Spike's hand ran through Willow's fiery red hair with a gentleness few had ever seen from the vampire. She sighed and snuggled closer to him, her arm draped across him. Trying not to disturb the sleeping girl, Spike carefully extracted himself from underneath her.
He had heard Cordelia bustling around downstairs, the shades snapping shut as she passed. The girl wasn't half so dumb as Angelus has dismissed her as during his rambling rants about the Slayer and her friends.
Spike slipped out of the room and padded down the stairs. A cheery red thermos of the overwhelmingly peppermint scented tea was prominently placed on the center of an otherwise clear kitchen table. A bright yellow post-it note was stuck to it, with precise information on how much Willow should be allowed to consume within a given time.
Remembering Willow's peppermint induced kiss, Spike smiled. It had been strange... 'Oh, give it up! I'm too old to be fooling myself about these things. It was bloody wonderful, and you've been wanting exactly that to happen for a long time.' He hadn't ever put that desire into words before. Until recently, Spike had still be certain that his destiny lay with Drusilla. And though Spike couldn't claim not to have strayed occasionally, he couldn't go in that direction with Willow.
Spike shook his head at his own thoughts. 'After centuries of life, you would have to figure these things would get easier.' Unfortunately, his leaving Drusilla and the kiss with Willow did little to nothing to clear up their relationship.
She was still a mortal. Innocent, young, the Slayer's best friend. Getting too attached to the girl was just asking for trouble. Spike tried not to consider the possibility that he already was far too intertwined with Willow's life.
The Hellmouth's insistent babble had finally totally faded away, aided on it's departure by Willow's presence. It was a relief to finally have his head back to himself, but it left him far too much ability to focus on the girl upstairs.
Spike uncapped the thermos, pouring the liquid into a mug with 'Willow' printed onto the side in bold blue letters.
When he returned upstairs with the tea, Willow was awake, propped up against the pillows. She flushed when she saw Spike, her mind obviously on the same events that his mind was running over. Willow accepted the mug gratefully and took a delicate sip from it.
"How's your head, luv?" Spike asked, settling onto the chair at Willow's computer.
Willow paused thoughtfully. "It's surprisingly good. I can actually move again," she refrained from mentioning that her headache had died a quick death the moment he had stepped into her room the previous night. 'Maybe vampires act as Tylenol...' she thought, smiling slightly against the rim of the cup.
She hesitated a moment before settling the cup onto her night-stand. "If you don't mind me asking... Why are you back? I mean _really_." Drusilla hung between them, unspoken but as real as if physically present.
"It wasn't the same with Dru anymore. She was trying to use me to get her precious 'daddy' back... And like I said, luv, I missed you."
Willow's eyes narrowed at the mention of Drusilla and Angelus as she recalled the strange resistance that she had felt when she had brought Angel out of Hell. "So, since you couldn't have Drusilla all to yourself you decided to come back here?"
Spike paused, sensing that he was on dangerous ground. "No. I kept on thinking about you, and even before Drusilla's spell, things didn't have the same passion to them. I wasn't even going to come back at first--"
"You weren't?" Willow said, hurt tinging her voice.
"I wasn't sure that you would welcome me back," Spike shrugged.
"Spike..." she paused, and when she continued, her voice was serious. "As strange as it may seem, you are my friend. One of my best friends, at that." Willow shrugged helplessly, her jumbled emotions stubbornly resisting her attempt to put them into some sort of coherent, verbal order.
"I missed you too, Spike," she finally managed.
"Well?" Xander demanded anxiously. He shifted from foot to foot and ran a hand through his dark hair, sending it shooting out in all directions. Cordelia looked at him disapprovingly, but Xander ignored his look-conscious girlfriend. "Has she answered?" he expanded when Cordelia didn't immediately reply.
She sighed deeply and rolled her eyes heavenwards. "Give it a minute, Xander! The phone's only rung once." Cordelia absently began flipping through the papers littering Giles' desk as she waited for Willow to respond. The Watcher's warning look stilled her hands.
Xander, Buffy and Giles were crowded around the doorway to Giles' office, looking at her with various degrees of worry and annoyance. She still couldn't bring herself to regret her decision. The three of them were so _tense_ when it came to Spike that Cordelia had simply known that they wouldn't let he and Willow be alone for long once they learned of the vampire's return. So, Cordelia had quite easily kept that information to herself all day, only revealing the news hours after school had ended.
'The lovebirds had better appreciate this...' Cordelia thought, watching Xander's nervous fidgeting through narrowed eyes.
"Yeah?" the sound of Spike's voice sent the cheerleader's attention flying back to the matter at hand.
"Spike? This is Cordelia. You and Willow have to come to the library tonight and face the insatiable curiosity of her friends."
The other end of the line was quite.
"Spike?"
His voice was annoyed when he finally found the words to respond to her instructions. "Tell the nosy buggers that they can sod off! I'm not going in to be grilled by the Slayer about something that's none of her damn business!"
Cordelia met Buffy's eyes across the room and the Slayer scowled. "Buffy says that you come here, or we'll all head over to Willow's house and grill you _there_." The girl's eyes widened at the string of curses that burst from the receiver. "He's thinking about it," she informed the anxiously awaiting group.
"Cordelia?"
"Willow?" Buffy pushed her way into the office marched towards Cordelia, gesturing for the phone. Cordelia waved her away, holding the phone protectively close.
"I'll see you soon. And tell Buffy to leave her stakes at home, will you?"
"Tell me why we're doing this again, pet," Spike grumbled as Willow led him down the otherwise empty halls towards the school's library. Light spilled out into the dark library from between the cracks in the doors, and he could hear the low babble of excited voices from within the room.
"Everybody knew that you left with Drusilla, and most of them thought you'd stay gone. They just want to know why you're back... you know, if it's a demon kind of thing or not. Living on the Hellmouth tends to make Slayers and Watchers suspicious that way." Willow smiled up at him, and Spike knew without a doubt that he was there only to make the girl happy.
"And they couldn't have waited? What about your headaches?"
"They don't last all that long. Now stop stalling! The sooner we met them, the sooner we can get back home and finish off our game of Scrabble." Willow giggled and wound her arm through his as Spike groaned. He had drawn up more of his vocabulary that night than he had in years.
"Hi, guys!" Willow smiled cheerfully as they pushed through the doors to the library and landed directly in the path of three not quite so welcoming stares. Willow studiously ignored them, pulling the scowling vampire at her side deeper into the library.
Buffy nodded at Willow, shooting her a strained smile before focusing the full weight of her glare on Spike. "What's going on here? I thought that you ran off with your nutty girlfriend forever this time."
"No such thing as 'forever' for vampires, pet," Spike shrugged. Willow nudged him in the side, her eyes warning him to be good. "...And Dru and I broke up, and Sunnydale is as good a place to be as any. Happy now?"
"Happy is definitely not in the same room as you," Xander muttered softly, suspicion and protectiveness making him less than welcoming.
Giles motioned for Xander to keep his opinion to himself with a single, quelling glance. "Your return has nothing to do with any... ah... demonic events centering around the Hellmouth?"
"Like I bloody sa--" Spike's words cut off abruptly, and his back went ramrod straight. He pulled his arm away from Willow and he swung around, his game face falling into place. A dangerous growl rent the air.
"_Spike!_"
"Angelus."
"Oh boy," Willow managed to gasp in horror before the two vampires connected in a tumble of flying fists and flashing fangs. 'Why can't anything ever go like its supposed to?!' she wailed silently as Buffy leapt into action.
"Willow! Get back!" both vampires exclaimed as their shuffling battle brought them closer towards the unmoving girl. Buffy's sudden appearance among the flailing limbs was too much, and the three of them toppled into Willow. She shrieked indignantly as her feet were knocked out from under her, sending her falling to the floor.
Spike scrambled over towards Willow, only to be stopped by a protective Angel. They growled at each other, years of jealousy, hatred, and betrayal filling the almost unconscious sounds with every bit of emotion they held for each other.
"Run, Willow!" Angel called out, determinately clutching at Spike's thrashing foot.
"Let go of me, you bloody idiot!" Spike snarled, doing his best to imprint the sole of his boot in Angel's face.
"Don't hurt him!" Buffy shrieked angrily as she saw Angel's head jerk back painfully with each struggling blow that Spike managed to catch him with.
"Stop this nonsense right this instant!" Giles bellowed, helplessly looking down at the tangled mass of bodies scrambling around the floor frantically. Cordelia and Xander stood at his side, wide eyed and disbelieving. 'Why was _I_ chosen to put up with _this_?' Giles wondered, suddenly longing for a good book and a nice cup of tea someplace far, far away from anything even resembling a demon.
It was Willow's choked sigh that finally ended the undignified tussle taking place on the library floor. Everybody turned to look at her as she dropped her head down to her drawn up knees and groaned.
"Willow?"
Spike pulled his leg out of Angel's grasp and wobbled to his feet. He glanced at Willow, then at Angel, his eyes still golden. As if sensing his eyes on her, Willow peered up at him. He stood motionless for a long moment, struggling for control, before turning on his heel and stalking out of the library.
"Are you alright, Angel?" Buffy asked in concern, inching towards her love and examining his face carefully.
"I'm fine, Buffy," Angel replied absently, his large hand covering Buffy's smaller one and pulling it away from his face. "What was Spike doing here?"
Cordelia rolled her eyes, peeking out from behind Xander's shoulder. "Just like a man. Fight first, ask questions later. Good thing he didn't see you guys this morning."
"This morning?" Xander asked suspiciously while Willow blushed.
"Never mind, dear," Cordelia told him reassuringly.
"Spike?" Angel repeated, at a loss. He briefly debated the possibility that the whole world had gone insane while he'd been in Hell. Having Spike here was one huge mark in favour of that particular theory.
"I better go after him," Willow breathed unhappily. "He looked really upset." She pulled herself to her feet and hurried out after Spike, leaving Angel staring after her in confusion.
"Is _anyone_ going to tell me what's going on here?"
"I suppose that was your doing, luv?" Spike asked. He was sitting on the front steps of the school, staring up at the stars dotting the night sky. His voice was curious, holding no reproach, but the question made Willow fidget uncomfortably.
She sighed and settled herself down on the stair next to Spike. "Are you angry?" she asked in a tiny, worried voice. Getting Angel back had been the right thing to do, she only hoped that it wouldn't cost her Spike's friendship. It seemed hard to believe that they had been so very comfortable and happy only that morning.
Spike's answer was slow to come. "No. I'm not mad at you, Willow. I know that you only did what you thought you should." His hand snaked out and latched onto Willow's reassuringly.
"Then why? I mean, it's not like you'll even have to see Angel if you don't want to..."
"Even before I was turned, I had a talent for destruction. Angelus offered me power, and eternity in which I could enjoy that. And then, he kept me firmly under his thumb. He'd given me power, and he wouldn't let me use it." Spike fumbled for a cigarette, lighting it with practiced ease.
"And then came Drusilla. She was the purest and most gorgeous creature that I had ever seen. I think I loved her from the moment that Angelus carried her broken, bloody body into our lair." Willow leashed her instinctive cringe at the mention of the vampiress, letting Spike's words flow unabated. "He taunted me with her. He displayed her before me, let me have her, took her away. He made sure that I knew that Dru was utterly and totally his. She still is, even now."
"He betrayed us to the Slayer, and then he came back, as arrogant as ever." Spike shrugged slightly, a thousand different images flashing past his eyes. "Its impossible to just describe it, luv. There's so many little things that weave through our long association that make me hate him with every bit of passion in me."
"I didn't realize..."
Spike pulled his eyes away from the dancing stars to look into Willow's worried green ones. "No reason you should have. I was just... surprised to see that wanker here. I had so been enjoying the thought of him roasting in Hell for an eternity..."
Shaking his head impatiently, Spike banished his cherished vision of Angel gibbering at the feet of a large demon with pain on its mind. "C'mon luv, we still have to finish off that talk with your friends."
~End~