"There's blood in my refrigerator," Willow remarked as
she reached in to get a bottle of juice and pulled out
a packet of blood instead.
"I know. I brought it with me," Spike answered.
"You had this all planned out, didn't you?"
"Of course I did," he grinned. "And don't even pretend
to be mad about it. I know you're not."
"Okay, I'm not," she nodded and turned to reach for
his hand. "Did I tell you how much I love my present?"
"Yes, several times," he pulled her close against him.
"But you can tell me again."
She smiled and reached up to kiss him. The embrace was
cut short by the ringing of the telephone. She sighed
and pushed him away.
"Heat that up while I answer the phone," she suggested
and handed him the blood before heading for the living
room.
She was gone only a few minutes, and Spike set down
the warmed blood as she reappeared, her face white
with panic.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"Oh, Goddess, she's coming over here!" Willow
answered. "I tried to talk her out of it, but--"
"The slayer?"
"Yes!" she responded. "We have to hide you!"
"Like hell," he refused.
"Please, Spike! She won't understand! She'll think
that I...that we..."
"Calm down, pet. It might not be as bad as you think."
"It'll be worse!" she insisted. "Go upstairs, and I'll
get her to leave as soon as I can."
He shook his head.
"Don't get all stubborn on me! Not now, damn it!" she
pleaded. "She'll be here any minute!"
"Wonder what's on the telly on Christmas," he murmured
and walked around her and into the living room. "I
hope it isn't all a bunch of lame-ass cartoons."
Willow threw up her hands in exasperation and took off
after him. He scooped up the remote from the table
near the armchair, and she grabbed it away from him
and put it back down.
"You aren't watching TV! You're going up--" she
stopped with a squeak at the knock on the door.
"That's her!"
Spike breathed a false gasp of horror, "And the door
is unlocked."
"What?!?" she cried out.
"Come in!" he shouted and grabbed hold of the redhead,
pulling her into a hard kiss as the front door swung
open.
Buffy stepped through and watched in open amusement as
Willow struggled to unclamp her lips from the
vampire's.
"That works a lot better if you hold still," the
slayer suggested.
Willow shoved Spike away and whirled around, shocked
by the grin on her best friend's face.
"He--I--we were--"
"Kissing. Yeah, I got that," Buffy nodded and flopped
down onto the sofa. "He any good at it?"
Willow's mouth dropped open, and she stared from Buffy
to Spike in complete bewilderment.
"But I thought that you--that he--" Willow took a deep
breath and scowled at the slayer. "Why the hell aren't
you in the least bit surprised?"
"Please," she rolled her eyes. "He's been ogling you
for weeks. It's about time you ogled back."
The redhead sunk down wordlessly onto the armchair,
and Spike chuckled and perched on the arm, putting his
hand on her shoulder.
"You--you knew?" Willow asked. "Since when?"
Buffy shot Spike a grin, "Oh, I couldn't say,
exactly."
"And you aren't going to stake him?"
She shrugged and picked up the mantle clock, looking
it over as she spoke, "Just think of it as a Christmas
gift. Although he's really more like the proverbial
lump of coal."
Spike reached over and snatched the clock out of her
hands, "Bugger off."
"But I thought you two hated each other," Willow said.
"We do," the vampire and the slayer answered
simultaneously.
"But he cares about you, so he can't be all bad,"
Buffy added. "And you'll _never_ get me to repeat that
in public."
"I can't believe this," Willow breathed. "I thought
you'd go ballistic."
The slayer shook her head and stuck her hand in her
jacket pocket to pull out a gift, "I've given up
ballistic. It's bad for the complexion. Anyway, I just
came over to give you this."
"Yours is up in my room," Willow told her and started
to get up.
Spike pushed her back down, "I'll go."
"You're really okay with this?" the redhead asked as
Spike left them.
She nodded, "He can't hurt you, and at least I don't
have to listen to him whine about working with us
anymore. Will, I know I wasn't as supportive as I
should have been after--"
"No, Buffy--"
"Let me finish. I need to say this," the blonde
requested. "You've _always_ been here for me, and I
wasn't for you. Not the way I should have been. It
galls me to say this, but Spike understood your pain
and tried to help a lot more than your friends did,
including me. How many times did I cry on your
shoulder over Angel? You always had time. I just wish
I--"
"Stop," Willow insisted. "You had your own problems to
deal with. And I had to find my own way through all of
it."
"With Spike's support."
"Yeah, he's been pretty great. Incredibly great,
actually," she nodded. "But I'm not angry with
you--any of you."
Buffy smiled softly, "Even though you probably should
be."
"I didn't make it easy for you guys. I was impossible
to be around," Willow admitted.
"Doesn't excuse my insensitivity. You stuck by me when
I was unbearable."
"Yeah, but you're always unbearable," Spike smirked as
he came down the stairs. "Willow's probably developed
an immunity by now."
"Shut up," Buffy ordered around the grin on her face.
Willow giggled and took the large package from Spike
and handed it to Buffy in exchange for the smaller one
the slayer held out.
"You first," Willow prompted as the blonde vampire
resumed his position beside her.
Buffy opened the gift and pulled the tape off the box
to lift out the wooden coffin-shaped chest. She
laughed out loud as she lifted the hinged lid.
"It's perfect!" she grinned. "I can put my stakes and
stuff in here."
"Told you," Willow smiled up at Spike and looked back
at Buffy. "He kind of helped me put it together."
"Really? I'm surprised it didn't explode when I opened
it," she chuckled. "Thank you, Will. It's great.
Now--yours."
The redhead unwrapped a long, black velvet jewelry
case and opened it up. A delicate silver bracelet
sparkled in the light of the table lamp.
"It's beautiful," she whispered, lifting it out.
"They're called eternity links," Buffy told her. "Like
our friendship--eternal."
"Thank you. I love it," the redhead replied and stood
up to give her a tight hug.
"Trust the slayer to come bearing sap," Spike muttered
after a moment.
Buffy laughed softly and pulled away to retrieve her
gift from the sofa, "I have the sudden urge to stake
a
smart-mouthed vampire. But since I don't want you to
spend Christmas vacuuming ashes out of the carpet, I
think I'll just head over to Xander's instead."
"Okay," Willow grinned and followed her to the door.
"I have a gift for him to, but--"
She looked back at Spike.
"I talked to him earlier," Buffy said. "We were hoping
you'd go with us to the Bronze tonight. You guys could
meet us there and bring his gift with you."
"Sounds good," Willow agreed.
"Great. See you later," Buffy gave her a quick hug and
directed a smile of gratitude over the redhead's
shoulder at Spike.
End.