Chapter 17
“Mmm…” Elizabeth awoke the morning after the way one should awake the morning after. She felt sore, sticky, and as if she had run a marathon…and yet warm, comfortable, and well-rested at the same time. But number one on her list of pros to waking up this morning had to be the strong, sculpted chest beneath her fingertips.
Even as she savored the feel of the body next to hers, soft fingers grazed her cheek, delicately outlining her face. A little smile snuck upon her lips, but she kept her eyes closed, allowing her sense of touch to overwhelm all others. Well, that and sound.
At that moment, a hearty chuckle was sending delightful little tingles all throughout her body.
“I know you’re awake, luv,” a husky voice whispered against her hair. “Not that ‘m objectin’ to the kittenish act…” he added with a wry grin.
She opened her eyes to give Spike an annoyed look, but it came off more as a radiant smile. “Hey,” she whispered softly, placing a feather-light kiss on his chest.
“Hey yourself, luv,” he practically purred beneath her.
“And you say I’m the kittenish one,” she teased lightly.
He raised his scarred eyebrow in response to that. “Frankly, after yesterday, I rather expected to wake up with a lion in bed,” he joked.
“Mmm…” She inched closer to him and lay her head on his bare chest, wrapping her arm around his waist. “Boy here in morning and no sexual frustration make Elizabeth happy girlfriend,” she murmured lightheartedly, her lips brushing his chest once more.
“Yeah…’bout that…” Spike began hesitantly. “Now, don’t get me wrong, I made sure I waited till you woke up. Knew you had this thing about wakin’ up next to a warm body and all, but…”
She looked up at him with mild trepidation.
“Any chance you’d let me get up an’ go to the loo?” he couldn’t help but grimace.
Her eyes widened when she realized her body’s own need. “Second that motion,” she agreed, sitting up abruptly.
Spike quickly shrugged into a pair of sweatpants that made him decent enough for a quick run to the bathroom. Elizabeth, meanwhile, slunk back into her dress, grimacing slightly at how the fabric clung to her in her less than pristine condition.
“Definitely need a shower,” she decided.
“Mmm, sounds fun,” Spike couldn’t help but tease, holding the door to his room open for her.
She gave him a sly little smile over her shoulder. “Sorry, lover,” she informed him with a little pout, “public bathroom means private showers.”
“S’pose we don’t want the whole house participatin’,” he agreed with that same idiotic grin that he’d had on his face ever since last night.
“Any more than they already heard, that is,” Elizabeth teased back before vanishing into one of the bathroom stalls.
She emerged to find Spike brushing his teeth and humming a little tune to himself as he did so. The song was probably some punk thing she couldn’t stand, but she didn’t care at that moment. That moment seemed so…domestic that she couldn’t even bring up the energy to tease him.
The illusion was shattered when Jonathan practically dashed into the bathroom, slamming the door shut on the stall Elizabeth had just vacated. Well, unless I make Jonathan our recluse of a son… Her mind added somewhat giddily.
“What?” Spike cocked one eyebrow and looked at her reflection in the mirror.
“Nothing,” she insisted, still giggling. “I’m gonna go get my shower stuff. I’ll be right back.”
“’ll be waitin’ for you every minute, luv,” he practically purred, his eyes shamelessly raking up and down her body.
She blushed slightly before rolling her eyes at herself. After all, he’d already seen everything there was. There was no reason she should still feel all delighted and tingly at the thought that he wanted her. There was something about Spike, though… She didn’t think she’d ever grow less excited about the way he looked at her.
She quickly slipped into her room to find – much to her amazement – that Willow was still snoring away in her bed, Tara at her side. Any naughty thoughts Elizabeth may have had were brushed aside by the complete presence of clothes. Still, Willow had teased her about fully-clothed sleeping together, so this information was still tease-worthy.
She quickly stripped out of her dress and wrapped herself up in her robe before dashing back to the bathroom.
One of the shower stalls was already occupied when she returned, the pair of sweatpants Spike had been wearing hung on the hook outside. She quickly stepped into the other, squeaking when the first blast of cold water struck her.
A chuckle emanated from the other stall. “Who forgot to check the temperature first this time?” Spike teased.
Elizabeth laughed. “Sorry about that,” she said with a little grin. “I was kind of…horny yesterday,” she finally confessed.
“Noticed,” Spike couldn’t help but joke. “And,” there was a hint of cheekiness in his voice, “you’ll be happy to know that Jonathan left so you din’t make that li’l confession in front of him.”
Elizabeth squealed and put her hand over her mouth belatedly…and completely unnecessarily. “Oops, forgot,” she sighed in disbelief. “I’m a bad, bad person. There’s no way I won’t have sexually terrorized the entire house by the end of the year.”
“Feel free to terrorize me all you want, luv…” OK, she could actually hear the smirk in those words…
“That’s the plan,” she agreed, amused. “Wait till I start going crazy, then jump sexy boyfriend’s bones.”
“Don’t s’pose I can make a li’l request?” he teased. “A bit less with the crazy and more with the bone jumpin’…and the callin’ me ‘sexy’?”
Elizabeth faked shock and surprise. “Who said I was talking about you?” she taunted him. “Maybe I was thinking about Riley and…er…” She couldn’t even manage to pull off her own sarcasm at that point and shrugged. “OK, so you’ve got a cute butt,” she finally conceded.
His laughter echoed through the shower stalls. “Jump me sooner next time?” he repeated.
Elizabeth bit her lip. “How about right now? Does right now sound good to you?” She rubbed her shampoo into her hair.
“Pet, we’re in a public pl—” The scent hit him at that moment. “Is that…vanilla?” he asked hopefully.
“Mmm-hmm,” she agreed in the most satisfied way she could manage.
“Right now, you say?” he said, resistance melting at that scent.
“Public place,” she couldn’t help but tease him. “Besides, getting clean is good. Cleanness would not result from sharing showers.”
He snorted at that. “By the way, ‘d like to thank you for conveniently waitin’ until after ‘d washed my sheets to take advantage of my sexy body.”
“I knew it!” she accused, giggling into her washcloth. “You love your laundry more than me!”
“Only do it about once a month,” Spike retorted, a sly smile on his face. “By all means, try to beat it…”
“You are so weird,” Elizabeth shook her head. “And I am so not getting into a race with your laundry to see which you can do more often…’cause, frankly, the laundry doesn’t stand a chance…”
“Wow, and here I thought I was kinky…” The voice suddenly interrupted their latest little sparring match.
“Anyanka?” Spike’s face turned beet red.
“How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?” Anya sighed, wandering over to the sink and attentively flossing her teeth. “So, Elizabeth, did you enjoy the large penis and many orgasms?” she couldn’t help but tease.
“Anyanka!” Spike sounded mortified.
“Very much,” Elizabeth agreed with a little giggle.
In the other shower, Spike groaned in frustration, banging his head against the tile wall.
“Oops, I think we broke him,” Anya giggled.
“We better not’ve…” Elizabeth sounded slightly worried. Her head peeked out of her own shower curtain and over into his. “You all right, gorgeous?”
He gulped, but there was a little smile on the corners of his lips. “You an’ Anyanka…joinin’ forces…bloody terrifyin’!” he joked.
“Humph,” Anya inspected her teeth carefully in the mirror before turning to where Elizabeth’s neck and shoulders where visible in between the two curtains. “I know you’re kissing over there,” she accused.
With twin blushes, Elizabeth and Spike’s lips broke apart. What? It had seemed like an eternity since they’d last seen each other…
“You’d better not get all overly cutesy now,” Anya scrunched up her nose, “’cause, frankly, I enjoyed watching all the UST – very entertaining.” She put her hands on her hips and watched as both showers turned off, the towels on the hooks outside both miraculously vanishing over the top at the same time.
“Don’t worry, Anyanka,” Spike said wryly, stepping out of the shower, towel wrapped firmly around his waist. “We’ll ‘ave to go all through breakfast without…”
Elizabeth stepped out of the shower right at this and blushed slightly. But no amount of embarrassment could hide the glowing smile that lit up her face as she caught Spike’s hand and dragged him out after her.
“See you at breakfast then,” Anya agreed, turning back to the mirror, “although I suppose it’s more like lunch…” she added to herself. The door closed behind the pair, and Anya smiled after them. “If only all of us were so lucky,” she sighed, a slight frown creasing her forehead…
* * *
Faith woke up, alone and shivering in her bed, and wondered just when things had gotten so fucked up. Last night hadn’t been a new all-time low for her, but for some reason things had finally sunk in. And her conclusion was, quite simply, that she was fucked up.
She clutched her blankets tighter around her body as the shakes made her teeth begin to chatter. Her own skin felt cold and clammy to her touch, and every time she opened her eyes she felt like she would throw up. And, given that she hadn’t eaten anything in over three days, it would just be more of that horrible dry heaving. Hence, keeping her eyes closed was a really good idea.
At least she had woken up in her own room this time, rather than in…Brad’s? Brian’s? Ryan’s? What was his name again? She decided it didn’t matter. All that mattered now was that she was home and could sleep for a very long time.
A little smile dared to curl her lips in silent thanks to Willow. She hadn’t really been a friend to the girl – hell, she hadn’t been a friend to anyone lately – but, nevertheless, Willow had been there for every one of her numerous disasters this semester. It was nice to at least have one person looking out for her.
And, in the end, Faith thought that that was what she would miss the most. Because, even as fucked up as she was now, she at least had somewhere to go when she needed to…
* * *
“Where is everyone?” Elizabeth asked sleepily, practically collapsing into the chair beside Spike as she did so. How on earth was it possible for her to feel so tired and yet perfectly well-slept at the same time? Maybe the aerobic workout last night had something to do with it, a sarcastic voice in the back of her mind just couldn’t let that one go.
Across the table from them, Anya shrugged and glanced around the cafeteria. All the other tables were as crowded as they ever were on a Saturday morning, but the Westing House one seated only the three of them.
“Maybe they’ve already finished eatin’,” Spike suggested, practically shoveling his food into his mouth.
Next to him, Elizabeth had been left just as famished by their night’s activities. “Uh-uh,” she shook her head, drinking down her milk. “Will and Tara were still asleep when I was getting dressed,” she explained when her mouth was available for speech once more.
Anya’s brow furrowed once more. “They must’ve been out really late last night then. I wonder…” She trailed off abruptly, eyes widening.
Spike snorted and rolled his eyes. “There’s no way we’re not askin’ you what you know now,” he informed her. “You’re practically broadcastin’ that somethin’s up.”
Anya sighed. “I’m not supposed to know this,” she began. “I mean, I just happened to be sitting next to Willow when the call came, and it was official RA business and…” She noticed Spike and Elizabeth staring at her, if anything even more desperate for her to continue. “Faith had an ‘incident’ again,” she finally admitted, making little fingers gestures to indicate the parentheses.
Spike’s brow immediately furrowed. “What was it this time, luv?” he demanded.
Anya shrugged. “Some problem with one of those guys she hangs out with. She was kinda frantic. I think she suddenly realized that she was in over her head.”
Elizabeth, half not understanding the conversation, nudged Spike gently in the ribs to explain.
“Friends of Devon’s friends,” he sighed. “Faith met ‘em through him, an’ well…appreciated the easy access to many illegal substances that they had.”
“It was the cause of a good dozen or so of their break-ups,” Anya agreed with a slight grimace. “Devon’s into the whole ‘experimenting’ thing,” again with the air-quotes, “but even he has his limits.”
“And Faith didn’t?” Elizabeth guessed.
“Ten bucks says the doctors were jus’ tryin’ to save her from goin’ to jail that night they said it was ‘just food poisoning’,” Spike answered.
“So, what happened last night?” Elizabeth asked, concerned.
Anya shrugged. “Don’t know exactly. Probably never will. But if that girl doesn’t learn some restraint…” she sighed.
“M-Maybe we should help her?” Elizabeth suggested timidly. “Do an intervention or something like that?”
Spike shook his head ruefully. “Oz an’ Devon tried it.” He took a sip of his coffee. “Can’t really help someone with a problem like that if they don’t wanna be helped.”
Elizabeth frowned slightly at that. “But Faith was my friend,” she insisted. “There must be something…” She trailed off at the looks on her two companions’ faces. She bit back a wry laugh. “I guess it would’ve been helpful if I’d said this a couple of months ago, huh?” she sighed.
Spike gave her thigh a reassuring little squeeze. “She’s a tough bird,” he insisted. “She’ll get through it.”
“If she doesn’t get herself killed first,” Anya added darkly…
* * *
“Have I mentioned how adorable your toes are lately?” Elizabeth collapsed back onto the bed with a sigh, her face ending up right next to the feet in question.
Spike looked up from his book at her, one eyebrow quirked in a way that made his wire-frame reading glasses inch down his nose. It was arguably the cutest thing she had ever seen.
“Don’t believe you’ve ever mentioned it, luv,” he said with the beginnings of a smirk.
“Well, they’re adorable,” she informed him, planting a quick kiss on one big toe.
His eyebrow quirked in a way that indicated that he was now skeptical. “You finished your history paper already?” he inquired.
She sighed. “Except for the conclusion?” she pleaded slightly.
The eyebrow rose higher.
“OK, and the section before the conclusion, too,” she pouted, sitting up next to him, “but I really miss—” The index finger of her left hand traced a line right down the center of his chest. Unfortunately, his book blocked its progress just before his navel.
“Havin’ difficulty concentratin’ today?” Spike’s lips curved into a little smile. “Otherwise…preoccupied, perhaps?” He bookmarked his page and put the book aside with one hand while the other caught her own wandering fingers and guided them to his hip, pulling her so that she hovered over them.
She let out a wistful sigh. “A little,” she admitted ruefully.
“Then c’mere an’ let Spike make it all better,” he teased lightly, pulling her down into his arms.
She snuggled into his chest with a little murmur of contentment. “I feel bad about Faith,” she whispered softly.
“Humph,” he said sulkily, “an’ here I thought it was my sexy body that was gettin’ you all wound up…”
“That, too.” She looked up at him with a small smile before slowly leaning up to place a kiss on his lips.
He moaned and moved to remove his glasses, but she stayed his hand.
“The glasses are sexy,” she explained to his inquiring look after she had pulled away.
“Should I be jealous?” His eyes twinkled with merriment.
“No more than I should be jealous of your laundry,” she retorted.
She curled up beside him like they used to do when they just lay side by side and talked. He recognized the mood change and mirrored her actions, so that they were both facing each other.
“I’m a bad friend,” she decided.
“What makes you think that, kitten?”
“Faith in trouble. Me not knowing,” she answered simply.
“Is Faith your friend, though?” he pressed softly.
“We hung out, like, all through orientation,” Elizabeth insisted. “We were joined at the hip…when I wasn’t doing Tri Xi stuff, at least.”
“And was anything botherin’ her then?” he inquired.
Elizabeth shrugged. “Just, like, normal teenage stuff.” Her brow furrowed for a second. “What’re you getting at?”
“When did you stop hangin’ out with her?” he persisted.
She thought on it for a second. “Maybe…second week? Third?” She winced slightly when she realized she couldn’t remember. “Whenever she stopped coming to class. I was too caught up in my own thing to seek her out.”
“Did she seek you out?” he demanded.
“Well…no,” Elizabeth sighed. “I know where you’re going with this, so don’t.”
He shrugged. “Sometimes people jus’ drift apart,” he whispered softly into her hair. “No one wants it to. It just happens.”
She giggled slightly. “When did you go all Obi-Wan on me?” she teased.
He bit his lip. “There was someone I cared about once that started driftin’ away,” he began softly. “Gave up practically everythin’ else to chase after her…”
“It’s not me, is it?” Elizabeth winced slightly.
“No,” Spike laughed. “You practically came runnin’ into my arms; all I had to do was be there.”
“Are you saying I’m easy?” she demanded, mock-offended.
“You think that was easy?!” he exclaimed in disbelief. “Patience is kinda not my thing.” His hand found its way to her hip and began massaging it gently.
“Never would’ve guessed,” she said with a sly smile, reaching up to trace the line of his scarred eyebrow. “Was it Drusilla?” she asked softly.
“Cecily.”
“That’s a new one,” she commented curiously.
“The stupid first love,” Spike sighed. “Everyone has one – even William.”
Elizabeth was downright curious now. He hardly ever referred to his given name. “William?” she repeated.
“Every bit the loser I told you about,” he sighed. “He gets shuffled off to England for high-school, an’ suddenly there’s Cecily – beautiful…at least to me at the time, innocent…or so she seemed, and just waitin’ for a new lapdog.”
“Let me guess,” she teased, “you.”
“I wished!” he laughed. “Oh no, she an’ William were just ‘friends’. She wanted someone excitin’ and dangerous and…well, just like Spike.”
“ ‘Exciting’?” Elizabeth couldn’t help but poke fun. “ ‘Dangerous’?”
“Why do I have the feelin’ the words ‘kitty-cat’ are gonna pop outta your mouth any second?” he let out a long-suffering sigh.
“You know me too well.” She stretched her neck up to nibble at the silver ring in his ear, and he moaned slightly in response. “So, William turned into Spike…” she prodded for the rest of the story.
“Oi!” he complained. “I din’t get to that revelation yet!”
She rolled her eyes. “It was obvious. Continue.”
He huffed slightly but went on anyway. “Spike worked out well. Cecily still din’t want him, but Spike was a lot happier than William. Cecily kept movin’ on, though, and…” He sighed. “Sometimes you just ‘ave ta do what makes you happy. You can’t chase after everyone, or there’ll be nothin’ left ‘f yourself.”
“Are you implying that I have weird lesbian feelings for Faith?” she teased.
“Well, she is pretty hot…” Spike began.
She whapped him in the arm. “Hey!” she protested. “You’re not allowed to talk about other girls like that!”
“Ah, so you want me to lie to you then?” he teased. “Keep all those feelin’s bottled up deep inside until they explode an’—mmf!”
Her lips caught his savagely, and she thrust her tongue deep between his parted lips, reclaiming all her territory in his mouth. His tongue intertwined with hers gracefully as he moaned against her mouth’s assault.
Just as abruptly as she had begun the kiss, she pulled away. “All bottled up feelings can be directed right into my lips,” she informed him primly.
“Mmm,” he murmured softly before sneaking another kiss.
“I might’ve been able to do something, though,” she whispered softly, resting her head against his chest once more. “If I’d been there…”
“Been there, what? Runnin’ off to raves and gettin’ doped up? You honestly think that’s your thing, luv?” he demanded.
“No, but…”
“You can’t fix everything,” he cut her off with a fingertip to her lips. “You jus’ give people the opportunity to stay, an’ if they don’t leave—”
“Promise me you won’t leave me.” Even she hadn’t been meaning to say that. And she certainly hadn’t meant it to sound that needy.
He gave her an affectionate little smile. “’ll do everythin’ in my power to stay,” he agreed, brushing a gentle kiss against her forehead.
She smiled up at him. “Why did I find happiness, but Faith didn’t?” she wondered.
Spike shrugged. “I knew that I wouldn’t’ve been so miserable all those years.”
“You don’t feel guilty now?”
“Never.”
* * *
“I’m really gonna miss you guys…” There were tears in Faith’s eyes as she pulled Xander in for a huge bear hug.
He patted her softly on the back, and Anya was proud of the fact that she didn’t even get jealous. Although that could be because Faith was squeezing her ribs now.
“Let him ‘catch’ you in skimpy lingerie,” Faith whispered her advice into Anya’s ear.
A grin crossed Anya’s face at that. “You should return next year,” she decided. “And next time you can actually take your midterms!” she added perkily.
Faith laughed at that. She briefly turned to Jonathan and gave the stunned young man a hug and a quick kiss on the cheek. “Bye, cutie,” she said with a little smile.
Jonathan’s face flamed, but he kind of had this goofy smile on his face as well.
“Hey, E.” Faith turned to the final pair she was leaving behind. “Spike.”
Elizabeth caught her in a hug first. “I’m so sorry we drifted apart,” she whispered softly.
“These things happen,” Faith assured her. “And, hey, you’re still one of the best friends I ever had.” She flashed Elizabeth a hint of her old wicked smile. “Mind if I cop a quick feel off your stud?”
Elizabeth laughed. She hadn’t seen how gaunt Faith had become in the past few weeks until now, but it was nice to see that some of the spark was still left. “Be careful,” she advised. “He bites.”
“I’ll bet he does,” Faith agreed with a wink before practically leaping into Spike’s arms. “I’ll miss you, handsome,” she placed a quick kiss on his cheek. “You treat my E right, now…”
“No worries, luv,” Spike assured her. “Just take care ‘f yourself.”
“Can do.” Faith gave his ass a playful little pinch and got one in return before she slung her bag over her shoulder and got into the van where Oz and Devon, together with Tara and Willow, were accompanying her on the ride back to Boston. With a little wave, she shut the door behind her.
…And then it swung open one last time. “Don’t ride that stallion of yours too hard, E!” were Faith’s last laughing words before the van drove off, and one of the residents of Westing House was gone for good.
Elizabeth flushed slightly and gave Spike a shy smile up through her lashes. He merely chuckled in response.
“Um…” Jonathan’s voice was almost too quiet to hear at first. “…so, um…whatdowedonow?” He practically spit out that last phrase.
“I vote for movie, popcorn, and house lounge,” Xander said with a sigh.
“Second,” Spike agreed, playing idly with the unlit cigarette in his hands. He wasn’t planning on lighting it, of course. That would completely derail the Get Spike To Quit Smoking Campaign number sixteen.
Elizabeth watched Jonathan slowly backing away from the group and bit her lip as an idea came to her. “Hey, Xander, you’ve got a copy of Star Wars, right?”
Jonathan’s retreat stopped. Bingo.
“Sure,” Xander agreed. “I’ve got the entire trilogy, actually.”
“Good,” Elizabeth said with a smile, “’cause I’ve only seen the second one.”
“Christ, Summers!” Spike exclaimed in exasperation. “Haven’t you seen any good movies?”
She turned to Jonathan. “Have you seen it?” she asked kindly.
“Are you kidding?!” he exclaimed in disbelief. “And who on earth let you see The Empire Strikes Back without watching A New Hope? That’s, like…sacrilege!”
Elizabeth took his arm and led him inside with the group. “I heard it was the best one,” she shrugged. “Plus, I already know the whole ‘I am your father’ thing.”
“But you haven’t seen the first one?” Jonathan persisted. “You don’t know about the Death Star?”
“Was that some lame eighties band?” she couldn’t help but tease Spike, who was in front of them on the stairs.
“And you haven’t seen The Return of the Jedi, either,” Jonathan tisked.
“What else can there possibly be to see?” she shrugged. “I already know the whole Darth Vader thing…”
“More stuff happens than that!” Jonathan insisted.
“What, is Leia, like, his sister?” she asked with complete sarcasm.
Spike and Xander couldn’t conceal their snickers as they entered the lounge.
Jonathan merely shook his head ruefully. “You have to watch all three of them in order,” he insisted. “And, preferably, not The Phantom Menace as well…”
“I sense an afternoon plan.” Elizabeth pulled Jonathan onto the couch beside her. “Just we five left in Westing House on a Sunday afternoon…”
“Always fun to just all hang together,” Spike agreed, landing in the seat on the other side of her and shaking his head at his girlfriend’s not-so-subtly. Although, maybe it worked. After all, he hadn’t heard Jonathan talk so much in ever…