Spike slunk back to his crypt, keeping in the shadows as rays of early morning sunlight filtered between trees and houses. He had kissed Buffy. Not that he hadn't wanted to, of course. Ever since that dream, and with it the realization of what she meant to him, Spike hadn't been able to keep Buffy out of his mind. He pondered her reaction as he strode into his crypt and dropped into his armchair. She had kissed him back, after all. She must feel some of the same emotions he was feeling. But she doesn't love you. Well, no. He couldn't expect her to reciprocate love, not yet. But maybe there was a chance. That kiss certainly made him feel that there was a chance.
"Hey, buddy."
Spike yelled and fell backwards out of the armchair. Clem had popped out of nowhere and scared the stuffing out of him.
"I thought we talked about this, mate," Spike growled as he tried to right his chair while maintaining some dignity. Clem, his fleshy demon friend, was surprisingly stealthy despite his size. "No sneaking." Clem grinned apologetically.
"Sorry. I just heard some interesting news, thought we could talk about it while we watch the Passions marathon?" Spike conceded grudgingly, and motioned for Clem to have a seat. "So I was down at the demon bar, and Sully and Orwell were talking about this weird disease or somethin' that's been going around." Clem took a bite of a chicken leg that he had produced from the carton he had brought with him. "Seems like a lot of male demons are getting sucked dry of life, or their force. Whatever you want to call it." He licked his fingers and stared at the television screen.
Spike shot a puzzled glance in Clem's direction. "And no one's got any idea why?"
Clem shrugged. "Nope. But whatever the disease is, it's making them really attractive to females. One guy had the worst luck with women before he caught it. For like, three weeks before he bit the dust, he had the ladies all over him. And then he died." Clem wiped his hands on his pants. "If you could find a way to avoid dying, it's pretty much the best disease I've ever heard of."
Spike actually found himself contemplating letting himself get infected with this illness. He realized that his situation was incredibly pathetic if this was what it would take for Buffy to want him.
And the eyes followed the vampire home, and waited patiently to put their plan into action.
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Spike slipped out of his crypt and began ambling in the direction of the Bronze. He was out of alcohol, and with any luck he would be able to see Buffy and gauge what she was thinking. He was digging in the back of his jeans for his lighter when suddenly—
WHAM! Spike found himself flat on his back. He was disoriented, unsure of what had knocked him over. Then, above him he saw a tall, slender woman with pale skin and flashing green eyes. She straddled him and pressed her mouth against his in a fierce, burning kiss. Spike writhed underneath her, wanting to shove her off and demand an explanation but at the same time wanting more…He gripped her arms and pulled her closer, exploring her mouth with his tongue, wrapping his legs around her waist. Before he had time to think, the green-eyed woman pulled away. Spike didn't notice the airy green vapors that flowed from her mouth into his.
"Wait!" Spike gasped, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "Who are you?" He couldn't keep his eyes off of her. The woman stared down at him before backing away, fading with each step that she took until all that was visible of her were her eyes. Then those too faded away.
Spike sat in the cemetery for a good ten minutes while he tried to pull himself together. He couldn't see a good reason for not going to the Bronze. It made for an interesting story, anyway. He got slowly to his feet and made his way toward the Bronze.
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Buffy took another sip of her beer and looked around the Bronze. The gang had finally convinced her to come out with them, knowing that she needed to get her mind off of Riley. To be honest, Buffy was itching to flirt with someone. Anyone. At the moment, everyone seemed to be having a better love life than she was. Anya and Xander were dancing like maniacs, adorably oblivious to anyone around them. Willow and Tara were sitting on a couch with Dawn, listening to her tell them all about some boy at school who had asked her to a dance next week. Even Giles was pulling some looks from women around the bar. Buffy sighed and took another deep swig. Oh, crap.
Spike had just walked into the Bronze. He was probably going to give her a hard time about the way she'd responded to his kiss the night before. She honestly hadn't meant to kiss him back, it had just sort of happened. It probably had something to do with Riley's leaving. Buffy hadn't been kissed in so long…She turned a bit in her chair to avoid being seen by Spike, but she needn't have bothered. He went straight to the bar and ordered an entire bottle of some sort of alcohol. For a while Buffy watched the other patrons dancing around the Bronze, but eventually her eyes wandered back over to Spike. He looked really, really good tonight. Good grief! What was she thinking! Spike was a vampire. An evil, yucky, hot vampire who happened to be a very good kisser…NO! In the back of her mind, in some remote corner, sane Buffy was locked in a cage. Sane Buffy screamed and tried to get her own attention while she stood and walked over to Spike. Buffy calmly muted the voice of reason in her mind as she came up behind Spike.
"You gonna share any of that?" she asked, trailing her fingers across Spike's shoulders and down his arm. She motioned toward his bottle.
Spike glanced up at her, surprised. He wordlessly handed Buffy the bottle and watched as she took a swallow, never taking her eyes off of his. "So, I take it that things are back to normal between us?" he questioned, staring at her mouth while she licked her lips. Buffy raised a questioning eyebrow. "You come in without knocking, take what you want from me, and scamper off," Spike explained. Buffy grinned and nodded. Spike realized that Buffy was in a good mood at took advantage of the moment. "About that kiss…" he ventured.
"Mmm!" Buffy interrupted him. "Just what I came over here for." She leaned forward and looked directly into Spike's eyes. "That kiss."
There was a split second in which Spike was completely still, and for the second time that night a woman unexpectedly planted her lips on to his own. Buffy kissed him frantically, lifting herself on to his lap to make herself more comfortable as she kissed him. Spike tangled his fingers in Buffy's hair and moved his mouth away from her lips and toward her throat. "Buffy," he gasped between kisses, "not that I'm complaining, luv, but where is this coming from?" Buffy didn't answer him as she pulled his mouth back to hers. Spike tried again. "Luv, I need to know—what made you change your mind about the way you feel about me?" Buffy pulled away for a moment, her face screwed up as she thought.
"Nothing…" she said slowly, and then Sane Buffy broke through. "Oh my word," she cried. Buffy wiped her mouth hurriedly on a napkin. Spike furrowed his brow in confusion as Buffy jumped off of his lap. She started to walk away, to get as far away from Spike as possible, when she turned around to make things clear. "That kiss…both of those kisses," she started, "they were just the result of a severely ill-timed lapse of judgment. Nothing more." Spike glowered up at her. "I'm serious," Buffy stated. "This entire thing has been one gigantic mistake." Spike laughed bitterly, then shook his head and stood.
"You know what? Fine. But you can't deny the way you feel about me forever." Spike spun around and stormed out of the Bronze.
And Lust saw, and fed on the result of its work. And yet, the hunger of Lust was not appeased…
It's like this, sweets. You don't review, I don't write another chapter. It's a harsh world we live in today, eh? Life's hard and then you die, so review and make my day a little brighter.
your princess
