AN: Ok, which one of you stole my muse??? This is the worst case of writer's block I've ever experienced…and it hurts. Didn't you just love that last chapter? *snicker snicker* I promise to be much nicer this chapter…honestly…I have decided that, as I have become mildly obsessed with my plot line, there will be a third installment of this story. Yay me! And while I remember, an answer to certain people's queries *cough the c.c. cough* is that the prophecy is my own little creation. Made from my own little bored mind. So yeah. Hope you like this next chapter!
Disclaimer: All characters belong to UPN, Mutant Enemy, and the all-powerful Joss.
Three Soft Words
"Potatoes…check…tomatoes…check…garlic…check…"
"Garlic. Ew." Dawn wrinkled her nose as she peered into the grocery cart.
Willow threw the girl an amused look. "Soup, silly. You like soup." Silently, she bagged a few onions.
"I like soup too," Kennedy chimed in with a small smile. Both girls grinned back at her.
"So…" Dawn tried to renew the conversation as they paid for their items. "How about Buffy and Spike, back at the house?"
Willow turned to look at her suspiciously. "What about Buffy and Spike, back at the house?"
She shrugged. "I don't know…I guess they seemed sort of…"
"Snuggly?" Kennedy offered. She winced at the mild glare the red head gave her.
"That's good, right?" Dawn asked quietly, grabbing a bag and heading for the doors. "I mean… it's good that they have each other."
"We don't know anything," Willow warned. After mulling it over in her head for a long, drawn out while, she decided, "Buffy missed him. It's just…natural."
Kennedy's eyebrow went up. "Natural. Uh-huh."
"There's nothing there," she insisted again. Mostly to herself. "Besides, if there was you know she would tell us."
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The gleam of the headlights streaming in through the window reminded her she was not the only person residing in the house anymore. Groaning, she rolled herself from the semi-upright position useful in watching old sappy movies so that she was lying on her back, her head still resting in his lap. Dang headlights. Dang car.
"My guess is the Scooby girls are back," he said quietly. Just in case you don't want them to find us quite so…Letting his thoughts trail off, he brushed his fingers through her hair again.
"Don't care." She pouted. Her Spike pillow was too comfy to give up just because her sister and friends were back. She let her fingers trace patterns on his leg at random.
A smile tugged at his lips. It still shocked him when she did things like that. Touched him. Said those little things. And even after she said…It was hard to believe he wasn't going to wake up alone in his crypt, victim of a very detailed, very cruel dream. He still remembered too well the times when she did care. The times when she'd tried to hide…whatever they'd had…from everyone. But no more. Now…Whistfully, he looked back down at her. His Slayer. His Goddess. His girl. The Scoobies will just have to deal. His smile widened at the thought of Giles catching the two in a passionate embrace. "Love…" Taking her small face in his hand, he turned her to look at him. "Say it again."
She rolled her eyes. "Is that all you ever want to hear?"
"Yes."
Slowly, she reached up and wound her arms around his neck. Bringing him closer she murmured three soft words into his ear. To her delight, he smiled again. No idiotic grin or trademark smirk. She knew from watching him that, more often than not, they were a defensive gesture. But a smile…she pulled him back down again, whispering until she thought he would burst.
After a long moment, Spike sat up again. His eyes twinkled mischievously just as the door opened.
"Hi we're-" Dawn nearly tripped as she came in laden in grocery bags. Never mind that her eyes were now bugging out of her head. "-Home…" Blushing fiercely, she rushed through to the kitchen.
Willow and Kennedy soon followed, again having the odd tendency to redden and look away. "Um, hi guys." Willow waved uncertainly.
" 'lo Red." Moving purposefully slower than he had to, Spike lifted Buffy from his lap and stood. Only to be jerked down again by a possessive hand. He offered her a rueful smirk before turning his attention back to his Slayer.
She wound her fingers around his, finally sliding her gaze from the endless blue depths of his eyes to her very uncomfortable friend. "You got groceries?"
It was all Willow could do to nod. "Um. Yeah. We got some, uh, groceries. For lunch. Say-" she gestured desperately to her friend "-Why don't you come help me with that?"
Her eyebrow crept up suspiciously. "Mm hmm." Carefully untangling herself from the pile of arms and legs on the couch she slid into the chair she silently suspected she didn't even need, and followed the small troop of girls into the kitchen. They had barely gotten around the corner when she was attacked.
"What's going on?"
"Are you and Spike…?"
"Do you love him?" This last question posed quietly, if not randomly, by a very earnest looking teen made all of the others turn to look at her.
"Nothing. Yes. And…" Buffy tilted her head slightly to watch the reaction of her friends. "…yes." She cleared her throat. "But I think we already knew that."
They watched her in stunned silence until Dawn finally stepped forward. With a tentative smile, she hugged her older sister. "Congratulations."
Quickly remembering their manners the two other girls followed suit, giving her hugs and the appropriate congrats. They didn't even notice the blonde figure smirking in the corner until he cleared his throat.
"And what could have happened in such a short time to have earned a congratulations?" He questioned innocently, staying in the shadows to avoid the light that would surely give away his suddenly moist eyes. The last thing he could have expected was the youngest Summers girl letting out a noise he could only describe as a squeak and capturing him in a death-grip embrace. Rolling his eyes he attempted to squirm out of the touching moment. "Hey Bit, Big Bad here. Not one for the hugging."
Letting out a giggle she squeezed him tighter. "And what are you going to do about it, huh?"
Pulling away, he tried to regain his dignity by straightening his duster. "Don't make me tickle you," he threatened teasingly. Then, he noticed the weird looks he was getting from the Slayer and the Witch. "What?"
Willow started as she realized she had been staring. "Oh. Sorry. Nothing. Just, you know, spacey." Letting out a nervous laugh she twirled a finger by her ear. Kennedy simply blushed and looked away.
He raised an eyebrow questioningly as he went to the refrigerator and grabbed a blood bag. Quickly, he emptied its contents into a mug and stuck it in the microwave. All the while trying to ignore the four pairs of eyes bearing into his back. After taking a sip of his beverage he made a face. Must have gotten a spoiled bag or something. Thinking nothing of it, he poured the fouled blood down the drain and turned back to the suddenly tense conversation.
"So…"
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*** She stood off in the distance, always smiling down upon him. Even in this world of white she seemed to glow. Sighing, he approached her. "What? Come to invade my dreams too?"
"Hello William."
"Don't you 'hello William' me! I know what you did!" Angrily, he poked a finger at her. "You saved Buffy, didn't you?"
She frowned. "Didn't you want me to save her?"
"Of course, but…" He shrugged confusedly. "I thought you didn't want her to know about you."
She smiled. "Not about me. About you."
"Whatever."
"William, you are running out of time." Her face turned serious as she gazed out into the gleaming world of white. If anything, she seemed concerned. "You remember our deal."
"That I have to go back to Heaven if I can't prove she needs me. I know." He ran his fingers through his hair. He knew all to well. It was all he could think about when she smiled at him, when she had whispered those three soft words into his ear just hours ago. And it killed him to think that just when things were going so well, he might have to leave her yet again. "How much time do I have left?"
She smiled. "You have time. If what you said is true." Softer, she murmured, "If you were destined for her."***
He woke as he felt warm skin rub against his own. Rubbing his eyes, he turned to see who had snuck under the covers of his pullout bed.
"Couldn't sleep," Buffy whispered apologetically as she spooned behind him, cautious fingers running over his back. Laying a gentle kiss against his shoulder she closed her eyes.
He smiled; listening patiently as her breathing slowed and she fell asleep. Love you, pet. Her heart, beating so closely to his own with the gentle thump thumping he loved, lulled him back to his dreams.
*** "See? She loves me. She bloody said it!" He shook his fist angrily at the amused girl. "What else do you want?"
"We know she loves you," she said slowly. "We knew that before. It doesn't prove anything. She needs to say-"
"She needs me." He muttered various curses under his breath. "Bloody hell! Can't you see she does? Can't you see she can't go a sodding night without me?" He gestured wildly towards the empty space, trying to express with his hands what he couldn't with words. What was in his heart. Slowly, he turned back to face the quiet entity before him. "I know she needs me," he whispered.
She looked at him with a combination of pity and worry. "That isn't enough. She has to say it. And soon." With a wave, she began walking away from him. And before he could say anything else to her, she was gone. Faded away into that annoyingly bright world of white.
He spun around, suddenly back in his own crypt. The first thing he saw was Buffy sitting on the bier. "Buffy?"
She smiled, not looking at him but instead staring blankly off into space. "You are, you know."
Frowning, he came closer. "I am what."
"A champion." Her head jerked as she turned her gaze to his approaching form. "My champion."
The possessive way in which she spoke caused him to smirk. "All yours, love." Standing in front of her, he brushed a stray tendril of hair from her face.
"My champion." She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer. "My heart," she whispered into his ear.
Spike let himself drown in her intoxicating scent for a long while before responding. "I don't understand."
Again a smile graced her lips. "You are my heart. I am your soul. And together we are one."
"I don't understand, Buffy." Wrapping his arms around her waist he buried his face in her hair. She was saying things that didn't make sense to him. She had a heart, this he knew; it was alive and beating this very minute. And he had a soul…didn't he?
"You will know." She placed a gentle kiss on his cheek. "In time, you will know." As quickly as she appeared she vanished, leaving him alone once again. ***
A strangled cry late in the night woke them both. "Dawn," she gasped, jumping out of the bed and racing up the stairs. Pushing the younger girl's door open she rushed in. "Are you okay?"
Dawn sat up in her bed, shaking. "Had a dream," she managed.
"A bad dream?" Buffy asked. She sat down next to her, wrapping a comforting arm around her shoulders. The teen nodded, brushing at the tears streaming down her cheeks. "Do you want to tell me about it?"
She sighed. "It was…hot. We were out in, in the desert I think. There were these…things." A shiver ran through her. "They attacked us, they just kept coming, and I tried to make them leave…"
"Shhh." Tenderly she pulled her sister closer to herself. She ran her hand down the teens long locks. "It's okay. It was just a dream. A stupid, bad dream that was probably inspired by a horror movie of some sort."
Dawn smiled. "Our whole lives are horror movies," she pointed out. Frowning, she sat up straighter. "Hey. You can walk."
"Yeah, guess I can." She shared a baffled look with her for a moment. Makes sense…my legs got better pretty fast, once I came home. "Guess Spike doesn't have to wrestle with that wheelchair anymore."
A giggle escaped her. "You should have seen him with that thing. It was hilarious." Her voice took on a softer, if not more hesitant, tone. "In case you can't tell, I'm really happy about you two."
Buffy grinned. "Good. Though I can't say I could do much if you weren't."
"He loves you more than you know," she confided. "Sometimes, when he thinks no one's watching, he just looks at you as if nothing else exists. It's almost like…you're all he knows."
A pleasant, familiar warmth overtook her face. After opening and shutting her mouth several times, and not being able to say anything, she gave up. Instead, she fingered Dawn's hair again. "You're sure you're okay?"
She nodded. "Perfectly fine. Nothing a cup of cocoa won't fix." With a smile, she slid out of bed. "Are you coming?"
"Right behind you," she said. The two sisters tiptoed down the stairs, afraid of waking the other inhabitants of the house. As they went around the corner the odd sight of a vampire preparing three mugs of hot chocolate confronted them.
Shrugging embarrassedly, Spike muttered, "Thought you might like some chocolate." As if that explained everything, he handed Dawn a mug and took the other two to the table where Buffy was watching amusedly. Stopping suddenly, he cocked his head. "Hey. You're walking."
"Yes indeed." With a raised eyebrow she helped herself to a cup of the warm drink. Sipping slowly, she hummed in contentment. "Mm. Yummy."
He grinned. "You alright Nibblet?" He asked over the rim of his own mug.
She smiled a little at him. "Fine. Just a bad dream." Absent-mindedly she stirred the marshmallows around, her smile broadening as she thought of Spike remembering how she liked her cocoa.
He nodded silently, peering into his own as if it might hold all the answers to life's little mysteries. How ironic it would be if he could solve every problem that came along with hot chocolate. He looked back up at the Summers girl who had turned him into this cocoa-loving, wheelchair-wrestling being. Blonde haired, green eyed, and filled with more lovable quirks than one would think possible. His entire world, wrapped up in one tiny package. His family, friend and love, now watching him curiously through those damn green eyes and trying to figure out what he could be thinking. You have no idea, pet. He smirked devilishly and took another long swig. You have no idea.
"Well, I think I'll be heading back to bed." Dawn stood and tried to pull off a realistic looking fake yawn. "Night," she murmured, walking up the stairs slowly so she could hear the conversation she knew would ensue once she was gone.
Silently Buffy took her now empty mug and Dawn's to the sink. She didn't notice the bleached figure behind her until he pressed himself up against her in all the right places. She shivered happily as his fingers trailed up her bare arm.
Kissing her neck lightly, he let his nose brush her ear. His arms wrapped around her waist, increasing their contact. " 'm going back to bed too," he murmured softly, the words tickling her delicate skin. Unwrapping himself he took a few steps back towards the living room before turning. "Coming?"
With a smile she followed him back towards the pullout bed. Going upstairs to her own room would be nice, of course, but she knew Dawn wouldn't be asleep yet and liked to cling to the hope Dawn didn't know about her sleeping with Spike. Soon she was nestled against his chest, little purrs of contentment escaping her lips.
"Buffy?"
"Hmm."
Pulling away so he could see her eyes, he asked, "What happened in Africa? I mean, to make you…"
She sighed. In truth, she really couldn't explain why she suddenly was ready to admit-no, to announce-that she was in love with him. Maybe my cookies are done, she thought with a little smirk. No. It wasn't that. It wasn't her. It was him. He had always been there for her, always; and when he had left, she had blamed her sudden love on missing him. Missing his consistent presence, missing the way he had loved her no matter what. But when he had come back…she had been scared. She didn't want to be with him because she was still as in love with him as she had been when she thought he was dead. And it is so easy to love someone when they are not there. There was no fear of rejection; no possibility things wouldn't turn out exactly as she had dreamed them. But it wasn't real. This-those pools of blue she was currently drowning in-this was real. This was what she had been waiting for. It had just taken nearly getting them both killed again for her to realize it. Pressing her lips to his quickly, she whispered, "You."
He smiled, kissing her back. Temporarily, all thoughts of needing and heaven and time left him as he lost himself in her kiss. All he needed to be happy the rest of forever was the memory of this. After a long, sweet moment, they returned to their prior cuddling. "Buffy?"
"Hmm?"
"You love me?"
She opened her eyes. He looked so sincere, his flat tone of voice only further revealing how desperate he really was for the answer. "Yup," She said, murmuring three soft words against his skin.
"I love you."
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See? Told you I'd be nice. Alright. Confused much? I brought up a bit of plotline I really haven't touched much since After The End, so if you are lost go back and read it. :) Also, as I was writing (slowly, dang kidnapped muse…) I thought hmm, that might be a good idea for a send out chapter… So, if I get enough interest, I might write a tiny ficlet about wheelchair wrestling (possibly to be entitled Captain Peroxide and the Evil Wheelchair). It would have nothing to do with the story, but if you think I should bother please let me know. If I do, there will be mention in future author's notes.
I usually don't write so much at the end of chapters. It's exhausting.
Don't you think I deserve reviews for all my hard work?
(Oh, and if you are the evil kidnapper of my muse please return it! Any ransom you want, just please don't hurt my baby!)
:)