Second Story in The Darkest Hour series
(( ))= thoughts
PART 1
Willow tapped softly on Giles’ door, hoping she wasn’t too early. Giles had said he needed to leave at 8:30 and Willow, wanting to make sure he left on time, was tapping on his door and 8:01. ((I’m not anxious or anything... I’m just being punctual. Okay, not punctual, early.. but this way he can get an early start... so, I’m just being polite... yes, that’s it... polite not anxious.))
A very surprised and not quite dressed Giles answered the door. “Willow?
You’re early.” He looked down at himself and blushed. He was wearing only
his jeans and a towel around his neck. “I’m not even dre... sorry. Come
in, Willow. I was just fixing breakfast.” Giles closed the door behind
her and went back to the kitchen where he had been making his breakfast
of tea and toast.
“I wasn’t expecting you so early... would you like something to eat?”
he spoke softly, almost whispering.
Willow looked around the living room and shook her head. Realizing that
Giles couldn’t see her, she said, “No, thanks. Sorry about the earliness
thing. I was up so I thought I’d come over so you could leave as soon as
you were ready... if you wanted, I mean.”
She bit her lip, trying to keep from asking where Spike was. He normally
slept on the couch if he wasn’t chained in the tub. And since Giles had
obviously ((not thinking about mostly naked Watcher... uhhuhh)) just gotten
out of the shower, Spike was not in the tub. And he wasn’t on the couch.
((So where is he? It’s not like there are a lot of rooms left to choose
from.)) Her eyes drifted up to the loft.
Giles came out of the kitchen and placed his tea and plate on the table. He went over to the couch, picked up a polo shirt and slid it over his head and went back to the table. Seeing the direction of her gaze, Giles frowned. “Willow? Is there a giant bug hanging over the railing or something?”
Willow’s eyes snapped to where Giles sat at the table. “What? No...I...” ((Good, wearing a shirt... shirts are good.)) “I was just wondering where you had Spike stashed.”
“Oh, he’s in my bed.” Giles took a sip of tea and replaced the cup in the saucer, not looking at Willow.
“WHAT!”
“Keep it down. He’s still asleep.” Giles finally looked up at Willow, ready to take a bite of toast. Her expression wavered between shock and disgust. Giles stared at her in confusion before he realized how what he said must have sounded and hurried to explain. “He normally sleeps until at least noon. I took the couch last night so I could use the shower this morning and so you could move around down here without worrying about waking him up. And since you are doing me this favor, I didn’t want you to have a grumpy-from-lack-of -sleep-Spike on your hands. Lord knows he’s hard enough to get along with when he’s had his ‘beauty rest’.” Giles didn’t know whether to be amused or offended at the path that Willow’s mind had taken.
“Oh, okay...um... I think I’ll just.. just..” Blushing a nice shade of red, Willow went to sit on the couch, pulling out a history book. “... study.” She bent her head over her book, hoping that the ground would open up and swallow her whole. ((You have a sick mind, Rosenburg. Hanging out with Xander and Anya has permanently warped you.))
Giles finished his breakfast in silence and took his dishes to the kitchen. Checking the time, he returned to the living room. “Well.. since you are here, I’ll go. Here’s the number of the hotel. Call me if anything big happens, otherwise...”
Willow accepted the paper he handed her and tucked it into her pocket. “Yeah, I get it. Go on, Giles. Have a good time, everything will be fine here.” She stood and practically shoved him towards the door.
With a standard warning of ‘be careful’, Giles picked up his keys and left.
((So what now?)) Willow wandered back to the couch and plopped down with a sigh. She hadn’t really thought about what she was going to do while Spike was asleep, only what they could do once he was awake. ((Not that I actually thought of anything... I wonder what he normally does during the day....))
“Finally!” Spike muttered quietly. He’d been awake from the minute Willow
had knocked on the door, waiting for the Watcher to leave. ((Now, just
come up here and check on me, like a good little babysitter… and you’ll
get a nice surprise.))
Ever since they had spent time together earlier in the week, Spike
had been rationalizing the reasons he had a good time with Willow. It wasn’t
that he liked her, it was just that he hated her less than the others.
At least, that’s what he tried to tell himself.
((Come on, come on.. what are you waiting for? Aren’t you at least curious?)) Spike arranged himself on the bed, making it appear as if he was naked except for the artfully draped sheet. He was naked, except for his boxers. ((But Willow won’t know that.)) He’d planned this display, just to get to her. ((Not that I want her or anything… just starting the day with a little torment.))
Still all was silent from below. He could tell by her breathing and
heartbeat that she was awake. ((So why isn’t she checking on me? I was
sure she couldn’t….)) He heard her stand up and sigh. ((Finally… curiosity
gets the better of you…))
But still, she didn’t approach the stairs. ((All right, fine.. just
have to give her a reason to come up here.))
Willow read the same page of her history book three times before finally giving up. ((Well, studying is evidently not on the agenda for today.)) She closed her book and stood with a sigh. ((What now? Giles’ magic books?)) She headed for the bookshelves and hesitated halfway across the room. ((What if he has them marked somehow, like my mom did with the liquor bottles? Then he’d be able to tell I looked at them. Better not.)) She was about to head into the kitchen for some OJ, when she heard a noise. Something between a moan and a groan. ((Could he be having a nightmare? Wait—do vampires even dream? And what would a nightmare be to a bloodsucking demon? Disneyland?))
Hating for anyone to be in pain, Willow walked tentatively to the bottom of the stairs. “Spike? Are you okay?” Her voice was barely above a whisper.
Nothing.
“Spike?” She placed her hand on the banister and moved up a few steps. Still nothing. ((Maybe he just turned over in his sleep. I’ll go back…))
“Uuuunnn….nooooo” ((Damn! Get your ass up here!))
This was something different than before, but equally distressed sounding. “Spike, please answer me.” Willow crept up the few remaining stairs and stared, wide-eyed, at the sight on the bed. ((OH! Oh! OH! He’s… he’s… OH, WOW! He’s naked….)) Once she’d gotten over the initial shock, Willow started taking inventory. ((Nice chest.. no hair… so pale… stomach.. ooo… legs, muscles.. oh, my… even his feet… uh…))
Spike lay still, watching her watch him from underneath his lashes. ((What? No scream of outrage? No maidenly protests? What fun is there in that? Fine, Level 2))
“Urrkk..” Willow turned her head, only peeking a little, when Spike shifted on the bed, turning on to his stomach. ((This is just.. okay, wake him up… do it now… don’t keep looking… )) “Um.. Spike? Wake up.” Her voice was still not much above a whisper.
((This is no fun at all! Level 3)) Spike began to move his hips, as if he had a partner beneath him.
“SPIKE THIS IS NOT FUNNY! WAKE UP RIGHT NOW!”
((That’s more like it!)) “Oh… Willow… Willow… right there… yes, just like that…”
Face flaming, Willow looked around for something to throw at him. Coming up with nothing that Giles wouldn’t mind breaking, she settled on inching towards the bed and smacking Spike’s ankle. “I know you’re awake. So stop it.”
Spike rolled over, grinning. “How’d you know, pet?”
“Because of that. You never call me Willow. It’s always ‘Red’ or ‘Witch’ or ‘pet’ or ‘luv’, never ‘Willow’.” She turned her back and started for the stairs.
“You should see your face. It’s as red as your hair.”
“Yea, that’s original.” She grumbled. “Since you’re so awake, get dressed and come downstairs. And notice I said ‘get dressed’ first.”
“Sure, pet. I’ll be right down.” Spike smiled happily. He’d finally gotten a reaction out of her.
Willow quickly went downstairs and flopped on the couch. “WOW”, she whispered. “Who would have thought that skinny little Spike had such a great bod? I mean, he’s a hottie and all, but… WOW.. okay, stop thinking about it… he’s a bad guy only temporarily good. You can be nice to him, but that’s all. Just get along, no more…)) She sighed and picked her history book up. ((You definitely need a boyfriend. That’s the only explanation for these… these… )) “Stop it right now!”
Spike came down the stairs in time to hear her last words. “You say something?”
“Uh.. no… nothing important… So, what do you want to do today?” She turned to look at him. “SPIKE! I told you to get dressed.”
“I am dressed. I have my pants on, don’t I?” He smirked at her, daring her to continue the conversation.
“Yes, but… but… never mind. Wear what you like. Now, what do you want to do today?” Willow repeated, forcing her eyes to the text in the book and away from Spike. ((If he thinks wearing a pair of worn jeans, unfastened at the waist and nothing else, is dressed…. don’t let him get to you, that’s what he wants…))
Spike shrugged and went to the kitchen to fix himself some breakfast. Once his blood was heated to just the right temperature, he returned to the living room, sitting in Giles’ favorite chair.
“I guess we could… “ Willow looked back down at her book. Taking a deep breath, she tried again. “I guess we could watch television or something.”
Spike smiled again; glad that he could still startle her with his ‘big bad vamp face’. He didn’t really need to do it when he drank, but it was fun to annoy the humans. ((At least I’m still a little scary.)) “We’ll do whatever you want, but it’s usually pretty boring around here. The telly only gets four channels and one of them is PBS. My programs don’t come on until the afternoon. How do the toffs say it? Oh, yeah.. I am at your disposal until then, my lady.”
“Oh.. great.. yeah.. hmmm. “ Willow flipped another page in her book
and looked up at Spike with consideration. “Spike? What do you know about
the Borgia’s?”