Willow stomped into the dorm room and slammed the door shut. The front of her shirt and pants were wet and sticky from the soda that had cascaded over her when the girl in the dining hall had suddenly turned and collided with her. Just another one of the mini-disasters that had tormented her day.
She growled quietly to herself and peeled off her clothes, flinging them across the room where they landed in a soggy heap. She grabbed her robe and some clean clothes and headed for the shower. When she returned to the room, Buffy was sitting on the edge of her bed, waiting for the redhead.
"You okay?" she asked softly.
"I will be, as soon as this 24-hour hell has run its course," she nodded. "Got plans for tonight?"
"Nothing major. Patrol and then Riley. Unless you could use some company. We could--"
"No, I'll be fine. I need some down time, and anyway, I like him. He's a good guy."
Buffy was watching her closely, listening to the forced
lightness in her voice. Feeling uncomfortable under the slayer's close
scrutiny, Willow's eyes
drifted away, and she turned to hang the bathrobe on
its hook behind the closet door.
Buffy's gaze followed her, "Are you sure? I hate leaving you when you're feeling like this."
"I'm sure. If you break your date, I'll feel even worse. I'm just going to stay in and read something mindless and forget this whole day ever happened," she insisted, trying to smile and failing miserably.
Buffy went to her and gave her a quick hug. She stopped at the door and looked back as Willow plopped down on her bed. The redhead grinned weakly and waggled her fingers.
"I won't be too late. We can talk when I get back, if you want," the slayer offered.
"Okay," Willow nodded.
***
She was unaware that she had drifted to sleep, until a soft rap on the door jarred her awake. She rolled onto her side and propped her head on her hand.
"Come in," she called out.
"Lazy little chit," the blonde vampire grinned as he entered the room and closed the door behind him.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, pushing herself up into a sitting position.
"I didn't come to jump you this time. Unless you want me to, that is," Spike answered.
"Don't tempt me. I might even beg you to bite me," she said with a small smile.
He walked to the bed and sat down beside her, "Hard day, pet?"
"You could say that," she sighed. "Doesn't matter. Just stupid stuff, you know."
"Stupid stuff," he repeated. "Like what?"
"I'll give you the abridged version. I started the day by walking into a door someone suddenly opened in my face and ended it in a freezing cold shower."
"Sounds kind of miserable," he commiserated.
"I don't even want to talk about what happened in between," she nodded and got up off the bed.
"So you decided to spend the night hiding away in here," Spike said as she walked to the dresser.
"All things considered, I figured it would be the safest thing to do."
"That's too bad," he told her.
"Why?" she looked around at him as she reached for the knob on the top drawer and pulled a little too hard.
"Because I--" he stopped as the drawer crashed to the floor, and its contents when flying.
"Damn it!" she scowled and gave the drawer an angry kick.
Willow crouched down to pick up the scattered items, and Spike leapt off the bed as her face suddenly fell. He knelt beside her as she lifted a small picture, and jagged splinters of glass fell from its frame.
"Damn it," the redhead repeated softly, hot tears dotting the small photograph of Oz. "Damn HIM!"
Spike put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her to him, holding her quietly as she sniffled against his chest.
"It's all right, pet," he said softly as her tears subsided.
She pushed away from him and scrubbed the tears from her cheeks with the palms of her hands as she stood up, "No, don't do that. I already have to put up with everyone else's pity--Buffy, Xander, hell, even Giles. I don't need yours, too. I'm doing just fine with out it."
He folded his arms and raised an eyebrow, "Oh really?"
She shook her head and lowered her eyes from his piercing stare, "I didn't really mean that. I just wish everyone would stop feeling sorry for me. I mean, I do a pretty good job of that all by myself."
"Yeah, you do," he agreed.
Her jaw dropped and her eyes flew back to him as he shrugged and continued, "Those are the same old tears you've been crying for weeks. They'll dry up just like the others did, and then you can start on some fresh ones."
"Spike!" she protested, more hurt than angry.
"Am I wrong?" he asked.
She shifted uncomfortably and looked away from him again, but the vampire had no intention of letting her off the hook.
"Am I?" he demanded, his eyes boring into her.
"No," she answered softly.
The redhead missed the smile that threatened to form on the vampire's face as she stared down at her feet. He bent to scoop the shattered picture from the floor, gave it a cursory look, and dropped it into the trash can, where it landed with a thud.
"What are you doing?" she gasped and stepped around him.
He caught her arms as she stooped to retrieve the picture, "Leave it."
"But--"
"Leave it," he repeated. "And get your shoes on."
"Why?"
"Okay, don't," he shrugged as he pulled her toward the door. "Have I ever told you about my fetish for bare feet? I knew this woman once who--"
"Shoes!" she squeaked. "Getting shoes. Now."
***
"A motorcycle!" Willow turned and looked up at him as Spike handed her a helmet. "Where did you get a motorcycle? You didn't kill some--oh, no, you're fangless. You didn't steal it, did you?"
He rolled his eyes in feigned exasperation and pointed at the seat, "Get on."
"How did you know this was just what I needed?" she grinned, and he steadied the bike as she threw her leg over the seat and sat down. "Where are we going?"
"Where would you like to go?" he asked as he sat down in front of her.
"Nowhere," she answered. "As fast as possible, please."
He chuckled and reached for her arms, placing them snugly around his waist, "That's the spirit, pet."
"Spike?" she said softly and rested her chin on his shoulder, her mouth close to his ear.
"Yeah, luv," he answered, trying to concentrate on her words as her warm breath tickled close to his skin.
"Thank you," she smiled.
From the steps of the building across the street, Buffy leaned her elbow on Riley's shoulder as Spike gripped Willow's legs and scooted her close against his back, revved the bike's engine, and took off into the darkness.
"You're brilliant," she smiled and gave him a peck on the cheek.
End.