"Spike!" Willow shouted as he stepped around her,
grabbed the stake out of her hand, and shoved it
through an attacking vampire's heart. "Don't do that!
I had him! He was mine!"
"Sorry, luv," he grinned. "Just wanted to help.
Wouldn't want anything to happen to you, would we?
That was the last of them, though. You're safe now."
"Thanks," she nodded, then mentally slapped herself
and looked angrily up at him. "No! Wait! I retract my
thanks! I don't need help. I can take care of myself."
"Of course you can," he agreed. "Slayer, we done
here?"
Buffy looked at the blonde vampire and fought a grin
as he edged closer to Willow. "Yeah. We can call it a
night."
"Good," Spike looked at the redhead. "Walk you home,
pet?"
"Okay," the response was automatic. "I mean, no! I'm
completely capable of watching out for myself. I can
certainly walk myself home, Spike."
He raised his hands in deference, and she turned and
walked away. Xander and Buffy shared an amused glance
as the vampire waited until she had turned the corner,
then headed after her.
***
"Willow, you should have said yes to him," Buffy said
as a tall, dark-haired young man walked away. "It
would do you good to go out with--"
"Darren isn't my type. He's about as bright as
asphalt."
"Yeah, but with a butt like that, who cares?" the
slayer argued. "It's been six months since Oz left for
L.A., and you told me it was a mutual decision to see
other people. So, why aren't you--OH! I get it!"
"Get what?"
"You're waiting for someone in particular to ask,
aren't you?" Buffy asked with a knowing grin.
"Are you referring to a particular particular, or just
a general particular?" Willow asked. "I have no idea
what you're talking about."
"Oh, c'mon! Don't tell me you haven't noticed the way
he looks at you! He follows so close behind you when
we patrol, he'd trip over you if you stopped too
quickly!"
"Who? Xander? He and I got past that puppy love a
looong time--"
"Not Xander! Spike!"
The redhead looked at her as if she'd suddenly gone
bald, "Spike? Kidnapping, bloodsucking,
hold-still-while-I-kill-you Spike? Are you crazy? If
he walks close behind me, it's probably to study my
neck."
Buffy giggled, "You could be right about that. Maybe
you ought to let him have a taste."
Willow gasped and jumped up off the bench, "All right,
who are you, and what have you done with Buffy?"
"You don't really think he'd hurt any of us anymore,"
she said. "For all of his grumbling, he likes helping
us, especially since it gives him an excuse to keep an
eye on you. He's developed a great, big soft spot in
his dead heart for you, Will."
"You've developed a great, big soft spot in your
head," Willow replied.
Buffy rolled her eyes and laughed softly, "Okay, live
in denial. But one of these nights, I fully expect to
turn around and find you two in a liplock. Anyway, I'm
heading over to the library. See you later."
Willow returned to her dorm room and threw herself
down on her bed. She reached for the notebook she had
tossed on the nightstand and absent-mindedly flipped
through its pages. A soft knock sounded on the door,
and she got up to answer it.
"Willow Rosenberg?" the delivery boy standing on the
other side asked.
"That's me," she nodded.
"These are for you," he shoved a crystal vase into her
hands.
Willow looked at the flowers--a dozen blood red roses
arranged around a wooden stake. She looked back up to
find the delivery boy gone and a blonde haired vampire
in his place.
"Thought I owed you one of those," he grinned,
pointing at the stake.
"Oh," she smiled. "They're beautiful."
"Can you come out and play?" he asked and raised an
eyebrow. "Or should I come in and--play?"
He chuckled as she blushed in response and set the
flowers down on the dresser.
"You followed me home last night," she said.
"That I did," he nodded.
"I told you I can take care of myself."
"Yeah, but why should you?" he asked and leaned down
close to her ear. "When I can do it so much better?"
Her green eyes sparkled angrily, "Are you paying
attention to anything I'm saying?"
"I'm following every word," he assured her as his gaze
focused on her lips. "Why don't you invite me in, and
we'll talk about it some more?"
"No way am I inviting you in here!" she refused.
"Okay," he nodded and began to speak more loudly. "I
can talk from here. Do you have any idea how beautiful
you are?"
Two young women walking past stared over at the
redhead and giggled softly as they continued on their
way.
"Spike!" she hissed.
"All that soft, firey hair. It just begs to have a man
run his hands through it," the vampire went on. "Or
those lips, especially when they do that little pout."
Her eyes darted nervously past him as the door across
the hall opened, and several students stepped out.
"I could spend the night feasting on those lips and--"
She groaned softly as one of the students grinned and
called out, "Go, Willow!"
"Then again, it could be your ass. You have the
sexiest--"
"Get in here!" she growled and grabbed his hand to
yank him inside.
She slammed the door shut and felt her cheeks grow hot
at the sound of applause from the corridor.
Spike chuckled and reached for her, pulling her close
to him, "There. That wasn't so hard."
"I'm going to kill you, you know," she warned him.
"Oh, good. Then I get a last request," he laughed.
"I'll take this--"
His mouth brushed over hers, and he kissed her softly,
gently teasing her lips with his tongue until they
opened to him. He deepened the kiss, holding her
tightly, before releasing her mouth to allow her to
breathe.
"So soft," he murmured in her ear as his fingers ran
through her hair. "My Willow."
"Your--" she stopped as her eyes met his, and he
smiled softly and placed a soft kiss on her lips.
Her hand moved to his cheek, and she brushed her
fingers along his cold flesh. He placed his hand over
hers and kissed her palm.
"My Willow?" he tried again.
She smiled and put her arms around his neck, "Your
Willow. My Spike?"
"Your Spike," he nodded. "Always."
End.
read the sequal 'Mutual Surrender'