Chapter 35
“You feelin’ all right, luv?” Spike asked, concerned, as he watched Elizabeth pick half-heartedly at her salad.
She managed a ghost of a smile. “Just not hungry,” she insisted.
He frowned but didn’t want to comment while the rest of the house was present.
“How’re you liking Winston’s class?” Anya asked, trying to drag the unusually silent woman into the conversation.
“Fine,” Elizabeth shrugged, dropping her fork onto her tray with a clatter. It was actually true. She didn’t hate the class; she just didn’t really feel any desire to take it, either.
“Nine out of ten for presentation!” Cordy abruptly exclaimed, still fussing over the A- she’d gotten on her project. “Can you believe that?!”
“We were way more presentable than everyone else,” Xander agreed, sharing in her pain. “Although, technically, A-. Not exactly something you’re allowed to complain about…”
Cordy sighed. “My professor hates me and is out to get me,” she decided. “It’s the only explanation.”
“Professors do that, you know,” Andrew piped up in his usual breathless staccato. “Like, they hear things about you, and then get these bad ideas and…” His mouth practically shut with an audible snap when he noticed everyone staring at him. “There was a Fox News Special about it, at least,” he mumbled under his breath.
Spike chuckled at that. “Before or after the latest Hollywood sex scandal?” he demanded.
“Before,” Andrew replied cheerfully. “But only because Drew Barrymore was one of the ‘victims’ that came forward…”
Cordelia let out an exasperated sigh. “Since when did my pain become a diatribe on the quality of Fox News?” she demanded sarcastically.
“Quite a while back,” Anya informed her. “You really should try to keep up with the conversation.”
“My pain!” Cordy explained theatrically. “Why must it always be mocked?”
“Because, frankly, ‘s pretty lame pain, luv,” Spike felt obliged to point out.
Cordy scowled at him. “Elizabeth, you’re closer. You hit him.”
Elizabeth looked up, somewhat startled, before obeying Cordy’s request and giving Spike a light whap on the arm.
“Ow!” he felt obliged to exclaim in response.
She rolled her eyes and cracked her first smile of the lunch at him in response. “Baby,” she teased.
He chuckled at that before dangling a french fry over her water glass in a menacing manner.
She squealed and caught his hand, beginning an impromptu little play fight that had Xander and Cordy making kissy faces after only a few seconds.
“God, they need to get a room,” Cordelia decided, shaking her head.
“They already have a room,” Anya reminded her. “I think they need a room within their room.”
“What?” Xander retorted sarcastically. “And miss the rousing nightly chorus of ‘oh god’s?”
The trio giggled at the expense of the bleached pair who remained quite thoroughly oblivious to what was being discussed around them. Elizabeth had now managed to take Spike’s cookie hostage and was holding it far out behind her in a move that encouraged his body to wrap around hers in his attempts to retrieve it. It was an opportunity Spike was taking full advantage of.
“So, yeah,” Xander shook off the familiar sight and turned to one of the remaining sane members of the table. “Heard back from the Times yet?” he asked Devon.
The young man in question looked up from the newspaper in question that he had just happened to be reading intently and shook his head ruefully. “Not supposed to hear back until April,” he said with an impatient sigh.
“S-Still,” Jonathan managed to get out, “it’s cool that you trying and all. I mean…” He trailed off, embarrassed.
“Very cool,” Cordy agreed, flashing Jonathan a reassuring smile.
“The local paper’s willing to sign me on for the summer if that doesn’t come through,” Devon provided. “So it works either way.”
Anya frowned. “Would you be staying in the dorm, then?” she wondered. “Because I hear it’s hard to just sublet for the summer.”
Devon shrugged. “No need to worry about that too much yet,” he pointed out. “But, yeah, I might have to move out.”
“That’s no good,” Xander insisted. “And what about Oz?”
Devon shook his head. “Haven’t seen Oz much this past month. So, no clue what he’s planning.”
Xander’s attention turned to Elizabeth and Spike who had finally returned to eating – or not eating, in Elizabeth’s case – in peace. “You two are staying, though, right?” he demanded.
Spike nodded. “Stuck with all you losers for the long haul,” he agreed.
“Hey!” several voices said at once, and suddenly Spike found himself pelted with french fries.
He sniffled in Elizabeth’s direction, but she just grinned at him. “You were so asking for that,” she insisted. “There’s no way I’m helping you.”
“And ‘s everyone against Spike once more,” he sighed, taking a bite of his pizza before looking at it in surprise. “’S not covered in congealed animal fat today!” he cried in delight.
“Really?” Andrew looked over at him in amazement. “Is it good?”
“Edible,” Spike decided after a moment’s hesitation.
Devon, Andrew, and Cordelia all looked down at the discarded ravioli on their plates before leaping up in unison to try out this new wonder that was ‘edible’ food.
“You can tell it’s winter,” Anya commented with an amused smile as the three of them nudged each other out of the way in their effort to get to the pile of clean plates.
“It hasn’t actually been too crazy yet,” Spike pointed out.
Elizabeth cast him an annoyed look.
“I mean, no one’s dropped out, an’ there haven’t been any screamin’ matches,” he provided.
“You sure?” Elizabeth sighed. “’Cause I’m considering both at the moment.”
“Have you caught up in class yet?” Anya inquired. “I found that the urge to destroy perishable items faded the instant I no longer had any back assignments.”
Elizabeth groaned. “Only one extra problem set left,” she agreed. “I don’t suppose you’re free this evening to help me?”
Anya gave her an apologetic smile. “Xander’s taking me out to the first of Cordy’s class plays,” she said excitedly.
“Ooh, the first post-illness date,” Spike joked lightly. “Gonna be extra loud tonight?”
“To make up for everything that you two have put me through,” Anya retorted defensively.
Jonathan flushed bright red at all the sex talk.
Fortunately, Willow and Oz arrived at that moment to save him.
“Hey, our two house ghosts have arrived!” Xander announced jovially. “For a while there we thought the two of you were victims to Hell Semester, and no one had even bothered to tell us.”
Willow tried to smile at that, but given the reality of Oz’s situation, it was a little hard to do.
The pair was instantly met with concerned looks.
“Somethin’ happen?” Spike asked, noticing both sets of drawn features.
Oz shrugged and sat down. “Might get expelled,” he said in his usual dry monotone. “Nothing big.”
Xander chuckled at Oz’s joke, and then frowned when he slowly began to realize that this wasn’t a joke. “Wait, you were kidding, right?” he demanded.
Oz grimaced. “I wish.”
“How?”
“What?”
“Why?”
The flurry of questions all came out just as the wandering adventurers returned with the pizza they’d freed from the tyranny of the dining hall staff.
“What’s going on?” Devon asked, concerned.
Willow and Oz exchanged a look. “Pretty much everyone is here,” she pointed out. “Except Tara.” Her brow furrowed. “Where’s Tara?” she inquired. “She usually eats around now…”
“She hasn’t been around much this week,” Elizabeth provided. “I think she’s got papers due.”
Willow nodded before turning back to Oz. “Now’s as good a time…” she trailed off.
Oz nodded. There was no way the people he’d dropped that little admission to were going to let it pass, and soon everyone else would be trying to drag it out of him as well. “Veruca and I torched Simmonds’ place. She got expelled. I’m up before the board of directors today to see if I’m getting expelled, too.”
Stunned silence filled the table at that.
“So, yeah, bye. In case I get kicked out,” Oz finished.
“They can’t kick you out!” Cordy finally insisted, still in shock. “I mean, really, who hasn’t thought about burning down a professor’s house? Huh? Anyone?”
The hint of a smile turned up the edges of Oz’s lips. “Thanks,” he nodded in her direction.
“Man, when did this all happen?” Devon asked, concerned that his friend hadn’t told him.
“A while back,” Oz admitted. “I was kinda a fugitive for a while.”
Spike batted one hand in the air dismissively. “They can’t kick you out,” he insisted. “Even if they try, we’ll just let you back in.”
“Y-Yeah,” Willow agreed, an idea forming in her head, “I mean, they’ll probably kick you out of housing, but it’s not like they can close off Devon’s room from you.”
“Thanks,” Oz agreed, “but I want to hear the verdict before I figure out what I’m doing.”
Elizabeth reached over and gave his hand a squeeze. “Are you all right?” she asked sincerely.
He gave his usual curt nod and finished up the pizza he’d wisely selected in record time. “Are we…?” he trailed off, casting an inquiring look in Willow’s direction.
“We’ve still got plenty of time,” Willow informed him, checking her watch.
“Yeah, I know,” Oz agreed, “but I’d…” He cast a nervous look at the faces around him. Obviously, his confession had been a bit more difficult than he’d let on. And even though no one seemed to be accusing him, he felt rather like some specimen in a zoo that everyone was staring at.
Willow sighed and plucked a Tupperware container from her backpack to ‘liberate’ her salad. The food and strategic pieces of silverware safely secured within her oh-so-innocent looking bag, she got up to leave. “Wish us luck,” she requested.
“Good luck,” everyone echoed in unison.
Oz and Willow practically fled the dining hall.
Everyone blinked.
“Well, that was sure…abrupt,” Devon pointed out.
“Is anyone else wondering if that was just some random hallucination?” Xander wondered.
Anya, Cordy, and Spike all put up their hands in unison.
“Good, then at least it’s a mass hallucination,” Xander managed a slight smile.
“Now I feel guilty,” Elizabeth commented.
She got several quizzical looks in response.
“I mean, here I am griping about my life, and Oz’s worried about being expelled?” she clarified. “Makes my problems seem kind of pathetic.”
“Welcome to the club,” Cordy agreed.
“Th-They’re not really going to kick him out, are they?” Jonathan chimed in. “B-Because we could probably do something…” He trailed off.
“Got the decided feelin’ he wants to get through this on his own,” Spike commented. “Not always the easiest choice to make, but sometimes necessary.”
“Yeah, because you did so well getting through everything on your own,” Anya retorted.
He winced at that. “’Least made me realize that there was no purpose in tryin’ while you two busybodies were meddlin’ in my life.” He cast a fond/annoyed glance in Anya and Cordy’s direction.
“And learning to just cave in to us,” Cordy agreed with a grin, “the most important lesson you’ll ever learn.” She stared at the bottom of her orange juice. “Will you get me another glass?” she pleaded him, fluttering long, dark lashes in his direction.
Spike groaned in protest.
“I’ve got it,” Xander assured him, taking the empty glass from Cordy’s hand and earning himself a wide smile for his efforts. He blushed in response.
Anya frowned. “Can you get me another apple, too?” she requested, trying to catch his attention.
“Huh?” He shook his head and turned to look at her.
“Apple,” she repeated. “One of the green ones. And no bruises.”
“Right. Sure thing, Ahn,” he agreed before heading off, glass in hand.
Anya sighed but shook the thoughts from her head.
“Don’t worry so much about dear old dad,” Cordy was reassuring Elizabeth. “Yeah, he’ll stick with the tough act for a little while, but he’ll cave in soon. Just pull the whole sweet little girl act with him next time you see him, and he’ll let you off the hook.”
“That makes so much sense that I’m going to pretend that I’d already thought of it to save myself the embarrassment,” Elizabeth agreed with a small smile. “Yeah, he never really has been very…consistent about anything.”
“You should set a series of reasonable goals and then achieve them,” Anya said brightly. “Start by seeing if you can get him down to two econ classes next year and take it from there.”
“Or, alternately,” Andrew nervously joked, “Jonathan and I could hack into the school’s computer and put false classes under your name.”
Elizabeth laughed at that one. “Thanks,” she agreed, “although I think Oz could use the hack job more than me…”
Everyone sobered at that again.
“Do we know when they’re getting back?” Anya wondered. “Because I want to know what happens.”
“S’pose they’ll come back by the dorm when everything’s settled,” Spike commented. “We’ll just hafta wait till then…”
* * *
“God, you make me feel so good,” Elizabeth moaned, head thrashing back against the pillows as her thighs firmly held Spike’s head in place between them.
Not that he had any desire to stop, of course. He looked up at her with dreamy blue eyes, delighting in her pleasure. He wished she could always be like this, no pain, no worries, just bliss… He lowered his eyes to the task before him and nipped gently at her clit, twisting it slightly.
She gasped in response, and her knees turned into Jell-O, unconsciously releasing him. However, her hands quickly replaced her thighs, twining into his hair, savoring its softness…
A third finger pressed into her silken folds, spreading her open wide and striking that sensitive spot deep within her. He was always torn whether to draw this out and make her ecstasy last or to give her immediately what she so desperately craved. Immediately won out this time.
“Spike…” His name fell from her lips like a prayer.
Lazily, he crawled up her body, spooning up against her slight form. “You called, luv?” he whispered huskily.
“Why talk?” she pouted. “Want more.”
He smiled at her mock-childish talk and rolled her over to face him. “My love,” he said tenderly before capturing her lips with his own.
Elizabeth sighed and wrapped one leg over his hip, inviting his inside. Her hands traced the sharp contours of his face, while their lips explored and caressed, and she once again concluded that this man was unbelievably, breathtakingly beautiful…
Instinctively, their bodies joined, once more merging into one. Their intense kiss grew lazy, and they moved apart, just looking at each other and feeling the way her body held him so tight within her.
“You don’t feel guilty…?” she began.
“Never,” he cut the thought off. “Never regret our happiness for a second.”
“Never,” she agreed softly, the fingers of one hand twining around his and guiding it to her breast.
He let out a gasping breath, causing them both to moan as he shifted within her. Ever since his entry, the two of them had remained still, just allowing their natural bodily rhythms to cause them to rock together.
“Tell me you love me,” she requested softly, fingertips gliding down the sweat-slicked skin of his back.
“I love you,” he assured her fervently. “God, I love you so much… I…” He trailed off helplessly, unable to convey the depths of his emotions with mere words. Instead, his lips met hers once more, and his hips began thrusting deep within her, starting the cascade of sparks throughout her body once more.
“You’re so beautiful,” she sighed, “so perfect…”
And then his lips fully trapped hers, and there were no more words, no more thoughts, just wonderful, heated oblivion…
“You know,” she commented with a gasp when their bodies had finally broken apart, “technically, I was supposed to be doing my econ homework…”
He gave her a lopsided grin from where he was lying beside her, staring up at the ceiling. “If you wanted to get any homework done, then you shouldn’t’a been so naked,” he pointed out reasonably enough.
“I wanted to,” she insisted. “It’s just that I was getting all ready to do my homework, and then there was this cute Spike butt.” She patted the source of her distraction. “And then I went, ‘Hmm…econ or cute Spike butt?’, and I realized that it was a very rhetorical question.”
He laughed. “So now ‘s my fault you’re not doin’ your homework?” he teased.
“No, it’s your sexy butt’s fault,” she clarified. “Bad butt,” she joked slightly, giving it a playful swat.
A fire lit up in the backs of his eyes. “Oh, you have no idea what you’ve just started, Summers…” His voice was low, husky, erotically dangerous…
“Bad butt,” she repeated with an unashamed grin and another little swat.
And then she screeched when Spike tackled her and rolled her onto her stomach so that he could get at her own rear end. He gave her a little swat in return – nothing at all painful, of course – and she giggled and squirmed beneath him, trying to get away.
“Big Bad’s got you now,” he teased, tickling her sides mercilessly.
She giggled and squirmed and finally managed to turn beneath him. “Must escape evil clutches…” she joked back amidst her mirth.
“And my bad butt,” he reminded her, settling between her spread thighs once more.
A delight little hum escaped her throat when she realized that he was hard for her once more. “Good butt,” she countered, giving it an encouraging little squeeze…
* * *
“Are you all right?” Willow asked softly as they stepped out of the administration building.
Oz nodded numbly. “I expected worse, y’know?” he sighed.
“It wasn’t your fault,” Willow insisted. A pause. “Well, OK, it was kinda your fault that you let Veruca screw with your head like that, but not really.”
Oz managed a weary smile and Willow’s charming tendency to babble. “Thanks for coming with me,” he finally said into the still of the night.
“Hey, no prob,” Willow assured him. “What are best friends for?”
“I know you have a lot of work,” he agreed. “And when did you last have time for Tara?”
“Best friend currently not in jail or expelled,” Willow pointed out. “I’d say that’s definitely worth all the time.”
“Well, not expelled permanently,” Oz corrected. “I am kind of expelled for the semester.”
“But is it really an expulsion if they let you come back next year?” Willow wondered. “It’s kinda more like a suspension… Can you get suspended in college?” Her brow furrowed.
“Somehow, I seem to have managed it,” he retorted.
“’Cause it really seems more like a high-school thing, and they never actually used the word ‘suspended’,” Willow continued to ramble. “Which, when you think of it, is actually sorta a cover up. Because, hey, they did suspend you, but they just didn’t want to say it because then they’d be caught up in that whole high-school thing, and—”
Oz put one hand on her arm to halt the endless stream of words. “It’s OK,” he assured her. “I’m all right.”
A tear leaked from the corner of her eye. “But I’ll miss you,” she insisted. “Y-You’ll stay in the dorm, right? Even though they kicked you out of housing? ‘Cause there’s no way they can actually enforce that… Well, there is, but they won’t go to all the fuss of doing it, so you can stay, right?”
He sighed. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “I’m kinda thinking…get away for a while, take a break…”
Willow fought back her sniffles. “Absolutely,” she determined to be supportive. “I mean, whatever you think is best and all…”
He gave her a soft smile and a reassuring pat on the shoulder. “Thanks,” he repeated.
She gave him a smile as well and…
“Slut!”
Willow fell to the ground with the force of the blow, dizzy and confused.
“Traitor!”
Oz’s eyes widened when a severely unhinged Veruca turned on him. Gone was the somewhat-seductive woman who had tried to lure him to his doom. (Yes, he had read too many epics, thank you very much.) And, in her place, was a wild, feral creature. She had several cuts on her face – most of which looked self-inflicted – and it was obvious that she hadn’t paid any attention to any sort of hygiene in weeks.
“You. Are. Mine,” she informed Oz in precise tones. “And you!” She turned to point an accusing finger at Willow. “Stay away from him, slut!”
Willow blinked. “Hello? Gay here!” she felt obliged to point out.
“Slut!” Veruca repeated. “The two of you, working together, set me up I know it, all a set up, made me do it…”
Veruca was babbling irrationally now, and Willow and Oz backed away, not quite sure how to deal with the crazed woman. Oz nodded to the campus police emergency box just a little ways away, and Willow ran after it to get help.
“Lied to me, turned against me, should’ve known I couldn’t trust you, just like all the others, just like daddy…” Veruca went on. “Daddy?” she cried out to the night sky. “Can you hear me now? Well, watch this!”
Oz’s eyes widened when he saw the knife that Veruca produced from her pocket before she was upon him, screeching like a banshee…
* * *
“What would he do if you just said no?” Spike inquired, breaking the post-coital silence that surrounded them.
“The end of the world,” she moaned.
He rolled his eyes. “Seriously,” he insisted.
She squirmed against him slightly uncomfortably. “I don’t know… Cut off my tuition, un-enroll me, and drag me back to Sunnydale.”
“You know that he can’t actually do that, right?” Spike pointed out. “Well, except for the tuition bit,” he conceded.
“Yeah, and without the tuition, the rest follows,” she countered.
“Not necessarily,” he offered. “There’re other options – scholarships, work-study, loans, that sort of thing.”
“Spike,” she said, her tone cool, “I can’t.”
“Why not?” he persisted.
“Because if I turn on him on this I can never go home again is why not,” she informed him matter-of-factly.
“And that bothers you?”
She sighed. “Yes,” she admitted. “Now, can we just not talk about this?” she requested.
He let it go for the moment. “I love you,” he murmured.
Another sigh. “Can we just not talk at all? Can you just hold me?”
“Yeah,” he mumbled, his voice strained, but he acquiesced to her wishes nonetheless.