Title: Warm and Safe 4
Name: Joy
Email: SleepingBeauty2@ziplip.com
Rating: PG-13
Buffy was sitting in her basement surrounded by plastic covered material as she painted the walls. The flooding in her basement destroyed enough stuff that the insurance would help her out of some of her debt… especially if she painted the walls herself. Hair tied back and paint clothes being worn, Spike thought she looked as cute and as young as she had when he met her four years earlier. In four years she had aged tons… he hadn't helped in the process. Spike sighed and made his way closer to his luv.
"Ya look good in paint… sort of primal," Spike quipped as Buffy turned toward his footsteps. She had a few drips on her face that added character. One was the shape of a tear. He reached out to her cheek and touched the paint. "Haven't seen you in a while… Thought space might be good…then I got impatient, so I'm here."
"Don't recall ever having seen you in jeans that were ripped… or blue for that matter," Buffy answered turning her cheek from him.
"I knew what you were painting…I lurk, ya know… I came prepared," Spike explained his painter garb. Buffy snorted a bit. "What, luv?"
Buffy rolled her shoulder briefly, almost at the name. "Angel would know things too. He used to say he lurked."
"Is that why you've been avoiding me?" he responded more statement then question. "I knew it would come up now and then…I just didn't anticipate you not seeing me over it."
"He called… I didn't see you because I was seeing him," Buffy said in monotone voice swirling the paint around with the paint stick. "I didn't go to LA… We met in the middle."
Spike tensed… It was obvious that Buffy was expecting fireworks or at least an explosion. The jealousy that raged through Spike, he kept under control knowing that Angel and Buffy could never be together again. It was perfectly reasonable for Angel to want to see her alive and well with his own eyes since he had not seen her laid in the ground like Spike had.
Breathing evenly, Spike cleared his head and spoke, "Does he feel better now that he knows you're okay?"
Buffy's head snapped up in surprise. "No 'Did you kiss him?', 'Did you tell him about us?', or 'Do we need to worry about his soul?'"
Spike put his hand aside her face, "Got a lot of crap from the Scoobies, huh?" Spike let a smile break over his face, "Or did you want me to be full of jealousy to know I still cared? Or maybe you want me so level headed that you'd know I can stand the occasional appearance of my sire?"
Buffy blushed, "Try all of the above…"
Spike kissed Buffy gently and waited for her response. All of the emotions that had been brimming in her overflowed into that kiss. It ignited almost immediately leaving both breathing heavily, despite Spike's no need for air. He looked into her eyes before kissing her again more passionately.
He stopped the roaming of his hands over her body long enough to say, "I am full of jealousy at the thought of you touching him…" He caressed her hip, "or kissing him," he kissed and licked her neck, "or making love to him," the words slid from him as he pressed her body up against his own. "But," Spike said more coolly, "I know that is in the past, the two of you are in the past… I don't need to know that you told him or not about us, mainly because I don't think he would understand at this point… I lost you this summer. I wouldn't want to hear you were with someone else once you were back… I can deal with the fact that Angel was your first love and that you were his only love in centuries… I just need to know we're still on the same page, because if we're not I want to fix that."
"We're on the same page," Buffy said breathily as Spike held her hips in a very erotic and possessive gesture. "I just needed him to know I was okay… We kept our distance for the most part. He hugged me a lot at first and wanted me close but soon realized it was too close for me."
"But me its okay with?" Spike asked as he pulled her the inch closer so he could hold her body next to his and have her head relax against his shoulder.
"Most of the time… like now," she relaxed into his arms.
"When isn't it okay, pet?" he asked slowly and quietly as not to disturb her mood.
"I don't know…" she whispered. "When I feel like if I don't have a moment to myself I'm going to scream. That's normally the moment you arrive and make me feel the most loved and understood." Spike stroked her hair for a while and reveled in the fact that he fit her moods pretty well… gentle when she wanted it and racy when she needed excitement.
"I know I've told you before…I know you didn't believe me then…well because I didn't have a soul… but… I do love you," Spike confessed. He felt her shutter in his arms. As far as he knew this was the first time she cried since she was raised… "Pet… I wasn't trying to make you feel bad…" he whispered in her ear.
Through a sob Buffy said, "I'm only really having strong emotions… It's not bad necessarily… I just want to say it back… It's just not there… so I'm frustrated."
Spike brought Buffy back to face him. "If someone hasn't explained this to you already, I'll try. Emotions take a while to get back…frustration and anger will be among the first. You're mourning…all that you lost… I'm not pushing. I just wanted to say the words and mean them more then I ever had before, alright?" Buffy nodded and wiped her face clean of tears before Spike found her lips again.
"So you want help or do you want to hide by yourself for a while?" he asked sweetly with a big smile.
Buffy smiled back. "Help would be good."
"Where's my 'LilBit'?" Spike asked as he picked up a roller.
"At a friend's house. She'll be home soon. She likes to paint so she'll be down to help as soon as possible," she answered.
"Good… I like my Summers' girls together in one place where I can keep an eye on them… You know that as soon as she starts to date I get first crack at the boys," he announced, pointing the roller at his chest.
"No way… Family first," Buffy countered.
"Hey," Spike snorted as he grabbed Buffy's waist, dragging her up against him. "I am family… Big Bad Brother."
"Oh yeah…"
"Yeah…" Spike stated and kissed her long and hard.
"Whoa…When'd ya start doing that?" Dawn asked at the top of the stairs in her painting clothes.
Buffy leaned her forehead to Spike's chest and laughed. He laughed himself as he said, "Well…since the night you gave me back my soul…"
Dawn took a few steps down the stairs as she said, "Well good… I was worried you two wouldn't work it out, seeing how my sister gets hung up on logistics a lot."
"Oh yeah…" Buffy said splattering Dawn with a little paint from her paintbrush.
"Hey…" Dawn said as she went for a paintbrush and dunked it in the paint.
"Girls… we do not need to paint the floor," Spike said trying to divert a paint war only to find himself soon caked in the slick substance on the front of his shirt and some on his back. "Alright…fine!" he announced as he dueled Buffy and rolled her stomach and got Dawn's back.
As the first coat of paint was applied, Dawn had her own part of the wall she was working on apart from Spike and Buffy, who contentedly worked side by side. Dawn was listening to U2 and dancing as she painted.
"Look pet," Spike nudged Buffy to see the joy her sister was wrapped in. Buffy smiled… "The first time I saw you, you were dancing."
"When… I thought you saw me dusting a vamp…" Buffy recalled.
"Nope… I was in the Bronze… You were dancing with Xander, swaying your hips like that…" Spike said looking at her with lust in his eyes.
"Oh yeah… What else do you remember about that night?" Buffy asked thinking he'd mention how he threatened to kill her.
"Nickel was the band playing…" he whispered before kissing her lips lightly.
They backed away from each other and returned to painting the wall. "Ya know she's going to start dancing with boys the way you did," Spike informed Buffy.
"No way… My intention is to keep her as innocent as possible," she announced.
"How do you think we'll manage that?" Spike said, slipping the 'we'll' in.
"Talk to her about boys a lot…Or we could always just scare the boys," she said slipping into the 'we' idea just fine.
"Hey, we could be really nice to the guys and then when they're about to leave I can go all fangy on them saying 'Curfew is strictly enforced.'"
"Oh, I like that… Or we meet the guys over at the shop in the training area. I'll find it necessary to break boards in their presence."
Spike smiled, "We'll keep her safe, luv."
"Promise?" Buffy asked with innocent eyes.
"Promise… I failed you once. I won't ever do it again," Spike said hugging her.
"I want you to stop saying that. You did not fail me…OKAY!" she said stubbornly. Spike reluctantly nodded.
Dawn continued to dance and paint, totally absorbed in her work. Buffy surprised Spike entirely by saying, "So what will we be doing while Dawn is off dating pre-approved boys?" She stared at the wall as she said the words.
Spike almost dropped his roller but soon regained his composure. "I guess what other parents do… watch TV, cross stitch, shag…" Buffy stopped mid stroke on the wall as her face became a nice shade of salmon. She swallowed and finished the stroke. When she said nothing, Spike got worried. "That was me teasing pet… I didn't expect you to go non-verbal on me."
"What will we do when she comes home with her first broken heart?" Buffy said distracting from the previous comment.
Spike decided to go the sweet approach, "We will sit down with her and listen to her cry about how the boy doesn't understand her. You'll wipe away her tears and kiss her nose. I'll tell her that a man would be a fool to walk away from a Summers woman, because they are amazingly strong and independent women that you can't help but love. We'll put her to bed and sit down stairs aching for her." Spike kept eye contact with Buffy the entire time.
"Why won't we ache for her in our room?" Buffy asked in a whisper.
Spike smirked, "We have a room?"
"Yeah… my mom's old room… It's the parents' room," Buffy said as she kept her attention on the wall.
"It's a pretty dream… I guess I'll sleep on the floor by the door," he said painting the wall not looking at Buffy.
She crinkled her forehead imagining being alone with Spike in her mother's room- with him on the floor. "Why won't you be in bed with me?" the words slipped out of her mouth before she could think about what she was saying.
Spike turned to her, "I wasn't sure you wanted me there because of your reaction to my 'shag' comment earlier." He swiped his paintbrush over her nose.
Buffy soon was caught up in her own little world picturing a variety of things they could do in her mother's big bed. She shook her head slightly to banish the images. Spike's smirk returned as he leaned into her ear. "You're thinking about it," he whispered. "What it would be like with us…" He suckled her earlobe for a moment and then went back to painting.
Spike waited until Buffy returned to painting before bringing up the two witches that resided in the room at the present time. "So how does it work around here? I'd of course pay rent… well, more like help pay the bills. Do Willow and Tara chip in for food and rent?"
"Uh… We haven't talked about it…They've been so good at caring for Dawn, I didn't want to insult them by saying, 'It would be easier for me to pay for only one mouth rather than three,'" Buffy said with a slight huff. "At least with you I don't have to worry about feeding…"
"Hey guys look…" Dawn called as she showed them her expert way of doing the corner she was at. Both Spike and Buffy looked at her proudly.
Much laughter and paint dribbles later, Anya, Xander, Willow and Tara found the three covered in paint, the floor had many shoe and foot prints all over it and the walls were just beginning there second coat. "White looks good on you," Xander called to the laughing idiots in the basement.
"Hey guys…" Dawn bounced over to the lot of them. "Now that Buffy's back, how long are you going to be staying?" she said looking at Tara and Willow.
"Uh…" Willow looked confused.
Buffy and Spike immediately looked at one another, realizing Dawn had overheard their little discussion. Buffy grabbed Dawn by the arm, "That's not on the table yet Dawnie." The look in Buffy's eyes alerted Willow to not having been part of a discussion. "Don't worry about it… No changes will be made for a while," she said to reassure the red head.
"No," she shook her arm free. "I want things to change," Dawn said in her very fifteen –year-old way. "This is the way it should be… us. Just the three of us," she said pointing, including Spike. "They're great but I know you've done the math and it's easier to support you, me and his blood supply then it is to support the four of us."
"Dawn…" Buffy snapped. "This is not up for discussion right now."
"LilBit, we were talking in pretty dreams… We weren't talking about now," Spike spoke quietly as the wide-eyed foursome looked them over with amazed looks.
"But I heard you two… some things would cost less and…" Dawn interrupted.
Spike spoke more forcefully, "Willow and Tara have taken really good care of you Dawn. The last thing any of us want is to be ungrateful for how they have taken care of you… Whatever Buffy and I were discussing about the future isn't up for discussion for the general public yet. Especially when it involves other people's lives." He looked hard at Willow. "You don't chose to change people's lives on a whim Dawn… not when they have been really good to you," he said through clenched teeth.
"What is going on?" Xander interjected, walking over to Spike. "You're talking to her like a parent." His attention turned to Buffy, "What you decided one vampire is as good as another?"
Spike grabbed Xander shirt collar, "Look friend… What happens between me and Buffy is between me and Buffy, but I won't be having you put her down because you don't get it and don't like me." He let go of Xander's shirt. Buffy just glared at Xander.
He looked to Dawn, who had her arms folded over her chest. "You're okay with this?" he questioned.
"Why wouldn't I? Not one of you even tries to understand Buffy the way he does. Willow thinks she's all that because she pulled off the spell. Tara is busy taking care of me…thank you by the way. Anya is running the shop and you're at work. None of you have been dead… None of you really has a clue the kind of responsibility Buffy feels and how isolating it is. You all have each other… Why don't you see that Spike makes the most sense for a partner to Buffy? He loves her more then any of you ever could… What? She doesn't deserve it? She's just saved your asses and the world a hundred times," Dawn barked.
"That's enough," Buffy said quietly taking Dawn's arm.
"No… God you act so high and mighty," Dawn turned on Xander. "You're with an ex demon…and have dated or been attracted to other demons. Willow is so delirious with power, she couldn't even admit that she was wrong to pull you out of heaven." Dawn turned back to Buffy, "I love you too but I know that if you were at peace that is all I could have wanted for you. I'm happy you're home but I'm not going to pretend it didn't cost you or that it isn't selfish to have you here. She's dark and she's getting darker. I don't want her in our house anymore. I love her and I thank her for what she did for me but I won't thank her for what she's put you through."
As Dawn finished speaking, Willow ran up the stairs with Buffy tearing after her. Willow started dumping her clothes into a suitcase when Buffy arrived in Joyce's bedroom. "It's obvious I'm not wanted… I'll go stay with my parents until I find a place."
"Don't be ridiculous… You'll stay here. Dawn will cool off… It's just a lot for a kid to be mad at in the last year…" Buffy said trying to smooth things over.
"You believe her and Casey too…that I'm corrupt," Willow asked with imploring eyes. Buffy looked away. "I knew it…" she raged throwing more clothes in her bag.
"Willow its just… why can't you accept you were wrong? It won't change me being here. I won't be taken away…It would be so much healthier for you just to accept responsibility for your mistake," Buffy comforted.
Willow closed her suitcase and headed for the door. "I'll be over tomorrow…but I'm not staying here tonight," Willow stated loudly. Tara hurried to her side. "I need some time to think," with that she was gone.
"I'm sorry Tara. I tried to stop her…" Buffy said as Tara nodded from the open door.
Buffy stared out the door as Spike came up behind her in that familiar way so she could lean on him. He kissed her temple and rubbed her shoulders, "Let her be pet… She needs to figure things out."
"We shouldn't have said anything in Dawn's ear shot," Buffy said to Tara. "I had no idea that Dawn would say what she did… You are welcome to stay."
Tara nodded again. "She's being corrupted…isn't she?" Tara said when she found her voice.
"Maybe…" Buffy said without committing one-way or the other.
"What was the plan that Dawn over heard? I'd like to know," Tara said quietly.
Buffy and Spike looked at each other and Buffy sighed. Spike wrung his hands and then said, "Dawn was dancing to some music and we talked about the boys that would come calling for her soon. We talked about interviewing them and scaring them with my vamp face so they didn't try anything… then we just started talking about us being here and it being our place rather then Scooby central."
He looked at Tara. "We talked about expenses and … I asked if you and Willow had been chipping in money. I never thought that Dawn would turn on you like that… I wasn't trying to imply that you weren't carrying your weight because God knows you took care of every need of Dawn's…"
"I understand Spike… I understand Dawn too. I know it's nice to have a home that's your own… I guess we got used to this being our home…" Tara muttered. "Until Willow gets her head on straight…can I stay?"
"Of course… We weren't talking about…" Buffy said.
"Now." Tara completed her thought.