Part 4
“So we started the chant, and Buffy I swear it was the most amazing thing. The energy just took over my body, and before I knew it was floating.”
“Sounds real, Will,” Buffy replied without much enthusiasm.
She had listened to Willow for over an hour gush about England. Buffy couldn’t help but be slightly jealous, but then again she wouldn’t give up her summer for anything. The thought put a smile on her face.
“There are some really powerful witches in England, and the spiritual vibes are unreal. I mean here on the hell mouth, it’s all about the evil, dark vibes, but in England there is this incredibly positive mystical energy that surrounds everything. Noah told me it’s from the rich mystic history. It just builds on itself. I learned so much.”
“It sounds like you’ve become one hell of a witch.”
“Yeah, I’m progressing, and progress is good.”
Buffy turned her head towards the window. She swore she could feel his eyes on her. When she saw that the window was empty, Buffy sighed.
“Everything okay, Buffy?” Willow asked concerned by her friend’s detached, and preoccupied behavior.
“Fine,” Buffy answered quickly turning back to Willow, and smiling.
Spike crouched in the shadows watching Buffy talk to Willow. He could hear her laughter, and see her smiling. It hadn’t even been a day, and Spike missed Buffy already. The fact that he couldn’t have her was killing him, and watching her be happy was ripping his heart out, but he couldn’t turn away. He had to see her.
Eventually, Buffy, and Willow stood up, and walked towards the door. Spike quickly ducked around to the other side of the house, and waited. He heard the front door close, and then Willow’s footsteps disappeared down the sidewalk.
Spike climbed up the side of Buffy’s house, and perched on the edge of the roof outside the window to Buffy’s room. He only had to wait a few moments before she entered.
Buffy walked into the room, and over to her dresser. She quickly grabbed a pair of pajamas, and her stuffed pig, before she headed towards her door. She paused briefly, and looked out the window. She sighed before leaving the room.
Spike waited, but when it became obvious that she was not coming back to her room, he hopped down from the roof. He landed on his feet, and walked around the perimeter of the house looking in all the windows. Each room on the first floor was dark, and empty. Spike knew she hadn’t left, so he hoisted himself back up onto the roof.
Outside of Buffy’s mother’s room, Spike crouched down, and peered inside. Buffy was curled up in the middle of the bed holding Mr. Gordo protectively against her chest.
Spike got comfortable, and watched her sleep. A weird content sadness washed over him. He was sad that this was the way things had to be, but content because he was near her. He wasn’t sure when, but somewhere along the road he had fallen in love with her, and as unexpected as it was, Spike had no regrets.
~~~
Spike climbed up the side of Buffy’s house to her window. For the past three weeks, he had come to her window every night. Usually, they would be naked within minutes. Sometimes, they didn’t even bother exchanging pleasantries.
Spike pulled himself up onto the roof, and walked over to the window. He stopped when he saw her swaying to the soft music filling her room. The first thought that entered his mind was how beautiful she was.
Buffy had her back to the window, and didn’t see Spike as he watched her totally entranced. Feelings beside lust swelled inside of him. He silently climbed through the window, and slid off his duster. He crept towards her, and when he was close enough he slid his arm around her waist.
Buffy grasped his hands with hers, and they moved silently together to the music. Spike lowered his head to rest on top of hers, and he could smell the sweet vanilla scent that always surrounded her.
Neither said anything as the music flooded over them. When the song ended, Buffy turned around. She wrapped her arms around him, and rested her head on his chest. Spike ran his fingers through her hair, and held her tightly against him with his other hand on the small of her back. The music had stopped, but Buffy, and Spike still swayed slightly to the silence.
“This is nice,” Buffy murmured.
Spike kissed the top of her head. She felt so good in his arms. Her body was so tiny, and warm, but he knew the strength it held. She radiated strength, and power even in moments like this. Spike loved it. She was so vulnerable, and yet so tough.
The ringing of the phone finally interrupted them. Spike released Buffy reluctantly, and she picked up the phone by her bed.
“Hello,” she said into the receiver.
“Hey Giles, how’s Israel?” Buffy asked as she sat down on the edge of her bed.
Spike figured she would be talking for a while so he walked around her room looking at her stuff as he listened to her side of the conversation with her former watcher.
“I’m good…No nothing really. A few vamps here and there…Yes, I’m being extremely careful.”
Buffy was silent for a long time while she listened to Giles ramble. Spike flopped onto the bed, and propped himself up against the headboard.
“It’s real quiet Giles I’ve been patrolling every night, and keeping my eyes, and ears open for anything…Yes Giles, if anything comes up, you’ll be my first call…I promise, but I’ve got everything under control. I’m on top of it.”
Buffy was listening to a long lecture again, and Spike got restless. He picked up her stuffed pig, and started playing with it as he waited for her to finish.
“Yes, Giles…Okay Giles…I know Giles…Right, okay. Bye bye…I promise…Cross my heart, and hope to die…Stop worrying…Okay bye.”
Buffy hung up the phone, and sighed. Spike set the stuffed pig down, and looked at Buffy’s back.
“Everything okay, pet?”
Buffy turned to Spike, and tried to smile. “Everything’s fine. Giles is just worried.”
“You can take of yourself.”
“I know that, and you know that, and deep down inside, Giles knows that, but he worries. Plus he feels guilty about leaving me here all alone, especially after everything that has happened this year, and that whole Adam thing.”
Spike didn’t answer her right away. Finally, he asked the inevitable question. “When are your friends coming back?”
“Two months at the end of August,” she answered with a hint of regret in her voice.
“That’s still a long way off,” Spike commented.
“A lot changes in two months,” Buffy replied rather cryptically.
“That it does, pet.”
Spike picked up Buffy’s stuffed pig again. He played with it nervously, because he didn’t know what to say. His thoughts were all conflicted. The emotions he felt were strange, and unexpected. He had no qualms about shagging the slayer, but caring about her, and liking her was something he had not considered when he forged ahead with this thing they had. Now he couldn’t escape it.
“Spike?”
Just hearing her say his name affected Spike. The way his name came off her lips was like she needed him. It was filled with desire, desperation, and the slightest hint of pleading.
“Let’s not talk,” Spike replied.
Spike reached over, and pulled her to him. She laid her head in his lap, and he stroked her hair. Eventually, she fell asleep her head still in his lap. Spike stayed there the whole night for the first time, since that first night three weeks ago, watching her sleep, and trying to make sense of it all.
When Buffy woke up the next morning, her room was dark, but she knew it was morning. She didn’t get up. Instead she just rested her hand on top of Spike’s.
“You’re still here,” she murmured sleepily.
“And you’re finally up. I thought you were going to sleep all day,” he answered placing a kiss on her temple.
“Did you sleep at all?” Buffy asked.
“Not really I’ve been playing with the pig,” Spike joked.
“Ahh, Mr. Gordo,” Buffy smiled.
“He’s an amusing little bloke,” Spike joked.
Spike moved Mr. Gordo in front of Buffy’s face. “Spike is the biggest, baddest vampire in town, and he’s bloody sexy too,” Spike said in a cartoon voice.
Buffy giggled, and sat up. “Looks like I have some competition for you,” Buffy joked.
“I like the pig, but not that much,” Spike answered. “What’s the deal with the pig anyway?”
Buffy plucked Mr. Gordo from Spike’s hands, and held him to her chest. “My dad gave him to me when I was eight. I was having nightmares, and couldn’t sleep, so I would crawl into my parent’s bed where I felt safe, and not alone. Finally, my dad bought me Mr. Gordo. He told me that if I slept with Mr. Gordo I wouldn’t be alone, and if I’m not alone there’s nothing to fear.”
“Did it work?”
“Yeah. To this day, if I feel alone, I hold Mr. Gordo, and I don’t feel so alone anymore.”