Setting: Early season 7 Buffy, although it's completely AU
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Nothing in this story is mine, other than the order of the words. The characters, the show, and everything else all belong to someone else.
Summary: Spike keeps Willow company while she tries to vote
A/N: This story is an early birthday present for Angel S, who not only writes wonderful stories, but also gives me feedback that makes me smile. So thank you, Angel S, and please keep writing.
A/N2: This is the PG-13 version of this story. Only the first half-dozen paragraphs are the same, so if you're over 18, you might want to read them both. I kinda had one idea to start with, and then the story went in two different directions, hence the two versions. Hope you like one of them, at least. If you do, let me know. It's kind of like voting...it's you, giving your opinion on what you like. And it lets me know what direction to head next time I sit down to write.
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"Who ya votin' for, Red?" Spike asked curiously, grinning as the redhead started in surprise. He liked scaring her. Truth be told, there wasn't much about her that he *didn't* like.
Circumstances had made them roommates-when Willow returned to Sunnydale after her brief bout with the dark side-Xander referred to it as her 'Vader Days'-things between her and the others had been strained, at best. Willow had decided that it would be easier for everyone if she gave them time and space to heal. Spike knew that the decision had hurt her, but she said time and again that it was for the best, and that she didn't regret it.
A couple of weeks later, when the Slayer had pulled him out of the basement of the old high school, mad as a hatter, Willow had immediately offered to take him in. It had been some time before the others were convinced that she could take care of herself, and Spike as well, but in the end Buffy had been relieved to have one less thing to worry about.
And Willow had had a chance to take care of someone else. It turned out to be a much-needed distraction, and one she didn't mind in the least. And as Spike's sanity had returned, they had begun to build a tentative friendship.
"It's none of your business who I vote for, buster," she insisted, turning in her dining room chair and looking up into the face of the vampire standing before her.
Refusing to take 'no' for an answer, Spike spied the mail-in ballot on the table and leaned over, trying to see what she had marked. When he realized that she hadn't yet marked any of the boxes, he snatched the paper away and held it teasingly in front of his roommate.
"Give it back, or you're a dead man," she threatened, trying hard to suppress the grin that threatened to tug at the corners of her lips. As a roommate, Spike could be trying at times, but he could also be a lot of fun. She never knew whether to laugh or get angry when he teased her like this.
"Already dead, luv. Doubt you could make me much deader," Spike remarked, smirking at her as he dangled the voter's pamphlet just beyond her reach.
"Could too!" she insisted. "Dusty vacuum fodder is pretty damned dead, even for the likes of you!"
Spike merely continued to smirk at her, knowing her threats weren't serious. She couldn't even kill the wayward fly that had made it into their kitchen last week. He had watched her for half an hour as she tried to shoo the insect out the front door.
Willow frowned, trying to decide on tactics. Sometimes cajoling him worked, sometimes she appealed to his 'big strong male' complex. And sometimes she just magicked him into the next room, which was what she did this time, watching as the ballot dropped slowly to the ground in front of her. She leaned over and picked it up, placing it back on the table with a satisfied smile.
"Not nice to teleport the vampire without his permission, Red. Not nice at all," Spike growled, stalking back towards her from the kitchen, his face dark and angry. Or maybe he was just playing at being angry. She could never tell for sure. That was the thing that kept their games interesting.
She got up from her chair quickly, smiling and laughing as she ran into the living room, watching with large, curious eyes as Spike stalked after her.
With his superior speed, he could have caught her in moments, and they both knew it. But in some dark part of her, Willow understood that he enjoyed the chase just as much as he enjoyed catching her.
They faced each other from opposite sides of the couch, Spike giving her a wicked grin, while Willow's brow furrowed in furious thought.
"Are you gonna tell me who you're voting for, or do I have to tickle it out of you?" Spike threatened. He eyed her for a moment, trying to read her, then took a step to the left before moving right.
Willow knew his moves; he always moved to the left before heading right, so she headed right as well, and ended up right in his arms when he doubled back to the left again.
"I'm not as predictable as all that, am I?" he asked, looking down at her, his eyes dancing with merriment.
His arms tightened around her, pulling her against his body as she sighed. Her lips, slightly parted, drew his eyes. As he watched, the tip of her tongue ran along her bottom lip before darting back between those luscious lips.
Damn it, he was a man, as well as a vampire, and there was only so much he could take. They were friends, just friends, he reminded himself. But oh, how he wanted it to be more.
"Red?"
Willow's eyes met his, wide and uncertain. A question floated in their depths, but her mouth remained closed. She nodded though, and although he did not know for sure why she had nodded, he decided it was permission enough.
His head bent down, taking her lips in a tentative kiss. He left the direction of the kiss up to her, and was grateful when she opened her mouth, begging his tongue to enter.
She tasted of lemon yogurt and indecision, with a trace of toothpaste still lingering on her teeth. It was an odd combination, but pleasant.
"Spike?" she pulled back, looking up at his face, confusion swimming in her emerald eyes.
"Your call, Red. You want me to stop?" He hoped to hell that she didn't, but knew that she needed to make the choice.
She tried to think about it rationally for a moment, but her mind was clouded by the intensity of emotions his kiss had evoked. Lust, fear, happiness, all those emotions waxed and waned inside of her. But what it all boiled down to was that, for better or for worse, she wanted this; wanted him. The wanting had always been there, lurking in the shadows, but the fear of losing what they had had kept her from making the first move.
The moment seemed to stretch into days for the blond vampire. Everything he wanted was so very close to him, and he fought his very nature not to reach out and take it
"No, don't stop. But.I need to know something. What is this?"
The first part of her answer warmed him, as did her body, pressed so tightly against his, but the question stopped him. "What do you mean? I think it's pretty obvious what's going on here." I was going to take you to my bed, like I should have done long ago, he added to himself.
She chewed on her lower lip nervously, and the action made him wish that he was the one who teased the tasty bit of flesh.
"I mean, are we friends, friends who-you know?" She blushed slightly at the thought, unable to get together the courage to say the words aloud. "Or are we, um, something else?"
Spike smiled ruefully at her words, especially the ones she didn't say. She'd been hurt so often by people who were supposed to love her unconditionally; he couldn't blame her for being a little gun-shy. But did she really have to pick apart and analyze everything between them? Couldn't she live in the moment, just this once?
He opened his mouth to reply, but before he could speak, Willow surprised him.
"Never mind," she told him quietly. "A friend once told me 'carpe diem.' I-I'm not very good at it, but it seems like now would be a good time to get better, huh?"
"Sounds like a plan to me," he agreed with a sly smile, willing to agree that the sky was green and Buffy was pretty, if it meant that she would kiss him again.
He got his wish. Their lips met in a gentle kiss, and then another.
Then neither of them said anything at all, for a very, very long time.
The End