Spike watched as Buffy chugged the orange juice Xander had brought. Even from a distance, he enjoyed watching her. Each swallow drew his attention to her throat. He felt a rush of warmth as he thought of her offer to feed him, to help him. He shook his head and studied the rest of the room. Angel was sprawled against the wall and the others milled about, chattering like gibbons. The noise and commotion didn't bother him. Her whispered words to Angel kept running through his mind. She wanted him. She had chosen him.
He could feel the pain radiating from her, but was it because he hadn't declared his choice or because Angel had once again betrayed her? He didn't know and couldn't ask in the crowded room. He looked at Angel and at Willow as she fussed over the old bastard for a moment. They really were cut from the same cloth, both of them, hurting Buffy for her own good, sure of the right. He shook his head.
He let his thoughts trail to Dru. She had gone silent, and he felt the peace of it. His dark princess had retreated. Though part of him missed her, and always would, Buffy had carved a place inside of him with her shy looks and bold beginnings. He wanted this life. This strange mixture they were creating was far more invigorating than chasing a crazy creature bent on some harebrained notion. Buffy had the potential to be a true partner. He watched her eat a donut and lick her fingers. A short time with her would be enough.
"I would like to speak with Buffy alone. If you would excuse us." He walked over to her and offered her his arm. Her hand slid into place and they strolled out of the room with some attempt at dignity.
They walked back to the sunroom and drifted apart. Buffy was staring at the floor, dejection and pain advertised in the slope of her shoulders.
"Thank you for taking the time to talk to me, Spike. I hope you…" She stopped speaking and twisted her hands in front of her. She was struggling to find the words to set him free. He smiled. She didn't need the words.
"I won't be going with Angel," he kept his voice low. "I would lose something precious if I did. He isn't wrong. You deserve better, but I'll be damned again before I let you go."
"What about Dru? You love her." Buffy bit her lip and looked up at him. He could feel her pain abating in odd fits and starts.
"I do, part of me always will." Spike pulled her into the circle of his arms. "I would imagine you'll have a soft spot for old Peaches once he gets gone and gives you some time to recover from his latest emotional drop kick. First loves are special."
"If you'd let me do a bit more damage to the bastard, you could see how little I give a shit about him." She groused and rolled her shoulders. The crinkling sound of her shirt drew his attention.
"Let's get you cleaned up a bit, Luv," Spike touched her cheek. "That can't be comfortable."
"I'm not sure how clean I'll get if you join me." Buffy smiled shyly.
"You'd be clean, very clean, but it might take longer than is strictly polite with a houseful of unwanted guests." He let her slide from his arms. "Go clean up. I'll start the festivities with the others. I'm sure the great brooder will be thrilled that I am rejecting his marvelous offer."
"Maybe I should stay with you until he is gone." Buffy worried her lush bottom lip with her teeth. Spike smiled at her.
"I can handle Mr. Soulful, Luv. Go have your wash." He touched her cheek with his fingertips. She took a deep breath and stared up into his eyes. "Go, or we are going to be very poor hosts."
Buffy giggled as she sprinted for the back of the house. Spike fought the urge to follow her and stared out the windows at the empty pool. He would make this house a comfy nest for his California girl, watch her frolic in the sun and join her under the moon. It would be enough.
He closed his eyes and summoned up an image of Drusilla. She was smiling, dancing to music only she could hear, dark hair flowing as she moved. His passion didn't surge. The allure of his mate was too strong now. The moon could only ever reflect the sun.
"You're staying with Buffy," Anya walked up behind him, "I mean you have a future with her. I'm sure you can see it."
"Yes, I'm staying." Spike looked over at the ex demon. "What was that spell the witch tried on us?"
"She reworked a spell for werewolves," Anya looked out at the pool. "It's brilliant work if you don't mind killing off one of the pair, but it wouldn't work on vampires, the mechanics of the bond are different."
"This thing Angelus keeps spouting about, would it work?" Spike asked.
"I thought you were staying," Anya looked at him with widened eyes.
"I am, but I need to know what has to be done if he tries to make some deal with the oracles. Buffy needs to feel secure." Spike's eyes darted back toward the hall Buffy had headed down.
"Then you should just have sexual intercourse and secure the bond." Anya cocked her head. "How have you held off the bond's urges?"
"Sheer bloody will power, Pet." Spike grinned. "And the worst timing in all the world."
"Yes, It can't be conducive to the act when her best friend is trying to kill you. She hasn't tried to kill me. Being human again has a few perks. I should get back to Xander." Anya smiled. "It'll be nice to have another demon around."
He watched her walk away with a confident sway to her hips. He shook his head and smiled. Xander was as lucky a bloke as any ever was.
He heard Angel approaching and felt frustration rise. The bane of his existence, here, in his house and there was not a thing to be done about it. He closed his eyes and focused on Buffy. He could feel her happiness. She was happy he had decided to stay.
"We need to go soon. We will never get there before dawn if we don't." Angel came to a stop behind him and laid a hand in his shoulder. He flinched under the touch and shrugged the hand off.
"I'm not going with you." Spike said softly. "She wants me to stay."
"Don't let a few hours of passion confuse you," Angel gripped him again and forced him to turn around. "She needs humans in her life, needs sunlight, and a normal existence."
"No, you think she needs those things," Spike knocked his hand away. "She needs someone to stay and love her, someone to love."
"So, you think to stay because she's lonely and you enjoyed the ride?" Angel snarled. "You want to make her live some kind of half life with you because her hot little quim fits you nice and snug."
Spike growled and balled his fist. He took a deep breath. He couldn't fight. He couldn't afford to be incapacitated by a headache. Things were too volatile for that.
"How's she going to handle your darker urges?" Angel asked. "Buffy is kind and good and sweet. She isn't built for life with a vampire."
"Don't talk about her." Spike growled.
"She'll fuck you, Spike. She'll drive you half mad with wanting her, but she won't love you. You'll bite her or try to assert dominance, and everything will go wrong." Angel glared at him. "She should be with a human. Look at how aggressive she's gotten since the mating. She's been attacking her friends and hitting me."
"None of you will listen. Willow's probably trying to find some new damned magical solution in my own damn library, and you don't see either of us as we are. Your jealousy is affecting every action you take." Spike stepped back and spread his arms wide. "You don't rule me, and you don't own her. Why are you here?"
"I know what's best." Angel crossed his arms across his chest.
"Sure you do," Spike shook his head, amused and saddened in the same moment. "All you can think about is my body sliding between her thighs. You're sense is lost to jealousy. We haven't had sex, yet. Not that it's any of your business, but we've been busy with other things."
"Don't lie to me, Boy," Angel snarled and grabbed Spike by the throat. "She has fresh bite marks on her neck. I know what that means."
"She fed me last night. Demanded I feed from her after she destroyed that bed of yours from Italy. She reduced it to kindling and broke every one of Darla's pretty whips. Then she grabbed me and pressed my mouth to her neck. You see the sunshiny, kitten side of the girl, not the dark huntress of a woman she has become." Spike choked out the words as Angel pressed on his throat.
"Then maybe I should teach you both a lesson," Angel shoved Spike up against the window. "Maybe you need to be reminded of your place."
Spike shivered and bit back screams of agony as Angel slid one hand under his shirt and caressed his back. He felt the rage at his helplessness rise within him. He might manage to throw a punch or two, but he'd never be able to stop him. It was worse than being a fledgling. Angel shoved a leg between his and he convulsed as the pain pushed beyond his threshold. He felt Angel's fangs tease at the skin over Buffy's scar.
"I'm will enjoy putting you in your place." Angel snarled against his ear and then licked the mark. Spike screamed. He couldn't let this happen. Buffy would feel it. It would hurt her. He slammed back into the larger vampire's chest with all the force he could muster. He was dragged back as Angel fought to regain complete control. Spike raised his feet, pressed them against the glass, and shoved back. They toppled to the floor.
He could hear Buffy running toward them and looked up to see the others watching as Angel attacked him again. Rage poured through him and he swung his body around and kicked Angel. No headache flared. He smiled as Buffy slid to a stop beside him.
Her eyes were glowing, her hair clean and damp. One of his tee shirts hung to her mid thigh. He wrapped his arm around her and felt the solace of her touch flood through him. He took a deep breath and kissed her cheek.
"Think I can handle this one, Luv." Spike looked down into her glowing eyes. "How about I hurt him a bit, then you can play?"
"I told him there were consequences. He doesn't get to touch you. No one gets to touch you." Buffy growled.
"How about we try no touching at all?" Xander quipped.
"It might be for the best," Giles offered.
Angel charged at Spike and Spike stepped aside with the flair of a matador, letting him rush by. Buffy giggled and stepped back waving her hands at Spike happily. Spike rolled his neck and bounced on the balls of his feet. He turned and launched himself at Angel in a precise attack.
Buffy sat next to Willow and avidly watched the battle. The floor was cold on her bare thighs, but she didn't care. Giles and Xander joined her. Anya sat on Xander's lap. Spike was a flurry of movements. He avoided most of Angel's blows, taking a few to gain him access to his foe. Buffy smiled as she watched him. He was meant to fight, meant to battle. He was a warrior.
"How is he managing this?" Giles asked as his eyes tracked them.
"Can we worry about that tomorrow?" Buffy smiled as Spike sent Angel to the floor with a well-placed fist. "I just want to watch the fun tonight."
"You don't hate being tied to him, do you?" Willow asked with an odd look on her face.
"No, it has some big benefits, and we seem to work. I wouldn't have chosen this, but maybe it's for the good." Buffy turned and looked at Willow. "But you need to cool it with the magic. I can't trust you at all. You keep forcing your ideas of what's right down everybody's throats and all we get is the pain."
"You said this isn't so bad," Willow looked at her with desperation.
"Will, please, you have to stop with the magic. There has to be something else, because right now, much as I love you, I'm gonna have to kick you out. I'll visit you on campus, but you can't come here until Spike and I feel safe."
"So, you're moving out of our room, and I can't even visit you." Willow looked at her with a wobbly chin.
"Yeah," Buffy touched her shoulder. "Don't try to hurt Spike again. I don't want it to come to that. I don't want to have to hurt you."
Angel slid to a stop in front of her, flat on his back and seeing nothing but stars. Buffy looked up at Spike, and glared. Spike laughed at her consternation.
"How am I supposed to have my fun now?" Buffy demanded.
"Wait a bit and he will come around," Spike shrugged. "I didn't do anything permanent. After all, he needs to be able to get himself away from here before the sun fries him to a crisp."
Buffy nudged her ex with her toe and watched his eyes flutter open. He started to get up and Buffy growled. He stopped moving and stared up at her.
"Spike got to have some fun, but I get to kick your ass out of my home. You always made choices for me. You decided to leave, you decided to give up a human life with me, and you decided my mate should abandon me the same way you did." She pulled him to his feet, twisted his arm behind his back, and walked him to the front door. "Well, I'm making some choices of my own, and you are not a part of any of them."
Buffy shoved Angel out the door and watched as he whirled around to face her. Her eyes flashed to the now familiar glowing green. Spike came to her side and she slid under his arm naturally.
"I did the right things for you," Angel insisted.
"No, you did what you believed was right for me," Buffy smiled at him. "If you had talked to me we would be in a very different place now. Don't try to take Spike away from me again. I'll be forced to make a decision about what I think is best for you. Something tells me you wouldn't appreciate my decision any more than I do yours."
"Watcher, could you do the disinvite spell," Spike asked.
Giles nodded and watched as Buffy traced her fingers along a small cut on Spike's forehead. She looked lovely and fierce. The girl had disappeared and the woman had emerged. He took a deep breath and relaxed as unorthodox as her relationship with Spike appeared to be, it might be the thing that saved her from loneliness and despair.
Willow looked at Buffy, wearing some ugly sex pistols shirt, and noticed how beautiful she looked. Spike stared at her with gentle devotion. Realization hit her. She had been seeing everything through the filter of her guilt.
"Can you bind my powers until we can find someone to train me properly?" Willow looked at Anya and Giles. "I don't want to be a threat to my friends and loved ones. I need help."
Everyone turned and looked at Willow in shock. She squirmed under their combined stares. She looked at them and shrugged awkwardly.
"It can be done, easily since your willing," Giles said.
"Red," Spike walked over to her. "I know you were trying to help Buffy, so how about we call it even and stop trying to kill each other?"
She nodded and shook his proffered hand. She looked up at him with a small, nervous smile. His smile was warm and genuine.
"We might be even, but Xander will probably want his own pound of flesh," she giggled nervously.
"I didn't imagine finding a place in Buffy's life would be easy." Spike smiled widely.
"You still have to talk to Joyce," Giles smirked. "And I wish you the joy of that."
"It never ends. She's gonna make Angel look lie a pussy cat." Buffy looked at Spike with panic in her eyes.
"Your mum has a soft spot for me." Spike smiled smugly at Buffy. "Makes me hot chocolate with little marshmallows.
"Takes axes to your head," Buffy grinned and mimed a chopping action. Spike blanched.
"I'm surrounded by beautiful, blood thirsty women." Spike looked at Buffy, Willow, and Anya with a grin. "There are worse fates."
"Now, I have to agree with a vampire," Xander complained to no one in particular.
Buffy grinned at Spike as he returned to her side. His fingers played over the scar on her neck and she shivered. He dropped a gentle kiss to her lips.
"Can we restrict the overt public displays of affection around me, please?" Xander complained.
"My house," Buffy smiled at Xander. "My rules."
"You have rules?" Xander's eyebrows raised high.
"Just the one," Buffy grinned. "My mate can kiss me anytime, anywhere."
Spike smiled and dropped to the floor to kiss the back of Buffy's knee. She squirmed away from him, and he collapsed in laughter.
"You did say anywhere, Luv."
"I'm gonna go eat the rest of my dinner," Buffy glared down at Spike and headed off to the library.
He watched her walk away, appreciating every graceful stride. He shook his head and grinned.
"I may be the luckiest vampire to ever exist."
"You better believe it," Xander said. "Take care of her, okay? I'm not stupid enough to try to kill you and taking a day back sounds fishy to me, so we are stuck with you. I get that, but hurt her and I will find a way to hurt you worse."
"Finally seeing what Anya finds so appealing," Spike looked at Xander steadily. "Perhaps, in time, we might tolerate each other."
"Yeah," Xander looked at him with narrowed eyes as Anya, Willow, and Giles waited by the door to leave. "Make Buffy happy and we'll see."
Spike nodded, waved them off, and headed into the library to watch Buffy eat. He loved watching her tongue curl around those blasted sticks. He shivered in anticipation. The remainder of the night stretched out before him, filled with delights. He stepped into the library and found Buffy fast asleep, curled in his duster.
"Worst timing ever," Spike shook his head and settled into a chair and snagged a book from the top of the nearest pile.