Green Eyed Monster
A/N: Ha! One of the first things I ever wrote. If I guessed a date I'd say 2003ish. The punctuation is totally wrong.
Chapter One
It was a quarter till midnight. Slow night of slaying. Buffy entered her kitchen through the back door. Usually she never paid any attention to the appearance. It usually looked the same, everything in its place. However this time it was different. Two coffee mugs sat on the counter along with a bag of miniature marshmallows. Then she heard voices, low and indistinct. Buffy looked at the clock on the microwave.
'Who the hell is here with my mother?' Buffy asked herself indignantly.
She rounded the corner swiftly.
"Spike? What are you doing here?"
Spike and Joyce looked up from the book they'd been reading together.
"Oh Buffy, you're home already?" Joyce looked at the clock. "Oh goodness, I had no idea it was so late."
"Yes Mom. It's late. And Spike, I asked you a question. What are you doing here?"
Spike stood. "I stopped by to talk to Joyce if it's of any business of yours; which it's not".
Buffy crossed her arms over her chest and lifted her chin. "Go. Home."
"T'was just leaving", Spike spat. He had to brush past Buffy because she refused to budge even an inch to let him pass. "Later Joyce," He threw his hand up in a gesture to say goodbye and exited through the front door.
"Buffy? You should really try to be nicer to him," Joyce scolded as she set about tidying up the area.
"Why? It's just Spike. Besides, he shouldn't be here. It's creepy."
Joyce finished fluffing the pillow on the couch and sighed, "Well, I thought you two were friends. He helped you to defeat Glory and patrols for you when you don't feel like it or want to go to the movies with your friends."
"What else does he have to do? He might as well be useful," Buffy retorted shyly and a bit ashamed.
"Well he was being useful. He was keeping me company."
"How? Going over the details of how to disembowel a victim," Buffy stated snidely.
"No. We talked about the new pieces that came into the gallery."
Buffy groaned. She almost pitied Spike. The last thing she wanted to talk about was anything that Joyce did at the gallery.
"Exactly," Joyce righteously stated.
Buffy turned to go up the stairs and mumbled to herself that Spike had her sympathies.
Two weeks later…
"Hey! It's Spike! Just the fang face we wanted to see," Xander piped from the table in the Magic Box.
Spike's steps slowed. He raised an eyebrow questioningly. They wanted something. "What is it now?" He asked.
"I need you to patrol for me tonight." Buffy said without even looking up from the latest Vogue magazine she was flipping through.
"Why, may I ask?"
"Made plans with Xander and Willow. Remember?" Buffy still hadn't looked up from her magazine.
"No. I don't remember. And no, I can't patrol for you tonight," Spike said as he went about picking different herbs from the shelves to tryout in his bottled blood.
That got Buffy's attention. She dropped the magazine onto the table and looked at Spike in surprise. "What? What do you mean you can't? I told you two weeks ago that me, Xander and Willow were going to see The Dingo's open for Elvis Costello. Well, I think I told you," Buffy pouted a bit to herself trying to remember if she had indeed told him.
"Well, you didn't and I still can't."
Buffy hopped to her feet, "Spike? What the hell?" She said to his retreating form.
"You'll figure something out, Slayer. You always do," He exited into the basement leaving the Scoobies staring at each other in somewhat disbelief. Spike had never told Buffy "no" for any reason.
Buffy lay in her bed trying to sleep. She closed her eyes tightly. It was 2am and she had an 8am class. She knew it was a bad idea to stay out so late to see the show and then try and do a quick patrol. She knew she'd pay for it the next day.
"Damn you, Spike", Buffy cursed into the pillow she had over her face, refusing to take blame for her situation.
She heard a car pull into her drive. It sounded like her mom's jeep. She'd come in through the back door and didn't notice that her mother's car wasn't in the drive. Buffy leaped to her feet and made her way downstairs. Just as Buffy reached the bottom of the stairs Joyce entered the doorway.
"Where have you been?" Buffy asked incredulously.
"Hi Buffy. Shouldn't you be asleep? Don't you have class in the morning?" Joyce asked.
"Shouldn't you be asleep? Don't you have work in the morning?" Buffy replied, using Joyce's words against her.
"Oh Honey. I went to a play and I took tomorrow off. I told you." Joyce stated casually as she hung her coat on the hook by the door.
Yeah, Buffy did remember but she wasn't giving up her fight.
"Plays don't end at two in the morning."
Joyce brushed past Buffy as she removed the studs from her ears, "I went out for drinks afterwards."
"Drinks? What about Dawn?" Buffy huffed, looking up at her mother accusingly from the bottom of the stairs. "You abandoned Dawn to go out gallivanting around!"
"Your sister is at Janice's. Do you not remember anything, Buffy? Now goodnight," Joyce said as she vanished around the corner.
"Drinks?," Buffy hmphed to herself.
Buffy was on her way home after stopping by her last cemetery. Slaying had been a busy job for the gang. Halloween was approaching and all the nasties seemed to be out in full force. They had to make up for the one night that creatures of the night took off to let the kiddies play.
Buffy was tired. Spike hadn't been helping much as of late. He'd been busy he'd said. She resented his disinterest in her. Something wasn't right. She sighed as she came up her walk way. Buffy came in through the front since the night she hadn't noticed her mother not being home. She looked up as she saw her front door open. It was Spike. And it was also midnight.
"What the?"
Spike paused then set about making his way down the steps. "Slayer," he greeted her.
"Again. What are you doing here? You said that you had plans," Buffy said a bit louder than her normal speaking voice.
The screech of her voice made Joyce open the door to see what was going on.
"Mom! Why is Spike always here?" Buffy asked.
"I was just leaving, Slayer".
"I can see that you were just leaving, moron. I'd like to know why you came."
"I came to see your mum." He started around Buffy.
Buffy grabbed his arm, "Why?" She gave him a once over. He had on different clothes; still his trademark black, but still different. Nice crisp slacks and a button down cotton shirt with pearl buttons. He'd even changed his shoes. Loafers!
"None of your bloody business," Spike snatched away from Buffy and turned towards Joyce. "G'night, Joyce."
"Night, Spike. Be safe." Joyce said from the doorway.
"I will." Spike ducked his head shyly and smiled then set about his way home.
Buffy looked back and forth between her mother and the vampire. 'Again, what the hell?' She stalked the rest of the way up the walk. Joyce had left the door open but had retreated to the kitchen. Buffy promptly made her way into the kitchen to confront her mother who was putting away a bag of marshmallows.
"What the hell is going on?" she demanded, hands on her hips.
"Excuse me, missy? But who do you think you're talking to?" Joyce shot back at Buffy, clearly agitated at her daughter's choice of words and tone.
"Well, what do you expect? Spike's here all times of night. Oh! And I saw the look he gave you." Buffy was exasperated.
"What look?" Joyce asked.
"You know what look! I saw it! I saw you see it!" Buffy's eyes were huge. "And the clothes! Spike had on nice clothes. He never wears nice clothes." Buffy's voice dropped a couple of octaves on that last sentence. She waited for her mother to answer.
"Sweetie, I don't know what you're talking about. But if you're jealous, you shouldn't be. William and I have just found common interest. That's all." Joyce said calmly as she patted Buffy on the shoulder.
Joyce gave Buffy a motherly smile and bid her eldest goodnight.
Joyce sat on her bed snickering to herself while she listened to her daughter stomp up the stairs and grumbling to her self. She just shook her head at Buffy's accusation. 'Sure, Spike is handsome, witty and highly intelligent. Not only that he's fun to be around; one helluva dancer', Joyce mused. 'Hmmm…maybe….' Joyce thought. She shook her head dismissing the thought.
Buffy lay awake in her bed staring at the ceiling. Another sleepless night faced her.
'How can mom think I'm jealous? I'm not jealous. It's just Spike.' Buffy sighed, looked at the clock, 1:30am, then back at the ceiling.
'Spike is…disgusting', Buffy nodded her head in affirmation. 'He's evil. He has bleached hair for cripes sake', she rolled her eyes. 'He never changes his clothes. Except for the night he tried to take me on a date'. Buffy sat straight up, shocked by her epiphany. 'Spike's dating my mom! My mom's dating Spike!'
Chapter Two
Buffy barely made it through her classes. She should have been sleepy but she wasn't. She was too busy thinking of how she was going to pummel Spike after she left campus. Buffy dismissed Willow when she tried to ask her about their plans for Halloween since it was Buffy's night off. Buffy had a date of her own with a vampire.
As usual Buffy didn't bother with knocking when she entered Spike's crypt.
"Spike, you jerk! Where are you?" No one responded. Buffy made her way over to the opening in the stone floor. "Spike, get your ass up here!," which was needless to say because she was on her way down the ladder.
Spike was asleep in his bed. Buffy halted her motions. He was completely naked lying on his stomach, not even a sheet covering his body. Buffy stared for a moment at his pale body. She took in the v-shape of his back and with her eyes she followed the well-defined line that centered it down to his behind. It was firm. She had a fleeting thought of bouncing quarters off of it. She took in his legs. They were muscular but not too muscular. Just the way she liked them. Buffy swallowed, backed up slowly, and as quietly as she could made her way up the ladder and out of the crypt. She leaned against the door to go over what she'd just seen. She couldn't help the soft "Wow" that escaped her lips.
Later that evening Spike strolled into the Magic Box and hopped up on the counter much to Anya's dismay.
"Spike!" Dawn greeted with genuine enthusiasm.
"Hello, Niblet," Spike responded with a smile directed only at her.
"Well look who has decided to grace us with his presence. It's the bleached blunder," Xander quipped.
Spike smirked at Xander, "Yeah, nothing better to do tonight".
Buffy fumed at his response. Her mother would be out of town for the weekend buying art for the gallery.
With obvious bitterness in her voice Buffy said, "Why don't you go do 'nothing better' somewhere else?"
Spike raised an eyebrow. "Cuz there's nothing better than annoying you lot," Spike mimicked her air quotes.
"Look, Jackass. You haven't been around so don't come around now," Buffy practically shouted at him.
Spike along with Xander, Willow, and Anya were taken aback by her outburst.
Without a word Spike hopped off the counter and exited the building.
"Buffy!" Dawn shouted.
"Buffy, what was that all about?" Willow asked concerned.
"Nothing", Buffy said ashamedly. "Just not in the mood for his crap." She scowled at the door the vampire has just gone through.
It bothered her that he had just left. He didn't banter with her the way he usually did. He didn't do anything he usually did. He wasn't at her beck and call. Instead he practically ignored her; only speaking to her when she spoke to him. It bothered her that he was spending so much time with her mother. Some nights she could hear them laughing together when she entered the house. It bothered her that when she'd ask what was so funny that they brushed it off as nothing or that she wouldn't "understand". It bothered her that he would leave right after she'd arrived. But most of all it bothered her that he didn't look at her with longing the way he used too. And it bothered her that it bothered her.
Buffy had sat in the Magic Box as long as she could stand it, about 15 minutes after Spike had left.
"Guys, I'm going to go do a quick patrol before we hit The Bronze," Buffy said as she made her way to the door.
No one said anything, just grumbled their acknowledgement of her statement.
Buffy was going to confront Spike once and for all about him dating her mother. She checked all of his haunts: His crypt, Willy's backroom, the blood bank of the hospital, she even stopped by the junkyard to see if maybe he was redecorating. No Spike.
Buffy resolved that she'd actually have to do that quick patrol. Of course that was her explanation for checking out Spike's graveyard again.
Buffy sighed as she made her way out of the front gates. He still wasn't there. 'Where could he be?' she wondered. 'Maybe he decided that he couldn't live without my mother and ran off to be with her.'
Buffy was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice the horned demon quickly lumbering towards her from behind. Buffy hit the ground with a hard thud. The wind was knocked out of her. She turned over quickly and propelled the demon over her head using his momentum. In the briefest of seconds she caught a glimpse of the demons eyes. They were the ugliest shade of green, murky and muddy, but her own face reflected back to her in them. She gasped when she realized what kind of monster it was. She thought they were only a myth.
But she didn't have time to think of what it meant. She couldn't breathe. She sat there trying to catch her breath as she watched the demon regain his position. It charged her again but this time he was intercepted with a hard punch to the face. Spike stood between Buffy and the demon ready to send it back to the hell from which it came. The thing charged again. Spike sidestepped him and grabbed his arm as he went by. Turning along with the demon, Spike snatched it down to his knees and onto its stomach. He pulled out the stake that was in his waistband and drove it completely through the demon's back and into its heart.
Spike stood over it and watched it turned into a pile of goo before it dissolved and soaked into the earth. "Be seeing you, Slayer" he said as he began walking away.
"Spike," Buffy said.
He turned and saw she was holding her chest but she looked fine.
"Yeah, I'll be on my way," Spike said curtly.
"No wait. I want to talk to you."
"So talk."
"What's going on with you and my mother?" She spoke in a small hushed voice, afraid of the response he may give her.
"Buffy, Joyce and I are friends. We enjoy each other's company."
Buffy chose to look at his feet instead of his face, "Just friend? That's all?"
Spike tilted his head and stared at her. "Why do you care?"
"I don't!" Buffy said, finally looking up at him. "It's my mom and I want to make sure she doesn't do something stupid."
"Oh, that's it. I'm something stupid? Look here, little girl, your mother and I have a relationship, a real adult relationship. Not like what you and your twat friends have." Spike ground his teeth, furious at Buffy for her statement.
He'd called her a little girl. That didn't go unnoticed by Buffy. She hadn't admitted to herself that Joyce's older age and maturity was something of an advantage when it came to Spike.
"Joyce treats me decent. More than I can say for you and your band of inept rejects." Spike continued.
Buffy got to her feet. "No. I'm sorry. What I said didn't come out right."
"Explain what you mean, Slayer, so that I can be on my way."
"Well, what I meant was…was that…well, you said you loved me," her voice began to trail off. "And now you're spending so much time with my mom." Buffy looked away from the intensity of his blue eyes.
Spike stared at her then began to laugh. A real laugh like the ones she had heard him do with her mother.
"Slayer, Buffy…you are jealous!"
"NO!"
As soon as the words escaped her lips the goo from the demon began to reappear from the earth.
Spiked stopped laughing and waited for her to continue her denial.
"No, you stupid, stupid…stupid vampire! Why would I be jealous of you and my mom? She's old!" Buffy defended herself.
The staked heart of the demon began to reform.
"Joyce, my dear, is a woman. Any man in his right mind can see that. She's quite the fox."
"Eww. And you're admitting it. You have a thing for my mother!" Buffy accused.
"Sure I do," he said in a tone that indicated the word imbecile should have followed but he edited himself. "She beautiful, intelligent, and a lot of fun. Not so stuck up like you are. She can dance her sweet arse off too." Spike said with a smirk.
"Oh my god! Don't talk about my mom's ass!"
"Well, it is. Your mom is hot, Buffy. Acknowledge it. Deal with it. Accept it. Joyce is shaggable," Spike stated matter of factly.
"I knew it!" Buffy began to rant, "All of the trips to the store to buy marshmallows, the late nights, the smiles…"
The demon was almost whole once again. It only needed a small amount more energy to reanimate its body.
Spike stepped up to Buffy and grabbed her arms firmly. And in a deep and seductive voice said, "There is nothing going on between your mother and me, luv." He leaned his head down and hovered his lips just before Buffy's waiting for her to push him away. She didn't. "There's only you."
Buffy relaxed at his word in anticipation of the promising kiss. She let her eyes slowly close and darted her tongue out to wet her lips. Instead she felt Spikes hands fall away and the breeze his duster made as he turned and left her.
She opened her eyes and saw the space in front of her empty and smiled. She walked towards the demon that was slowly reverting back to its gooey state. A Jealousy Demon. She kicked it. "Stupid green eyed monster."
End Note: It was originally supposed to be a Joyce/Spike. But I'm a hardcore Spuffy shipper and just couldn't do it. :-C