Pairing: W/S
Rating: PG13
Disclaimer: I do not own anything that anyone else would claim. This means BtVS and AtS stuff unless someone disowned them all a sudden.
Distribution: My site (A Witch’s Love), all others who have my fics – anyone else, please ask first and tell me where it will be making a home.
Summary: Answer to my own challenge.
~*~The Soapbox Challenge~*~
***Pairings: Anything involving Willow.
***Must use the word soapbox at least ten times within the fic. No repetitive usage (IE - "Soapbox, soapbox, soapbox, soapbox - nyah nyah - can't stop me from saying it."). Be creative. (**Used 6 times in this part – the last 4 are in part 2***)
***And, since we're involving "Soap" and "Boxes" - let's toss in three of the following:
Liquid Soap (**Yep**)
Strawberry Syrup (**Yep**)
Box of Cap'n Crunch
Box of Legos
Bubbles
Sticky hands
A shower
And - just for good measure - the line: "But, Wills, you *know* I wanted to be the one to cover him in honey!”
~*~End Challenge~*~
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
~*~Part One~*~
Willow pushed a piece of hair back from her face, frowning down at the chemistry homework in her lap. The wind, of course, immediately blew her hair right back in her face, obscuring her view of the text. Maybe this hadn’t been the best choice of studying areas. She looked up, watching as a group of upperclassmen played Frisbee on the lawn of the college. For all intents and purposes this looked like any other school in any other state, anywhere in the country. Sure, the sky was a little bluer, the sun a little brighter – but that was the joy of living in Southern California.
But, this wasn’t any other school she was reminded, remembering the reason she wasn’t studying in her room. In short, the room was trashed. A group of demons had come looking for Buffy in the early morning, wrecking the room before promptly getting their collectives asses kicked. They had been lucky the hall’s monitor had taken their word that it had been a failed burglary. She smiled, remembering how she had throw a soapbox at one of the demons, pegging it squarely in the forehead and making it run away. So much for super powers when a simple box of Lever2000 worked wonders.
The worst part had, undoubtedly, been the bottle of liquid soap that had gotten throw about during the confusion. The sickly sweet smell of kiwi fruit was now all over their walls, beds, and floor. It was nauseating.
Thus the reason she was outside, enjoying the fresh air… Or trying to enjoy it, was hard to actually enjoy something that insisted on flinging one’s hair into their face once a minute. She sighed finally, closing the book and grabbing for her backpack. Maybe she’d have better luck studying at Giles’ house. At least his couch didn’t smell like kiwi.
She hoped
~*~*~
‘No.’ She frowned upon entering the Watcher’s home. ‘No kiwis. Just Spike. Great. Oh well – not like I have any other place to study.’
“Afternoon, Red.” Spike smirked, eyes glued to the television. And here he had thought it was going to be another boring afternoon of soap operas. Maybe not now. Not with the witch in the house. “Slutty kick you out of the room so she could have an afternoon romp with Soldier boy?”
Willow rolled her eyes, placing her book bag on the table. She looked around, noting that there was no sign of Giles. “Where’s Giles?”
“Watcher man? He went out to some museum opening. A history of soapboxes or some other rubbish.” The vampire shrugged, turning his eyes to the red head who had just flopped into a chair. “What’s got your panties in a twist, Red? Slayer spill strawberry syrup on your favorite fluffy white sweater?” He smirked at the irritated look she flashed him. This was what he lived for now – annoying the Hell out of the Scoobies. Willow was lucky, though he knew she didn’t realize that. She received the least of the teasing out of the entire group, and all because he’d developed a soft spot in his unbeating heart for her.
She’d probably get all red in the face and stammer a lot of he ever told her, though. Not that that wouldn’t be fun, too. She was cute when she was flustered. He turned his attention back to the television, trying to ignore how close she was to him. Here they were, all along in the Watcher’s house, for the first time ever, and he didn’t have the nerve to make a move on her. The Slayer would have his balls on a necklace if he laid a single finger on the red head. It was hardly worth it.
He looked over at her, watching as she licked her tongue across her lips. The pink tip trailed slowly over the length of first her bottom lip then her top in an unconscious expression of pure sexuality. He groaned softly, turning the volume on the television up simultaneously to hide the sound. On screen a commercial for some inane household product was flashing across the screen, an actor taking a tumble into a stack of soapboxes. He winced as the boxes came tumbling down upon the man. “That had to hurt…” He mumbled.
“Oh please.” Willow frowned, glancing at the television. The soapboxes were empty, Spike. That’s why he’s called an actor.” Her voice was completely condescending, more than a little irritated. She didn’t have the right to just burst in here and order him to turn off the television so she could study. But, at this rate, she would never be ready for her Chemistry test the next day. She sighed, biting her lip in vexation. How was she ever supposed to get her work done?
“Problems, pet?” Spike inquired, scooting to the end of the couch so he see what she was working on. He hadn’t missed the frustrated look she had just thrown at her textbook. “Science? Why are you studying? Don’t you know enough to teach the bloody teacher?”
She shrugged. “I guess. I just want to be sure…its for finals, you know.”
He nodded, not really caring or understanding what ‘finals’ were supposed to be. He assumed she meant it was the final test of the year. Did that make it count more than all the others? It wasn’t as though he’d ever been to college. “Maybe you’re just trying to hard, luv. Why don’t you take a break? Come over here and watch the tele with me.”
Willow looked at the vampire for a long moment, unsure of his motives behind being nice to her. This undoubtedly would end in trouble for her. There was no way around it. If Spike was being nice to her the apocalypse was damn well on its way. ‘If that’s the case you might as well go snuggle up and enjoy spending time with him.’ She blushed, her own thoughts betraying her. How much of a deep, dark secret was it that she liked Spike? Buffy didn’t know. Xander certainly didn’t. If Anya had known everyone else would have found out, too. Therefore there was no one on the Earth, other than Willow herself, who knew about her little crush.
“Well, witch?” Spike asked, giving her a light glare to shake her out of whatever land she had just run off to in her mind. Her lips were half-parted, begging to be kissed. But he resisted. He always resisted.
“Um. Sure. TV sounds great.” She waited until he had moved back to the other end of the couch before taking a seat next to him. This was cozy. A little cozier that she would have preferred with her raging hormones, but still quite nice. She really needed to speak to Giles about getting a larger couch. Something that was big enough for two people to sit on it without their bodies touching. “So…what’re we watching?”
“Daytime tele – talk show.” He gestured to the television where a female midget was currently telling the talk show host about her adventures in soapbox collection. Enthralling? No. Worth watching just so he could sit next to Willow? Yes. He shifted so that he was sitting that much closer to her, his right side touching her left. She smelled sweet, and probably tasted sweeter.
“Wh-where did you say Giles was again?” Willow asked quietly, more than a little aware of the blond haired vampire – no *man* sitting next to her. The fact that he was a vampire made little difference to her. He was an attractive man first of all. Very attractive. Very manly.
“Soapbox exhibit at the museum. Something about over a thousand different soapboxes, from US made to those made in bloody Japan. A hundred years of soapboxes.”
“Soapboxes…” She smirked, staring at the television though she wasn’t paying attention to a word that was being said. Could he tell that she was flustered? He had to be able to hear her heart beating faster. It was racing within her chest, pounding out a tempo that would have set a dancer to shame. Would he know that it was about to burst from her chest because of him? ‘So pathetic, Wills… Lusting after the formerly big bad vampire.’
Spike wasn’t unaware of what was going on next to him. The only problem was what he was going to do about it. He could hear her heart racing, could smell the sweet scent of her desire in the air. It was all for him, of course. He stretched, rubbing against her side again, delighting in the sound of her heart speeding up even more. If things didn’t come to a head soon she would have a heart attack.
So he did what any concerned friend would do when faced with the possibility that another friend would die of anxiety. He kissed her.
“Urmm.” Willow tried to ask, her mouth opening and giving Spike that chance he had been looking for. She felt his cool tongue slide into her mouth. She had no choice but to abandon herself to reality, which had suddenly turned just as wonderful as all of her deepest fantasies.
And that’s when Buffy walked in.
~~~*~~~
Buffy glared at her best friend and then the vampire now seated across the room, her gaze stony, chilling. She had caught them, only moments before, making out on Giles’ couch like two horny teenagers. That would have been fine and good for Willow if the person on the receiving end of her kisses hadn’t been *Spike*. “Wills…what were you thinking? He’s…a vampire. Evil. Bad. Dead.”
”I realize that.” Willow sighed, staring out the window and wishing that Giles would walk in and save her from the Inquisition. How long could one man stare at soapboxes anyway? “You dated Angel, though. Why can’t I be with Spike if I want to be?”
“Yeah, Slutty. Why can’t the little witch shag me senseless if she wants?”
The two women turned to stare at Spike, duplicate looks of outrage on their faces for different reasons.
“There will be no shagging of Willow. None.” Buffy snapped, wishing she had the power to kill with her look alone.
Willow, meantime, had begun her own rant. “What makes you think I *want* to ‘shag’ you?” She asked, incredulous. “All we were doing was kissing for Goddess’ sake.” She came up short as she realized what Buffy had said. “Hey! I can shag whoever I want Buff!”
“Oh – so now you admit you *do* want to shag me, pet?” Spike leered, winking at the red head. He heard her growl, saw her eyes widen with frustration – and it turned him on. She certainly was a feisty little thing.
“You…you….undead blood-sucking thing!!!” Willow yelled, momentarily forgetting Buffy. The Slayer, for her part, sat quietly on the couch, watching the exchange with amusement and a desire to protect her friend. The more she watched Spike, though, the more it was obvious that he had a thing for the red head. The jibes he was throwing her way weren’t insulting in any way – they were merely meant to get a reaction, which is definitely what they were doing. Buffy didn’t think she had ever seen Willow so irritated with anyone in her entire life.
“I can suck other things, too, pet.” Spike smirked, eyeing the front of her shirt in a way he hoped was quite obvious.
“Oh….you….!!!” The young witch growled, standing up and moving towards him. Her face was red with embarrassment, but his words sparked more than just casual interest in her. She wanted to see exactly what he was good at, what he wanted to touch, lick, suck – whatever he wanted. But why did he have to act like this in front of Buffy? This wasn’t the way to get the blonde to give them her blessing on whatever they decided to do. In fact, as far as Willow was concerned, this was the perfect way to make the Slayer stake him. She advanced another step towards him, her hands balled into fists.
And that’s when they heard it.
Buffy was laughing.
Hard.
Willow and Spike turned their heads as one, looking at the Slayer in confusion. “Have you lost your bleedin’ mind pet? You get hit on the head with one of those soapboxes I saw on television earlier?”
“Soapbox?” Buffy snorted. She took a deep breath, getting her laughter under control. “You know what guys. What you two do is your own business. I should never have….” She stopped, shaking her head, a smile still lighting up her face. “Nevermind. I’ll leave you two here, to do what you want. But remember that this is Giles’ house and he could walk in at any time, k?”
And then she was gone, the door shutting behind her – leaving one very confused witch and one very amused vampire.
“Well, I think that went well, don’t you, luv?”
Willow turned blazing eyes towards Spike. “What did you think you were doing?” She exclaimed, glaring at him. “Saying all those things in front of her? You’re lucky she didn’t stake your pale ass.”
“You been lookin’ at my arse, Red? I’m flattered. You like?”
“Aaargghh!” Willow screamed. He was infuriating, frustrating and…wait. He was sitting there smiling at her. He was doing this on purpose. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes and counting to ten in a desperate attempt to control her temper. There was no way she was going to keep letting him get her all stirred up. When her eyes opened again she felt like she was much more in control of herself. She gave Spike a smile, crossing the room to sit on his lap. He almost jumped in surprise and she gave a little laugh. How nice it was to shake him up. Him, the big bad vampire. She smirked. “Now – where were we?”
“Uh…having a conversation about soapboxes I think?” Spike murmured, sarcastic to the end. His lips touched hers gently at first, then with growing intensity, each kiss more passionate than the next, until each of them felt like they were drowning in the other.
Unfortunately, at that moment, Giles came back from the museum exhibit on soapboxes.
“Bloody hell…” He muttered, staring at the scene before him. Oh well. Just as well. At least the stupid vampire hadn’t fallen for Buffy. That would have been a true disaster. He shook his head, mouth shut tight, and went up the stairs to his room, shutting the door behind him.
Spike frowned, leaning back into his chair. This wasn’t going to work out. The Watcher’s house was as busy as a bus station. Then it hit him. “Pet? Don’t you still have a room at your parents’ house?”
“Yeah – why? The house is too quiet without them. I hate it.” She stopped, understanding dawning in her eyes. “Oh. Right.” She stood up, shoving her schoolbooks back into her backpack and slinging it over her shoulder. The sun had set during the time she had been in Giles’ house.
“Pet? Why do you smell like kiwi?”
Willow grinned. “Dunno, Spike. How about we go over mom and dad’s house and you help me get it all cleaned off…in the shower?” She winked at him, playful.
”Don’t forget that you offered that, Red.” Spike chuckled, holding open the door for her. “I’ll be taking you up on it as soon as we get there.”
~*~The End~*~