Chapter Twenty-Two

“…So, I look up,” Giles finished with a chuckle, “to see William hanging upside down from the tree-branch, pants caught on a limb about ten feet further up, and this huge, orange cat in his arms hissing like crazy.”

Elizabeth broke out into hysterical laughter and gave Spike ‘I will never ever be able to respect you again’ look.

Spike whimpered and buried his head further in his hands. “Dad…” he protested meekly, “’m never gonna get laid again thanks to you!”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Elizabeth teased, ruffling his hair until it stuck up in unruly spikes. “I don’t suppose there’s any chance you still have those Captain Planet boxers…?”

He gave her a murderous scowl before flashing it in his father’s direction as well. “I hate you all,” he announced, sulking in his seat.

Joyce gave him a sympathetic smile. “At least Rupert’s already covered the most embarrassing stories,” she soothed him.

“And it’s about time I got them, too,” Elizabeth decided. “I want to know all about all the geeky, nerdy, embarrassing, silly-Eek!”

The squeal was in response to Spike’s tackling her onto the back seat and beginning to tickle her mercilessly.

“Take it back,” he demanded.

“Eee…no!” Elizabeth managed to get out between hysterics as she vainly batted at Spike’s hands. Apparently, those hands’ skills weren’t limited to just the bedroom. He had unerringly found all the spots where she was the most ticklish within seconds.

“Say that ‘m the sexiest, most handsome, badass bloke in the world,” he ordered.

“Captain Planet…” she giggled out.

Giles looked over his shoulder at the bleached pair wrestling about on the back seat. “Are you kids wearing your seatbelts?” he felt obliged to ask.

“Uh…yeah,” Spike lied horribly, pausing in his assault on Elizabeth for a second.

It was enough for her to catch hold of his wrists and halt the tickle torture…for the time being, anyway.

“If I decided to crash this car into that tree for the insurance money, you could be dead by now,” Joyce teased, a glint of humor in her eyes.

“What between here an’ the garage?” Spike countered as Joyce pulled into the driveway.

Elizabeth just gave his parents an apologetic smile. Seatbelts had definitely been fastened at some point in time, but certain of their more playful activities had quickly removed them.

Giles shrugged. “Obligatory parental thing,” he said apologetically, hopping out of the car as Joyce pulled up.

“Speaking of dangerous vehicular activities…” Joyce scowled at her husband as she finally slowed the car to a complete stop.

Giles flashed her a rakish grin. “Oh, it doesn’t count when I do it,” he insisted. “After all, my parents aren’t here to chide me.”

Joyce let out a long-suffering sigh and gave Elizabeth a conspiratorial smile. “Men,” she lamented.

Elizabeth nodded and continued to fight to keep Spike’s tickling fingers away from her side. “Can’t live with ‘em, don’t have comfy bed-warmers without ‘em,” she teased.

Spike growled at that, licking his lips in anticipation. “Want me to warm your bed, then, luv?” he whispered right into her ear. “’Cause I can warm so much more than that…”

Elizabeth’s cheeks flushed slightly, eager for him to demonstrate.

Wrapped around each other in anticipation of the night to come, they didn’t notice the visitors on the Giles’ doorstep until long after the elder pair had.

“Willow? Tara?” Joyce frowned as she recognized two of the three women huddled up on her front porch, all hunkering down into their parkas against the cold winter wind.

“Hey, Joyce.” Willow gave her a little finger wave. “In retrospect, it’s pretty obvious we should have called first…”

Spike frowned when he realized what was going on. “Has somethin’ happened?” he asked, suddenly alarmed. “Is everyone all right?”

“Everything’s fine,” Tara assured him quickly. “Well, I mean…I guess…” She cast a confused look at the third of their little trio.

And Elizabeth noticed her for the first time as well. For a moment she just stood there and gaped, looking not unlike several of the more unusual species of flounder while Giles, Joyce, and Spike just watched on, confused.

“Hi,” Dawn said with a falsely innocent smile. “Long time, no see, huh?”

Elizabeth’s mind finally managed to process that, yes, the little monster was actually there, talking to her. “Dawnie?!” she finally exclaimed in a mixture of surprise and outrage. “What the hell are you doing here?!”

Dawn flinched at her sister’s tone and shivered in the cold night air.

Joyce picked up on the shiver because she was feeling it as well. “Why don’t we have this conversation inside?” she suggested reasonably, finally unlocking the door that had stymied Willow and Tara on their mission to reunite the obviously dysfunctional Summers family.

Willow and Tara gave her half-apologetic, half-grateful looks as they ran in out of the cold. Dawn walked in confidently after them, followed by a very confused Giles.

Joyce turned to her only child and his girlfriend, who were whispering in distressed tones to each other. “Coming inside?” she inquired.

“Just a second,” Elizabeth assured her, biting her lip at the demanding look Spike was giving her.

“I’ll leave the door unlocked,” Joyce agreed, closing it behind her.

“What the bloody ‘ell is going on here?” Spike exclaimed the instant they were alone. “Who’s the girl?”

“That,” Elizabeth sighed wearily, “is my sister.”

Spike blinked once. Twice. “You have a sister?!” he finally said in complete and utter shock. “Why ‘aven’t I heard about this before? An’ why is she here?”

Elizabeth sighed. “We’ll talk later,” she promised him. “And, as for why she’s here… That’s what I mean to find out right now.”

Spike nodded at that, holding the door open for her as they went inside…

* * *

Dawn bit her lip and fidgeted in her chair. She had known before that this wasn’t the best thought out idea she’d ever had, but she hadn’t expected Buffy to freak like this. She couldn’t quite decide whether her older sister had looked like she was thinking about becoming an axe-murderer or whether she’d just seen a ghost. Either way, this looked very bad.

“Your name was…Dawnie?” Joyce eyed the teenager curiously.

“Dawn,” she corrected with a roll of her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest.

Joyce took in the teen’s stubborn posture knowingly. Any mother who had actually managed to raise a child past eighteen without going stir crazy knew it only too well. God, she still had no idea how she had survived the horror that was an adolescent William…

“Nice to meet you, Dawn,” Joyce persisted in being polite despite the girl’s sullen attitude. “My name is Joyce. My husband, Rupert.” She gestured to where Giles was, inevitably, cleaning his glasses. It was a nervous habit he’d had since before she’d known him.

Dawn merely nodded.

“So,” Joyce kept up her efforts to break the uncomfortable quiet of the kitchen, “does anyone want hot chocolate?”

“Yes, thank you,” Tara said with a shy smile.

God bless that girl, Joyce sighed with relief.

“Oh, me too,” Willow agreed.

Joyce set about pulling out the pan. “Dawn?” she inquired.

“Yeah, sure,” Dawn shrugged.

Joyce knew that look only too well. It was the ultra-sullen ‘uh-oh, busted’ look. With a weary shake of her head, she turned on the oven.

“Dawn is Elizabeth’s sister,” Willow provided helpfully. “Right?”

Dawn nodded nervously.

“Yes, very good,” Giles turned several degrees more British in this rather bizarre situation. He’d always found it an effective coping mechanism. “And where is your sister exactly?” he wondered.

“She’s talking to Will,” Joyce answered just as the door opened.

Dawn gulped as her sister strode in, ‘I really am going to murder you this time’ written all across her face. Dawn attempted an apologetic smile, watched Elizabeth move around to the counter and lean back against it, caught the movement of the last member of their little impromptu party and…

The world stopped.

Dawn’s eyes widened as she took in the black-clad figure for the first time. Spiky white hair, skin tight black jeans and tee, long leather jacket, dangerous-looking scar, deadly cheekbones, piercing blue eyes… Oh god, she was drowning…

“Dawnie!” Elizabeth repeated angrily, snapping Dawn out of her instant-crush-induced gaze.

“Huh?” Dawn blinked and looked at her.

“I asked,” Elizabeth repeated patiently, “what on earth you’re doing here.”

“Oh, that.” Dawn tore her eyes away from Gorgeous Bad Boy to look at her sister. “Well, I didn’t want to go with mom to Mexico, so I figured…hey, we could hang out instead.” She gave Elizabeth a calm smile, like dropping in at her front door like this was the most normal thing in the world.

“You…” Elizabeth sputtered and gesticulated at the complete absurdity of this situation. “Do mom and dad even know where you are?” she finally demanded.

Dawn winced. “Not so much,” she admitted before sighing. “They think I’m on a flight to Mexico City right now, but I switched my ticket. I’m kinda running away.”

“Oh dear,” Joyce said, alarmed at the thought of a parent not being able to locate their child, “you have to call your parents…”

“But…” Dawn protested.

Elizabeth sighed. “Dawnie,” she said sternly, “you need to call dad and mom.”

Dawn’s lower lip jutted out as she pouted. “They’ll make me go down to Mexico,” she said sullenly.

“Good,” Elizabeth exclaimed in exasperation. “That’s where you’re supposed to be!”

“But I don’t wanna go!” Dawn did her best petulant child impression.

Elizabeth’s fists clenched in anger. God, this girl was easily the most stubborn, annoying…

“It’s late,” Joyce announced, breaking up the argument. “Dawn, call your parents and tell them that you’re spending the night here. We’ll sort everything else out in the morning.”

Several surprised looks turned in Joyce’s direction at that, followed by nods of agreement. This was just too much to absorb properly at the moment.

“If you won’t be needing us anymore then…?” Willow began hesitantly.

“You two go home,” Joyce favored Willow and Tara with a smile.

“Thanks for bringing Dawnie over,” Elizabeth agreed wearily.

“No prob,” Willow nodded, getting up and heading for the door.

“Good night.” Tara gave everyone a little wave as she followed her girlfriend.

“Yeah, good night,” Willow agreed.

“Good night.”

Everyone sat around uncomfortably in the kitchen for a minute after the couple left.

“Well, let’s get on it then,” Giles decided. “Dawn, you can use the phone in the study.”

“I’ll go with her,” Elizabeth spoke up immediately, “make sure she actually calls…”

Dawn rolled her eyes at that.

Elizabeth gripped her arm as she walked past, practically dragging her little sister along behind her.

The Giles family just sat and blinked after them.

“Well, that was certainly…unexpected.” Giles had apparently decided that his wire-frames needed yet another polishing and set to it. “It was unexpected, wasn’t it?” he looked up at his son sharply.

Spike let out a grunt of assent. “Never even heard of the sister ‘til now,” he confessed.

Joyce sighed. “This may take a while to straighten out,” she said thoughtfully. “Will you tell Elizabeth that we’re willing to let Dawn stay here until she can find a way to work things out?”

Spike gave her a grateful nod. “Thanks, Mum,” he agreed. “And ‘m sorry ‘bout…”

“I’m sure it had nothing to do with you,” Giles quickly assured him.

“No kiddin’…” Spike agreed.

* * *

“Let me go!” Dawn screeched, attempting to jerk her arm away from Elizabeth’s solid grip.

“So you can what?” Elizabeth hissed angrily. “Run away again?”

“Where to?” Dawn sulked, watching Elizabeth slam the study door behind her. “The fact that I came here should tell you absolutely desperate I was.”

Elizabeth fixed her with a no-nonsense gaze. “Why did you run away?” she demanded.

Dawn shifted uncomfortably and looked anywhere but at Elizabeth.

“Dawnie…” she threatened.

“Don’t call me that!” she huffed. “My name is Dawn! I’m not a kid anymore!”

“Well, you’re sure acting like one,” Elizabeth retorted. “Now, what happened?”

Dawn sighed. “Your dad,” she gave Elizabeth a venomous look at that, “is divorcing my mom.”

Elizabeth blinked in surprise - not surprise that it was happening, but surprise that she hadn’t known. Although, now that she thought about it, her father hadn’t been that great about giving advanced warning in the past… “When?” she asked, her voice calmer, more sympathetic now.

“They’ve been fighting for a while,” Dawn shrugged. “Since before you left. Not that you were paying any attention…”

“Oh, Dawnie,” Elizabeth sighed, “I’m sorry…” She could still remember the break-up between her dad and her own mom vividly.

“Yeah, well…” Dawn studied her boots intently.

Elizabeth ran a weary hand through her hair. “So, your mom’s in Mexico right now, right?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Dawn agreed, picking at her shiny nail-polish, “but I don’t wanna see her.”

“Dawn, you can’t just hide out here!” Elizabeth insisted.

“Why not?” Dawn argued.

“For one,” Elizabeth pointed out, “this isn’t my house. I can’t just invite anyone in. I mean, where were you planning on staying exactly?”

“With you, in Tara’s dorm,” Dawn countered. “Only you seem to not be staying where you told dad you were…” A hint of a mischievous smile played across her features.

Elizabeth’s eyes widened in response. “You are not about to blackmail me, young lady,” she insisted sternly. “You are in so much more trouble than me. Because at least I’m an adult and get to make my own decisions about these things!”

Dawn snorted derisively. “Tell that to dad,” she countered.

Elizabeth shot her a dirty look. “We are not talking about this,” she stated. “This is about you, not me. And you’re going to call your mom right now and tell her where you are. She’s probably worried sick.”

“She prob’ly doesn’t even care,” Dawn grumbled.

“She’s your mom,” Elizabeth insisted, picking up the phone and dialing. “She cares.”

“Did yours?” Dawn retorted spitefully.

Elizabeth’s eyes narrowed in anger for a second before a voice picked up on the other end. “Hi, this is Elizabeth,” she said in a tight voice into the receiver.

A pause and some squawking from the phone.

“Yes, I know.” Elizabeth cast an annoyed glance Dawn’s way. “In fact, I’ve got her right here with me.”

Excited exclamations from the other side.

“Hang on,” Elizabeth agreed before handing the receiver to Dawn. “You are in so much trouble,” she hissed before stepping out into the hallway to leave her sister to her phone call.

“Hey.”

Elizabeth looked up from where she’d automatically leaned against the wall to see Spike’s concerned face. She managed to flash him a weak smile. “Hey yourself,” she agreed.

He moved over to her, mirroring her position. “How’s the li’l one?” he asked, inclining his head towards the closed study door.

“Getting chewed out on the phone.” Elizabeth rested her head on his shoulder, taking comfort from his warmth.

He slipped an arm around her in response, holding her close. “You figured out what’s happenin’ yet?” he inquired.

She nodded wearily. “Where’re your parents?” she asked.

“Gone to bed,” Spike answered. “Mum says your sis can stay here as long as she needs to.”

Elizabeth managed a wry smile at that. “Your mom is the nicest person alive,” she commented, her nose still buried in the crook of his neck. “Sometimes I envy you.”

“Seduce me right an’ proper and she could be your mum, too,” Spike teased lightly.

Elizabeth managed a chuckle at that as well. “ ‘Right and proper’?” she repeated. “That doesn’t sound like anywhere near as fun as what I’ve been doing.” She rose on her tiptoes and brushed a gentle kiss across his forehead. “Thanks for being so reasonable about all of this. I know it’s kind of thrown a monkey wrench in our plans for the moment.” She gave him another kiss. “Thanks…”

He seemed deeply touched by the gesture, although Elizabeth couldn’t even begin to fathom why. The humor returned to his eyes before he spoke, though. “Guess this kinda botches up the whole perfect ‘meet the dad’ evenin’, huh?” he teased lightly.

Elizabeth giggled slightly. “Yeah, that whole ‘oops, here’s my whole dysfunctional family come to visit, too’ bit kinda soured things…”

He chuckled that deep, rumbling chuckle that always sent tingles right down to the tips of her toes. “How long’s the Bit stayin’?” he inquired.

Elizabeth sighed. “Don’t know. Haven’t worked it out yet.” She worried her lip between her teeth a couple of times. “I get why she did it, though. I feel…sorry for her…” She looked up at him. “I don’t know what to do.”

“It’ll all work itself out,” he assured her. “Any word on the reasonin’ behind the whole Huck Finn act?”

“Divorce,” Elizabeth winced.

Spike didn’t say anything to that. Elizabeth had mentioned her own parents’ divorce only a couple of times, and he knew it was a topic that still bothered her, long after her mother’s death. He figured now really wasn’t the time to bring those issues up, what with everything else that was happening.

“So, how come I never heard ‘f this sister?” he shifted to what he hoped would be a more neutral subject.

Elizabeth slipped from his loose embrace then, sliding down the wall until she sat on the floor and gesturing for him to do so as well. Once he was seated beside her, their thighs blushing lightly in a comforting manner, she began.

“She’s actually my half sister,” she clarified. “Back when my mom and dad were still together…” She blinked back a tear at her mother’s memory. “Well, my dad’s always had this thing for his secretaries and…”

“Dawn’s mum was one of ‘em?” Spike guessed, rolling an unlit cigarette between his fingertips.

Elizabeth nodded. “I didn’t find out about any of this until years later, of course,” she added. “In fact, I didn’t even know Dawn existed until dad and my step-mom got back together two years ago. I didn’t even know they were dating until after the wedding, and my dad pretty much left it up to Dawn’s mom to explain why I suddenly had a fourteen-year-old half-sister completely out of the blue.”

Spike frowned. “That must’ve been…rough.” He winced at the lameness of that statement but couldn’t come up with anything better.

Elizabeth gave him a small grateful smile for the effort. “That about covers it,” she agreed. “I got to find out that my dad was cheating on my mom and, at the same time, Dawn got to find out that she’d been a dirty little secret to be kept from the ‘legitimate’ daughter. Needless to say, it wasn’t pretty.”

“But she came to you for ‘elp,” Spike commented. “Can’t be so bad between the two of you, then.”

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “Trust me when I say that I was an absolute last resort. The only thing Dawn and I have ever really agreed about is how pissed we are at dad.”

“’ve known families held together with less,” Spike only half-joked.

She reached over to intertwine her fingers with his at that. It was strange. She’d never had a happy home life before, despite her parents’ wealth and affluence. But, ever since she’d come to college… She was somewhat startled to realize that she thought of Westing House as her home now and also… Spike’s family was so comfortable, so inviting. She felt this deep desire within her to become a part of it, a part of him, of his life…

“I don’t know what I’d do without you,” she whispered softly, her fingers curling into the soft hairs at the back of his neck as she drew him in for a sweet kiss.

“Oh, gross!” Dawn exclaimed as she peered out the door to the study, phone in hand.

Inside, she was seething. How did her peppy cheerleader sister get this gorgeous guy? Buffy was supposed to go after the dull, brainless jocks, leaving the cool, interesting guys for girls like Dawn. But, oh no, Buffy had to snatch up all the sexy rebels, too, like…Cute Bad Boy… Dawn absentmindedly released that it was somewhat ridiculous to be jealous of her sister over a guy whose name she hadn’t even picked up yet.

“She wants to talk to me?” Elizabeth inquired, extricating herself from Spike’s limbs and reaching for the phone.

Dawn handed it to her. “It’s all yours,” she said a bit snidely, watching Cute Bad Boy get to his feet with interest. Damn, he even moved in a sexy way…

Elizabeth gave Spike a parting smile before ducking back into the study.

Spike’s gaze flickered to the younger Summers curiously. “You’re Dawn, huh?” he commented. He debated lighting up the cigarette he’d been persistently toying with but decided he didn’t want to risk his father’s wrath if he discovered that he’d been smoking outside his own room.

Dawn affected a casual pose. “Yeah,” she agreed with a flip of her hair, trying for cool and aloof. “And you are…?”

“Spike.”

Sexy, bad name, check. Dreamy accent, double check.

“Cool,” Dawn nodded, leaning back against the wall. “So, you go to school with Buffy or what?”

Spike was thrown by the use of his girlfriend’s former nickname for a second but quickly figured it out. “Yeah,” he agreed.

“And you live here?” Dawn was impressed with herself for being so cool in this situation. Despite his sexy bad boy looks, though, Spike wasn’t all that difficult to talk to.

“That was my mum and dad,” he agreed, gesturing back to the kitchen. “So, you really ditched the parents?”

“Not the first time,” she said proudly.

“Good for you,” he agreed with a sly smirk. “Show that dad ‘f yours who’s boss.” He figured a mutual dislike of Hank Summers was also something he and Dawn would share in common.

Dawn practically beamed in response. “He sucks big-time,” she agreed, rolling her eyes and snapping her gum.

Pink bubble-gum, Spike noted. Sweet and innocent and childlike, much like the image Dawn was obviously desperately trying to outgrow. He could sympathize with her wanting to grow up fast, but he still wished it didn’t have to be because of these circumstances.

“That’s what ‘ve gathered,” he agreed, pushing the cigarette behind his ear. “So, runnin’ away’s the best solution?”

Dawn shrugged. “It works.”

“Barely.”

She gave him a small smile. Hey, at least he wasn’t looking down at her with that ‘poor little kid’ look she got so often. “It’ll be cool,” she insisted.

“Right,” he agreed with a shrug. He fingered the cigarette behind his ear longingly.

“I don’t mind if you smoke,” Dawn noticed the motion. “I’m used to it, actually.”

He gave her a disapproving look. “You smoke?”

She wrinkled her nose slightly. “No, but most of my friends do.”

“Takes spunk not to follow the herd,” he said approvingly before returning the cigarette to the pack and slipping it into his duster pocket.

“I don’t mind,” Dawn repeated.

“Yeah, but my dad does,” Spike countered with a grimace.

Dawn studied the bleach and leather. “You don’t seem like the type that would listen to your dad,” she pointed out.

“No reason not to,” he retorted. “Doesn’t order me around. Just expects a bit ‘f common courtesy.”

Dawn shrugged. “Whatever,” she agreed, nervously glancing back at the door. “What do suppose they’re talking about for so long in there?” she asked worriedly.

“Prob’ly just sortin’ things out,” Spike shrugged. “What’s gonna happen tomorrow an’ all.”

The worried look in Dawn’s eyes increased. “Don’t worry ‘bout it, Li’l Bit,” he reassured her. “Things’ll work out right.”

Dawn felt her cheeks flushing slightly at the nickname. Usually she didn’t go in for that sort of thing, but it sounded so sweet and sexy coming from his lips. She decided she liked it. Hell, she would probably like anything he called her…

Elizabeth reemerged from the study then. “Disaster on hold,” she announced, “for the moment.”

“So I’m staying here, then?” Dawn asked excitedly.

“For tonight,” Elizabeth insisted. “We’ll see what happens after that tomorrow.”

“Thanks, Buffy!” Dawn practically squealed, throwing her arms around her sister and looking every bit the girl she still half was for a moment.

“You can thank me by not calling me ‘Buffy’,” Elizabeth retorted.

“Only if you don’t call me ‘Dawnie’,” Dawn insisted.

Elizabeth managed a wry smile at that. “Deal,” she agreed.

* * *

It was well after midnight by the time Elizabeth and Spike finally got Dawn settled into the guestroom and were able to return to bed themselves.

Elizabeth let out a huge yawn as she slipped under the covers and gave Spike an apologetic smile. He merely shrugged before spooning up behind her. It had kind of been a foregone conclusion that the romantic mood of the evening was broken ever since Dawn’s first appearance.

Elizabeth sighed and snuggled into his embrace, shutting her weary eyelids. “Grown-up stuff sucks,” she complained softly.

“’specially when it has such poor timin’,” Spike teased against her hair.

She murmured in response, already half asleep from the worries that had just been put upon her shoulders.

Spike held her for a long time, contemplating her sleeping form tenderly, before the steady rhythm of her sleeping breaths lulled him into sleep as well…

Blue Horizons
Chapter Twenty-Three

Elizabeth awoke with a weary groan, reached over to the bed beside her, and snapped her eyes open when she found nothing there. “Spike?” she whispered lazily, confused. She rose to a sitting position and rubbed her eyes…and noticed for the first time that the sun was shinning right down on her through the skylight.

Her eyes widened when she looked at the clock. 12:30? Holy crap… OK, so maybe he had a decent excuse for not waiting around in bed for her to wake up.

With a yawn and a stretch, she slipped out from under the covers and pulled a pair of jeans from the bag she’d been too tired to unpack yesterday. Damn, I must’ve been really out of it… She could count on one hand the number of times Spike had woken up before her. An early bird, her boyfriend was not.

But, still, it had become part of her morning ritual to wake up all snug and warm in his arms. And she had some rather naughty designs on that private shower of his that she’d been hoping to test out that morning. Oh well, she’d just have to save it for later.

Now, she hadn’t forgotten the incident of the previous evening, but she had determined that it was too early - yes, even at 12:30, it was still too early - to deal with yet.

Having completed her sloppy morning dressing, she practically ran downstairs to the kitchen, following the voices there. With any luck, I’ll be just in time for lunch…

A little smile crossed her lips at the sight that met her eyes when she entered the Giles’ kitchen, however. Dawn, clad only in fuzzy pajamas with little rainbows and stars on them, sat at one end of the table, her brow furrowed in concentration as she stared down and the various colored puzzle pieces in front of her. Across the table from her, Spike sat, in full hotshot platinum-haired badass regalia, attempting to pound two puzzle pieces together that obviously didn’t fit.

She watched her sister giggle and inform Spike of this fact, and then he got the most adorable sulky look on his face, lower lip jutted out and big blue puppy dog eyes with a pathetic tilt of his head.

Practically leaping on the opportunity, she breezed into the kitchen and kissed that cut pouty look right off of his face. She could hear Dawn making gagging sounds in the background, but…mmm… Did he always taste this good when he pouted?

Dawn’s coughs became more vocal when Spike’s hand drifted across her thigh, slipping into the back pocket there.

Reluctantly, Elizabeth broke their kiss, swatting his hand away. “Minors present,” she shooed him. “PG it up.”

Dawn sulked at this. The fact that there was something to ‘PG’ up meant that her preppy, bubbly sister and the dreamiest, funniest, most gorgeous, treating her most like an adult-ness guy in the world - namely, Spike - were doing the nasty. If her eyes hadn’t been green before, they would have been now with envy.

“You shouldn’t’ve let me sleep so late,” Elizabeth was chiding Spike lightly, oblivious to the sisterly wrath she was incurring.

“Tried,” Spike insisted. “You made some rather scathin’ remarks about my parentage an’ my questionable sexuality before threatenin’ to permanently damage certain fragile portions ‘f my anatomy. I figured it was wise to let you sleep.”

Elizabeth’s nose scrunched up. “Really? You’re making that up, right? ‘Cause I have absolutely no memory of-”

“Guys don’t manufacture threats to their balls,” Spike felt obliged to point out.

Elizabeth whapped him playfully in the head. “PG?” she reminded him.

“I’ve taken sex ed.” Dawn rolled her eyes. “I know all about that stuff.”

Elizabeth’s eyes widened as she turned on her sister. “You better not know ‘all about’ it!” she exclaimed in horror. “You’re only fifteen!”

“Only fifteen?” Dawn repeated in disbelief. “Janice-”

“Is a skanky ho,” Elizabeth finished for her. “I am so telling dad if you-”

“You’re only eighteen!” Dawn retorted. “Maybe I should tell him that you’re-”

“Why, you little-!”

“Why, you bitchy-!”

Spike sat perfectly still and hoped that the upcoming World War would somehow pass him by. Amazingly, however, instead of the predicted explosion, one of a very different sort occurred. Suddenly, with no prior warning, Elizabeth giggled.

Dawn’s giggled followed, and pretty soon the two of them were laughing hysterically. Spike nervously got up, hoping to inch from the room unnoticed and thus escape the clutches of these two obvious lunatics. Elizabeth caught his hand and foiled his plan, though.

“You got anything for breakfast around here?” she asked, batting long eyelashes up at him.

“Cocoa Crispies and Pop Tarts!” Dawn bounced in her seat as excitedly as a six-year-old at Disneyland.

“You fed my sister concentrated sugar for breakfast?!” Elizabeth exclaimed in wide-eyed horror. “Do you have any idea how hyper she gets?”

“Spike had ‘em, too,” Dawn pointed out.

Elizabeth’s eyes widened further. “You let my boyfriend eat sugar for breakfast?!” she joked. “He gets even more hyper!”

“If you wanna go back upstairs, ‘ll show you just how much energy ‘ve got,” Spike practically purred into her ear.

Elizabeth flushed both with excitement and with mortification that her little sister was right there. “PG? Hello? Hush.” She placed one fingertip over his lips to silence them.

Her plan backfired, of course, when his tongue flicked out to suck her finger into his mouth. He looked up at her with wide blue eyes then, sucking sensuously just like he did when they…

“I give up,” Elizabeth sighed wearily. Spike and innuendo were stuck together tighter than super-glue, and she realized the futility of trying to separate them.

Across the table, Dawn sighed inwardly. Me, too, she decided, watching the couple across from her. What good was jealousy around two people that were obviously so inseparable? It just made you feel like the evil bitch-villain from some lame soap opera. Not that she wanted to watch her sister macking with a cute guy she couldn’t have, of course…

Elizabeth watched her little sister turn studiously back to the puzzle and turned back to the matter at hand, leaving her hand to rest on Spike’s thigh as she sat in the seat beside him. “Has mom called yet this morning?”

Dawn froze for a minute, the illusion of peace and tranquility broken, but then shook her head. “No. But it’s three hours earlier over there.”

Elizabeth nodded at that. “I’ll call them after breakfast,” she decided, getting up to search around in the fridge. “Unless there’s lunch…?” She cast an inquiring look in Spike’s direction.

“If you want,” he shrugged. “We’re pretty casual ‘bout that stuff around here. Eat whatever you want whenever you want.”

“That is so cool,” Dawn commented, snapping four pieces of the puzzle into place in quick succession. “Mom’s always got us on this super-tight schedule. Practically runs our whole lives…”

“No point in eatin’ when you’re not hungry,” Spike shrugged, huddling down around the coffee mug in front of him and sipping from it.

“Nice to know there are smart people somewhere,” Dawn agreed, another sequence of pieces falling into place beneath her patient fingertips.

Spike cautiously reached out again, picked up two pieces, and tried to put them together. He scowled when then didn’t fit, preparing for another fist hammering.

Elizabeth cut him off, snatching up one of the offending pieces and trying to put in near the border. It didn’t fit. She scowled. A fist formed.

Whap, whap whap!

Dawn cringed inwardly. “I don’t think that goes there,” she felt obliged to point out.

“Stupid piece,” Elizabeth scowled at it. “Why can’t I ever get the protrude-y thing to fit in the hole?”

Spike leaned over and whispered something in her ear. Her eyes widened in response, and her cheeks turned bright red. Dawn desperately pretended that it wasn’t obvious what Spike had just said and began the equivalent of mental “lalala”s.

“So, what’re you gonna tell mom?” Dawn asked somewhat nervously.

“Um, mom?” Elizabeth seemed a bit stunned by Spike’s suggestion. “Oh, well…um, we’ll have to book you on another flight and find a way to get you to the airport and-”

“I don’t wanna go,” Dawn informed her sullenly.

Elizabeth sighed. “I know, Dawn, but…”

“It’s not like you never did anything like this,” Dawn countered.

“That was different,” Elizabeth snapped almost automatically.

“Yeah,” Dawn agreed, “you never even bothered to contact mom or dad and let them wonder about you for three whole months.”

“You have no idea what that was about!” Elizabeth practically screeched.

“No,” Dawn agreed sullenly, “but I thought maybe it would mean you’d understand when someone needs to get away…”

With an angry huff, Elizabeth stormed out of the kitchen, leaving a guilty Dawn and a very confused Spike in her wake.

“Uh…Sweetness…?” Spike began.

“She ran away the summer after her junior year,” Dawn provided.

Several pieces fell into place for Spike. Metaphorical pieces, of course. The damn puzzle still refused to give in to any of his impatient attempts. “Be back soon, Bit,” he assured her before searching for Elizabeth.

She wasn’t too hard to find. His room was really the only place she knew where she could have guaranteed privacy…except from Spike, of course, but she didn’t mind him. Especially when he wrapped his arm around her like that and tucked her head under his chin and held her close.

“She didn’t know,” Elizabeth felt obliged to point out that it wasn’t Dawn’s fault. “It was right after my dad married my step-mom, and everyone thought that was why…” She gulped. “I never mentioned Angel.”

“’S OK, luv,” Spike cooed softly. “’m not blamin’ you.”

“No,” Elizabeth sighed in agreement, “you’re not…” She took a deep breath, savoring the soft Spikey musk and fortifying herself with its strength. “She’s got a point, though,” she conceded. “I had nowhere to run to, and if Dawn needs somewhere…”

“She’s not a bad kid,” Spike commented. “Just a little lonely, I think.”

“And, oh, can I get that,” Elizabeth agreed. “When my own parents divorced…” She trailed off, fingering the rumpled sheets on his bed.

“Yeah, pet?” he encouraged her to continue.

Her hand drifted to the hem of his shirt, and she studied it intently for a moment, gathering her thoughts, before turning to look up at him. “It makes you feel like you’re all alone,” she finished softly, “like everyone else’s too caught up in their own problems to even notice that you’re there, to even care what you think…”

“’Lizabeth…” Spike whispered against her lips.

Her eyelids fluttered shut, and she smiled at the feel of his warm breath against her cheek. “Spike…” she agreed, accepting his gentle kiss, allowing herself to drown for a moment in his passion, his affection, his… She shook her head and pulled away. “What should I do?” she asked.

His brow furrowed as he considered the options. “She’s gotta go back sooner or later,” he said simply. “Can’t run from her problems forever.”

“Christmas is next week,” Elizabeth pointed out. “I feel like a ogre making her miserable for Christmas. And she really seems to like it here. Do you think…?” The unspoken question, ‘Are you OK if I consider it?’ hung between them.

“If it feels right to you,” he agreed, giving her a little smile. “’m a bit fond of the sweet bit. Has a bit of big sis in her. Especially with the sarcasm and the beatin’s and all.”

“My sister’s been beating on you?” Elizabeth’s eyes widened in mock-horror. “But that’s my prerogative!” She gave him an evil smile and placed a playful whap on his rump. “Mine,” she practically purred, leaning in for a kiss, her hand squeezing his cute ass in the process.

He eagerly returned her kiss, aroused by her possessiveness as well as her playfulness. She slid beneath him, pulling him on top of her, encouraging him to wrap his body around her. They enjoyed a rather blissful ‘make-out session’, as Dawn would call it, just like that, hands roaming and reacquainting themselves with needy flesh.

“You know,” Elizabeth finally broke away with a gasp, her cheeks flushed prettily, “I still haven’t taken my shower this morning…”

“Me, neither…” Spike agreed, molten fire in the depths of his blue-black eyes.

“And I am feeling rather dirty…”

“God, I hope so!” Spike moaned, catching her up in his arms and carrying her over to the bathroom.

Elizabeth let out a little squeal and wrapped her arms around his neck tightly to hold on. “Neanderthal,” she accused.

“And don’t you love it, baby?” he practically purred. He set her feet lightly down on the cold tile and began to efficiently disrobe her, tisking slightly when he found no underwear beneath her jeans and tank-top. “Naughty girl…” he chided.

“I’m the one who’s naughty?” she retorted, one eyebrow raised as she unzipped his pants and freed the evidence of his own naughtiness.

“Guess we’re a matchin’ pair, then,” he said with a smirk, pulling her into the shower beside him and turning on the water.

The spray was cold for a second, and they huddled together before it warmed up. They didn’t let the lack of cold separate them, though. Elizabeth slid into his arms and up his body gracefully, rising above his hardness before oh-so-slowly lowering herself once more…

“Christ!” Spike hissed, his eyes rolling back in their sockets at her heat. He felt his knees weaken and pressed her back up against the cold tile of the shower wall, using it for support as they began moving together frantically.

Elizabeth was sure she was in heaven. Hot Spike in front of her and inside her, cold wall at her back, warm water cascading down their bodies, allowing them to slide together more easily than ever before… Simply. Heaven.

“Spike!” she cried out, having known all along that this was too good to last long. Her inner muscles clamped down around him as she released the slick fluid of her pleasure.

“Luv…” His low voice rumbled, sounding potent and hoarse all at the same time, as he released his climax into her soft body.

With a gasp, they finally broke apart, moving back into a loose embrace.

“Stupid public showers in Westing House,” Elizabeth complained, wishing they could do this every morning.

“Hafta savor the private one while we can,” Spike agreed, still trying to catch his breath.

Elizabeth pulled him back in for another kiss, tasting the heady spice of his tongue before pulling away once more. “Back to reality, I guess,” she said then, disappointed.

“Not quite yet,” he countered with a smirk. “Now, ‘ll wash your back if you’ll wash mine…”

A smirk of her own crossed her lips at that, and she raised the sponge in a menacing manner and laughed…

* * *

“Did you have fun having sex in the shower?” Dawn asked matter-of-factly when Elizabeth and Spike walked back in, both of their hair still wet. She looked up from her nearly-finished puzzle with an evil smile to see the two beet-red faces she’d helped create.

“Dawn!” Elizabeth gasped in horror. “You’re… You’re not… No, with the bad… Little sister can’t… Oh god,” she buried her face in her hands, embarrassed beyond belief.

“You! Anya Jenkins! Same room! End of Universe!” Spike seemed equally flustered.

Dawn merely smiled at them, proud of her accomplishment. “Who’s Annie whatever?” she asked curiously.

“Anya,” Elizabeth corrected. “Jenkins. She lives in our dorm. She’s very fond of making statements like that.”

“Two of you,” Spike mock-whimpered, “end of world…”

“Uh-oh, I think I broke him.” Dawn’s nose scrunched up at that. “Sorry, Bu-er, Elizabeth.”

Elizabeth couldn’t help but smile that Dawn was making a concerted effort to remember her new name. No one else in her family even bothered to try. “Don’t worry about it,” she assured her sister with a grin. “I’ll fix him this evening.”

“I bet you will,” Dawn agreed with a giggle.

Elizabeth blushed slightly but managed to give Dawn an unrepentant grin nonetheless.

“Girl Talk!” Spike pointed a finger back and forth between them accusingly. “Now you’re doin’ Girl Talk right in front of me!”

“All right,” Elizabeth patted his still-wet hair, “we’ll stop emasculating you…for the moment.”

She and Dawn shared another giggle.

“Where’s dad?” Spike asked, heading for the living room. “Gotta get away from all this bleedin’ estrogen…” he grumbled under his breath as he went.

Elizabeth and Dawn giggled again.

Elizabeth sobered quickly, however. “I hate to say it, but we have to figure out what to do with you, Dawn.” She felt almost guilty breaking up what had possibly been the most fun she and Dawn had ever had together.

A defensive light instantly lit up in the younger girl’s eyes. “Yeah?” she said with feigned disinterest, snapping her gum angrily.

“It seems reasonable to do this in a way that will leave everybody the least pissed off,” Elizabeth went on. “Don’t you agree?”

“Sure.” Dawn rolled her eyes. ‘Everyone’ always equaled ‘everyone but her.’

“Good,” Elizabeth went on as if the attitude weren’t even there. “So, what do you want to do?”

Dawn blinked at that in surprise. “What does it matter?” she finally asked cautiously.

“Well, if I were to, say, argue for you to stay here, then I’d want to make sure you actually want to stay here first,” Elizabeth pointed out.

“You would do that?” Dawn sounded like she’d just been given a puppy.

“Tell me what you want to do, and we’ll see,” Elizabeth replied evenly, crossing her arms over her chest.

Dawn bit her lip and thought. “I want to stay here,” she decided. “There’s real snow here, and Christmas lights and - ooh! - maybe a tree? And I won’t spend the entire time being lugged back and forth between business meetings.”

“More like art galleries,” Elizabeth couldn’t help counter with a wry grin.

Dawn’s nose wrinkled in distaste. “You’re kidding, right?”

“You can mock my paintings if you want,” Elizabeth offered as a consolation.

“You paint?” Dawn blinked in surprise. The cheerleader has layers? Where did those come from?

Elizabeth’s cheeks reddened slightly. “Yeah,” she admitted.

“I guess that’s cool, then,” Dawn decided.

“So, I’ve got a check for ‘real Christmas’ and no for ‘Summers Christmas’ from the bratty teen,” Elizabeth teased.

Dawn stuck her tongue out at her, and Elizabeth laughed. “You know,” Dawn said, flicking an invisible speck of dust from the table in order to look anywhere but at Elizabeth, “you’re a lot less lame than I remembered.”

“And you’re a lot less whiny,” Elizabeth conceded as well.

“Plus,” a sly grin crossed Dawn’s face, “you’ve got way better taste in men than you used to.”

A dreamy smile dimpled Elizabeth’s cheeks. “I do, don’t I?” she sighed happily.

“So,” Dawn couldn’t help but press how far this new and entirely unexpected sisterly bonding would go, “does he ride well?”

Elizabeth blushed horribly but gave Dawn an evil smirk as well. “Like a finely-tuned Jaguar,” she couldn’t help but tease.

And then it was Dawn’s turn to blush as Elizabeth went off to continue ‘Impossible Christmas Negotiations ‘99’…

* * *

“Oh, Elizabeth, there you are,” Joyce said with a smile.

“Where did Spike and Giles go?” Elizabeth looked around the living room curiously.

Joyce rolled her eyes. “They’re in the garage. Something about William needing to get motor oil on his hands before he turned into a poof.”

Elizabeth couldn’t help but snicker at that.

“You and Dawn have been traumatizing him, I take it?” Joyce said with a stern expression.

Elizabeth sheepishly nodded.

A wicked smile curled the edges of Joyce’s lips. “Good for you,” she cheered. “Can’t let those male egos get too big…”

“No danger of that with me and Dawn on the job,” Elizabeth agreed with a smile.

Joyce’s eyes twinkled, but her expression turned serious. “Have you called your mother yet today?” she inquired.

“Stepmother,” Elizabeth corrected automatically. “No. I figured we should sort out the options here before adding more complications.”

Joyce nodded. “Good plan,” she decided. “Have you talked to Dawn?”

Elizabeth sighed. “She wants to stay here for Christmas,” she began. “Look, I’m really sorry for imposing on you like this. I know you didn’t sign up to take in refugees. And I’m perfectly willing to find someplace else in town for her to-”

“Elizabeth,” Joyce cut her off with a kind smile. “We’d be delighted to take your sister in over the holidays.”

“Are you sure?” Elizabeth worried her bottom lip between her teeth. “Because we really can work something else out, if you’d rather. I really feel guilty about dumping this all on you.”

“There’s no need to feel guilty,” Joyce assured her. “We’re really quite happy to have her. We haven’t had a big family Christmas in years. Besides, Dawn’s an excellent cooking assistant. She helped me bake the first batch of Christmas cookies just this morning.”

“Dawn can cook?” Elizabeth sounded surprised. More like stunned. Where in the Summers household could Dawn have ever learned how to cook?

“She’s been quite helpful,” Joyce assured her, “and is delightful company.” She leaned in conspiratorially. “Don’t look now, but I think William’s a bit taken with her. He always wanted a little sister to look after. You know, to prove his manliness.” She gave Elizabeth a little wink.

Elizabeth chuckled at that. “Then he’s just going to have to learn how annoying having a little sister really is,” she agreed with a grin…

* * *

“Well?” Dawn’s voice broke slightly with anticipation.

Elizabeth closed the door to the study behind her, a stern expression on her face. “I just finished talking with mom,” she said, dragging this out as long as she possibly could.

Dawn rolled her eyes. “Well, duh!” she agreed. “So?”

Elizabeth couldn’t help but crack a smile then. “You can stay,” she finally admitted.

“Eee!” Dawn squealed and practically tackled Elizabeth onto the floor.

Elizabeth’s eyes widened with the full horror that was a hyperactive teenager. Sullen to bouncy in less than a tenth of a second.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Dawn gushed. “You’re the coolest sister ever!”

“But only if you behave yourself,” Elizabeth added. “And you are going back home on the 3rd.”

“Why?” Dawn pouted. “I thought you had an extra week off after that?”

“I do,” Elizabeth agreed, “but I have to spend at least some alone time with my gorgeous boyfriend, right?”

Dawn grudgingly conceded the point. “So,” she asked conversationally, “tell me all about this gorgeous boyfriend you managed to snatch up.”

Elizabeth grinned and spilled the entire story in all its romantic - and sometimes not so romantic - detail…

Blue Horizons
Chapter Twenty-Four

Abstractly, she had known that it would happen sooner or later. Whether it was due to her worries about the whole debacle with her sister or the curse of the season or even just the inevitability of the universe itself, she wasn’t sure. But, nevertheless, it had to happen sooner or later.

Elizabeth woke up that morning wrapped up in Spike’s arms, the rays of dawn just beginning to stream in through the skylight above the bed. She lay there for a minute, just admiring how the rosy glow lit up the woodwork, making the room seem cozy, safe, inviting…

The man beside her was all those things as well - well, maybe just a tad dangerous, just to keep things interesting - and Elizabeth ran ephemeral touches over his bare chest, enjoying its sculpted beauty. Whatever she had done to deserve a man like this, she was profusely thanking her past self for it now.

He lay curled up on his side in his sleep, facing her as he always did. His arm had been wrapped around her waist before she had woken up, but then she’d shifted out of their comfortable spooning position to face him, and it had ended up resting casually on her thigh instead. That was one of the things she was beginning to enjoy the most about being with Spike - how it could be passionate and casual at the same time. She’d never really had that before since…well, since none of her ‘boyfriends’ had ever bothered to stick around before. But the way she and Spike fit so perfectly together, even when they were just lying like this, set off a deep warm feeling in her chest. She’d never felt comfortable like this before - in her nudity and in her sexuality. But she found it quite liberating, and now that she had it…

A shiver went through her. OK, so there was one disadvantage to falling asleep naked in your lover’s arms after a night of tender lovemaking. Especially if said lover hogged all the blankets come morning. Elizabeth snatched up the oversized gray T-shirt that hung over the headboard on her side of the bed for just these kinds of emergencies. She slipped it over her head and smoothed it into place over her thighs. Her fingers lingered over the lettering at the front, the navy blue ‘College of New York, Class of 2002’ already perfectly memorized. It was Spike’s shirt, of course, and that was why she loved wearing it to bed. Surrounded by him, his scent…

She let out a dreamy sigh and slipped back into his arms, welcoming the warmth of his pale, lean body. She held him against her now, encouraging him to lie across her, tucking his head into the crook of her neck. She smiled at the feel of his warm breath tickling the soft hairs at the back of her neck and decided that she could stay like this forever…

He let out a little murmur and stirred in her arms, snuggling in closer. She stroked his hair lazily in response, tracing the paths of the platinum curls and encouraging him to wake up.

He did so slowly, yawning against her before stretching out every muscle in his powerful body in turn. The sight of his muscles rippling sent a little jolt of feminine pride through her. Mine, her mind seemed to snap.

“’Mornin’, luv.” Sleepy blue eyes turned up to look at her, and she felt herself melt into a sticky puddle of goo in response.

“’Morning, cutie,” she countered, placing a quick peck on the tip of his nose.

“It late?” He scratched the back of his head with one hand.

“Early,” she assured him. “We’ve got hours before anyone expects us to be up.”

“Good,” he mumbled, resting his cheek against her shoulder once more.

She sighed in satisfaction. Now, this was what life was all about… “My big, cuddly kitty-cat.” She kissed his brow affectionately.

He let out a little growl of annoyance in response to the nickname.

“Is kitty-cat purring?” she couldn’t help but goad him.

“Kitty-cat’s preparin’ to sink ‘is claws in,” Spike retorted grumpily.

“Maybe kitty-cat just needs to have his tummy rubbed,” Elizabeth countered with a coy smile. Her fingers stroked down the center of his rock-hard abs to find something else that was just beginning to harden.

“Don’t think that’s kitty-cat’s tummy you’ve got there, luv,” Spike teased, his eyes squeezing shut in pleasure.

“Whatever makes him purr,” she shrugged, wrapping her fist around the steadily growing length of him.

“Christ, luv!” he exclaimed. “After last night? You’re bloody well gonna kill me this way…”

“But what a way to go,” she countered with a smile. The tip of her thumb flicked across the head, eliciting a gasp and a moan.

She gave him a wicked smile in response. She figured this was fair play, given that he had spent half the night with his head between her thighs, making her beg and whimper for his touch. A little pang of guilt had shot through her afterwards that she couldn’t return the favor, not after what had almost happened with…

She brushed the thought from her mind and continued to make him squirm. She loved watching him like this, seeing him lose control as the pleasure overcame him. He was usually so confident in his sexuality, but when she got him like this…she felt powerful, desirable, beautiful.

“Yeah, like that,” he whispered against her throat, urging her on. “Yeah, right there. Oh, you know me so well, baby. The way you touch me, the way you… Yeah! Oh…” He trailed off as he spilled his pleasure into her waiting hands.

She wrinkled her nose slightly at the sticky, white fluid. “Looks like a shower is in order,” she suggested slyly.

He gave her an eager grin in response…

* * *

So, up until then, it had been a nice morning. The problem began after they’d finished their shower and gotten dressed.

Elizabeth had been happily debating whether or not shower sex was evidence that god did, in fact, exist when Spike abruptly let out an excited little shout from where he was checking his e-mail.

“Grades are on-line, pet,” he ushered her over, clicking on the link to the college’s on-line access page.

Elizabeth groaned. “Can’t I live in denial just a little bit longer?” she protested, her lower lip jutting out in a playful pout.

“You did great,” he assured her. “Plus, first semester and all. Your dad doesn’t approve, just say you were adjustin’.”

“But he’s already pissed at me for breaking up with Riley,” she pointed out. “And he’s probably more pissed now that I’ve granted Dawn asylum.”

Spike merely shook his head with a smile and checked his own grades.

“Ooh, can I see?” Elizabeth bounced up behind him, wrapping her arms around his neck as she leaned over his shoulder. “Oh…wow.” Her eyes widened slightly at the transcript before her. She hadn’t seen straight A’s since…well, since her own high-school report cards, but college was actually hard.

“Yeah, well…guess you finally found out my dark secret.” Spike was blushing slightly, nervously fidgeting in his chair a bit.

“You never told me you were a genius.” Elizabeth was still slightly stunned. Spike had always seemed like just an ordinary slacker guy. She knew he was smart, yeah, but this…

“Yeah, ‘m a nerd.” Spike was looking decidedly uncomfortable now. “Don’t tell anyone, right?”

Elizabeth’s finger drifted to one of the long list of A’s. “It was you,” she said in surprise. “You were Steinberg’s 20th A.”

“Er, yeah…”

“Do you have any idea how often Riley hinted that it was him?” Elizabeth shot back. “And you never said a word.”

“Don’t like to brag,” he insisted in a shy voice, looking anywhere but at her.

“Since when?” she demanded in disbelief.

A hint of his usual sly smile lit up his face at that. “Not ‘bout school stuff, then,” he agreed. “Other talents ‘f mine, ‘d be happy to show you…in intimate detail…”

Elizabeth couldn’t help but smile at that. She placed a quick kiss on his forehead and gave him a quick squeeze. He pulled her into his lap in response, and they enjoyed several blissful kisses before Spike finally pulled away for breath.

“You wanna check?” he offered her the use of his computer.

“Let me live the happy life just a little bit longer,” she insisted. “Let’s go eat breakfast first.”

“You got it, luv,” he agreed, helping her to her feet as he rose himself. “After all, we need to keep our energy up…”

“One of us needs to keep more up than energy,” she couldn’t help but tease.

He gave her a mock-offended gasp and proceeded to stick his nose up in the air haughtily before stomping down the stairs to breakfast.

Elizabeth giggled as she followed him, but something was different. It was like there was all this weird new stuff about Spike all of a sudden that she’d never known before, and… She shook her head when he turned back to smile at her, blue eyes flashing. Still the same old Spike, right? Right.

* * *

“I was thinking that we should go buy a tree today before all the nice ones are sold,” Joyce said, sipping her coffee and looking around at the assembled faces at the breakfast table. By some random quirk of fate, they’d all shown up for breakfast at the same time. “Who’s with me?”

Dawn bit her lip, debating the coolness of bouncing up and down in her seat with her hand raised high in the air, going “Me, me!” It severely failed the cool test. “Yeah, sure, I’ll go,” she said disinterestedly, pushing a lock of her long silky hair over her shoulder gracefully. Coolness still intact.

“Us, too, hey luv?” Spike inquired of Elizabeth.

She bit her lip. “Sure, yeah,” she said dully.

Spike cast her a curious look, but she shook it off.

“We should probably take the van,” Giles commented. “We’ll need the space.”

Joyce nodded. “I’d like to stop by the gallery first, and we need to make another grocery run this weekend…”

Elizabeth’s mind wandered as the normality of every day life overtook the Giles’ table. She watched a grape bounce off of Spike’s forehead while Dawn attempted to look as innocent as was physically possible, yet only a ghost of a smile crossed her lips.

She just didn’t get it. Why did she feel so tired all of a sudden? And not hungry, too. In fact, it seemed that she had the beginnings of a headache coming on and…

“You all right?” Spike’s whisper was just quiet enough that no one else could hear it.

“Fine,” Elizabeth insisted with a tight-lipped smile. “You know, I’m feeling really tired. I think I need to go back upstairs and sleep some more.” This last part was directed to the table at large.

“Do you want us to wait until this afternoon to get the tree?” Joyce offered.

“No, go on ahead,” Elizabeth gave her a grateful smile. “I’m sure you can carry on without me.”

“You want me to stay here with you, luv?” Spike asked, mildly concerned.

“No, I’m fine,” Elizabeth repeated. “Don’t let me ruin your day.” She left at that.

The four remaining at the table just blinked at each other in surprise.

“Wow,” Dawn commented, “you must’ve really pissed her off.”

“I didn’t do anything!” Spike insisted, completely baffled.

Joyce sighed. “Maybe she’s just feeling a bit under the weather,” she suggested. “She probably just needs some sleep.”

“Yeah…” Spike said thoughtfully. “Sleep…”

“So, you’re still coming with us, right, Spike?” Dawn asked hopefully. Hey, just because cute guy was totally taken by her sister didn’t mean that she couldn’t innocently enjoy being crammed together in a back seat of a car with said cute guy.

“Just give me a minute to see if ‘Lizabeth’s all right,” he excused himself, heading upstairs after her.

“Oh dear,” Giles wiped his glasses. “I really do hope that was nothing.”

* * *

“You want anythin’ before we head out?” Spike asked in a soft voice from the doorway of his room, watching Elizabeth curled up in a ball on his bed. “Tylenol? Soup? Back-rub?”

“No,” she said in a feeble voice.

“I don’t hafta go if you don’t want me to,” he assured her, approaching the bed and sitting on the edge of it beside her.

“Go,” she insisted. “I’m fine.”

“’Lizabeth,” he began carefully, “you’re obviously not fine. I can’t help unless you tell me-”

“Maybe I don’t need your help,” she huffed, yanking the blanket over her shoulder so that she couldn’t see him out of the corner of her eye anymore.

He frowned at that. “Luv, have I done something to upset you?” His voice turned a shade more upper class at that, his rough edges softening to accommodate her obvious distress.

She sighed. “No,” she assured him. “I think I just need some alone time.”

“If you’re sure…?” he sounded hesitant.

“Positive,” she insisted.

He leaned over to place a quick kiss on her lips, and she let him for a second before pushing him away.

“Stubbly,” she explained, rubbing at a couple of her dark, coarse hairs that were just beginning to shadow his chin. “You should shave.”

“Right,” he agreed, fingering his cheek. She hadn’t even seemed to notice earlier. “Look, luv, ‘m gonna offer to set up the lights. ‘ll be downstairs if you need me.”

“You don’t need to stay on my account,” she repeated.

“Yeah, but I-”

“Go,” she insisted a bit grumpily. “I’ll be fine.”

“All right then…if you’re sure…” He got up and went to the bathroom to shave. “Shouldn’t be gone much more ‘n a couple of hours.”

“Fine,” Elizabeth practically sulked before drifting back off into sleep…

* * *

“Well, what about this one?” Giles gestured to a Scotch pine leaning against the wall.

Dawn bent backward at a funny angle in imitation of the tree’s trunk and giggled when she leaned back too far, only to be caught by Spike’s waiting arms.

“Yes, well, I suppose it is a bit lop-sided,” Giles agreed, shaking his head at the impossibility of the four of them ever agreeing on anything.

“Ooh, check out this one!” Dawn practically squealed, slipping from Spike’s arms to flaunt over to a dark green fir.

“Is this one painted, too?” Spike teased lightly, examining the branches.

“It’s got a nice shape to it,” Joyce agreed, reaching over with her heavily gloved hands to hold it upright. “Straight trunk, too. What’s the verdict on the paint?”

“Looks clean,” Spike grudgingly admitted.

Dawn couldn’t resist the childish urge to stick her tongue out at him at that. He waited until his parents weren’t looking before he retorted, adding an obscene gesture to the mix as well. Dawn laughed at that. This was so cool, almost like having real parents and a brother and a sister…well, a sister who was at home sick. But still…

“There’s quite a bit of space underneath for presents as well,” Giles added excitedly, his eyes practically sparkling in anticipation.

The other three members of the party, all of whom were pretending that were mature enough that that hadn’t been their primary consideration also, gave him condescending looks.

“It’s what you were all thinking,” he accused, confident in the accuracy of this statement.

Spike and Dawn exchanged a sheepish glance, and Joyce wrapped an arm around her husband in response. Giles gave them all a triumphant smile.

“Now, where is the lot attendant?” he inquired, searching around for their means of a quick and easy escape…

* * *

By the time they’d gotten back, Elizabeth felt bad. That is to say, she felt good, health-wise, but she felt bad about snapping at Spike and being all bitchy and moody. Determined to make it up to him, she greeted him at the door with a quick kiss, winning a delighted little smile in response before he practically dragged her outside to see the tree they’d bought.

The high ceiling of the living room allowed for a nice, tall tree, and they had all helped carry it into the house with the exception of Dawn, who guided what looked to be a large walking mass of fuzzy green needles. Spike and Giles had gotten into the requisite manly fight about how to get the tree upright most efficiently until the levelheaded women had subtly intruded and done it the right way.

All in all, fun, humorous, entertaining…

And yet Elizabeth still felt that strange distance from Spike that had been bothering her earlier. She half pouted that they’d left her behind on what had obviously been an entertaining trip, and then banged herself on the head because she really had no one else to blame but herself that she hadn’t gone. There was also that nasty voice in the back of her head that wanted Spike to have read her mind and stayed with her all morning…except she also would’ve been pissed at him then and… And, she just didn’t know. But something wasn’t right, wasn’t as perfect as it had been when she’d woken up this morning.

She managed a weak smile when Spike flopped on the living room couch beside her, though, and squeezed his thigh gently.

“How does she keep that up?” he wondered in disbelief, staring in amazement as Dawn continued to wrap the strings of lights around the tree, seemingly never tiring even for a second.

“That’s just old age catching up with you,” Elizabeth teased, taking a sip of her hot cocoa.

“’m only nineteen!” Spike protested in outrage.

“Old man.” She couldn’t help herself.

“That means you’ll be an old woman next month,” he pointed out.

“Nope,” she insisted, shaking her head. “Once I turn nineteen, twenty’s the age of geezer-dom.”

“So I won’t be an old man for four months?” Spike rolled his eyes at the delightful illogic of her argument.

“Yup!” she agreed, popping the ‘p’.

He gave her a bright smile and leaned in close, his lips only inches from hers so that he could…

“Hey!” she complained, wide-eyed. “Hot chocolate thief!”

He gave her his patented sexy smirk, complete with hot chocolate mustache. She giggled in response before moving her mug safely away from his larcenous lips.

“’m ready to steal more than that,” he informed her with a sexy purr, leaning in once more.

She shooed him away. “You’ve got hot chocolate all over your mouth,” she informed him. “Wipe it off.”

“Sure you don’t wanna do it for me?” he suggested, one eyebrow raised.

She sighed and conceded his point. Her tongue flicked out, tracing the lines of his mouth and licking up every last bit of the chocolate on his face.

“You guys are so gross,” Dawn felt obliged to point out from where she was tangled in the garlands.

Elizabeth shot her an annoyed look. “Tinsel head,” she shot back.

Dawn eyes widened when she found several of the silver strands in her hair. With a squeak, she ran for the bathroom and the mirror it provided. After all, it wouldn’t do to look anything less than her most gorgeous, even if there was no one there to see her…well, except Spike, but after the hot chocolate mustache, she had enough dirt on him to last for a lifetime.

“Bit’s leapin’ back and forth from actin’ like a kid and a grown-up faster’n a Ping-Pong ball,” Spike commented, leaning back on the couch and pulling Elizabeth forward so that she rested on his chest comfortably.

“Ah, the high-school years…” Elizabeth reminisced before scrunching up her nose. “You couldn’t pay me to go back.”

Spike chuckled at that. “With you there,” he agreed. “Didn’t have a nice, warm ‘Lizabeth in my arms then.”

“Yeah,” she agreed with a little smile.

“So you’re feelin’ better now, pet?” he asked cautiously, loathe to break the comfortable silence between them.

She stiffened slightly. “Better,” she agreed tersely.

“I wish you would-” he began.

“What?” she cut him off, pulling back out of his arms and into a sitting position.

He frowned up at her. “I wish you would tell me what’s wrong,” he finished his sentiments.

“Nothing’s wrong,” she insisted, getting up and walking over to the tree. She quickly picked up the garland where Dawn had left off and began looping it over the branches.

“Yeah, that ‘nothing’s a real bother.” Spike was standing behind her now, unlit cigarette between his lips.

“What does that mean?” she demanded, not liking his sarcastic tone.

“That you’ve been weird all day!” he explained, his arms flinging outward helplessly. “You’re bein’ all weird and secretive, and then pushin’ me away one minute an’ actin’ like everything’s normal the next. ‘S like you’re a faucet, runnin’ hot and cold!”

“Well, I’m sorry if you don’t approve,” she said tightly.

“Luv,” his voice softened immediately, “I just wanna make things right between us…” His hands rested gently on her shoulders.

She shrugged them off. “Then maybe you should quit keeping things from me,” she spit out before she knew what she was saying.

“Like what?” he asked in disbelief. “Christ, Summers, what with everythin’ ‘ve told you and all the stories my dad’s been spillin’, you prob’ly know more ‘bout me than I do!”

“Like how you’ve been secretly mocking me all along?” she countered, tears in her eyes.

“What?!” he exclaimed, completely flabbergasted.

Dawn reentered the room at that point, took one look at the bleached couple, and fled upstairs to the room she was staying in. No way did they need an audience right then.

Elizabeth and Spike barely even noticed. “What’re you talkin’ about, sweetness?” Spike asked more softly, catching her elbow and turning her to face him.

“You were lying to me all this time,” she insisted, tears in her eyes. “Pretending like you were just this normal guy. I guess I know now why you kept brushing aside all my academic concerns. After all, to you it’s all trivial.”

“’S not trivial,” he insisted with a frown. “Is that what this is all about? Well, ‘m sorry I didn’t hand you my entire transcript the instant we started datin’, but I didn’t think it mattered.”

“You lied,” she insisted. “You were faking all those times you complained about classes, and-and…”

“Everyone complains about homework,” Spike said with a roll of his eyes. “I don’t wanna to it anymore than you do.”

“Yeah, but you could’ve at least told me so I wouldn’t have been looking stupid all this time!” she practically screeched.

“Oh no, now,” Spike shook his head vehemently, “that’s not fair. ‘ve never thought you were stupid. Annoyin’, bossy chit, yeah,” he tried to tease.

“You’re not helping,” she practically hissed.

“’Lizabeth, this is nothin’, not important in the slightest. There’s no reason to suddenly be all intimidated-”

“By you?” she snorted, shoving him away from her. “That’ll be the day…”

“Then what?” he demanded at a loss.

“You tell me since you’re so smart,” she grumbled, “know how to fix all my problems and everything.”

“Well, I don’t know!” he retorted. “’m an idiot! Spell it out for me.”

She crossed her arms in front of her chest and refused to look at him.

“Is this just some mood-swing thing, or what?” he demanded. “Time for you monthlies or-” He froze and flinched at that. He really knew better… Thus, proving my ‘I’m an idiot’ point, he decided.

She turned on him then, eyes flashing. “You…” she was so enraged, she was at a loss for words. She took a step closer to him, and he gulped noticeably. “Just leave me alone,” she finally finished wearily. “I don’t want to even see you…”

* * *

It had taken Spike all of five minutes lying alone in his bed to realize that there was no way in hell that he was going to sleep. Elizabeth had been cold and distant that entire evening, although only towards him. He honestly didn’t know what he’d said - well, before the rather foolish comment about her PMSing - but it took him even less time to decide to do something about it.

The door to the second guest room was slightly ajar when he approached, and then light was on inside. Cautiously, he rapped on the solid wood, trying to compose what he was going to say to her when he did so. Everything else he’d tried had just blown up in his face, and he was still at a loss.

Elizabeth answered within seconds, leaning against the doorframe in a long silken nightgown, worrying her lip between her teeth as she looked up at him.

All words escaped him at the sight of her looking so beautiful…and so unreachable at the moment. Intelligent, coherent thought faded to nothing, and emotion overcame him so much that he had to fight back tears from the corners of his eyes. “’m sorry,” he managed to whisper raggedly. “’m so, so sorry…”

She broke at that as well, practically collapsing into his arms. The bed in this room had looked so cold and empty, and she’d been fighting the urge to go up to him ever since she’d retired.

A gasp of relief escaped his lips when she was in his arms once more, hands ephemerally caressing his body as she held onto him tightly.

“I should’ve told you,” he whispered into her hair. “Just didn’t occur to me, luv. So sorry. Shouldn’t’ve let this happen.”

“No, I was weird,” she shook her head insistently. “I kinda overreacted. I guess I was just surprised and… Hey, my boyfriend’s a genius!” she said somewhat proudly.

“Not really,” he pointed out. “Somehow managed to make a complete ass outta myself.”

“Not too hard to do,” she teased lightly, her face still pressed into his chest, “given that you’re an ass already and all…”

He let out a mock-annoyed snort before smiling slightly. “Our first fight was about nothin’, wasn’t it?” he couldn’t help but shake his head at the ridiculousness of it.

“I guess we didn’t have anything else to fight about,” she agreed with a giggle.

He smiled shyly down at her and cautiously reached up to stroke her cheek. “Come to bed?” he pleaded softly. “Can’t sleep without you there.”

She smiled at that as well and brushed a gentle kiss across his lips. “OK,” she agreed before leaping up into his arms and letting him carry up to his room…

* * *

The next morning she woke up and felt like an idiot.

First of all, she discovered while going to the bathroom that, oops, yes she had been PMSing yesterday. Although still, even if it was true, any guy in his right mind would have the sense not to mention it.

Second, she finally got up the courage to check her grades on-line - while Spike was still sleeping so he couldn’t see, of course - and discovered that, hey, he wasn’t the only straight A student in their little relationship.

This second fact had her so giddy that she woke him from his peaceful slumber with a passionate kiss, informed him what a complete idiot she was, and then kissed him several more times in celebration.

So, in summary, she was an idiot.

Next