Summary: Early S.6, Spike keeps Buffy company while she's
at home sick. PG-13
Authors Notes: I know I haven't had really good fics in the past, but I
think this one is better than the rest. AND I CRAVE FEEDBACK, please?
------
CHAPTER 1: Prologue
Buffy made her way downstairs, trash basket in hand while holding her
stomach with the other.
"Buffy, whats wrong? Are you sick?" asks Willow taking the
basket from her and helping her on to the couch.
"I don't feel good." was all she could say behind fighting
back the urge to barf all over Willows nice outfit.
"Well, did something do this to you? Were you cursed or
something?"
"No," her stomach grumbles. "I think it's just the good
ol' flu. Damn that bug."
"Oh. So you're not gonna go Bronzing with the rest of us
tonight?"
"I'm sorry, Wil. I just don't think my stomach is up to it."
"You want me to stay here and take care of you?"
"No, no. Go out, have fun. I'll be fine here on the couch. Don't
let me ruin your party night."
"Okay. But I'm gonna call Spike and see if he wants to come over
and watch a little TV with you. I really don't want you to be alone when
your sick and weak."
"Wil, you really don't have to do that. He's probobly got other
plans anyway."
Just then Spike comes in the front door with a bunch of bags in his
hands. Ironic, isn't it?
" 'Ello, 'ello. How's my favorite house of Scoobies tonight?"
he asks setting the bags down in front of the stairs. His cheery mood,
however, changes when he see's Buffy lying on the couch, white as a
ghost and all sweaty. "Whats wrong, what happened?" he says
hurrying over to her side, where Willow still sat.
"Nothing, she's just got the flu." says Willow. "But this
is perfect, you can stay here and watch her while we go out." she
says giving him a hope-full look.
Spike looks down at Buffy's wide eyes, she was obviously embarrassed at
her appearance. She was wearing an old pair of black sweatpants and a
red tank top. *Hhmm,* Spike thought, *My favorite colors. Not bad.* He
looked up at her hair and noticed that it was pulled into a messy bun on
the top of her head, probobly to keep the hair out of the on coming
vomit, and to keep it off her neck. It was so damn hot. Even in her
messy decor, she was still the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.
"Ya, of course. I'll stay here." he says taking off his coat.
He sets it on the stair railing and walks back to Buffy.
"Ok then. Well I'm leaving," Willow says to the both of them.
Then she speaks directly to Spike. "Take good care of her."
Then she turns toward Buffy as she heads out the door. "Call me if
you need anything. You know the number." Grabbing her jacket and
cell phone she opens the door to leave. "Bye!"
CHAPTER 2: It could be worse
"I'm sorry this was such short notice. You can leave if you want,
I'm really fine by my self." Buffy says while fiddling with her
hands.
Spike smirks and walks over to her. He takes her hands in his own, to
make her stop fidgeting, and looks her in the eye when he says,
"I'm not going anywhere, slayer. Get used to it." He gives her
the most sincere smile she had ever seen form him, but then, *Uh oh.*
she thought. Just then her small smile faded and she puked, all over his
shirt.
Spikes smile also fades as he looks down at the mess she'd made of his
shirt. When he looks back up at her she has her hand over her mouth and
her eyes are wide. "I am so sorry." she says getting up.
"S'alright. I've had worse on my shirt before."
"Let me get you something to change into to. Ugh, I feel horrible
about this. I really am sorry."
"Buffy, luv, its okay. Like I said, I've had much worse."
"Okay. Hold on, I got something you can change in to. Just a
second," she says as she begins to walk over to the stairs. Before
she goes up she stops and looks at Spike, who had his back toward her.
He begins to slowly take his shirt off, and Buffy couldn't help but
stare as the muscles in his back tensed and relaxed with ever move of
his arms. *He does have great arms, and nice skin.* Buffy thought. *Wait
a minute, this is Spike! Oh but how he's changed. He's so much more
gentle and forgiving than he was before. And he has the sweetest
smile...* Buffy's thoughts were brought to a screetching hault when she
noticed Spike starting to turn and she sprinted up the stairs.
When she came back down he was no where in sight, so she ventured into
the kitchen, where she found him scrubbing away at his shirt. "I
can't apologize enough. Here," she said handing him the clothes she
had brought for him. "Xander keeps them here in case of an
emergency, but he has yet to use them so..."
Spike eyed the clothes that she brought him. A plain baggy black t
shirt, and a pair of baggy grey pants. He decided they were fine and
kindly thanked her. He went into the bathroom to change and found that
the clothes fit quite nicely. Much more comfortable than his usual
attire.
When he came out Buffy was waiting for him. She took his dirty clothes
and brought them down to the cellar, where she was starting a load of
laundry to clean them up. While she was down there Spike cleaned things
up for her. He made a sick bed for her on the couch, and changed her
basket. Then he started to boil some water for hot chocolate.
She came back up and was surprised to see him putting some groceries
away. That must have been what was in the bags he brought over.
"You went grocery shopping?"
"Um, ya. Had a little extra cash lying around, thought I might make
some good use of it."
"Spike, you don't have to do that." she said with sincerity in
her voice.
He stopped what he was doing and turned to face her completely. "I
know I don't. But I want to. I want to help out you and Dawn."
Buffy couldn't think of anyway to answer what he had just said. He was
so honest and he cared so much for them. She actually adored the way he
was treating them.
"Well thank you. It means a lot that you care. And you can come
over whenever you need anything."
"Thank you." He gave her a small smile and together they put
the rest of the groceries away.
Toward the end of the project Buffy began to feel light headed, and
nearly collapsed on the floor, luckily Spike was there to catch her
fall.
"You alright?" he asked.
"Ya, I'm just... really tired all of a sudden." Spike scooped
her up in his arms to carry her back to the livingrom, and was surprised
when he felt her snuggle up against him. He sofly laid her down on the
couch and pulled a light blanket over her. She never opened her eyes but
when he started to walk back into the kitchen he could hear her say,
"Thank you, Spike." He just smiled to himself and walked into
the kitchen, to make himslef more at home.
CHAPTER 3: No more games
About an hour later Buffy awoke from her nap to find Spike sitting on a
chair, watching TV, still in Xanders pajama's.
"Hey." she said wearily as she forced herself into an upright
position. "How long was I asleep for?"
"Just over an hour. How are you feeling?"
"Oh, much better. A nap is exactly what I needed." she said
between yawns. Spike turned the television off and stood to go into the
kitchen. When he came back he was holding two mugs. "Whats
this?" Buffy asked as he handed her a mug.
"Hot cocoa. Always makes me feel better, I thought it could
help."
"Aw, thanks." she said as she looked down into her cup.
"No little marshmallows?" she asked with a pouty face.
"I couldn't find any."
"Couldn't find any? I have a secret stash of 'em just for when
you're here."
"Really? Just for me?"
"Ya, and, well, you know me, I don't like to share." They
exchanged chuckles and Spike got back up to go find them.
"Where are they?" he yelled from in the kitchen.
"Mmm, in the cupbourd, behind the box of oatmeal." she yelled
back after taking a sip.
Spike came back out with a grin on his face and a bag of mini
marshmallows in his hand. Buffy held out her cup and he poured
some in, and then repeated it with his own.
Buffy took a sip, taking in one of the little marshmallows. "Mmmmmmm,
makes a big difference." Spike just smiled at her and then looked
down into his cup, taking a sip from time to time.
After a long period of awkward silence Buffy spoke up. "Wanna play
a game?"
Spike looked up from his mug, with a suspicious look on his face.
"What kind of game?"
"20 questions, I was thinking it could let us get to know each
other a little better."
"Okay. You first."
"Whats your full name?"
"William Joseph Madden. How old were you when you were called to be
a slayer?"
"Aw, I like your real name. And I was 15. Whats your real hair
color?"
"Brown. What was the scariest thing you've come to face?"
"Um, probobly Glory. I was so afraid that if I made one wrong move,
Dawn would die and I would be alone." There was a little bit of
silence as Spike just nodded and took in eveything she said. "Were
you ever afraid of me?" she finally asked him.
"Yes. I think you've had the chance to kill me so many times and
you never have. I feel pretty damn lucky for that. Who did you love
more: Angel, or commando boy?"
"Angel, he was my first true love and I think I will always have a
place for him in my heart, no matter what happend or happens between us.
Speaking of Angel, why do you hate him so much?"
"I've known him much longer than you have. I know what kind of
things he does, what torture he inflicts. He's sick, or, at least
Angelus was. He was always better than me, I could never beat him.
Everything I'd do, he'd already done. I was always second. And after you
and he...after Angelus came back, Dru had basically left me. She
left me alone in that wheelchair and I couldn't do a damn thing to
change it. But I promised myslef that as soon as I could, I was gonna
kill him. Even if I had to turn to the enemy to do it. However, now I
realize that it was him that made Dru leave me, and that it was for
good. I'm better off without her."
Buffy sat there, listening to Spike's reasons for hating Angel, and
couldn't help but feel sorry for him. He was right, Angel had caused him
to lose Drusilla, but he was better off.
"Ok, my turn. Have you ever had any feelings for me? Tell the
truth."
He was watching her so intently that i made her blush. "Maybe a
little."
"When?"
"Right before I died. When we came back here to load up on weapons
and you stopped me at the top of the stairs. What you said, it moved me.
And for the first time I really did see you as a man, and not a monster.
I felt for you."
Spike sat back in his chair, never taking his eyes of hers. She was
telling the truth. *She had the tiniest bit of affection for me, thats
good, right?* The thought made his heart want to beat again.
"What is your biggest fear?" she finally asked.
"Being alone for the rest of my unlife." He says as he leans
toward her. Then he asks, "Could you ever love me?"
Buffy was cought offguard at the question. *How can I answer that? I
don't know!*
"I..." she started but couldn't bring herslef to finish the
statement.
"Never mind. Forget I asked that."
"Maybe we should do something else."
"Ya, lets watch a movie or something."
"I don't really have any good ones here."
"Do you wanna rent something? I can go up there, I've got my car
with me."
"Sure. Can I go with you?"
"Ya, lets go." he says. They both slip their shoes on and head
outside to Spikes rarely used DeSoto.
"I can't believe you still have this thing. Its so old."
"What can I say? I'm old."
CHAPTER 4: A good movie, some popcorn, and a little love
"So what did you find?" Buffy asks.
"Um, House on Haunted Hill and The Wedding Singer."
"Oooo good. I like them both." She stops to look at the people
around her, all wearing party clothes, and then she looks at her and
Spike, both wearing pajamas and her hair probobly looked disgusting. But
she didn't care, she shook it off and waited in line with Spike as they
cashed out.
When they got back to Buffy's she practically jumped in front of the
television.
"Which one you wanna watch first?" she asked.
"I don't care, you pick." Buffy looked at the two movies and
decided to go with House on Haunted Hill. She popped the movie in the
VCR and sat back to watch the previews.
"Spike, hurry up! The movie's about to start!" she yelled to
him.
He came walking out of the kitchen holding a big bowl of popcorn and a
couple soda's. "Alright, I'm here." He set everything down on
the coffee table and pulled it up in front of the couch.
Buffy sat at one end and Spike at the other, a massive mound of blankets
and pillows separating them. They watched the movie in silence, just
munching away on the popcorn and soda.
"Wow, he's hot." Buffy said, pointing out the camera guy in
the movie. "He looks so familiar though."
"I like his hair." said Spike, causing Buffy to explode into
laughter.
When that movie was over Spike immediatly got up to put the other one
in. Buffy got up to take a bathroom break and get more soda.
"What kind do you want, Spike?"
"Cherry." he said as he got up and layed down on the couch,
one hand above his head and the other holding the remote control.
Buffy came back in the room holding the soda's but Spike didn't get up
or make any room for her on the couch.
"Excuse me, I'm the one who's sick here, I should get the
couch."
"Bloody hell, your fine." he said still not moving a muscle.
Buffy set the drinks down on the coffee table and got ready to jump.
"Okay, if thats the way you want it." she said. Spikes eyes
got wide at her intentions but it was too late. She jumped right onto
his stomach.
"Ow!"
"Thats what you get for stealing the slayers spot."
"Well, gee, if it means that much to you." he said trying not
to laugh. He shifted so that he was sitting up, but he propped his feet
up on the table, and much to his surprise, Buffy leaned up against him.
He carefully put his arm around her, so as not to scare her off, and was
happy when she made no move to leave. *This is turning out rather well.*
They watched the entire movie like that, and Spike went nuts when he saw
a clip of Billy Idol's 'White Wedding' music video in the movie.
"I love Billy Idol." He said after he clamed down.
"Ya, I could tell." said Buffy, chuckling and noting his hair
and usual choice of clothing.
Toward the end of the movie, Spike was ecstatic to find that Billy Idol
made a cameo. Buffy thought it was kind of cute, how he had an idol,
named Billy Idol, hehe.
The credits started to roll up the screen and Spike clapped. "Good
movie, eh? Loved the music."
"It was all about the 80's."
"The 80's were a very influential time period in my unlife. My
favorite decade, I have to say."
"The 80's were cool. You know, you should wear your hair like Billy
Idol. Spiked up instead of slicked back." Without any word from
Spike, Buffy reached up, and messed Spikes hair up, then spent a minute
making it look like Billy's. "See, it looks better already."
"Why do you care what my hair looks like?"
"Well if I'm going to be seen with you, you gotta look good."
Spike pretended to be insulted. "You don't think I'm pretty enough
already?" He asked with a hand on his chest.
Buffy laughed. "No, I think you're very pretty, but the hair had to
change."
"You want me to keep it like this?"
"Would you mind?"
"No."
"Then keep it. It makes you look hot."
"You think I'm hot?"
"Ugh, I think you are good looking, you know, for a dead guy."
"I knew it." he said with a smirk.
Buffy's mouth flew open, but she had no words, so she threw some popcorn
at him.
"What was that for?" he asked throwing some back at her.
"I don't know." she said starting to laugh. Then she spotted
her pillow and picked it up, and stared hitting him with it.
CHAPTER 5: Never let go
It turned into a huge pillow/popcorn war as they squirmed around on the
couch trying to hit one another. Somehow Buffy ended up on Spike's lap
as she continued to smack him in the face with the pillow. He couldn't
take it anymore. He sat up and grabbed her around her waist, pushing her
down to the other end of the couch. He landed right on top of her and
grabbed her wrists so she couldn't hit him anymore.
Buffy found herself starting to blush at the situation they were in.
He was on top of her, holding her wrists above her head. She could
easily feel his hard body pressed against hers through the thin clothing
they were both wearing. And his face, oh his beautiful face was so close
to hers. He smelled so good, I know its weird, but its true. His eyes
were so blue, and full of love. His hair was all spikey now and made him
look even younger and sexier than before. And his lips, they were so
close to her own, and looked so soft and yummy. *Wait, this is Spike,
the guy I'm supposed to hate. Oh But look at him, he wouldn't hurt
anybody now. And he does love me. Oh what the hell..*
Just then she leaned up and kissed him hard on his soft but strong lips.
Just a moment ago she was under him, looking so alive and happy. Spike
could see her studying him, but he couldn't imagine what she was
thinking. Now she was kissing him, and oh it felt so good.
Spike hadn't noticed that he let go of her wrists until he felt her
small hands wrap around his body. All he had been thinking about was
kissing her back, and never letting go of this moment. He wanted it to
last forever. But, like all good things, it had to end.
Buffy was the first to pull back, in need of oxygen. When she looked
into his eyes she could see the love and desire there. But there was
also a lot of confusion. Wouldn't you be confused if someone just
started kissing you?
She smiled up at him and he smiled back. "What was that for?"
he asked.
"I don't know." she said. "But I liked it."
"Me too." He leaned down to kiss her again but she put her
finger on his mouth.
"Yes."
"Yes? What do you mean yes?"
"Yes, I think I could love you. I could easily love you. And I'm
willing to give it a chance, if you'll let me."
He never replied, just smiled brightly and kissed her like there was no
tomarrow.
CHAPTER 6: Epilogue
Willow didn't get home until the next morning, she had been out all
night with Tara, Xander, and Anya. They all went to Xander's afterwards
and fell asleep there.
Dawn was at a sleepover that night. Willow picked her up on her way home
and they quietly snuck into the house. What they found made them both
smile.
Buffy and Spike were asleep on the couch together. There was popcorn
everywhere and Spike was wearing Xanders clothes. Buffy was
wrapped in a blanket and snuggled up to Spike. She had a small smile on
her sleeping face. Spike had his arms around Buffy, and a pillow under
his head. He also had a smile on his face.
Willow and Dawn just smiled at each other and crept up the stairs. Just
before they went into their own separate rooms Dawn whispered, "You
gotta love the flu."
The
End