Acknowledgements: XxMortalitasxX for being my unofficial beta reader. Thankies! Also thanks to everybody who gave such nice reviews!
A/N: So this took me a lot longer than I thought it would, but here it is! Music was my muse :3 Reviews rock btw!
About an hour later, Buffy and Spike were well out of Sunnydale and on the highway. Buffy was already irritated with Spike. He was playing his Sex Pistols or whatever and even singing along with it, out of tune of course. No wonder Harmony tried to burn all his CD's. Spike was drumming his fingers on the steering wheel and just having a grand old time watching Buffy's eye want to twitch while she was obviously trying to ignore him. He reached over and turned the volume up louder. This was the last straw music wise. With an irritated sigh she leaned forward and turned the volume back down. After turning it down, Buffy made a show of rotating her whole body to stare out the window.
A smile twitched on Spike's lips as he reached over and turned the volume up to an almost painful volume. Buffy jumped in her seat and covered her ears. Spike chuckled when she quickly went to turn it off again. Buffy was getting pissed off by him thinking it was so funny.
"Do it again and so help me Spike I will take out that CD and toss it out the damn window," Buffy threatened, which aggravated Spike. That was a great CD! He'd already had to go steal it from Giles since Harmony destroyed his original one, and he didn't want to put forth the effort to steal another one.
"Hey! You won't believe what I had to go through to get that! You just aren't any fun at all Summers." Spike valued his music too much to bother her with it anymore, so they lapsed into silence, the music only playing faintly. An hour or so passed, and Buffy was getting twitchy. She hated cars, they always made her feel trapped, especially being stuck in one with Spike.
"I'm thirsty…" she complained and Spike raised an eyebrow at her. If she complained this whole trip he would risk the chip sending searing pain through his skull just so he could choke her.
"Well so am I, we all have our burdens to bear," Spike replied, not putting up with her. He wasn't going to stop for all of her needs. He wanted to get to this temple place and fight something. Driving usually bored him to tears.
"Don't make me threaten your music again," Buffy said, seriously ready to just chuck it out the window. She reached towards the eject button and he grabbed her hand before she got there.
"Hey! Don't have to be rash, luv! Fine. There is a gas station up ahead. We can stop and you can get a soda or whatever," Spike agreed to take her, because she was persistent and he didn't want to listen to her complain anymore. He dropped her hand and began peering around the highway, looking for exit signs. He spotted one up ahead and got over, going at least 10 over the speed limit. Buffy really didn't like his driving. It was too fast and nerve-wracking.
They pulled into a brightly lit gas station, making Spike squint his eyes. He wasn't used to such bright lights. With a new spring in her step, Buffy hopped out of the car and walked inside. Spike got out as well, mostly getting away from the blinding lights. He pulled out his lighter and a cigarette and leaned against the stone building. This trip just wasn't fun. He really hated how mean Buffy was to him, granted sometimes he deserved it, but really he was only trying to get attention from her. The only way to do that was to annoy her.
Inside the station, Buffy grinned as she pulled out the wad of cash she'd found stowed in Spike's car. Back at the soda machine she tugged out one of the largest cup sizes and filled it up with caffeinated soda. Of course in clumsy Buffy fashion she overfilled it and spilt it all over the place, but before anyone noticed, she slinked off to go pay for it.
Spike's head jerked when he saw Buffy approach with a large soda and an armful of snacks she'd gotten at the last minute. He was puzzled; he hadn't seen her with a purse or anything. Stamping out his cigarette, he unlocked the car and they got ready to leave. While Buffy put her seatbelt on and got situated, Spike rooted around in the backseat. Buffy turned around and nearly gasped. Spike's jean-clad butt was right in her face. She blushed at the proximity and then turned to stare out the window.
After finding a packet of blood in his car, he sat down in his seat and wiggled his eyebrows at Buffy. He knew she had stared at his backside. "See something you like, luv?"
"Ugh, no! Gross!" Buffy vehemently replied. She did not think Spike was hot! Ok well, sometimes a little bit, but EW Spike! He shrugged and downed his blood.
"By the by, stealing isn't nice, Summers. I know you didn't bring any money, so you must have gotten into my stash," Spike didn't particularly care since it was most likely hers in the first place anyways, but he wanted to see how she'd react. She looked sheepish, and as Spike's tires squealed while they pulled out, she admitted to stealing his cash.
Two hours later and Buffy was talking animatedly and Spike was near his boiling point. Apparently caffeine made the Slayer chatty, and she was driving him bonkers. In the middle of some story she was babbling about, he noticed she started squirming in her seat.
"Ahh! Spike! We need to stop again! I have to pee really bad!" the Slayer admitted to an amused Spike. He grinned and drove past the exit.
"Sorry luv, did you say something?"
"C'mon Spike! Please stop at the next exit! I'll so owe you!"
"Hmm, a Slayer in debt to me? Works well enough I suppose, but the next exit is twenty minutes away." Spike told her, amused when she widened her eyes at him. She already felt fit to burst, that stupid soda going right through her.
"Fine!" Buffy yelled at him. Spike was amused at her discomfort and slowed down to the speed limit. He was surprised he hadn't been pulled over yet. Buffy squirmed in her seat and began asking every couple of minutes it they were there yet. Fed up with it, Spike turned the music back to his usual punk-rock and ignored her.
After Buffy's potty break, the atmosphere in the car was much more peaceful than when they left Sunnydale. It had been a couple hours and Spike was looking at the map Giles had given him and was trying to figure out where they needed to go. He was driving with his knee rather than his hands and was surprised Buffy hadn't complained yet. The California border was well behind them and the road was bathed in eerie silence. The car was equally silent except for some softly playing music. Buffy was finally being quiet, Spike actually forgot about her until he felt her head drift to the side and lean on his shoulder.
At first he stiffened, figuring she would wake up and yell at him, but when she didn't and she actually nuzzled even closer to him, he relaxed. Inhaling the smell of her shampoo commercial hair, he smiled to himself. He enjoyed this more than he ever wanted to admit to himself. He didn't know when these feelings toward the Slayer developed, but he figured it had something to do with Red's mucked up spell last year. Ever since their 'engagement,' he couldn't stop thinking about her. He'd try to be mean to her, but he just couldn't be serious about it.
She gave him plenty of reasons to be mean to her, but her spunk and her fire just made everything between them worth it. He knew she didn't want a ponce like Angel anymore, and Riley obviously wasn't monster enough for her, so what was holding her back? It had to be some conscious reason because her unconscious-self sure seemed to like him.
Spike yawned as he crossed the border into New Mexico hours later. Just because he was practically dead didn't mean he didn't need sleep. Pulling off the road, Spike gently reached for his blanket so he didn't wake the snoozing Slayer. He took off his duster and draped the jacket over Buffy, and then he put the blanket on himself and drifted to sleep. This was the last relaxing moment they would have on this perilous journey. Once they reached the ruins, all hell would break loose and both would leave a little bit mangled from the experience.