***
Seven
***

      Willow looked through Spike's large video collection,
searching for something she hadn't seen before. It was
Friday night, as usual, and she once again found
herself at the apartment for video night. Though, to
be honest, she hadn't left his apartment since the
*previous* Friday. She thought of the last week with a
smile as her eyes mindlessly scanned the movie titles.
It had been nice to wake up in Spike's arms every
morning. Well evening, anyway.

      {Whats this?} Willow grabbed a box from the shelf,
bright green eyes roaming over its dark images. {Oh!
Brad Pitt! Yum!} Her mind cried. {Not as 'yum' as
Spike, though.} she hurried to amend. No one came
close to Spike's yuminess in her humble opinion. Her
mind flashed with images of him. Bleached blond hair,
piercing blue eyes, hard white chest, firm ass... She
blushed, feeling the familiar heat of arousal soar
through her.

      "Thinking of me again. pet?" Spike drawled, leaning
against the doorway. His shirt was unbuttoned,
exposing the flawlessness of his chest. The sight of
him was truly breathtaking, literally. The red head
gasped, catching her breath as she looked at the
marvel that was *her* boyfriend. How had she gotten so
lucky?
      "Wasn't thinking of you," she grinned mischieviously,
holding up the box. "Thinking of Brad Pitt. Hes such a
hottie."

      Spike's eyes clouded over for a second when the words
passed her lips. How could she stand there and say
that another man was arousing her in front of him?!?
One look at the sparkle in her eyes dissipated the
anger. She was just playing. Trying to make him
jealous. - it worked. "Ah but sweets, hes just a boy.
You need a man." He pushed away from the door,
stalking towards her with lust in his eyes.

      "Really?" Willow grinned. "What am I waiting around
here for then." She made a move to grab her keys. "I'd
better go find me a real man." She chuckled as Spike's
hand wrapped around her wrist, pulling her body up
against him.

      "Forget about a real man, pet. Someone with all your
fire needs a vampire to keep her occupied. A master
vampire at that." He raised his eyebrows invitingly.

      "But, Angel is with Cordelia..." Willow's taunt was
cut off as the growling lips of her lover crashed down
upon hers. She felt his teeth gently nip at her lip,
pulling on it as he pulled back from the kiss before
finally releasing it. She looked up into his face,
eyes burning with passion. "Nevermind. Seems I got a
master vampire in the house with me. Yay."
She moved to kiss him again, startled to find him no
longer there.

      Spike sat down on the couc. He enjoyed the brief
flash of disappointment that passed over her face when
she hadn't been able to kiss him again. "So did you
chose a movie, ducks?"

* * *

      Willow grimaced at the grisley scene on the
television, wishing she had known before hand that the
movie was so....disturbing. She looked over at Spike.
At least he was enjoying it. He had said this was one
of his favorite movies. She could tell. His blue eyes
were practically glowing with amusement as he watched
the scenes of death flash across the screen. A shiver
passed over her.

      Spike hadn't missed the shiver. "Are you cold, Red?"

      "No. I'm fine."

      "Whats wrong?" Spike stopped the movie, catching one
of her hands in his and absently stroking it with his
thumb.

      "Its nothing, really."

      "I'm not buying that for one second, sweets, now tell
me before I'm forced to spank you." The vampire
honestly found himself hoping she would chose to be
spanked. He shifted uncomfortable as the images that
thought brought forth forced his body into arousal.

      The red head turned to look at him, green eyes boring
holes into his blue ones. She weighed her words
carefully before speaking. "Its just. Sometimes, more
than others, I get reminded of what you are. And it
scares me." There. She had said it. She had told him
that he scared her.

      A wave of pain passed through Spike's eyes as he
contemplated the delicate creature in front of him. He
scared her? "You get reminded of what I am, pet? I
thought you were okay with the whole vampire issue."
He couldnt understand why that would scare her all of
a sudden.

      "Not that." She gave him a small smile. "The whole
vicious killer issue." She flinched as a fresh wave of
pain washed through his eyes. "I'm sorry..." Tears
began to form at the corners of her eyes.

      The vampire let out a forced sigh. How could he
aplogize for what he was? For what he had done? He
just couldnt. "I wish I could say I am sorry for all
the things I have done, pet. But I wont lie." He
longed to reach out and brush the tears from her face,
to sooth the fear he saw reflected in her eyes. But he
couldnt. It was best to say this now. Better not to
prolong the inevitable. "I am a killer, Red. If you
cant accept that then its best we just move on now."

      A white hot numbing pain coursed through her at his
words. She felt as if her heart were going to burst
from the grip sadness had on it. Move on? She couldnt
bear the thought of moving on. Of leaving him. Not
even losing Oz had felt this bad. Her hands curled
into fists, fingernails digging into the soft flesh of
her palm as she struggled to breathe, to think. "I
dont want to move on." She gasped through the pain in
her heart. Tears fell, hot and wet, to the tshirt she
was wearing. Spike's tshirt. She loved Spike's
tshirts. They always smelled like him, even fresh from
the wash. If she 'moved on' she would never get to
wear his tshirts again. The silly little thought made
her sob with pain.

      "Luv..." Spike couldnt take it anymore. He gathered
her in his arms, cradling her against his chest. His
words had been harsh, he realized. He hadn't meant for
it to sound like an all or nothing deal. "I didnt mean
it like that..." He murmured, his hand running in
smoothing strokes along her hair. "I dont want you to
move on. If you cant accept everything I've done then
we just have to work on it." He closed his eyes. "I
dont expect you to embrace my past
wholeheartedly...but I cant accept you getting scared
of me over it either."

      Willow looked into the blue eyes that were intent on
seeing straight through to her very soul. She loved
this man..vampire...whatever. The thought of leaving
him over his past seemed so trivial when faced with a
lifetime without him. "I love you." She whispered. "It
only scares me sometimes. Like when we watch this kind
of movie. You seem to get off on all the death and
blood."

      Spike laughed softly at her choice of words. "Well I
*am* a demon, love. But death and blood arent the
things that 'get me off' anymore." He grinned at her,
happy to see the playful sparkle re-enter her eyes.

      "And what *does* get you off these days?" She
grinned, leaning in close enough that he could feel
her breath over his lips.

      "Thoughts of a certain red haired witch. She had the
most amazing green eyes, luscious red lips, this nice
set of..."

      Blushing, Willow caught his lips before he could go
any further, silencing him with those 'luscious lips'
and her inquisitive tongue.
 

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