Title: Mr. Sensitivity 2/5

Author: Forsaken2003
Pairing: S/X
Rating: PG13
Disclaimer: I own none, all belong to Joss Whedon
Comments: Always welcomed!
Summary: Willow and Buffy are tired of how Spike treats Xander, or how they think he treats him.
Warnings/Spoilers: Season 5. No Dawn or Glory.

Beta'd by: Whichclothes

Part Two

Buffy and Willow walked into the Magic Box. It was their luck that Giles was helping a customer. They snuck into the back where the refrigerator was. Buffy grabbed the only pack of blood in there; she couldn't believe their luck. Willow pulled the syringe out of her backpack and quickly plunged it into the top of the package. "Are you sure about this, Wills?" Buffy asked.

Willow huffed in annoyance. "Yes! We are doing this for Xander. Don't you want him to be happy?"

"Okay, okay." Buffy raised her hands surrendering. The door chimes rang and Spike's voice rang out as he told Xander he wanted some blood. "What a prick," Buffy whispered before Xander came in.

"Hello, ladies. You're here early, is there evil brewing?" Xander asked as he grabbed the bag of blood. "Damn, I should have brought some more." With a shrug he emptied it into a mug and popped it into the microwave.

"No evil a foot, at least none that we know of," Buffy answered looking at Willow. She couldn't believe that their plan was actually going to work. "How's your arm?"

Willow bounded over to Xander to inspect his injury. "Did you alternate between hot and cold?"

"I'm all right, Willow. Yeah, Spike made sure I didn't jostle it during the night as well." Xander explained. When the beeper on the microwave went off he turned from his friends and carefully held the warm mug and made his way back to the front.

"You mean Fangless actually cared?" Buffy sneered at Spike who accepted the mug without as much as a thank you.

Xander rolled his eyes at his friends. "Guys, I'm fine! Me and Spike are perfectly happy. Right, Spike?"

"Course we are," Spike responded and took a sip of his blood. A disgusted look crossed his face. "Bloody hell, I think this blood's rancid."

Buffy and Willow shot each other worried looks, afraid Spike wouldn't finish it.

"Weird, I only picked it up from Willy's a few days ago," Xander said worriedly.

Spike shrugged and downed the rest of it. He's had worse blood before. "We'll go by his place after. If he thinks he can give me rotten blood he's got another bloody thing coming," he said before shaking his head.

"Spike, are you okay?" Xander asked, he placed his hands on Spike's shoulders to steady him. "What's the matter?"

Before saying anything Spike blinked a few times. "I'm fine, pet, just a little woozy. I probably shouldn't have drunk that blood."

Xander's brow furrowed, Spike never called him pet in front of other people. "Are you sure? Maybe we should get you home."

"No, I'm fine." Spike stood straight and shook Xander's hands off himself. He took a step away from Xander, refusing to look weak in front of the others. "Are we hunting or not?"

Buffy huffed in annoyance; obviously the spell had been a waste of time. "Yeah, let's go." She turned to Willow, giving her a dirty look. "Tell Giles we're on patrol and that we will check back in, in a couple hours."

Willow ducked her head from the death glare Buffy was giving her. She didn't understand what went wrong she had followed the instructions for the potion to a T. "Sure thing, Buff."

"Are you sure you're all right, Spike?" Xander asked quietly. He didn't want the girls over hearing them on the off chance Buffy decided to take a shot at Spike's vulnerability.

"I'm fine," Spike said gruffly, but he placed a hand on Xander's cheek and stroked it. Soon he dropped it before anyone could see the action and stormed towards the door. "You coming or not?"

Buffy grabbed Mr. Pointy and followed him. "What a prick."

Xander shook his head. He wished that Spike would show the more sensitive side in front of the girls, and then maybe they would stop thinking that Spike treated him badly.

It was a slow night, much to both Spike and Buffy's disappointment. They had only run into one vampire, and Spike actually had offered it to Buffy. Before she staked it she gave Spike a strange look. Never had he actually let her have the kill, they would always fight over it. They'd tag team in, without actually working together, only trying to outdo the other.

"Well, this was a bust. Xander, could you head back to the Magic Box and let Giles know? I want to get home to see how Mom is doing."

"Is she still getting headaches?" Spike asked, truly concerned. This time it was both Xander and Buffy who stared at him. Xander knew Spike cared about Joyce and was concerned about her health, but he'd never let Buffy know that. "What?" Spike asked, not understanding why they were both staring at him as if he had grown another head.

Buffy squinted her eyes; something was definitely different with Spike. Maybe the potion was kicking in? "Since when do you care about my mother?"

"Your mother is a nice lady. She makes the best hot chocolate, with those mini marshmallows," Spike answered. His eyes widened when he realized what he had just said.

"I think you're right, Spike. Something was wrong with that blood," Xander said worriedly. "Maybe we should get you home so you can lie down."

Spike waved him off. "I don't need to lie down, but home sounds good. You haven't eaten supper yet. I know how your stomach gets upset if you don't eat before bed."

"Oh my God, it worked. It actually worked!" Buffy said excitedly. She couldn't wait to tell Willow.

"What worked? What are you talking about, Buffy?" Xander asked. His eyes darted between Spike and Buffy."

Buffy bit her lip, cursing her mouth moving before actually thinking. "Erm… well you see…"

Xander slammed the door of the Magic Box open startling Willow and Giles. "You put a spell on my boyfriend?" he accused Willow.

"She what?" Giles asked, looking at Willow, getting ready to defend her. The words died on his lips when he saw the guilty look on her face. "Willow, what have you done?"

"It was just a little potion. Nothing big I swear!" She turned big eyes to Xander. "I was tired of how Spike treated you. It was like he didn't even care! And I know how much you like him so I thought a spell would make his true feelings come out."

Xander shook with rage. "There was nothing wrong with him!"

"You can hardly blame her," Spike said, everyone just stared at him. "I mean, look how I treated you in public. You deserve better than just being cared for in the privacy of our own home. But don't you worry, pet. From now on I'm not going to act as if you don't matter to me. You're the best thing in my life and it's about time that I start showing that!"

"My word," Giles mumbled. He never imagined that Spike would show this side of himself. "Just how long is this supposed to last?"

Willow ducked her head. "Just a couple weeks. I was hoping that by the time it was over Spike would want to continue with this new side of him. Please don't be mad at me, Xander. I was just trying to help."

"I liked the way Spike was before. You guys didn't see how he is when we were alone. The only reason he wasn't like that in front of you was because he didn't want to be hassled," Xander tried to explain.

"I… we're sorry," Buffy stated, looking uncomfortable. She really hated being wrong. "I was just afraid he was using you."

Spike placed a hand on Xander's shoulder, stopping him from possibly saying something he'd regret. "They did it because they care about you, pet. I'm glad that they care enough about you to do something like this." He scrunched up his face. "This is one hell of a spell."

"I'm taking Spike home," Xander declared. "I'll talk to you both about this tomorrow!" He pushed Spike out the door.

"Are you all right, Xan? Isn't it nice that they care so much about you?" Spike's voice could be heard as the door closed.

Xander sighed. "Yeah, except I liked you the way you were. Sure some attention outside the apartment would be nice but I understand your feelings."

"I'm a wanker," Spike stated. He wrapped an arm around Xander's waist pulling him in close.

"But you're my wanker," Xander replied with a smile.

"Have you two lost your bloody minds?" Giles asked, his temper rising. "You cannot play with Xander and Spike's relationship like that."

"We just wanted to help," Willow said meekly. "It will wear off."

Giles shook his head. "Do you really think that makes it all right? Did you even think that something could have gone wrong?" He looked between the two. "What if it had different effects on vampires? What if it had killed Spike?"

"I guess we didn't think about that," Buffy said quietly. "I guess we screwed up pretty bad, didn't we?"

"I'd say that would be an understatement," Giles said; he shook his head. He would have thought that after everything that had happened over the last five years, they would know better than to play with forces they didn't understand.

There were tears in Willow's eyes, "Do you think he'll forgive us?"

"Xander is the forgiving type, I just don't know if he'll forgive anytime soon." Giles pulled his glasses off and pinched his nose. "I know you both care for him, but he is a young man, he has to make his own decisions."

"We'll apologize… to both of them tomorrow." Buffy promised. "Come on, Wills, I'll walk you home. I still want to check on my mom."

Giles shook his head when the girls left. "God give me strength."