Author's note: It's short, sorry about that. This is just kind of meant as my short reintroduction to fanfiction. I typed most of this at my Grandma's house and she doesn't have a program with spell check. I've gone over it, but I'm human, so I probably missed a few mistakes. Tell me what you think about it, okay?
Disclaimer: I do not own nor did I create Buffy the Vampire Slayer or any of the characters in this story, no, actually, the bloody carolers are mine! But other than that, they don't belong to me, and I made no profit. So bugger off about legalities.
Christmas is the time of the year that people become friendlier and more cheery. Most people fall into the mood of Christmas and parade about their town shopping and humming carols into the wind. Christmas is infectious.
Carolers travel in groups of five to ten to more and gather on peoples' lawns to sing to the people inside and around. A lot of people come outside with hot chocolate to smile and watch the carolers. Wives whisper to their husbands about the adorable little child caroler and the husbands smile widely and pretend to agree.
Sunnydale, California is a dangerous place for carolers; it's a dangerous place for nearly everyone. Carolers in Sunnydale usually go missing. So groups of carolers usually travel in large numbers with concealed weapons of self-defense.
The average Sunnydale citizen enjoys listening to the carolers sing their merry songs. But not everyone finds their melody of voices on their lawn appealing.
Carolers often frequent the nicer streets of Sunnydale. And they are usually greeted with warm smiles and regretfully declined offers of hot chocolate. In one house on the street was the slayer and the slayers friends. They were celebrating the holiday together, but a certain bleached vampire was keeping things from being altogether cheery.
When the carolers stopped in front of the Summers' house they set up their small, plastic music stands and quickly fell into their practiced formation.
Inside the house Buffy sat on the couch between Willow and Xander. Giles sat in a recliner and Spike stood by the fireplace facing away from the rest of them. Giles held a steaming cup of tea, Buffy a cup of hot chocolate and Xander and Willow's cups sat empty on the table.
Xander leaned over close to Buffy. "Your little friend," He whispered and nodded in Spike's direction. "Is killin' the mood."
Buffy didn't say anything in response to Xander but she stood up, setting down her cup and stepped over Willow's legs towards Spike. "I think I heard carolers." She said, more to Spike than to anyone else. "Let's go outside."
Everyone took Buffy's invitation as one only for Spike. They watched her lea the quiet vampire outside and then they all looked at each other. "He's gone insane." Xander muttered. "And she pampers him like a puppy!" Giles and willow said nothing.
Spike looked at the carolers and then at Buffy. They hadn't yet started singing and for that he was glad. "Something wrong, luv?" He asked.
She motioned for him to be quiet and she pointed at the carolers. "Let's listen to the carolers." He looked back at them as they started to sing.
"Silent night,
Holy
night
All is calm,
All is bright.
Round yon virgin
Mother
and child,
Holy infant so tender and mild.
Sleep in Heavenly
peace.
Sleep in Heavenly peace."
Spike looked at Buffy and she looked at him. He put an arm carefully around her shoulder and to his surprise she leaned against him and encouraged the touch.
Something in him stirred. He never thought he'd be so close to her again. After all the ways he'd screwed everything up in the past. How did she always end up back in his arms?
He knew it wouldn't last.
He pulled her toward him and they faced each other. The carolers continued singing, a small group of people gathered around to listen. And Spike kissed Buffy lightly on the lips, she didn't pull away. They kissed in the cool air. Their lips barely touching but passing a torrent of feeling between them. In the few seconds the kiss lasted Spike apoligized for everything wrong he had ever done and Buffy forgave him. For those few seconds they forgot they were in Sunnydale, California. Buffy forgot she was the slayer and Spike forgot that he was what she was meant to slay.
"Stop peeping you two," Giles said to Xander and Willow in his paternal, watcher sort of way. But his curiosity eventually won over him. "What is going on out there anyway?"
"I thought you didn't want us peeping?" Xander asked but the quick scowl he recieved from Giles made him think twice about telling him. "They kissed."
"It wasn't like gross eating-each-other's-faces kiss though," Willow quicky shot in at the dismayed look on Giles' face. "It was more," She paused to think. "Romantic getaway to the mountains kiss."
"I cannot believe you just said that Willow!" Xander said and looked at Willow like she was insane. "How can anything that invovles Buffy and ... and Spike be romantic!"
Giles sighed heavilly and looked away from them and the window. "Stop watching them." He said slowly.
Buffy slowly pulled away from Spike's touch and looked down. Spike lifted her chin slowly. "Is this just a Christmas thing?" He wanted to ask if things had changed. If she would love him. If she would let him love her in all the ways he longed to. But he couldn't. He couldn't say those things to her. He was too afraid.
She looked back at the caroloers. "Spike, nothing can happen between us." She whispered and turned back towards the door. "It never works out. We both just end up hurt." She opened it slowly. "That kiss, should never have happened." With that she went inside, closing the door behind her, and left him alone with the carolers who continued their song, unknowing that a vampire's heart has just broken again right in front of them.
"Happy bleeding Christmas to you too," He muttered bitterly toward the house. "Slayer."
