No Promises

By: Tropicwhale

Disclaimer: Not mine… I wish they were but they aren't. Deal, I do.

Warnings: Nothing as of yet…minus of course Spike and Xander are in a romantic relationship together but that's what the Grimmoire series is…Spander. and a tad bit of angst that is left over from the previous stories

Author Notes: Something different. Oh, in case you haven't noticed I'm going to be messing with my writing style with this story. I feel that I need to diversify and stuff. Here's another case of it. Btw, Happy Christmas.

Chapter 4

You know what rocks? Bubble baths in tubs as large as my bathroom back home in Paris. This is my new happy place. Willow even set me up with a plate of double chocolate chip cookies and a cuppa hot cocoa. My best friend rocks. I know how everyone always says that their best friend rocks but mine actually does. So there! I wonder how I got a cramped townhouse in Paris which I have to share with five teenaged girls, a werewolf plus Spike with only the one bathroom and Willow gets this choice loft in Rio, Brazil with just her lover….I need to talk to the real estate division. I think that the Paris squad needs to get a bigger safehouse or Spike and I need to move out and get our own place. The doorbell rings. "I'll get it!!!" Willow calls out so I just relax.

WRWRWRWRWRWR

I walk to the door and open it. There stands Spike in all his bleached and leather glory looking bashful and ready to run. Huh. Xander wasn't kidding. Well, when in doubt, use enthusiasm. "Spike! Come in!!" I open the door wider to let in the vampire who doesn't step over the threshold.

"Hey, sorry but I-" He pauses and seems to pull himself together with the swagger that I have come to recognize him to have. Up went the head, in went the cheeks, and the free hand hooked into a belt loop. "I changed my mind about not coming….is that alright?" and just like that 'Spike' dissipates. I cast him a worried look. He sniffs and becomes Spike again. Was this what Xander was talking about? About Spike looking so hurt all the time? I see that I have my work cut out for me. I set my resolve smile and open the door wider.

"Come in, Spike. You're welcome. See?" I point to our welcome mat he's standing on. He steps back and looks down. The mat proudly proclaims WELCOME OUR FRIENDS. He smiles and looks up at me and I have to take a second to admire him. Spike's definitely one of the prettier men in the world. I could have seen myself having a crush on him if, you know, I was straight….and he wasn't dating my best friend. He steps into our apartment and drops his duffle to give me a hug.

"Hey Willow. How are you?" I hug him back. Spike gives amazing hugs. It's because of the Super-strength, I think.

"Good. And you?"

"How's Kennedy?" He doesn't let go of me but ignores the question as to how he's doing…interesting. I file that piece of information away and let him slide…this time.

"Better…thank you...for all the emails. It was nice to have someone who I could rant to on occasion."

"No problem. Know what it's like…having someone you love not feeling up to par." He sniffs and lets me go. I close the door behind us. He gives me a decisive nod and steps further into my living room. "So where are our lovers anyway?" He says looking around.

"Kennedy's off doing some last minute holiday shopping in Sao Paulo…something about better stores. I'm going to pick her up later. Xander's taking a bath." I say. Spike nods, looking distracted. "What?"

"You know that that's where he does all his heavy thinking, right? In the bathtub." I blink. I didn't know that. "He's done it ever since Glory…it's where he decided to ask Anya to marry him."

"I didn't know that."

"He told me back when we first…." He turns and looks at me and I see how hurt he is just from looking at his eyes. Were his eyes always that expressive? He looks like an abused puppy. I frown at that thought and barely resist the urge to hug him. Didn't Xander say something about feeling like he was being abusive toward Spike? I get pulled from my thoughts when Spike smiles. "Pillow talk is good for learning about a person." I smile at him. I know what he means. "Of course pillow talk with Drusilla was just bizarre but what do you expect." He shrugs when I laugh...if he thinks I'm that easily distracted he's got another thing coming. I know Spike uses his charm to lie like a dog. I'm no dummy. "Don't know if you noticed this but that girl's mind work in some weird ways." He shakes his head and I grin. "Course, so does Xander's. Personally, I would find it attractive except that boy is so distractible!" He points at me. "I could seduce him with a Twinkie. Which, on occasion, I've had to do." I laugh out loud.

"You should try dipping the Twinkie in chocolate. He'll do anything. It's how I got him and Jesse to play dress up and Barbies with me when we were kids." Spike grins and bites his lower lip. That shouldn't be such a dirty look but it is.

"I'll have to remember that."

"Can I get you anything? Although I'll have to go out for pig's blood…well here's it mostly cow blood…did you know Brazil was the largest exporter of beef worldwide?"

"No, I didn't."

"Yeah, that include Europe and Middle Eastern markets although China's a close second…mostly because its' beef stays within borders…I'm boring you, aren't I?"

"No! No, Red, you're fine. I miss your babble." I grin and he smiles in return. "I forgot how bouncy you are. You and Xan."

"I'm bouncy? So says the vampire that-" He points at me.

"Hey, that was our little secret, remember? No mentioning that under pain of torturous death." I snort.

"Oh please. You're all Champion guy now. You wouldn't hurt a kitten."

"Yeah…well…." I raise my eyebrows at him. He whirls around and collapses on my sectional sofa. "I got nothing." He says, face down. I laugh. He turns his head to give a classic Spike glare. "Stop laughing at me…I'll kick your ass."

"My girlfriend will beat you down if you try." He snorts. "Yeah I know, you could probably kick her ass too." I sit next to him. "What with the recovering from cancer and everything." I muse aloud. He turns his head to frown at me. Like he's surprised that I'd say it that blatantly? Kennedy's a bad influence.

"That's cheating." he says confused. I give a grin.

"I know." He grins and then sombers.

"Evil."

"Only as much as you."

"Oh, Red. You know I'm always bad." I giggle and pet him on the head. He buries his face into the cushions and points at the ceiling. "I am not a dog."

"So?" He shakes his head but doesn't dislodge my hand.

"You Scoobies are weird." He huffs.

"Hey, Willow, that was amazing! I think that bathtub is my new happy place." Xander walks out of the bathroom fully dressed and sweet smelling. He freezes when he sees Spike, lying on the couch, who also has stopped moving beneath my hand. The vampire sits up, shaking me off. Things get awkward.

XHXHXHXHXHXHXHXHXHXHXH

Spike's here, apparently chilling out with my best friend and my reaction is 'huh'? "You came." I say. Stupidstupidstupid. Of course he came. He's sitting right there. Why was he sitting right there?

"Yeah, I-Patricia made me." Ah, now it all makes sense. Awkward silence ensues as Spike and I just stare at each other. Willow sits there, looking back and forth between the two of us when the phone rings.

"OH THANK GODDESS!" She bounces up and smiles when we both stare at her. "Sorry, that was loud and unnecessary." She darts off to answer the phone. Spike and I are still just frozen there; apparently listening in on Willow's half of the conversation. "Hey babe. You ready to go-? Oh, and Xander's lover came afterall. Yeah, you know each other…I'm…." Willow glanced at Spike then seemingly makes a decision. "not going to tell you. You'll just have to guess….no, it's not Buffy….and ew! My two best friends there, Ken. Be that as it may we are not living in a fanfiction…I-okay, okay. I'm on my way. Bye." She grins at us. "If you don't want Kennedy to know it's you, Spike, I can whip up a quick glamour spell to make you look like someone else?"

"No, it's alright." Willow gives Spike a small frown, considering, then nods.

"Alright. I'll be back soon." She leaves us alone in the apartment and awkward silence.

"I'm glad you came." I say. He looks at me with those blue eyes and I really don't know what else to think or say or do.

"Are you?" he asks. I blink.

"Well yeah." I grin, trying to diffuse the situation. "What would the holidays be without my very own Blondie Bear? You're all I want for Christmas." He shoots me this angry dirty look that I have to laugh at. He raises an eyebrow at that.

"How was your bath?" It seems like there was a dig about my bathing methods somewhere in there but I ignore it. Spike used to bash me about taking baths on occasion before Baltimore and the hotel Jacuzzi bathtub and it's many uses. The underhanded quip is a lot like normal so I can easily ignore it.

"Refreshing…the tub is bigger than our entire bathroom back home. I think we need to find a bigger safe house...with like a bigger tub and two bathrooms...or our own place...with a bathtub large enough for me to melt into." Spike nods. Okay, attempt number 124,453 FAIL. Ah well, I'm going to keep trying...fools and Angel and all that. "I really missed you. How are the girls? I mean, well, I suppose I just saw them three days ago and that much can't have changed in that time unless an apocalypse hit Paris and, wow, that would suck…I'm going to stop now."

"You never do."

"Huh?"

"Stop. You never stop." I blink at him.

"Is that a bad thing because I can try to…uh, I'm outta my depth here, Spike. Throw me a line?" I plead. He smiles and looks at the floor.

"I don't want you to change, Xan." He says and shakes his head. "Not sure why you're on this kick to examine what we got but I'd rather us just be happy if that makes any sense?" He looks at me. "And for the record? I'm glad I came to…I don't like being apart from you." I sit next to him on the sofa. He looks into my eye and turns as sincere as he can. "Really, really don't like being apart from you." I lay my hand alongside his cheek and watch with morbid fascination as his eyes flutter closed. Step in the right direction. I lean in and kiss him chastely on the mouth. There is a brief moment where he presses back and it's the first kiss we shared in over five months. He pulls back only to lean his forehead on my shoulder and I lay my one arm over his shoulders and the other on his knee while his hands tangle in my tee shirt.

Author After Notes: Shiny Christmas my peanuts....here's the special....now I command one of you to do the snoopy dance for me and find a sad tree......eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeggggggggggggggggggnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnooooooooooooooooogggggggggg. I want the NOG!!!! (Runs off to find the drink of the holiday)

Tropic