I love you smile, but she hoped maybe the look meant that Spike was at least thinking about kissing or hugging Willow. Either way, it would be much better if they didn't get up yet and disturb the relaxed and happy mood.
"Dawn, honey, are you feeling sick?" Willow asked as she arched a brow and looked at the smiling teen.
"Nope, why?" Dawn asked as she pulled herself from her thoughts to concentrate on what Willow was saying.
"Because you hate doing the dishes. Even more than laundry or taking the trash out," Willow reminded as she tried to figure out why Dawn was so happy about doing a chore she was usually quite vocal about hating.
"Well, yeah, but you and Spike cooked so it's only fair that I do the dishes while you two sit here and be lazy," Dawn explained, trying to make her smile a little less happy and a little more reluctant, duty calls-ish.
~Part: 16~
"Go do the dishes, Brat," Spike said, watching her as she grabbed their plates and headed to the kitchen. He looked at Willow and noticed that she wasn't buying Dawn's sudden desire to share household tasks any more than he was. He tried to forget his earlier thoughts about kissing her to see if she tasted like syrup and instead said, "What's she up to?"
"I don't know," Willow turned to look at him, "but I think there is something more to it than just doing her share of the work. With Dawn, who knows!"
"Did you like the pancakes?" he asked as his eyes caught hers, all thoughts about Dawn and Angel and everything leaving his mind when she smiled.
"They were great, as you well know!" Willow smiled.
"Yeah, of course they were. I'm the best," Spike said with a slight smile. His eyes darkened as he moved his hand against her face. His thumb brushed against her lips before he brought it to his own. He ran his tongue over his thumb, his eyes catching hers as he said, "Syrup."
"Oh," was all that Willow could manage to say as she watched his tongue move against his thumb. The same thumb that had just brushed against her lips. Oh, goodness, this stupid hotel needed better air conditioning, she thought crossly.
"Dishes are done, man," Dawn said as she wandered back into the lobby. She froze when she felt the electricity in the air, her eyes widening as she watched Spike shake his head slightly and stand up, leaving Willow sitting on the sofa with a dazed expression on her face. Darn it, she'd missed something. There hadn't been any smoochies because Willow would have had messed up hair or swollen lips, but something had happened. She resisted the urge to do her own version of the snoopy dance in the middle of the hotel's lobby, instead moving to resume her seat. Dawn decided that she was going to get rather annoyed with Willow's confused expressions and Spike's sudden fascination with the wall if it took those two very long to realize that they belonged together.
"That was fast," Willow said as she looked at the teen and smiled, trying her best to forget whatever it was that had been happening between her and Spike before they'd been interrupted.
"One word: dishwasher! One of the best inventions ever," Dawn said as she glanced at Spike. The blond vampire had moved to lean against a desk as he'd listened.
"Spike, while you're over there, could you check and see if there are there any new messages?" Willow asked, glancing at him briefly before looking back at Dawn. "I haven't heard the phone ring, but we were upstairs last night and most of the morning so we might have missed something."
"Nothing new, Red," Spike said after he listened to the recorded voice inform him that there were no messages. He heard Willow sigh and said, "I'm sure Peaches is fine, luv. Off saving the world or some such nonsense. He'll be here before you know it, not a hair out of place and the same old miserable wanker he's always been. Until then, why don't we have some fun? I believe I promised my girls some ice cream and ocean views and I never break a promise."
"I do remember that ice cream promise," Dawn said with a smile, watching as Spike managed to make Willow forget about being worried about Angel and smile.
"The sun went down about half an hour ago," Willow said as she smiled at Spike, "and ocean views sound pretty nice."
"I'll run upstairs and get a sweater. I'll get yours, too, Willow," Dawn was on her feet and near the stairs, turning to Spike, she spoke before he could ask, "I'll bring your coat and the car keys."
"We'll go on out to the car, Niblet," Spike said as he offered Willow his hand to help her from the sofa.
Willow took his hand, trying to ignore the spark of pleasure that ran through her at the casual touch. When she was standing, she expected him to release her hand. Instead, he held it as he moved towards the door. Deciding that she didn't mind all that much, she moved her finger over his palm and followed him outside to wait for Dawn.
~Part: 17~
"It's beautiful," Willow said softly as she looked at the ocean. There was a nice breeze coming in, ruffling her hair and making her very glad that Dawn had thought about needing a sweater. The sun had set and the sky was clear but dark. She couldn't see any stars, either too much smog or it was still too early to see them, but the half moon was visible, adding its own beauty to the dark sky.
"Yeah, it is," Spike agreed, though his eyes were on her face and not the ocean. He wasn't all that impressed with a bunch of water, having traveled too often in leaking boats with only rats and the occasional nosy sailor to snack on. He could remember many nights where he'd stand on the ship's deck and see nothing in every direction. That had grown old real fast, making him even more thankful for the invention of the airplane. He'd much rather spend his time looking at Willow, her face more beautiful than a bunch of dark water ever could be.
"Dawn, don't go too close to the water," Willow called out, rolling her eyes as the teen laughed and continued dancing close to where the waves were crashing ashore. She smiled as she told Spike, "I think Dawn is enjoying the chance to be active."
"It does look that way," he agreed, glancing at the teen before looking back at Willow. He saw her sneak a glance at him, his lips twisting into a smile as she looked away, thinking he hadn't caught her.
"This is a lot of fun," Dawn said as she made her way back to where Spike and Willow were standing. She looked around, "It's just so peaceful listening to the waves and feeling the cool air, but I remember a certain vampire promising me some ice cream."
"Hmm….I wonder who that was," Spike teased.
"A certain handsome and intelligent vampire," Dawn added with a smile, deciding flattery might improve the chances of her getting two dips of ice cream. Since they'd arrived at the beach, she'd kept busy as much as possible, letting Spike and Willow have a chance to enjoy the romantic views in hopes they'd be overcome by emotion and start with the smoochies. Instead, they'd just talked, but she had caught Spike looking at Willow as if she was the most amazing thing he'd ever seen and she'd caught Willow sneaking glances at Spike with a similar look in her green eyes so she had hopes that it wouldn't be too long before they finally realized that they belonged together.
"Spike, quit teasing her," Willow laughed, "I think we passed by an ice cream parlor before we parked. It should still be open."
"Great! I'm definitely thinking that I'm going to have a double dip," Dawn said as she started walking towards the sidewalk.
"So, witch, do you find me handsome and intelligent?" Spike asked as he casually took Willow's hand and they started to follow Dawn. He kept his tone teasing, but his eyes were curious.
"For two dips of ice cream? Heck yeah," Willow smiled.
"Oh," Spike brushed his thumb across her palm, trying to think of some properly amusing response to make that wouldn't let her know what he was really thinking.
"Spike, you know that you're good looking, but you're also one of the smartest people that I know," Willow said slowly when she realized that he hadn't been teasing when he'd asked her that question. She saw him glance at her, a pleased smile on his face at hearing her words.
"Coming from you, that means a lot, Willow," Spike said quietly, knowing that the redhead was one of the most beautiful and intelligent creatures he'd ever met. He saw Dawn waiting for them, glancing at Willow and giving her a smile as he said, "Let's get some ice cream and then we can figure out what we want to do next."
"Ice cream sounds good," Willow smiled at Dawn as they reached where the teen had stopped to wait for them to catch up. She listened as Spike and Dawn began discussing ice cream favors, but she wasn't paying much attention. Instead, she was trying to figure out what, if anything, had just happened. One second, they had been teasing and the next he'd been serious and now he was back to being all friendly. Goodness, she was confused. She didn't understand what was happening between them. Okay, so that was a bit of a lie. She knew that she was feeling lots of old-fashioned desire and lust that was mixing with their friendship and becoming something that might be the beginnings of love, but that, in itself, confused her. She couldn't ignore it or deny it, though. She was falling in love with Spike.
~Part: 18~
"This is the best ice cream," Dawn declared before eating another spoonful of the chocolate peanut butter ice cream that Spike had bought her.
"Much better than Scoops," Willow agreed, comparing it to the ice cream parlor they usually went to in Sunnydale.
"They had so many flavors!" Dawn smiled, "I had such a difficult time deciding what to choose. I think we need to go back tomorrow night so I can try two different flavors."
"We'll see, Niblet," Spike told the teen, happy to see her having such a good time. She'd been through a lot during the last six months, losing her Mother, the whole key business and then losing Buffy. He was relieved to see her smiling and enjoying herself. For a brief time, following Buffy's death, he had to admit that he had been a bit concerned that Dawn might try to do something stupid. The teen blamed herself for the slayer's death and it wasn't too much of a leap to conclude that she might take drastic measures to rid herself of the guilt. Dawn was stronger than that, though, so she'd eventually moved past the guilt to the healing phase of grieving.
Willow had helped the teen a lot, comforting her and listening. Hell, Willow had helped him, too. It had been nice to have someone that felt the same sense of loss that he did, that had the same feelings of guilt, that gave him silent support throughout the entire ordeal. If it hadn't been for Red, well, he might have done something stupid himself. No, that wasn't really true. He was much too strong to do something that foolish. Plus, if he were completely honest, his love for Buffy hadn't been nearly as consuming and deep as he had thought. He had loved her, still loved her, but, as cliched as it sounded, life did go on.
"Great," Dawn said, knowing that we'll see from Spike usually meant yes. She asked Willow, "How is the chocolate?"
"It's really good," Willow said before taking another lick from her cone.
"Red, I can't believe you chose chocolate when they had over 46 flavors," Spike said, having already finished his cone of caramel swirl.
"It was Swiss chocolate," Willow defended with a smile. She stopped walking as they neared a bench that overlooked the beach. She sat down, her eyes looking over the dark ocean. Spike sat next to her, his arm going across the back of the bench. Willow could feel him playing with her hair, curling it around his fingers as he looked at the water. Dawn sat on her other side, now working on her second dip of ice cream.
"This cookies n cream is even better than the chocolate peanut butter," Dawn declared as she took another healthy bite of the ice cream before standing and moving to look over the rail at the traffic below.
"I wonder if Angel will be back when we return to the hotel," Willow spoke softly to Spike, not wanting to ruin Dawn's good mood by mentioning the reason that they were in LA in the first place.
"I don't know," Spike brushed his fingers against the back of her neck, hearing her heart beat increase at the casual touch. His lips twisted into a pleased smile at her reaction, deliberately making more contact with her warm flesh.
"Is it wrong for me to hope that he isn't?" Willow asked, wondering how she could find something so simple as Spike touching her neck so darn arousing. She pushed those thoughts from her mind as she added, "I really dread telling him about Buffy. I mean, I know they broke up and were just friends now, but there was so much love between them. I wouldn't mind having another day or two before I have to find the words to tell him that she's gone."
"You'll find the words, luv," Spike said quietly, not having any doubt that Willow would know exactly what to say to Angel when the time came.
"I hope so," she sighed as she finished her ice cream cone. Without even thinking about it, she leaned her head against Spike's shoulder, her green eyes looking at the ocean while also keeping an eye on Dawn. Spike's hand moved from her neck to rest against her shoulder as they silently watched the waves.
~Part: 19~
"What about this one?" Dawn asked as she showed Spike and Willow her selection.
"That's a great choice," Willow smiled at the teen before she went back to looking through the movies in front of her. They'd finished their ice cream and watched the water for nearly an hour before finally deciding to do something else. Dawn had mentioned the possibility of getting a movie to watch, pointing out that there had been a DVD player as well as a VCR downstairs. Luckily, Willow had her Blockbuster card so they'd headed off to find the closet rental store to the hotel.
"I don't know," Spike hesitated, "it looks rather girly to me."
"Pretty Woman is not very girly, Spike," Dawn defended, "okay, so it's a little girly but not Steel Magnolias or Beaches girly. It's more like Dirty Dancing girly."
"I guess I can suffer through the girly," Spike sighed dramatically. "The things I do for my girls."
"We love you Spike," Willow and Dawn said in unison before giggling and continuing their search for movies.
"Brats," Spike muttered, though there was a smile on his face as he read various cover boxes.
"Oh, I haven't seen this in years," Willow said as she picked up a copy of Better Off Dead. "I want my two dollars," she quoted before laughing. "I am so getting this one."
"Have you found anything good yet, Spike?" Dawn asked as she walked over to the horror section where the blond vampire was looking for the grossest movie he could find.
"Dawn, honey, he's looking at horror movies. Good and horror movie tend to not belong in the same sentence," Willow smiled as she joined them. "Cheesy and funny, yes. Good, no."
"They've got Dolls!" Dawn got excited. "This movie scared me to death when I was a kid. I mean, it must have scared Buffy because I have the memory of getting rid of all my dolls after watching it."
"I remember that one," Willow rested her chin on Dawn's shoulder and gave the girl a hug as she mused, "Jesse, Xander, and I used to spend most the summer watching movies and horror movies were mine and Jesse's favorites. We rented this one several times. I wonder if they've got that movie The Monster Squad. It was one of Xan's favorites. He'd go around saying that the wolf man had gnards."
"I don't think I've seen that one," Dawn said, looking around and not seeing the title. "I don't think they have it."
"Go ahead and get Dolls. I'd like to see that one again," Willow smiled before looking over to find that Spike had drifted into another aisle. She took Dawn's hand and walked over to him. She asked, "Have you found anything yet?"
"Yeah," Spike did his best to conceal the movie that he had picked up. He suggested, "I think we can go ahead and check out now."
"What did you choose?" Dawn asked as they headed to the counter.
"A movie," Spike said with a smirk.
"What movie?" Dawn rolled her eyes, listening as Willow gave the clerk Angel's phone number to use as her local number. "Spike, no fair. We told you what we rented."
"It's just something I haven't seen in a while," Spike replied, wishing that he'd chosen something else, but wanting to see this movie again. He really enjoyed it, always finding it funny and cute, which definitely did nothing to improve his reputation as The Big Bag. Oh well, his girls would tease him a bit but he figured they'd enjoy it as much as he did.
"It's Grease!" Willow said, looking at Spike with a slight smile. "I absolutely love this movie!"
"Me too!" Dawn agreed before she got a mischievous look in her eyes, saying, "And here you were saying that Pretty Woman was too girly."
"Grease is not girly," Spike protested, "It's got car racing and violence and leather jackets."
"And dancing and singing and sappy romance," Dawn giggled before she patted his shoulder, "It's okay, Spike. I won't tell anyone that you're a fan of Grease. If anyone asks, I'll tell them you chose The Texas Chainsaw Massacre or A Nightmare on Elm Street."
"Thanks, Niblet," Spike laughed.
"I, on the other hand, will be sure to put out an advertisement letting the entire demon community know that Spike aka William the Bloody aka half of the Scourge of Europe knows all the words to Summer Lovin'," Willow snickered as she moved away before Spike could smack her.
"I'll get the movies," Dawn said as Spike started threatening Willow and advanced on the laughing redhead. She took the movies from the clerk and followed her family outside.
"What were you threatening, Red?" Spike asked when he finally had Willow cornered against the car.
"Fine, I won't tell anyone," Willow relented, her eyes shining with amusement as he pinned her against the car. Her eyes moved from his eyes, looking at his lips as she realized how close he was.
"We should go," Spike said huskily, his tongue moving over his lips as he moved away from Willow to open the car door for her. He'd almost kissed her again. He'd come so close to just leaning over and tasting her. He ran a hand over his face before opening the back door for Dawn. Once the teenager was inside the car, he shut the door. He walked slowly to the driver's side, sliding into the car and starting it. He was back in control as he drove towards the hotel, listening to Dawn and Willow chatter about the movies and making plans to make popcorn when they got back to the hotel. A smile crossed his face as he listened to them, adding his own thoughts about the movies as they drove.
~Part: 20~
They had gone back to the hotel, finding that it was still empty. No sign of Angel or anyone else. Willow hadn't been very surprised, and she had to admit that she was a little bit relieved, not really in the mood to talk to Angel about Buffy's death and be reminded of everything that had happened in the last few weeks. They'd been able to enjoy themselves completely for the first day since before Buffy died and, selfish as it was to think, she didn't want to ruin their good day by talking to Angel. Dawn had started the movies, putting on Pretty Woman first. It had been a lot of fun, except for Spike's commentary. He'd decided early on that Julia Roberts resembled a horse, which had annoyed Dawn who was a fan of the actress, so he'd taken to neighing like a horse whenever Julia Roberts was on screen, earning him glares and curses from Dawn while making her laugh, because she somewhat agreed with him, though that did not ruin the movie for her. She'd sighed in all the romantic parts, loving the non-traditional romance between the prostitute and the wealthy guy.
Spike had soon grown tired of making the horse noises when it was evident that Dawn was ignoring him, so he'd leaned against Willow and watched the remainder of the movie. Sure, he'd made a few random comments throughout, finding the movie pretty silly, but he had really enjoyed the shopping part, laughing with glee when the character went shopping on Rodeo Drive and snarkily told the salesladies off after purchasing a lot of items somewhere else. He'd asked Willow and Dawn if that was their idea of fun, going shopping with limitless funds. He hadn't been very surprised when both of his girls had said no, neither one caring all that much for clothes and such. He'd been thankful when the movie ended, tired of hearing Willow sigh during the romantic parts and exchange words with Dawn about how 'sweet and perfect' the ending was. He hadn't seen very much romantic at all, thinking he could do a far better job of showering *his* girl with romance than the poofster with all the money in the movie. They'd followed the romance with the horror movie, Dawn putting on the movie Dolls before laying on the floor and making herself comfortable with a pillow from the bed.
Spike and Willow spent the entire length of the movie making fun of it, Dawn adding in her own opinions as the silly horror movie ran. Thankfully, it wasn't long and was soon over. They'd then watched Better Off Dead, earning rave reviews from all three of them. Spike had loved it, having to reluctantly admit to his enjoyment after laughing numerous times. He felt sorry for the poor bastard, loving someone that didn't want him, knowing from experience what that felt like, very pleased when the poor git found love with the smart girl across the street, comparing his Red easily with the girl, knowing what it felt to have someone that believed in him completely, that made him happy just being his friend, that he'd been friends with before realizing that what he felt was beyond platonic. He'd tried not to do too much serious thinking during such a funny movie, but he was still trying to come to terms with the knowledge that he was half in love with Willow so he'd used the opportunity to do some further exploration of that realization. But, overall, he'd just enjoyed the movie. Sure, he could have done without the entire dancing hamburger bit, having to make fun of that part, but the rest of the movie was pretty damn funny. By this time, it was already the next day and Dawn was drifting off to sleep. She finally stood, telling them to go ahead and watch Grease without her. She'd gone in to the room and gone to sleep. Willow had asked if he wanted to watch the movie and had put it in on when he agreed, saying that she wasn't very tired herself and had always enjoyed the movie.
The movie had been on nearly an hour when Willow looked at Spike and asked, "Why did you rent this movie? I mean, you've been making fun of it and don't really seem to like it that much."
Spike shrugged, "I don't know. The name was familiar and I thought it would be interesting to watch it."
"You've never even seen it before, have you?" Willow asked as she looked at him with surprise in her green eyes.
"Technically? No," Spike said as he looked away from the rather silly movie to look at his Red. He explained, "I saw bits and pieces of it, Red. Remembered the car race and a few other things. Long story, pet."
"I've got time," she said softly as she reached over and pushed the mute button. She'd seen the movie numerous times so she didn't mind missing it to hear Spike's reasoning for renting it.
"Stubborn little thing, aren't ya?" he smiled affectionately before he looked away, sighing as he admitted, "It reminds me of some good times, with my sire."
"Grease reminds you of Drusilla?" Willow was confused, not understanding that logic at all.
"Yeah," he nodded as he leaned back against the sofa, trying to figure out how to explain it. Finally, he just said, "When that movie came out, Dru and I were in the States, traveling around the south. We'd been up in New York and that area for a decade or so, left after I bagged my second slayer. Have you ever heard of a drive in, pet? I know they're not around hardly anymore, but, in those days, nearly every little town had one, and that movie was playing them all. I lost count of how many nights Dru and I'd go to the drive in to eat. It was bloody amazing, like a banquet for vampires. Couples making out, their blood heated with passion and the warm night air, so many people that were never any witnesses. Caught bits of the movie while we were waiting to feed or after we'd shagged. My Princess loved the bit at the end, with the flying car. Took me forever to explain to her that cars don't really fly away like that, disappointed her, it did. Soon after that, we caught a boat back to Europe, ended up in Prague and I think you know the rest. So, yeah, I think about this movie and I remember the good times with Dru, feeding on warm blood and shagging in the car, before everything went bad."
"Um, okay, that's really gross but also really sweet," Willow said quietly, shocked first of all that Spike had said so much. The blond wasn't a big talker, usually keeping things simple and to the point. Second, she was surprised that he'd been so honest with her, talking about Dru and telling her things she highly doubted he'd told anyone else. And third, she was touched that he'd wanted to share the movie that represented good memories to him with them, like she'd done with Better Off Dead, the movie that she and Xander and Jesse had memorized when they were kids, and Dawn had done with Pretty Woman, a movie that she'd watched with her Mom and sister when they'd have family movie night.
"I'm not sweet," Spike muttered, rolling his eyes as he wondered why he'd told Willow all that. He'd been going to just make up some excuse, not liking the idea of sharing bits of himself with anyone, especially the beautiful redhead that he'd begun to fall in love with. When he'd opened his mouth, though, he'd found himself telling her the truth, hating the wistful tone in his voice as he spoke about those times with Dru, before she'd decided he was too weak for her, that his humanity and capacity for love disgusted her.
"Of course you're not," Willow agreed immediately, a soft smile on her face as she looked at him, wishing she could give him a hug to let him know how much it meant to her that he'd been honest and that he was her friend. Impulsively, she decided, why not? Friends hugged each other. She leaned over and hugged him, whispering in his ear, "You're the big bad and not at all sweet or caring."
"And don't you forget it," he said quietly as he stiffened when her arms went around him, relaxing finally as he awkwardly returned the hug. He looked at her face as she pulled back from the hug, deciding that she got more beautiful every time he looked at her. She smiled at him, her eyes shining with several emotions, and he found himself raising his hand to touch her cheek, his fingers brushing against her warm flesh as their eyes met. The smile faded from her face as she drew her bottom lip into her mouth, her eyes darkening as she moved her face against his hand. Spike couldn't resist it any longer, he lowered his head and brushed his lips ever so gently against hers.