Pairing: Mentions W/S, and W/O.
Rating: Fairly tame at PG-13.
Summary: Song fic. Oz returns, and Spike plots to get the woman he loves...
Distribution: The usual haunts. Anyone else, please ask first. Thanks!
Disclaimer: Not mine. Joss and Co. own Buffy, and Don Henley owns the lyrics to the song.
Spoilers: Season 4. Spike is chipped, Oz left, then came back, but there is no Tara.
Feedback: I'll give you a cookie.
Dedication: To Gabrielle, for being so very sweet, and for making me blush with all her praise and compliments. :)
Thanks to Angel S. and Gabrielle for previewing this for me before I posted it! : )
Notes: I was listening to The Ataris cover of Don Henley's "Boys of Summer", and this little plot-bunny just popped into my head, and wouldn't leave me alone until I wrote this. Please let me know what you think, because depending on whether or not people like it, I may write a sequel. :)
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The vampire known as Spike was leaning against a tree, smoking a cigarette, a scowl on his handsome face as he watched them walk past, safe from their view in the cover of the shadows. The group was talking and laughing. There was the bint Slayer, her little solider-boy, the moron, the ex-demon...and his Red.
With the mangy mutt.
Spike snarled softly, his icy blue eyes narrowing and flashing amber when he saw *his* witch walking hand-in-hand with the mutt.
His eyes softened slightly as he looked at his redhead. He saw how miserable she looked, the happy sparkle gone from her eyes once again.
The wolf, *Oz*, had returned to town completely out of the blue, the previous week, immediately seeking out Willow, apologizing for hurting her, for leaving her, telling her how much he loved her, begging her to take him back.
She did.
Nobody on the road
Nobody on the beach
I feel it in the air
The summer's out of reach
Empty lake, empty streets
The sun goes down alone
I'm drivin' by your house
Though I know you're not at home
Well, she took him back after her friends had convinced her. "Oh, Willow, it's obvious he's sorry." "I know how much you've missed him, Willow." "He really loves you, Will." "Come on, Wills, give Oz another chance."
Then his witch had relented, actually forgiving the miserable bastard for all the pain he put her through, forgiving him for breaking her heart. She had gone back to the wolf.
Leaving Spike.
But I can see you-
Your brown skin shinin' in the sun
You got your hair combed back and your sunglasses
on, baby
And I can tell you my love for you will still
be strong
After the boys of summer have gone
He had been there for her all those months, someone to help her heal her deal with her pain, because no one else would. Her friends cared at first, of course, but then they seemed to tire of the redhead's pain, pretty much ignoring it. The Slayer went back to simpering over her soldier-boy, Chubs and the ex-demon went back to shagging at any opportune moment, and the Watcher went back to his books.
Leaving the redhead alone with her broken heart, and her pain.
Well, not so alone.
She had him.
He listened to her, soothed her when she cried, consoled her when she grieved, helped her put her heart back together.
They became friends. They understood each other better than anyone else did. He made her smile again, put that sparkle back in her eyes.
He had a soft spot for the lovely redhaired witch to begin with, so was it any wonder that he had fallen in love with her after the hours and hours they spent together? It had been inevitable, as far as he was concerned.
After the Watcher deemed the vampire to no longer be a threat, and unshackled him from his bathtub prison, he found himself trailing his Red, following her, watching her, protecting her. Falling for her even more.
He remembered the night it happened. She had been walking back to the dorms, and he was following her, as he always did, when she was ambushed by a group of fledglings. He had never felt as much fury as he did when he saw one of them grab her by her delicate pale throat. He had let out a roar of rage, both the man and the demon wanting to protect what was *theirs*.
Before the redhead had even realized what had happened, Spike had dusted all them all, and pulled Willow into his arms, murmuring softly to her, telling her she was safe, he would protect her, he would always protect her...
The next thing he knew, they were kissing. If he was souled, he would of lost it right then, never being as happy as he was when he felt his Red's soft lips against his. He had taken her to his new lodgings, an empty crypt nearby, where they made passionate love for hours. He had never felt so contented in all his unlife as he felt with her sleeping curled against him, her warm body pressed against his cold one.
I never will forget those nights
I wonder if it was a dream
Remember how you made me crazy?
Remember how I made you scream
Now I don't understand what happened to our
love
But babe, I'm gonna get you back
I'm gonna show you what I'm made of
He loved holding her in his arms, her body a perfect fit against his, like they were made for each other.
He also loved the soft noises she would make for him while they made love, soft breathy moans and cries, the way she would mewl his name in pleasure, and lay against him afterwords, limp, and satiated, her soft hair brushing against his chest as she pressed kisses to his throat, and he would pull her close, murmuring soft endearments into her ear.
He remembered how her luminous green eyes shone with uncertainty when she told him she loved him for the first time, her voice hesitant and whispered, and the brilliant smile that crossed her beautiful face and the happiness and love that sparkled in her eyes when he told her he loved her, too.
Spike was almost always with her then, researching at the Watchers with her, patrolling with her. Her friends didn't notice how he was suddenly always around Willow, always showing up to help them fight the latest threat to Sunnydale, or that he rarely ever complained anymore, or that he had stopped insulting them all, even Chubs.
For his Goddess, he could put up with them. As long as he had his redhaired Goddess, he was content.
And for a few blissful months, Spike had his Red. They were happy.
Until his worst nightmare happened.
I can see you-
Your brown skin shinin' in the sun
I see you walkin' real slow and you're smilin'
at everyone
I can tell you my love for you will still
be strong
After the boys of summer have gone
The wolf came back. The dog simply breezed back into town one day, actually *expecting* Willow to take him back! He remembered how his love had reassured him, saying she loved him now, not the wolf. She said she would never leave him. They belonged together.
Over the next week after the wolf returned, Spike noticed how his lovely witch was becoming more and more withdrawn, and stopped smiling as much, her green eyes no longer sparkling with happiness. Then, one night, her eyes swimming with tears, she told him that her friends would never accept her relationship with Spike. The bleached blonde knew the the Slayer and the moron had been endlessly trying to get his love to forgive the wolf, and take him back. They said she would be happy again, to have him back.
Apparently they hadn't noticed her happiness of the past few months.
His Red, his beautiful Fire Goddess, had thrown her arms around him, and sobbed how much she loved him, and how sorry she was, that she couldn't bear the thought of hurting him.
Spike knew then that he had lost her. She had decided to take the wolf back.
At first, he was shocked, but then, he grew angry. He ranted and raved angrily, asking her how she could take him back, how she could throw their love away for the worthless git who had hurt her before, and *would* hurt her again.
Willow had listened to his furious tirade, silent as tears ran down her cheeks, flinching slightly whenever his voice rose in volume.
Spike struggled to maintain control as his demon seethed, enraged that the redhead, the woman the demon considered its mate would dare to try and leave him. The demon demanded that Spike *make* her stay with him. He was a demon, damn it! He should show her who she belonged to, even if it meant hurting her. She was his! But one look at her heartbroken face, Spike knew he could never hurt her, even if it meant keeping her with him. He remembered asking her why, why she would take the mutt back, and the pained look on her face when she whispered that she had to, because it was what her friends expected her to do. She had thrown her arms around him, sobbing, telling him she loved him, she would always love him. She stroked his cheek, and kissed him. Spike put all his emotions into that one kiss, tasting her sweet lips one last time.
She had given him one last look, full of sorrow, before she turned and fled from his crypt, leaving him.
Out on the road today, I saw a black flag sticker
on a Cadillac
A little voice Inside my head said, "Don't
look back. You can never look back."
I thought I knew what love was
What did I know?
Those days are gone forever
I should just let them go but-
Spike didn't go to the Watcher's place for weeks. The thought of seeing his witch with the wolf was too much for him to bear. He started to follow her again, trailing her from the shadows. He saw her act happy in front of her friends, listening to their "I told you sos" about her being happy with Oz. He could tell she wasn't happy. She rarely smiled anymore, her eyes no longer sparkled.
She was miserable.
Eventually, Spike couldn't take it anymore. He had to be near her. So he started going back over to the Watcher's to help out, researching, patrolling. Whenever the group was together, he would always feel her eyes on him, and every now and then would catch her looking at him, her green eyes full of longing.
He ached to hold her, his lovely Goddess, in his arms, kiss her, tell her he loved her, never mind the fact that her friends and her wolf were in the room.
But he knew no matter how much he wanted to, he couldn't.
Not yet, at least.
I can see you-
Your brown skin shinin' in the sun
You got that top pulled down and that radio
on, baby
And I can tell you my love for you will still
be strong
After the boys of summer have gone
The wolf had hurt her before, and Spike knew the mutt would do it again.
He would leave, and leave Willow heartbroken.
It was only a matter of time.
I can see you-
Your brown skin shinin' in the sun
You got that hair slicked back and those Wayfarers
on, baby
I can tell you my love for you will still
be strong
After the boys of summer have gone
And when it happened, Spike would be waiting, to pick up the pieces.
END