Xander almost reached out to place his hand on Willow's shoulder, pulling back just in time. Since her ordeal, she had been jumpy when it came to physical contact. He hadn't understood at first, not until Giles had taken him aside and explained exactly how the creature had initiated the drain of Willow's energy. It was still hard to keep himself from reaching out, though. He could tell that his best friend was still hurting, and Xander wanted nothing more than to draw her into his arms and never let her go.
"Hey, Will!" he said with forced cheerfulness as he dropped down next to her.
She turned to regard him with dark rimmed eyes, and a tiny smile flashed across her face. "Hi," Willow replied wearily. She rubbed at her eyes and blinked owlishly around the sunlight school yard.
Xander stared at her helplessly, at a loss for words. This girl was his best friend. She was a large chunk of his past and a larger part of his heart. And yet, for the first time in his memory, Xander couldn't find the words to tell her how he felt.
Willow caught the uncertain look on Xander's face and sighed. "Go ahead, Xander. Ask away. I won't break. You're looking at tough, unbreakable Willow."
Xander cleared his throat nervously, his eyes darting around the yard. For a moment, he wished that he could be one of those students oblivious to Sunnydale's darker aspects. "What is it with girls here and the walking dead?" Xander blurted out. His eyes widened as he heard the words coming from his mouth. He had been hoping the approach the subject with a bit more delicacy.
Willow sighed again, absently plucking at the grass beside her. "You don't have to worry about Spike, Xander. We have a no fang policy."
Xander shook his head helplessly. "I just don't understand, Willow. He's one of the bad guys. You're one of the good guys. No mixing between the two allowed."
Red hair flashed around Willow's face, glinting in the sunlight as she ducked her head. Willow drew in a deep breath, fingering the ring adorning her hand. When she looked back up, her face was set. "It's just... I'm tired of seeing all this death, Xander. People die, we hunt them down, Buffy destroys them. Everything we see, everything we do seems to turn around the bad things. I admit that Spike has contributed to all that violence, but there's more to him... I want to _help_ for once instead of just destroying..."
"You actually think you can change Spike, Willow?" Xander asked incredulously. "He's been at the whole bloodsucking game for a long time now. It's what he is."
"There's more to him than that, Xander," Willow replied softly. "There's power and violence inside of him, but there's the capacity for something beyond that. I can _feel_ it."
Xander's hand reached out to clasp at Willow's. She flinched slightly at the contact, but much to his relief, she didn't pull away. "I don't want to see you end up hurt, or worse."
Willow looked directly into Xander's eyes as she answered. "He helps me feel alive, Xander.
"A colouring book, Spike?" Buffy asked with amusement as she strode into Spike's lair. She stood in the center of the room, no stakes in sight yet with an air of restrained hostility crackling around her.
Spike looked up from the page he had been labouring over and placed the black crayon back into it's case. It had been a gift from Willow. She had asked him what he did during the day. Spike had been unable to provide an activity that sounded properly amusing. The next time he had seen the girl, she had presented him the colouring book, a wide smile on her lips.
'Not that it's any of the Slayer's business,' Spike thought sourly. If they weren't going to be attempting to kill each other, it just grated on his nerves to be in the same room as the girl.
"Don't you have school, Slayer?" Spike inquired, lazily stretching his legs out before him.
Buffy grimaced, and her eyes narrowed. "Let's get one thing straight, here and now, Spike. If you _ever_ hurt Willow in any way whatsoever, I will personally find you and rip your dead heart out of your chest!"
Spike grinned widely. "Oh, such spunk, pet. No wonder Angelus was so taken with you..."
Buffy hissed at the name of Spike's sire, and her hands clenched into tight fists. "I'm not in the mood for this, Spike. I just want you to be aware of what will happen to you if Willow so much as mentions you bothering her."
With some difficulty, Spike forced aside his mocking words. Slayers and vampires didn't mix well, but Spike was willing to put that aside for the moment. She was Willow's friend, and Spike admitted that in her eyes at least, she was addressing a valid concern. There was no way for the Slayer to be sure that he wouldn't sink his fangs into Willow at some point in the future. If things hadn't been different, it was likely that he would have done so already. The fact that he hadn't was something Spike tried not to examine too closely.
He nodded slightly in acknowledgment of her threat. "I won't hurt her, Slayer."
Buffy shifted slightly, her eyes sweeping through the room. Her eyes landed on a distant point and she swallowed. "So long as we have that straightened out..." she replied coolly. Her voice was steady but Spike could see the emotion roiling in her eyes.
"I'm not another Angelus," he told her, sending the Slayer's eyes snapping away from his. She looked so lost that Spike almost felt pity welling up in him for her.
Buffy regained her composure before facing Spike again. "What do you want with Willow? She has enough monsters in her life without adding you to the mix."
Spike refrained from mentioning his reaction that particular jab. "I don't want anything from Willow save her company, Slayer. I find her intriguing and amusing... I can stand for a bit of both in my existence."
"Killing people isn't as fun as it used to be, Spike?" Buffy snorted.
"Go back to school, Slayer," Spike told her dismissively. He ignored her muttered curse and opened up the colouring book once again.
"Now where was I...?"
~End~
Sorry about the rather bland Spike-speak :)