She was surprised when she entered that nobody was home. She almost felt a little lonely. . . almost. All she wanted to do right now was relax and fall asleep, after she got something to eat. Buffy could just about hear Faith's voice in her head. 'Isn't it crazy how slayin' just always makes you hungry and horny?'
Buffy went over to the fridge to grab whatever was left inside that wasn't yet expired when she noticed the sticky note on the door. 'Went out to the Bronze, be home by 11. I'm sleeping over at Janices tonight. Love ya, Dawn and Willow.' She plucked the note off the fridge door and bent over to throw it in the trash when she felt the slight burn of pain in her lower back. Remembering the battle she just had with a demon twice her size caused Buffy to realize that her whole body ached.
She didn't know what or who the demon was, just that it was strong, not nearly as strong as Glory but almost as strong as Buffy herself. It was slain now but she cringed when she thought of the fight. Her head wasn't really in the 'search and destroy' state of mind which led to her being pretty beat up. She had scrapes and bruises all over, minor stuff that would heal by morning, but her back might take a few days. The demon literally picked her up and body slammed her on a tomb stone like one would see in a wrestling match. The only thing stopping Buffy's back from being completely broken was her Slayer strength.
Forgetting her hunger, Buffy limped up the stairs wincing occasionally to the thoughts of a nice warm shower. Stripping her clothes off carefully she turned the water on and waited for it to warm up before she entered. It wasnt long before the bathroom steamed up and the hot water on her lower back felt good and helped her relaxed. Buffy nearly jumped when she heard a knock on the door.
"Hey Willow, I'll be out in a few"
But the door opened revealing a peroxide-headed vampire, still bruised from two nights ago when he received a pretty brutal beating from Buffy. The thoughts came rushing back to her of the girl's dead body and the trio of geeks and how she abused Spike when he was just trying to help. She knew she shouldn't think like this, Spike being an evil, souless killer and all, but deep down Buffy did feel sorry for him.
"Hello, love" The sound of his voice so low and sultry could make shivers down her spine.
"Spike, what the hell are you doing here!? Can't you say invasion of privacy?" Her voice was high and aggitated. He had seen her naked before, plenty of times, but this time she was a little more vulnerable. She became extremely uptight realizing the only thing seperating them was a very thin shower curtain.
He studied her for a moment taking in her sweet scent and noticing the bruises and marks all over her body. "You're hurt."
Buffy relaxed a little at his words and looked away, not wanting to meet his eyes. "Yeah. . . big bad got pretty rough tonight."
Spike started to take off his leather duster and shirt underneath before moving to his boots. The movement was caught in the corner of Buffy's eye. " Hey! What are you doing?"
"I'm comin' in." Simple as that with three little words, Spike made Buffy tense up again, afraid of what might be coming next. She grabbed the shower curtain from him, trying to cover up as much as she could.
"No, Spike. . ." She was trying to find the exact words to make him back off without physically making him. "You'll get all wet." She noticed he still had his black pants on and that was the first thing she could think of in her mind.
He smirked at her comment and looked into her innocent eyes. "Thanks for your concern but I'll risk it." He grabbed the shower curtain back and climbed into the shower facing Buffy, the water raining into her back. She tried to resist him and flinched as she felt the pain in her back come alive again. Spike tilted his head to one side as he looked her up and down in the steamy shower. Buffy's head was lowered, her chin almost resting on her chest. He could feel her heartbeat rising and he took his fingers and lifted her face so to look him straight in the eye.
"I won't hurt you pet."
Buffy couldn't say a word. She didn't know what to say to him. His eye was still swolen and his face still black and blue. The guilt of her actions flooded her mind but before she could say anything Spike told her to turn around. He grabbed the bar of soap and lathered it up in his hands before he started gently rubbing it on her body.
"Spike. . ."
"Sshhh, I'll take care of you." She couldn't protest. Buffy had never seen this softer side of Spike before. He wasn't trying to take advantage of her.
When he was done, Spike turned off the water and pushed back the curtain, getting out of the shower first. He offered his hands to Buffy and she gladly took them, helping her out. She was like a porcelien doll, all small and fragile. Spike took a towel and dried her body being just as carefull as before with neither of them saying a word. Buffy grabbed her bathrobe off the back of the door and put it on as Spike dried him self off, or at least what was exposed.
"Come on, lets get you to bed."
They entered Buffy's bedroom and Spike pulled back the covers for her, acting as gentlemanly as he could. She didn't even change, just clung to her cotton robe and tried as best she could to crawl into bed without aggrivating her lower back too much. When she finally got comfortable Spike slipped back into the bathroom to grab his clothes and then returned to her bedside. He sat on the edge of the bed, sliding his shoes and shirt on while Buffy watched him, wondering what was going on in his head of his.
"I'm sorry." whispered Buffy, her emotions swelling up inside. "For what I. . . said a-and did to you. I'm sorry."
Spike took a minute to think of the right words to say. "No worries, love." He breathed in, frightened of how these next words would sound to her ears. "Can't say I . . . actually deserved it."
"No, no you didn't. Just w-with the dead girl, Katrina, it was too much. But, I just don't understand how a couple of geeks can. . . just, screw up my life." She half laughed. "But, then again, it was pretty much already screwed over as good as it could be." She sighed, wondering how her life might be different, 'If what? If I didn't die? Or if I wasn't brought back?'
"You know I wouldn't let anything happen to you, right?" Spike asked hoping he wouldn't just get the brushoff.
Buffy looked him straight in those electric blue eyes of his. "Yeah" She gave him a weak smile. "I know."
They looked at each other like that before Spike slowly brushed away a stray hair from her face, leaning in to kiss her soft lips. . .
"Buffy?!" The voice out of nowhere startled the secret lovers. Buffy could hear muffled footsteps up the hall stairs. Spike jumped, not sure if he should hide or, or do something. He just stood up, his eyes searching Buffys for an answer. "Buffy?! Heyyy, there you are." It was Xander. Xander, who was here in the house, in the room that just moments ago Buffy was alone in with an undead creature who Xander hated with a fiery passion. Fiery enough to turn the vampire into dust.
"Spike...?" He searched both parties eyes, coming up with no reasonable explanation. "What the hell. You sick son-of-a-bitch!" The words were fuming out of Xanders mouth. "You just can't give it up can you!? Buffy! Did he touch you? Did he hurt you? Are you okay?"
"No! It's oka-" Buffy tried but before she could finish Xander grabbed ahold of Spike, the leather duster wrapped in his fists. She could just imagine what this scene would look like to him.
"If you laid a finger on her. . ."
"Oh get ahold of yourself, you bloody git. Like I would harm a hair on her body!" Spike was getting annoyed. All he heard from Xander now-a-days was how low and unworthy he was.
"Xander... don't," Buffy tried.
"What did you do? Why are you here?" Xander yelled, his anger and concern burning inside.
Spike smirked, tilting his head to provoke the whelp. "Wouldn't you like to know?" In a flash Spike was slammed up against the wall, Buffy sitting helplessly in bed.
"Xander!" Buffy tried to sit up, her back still aching that it made doing anything difficult.
By now he was laying a few punches on Spike and surprisingly, Spike was taking it even in his already bruised state. When he got a chance, Spike pushed the whelp off of him, knocking him into a bedside table but not hard enough to send the chip off. He walked a few steps forward, standing in front of the door. Xander came right back at him knocking him into the hallway where they struggled before Spike was knocked down the stairs, tumbling and seriously injuring any normal mortal body. But Spike was anything but normal and certainly not mortal so he just got up, brushed himself off and slammed the front door as he and his humility walked outside.
At the sound of Spike rolling down the stairs, Buffy jumped and yelped as she cringed at the painful pull of her lower back. Xander was in the hallway, staring at the door when he heard Buffy cry out in pain. He rushed back in to see what happened and Buffy grabbed her robe, just remembering that was all she was wearing. " Oh my god, Buffy, whats wrong?"
"Nothing, I'm fine. I-it's just my back."
"What happened? Did Spike-"
"No! Spike was just helping me." Buffy carefully laid back, looking up at Xander. "Some, demon thing, got me on patrol tonight. What are you doing here anyway?"
A little suspicious that that was all Spike was doing Xander let the subject drop and explained to Buffy that he was just dropping Willow off and making sure she knew that Dawn would not be home tonight.
"Yeah, I saw the note."
"Okay then, you sure you're okay?"
"Yep, special healing powers remember? I'll be good again in a couple of days. You don't have to worry."
"You know I always do." Xander smiled and then left, leaving Buffy to her own thoughts. It wasn't long till she was in full sleep mode. In fact, Willow had just come up to peek in on her when there was snoring that indicated that Buffy was good as dead, in sleep terms anyway.